Harvey Weinstein avoids fourth New York rape trial as accuser steps away

Newyork,UPDATED: Jun 26, 2026 03:10 IST

Harvey Weinstein will not face a fourth trial on a rape charge in New York after prosecutors dropped the case on Thursday, saying his accuser Jessica Mann could not go through another round of testimony. The case had remained unresolved after his earlier conviction was overturned and two later trials ended with hung juries.

Weinstein remains in prison. He is still convicted in New York of a separate sexual felony involving another woman and is due to be sentenced in September, with prosecutors seeking a 20-year prison term. After completing any New York sentence, he is set to serve 16 years in California, where he was convicted of raping a third woman, an Italian actor. He is appealing both convictions.

Mann, a hairstylist and actor, had spent days on the witness stand at all three trials, telling jurors that Weinstein raped her in a Manhattan hotel in 2013. She was also questioned at length about what she described as a complicated relationship with him before and after the alleged assault. Weinstein, an Oscar-winning producer, denied the allegation and said everything between them was consensual.

In a letter quoted in court by prosecutor Nicole Blumberg, Mann said she could “no longer endure going through this” and that the eight-year-old case had “put me through more harm than good”. Blumberg told the court that prosecutors believed Mann and praised her “bravery, strength, courage and inspiration” to other survivors, but said that, given her feelings about proceeding, “dismissal is appropriate”. Judge Curtis Farber then formally dismissed the case.

Weinstein left court without visible reaction and was taken back to jail. Outside court, his lawyer Jacob Kaplan said his client was relieved. “These charges should never have been brought to begin with,” Kaplan said. “He is innocent.”

Mann had testified that she and Weinstein were in a consensual, on-and-off relationship while he was married. But she told jurors that she repeatedly tried to leave and said no to sexual activity when he cornered her in a hotel room on March 18, 2013. According to her testimony, they had planned to meet in the lobby for breakfast, but Weinstein had unexpectedly taken a room. She said he kept pressing her, demanded that she undress and grabbed her arms until she was too afraid to continue protesting.

The latest retrial this spring appeared to take a heavy toll on Mann, who is 40. During five days of testimony, she was questioned for the first time about a diary-like note she wrote two days after the alleged rape that did not mention the incident. At one stage, she said she was struggling to focus, leading the court to end proceedings early for the day. In her letter on Thursday, she said she had suffered a concussion shortly before testifying, had headaches and other symptoms on the stand, and ultimately “disassociated”. She called it a humiliating addition to an already crushing experience, writing: “I have been fragmented, silenced, defamed and traumatised. I’ve paid the price of my reputation.” Criticising the court, the media and Weinstein, she wrote that her experience showed that “pursuing justice is better left a pipe dream”.

Weinstein was once one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers, behind films including Shakespeare in Love, Pulp Fiction and Chocolat. In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him became public, fuelling the #MeToo movement and leading to criminal cases in New York and Los Angeles. He denied all the allegations and was acquitted in some cases even as he was convicted in others. He was convicted in 2020 of raping Mann, but an appeals court later overturned that verdict for reasons unrelated to her testimony. Jury deliberations then broke down at a 2025 retrial, and jurors deadlocked again at this year’s retrial. The rape charge carried a maximum sentence of four years, less than the time the 74-year-old has already served. Weinstein did not testify in any of the trials, although he later complained that the process was unfair, while his lawyers continued to argue that his accusers had consensual sexual relationships with him. Weinstein has said: “I acted wrongly, but I never assaulted anyone.” Thursday’s dismissal ends the New York rape case related to Mann’s allegation, while his other convictions and appeals continue.

With PTI Inputs

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