Summary

Harvey Weinstein’s defense urged jurors on Tuesday to acquit him in his New York rape retrial, arguing that jurors should end a #MeToo-era case that has already gone to trial three times. Prosecutors responded that they want the conviction restored, pressing for a verdict in the current trial after a previous rape conviction was overturned. Weinstein, 73, watched quietly as lawyers made their closing arguments about whether he raped hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann in a New York hotel in March 2013.

In court, Weinstein’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo told jurors that Mann “has taken on a false narrative about all of this,” and he argued she had “absolutely no motive to lie.” Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg countered that Mann “went through five days of grueling, deeply personal testimony,” framing her account as credible despite the passage of time.

Jurors are expected to begin deliberations Wednesday. They are set to evaluate competing portrayals of a yearslong relationship between Weinstein and Mann, which began in early 2013 when Mann was trying to break into Hollywood. Mann testified that she expected a professional connection, then became surprised when Weinstein made sexual advances and decided to continue the relationship even though he was then married.

A few weeks later, Mann testified that Weinstein took a room at a hotel where she and a friend were staying, and that she accompanied him upstairs to tell him she did not want a sexual interlude. According to her testimony, Weinstein trapped her in the room, grabbed her arms, insisted she undress, went into the bathroom for a time, and then raped her. “He just treated me like he owned me,” Mann testified during the trial.

The defense did not present Weinstein in court. Instead, it argued that the encounter was consensual and part of a caring, though on-and-off, relationship Mann valued. Prosecutors, in rebuttal, said Mann described the relationship differently—arguing she was manipulated—and urged jurors to focus on what happened during the alleged assault.

In Tuesday’s summations, Agnifilo portrayed Mann as an unreliable witness whose accusation was ill-supported and implausible. He pointed to her uncertainty about various dates and details from events that occurred years earlier, and he referenced a moment during cross-examination when she said she was struggling to stay focused, prompting the court to end early for the day.

Agafifilo also relied on evidence of closeness between Mann and Weinstein before and after the alleged assault, including warm email exchanges and get-togethers. He additionally pointed to a diary-like note Mann wrote to herself two days after the encounter; Agnifilo said the note did not name the man but argued its silence about the alleged assault suggested what jurors should infer. “This is how she’s falling in love with him,” Agnifilo argued.

Blumberg’s rebuttal emphasized a different read of the record. She said Mann was “burying what the defendant did to her,” and that Mann “is struggling with the good parts of the defendant and the awful, the evil parts of the defendant.” Blumberg told jurors, “She’s burying what the defendant did to her,” and she framed the central question for them as whether Mann’s description of coercion and refusal matched what the defense disputed.

Both sides also addressed how Weinstein’s behavior toward Mann extended beyond the disputed encounter. Over time, trial testimony and exhibits described Weinstein encouraging Mann’s acting ambitions, helping her land a hairstyling job, providing emotional support during her father’s terminal illness, and offering money when she was broke—testimony that Mann said she declined.

To Agnifilo, the conduct amounted to “a sweet, loving, supportive relationship.” Blumberg said the interpretation should be otherwise, arguing, “This was a woman who got manipulated by that man.” Mann testified that she acknowledged loving “a part” of Weinstein but that she begged him not to do anything sexual that day in the Manhattan hotel.

At points during her summation, Weinstein shook his head slightly and exchanged glances with his lawyer. Whatever the verdict in the New York trial, Weinstein is already convicted on other sex crimes in New York and California, and he is appealing those convictions. If he is convicted again in the current trial, he could face up to four years in prison—less time than he has already served.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they agree to be named, as Mann has done.