Weinstein rape trial jury to start 2nd week of deliberations

Jurors in Harvey Weinstein’s rape and sexual assault trial in Los Angeles are set to resume deliberations on Monday — 10 days after the final arguments were heard and a judge instructed them to decide whether the disgraced Hollywood producer is guilty of sex crimes.

Weinstein’s second sexual assault trial is centering on accusations from incidents involving four women who say they were lured into what they thought would be meetings with the then-Hollywood powerhouse at luxury hotels in Los Angeles from 2004 to 2013.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Jurors, who began hearing testimony from dozens of witnesses in late October, started deliberations on Dec. 2, shortly after prosecutors urged them to find Weinstein guilty.

“You have irrefutable, overwhelming evidence of the nature of this man, and what he did to these women,” Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson, the prosecutor leading the case against Weinstein told the panel.

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Jurors have yet to reach a verdict after deliberating for more than five days. They were sent home Friday afternoon and are expected back on Monday morning.

Earlier on Friday, one of the five alternate jurors asked if he could be excused due to travel plans, but the judge denied his request.

Weinstein became a central figure in the #MeToo movement in 2017 after he was accused by more than 80 women of sexual misconduct.

He is already serving a 23-year sentence for criminal first-degree sexual assault and third-degree rape for a trial in New York — but denies ever engaging in any non-consensual sex.

During closing arguments, defense attorney Alan Jackson told the jury that two of Weinstein’s accusers were lying, while the other two had “100% consensual” sexual relations with the Oscar-winning producer.

If convicted on all counts in Los Angeles, he could get up to 60 years.

With News Wire Services