‘I Am Not Well’: Harvey Weinstein Denounces ‘Juror Intimidation’ in His Rape Trial, Begs To Spend His Final Days Out of Jail

The disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein, 73, released a statement lamenting the postponement of a hearing that was scheduled for December 19 and postponed to early January in his unfinished rape case at Manhattan criminal court, as he remains incarcerated at the notorious Rikers Island jail. “This will be a lonely Christmas without my children,” Weinstein – who’s been incarcerated at various facilities for the last several years – said in a statement on Thursday. His press spokesman, Juda Engelmayer, said that his client “still has not been sentenced and remains in a state of legal and physical limbo at Rikers Island, awaiting resolution of juror-intimidation issues now before the judge.” After a six week long trial in the spring, a Manhattan jury rendered a split verdict on the three-count indictment brought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office against the Oscar-winning film producer: two felony sex crimes and one third-degree rape charge. Weinstein was found guilty on the first count, relating to the former production assistant Miriam Haley, who accused him of forcibly performing oral sex on her in his Manhattan apartment in 2006. But he was found not guilty on the second sex crime offense, relating to a former Polish model, Kaja Sokola, who also claimed the producer forced oral sex on her in a hotel room in Manhattan that same year. Aerial view of Riker’s Island, New York City’s famed jail located on the East River and Flushing Bay shot via helicopter from an altitude of about 2000 feet over the Bronx. Getty ImagesThe third-degree-rape accusation, brought by the once aspiring actress Jessica Mann, who claimed Weinstein raped her in 2013 in a Manhattan hotel, was left undecided with the judge declaring a mistrial after the jury’s foreman refused to return to the deliberation room, saying the atmosphere had become unbearable for him. Prosecutors said that they intend to retry Weinstein on the third charge, which, ironically, would also be his third trial on that same count at the same Manhattan courthouse.In 2020, Weinstein faced his first trial and was found guilty both on the charges regarding Ms. Mann and Ms. Haley. The judge sentenced him to 23 years in prison. But in 2024, his defense team scored a historic victory when New York’s Court of Appeals overturned that conviction and ordered a new trial. The court had found that the trial judge wrongly admitted testimony against Weinstein based on vivid allegations from women – including “Sopranos” star Ananbella Sciorra – who were not part of the indictment. But a date for the third trial has not been set, because in October defense attorneys presented two affidavits from two separate jurors and argued that the guilty verdict for Ms. Haley’s count should be vacated because it was reached “under duress,” as lead defense attorney Arthur Aidala phrased it. Miriam Haley at Manhattan criminal court on May 2, 2025. John Angelillo-Pool/Getty ImagesTwo jurors stated under oath that they had wanted to acquit Weinstein of the sex crime charge but were aggressively pressured and even threatened by other jurors into agreeing to the conviction. One juror said, “I was directly pressured to convict Mr. Weinstein on the Miriam Haley charge… If I could have voted by secret ballot, I would have returned a not guilty verdict,” the affidavit reads. The second juror also stated, “I believe that the defendant is not guilty on the first count… I was so afraid of the repercussions and feared for my personal safety that I ultimately voted with the majority.” In November, prosecutors pushed back in a written motion, arguing that “Juror testimony cannot, as a matter of law, be used to impeach a guilty verdict absent extremely narrow exceptions not applicable here.” Witness Jessica Mann (C) arrives at Criminal Court for Harvey Weinstein’s retrial in Manhattan on May 22, 2025 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesProsecutors cited other cases that “addressed the exact same issues,” juror misconduct, and relied on the “binding legal principles” that “jurors may not impeach their own duly-rendered verdicts by complaints involving the tenor of the jury’s deliberations.” A hearing before the presiding judge, Curtis Faber, to address the matter was scheduled for December 19 but postponed on December 18 to take place on “an as-yet undetermined date in early January,” according to the public information office for the court. “I have never heard of jury intimidation like what occurred in my case.” Weinstein said in the new statement released to the media. “Two jurors went directly to the judge saying they did not want to remain on the jury. They were compelled to return, with one ultimately sitting out the final deliberations, resulting in a hung jury.” He added, “Juror Number Four later stated that, but for the intimidation, they would have voted not guilty on the charge involving Miriam Haley.” The incarcerated film producer went on to say that he would take the witness stand and testify in his own defense. Alleged victim of Harvey Weinstein, Kaja Sokola (C) arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court during Weinstein’s rape and sexual assault re-trial on May 8, 2025 in New York City. Angela Weiss-Pool/Getty Images“I am praying the Court will show the courage to do what justice requires. I am asking for the chance to finally take the stand and tell my side of the story.” Weinstein further said, “I bear no ill will toward Miriam Haley or Jessica Mann. At one time, we were friends; we now live in two different realities.This will be a lonely Christmas without my children.” The defendant, who was wheelchair bound and allowed by the court to stay at Bellevue hospital for the duration of the trial in the spring to treat numerous illnesses, such as bone marrow cancer, diabetes, spinal stenosis and heart issues, which led him to have an emergency heart surgery last year, referred to his deteriorating health in his statement.“I am not well, and I need to spend the remaining days of my life with my family. It is time for me to go home,” he said. Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears for his retrial as the jury deliberates at Manhattan Criminal Court on June 11, 2025 in New York City. Angela Weiss – Pool/Getty Images“I have spent nearly six years incarcerated,” he noted. Weinstein remains incarcerated because he has also been convicted of other sex crimes in California in 2022, where he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. His attorney in that case was Alan Jackson, who was recently hired to represent Nick Reiner, the mentally disturbed son charged with the murders of his parents, the director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele. Weinstein has appealed his California conviction. His press spokesperson told the Sun on Thursday evening that Weinstein is “hopeful that his appeal in LA will be successful. It’s a solid appeal and on good ground.” Oral arguments for the appeal, which is led by Jennifer Bonjean, who successfully won a reversal of Bill Cosby’s assault conviction before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, are expected “roughly in April or May 2026,” Engelmayer told the Sun.

‘I Am Not Well’: Harvey Weinstein Denounces ‘Juror Intimidation’ in His Rape Trial, Begs To Spend His Final Days Out of Jail

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