A New York rape charge against the movie mogul, Harvey Weinstein, has been dropped.
The accuser, Jessica Mann, has chosen not to pursue the case any further.
Mann has cited the immense toll the jury deliberations have taken on her.
Harvey Weinstein has been absolved of a New York rape charge after his accuser said she could not endure testifying again, leading prosecutors to drop the #MeToo-era case on Thursday.
What Are The Allegations Against Weinstein?
The Oscar-winning producer still remains convicted of another sexual felony in New York and others in California. But the New York rape charge is now formally dismissed. Jessica Mann had stressed she repeatedly tried to leave and said no to any sexual activity as he cornered her in the hotel room. “After a lot of thought and reflection, I have chosen not to proceed with a fourth trial against Harvey Weinstein,” Mann wrote in a letter that a prosecutor read to the court. “It was clear to me at this last trial I could no longer endure going through this any longer.” Mann testified that Weinstein had raped her in 2013 at a Manhattan hotel. The trial was brutal on Mann who testified for five days and was interrogated for the first time about a diary-like note she wrote two days after the alleged rape, which the note did not mention.
At one point during her testimony, Mann said she was struggling to focus, prompting court to wrap up early for the day. Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg said Thursday that prosecutors believe Mann and hail her “bravery, strength, courage and inspiration” to other survivors, but given her feelings about proceeding, “dismissal is appropriate.”
"To be clear, we believe Ms Mann's account and her credibility as a witness," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr said. "This has been an extraordinarily taxing ordeal for her, and she has never wavered while testifying in front of two grand juries and three trial juries over the course of eight years," Bragg added. "We thank her for her honesty and her tremendous bravery."
The 74-year-old Weinstein, meanwhile, reported chest pains during jury deliberations in the most recent trial, spurring another early end to court. He has maintained all the sexual encounters were consensual. Weinstein was initially convicted in New York in 2020 of raping Mann, an aspiring actress, as well as sexually assaulting former Project Runway assistant Miriam Haley.
