A Los Angeles jury found disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein guilty Monday of three sex crimes related to his rape of a Russian-Italian model, compounding the sentencing exposure he faced from his New York convictions.
The mixed verdict fell short of a wholesale victory for prosecutors: Jurors acquitted him of another crime and deadlocked on the remaining three.
Jurors acquitted Weinstein of sexually battery by restraint related to Jane Doe 3, who is Juls Bindi, a Hollywood masseuse who said Weinstein touched her breast while masturbating in front of her after a massage in 2010.
They hung on Weinstein’s three other charges, as well as a misdemeanor charge prosecutors included as a lesser alternative to Bindi’s sexual battery charge. They split 10-2 in favor of guilty on sexual battery by restraint involving Jane Doe 2, who said Weinstein groped her breast while masturbating in front of her at the Montage hotel in Beverly Hills, also in February 2013. They also split 8-4 in favor of guilty for forced oral copulation and forcible rape of Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who is the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
Announced about 3:40 p.m. in Los Angeles, the verdict follows about 40 hours of deliberation over 9 1/2 days. Judge Lisa B. Lench declared a mistrial for the remaining counts after jurors said further deliberations wouldn’t help. Prosecutors have not said how they’ll proceed.