Jurors deadlocked in Harvey Weinstein ’s rape retrial on Friday (local time), forcing another mistrial in a #MeToo-era case that has gone to trial three times so far.

While the former Hollywood mogul has been convicted of other sex crimes on two US coasts and remains behind bars, the mistrial leaves the New York rape charge in limbo.

Weinstein appeared expressionless as court officers ushered him out in his wheelchair.

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The majority-male Manhattan jury had been weighing whether Weinstein raped Jessica Mann, a hairstylist and actor.

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Weinstein’s lawyers argued that the encounter was consensual. It happened in 2013 during a fraught relationship between the then-married Weinstein and the decades-younger Mann.

A juror, Josh Hadar, told reporters that he and eight others wanted to acquit Weinstein. He said Mann had an “incredible memory” when she testified for the prosecution but “forgot a lot of things” when questioned by defence attorneys.

“It spoke a little bit to her credibility. … In general, we feel kind of upset that we couldn’t come up with a verdict. We tried really hard,” Hadar, 57, said.

Weinstein’s defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo called it “a great day for our jury system.”

Juror Sarae Perez, 25, said the threshold for a conviction — beyond a reasonable doubt — was on her mind.

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“There were places where we couldn’t trust her word for it,” she said.

Mann said in a statement that the mistrial “doesn’t in any way detract from the truth I told.”

She said she relived painful moments and faced public attacks while seeking justice because “the power of predators remains too great.”

No immediate decision about a fourth trial

Signs of a split jury emerged a few hours into their third day of deliberations, when they sent a note saying they couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.

Judge Curtis Farber told them to keep trying, a common step when a jury first says it’s stuck.

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More than an hour later, they sent another note saying: “We feel that no one is going to change where they stand.”

A hearing was set for June 24 to learn whether prosecutors will choose to go to a fourth trial. District Attorney Alvin Bragg said he was disappointed with the result but “we deeply respect the jury system.”

Bragg said his staff will consult Mann about another trial and also take into account what happens to Weinstein when he's sentenced in another case.

Mann was not in court when the mistrial was declared.

How the case returned for a third trial

As an Oscar-winning movie producer and studio boss, Weinstein was one of Hollywood’s most powerful figures and a significant Democratic donor before the long-suppressed sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations against him cascaded into public view in 2017.

The revelations galvanized the #MeToo movement ’s demands for accountability for sexual misconduct, made Weinstein a pariah, bankrupted the studio and ultimately led to criminal charges against him in New York and Los Angeles.

He was convicted of some and acquitted of others.

Yet Mann’s allegation lingered. Weinstein was convicted of the charge in 2020.

Then an appeals court overturned that verdict, and jury deliberations broke down at a 2025 retrial. That paved the way for this year’s retrial.

Weinstein has said he was unfaithful to his then-wife and “acted wrongly, but I never assaulted anyone.”

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Jury heard from Weinstein's accuser

Mann, now 40, met Weinstein at a Los Angeles party in early 2013, when she hoped to build a handful of acting credits into a big career. He took interest and soon showed that it wasn’t purely professional.

She said his initial, pushy overtures discomfited her, but she acceded to them and decided to develop a relationship with him.

She was staying with a friend at a Manhattan hotel in March 2013 when Weinstein showed up early for a planned breakfast and got a room over her objections, Mann testified.

She said she accompanied Weinstein to the room to talk and made it clear she didn’t want sex.

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“I said ‘no,’ over and over, and I tried to leave,” she told jurors during five days of intense testimony.

She said that Weinstein blocked her from leaving and grabbed her arms.

Scared, she gave up protesting, complied with his demands to undress, and laid on a bed while he went into a bathroom, she told jurors.

Then, Mann said, he raped her.

Mann told no one for years about the alleged rape. Nor did she mention it in her introspective, private writing two days later.

In a note to herself, she grappled with conflicted feelings about becoming “emotionally attached” in a nonexclusive relationship with a man she didn’t name.

After Weinstein’s new lawyers confronted Mann with the note, she said she hadn’t needed to write down the allegation.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted, unless they choose to make their names public, as Mann has done.

Weinstein defence: Mann was supportive

Weinstein didn’t testify.

In his lawyers’ telling, Mann was a willing partner in a close, supportive relationship with a show-business insider who opened doors for her, but she turned on him once he became an outcast.

In the months and years after the New York encounter, Mann kept seeing and communicating with Weinstein.

At times, she pulled away to pursue and preserve a relationship with a new boyfriend, according to her emails and testimony.

At other times, she turned back to Weinstein, who validated her acting dreams, told her he was proud of her and responded caringly when her father was terminally ill.

“I love u. Anything u need,” Weinstein wrote.

Over the years, he helped Mann land a movie audition — it went nowhere — and a hairstyling job.

She asked him for help with such things as a car problem and a club membership, though she declined a package his office tried to send in summer 2013, when she couldn’t make rent. Mann said she understood the envelope contained $1300 ($US1000) in cash.

In one of her last emails to Weinstein, in February 2017, she wrote: “I love you, always do. But I hate feeling like a booty call.”

When he responded by suggesting she was “joking” and should stop using his company email, she said it was a joke and apologized.

Eight months later, she saw the news reports that propelled his downfall and ultimately prompted her to go to police.

Mann never sued Weinstein, but after his 2020 conviction, she filed for and got about $690,000 from a sexual misconduct settlement fund set up during his company’s bankruptcy.

The payout was mentioned at last year’s retrial, but the defence didn’t raise it this time after extensive arguments about what could and couldn’t be said.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

It's like a scene from a dystopian film.

Dozens of driverless Waymo vehicles have been seen circling through an Atlanta neighbourhood without riders.

Neighbours say they even tried to put out cones to block the electric Jaguar I-PACE SUVs from entering but that caused even more chaos.

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One video shows multiple cars going around and around a roundabout.

Another video taken by a local showed 13 Waymos going by in ten minutes, CNN reported.

Andy Brown Milheizer who lives in the area said there was a "constant stream."

"One of them almost did run over our cul-de-sac cat, Buddy and so that was a final straw," she told NBC News.

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They say the issue has been getting worse, with the cars driving in circles seeming waiting for somebody to order one.

"Our big concern is just the excessive traffic on the street, you know, we have more families, we have small kids, we have animals and pets. We've got kids getting on the bus in the mornings, and it just doesn't feel safe to have that traffic," one local said.

Residents' efforts to try and block the cars, which are now on offer in multiple American cities and are summoned in a similar way to Ubers, have failed.

Deborah Childers said it's "bothersome".

"It's not like one it's like three or maybe four, you know, just they do the same loop. They practice their braking and their signals."

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They said Waymo hasn't responded to their pleas to help.

Waymo told Fox5 Atlanta it has "already worked with our fleet partner to address this routing behaviour."

The company recalled thousands of cars recently after some vehicles drove into flood waters in Texas and stalled.

A prominent sect has denied telling members to euthanise their pets, but confirmed they have been urged to get rid of them.

Members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, better known as the Exclusive Brethren, were told households needed to be "freshly cleansed" of animals after a relative of church leader Bruce Hales was attacked by a dog last month.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports a letter was read from church leadership to meetings across the country earlier this morning with the directive.

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"The ownership of such an animal, let alone it being kept at a brother's home, is clearly wrong," the letter read.

"There are reports of some Brethren having reverted to owning pets, including dogs and other animals, which practice has been clearly spoken against in ministry. 

The letter specified birds, mice and cats were also included in the directive, not just dogs.

In the 1960s the sect instructed members to euthanise their pets, stating that giving them away was sinful.

One blind man was reportedly cast out of the church for refusing to get rid of his guide dog.

But the sect has now issued a statement denying reports members were told to euthanise their pets.

"Very few families in the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church would keep pets, as we generally avoid distractions from family, faith and God, such as television, radio, or pet ownership," the statement read.

"Following a traumatic incident in which a child was attacked by a dog at the home of a church member, our church's position on pets was restated to parishioners in May 2026. 

"This was not a 'new directive', but simply a reminder of a principle that was established some time ago."

The statement suggested the pets could be given to willing neighbours, colleagues or an animal shelter.

"We are aware of untrue and distressing online commentary which has misconstrued this as members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church being told to euthanise their pets," it read.

"The church would never condone cruelty to any living creature, and this position is being strongly reinforced to our congregation. We have the utmost respect for all of God's creations."

There are an estimated 16,000 members of the Exclusive Brethren in Australia.

The secretive sect practices separating itself from society at large, including not voting in elections.

Despite this, the Liberals came under scrutiny in last year's election after it was revealed members of the sect were participating in organised campaigns backing the party.

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