Harvey Weinstein lawyers claim cancel culture infiltrated jury room: 2 have regrets, say they were bullied into guilty verdict | Fortune

"Weinstein's lawyers are seeking to overturn his conviction for first-degree criminal sex act, arguing in papers unsealed Thursday that the guilty verdict was marred by "threats, intimidation, and extraneous bias," and that the judge failed to properly deal with it at the time. In sworn affidavits included with the filing, two jurors said they felt overwhelmed and intimidated by jurors who wanted to convict Weinstein on the charge, which accused him of forcing oral sex on TV and film production assistant and producer Miriam Haley in 2006."

"One juror said she was screamed at in the jury room and told, "we have to get rid of you." The other juror said anyone who doubted Weinstein's guilt was grilled by other jurors and that if he could have voted by secret ballot, "I would have returned a not guilty verdict on all three charges." "I regret the verdict," that juror said. "Without the intimidation from other jurors, I believe that the jury would have hung on the Miriam Haley charge.""

"Weinstein, 73, was acquitted on a second criminal sex act charge involving a different woman, Polish psychotherapist and former model Kaja Sokola. The judge declared a mistrial on the final charge, alleging Weinstein raped former actor Jessica Mann, after the jury foreperson declined to deliberate further. It was the second time the Oscar-winning producer was tried on some of the charges. His 2020 conviction, a watershed moment for the # MeToo movement, was overturned last year."

Two jurors who voted to convict Harvey Weinstein in June said they regretted their decisions and said they were bullied by other panel members. Weinstein's lawyers filed to overturn his first-degree criminal sex act conviction, asserting the guilty verdict was tainted by threats, intimidation, and extraneous bias and that the judge failed to address the issue. Sworn affidavits say one juror was screamed at and another said doubters were aggressively grilled, with one juror saying she would have voted not guilty if ballots had been secret. Weinstein was acquitted on a second charge and a mistrial was declared on a third; his defense seeks to vacate the retrial conviction and avoid another retrial.

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