What's Next for Harvey Weinstein? Alvin Bragg Faces High-Stakes Choice
Harvey Weinstein's rape retrial ended in a mistrial Friday after jurors said they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, leaving a central #MeToo-era charge unresolved for a third time.
The deadlock followed about three days of deliberations by a Manhattan jury in New York weighing whether Weinstein raped Jessica Mann, a hairstylist and aspiring actor, in 2013. Weinstein's lawyers argued that the encounter was consensual and part of a complicated relationship between the two.
Jury Deadlock Leaves Charge in Limbo
Jurors signaled trouble early Friday, sending a note to Judge Curtis Farber that they could not reach a unanimous decision. The judge initially urged them to continue deliberating, as is standard practice, but later declared a mistrial when the impasse persisted.
Weinstein, 74, appeared expressionless as court officers escorted him from the courtroom in a wheelchair. The outcome leaves the rape charge unresolved after multiple attempts to reach a verdict, with a hearing set for June 24 to determine whether prosecutors will pursue a fourth trial.
The stakes for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg are unusually high because the decision will test prosecutorial credibility and the durability of one of the most prominent cases to emerge from the #MeToo movement. A fourth trial risks further jury deadlock, potentially weakening the case in the public eye and raising questions about the strength of the evidence after multiple attempts have failed to secure a conviction on the rape charge.
At the same time, declining to retry Weinstein could be seen as abandoning a key accuser and closing out one of the movement's landmark criminal cases without resolution. The choice also carries broader implications for how aggressively prosecutors pursue complex sexual assault cases involving powerful figures, particularly when juries repeatedly struggle to reach consensus.
Case Turns on Conflicting Accounts
The case centered on starkly different portrayals of Weinstein's relationship with Mann. She testified that while some encounters were consensual, he raped her in 2013 after she repeatedly refused his advances. Defense attorneys pointed to her continued contact with Weinstein afterward, arguing that the relationship was consensual.
The retrial followed an appeals-court decision overturning Weinstein's 2020 conviction tied to Mann and another accuser. A previous retrial also ended in a deadlock on the same charge. Weinstein did not testify but has said he "acted wrongly" and maintains he never committed sexual assault.
Reporting by the Associated Press contributed to this article.
2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 10:54 AM.