Los Angeles prosecutors told a judge on Tuesday they would not try Harvey Weinstein again on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women.
Assistant District Attorney Paul Thompson announced the decision to Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench during a hearing in downtown Los Angeles. The judge dismissed charges that a jury failed to agree on in December and said Weinstein would be sent back to New York, where he was convicted in a similar case.
The Los Angeles jury has convicted Weinstein, 70, of the rape and sexual assault of an Italian model and actor.
He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. This is in addition to the 23-year sentence he is already serving for a similar sentence in New York.
Jurors were unable to reach unanimous verdicts on charges involving two accusers, one count of rape and one count of sexual assault involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, documentary filmmaker and wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom, and one count of assault on model Lauren Young.
Young said during Tuesday’s hearing that she was disappointed that prosecutors did not proceed with a new trial. Thompson said Weinstein would likely only risk an extra year in prison if he retried, and while he wanted all victims to get justice, that extra time wasn’t worth another trial.
The producer and screenwriter is charged with 18 crimes, including sexual abuse and rape. On Wednesday, he was released on payment of a million dollar bond.
Weinstein was acquitted of a charge of sexually assaulting a masseur.
The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they identify themselves publicly, as the women named here have done.
Weinstein’s conviction in New York is on appeal and his attorneys plan to appeal his conviction here.
Lench denied a defense request for a new trial before Weinstein’s sentencing. His lawyers argued that vital evidence had been withheld from the jury.