Jury convicts Harvey Weinstein of top charge in retrial of his landmark #MeToo sex crimes case

NEW YORK (AP) — Former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was convicted Wednesday of one of the top charges in his sex crimes retrial but acquitted of another, and jurors were as yet unable to reach a verdict on a third charge.

The split verdict meted out a measure of vindication to his accusers and prosecutors — but also to Weinstein — after the landmark case was thrown into limbo.

The partial verdict came after an extraordinary day in which the jury foreperson indicated he felt bullied and Weinstein himself urged the judge to halt the trial, declaring: “It’s just not fair.”

“My life is on the line, and you know what? It’s not fair,” the former Hollywood heavy-hitter declared after making an unusual request to address the court.

“It’s time, it’s time, it’s time, it’s time to say this trial is over.”

Weinstein’s initial conviction five years ago seemed to cement the downfall of one of Hollywood’s most powerful men in a pivotal moment for the #MeToo movement.

But that conviction was overturned last year, and the case was sent back for retrial in the same Manhattan courthouse.

This time, a majority-female jury convicted the former studio boss of forcibly subjecting Miriam Haley, a producer and production assistant, to a criminal sex act in 2006.

But jurors acquitted Weinstein of another criminal sex act charge. It related to Kaja Sokola, a former model whose allegations of forcible oral sex date to 2006 but were added to the case last year.

And jurors were to continue deliberating Thursday on a charge that he raped another woman, hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann, in 2013.

Under New York law, the third-degree rape charge carries a lesser penalty than the first-degree criminal sex act offence.

Weinstein, 73, denies sexually assaulting or raping anyone.

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