NY prosecutors dismiss rape count against Harvey Weinstein as victim says she can't handle another trial
Published in News & Features
NEW YORK — Manhattan prosecutors moved to dismiss their rape case against Harvey Weinstein on Thursday following his recent mistrial, after Jessica Mann — among the first women to come forward against the once-powerful Hollywood producer — said she could not bear the brutality of taking the stand a fourth time.
The move announced at a Manhattan Supreme Court hearing came after jurors last month were split as to whether Weinstein was guilty of raping Mann, who the panel heard he took on as an quasi-acting protégé, inside a Midtown hotel room in March of 2013. The outcome was a repeat of the disgraced producer’s 2025 prosecution that ended in a partial mistrial.
The Miramax founder, 73, was found guilty of raping Mann at his first trial in 2020 — in addition to sexually assaulting Miriam Haley, a former “Project Runway” assistant — but that conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeals in 2024 after New York’s highest court determined the jury shouldn’t have heard sexual assault allegations from other women that didn’t make up part of the charges.
In a statement read aloud by Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg on Thursday, Mann said the issue had stolen a decade of her life and left her feeling “fragmented, silenced, defamed and traumatized.”
Having collectively spent dozens of hours facing questions about her relationship to Weinstein, the Washington native said she felt she’d been the one facing charges.
“In all of this ordeal, I was treated as though I was the person on trial. By coming forward about being raped, I have been treated by some as if I was defiling the sacred sexuality of a man. Yet I was the one who had my sexuality defiled,” Mann said.
“It is clear, when a convicted rapist is awarded privileges to continue to shield a jury from past settlements, nondisclosure agreements, prior convictions, or other abuse, there is no true justice for a victim of sexual assault when that rapist is a predator.”
While panelists couldn’t agree on Mann in 2025, Weinstein was convicted anew of assaulting Haley. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber said he would sentence Weinstein for that conviction on Sept. 23.
Regardless of how his sentencing pans out, Weinstein, who’s been behind bars since the first jury found him guilty, has a long road ahead. He was also convicted in Los Angeles, in 2022, for raping and sexually assaulting Evgeniya Chernyshova in early 2013, weeks before the attack alleged by Mann. Jurors did not hear about that case.
In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the decision not to try the case had nothing to do with the strength of Mann’s accusations. He said his office would ask Farber to impose a 20-year term for sexually assaulting Haley.
“To be clear, we believe Ms. Mann’s account and her credibility as a witness. This has been an extraordinarily taxing ordeal for her, and she has never wavered while testifying in front of two grand juries and three trial juries over the course of eight years. We thank her for her honesty and her tremendous bravery,” Bragg said.
“I want survivors of sexual violence in Manhattan to know that we believe you, and we will fight for you.”
Outside the courthouse, Weinstein’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said the dismissal was tantamount to a victory.
The attorney, who represents alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione and led Sean “Diddy” Combs’ defense last year, said he was intent on getting Weinstein out of prison.
“There’s a lot that is going to have to be unraveled,” Agnifilo said. “I think there are problems with each of the convictions.”
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