THE judge has declared a mistrial on the final charge in Harvey Weinstein’s retrial.
The surprising decision happened one day after a jury of 12 individuals found the shamed film producer, who is 73 years old, guilty of one of the two charges of criminal sexual assault he was accused of and acquitted him of the other charge.
Jurors were expected to reconvene on Thursday to continue deliberating the rape charge that they failed to reach a verdict on Wednesday.
Actress Jessica Mann accused Weinstein of raping her in 2013, at the time when she was trying to build her career as an actress.
However, the jury foreperson was unwilling to return to the jury room to continue deliberating, saying he faced threats from other jurors.
Prior to this ruling, the jury foreperson had expressed concerns to Judge Curtis Farber, mentioning that discussions had turned into loud arguments and expressing feeling intimidated by fellow jurors in the deliberation room.
During the afternoon on Wednesday, the jury foreperson asked for a meeting with the judge and later informed Farber and the legal representatives, “I feel scared in there. I cannot remain there.”
The unidentified man said that other jurors were pressuring him to change his decision, and claimed he was threatened when he refused.
He said other jurors told him, “Oh, we will see you outside.”
After the judge’s ruling, prosecutors said they plan to retry Weinstein on the rape charge.
Prosecutors said Mann is “ready and willing and wants to retry this count,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
A hearing for the charge was set for July 2.
On Wednesday, the jury reached a guilty verdict on a single count of criminal sexual act in connection to actress Mimi Haley’s allegations against Weinstein.
An emotional Haley testified that the “unthinkable” happened when Weinstein sexually assaulted her in July 2006.
But jurors acquitted Weinstein of engaging in a criminal sex act with model Kaja Sokola, who accused the disgraced Miramax founder of forcing oral sex on her in 2006 when she was just 16 years old.
