Harvey Weinstein Mistrial Won’t Set the Convicted Felon Free
Harvey Weinstein’s legal battle is not yet over, but there has been a dramatic development in his retrial. A judge, who had been hearing testimony for weeks, declared a mistrial on one count. The decision came after the jury foreman opted not to return to deliberations due to concerns for their safety. Although it is indeed an uncommon turn of events, the mistrial doesn’t mean Weinstein will go free. That outcome was never actually on the table.
Jury issues lead to a mistrial in Harvey Weinstein’s case
A jury has spent the last several weeks listening to testimony about Harvey Weinstein and his reign of manipulation and coercion in Hollywood. They were not the first jury to hear about the movie producer’s history of sexual assault and the misuse of his power. Weinstein’s 2025 court hearing was a retrial after his 2020 conviction was tossed. Another trial may happen.
On June 12, Judge Curtis Farber declared a mistrial on one count after the jury foreman refused to continue deliberating. The foreman cited safety concerns after deliberations turned hostile. It wasn’t the first time the jury had reported issues. Early in the deliberation process, a juror asked to be excused due to hostility. Judge Farber denied the request. Eventually, the jury managed to return a partial verdict, finding Weinstein guilty of one criminal sexual act charge and acquitting him on a predatory sexual assault charge. They were asked to continue deliberating on a third charger. A third-degree rape charge ended in a mistrial.
What does it mean for the disgraced producer’s prison sentence?
Regardless of the outcome of his New York City retrial, Weinstein was going to be remanded to jail, regardless. It really came down to a matter of what state he’d be spending his time in. If Weinstein had been acquitted of all charges, he would have been sent to California to begin serving a 16-year sentence for rape. He was found guilty in California in 2022. Since he was convicted on one charge during the retrial, he will remain in New York to serve his sentence. His sentencing will take place in a separate court hearing.
While the mistrial was a dramatic moment in an already theatrical legal saga, the outcome wasn’t exactly unexpected and didn’t have cataclysmic effects. According to AP News, Weinstein will be back in court to discuss sentencing and retrying the singular charge on July 2. For now, he has been sent back to the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital to await the next steps. Once sentenced, he’ll be moved to a New York State prison. He was previously housed at Mohawk Correctional Facility. It is unclear whether he’ll return to the medium-security facility in Rome, NY.
