Jurors in Harvey Weinstein’s MeToo retrial appeared far apart on a verdict as they returned to court on Monday for a third day of deliberations.
The jury asked to be reminded of the definition of reasonable doubt and rules about avoiding a hung jury, and the foreperson sent a note saying he wanted to speak to the judge “about a situation that isn’t very good”.
The foreperson told Judge Curtis Farber that he was concerned about “something going on in the jury room”. He was then taken behind closed doors to discuss the matter with Mr Farber, prosecutors and the defence team.
Weinstein waived his right to be present for that conversation, which was held in Mr Farber’s robing room, outside the view of reporters and the public.
It was not immediately clear what the foreperson said. Mr Farber has yet to give jurors the instructions they wanted reread to them.
Juror asked to be removed
After the closed-door conversation, Weinstein’s lawyers returned to the courtroom and huddled around the court stenographer’s machine, jotting down notes while Mr Farber heard another, unrelated case.
The jury of seven women and five men began weighing charges against the former movie mogul on Thursday.
Weinstein, 73, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of committing a criminal sex act and one count of rape.
On Friday, a Weinstein juror asked to be removed from the case, saying he felt other jurors were treating one member of the panel in an “unfair and unjust” way.