In the trial of the former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein the jury has not yet been able to agree on a judgment. On the fourth day of the deliberations, the twelve jurors sent a message to the court, according to media reports. In it, they asked what would happen if they could not agree on several charges. Judge James Burke replied to the jury that the court would not accept partial decisions and that the jury should continue its deliberations.
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If the jury did not come to a unanimous decision against Weinstein, the trial could burst and would have to be reopened. In the past few days, the jury had given advice on Weinstein’s guilt or innocence and had the statements of two alleged victims read out to him again.
Milestone of the MeToo era
Since 2017, Weinstein has accused more than 80 women of sexual assault. Since January, the sensational New York trial has been primarily about two allegations: Weinstein is said to have forced production assistant Mimi Haleyi to have oral sex in 2006 and to have raped today’s hairdresser Jessica Mann in 2013. The charges are rape, sexual assault and “predatory sexual assault” – roughly “violent sexual assault”. The process is considered a milestone in the Me tooEra that was triggered by the case.
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In the past few weeks, the public prosecutor’s office had tried using six key witnesses to reveal a pattern of tartar, some of which was drastically detailed – that of a man who systematically exploited his power in the film industry to make young women compliant. A man who promised women career help for sex and forced them to have sex if they said no.
The defense, on the other hand, had given the witnesses complicity and portrayed Weinstein in a victim role. Women had exploited him for decades because of his influence and money and were aware of their actions and signals to him. All sex had taken place by mutual consent.
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