Weinstein avoids new retrial as N.Y. rape charges dropped

New York prosecutors opted not to retry former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein on third-degree rape charges, according to a Thursday statement from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Prosecutors dropped the charges to spare the alleged victim, Jessica Mann, from testifying in a fourth trial, Bragg said. Mann testified before two grand juries and three trial juries over the span of eight years, which has been extremely taxing on her, Bragg explained.

A jury initially convicted Weinstein in 2020 of raping Mann, an aspiring actress at the time of the assault. However, the New York Court of Appeals overturned the conviction in 2024, leading prosecutors to refile the charges. Weinstein’s latest trial over the rape charges ended in a mistrial last month due to a hung jury. The 74-year-old will remain behind bars serving out a 16-year prison sentence he received for a 2022 rape conviction in California.

Weinstein attorney Jacob Kaplan commended Bragg for dropping the charges while speaking with reporters outside the courthouse. Kaplan insisted on Weinstein’s innocence and claimed the charges should never have been brought in the first place. Bragg’s office withheld communications between Weinstein and Mann that appeared to show a loving and consensual relationship for several years, Kaplan told reporters.