Latest news with #mistrial
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Boston rape trial: Judge declares mistrial after jury unable to reach decision
A jury has been unable to reach a verdict in the case of the Dublin firefighter accused of raping a US woman in Boston over St Patrick's Day weekend last year. Terence Crosbie (38) was on trial for raping a 29-year-old attorney in a shared hotel room while his Dublin Fire Brigade colleague Liam O'Brien slept. On Friday afternoon, when the jury of eight men and four women returned to the courtroom to outline that they they could not reach a verdict, the judge said: 'I find that this jury is hung.' After more than 22 hours of deliberation over four days the jury of eight men and four women were unable to reach a decision. READ MORE On Friday afternoon, following queries by the jury and statements that they could not reach a verdict, judge Sarah Ellis said: 'I declare that this jury is deadlocked and I declare a mistrial.' His next trial is set for October 14th. After declaring a mistrial Judge Ellis increased Mr Crosbie's bail from $10,000 to $50,000 declaring Mr Crosbie to be a flight risk. 'The state of the evidence is no longer speculative in this case,' Judge Ellis said. Mr Crosbie was one of more than 10 members of Dublin Fire Brigade who flew into Boston on March 14th to participate in the St Patrick's Day parade. The woman alleged that later that night she met Mr O'Brien at The Black Rose bar, returned with him to the Omni Parker House hotel, had consensual sex and fell asleep in separate beds. She alleged she awoke to a man she did not know raping her and disparaging Mr O'Brien who was snoring. 'I know you want this; [Mr O'Brien] can't even do this for you – what a loser,' she claimed Mr Crosbie said. The complainant and Mr Crosbie both testified during the five-day trial. Prosecutors said the complainant's testimony that she 'woke up' with a man raping her was supported by CCTV footage of Mr Crosbie entering the hotel room at the time in question and the complainant leaving 20 minutes later. Just because the woman went home with Mr O'Brien 'doesn't mean that that man's hotel roommate gets to rape her', prosecutor Erin Murphy told the court. Mr Crosbie 'isn't the unluckiest man in the world; he is the man who raped,' she said. His defence lawyer Daniel C Reilly asked jurors to end Mr Crosbie's 'nightmare' with an acquittal. Mr Crosbie was steadfast in his denial of the assault, insisting through his attorneys, police interviews and his own testimony that he 'didn't touch' the woman. 'There was nobody in my bed - my bed was empty,' Mr Crosbie told the court. 'I had no physical or sexual contact with her at all'. Mr Crosbie insisted that words the complainant attributed to the assailant such as 'loser' was 'not an Irish term'. His defence team called into question DNA evidence collected from the woman. Analysts found two male profiles but could not conclusively identify Mr Crosbie as the second male contributor. The defence also sought to discredit the woman's account citing 'gaps' in her memory, insisting she was inebriated and questioning her about psychiatric medication in cross examination. Mr Crosbie has been held at the Nashua Street jail in Boston since his arrest on March 16th, 2024.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Harvey Weinstein gets mistrial on rape charge after jury drama spirals out of control
Harvey Weinstein's sex crimes retrial ended with no verdict on a rape charge Thursday as the jury foreperson refused to continue deliberating because of alleged threats from another juror — just one day after the disgraced Miramax mogul was convicted on a more serious sex rap. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber ruled that the deadlocked jury had not been able to reach a unanimous verdict on whether Weinstein, 73, raped former actress Jessica Mann inside a Midtown hotel room in 2013. 'Sometimes jury deliberations become heated. I understand this particular deliberation was more heated than some others. That's unfortunate,' Farber told the panelists, before finding a mistrial on the rape charge. The decision to call an end to the eight-week trial came after chaotic deliberations in which the panel of seven women and five men ultimately delivered a split verdict Wednesday, convicting Weinstein of one count of criminal sex act in the first degree and acquitting on a second count of that same rap. Jury dysfunction broke out last week when one juror expressed that 'playground' bullying was happening during deliberations — which leaked into the following days as the foreperson, Juror No.1, claimed that a fellow panelist verbally threatened him, telling him, 'I would meet you outside one day.' The judge ordered the jury to 'cool off' Wednesday, pausing deliberations before the partial verdict was delivered. He ordered the jurors to keep weighing the rape charge Thursday — and in the morning summoned the foreperson to the courtroom to ask him if he was able to continue working with the others. 'No, I'm sorry,' the juror said. Weinstein, who has often been reserved to moderate expressions from his black wheelchair, clapped three times when the juror refused to head back into deliberations. The judge said after in court that he spoke with others on the panel, who told him they were 'extremely disappointed' in not being able to finish their duty — while also pouring water on the foreperson's claims that deliberations were as toxic as they seemed. 'They did not describe anything that rose to the level of threats,' the judge said. As jurors were leaving the courthouse, several expressed frustration with deliberations and criticized the jury foreman, calling the jury dysfunction 'overblown.' The jury was hung on whether to convict Weinstein of rape in the third degree for allegedly assaulting Mann, who sobbed on the stand while describing the rape, and seeing Weinstein's erection-inducing drug needle in the trash afterward. Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said prosecutors were ready to roll and retry Weinstein for the third time on Mann's accusation. But Weinstein's attorney, Arthur Aidala, asked for the charge to be dismissed. The judge set a hearing for July 2 to schedule a trial date. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg explained that his decision to retry the case for the third time was for 'survivors.' 'Harvey Weinstein is going to be held accountable for his conduct as to Ms. Haley, and he's facing a very significant term of imprisonment for that,' Bragg said at a press conference. 'But the jury was not able to reach a conclusion as to Jessica Mann, and she deserved that.' Mann said in a statement that she will go to bat for prosecutors and testify for a third time against Weinstein. 'I will never give up on myself and making sure my voice – and the truth – is heard. I have told the District Attorney I am ready, willing and able to endure this as many times as it takes for justice and accountability to be served. Today is not the end of my fight,' Mann said. Weinstein was convicted of criminal sex act in the first degree Wednesday for assaulting Miriam 'Mimi' Haley, a former TV production assistant, at his Soho loft in 2006. Jurors acquitted Weinstein of the same charge pertaining to the alleged rape of former Polish model Kaja Sokola, who testified that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her at a Tribeca hotel in 2006, days shy of her 20th birthday. Weinstein faces a sentence of up to 25 years in prison for the conviction of first-degree criminal sex act. The rape charge he faces carries a potential sentence of up to four years in prison. The producer perv has also been sentenced to 16 years in California for raping an Italian model at a film festival in 2013. He was initially found guilty at trial in 2020 of criminal sex act and rape and given a 23-year prison sentence — but New York's highest court tossed the conviction last year. Weinstein's attorney, who bemoaned over-and-over about how ex-Miramax studio boss wasn't getting a fair trial, said that they will appeal the partial conviction. 'We have very powerful evidence that there was gross juror misconduct at this trial,' Aidala said.
The Independent
13-06-2025
- The Independent
Weinstein rape charge juror labeled ‘sneaky' as tense deliberations lead to mistrial
A juror in Harvey Weinstein's retrial case called a fellow jury member 'sneaky,' as the judge declared a mistrial on a remaining rape charge after the foreperson declined to deliberate. The refusal came a day after a split verdict on other charges, prompting Judge Curtis Farber to declare a mistrial on the rape count on Thursday (12 June). The foreperson complained that some jurors were pushing others to change their minds and discussing information beyond the charges. Juror Chantan Holmes disputed this as she left court, claiming she believed he was just tired of deliberating. 'He never worked with any of us to tell us what he was doing. Everything he did was sneaky,' she said.
News.com.au
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Judge declares mistrial on one of three Harvey Weinstein rape charges
The mistrial ruling came one day after the jury convicted Weinstein on a separate sex abuse charge. It acquitted him on a second charge. Weinstein, once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, faced a retrial that began on 23 April after a New York State appeals court overturned his 2020 conviction last year. He was accused by prosecutors of raping an aspiring and assaulting two other women. Weinstein pleaded not guilty and has denied assaulting anyone or having non-consensual sex.
News24
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News24
Harvey Weinstein retrial drama: Mistrial declared after heated juror clash on rape charge
On Thursday, a mistrial was declared on the outstanding rape charge against Harvey Weinstein in his sex crimes retrial. Judge Curtis Farber dismissed jurors who had been unable to reach a verdict on the charge that Weinstein raped Jessica Mann. Weinstein's lawyer, Arthur Aidala, had forcefully argued that a crime had been committed against one of the jurors, but the judge dismissed the claim. The judge in the Harvey Weinstein sex crimes retrial declared a mistrial on the outstanding rape charge against the movie producer Thursday after the jury foreperson refused to return to deliberate the case amid a jury room feud. In front of packed press and public benches in the 13th-floor New York courtroom, Judge Curtis Farber dismissed jurors who had been unable to reach a verdict on the charge that Weinstein raped Jessica Mann. 'Deliberations became heated to such a degree I am obligated to declare a mistrial on the one count on which you didn't reach a verdict,' Farber declared from the wood-panelled bench, wearing a robe and reading glasses. Weinstein's lawyer, Arthur Aidala, had forcefully argued that a crime had been committed against one of the jurors, but the judge dismissed the claim. On Wednesday, the jury convicted Weinstein of sexual assault on Miriam Haley and acquitted the fallen movie mogul for allegedly sexually assaulting Kaja Sokola. The defence vowed to appeal. The prosecutor brushed off the defence's claim that a retrial on the charge of raping Mann would exert unfair pressure on the alleged victim. 'We will proceed to trial, and that is what justice would be in this case,' Nicole Blumberg said. Outside court, Aidala alleged that two jurors had indicated to his team that the panel had considered the cases of rapper Sean 'P Diddy' Combs and convicted child sex abuser R. Kelly in their discussions. '(If) they say, 'Well, look at R Kelly. Look what's going on across the street with P Diddy'... That's not what you can do, and that's what we just heard happen,' said the sharp-suited attorney. Combs is on trial at a nearby courthouse for alleged racketeering and other crimes, and the publicity of that case has largely eclipsed Weinstein's retrial. ANGELA WEISS / AFP Weinstein, 73 and wheelchair-bound by ill-health, is already in jail for a 16-year term after he was convicted in a separate California case of raping a European actress more than a decade ago. Proceedings in New York have been dogged by personal issues between jurors, two of whom have privately complained to the judge about fellow panellists. The foreman had told Judge Farber he could not continue after facing threats. 'One other juror made comments to the effect 'I'll meet you outside one day',' the judge said Wednesday quoting the foreman, adding there was yelling between jurors. After Weinstein's lawyer demanded a mistrial over the jury rupture, Weinstein himself addressed the court Wednesday, deploying a commanding voice reminiscent of his Hollywood heyday. 'Threats, violence, intimidation' 'We've heard threats, violence, intimidation - this is not right for me... the person who is on trial here,' he said. The Oscar-winner's conviction on the Haley charge is a vindication for Haley, whose complaint in part led to the initial guilty verdict in 2020. That landmark case helped spur the 'MeToo' movement that saw an outpouring of allegations from prominent women who were abused by men. Weinstein underwent a spectacular fall from his position at the top of the world of Hollywood and show business in 2017 when allegations against him exploded into public. The movement upended the film industry, exposing the systemic exploitation of young women seeking to work in entertainment and provoking a reckoning on how to end the toxic culture. More than 80 women accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct in the wake of the global backlash against men abusing positions of power. Weinstein's original 2020 conviction and the resulting 23-year prison term were thrown out last year after an appeals court found irregularities in the way witnesses were presented.
