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Some legal experts said the jury's questions
made it appear the seven men and five women were nearing a
guilty verdict on at least one of the five counts against the
producer of movies including "The English Patient" and
"Shakespeare in Love".
A source within Weinstein's defense team said speculation about
the verdict would be "premature and a mistake".
The jurors asked Justice James Burke on Friday afternoon whether
they could be hung on the two counts of predatory sexual assault
and unanimous on the other three, which include first-degree
rape.
Conviction on the predatory assault charges, which carry a
potential life sentence, would indicate that Weinstein is a
repeat sexual offender. Two of the other charges carry prison
terms of up to 25 years, while the third is up to 4 years.
Three legal experts, including Gerald Lefcourt, a criminal
defense attorney who is not involved in the case, told Reuters
that from their question to the judge it seemed the jurors were
willing to convict Weinstein on the less serious counts.
Burke told them it is common for juries to have difficulty
reaching a unanimous verdict, but that most are eventually able
to do so.
"Please resume your deliberations," he said.
The jury later broke for the weekend and is expected to continue
deliberating on Monday.
Asked outside the court in Manhattan what he thought the verdict
would be, Weinstein, 67, shrugged and said he remained
confident.
Donna Rotunno, his lead lawyer, has said the defense would be
willing to accept a partial verdict, meaning the judge would
accept the jury's decision on some counts and tell them to keep
deliberating on the others. The prosecution has said it would
not.
Weinstein has been charged with raping Jessica Mann, a onetime
aspiring actress, and sexually assaulting former production
assistant Mimi Haleyi. He denies the charges.
Annabella Sciorra, best known for her role in HBO's "The
Sopranos," testified that Weinstein came to her New York
apartment one winter night in 1993 or 1994, raped her and then
forced oral sex on her.
That accusation is too old to be charged as a separate crime,
but was introduced by prosecutors as an aggravating factor for
the charges of predatory sexual assault on which the jury
suggested it may be deadlocked.
Jurors can convict Weinstein of predatory sexual assault if they
find that he committed the assault against Sciorra and at least
one of the alleged crimes against Haleyi or Mann.
Defense lawyer Michael Bachner, who is not involved in the case,
said it seemed the jury had convicted Weinstein on the counts
related to the individual complainants.
"Otherwise there really would be no reason for them to be
considering the testimony of Ms. Sciorra," Bachner said.
Another legal expert, defense attorney Julie Rendelman, said the
jurors might be confused by the complexity of the predatory
sexual assault charge.
The jury began its deliberations on Tuesday.
Since 2017, more than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual
misconduct. He has denied the accusations and said any sexual
encounters were consensual.
The allegations fueled the #MeToo movement, in which women have
accused powerful men in business, entertainment, media and
politics of sexual misconduct.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson; Additional reporting by Maria
Caspani, Gabriella Borter and Tom Hals; Writing by Noeleen
Walder; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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