NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein will not face another trial in New York after prosecutors dropped the remaining rape charge against the disgraced movie producer on Thursday when the complainant said she could no longer testify.
The decision ends the yearslong case involving Jessica Mann, whose allegation remained unresolved after Weinstein’s original conviction was overturned and two subsequent retrials ended in hung juries.
In a letter read in court, Mann said she could no longer continue with the legal process.
“I can no longer endure going through this,” she wrote, adding that the eight-year case had “put me through more harm than good.”
Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg said the state believed Mann and praised her “bravery, strength, courage and inspiration” but agreed that dismissing the charge was appropriate. Judge Curtis Farber then formally dismissed the case.
Weinstein remains behind bars despite the dismissal. He is awaiting sentencing in September after being convicted in New York of a separate sexual assault involving another woman. Prosecutors are seeking a 20-year prison sentence.
He is also serving a 16-year prison sentence in California after being convicted of raping an Italian actor. Weinstein is appealing both convictions.
Weinstein’s attorney, Jacob Kaplan, welcomed the dismissal, saying the charge “should never have been brought” and maintaining his client’s innocence.
Mann testified in three separate trials that Weinstein raped her in a Manhattan hotel in 2013 after what she described as a complicated, on-and-off consensual relationship. Weinstein denied the allegation, insisting all sexual encounters were consensual.
Weinstein, once one of Hollywood’s most influential producers, became the central figure of the #MeToo movement after multiple sexual misconduct allegations surfaced in 2017, leading to criminal charges in New York and California. He has denied assaulting anyone.
