Harvey Weinstein Found Guilty of Rape in New York City Trial

Harvey Weinstein‘s fate has been decided after spending years in and out of the courtroom. 

On Monday, a jury of seven men and five women came to a verdict in the 2-year trial. The disgraced Hollywood producer, who has been the subject of dozens of various public sexual misconduct allegations since The New York Times and The New Yorker published sequential reports in 2017, was found guilty on two counts, rape in the third degree and criminal sexual act in the first degree. He was found not guilty on two counts of predatory sexual assault and one count of rape in the first degree. 

Weinstein, who has continuously denied all allegations of non-consensual sex, was handcuffed and taken out of the courtroom. He will be sentenced on March 11. 

“This trial — and the jury’s decision today — marks a new era of justice, not just for the Silence Breakers, who spoke out at great personal risk, but for all survivors of harassment, abuse, and assault at work,” Tina Tchen, president and CEO of the TIME’S UP Foundation, said in a statement. “We owe a debt of gratitude to Mimi Haleyi, Jessica Mann, Annabella Sciorra, Dawn Dunning, Tarale Wulff, and Lauren Young and all the Silence Breakers for their bravery and resolve as they faced this man in court. We continue to believe them — all of them — and continue to be in solidarity with them.”

“The jury’s verdict sends a powerful message to the world of just how much progress has been made since the Weinstein Silence Breakers ignited an unstoppable movement. In two short years, TIME’S UP helped pass new laws to help survivors achieve justice, helped thousands of individuals take on harassers and abusers in court, and changed the game when it comes to how matters of safety and equity in the workplace are understood,” her statement continued. “While we celebrate this historic moment, our fight to fix the broken system that has allowed serial abusers like Harvey Weinstein to abuse women in the first place continues. Abusers everywhere and the powerful forces that protect them should be on notice: There’s no going back.”

Prosecutors rested their case on Feb. 6, after the court heard testimony from six women, two of which Weinstein is alleged to have assaulted and for which he was facing the charges. The remaining four women were asked to testify to prove Weinstein acted in a “pattern of sexual predation.”

The defense, on the other hand, tried to discredit his accusers, claiming they were willing participants in the sexual acts. One defense witness even claimed accuser Jessica Mann “spoke highly” of Weinstein.

Weinstein’s team rested its case without the 67-year-old taking the stand to testify. In doing so, the prosecution was not given the opportunity to cross-examine him. 

“Weinstein may be able to avoid testifying in the criminal trial, but he will not be afforded that right in his civil trials,” attorney Douglas H. Wigdor, who represents several of the alleged victims, said in a statement. “I relish the day when I get to cross-examine him and ask him to answer for the wrongs he has committed against so many women.”


Weinstein’s legal battle began in May 2018 when he was arrested and charged in New York City and, days later, indicted by a grand jury. In June 2018, Weinstein pleaded not guilty to three of the charges and pleaded not guilty to additional charges the following month. 

With this case now closed, Weinstein will likely return to Los Angeles, where he’s also facing four sexual assault charges. He is accused of allegedly raping an unidentified woman in her hotel room and allegedly sexually assaulting a different woman in a Beverly Hills hotel suite the following evening. Both acts supposedly took place in February 2013. Weinstein has yet to formally enter a plea in Los Angeles.