There are court cases that end quickly, and then there is this one, a story that refuses to close its file. This week, the doors of a Manhattan courtroom open again for Harvey Weinstein, the once-powerful Hollywood producer who now returns as a criminal defendant for the third time on the same accusation: that he raped an aspiring actress in a hotel room.
Jury selection started on Tuesday. Opening statements could begin any day this week. Weinstein, 74, has pleaded not guilty and continues to deny all charges. But what makes this trial unusual is not just the accusation. It is the fact that a jury has already seen this story twice before, and still no final answer has stuck.
Inside the courtroom, outside pressure, legal twists, and years of retrials hang heavily over the proceedings. Outside it, Weinstein remains a figure defined not by movies anymore, but by a legal fight that has stretched across nearly a decade, turning into one of the most closely watched criminal sagas linked to the #MeToo movement.
Why this case is being tried again
The case against Weinstein has moved in circles through the New York legal system.
In 2020, a Manhattan jury, made up of five men and seven women, convicted him of rape and a criminal sexual act. At the same time, they acquitted him of three other charges, including two of the most serious: predatory sexual assault.
But that conviction did not hold. In 2024, New York’s highest court overturned the verdict. The reason was procedural: the trial judge had allowed testimony from women who described alleged sexual assaults that were not part of the formal charges. The court ruled that this unfairly influenced the jury, and ordered a new trial.
That decision reset everything.
Last year, Weinstein went through second trial in New York. Nearly 30 witnesses took stand. Courtroom was again packed with testimony, cross-examinations, arguments.
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This time, the case included multiple accusations. One was from Jessica Mann, an aspiring actress who says Weinstein raped her in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013. Another involved Miriam Haley, a former production assistant on ‘Project Runway’, who accused him of sexual assault in his Manhattan apartment in 2006.
A third woman, Kaja Sokola, was added later in 2024. She alleged that Weinstein committed a criminal sexual act against her in a Manhattan hotel in 2006, an allegation she had not testified about in the first trial.
The second trial ended in confusion inside the jury room. Deliberations reportedly broke down. The foreman refused to continue. The judge accepted a partial outcome.
Weinstein was found guilty on one count involving Haley, specifically first-degree criminal sexual act, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years. He was acquitted of Sokola’s allegations. On the Mann charge, the one now returning to court, the jury could not reach a decision. It was declared a mistrial on that count.
Now, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L Bragg has decided to try again, saying Jessica Mann deserves a final verdict.
The current charge
At the centre of this third trial is one allegation that Weinstein raped Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.
Mann has already testified about her version of events in the previous trial. She said she first met Weinstein when she was around 27, after she moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Soon after, she claims, he pressured her into giving him a massage.
She described disturbing details during testimony, including saying his back was covered in blackheads and had a “texture of bark.”
Years later, in 2013, she was in New York and had arranged to meet friends, along with Weinstein, for a morning meal. According to her account, he arrived early and booked a hotel room, even though she objected to the idea.
Still, she went with him to the room.
Inside, she said, he injected his penis with medication to create an erection and then raped her. She told the court it was the first time she remembered him “putting his penis inside of me.” She said she tried to resist but eventually stopped fighting because, in her words, “I just gave up, I wanted to get out.”
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Mann also described what happened after the alleged assault as complicated and emotionally confusing. She said she continued to communicate with Weinstein through emails and phone calls and even had consensual sexual encounters with him at different times.
She referred to it as a “dance,” saying she tried to keep him both close enough not to anger him and distant enough to protect herself. At one point, she even said she entered what she described as a romantic relationship with him.
After the last mistrial, Mann publicly said she was willing to continue the process repeatedly if necessary, stating she was “ready, willing and able to endure this as many times as it takes for justice and accountability to be served.”
Inside the courtroom: Juries, deadlocks, legal pressure
This trial is not just about evidence. It is also about a courtroom process already strained by repetition.
Weinstein has consistently denied all allegations. In earlier proceedings, his lawyers argued against the credibility of the witnesses and the structure of the prosecution’s case. After the mistrial last year, the courtroom itself appeared tense and divided.
The jury deliberations in the second trial reportedly broke down under pressure. The foreman refused to continue discussions, which led the judge, Justice Curtis Farber of the New York State Supreme Court, to accept only part of the verdict.
That breakdown added another layer of uncertainty to a case already marked by reversals and retrials.
Weinstein, meanwhile, has spoken about the toll the process has taken on him. Earlier this year, he told the judge that the situation “feels like a slow march to my death.” He also described what he called dysfunction among jurors, repeated trials, and “outside pressures” that he believes have shaped the outcome in advance.
Life inside prison hospitals, Rikers, and ongoing illness claims
While the courtroom battle continues, Weinstein’s life outside it has been largely confined to detention facilities and hospitals.
He has been in jail or prison since his 2020 conviction in New York. During that time, he was also tried in California, where he was convicted of sexual assault in 2022 and sentenced to 16 years in prison. He is currently appealing that verdict.
In 2024, after his New York conviction was overturned, he was moved back to the Rikers Island jail complex from a prison in Rome, New York.
Since then, his health has become a recurring issue in court proceedings. Early in 2025, Weinstein complained he was not receiving proper medical care at Rikers.
His lawyers have filed emergency requests, stating he suffers from multiple conditions, including diabetes, spinal stenosis, and fluid buildup around his heart and lungs. They argued that he required specialised care and asked for transfer to a secured unit at Bellevue Hospital Center.
In September, Weinstein underwent emergency heart surgery. The following month, he was diagnosed with cancer. Despite these developments, he has since been moved back primarily to Rikers Island.
These medical issues are expected to continue overlapping with his legal proceedings.