The judge declares the procedure for rape – Liberation

The judge who educates the trial of the ex-film-producer star Harvey Weinstein declared the procedure for rape on Thursday at the end of tense deliberations within the jury, a measure which does not erase however The guilt verdict made the day before for sexual assault. « I declare a zero trial for the only file which has not yet been decided », announced judge Curtis Farber at a hearing at the Manhattan court.

Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of sexual assault on Wednesday while the jurors had acquitted him for another sexual assault and had not yet delivered their verdict for this rape accusation. As in 2020, During a first trial Then canceled, the twelve jurors of the Manhattan Criminal Court unanimously declared the founder of the Miramax studios « guilty » sexual assault in 2006 on the former production assistant Miriam Haley, forcing her to undergo cunnilingus in her apartment. But, during this verdict pronounced on the fifth day of deliberations and against the backdrop of strong tensions between jurorsthe 73 -year -old was also recognized « Not guilty » of a similar sexual assault, the same year, against the Polish model Kaja Sokola, 19 at the time.

There was therefore the verdict for the accusation of rape against the aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013, who was the subject of lively exchanges between the jurors to the point that Judge Farber had sent them home on Wednesday at midday for « Calm the spirits ». Gold « The deliberations have become so stormy that I see myself in order to declare a zero trial » On this accusation of rape, said the judge on Thursday, after reporting a testimony to a member of the jury who said he was threatened by another.

Producer of countless successes as Sex, lies and video, Pulp Fiction Or Shakespeare in love, Harvey Weinstein had been sentenced in 2020 to twenty-three years in prison for the facts concerning Miriam Haley and Jessica Mann, after a resounding trial which symbolized at the time a victory for the #MeToo movement against sexual violence. But last year, the New York Court of Appeal had canceled this trial for procedural reasons. He therefore replayed himself Before the Manhattan Criminal Court from April 15, but in greater indifference than in 2020, and in the shadow of That of P. Diddyhip-hop magnate accused in New York of sex trafficking.