No retrial of Harvey Weinstein for rape and sexual assault

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles prosecutors told a judge Tuesday they will not try again Harvey Weinstein Charges of rape and sexual assault involving two women.

Assistant District Attorney Paul Thompson announced Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench’s decision at a hearing in downtown Los Angeles. The judge dismissed allegations that a jury failed to reach an agreement in December and said Weinstein would be returned to New York, where he was convicted in a similar case.

The Los Angeles Jury convicted Weinstein70, the rape and sexual assault of a Italian model and actor.

He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. That’s in addition to the 23-year sentence he’s already serving for a similar conviction in New York.

The jury could not reach unanimous verdicts on charges involving two accusers, a rape count and a sexual assault count involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and a sexual battery count against model Lauren Young.

Young said at Tuesday’s hearing that she was disappointed that prosecutors would not pursue a retrial. Thompson said Weinstein would likely only face an additional year in prison if she was retried on her count, and while he wanted all victims to receive justice, that additional sentence was not worth a further trial.

Weinstein has been acquitted of a sexual assault charge against a massage therapist.

The Associated Press does not typically credit people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as the women featured here have done.

Weinstein’s conviction is being appealed in New York, and his attorneys plan to appeal his conviction here.

Lench turned down a defense motion for a new trial before Weinstein’s conviction. His attorneys argued that key evidence was withheld from the jury.

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Follow AP Entertainment writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton