Althouse: "Jurors in the trial against Harvey Weinstein indicated they were deadlocked Friday on the two most serious counts against him..."

February 21, 2020

"Jurors in the trial against Harvey Weinstein indicated they were deadlocked Friday on the two most serious counts against him..."

"... prompting the judge to order that any verdict must be unanimous. New York Supreme Court Judge James Burke added that if the jury can't reach a unanimous decision, then it can't return a verdict on the two counts of predatory sexual assault, which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.... [Weinstein] also faces one count each of first-degree rape and third-degree rape, and one count of a criminal sex act. The jury suggested it reached a unanimous decision on those three counts. The structure of the charges means Weinstein can be found guilty of no more than two of the charges against him. The first-degree rape and criminal sex act charges are each punishable by at least five years to 25 years in prison. The third-degree rape charge is punishable by up to four years behind bars."

NBC News reports.

19 comments:

tim maguire said...: Sounds like across the board hung jury / not guilty verdicts. (Because I think it’s unlikely they would struggle so much over the predatory sexual assault if they’d already come in guilty on the rape charges.); 2/21/20, 3:36 PM
Howard said...: So they are unanimous to convict him of rape but not rape rape; 2/21/20, 3:36 PM
Howard said...: Thanks Tim it looks like I misread what Ann wrote; 2/21/20, 3:37 PM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: (Because I think it’s unlikely they would struggle so much over the predatory sexual assault if they’d already come in guilty on the rape charges.)

I'm confused too. Why would they struggle over the predatory count if they found him NG over a lesser rape?; 2/21/20, 3:40 PM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/21/20, 3:41 PM
Jess said...: I was jury foreman on a criminal trial. In the end, I found there was no use wasting time with those without an understanding of how the evidence pointed to a criminal act. The trial was declared a mistrial, and I never found out if the suspect was tried again.; 2/21/20, 3:43 PM
mccullough said...: Seems likely he’s guilty on third degree rape of the accuser. Not guilty of first degree rape of accused. And jury not unanimous on the other accusers you establish predatory but outside statute of limitations on individual rape charges.

Weinstein’s lawyer was very good.; 2/21/20, 3:48 PM
BarrySanders20 said...: I think his suggests guilty on the lesser counts with a few hold-outs on the two most serious counts; 2/21/20, 3:50 PM
mccullough said...: First degree rape may be a lesser charge but it’s serious prison time.

I thought there was a fifth charge also?; 2/21/20, 4:02 PM
rcocean said...: I've been on juries. Anyone who thinks the average person is intelligent, should go through what I did. Judas Priest what a struggle to make them understand that "reasonable doubt" does NOT mean "any doubt". They made Inga look like Einstein.; 2/21/20, 4:16 PM
rcocean said...: I think Weinstein's little act of using a walker probably had an affect. "I'm a harmless old old man with a walker - look at how frail I am". LOL.

10-1 Weinpig skates. If not with a hung jury - then on appeal.; 2/21/20, 4:19 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: It's funny, famous LA DA Vincent Bugliosi used to brag that he won something like 250 out of 260 trials in LA County.

Those days are long gone, my friend. The demographics have changed. You've got a lotta dumbshits on the jury panels in LA.

Sadly, Weinstein skates. But he is a rapist, no doubt.; 2/21/20, 5:07 PM
Gk1 said...: "I've been on juries. Anyone who thinks the average person is intelligent" No kidding. I have had friends on juries saying how frightening it is that their fellow jurors couldn't understand basic concepts like 'evidence' and the fact there were "no eyewitnesses" didn't mean you had to automatically acquit. Deductive reasoning and logic are not as common as they once were.; 2/21/20, 5:31 PM
Krumhorn said...: Sounds like across the board hung jury / not guilty verdicts. (Because I think it’s unlikely they would struggle so much over the predatory sexual assault if they’d already come in guilty on the rape charges.)

I doubt that's true. It's more likely that he's guilty of one of the rapes. The predator charge requires that they find him guilty of a rape and agree that he has also raped someone else. That's why they are hung up on Sciorra since, even though not charged for it, she would be the second rape.

There would be no point in trying to reach the predator charges if they hadn't already agreed that he raped one or more of the other two women.

I wouldn't be surprised if Harvey takes a dive off his balcony over the weekend since he is clearly going to prison.

....fish...fish....fisssssssh

- Krumhorn; 2/21/20, 6:25 PM
Tina Trent said...: I'm not following all the evidence. But there is no such thing as a competent adult woman who becomes flirty pen pals with her rapist. The women who kept seeing him and asking him for favors just aren't credible. I didn't read about any women who didn't keep contacting him. Maybe I missed that.

Juries are a nightmare. Everyone wants to play Atticus Finch. Between the libertarian hysterics and the leftist hug a thugs, it's amazing anyone goes away for anything.

Children and mentally incompetent adults subjected to abuse are different. But that's not an issue here.; 2/22/20, 5:28 AM
Ken B said...: It sounds like there are two incidents where the jury is asked to discern the crime. And it sounds like they agree on the guilt or innocence for the lesser charges for each incident, but not on the more serious version of each charge. That only makes sense if they agree on guilt for the lesser charges. So, guilty, guilty.; 2/22/20, 9:44 AM
mtrobertslaw said...: The jury must have found him guilty on at least one of the lesser charges. If they had acquitted him on all of the lesser charges, it would make no sense for them to be hung up on the most serious charge.; 2/22/20, 9:57 AM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Weinstein didn't castrate himself, probably.; 2/22/20, 11:37 AM
Jake said...: No way across the board not guilty. If that was the case there’s no way they’d be “struggling” with the most serious charges. I say guilty of first degree rape. Not guilty of third degree. No one agrees whether they should believe the accusers that weren’t complaining witnesses in this criminal trial.; 2/22/20, 2:03 PM