A jury of 12 men and women has found former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein guilty on two of the five potential criminal charges he faced in his New York County trial.
Weinstein has been convicted of criminal sexual assault in the first degree, based on the testimony of former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley, and rape in the third degree, based on the testimony of one-time aspiring actress Jessica Mann.
The verdict was announced on Monday after the jury of seven men and five women spent five days deliberating on his fate.
Weinstein was remanded into custody against the protests of his lawyers, who cited his health, and he’s currently being held at Bellevue Hospital prison ward in Manhattan.
He looked ashen and unstable as he was surrounded by court officers, who helped escort him out of the court room.
Weinstein attorney Arthur Aidala told reporters that his client was “shocked but stoic at the same time” while listening to the verdict.
“All he kept saying over and over again was, ‘I’m innocent. I’m innocent. How could this happen in America? I’m innocent. I’m innocent,'” Aidala recalled outside the courthouse after the verdict.
Weinstein will be sentenced on March 11. He’s facing five to 25 years for the criminal sexual assault conviction and 18 months to four years for the third-degree rape conviction.
The Weinstein jury was called in and dismissed shortly after 12 p.m. on Monday.
Judge James Burke thanked the jury for their service. “Thank you for the care and concentration, concern and attention you have given to your deliberations,” he said. “You are now dismissed. You may leave the court room.”
Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano reacted to the Weinstein verdict, calling it a “significant victory” for the disgraced movie producer and a “monumental setback” for prosecutors.
Weinstein, 67, was acquitted of two more serious charges of predatory sexual assault, as well as first-degree rape.
“He’s still facing serious time,” Napolitano said. “But, these are not the life sentences, the big ones the government wanted.”
“Annabella Sciorra is a hero. She was brave and courageous to come forward. She was the second witness. Her testimony undoubtedly set the tone,” said attorney Debra Katz on a call with reporters after the verdict. “No one who heard the power of Annabella’s testimony could come away with anything else. Juries engage in all sorts of horse-trading. We don’t know exactly what they did in the jury room. We will know more in the days to come.”
In her own statement on Monday, Sciorra said her testimony was “painful but necessary.”
Adding, “While we hope for continued righteous outcomes that bring absolute justice, we can never regret breaking the silence. For in speaking truth to power we pave the way for a more just culture, free of the scourge of violence against women.”
The verdict is the capstone to a lengthy, highly charged and emotional trial that began on Jan. 6 and included the testimony of six women who said — under oath — that Weinstein had sexually assaulted them over the last three decades.
Weinstein still faces four charges in Los Angeles County.