Content warning: Sexual harassment
Harvey Weinstein will not face another trial i Manhattan over a rape allegation involving Jessica Mann. Prosecutors officially dropped the remaining charge after years of courtroom battles and multiple retrials.
The decision closes a chapter of the disgraced producer’s criminal case in New York. It also follows two juries that failed to reach a verdict after his original conviction was overturned.
Prosecutors have dismissed a rape charge against Harvey Weinstein in the Manhattan trial
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office dismissed the third-degree rape charge after speaking with Jessica Mann, who no longer wanted to testify.
Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg told the court that Mann “does not want to testify at a fourth trial. Instead, she wants to heal and move on with her life,” according to New York Times.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg emphasized that the decision was not a reflection of Mann’s credibility. “To be clear, we believe Ms. Mann’s account and her credibility as a witness,” Bragg said in a statement cited by The Hollywood Reporter. He added that Mann had endured “an extraordinarily stressful ordeal” while testifying before two grand juries and three grand juries over eight years.
The dismissal means Weinstein will not face a fourth trial on charges that he raped Mann at a Manhattan hotel in 2013. During previous trials, Mann testified that Weinstein forced himself on her after blocking her from leaving the room. Weinstein’s legal team has consistently maintained that the encounter was consensual.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is now moving forward with sentencing on Weinstein’s 2025 conviction for committing a criminal sexual act against former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley. Prosecutors have recommended a prison sentence of 20 years, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Weinstein’s spokesman, Juda Engelmayer, welcomed the latest development. “Harvey is relieved,” he told The Hollywood Reporter, adding that the defense plans to challenge prosecutors’ sentencing recommendation.
Weinstein’s original sentencing in New York in 2020 became a defining moment for #MeToo motion before New York’s highest court overturned it in 2024, ruling that testimony from unindicted prosecutors had unfairly influenced the jury. Since then, prosecutors retried the case and secured one conviction, while repeatedly failing to obtain a conviction on the charge involving Mann.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK PROSECUTORS MADE THE RIGHT DECISION TO CLOSE THE CASE AFTER JESSICA MANN REFUSED TO DEAL AGAIN?
Originally reported by Vanshika Vasundhare Singh for Mandatory
