Prosecutors in New York won’t seek a fourth trial for rape charges against Harvey Weinstein, which were overturned by one jury and deadlocked by two others. A judge subsequently dismissed the third-degree rape charges on Thursday, The New York Times reports.
At issue were actress Jessica Mann’s claims that Weinstein had forced himself on her in 2013. A jury in 2020 had convicted Weinstein, but a judge later overturned the verdict. Juries at retrials in 2025 and 2026 could not reach unanimous verdicts on the charges, ending the proceedings in mistrials.
At each trial, Mann testified, retelling her story that she’d met the disgraced movie producer at a party in 2012 or 2013 seeking acting work, and how that led to encounters in which he requested sex. She claimed that in one instance that took place in March 2013, Weinstein refused to let her leave a room unless she allowed him to “do something” to her, after which she “just gave up.” Weinstein’s lawyers presented texts that indicated that his relationship with Mann was consensual.
“I said no over and over, and I tried to leave,” Mann told the jury, through tears, during the last trial. “He was just treating me like he owned me.”
“She does not wish to testify [at] a fourth trial,” Nicole Blumberg, an assistant district attorney, said, according to the Times. “Instead, she wants to heal and move forward with her life. The people respect and support that decision.”
Variety reports that Mann submitted a statement to the court saying she “could no longer endure going through this any longer.”
The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, upheld that his office believed Mann’s account “and her credibility as a witness.” He acknowledged that she remained steadfast in her testimony at two grand-jury proceedings and three trials, all of which took place over an eight-year span. “We thank her for her honesty and her tremendous bravery,” he said.
“In my fight to see justice, it has nearly stolen a decade of my life and put me through more harm than good,” Mann wrote in her statement, according to Variety. “Justice now has moved away from the courts, solely into the hands of God.”
“Harvey is relieved by today’s outcome,” his spokesman, Juda Engelmayer, said, via Variety. “We believe this is the result that should have been reached from the outset, had the grand jury been presented with the full scope of the emails, text messages and other private communications.”
Weinstein, meanwhile, is awaiting sentencing for a conviction for a criminal sexual act against Miriam Haley, a former Project Runway production assistant. Prosecutors have asked a judge to give him 20 years for the conviction. Weinstein has been in jail or prison since 2020; the Times reports that his lawyers will ask for a judge to recognize time served when considering a sentence. He is also serving a separate 16-year sentence for a rape conviction in Los Angeles.
