Jurors in Weinstein trial focus on ‘Sopranos’ actress Sciorra

By Brendan Pierson

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York jurors weighing rape and sexual assault charges against former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein ended their third day of deliberations by asking on Thursday to review testimony from actress Annabella Sciorra.

Weinstein, 67, has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting former production assistant, Mimi Haleyi in 2006, and raping Jessica Mann, a former aspiring actress, in 2013.

Sciorra, best known for her role in HBO’s “The Sopranos,” testified that Weinstein came to her New York apartment one winter night in 1993 or 1994, raped her and then forced oral sex on her.

The accusation is too old to be charged as a separate crime, but serves as an aggravating factor for the most serious charge in the case, predatory sexual assault.

Jurors can convict Weinstein of predatory sexual assault, which carries a potential life sentence, if they find that he committed the assault against Sciorra and at least one of the alleged crimes against Haleyi or Mann.

The seven men and five women on the jury began deliberations in the case on Tuesday.

On Thursday, before finishing for the day, they asked to review Sciorra’s cross-examination and follow-up questioning by prosecutors.

Justice James Burke told them the testimony would be read to them on Friday morning.

Since 2017, more than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, fueling the #MeToo movement. Weinstein, whose films include “The English Patient” and “Shakespeare in Love,” has denied the allegations and said any sexual encounters were consensual.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Daniel Wallis)