Weinstein juror recalls ‘tension’ of deciding producer’s fate

ONE of the jurors who found Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape has spoken of the moment when they agreed to convict the Hollywood producer.

The 12 people – seven men and five women – decided unanimously on Monday to find Weinstein guilty of rape and a criminal sex act, but not guilty of the most serious charge of predatory sexual assault.

“Tensions were high. Tensions were very high. Everyone was nervous,” said “Juror Number Two”, in an interview with Inside Edition, CBS’S news programme.

The juror said she had no idea who Weinstein was, until a fellow jury member told her.

In the end it took five days to decide Weinstein’s fate. “My hands were sweaty,” she said, of the moment a decision was reached. “It was like: ‘This is it, this is the moment.’”

The jury failed to convict Weinstein of the most serious charge because they were unable to accept that he was a predator – meaning that he attacked two or more women in the same manner. For that charge to hold, the jury was asked to weigh up the testimony of Annabella Sciorra, the Sopranos actress, plus either Jessica Mann or Mimi Haley.

The juror said that several of her colleagues found Sciorra convincing, even though they were unable to convict Weinstein based on her testimony.

“I feel like the ways things went for her, it was wrong, very much so wrong, and I just feel like hopefully with the verdict that we gave, she has some type of closure,” she said.

The juror said that she hopes the verdict allows the six women who testified to move on with their lives.