Harvey Weinstein reported chest pain in a New York courthouse Wednesday as jurors deliberated in his closely watched rape retrial, prompting the judge to end the first day of deliberations early, according to Weinstein’s lawyers. Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo told the court that he had been informed by courthouse officers that Weinstein was experiencing chest pains and that Weinstein wanted to be present, but could not stay in the courtroom.
Jurors were not in the courtroom when Agnifilo spoke to the judge. They had been closed in deliberations for roughly four hours, and during that time they sent a note requesting two items: that they be permitted to rehear a portion of accuser Jessica Mann’s testimony and that they receive a review of a lengthy prosecution timeline involving emails and other evidence. After prosecutors and Weinstein’s lawyers left the courtroom, the judge also limited what was said in front of the jury to reduce speculation about why Weinstein was not there.
Judge Curtis Farber ultimately told jurors only that there were “unforeseen reasons” for sending them home earlier than planned. Agnifilo had said before leaving the courtroom that Weinstein was having chest pains, describing it as an issue of attendance rather than a new claim before the jury.
Agnifilo told the judge, “He wants to be here, but he’s having chest pains,” before departing, the Associated Press reported. Farber directed that the jury would get the requested information and then resume deliberations Thursday.
The retrial focuses on a charge of rape in the third degree, brought after appeals courts overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction. That earlier case involved allegations from Mann and another accuser. At the last retrial, jurors were unable to reach a verdict on Mann’s portion of the case, leading to a second retrial this year.
In the current case, the jury heard nearly three weeks of testimony, including five days of testimony from Mann. Weinstein decided not to testify, and he has been in custody since 2020, according to court coverage cited by the Associated Press.
The AP reported that Weinstein, 74, has numerous health problems and uses a wheelchair. His lawyers have previously pointed to his medical history, including cancer and heart trouble, and said he has faced health emergencies during court proceedings in the past. When he was sent to jail in 2020, prosecutors said he was taken from the courthouse in an ambulance for heart palpitations and high blood pressure, and in 2024 he was rushed from Rikers Island to a hospital and underwent emergency surgery to remove fluid on his heart and lungs.
Mann, 40, testified that she and Weinstein had a consensual relationship but that Weinstein subjected her to unwanted sex in a Manhattan hotel room in March 2013 after she repeatedly said no. Weinstein’s lawyers have maintained that the encounter was consensual and emphasized that Mann continued seeing him afterward and expressed warmth toward him. Mann testified that she later changed how she viewed the relationship in 2017 amid broader allegations that helped spur the #MeToo campaign, and she has said she was “normalizing everything.”
Weinstein has said he “acted wrongly” but has denied assaulting anyone. The jury’s requests—rehearing part of Mann’s testimony and reviewing the prosecution timeline—set up Thursday’s continuation of deliberations after Wednesday’s early end to the first day.