Jurors claim they were bullied into convicting Harvey Weinstein
NEW YORK—Two jurors who voted in June to convict Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault said they regret the decision and only did so because others on the panel bullied them, the former movie mogul’s lawyers said in a newly public court filing.
Weinstein’s lawyers are seeking to overturn his conviction for first-degree criminal sex act, arguing in papers unsealed on 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.”
