Harvey Weinstein's accusers: Jessica Mann, Mimi Haleyi and the four others whose testimony led to 2020 New York conviction being overturned

Six women gave harrowing accounts during Harvey Weinstein's New York trial to accuse the Hollywood producer of rape and sexual behavior, which has now been overturned.

Weinstein was convicted of third degree rape and criminal sexual act but was acquitted of first degree rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault. 

All of these have now been overturned after the New York Court of Appeals ruled that he did not receive a fair trial when he was convicted. 

Weinstein has been serving 23 years in a New York jail after being convicted of two sex attacks against actress Jessica Mann and production assistant Mimi Haleyi. 

He was handed a further 16 years following his conviction in Los Angeles in 2022, with his team in the state now appealing that decision. 

Four other women were allowed to testify about Weinstein's previous behavior, even though their claims were not part of the prosecution. 

Today, an appeals court ruled the decision to include their testimony was a 'crucial' mistake. It is the main reason Weinstein's conviction has been overturned.

Weinstein arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court for his sexual assault trial on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 in New York 

Weinstein was convicted in 2020 of raping Jessica Mann (pictured at court in 2020 after his conviction) at her home in Manhattan in 2013

He was also convicted of sexually assaulting production assistant Mimi Haley, seen walking into his sentencing in New York in 2020

During the six-week trial, the four other women - Sopranos actress Anabella Sciorra, costume designer Dawn Dunning, model Tarale Wulff and actress Lauren Marie Young - testified they were enticed into meeting Weinstein for professional reasons and then groped or raped. 

The women told jurors Weinstein, who pleaded not guilty and maintained any sexual conduct was consensual, often faked interest in their careers to get them into a hotel room or an apartment before attacking.  

Here are their stories: 

Jessica Mann gave vivid description of Weinstein's 'deformed' naked body and told of how he bellowed 'you owe me!' before dragging her into a bedroom 

Verdict: Guilty of third degree rape, innocent of first degree rape, innocent of predatory sexual assault 

Jessica Mann, one of the two key accusers in Harvey Weinstein's case, testified that he raped her twice - in New York and Los Angeles - during an 'extremely degrading' relationship with the producer that lasted for years. 

Mann told the court that she first met Weinstein at a party in late 2012 or early 2013 after she moved from Washington state to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career but said she didn't know who he was when he introduced himself.

When he pulled her aside later, he told her he was interested in her as an actress but not her Brazilian roommate Talita Maia who she came to the party with. Mann said she felt 'guilty' but gave Weinstein her number. 

Jessica Mann, one of two key accusers in Weinstein's case, testified that he raped her one morning in March 2013 in a New York hotel room. She is pictured left in court and right in a 2013 film

Mann makes a statement during sentencing following Harvey Weinstein's conviction in  New York City, New York, U.S. March 11, 2020

When she met Weinstein at a bookstore to learn about movie-business history, Weinstein told her that she 'looked prettier than Natalie Portman' and that he wanted her to read for a top role in a vampire film. 

A casting director later testified that, despite Weinstein's promises, Mann was too old and tall to fit the role and that it had already been cast at the time.     

She later ended up in his suite at a Los Angeles hotel after what she thought was a professional dinner where she said Weinstein pressured her into giving him a back massage on the bed with his shirt off.

Mann said Weinstein started offering her invitations to events and, on one occasion, asked her and her roommate to his hotel suite to give them the vampire script he had been talking about - even though it had already been cast.  

She said Weinstein started undressing before going into the bedroom and calling her name. When she went to the bedroom, she said he grabbed her arm, closed the door and started 'trying to kiss me like crazy'. 

Mann said she tussled with him and he grew increasingly angry before saying: 'I'm not letting you leave until I do something for you'. 

Mann told jurors that Weinstein then performed oral sex on her. She said she feigned orgasm to get herself out of the encounter. 

'I sort of locked up and got really quiet. I was worried about my friend out there by herself. I faked an orgasm to get out of it. He asked me how it was, if I liked it. I was nervous, so I told him it was the best I ever had,' she testified.  

Mann said she then started having a twisted relationship with the mogul in which they had multiple consensual sexual encounters, including a failed threesome. 

'I was confused after what happened and I made a decision to be in a relationship with him,' she said. Mann said that while she wasn't sexually attracted to Weinstein, she felt compassion for him and wanted his approval. 

The failed threesome occurred in February 2013 when Weinstein allegedly had Mann meet him and actress Emanuela Postacchini at a Los Angeles hotel and he tried to persuade the women to have sex with him. 

Postacchini, who was called as a prosecution witness, told jurors that Mann went into the bathroom and was 'crying in the fetal position on the ground'. 

Mann testified that the rape occurred a month later when she was staying at the Doubletree Metropolitan hotel in Manhattan with friends ahead of a breakfast meeting with Weinstein. 

She said she panicked when she saw Weinstein checking in early. Mann claims that Weinstein told her to not embarrass him and ordered her to go upstairs to his hotel room.  

She claimed she tried to get out of the room twice but Weinstein blocked her and ordered her to undress. Mann said he emerged from the bathroom naked and then raped her on the bed.   

Mann said during her testimony that she found a needle in a trash can after and believed, after some research, that he had injected himself with an erection-inducing drug.  

She admitted that she continued to see Weinstein after this incident but tried to avoid physical contact. 

Mann accused Weinstein of raping her again eight months later when she was working as a hairdresser at a Los Angeles hotel after she told him she was dating an actor.   

He flew into a rage and screamed 'You owe me one more time!'. He told her 'I don't have time for games' before attacking her, she said.

'Okay, now go have your relationship,' he told her, according to her testimony. His apology: 'I just find you so attractive, I couldn't resist.' 

Mann sobbed on the witness stand as she told jurors that she was forced to strip off her clothing in a New York City hotel room one morning in March 2013.

 Mann testified for three days, more than any other accuser, and broke down during an intense cross-examination. After losing her composure at one point, Mann could be heard screaming in a side room of the court

During her testimony, Mann was asked by a prosecutor to describe Weinstein's body. 

She said she didn't believe he had testicles and his penis looked like a vagina. She also said that when she first saw him naked she thought Weinstein was 'physically deformed or intersex' and may have been a burn victim due to 'extreme scarring' on his stomach. 

The jury were shown naked photos of Weinstein to corroborate Mann's description of his body. The photos, which were only shown to jurors, were taken by a Manhattan District Attorney's office photographer on June 18, 2018. 

As he left the court that day, Weinstein was asked by a journalist: 'Were those nude photos of you that the jury looked at?' Weinstein laughed and turned to one of his lawyers and said: 'No, it was Playboy'. 

Mann testified for three days, more than any other accuser, and broke down during an intense cross-examination. 

After losing her composure at one point, Mann could be heard screaming in a side room of the court. 

Mann admitted during her testimony that she had kept in touch with Weinstein by sending him flattering emails because 'his ego was so fragile'. 

The defense said Mann sent Weinstein warm emails that said things like 'Miss you, big guy.' Not once, in more than 400 messages between the two, did the woman accuse Weinstein of harming her, his lawyers said. 

During her testimony, Mann was asked by a prosecutor to describe Weinstein's body. She said she didn't believe he had testicles and his penis looked like a vagina. The jury were also shown naked photos of Weinstein to corroborate Mann's description of his body

Asked why she didn't break off contact with Weinstein at the first sign of trouble, Mann said she didn't want to offend him. But defense lawyer Donna Rotunno asked whether it was really because the woman 'wanted to benefit from the power he had.' 

She said her relationship with the then-married Weinstein was more complicated than that but defiantly declared: 'He is my rapist.' 

The defense later called her friend and former roommate, Talita Maia, who claimed Mann didn't show any signs of distress on the day Weinstein allegedly raped her in New York. 

Maia was with Mann in New York and said nothing seemed amiss when they met Weinstein for breakfast after the alleged rape, she testified. 

She told the jury she spent the rest of that day with Mann and she never mentioned the alleged attack. 

Maia said Mann 'spoke highly' of Weinstein during her relationship with him, even calling him her 'spiritual soulmate' at one point.

'She seemed to really like him as a person,' Maia said. 

'I told him I'm on my period': Project Runway assistant Mimi Haleyi told the jury that Weinstein pulled out her tampon and forcibly gave her oral sex in his apartment 

Verdict: Guilty of criminal sexual act, innocent of predatory sexual assault 

Former Project Runway production assistant Mimi Haleyi, the woman Harvey Weinstein went on trial on charges of sexually assaulting her, recounted during her testimony how the film mogul forcibly performed oral sex on her while she had her period at his Manhattan apartment in 2006. 

'I was kicking, I was pushing, I was trying to get away from his grip,' the now 42-year-old testified. 'He held me down and kept pushing me down to the bed.' 

She told jurors she thought she was being raped and wondered: 'If I scream rape, will someone hear me?' 

'I did reject him, but he insisted. Every time I tried to get off the bed, he would push me back and hold me down'. 

Former 'Project Runway' production assistant Mimi Haleyi, the woman Weinstein is charged with sexually assaulting in 2006, recounted during her testimony how the film mogul allegedly performed oral sex on her while she had her period at his SoHo apartment

Haleyi broke down in tears describing the alleged attack, saying 'I did reject him, but he insisted. Every time I tried to get off the bed, he would push me back and hold me down'

'I was crying no, no. I told him I'm on my period. It was as if he didn't believe me. I said something like where is it then? He literally pulled my tampon out.

'I checked out and decided to endure it. That was the safest thing I could do.' 

Haleyi said she and Weinstein, who had gotten her the job at Project Runway, had sex at a Tribeca hotel two weeks later. 

She said she 'just felt like an idiot' for letting Weinstein convince her to meet again, but thought seeing him could help her regain power as she tried to make sense of the alleged assault. 

She said she didn't want to be intimate that time but didn't think Weinstein forced her to have sex. 

Mimi Haleyi attends the Women's Media Center 2017 Women's Media Awards at Capitale on October 26, 2017 in New York City 

Weinstein's lawyers suggested that episode was evidence he didn't coerce her during the first encounter either.   

Haleyi's former roommate, Elizabeth Entin, later took to the stand to corroborate her testimony about the alleged sexual assault. 

Entin said Haleyi had told her about the encounter a short time after it happened. She said Haleyi was anxious and pacing as she recounted telling Weinstein: 'No. No.'

She said she told Haleyi: 'That sounds like rape. I said why don't we call a lawyer. She still seemed very distraught and was shaking and walked away and didn't want to talk about it. She felt like she couldn't talk and wasn't very present.'

Entin testified that her friend changed after the alleged assault. Haleyi, whose given name is Miriam Haley, changed her name due to public scrutiny she faced after coming forward in October 2017 with the Weinstein allegations.  

On cross-examination by Weinstein's lawyer, Donna Rotunno, Entin recalled thinking at first that it was just 'stupid' that Weinstein kept showing up unannounced at their apartment in the East Village.

'Because this older guy was trying to get your friend? Correct?' Rotunno asked.

'Correct,' Entin said.

'And you thought it funny?' Rotnunno asked.

'We did, at the time,' Entin said, recalling how her pet Chihuahua, Peanut, once chased Weinstein around the apartment after he barged in and demanded Haleyi go to Paris with him. 

Entin said they viewed Weinstein 'as a pathetic older man trying really hard to hit on' Haleyi. 

As Weinstein left the courtroom that day, a reporter in the hall asked: 'Mr Weinstein, are you afraid of Chihuahuas?' Weinstein smiled and said: 'Do I look like I'm afraid of Chihuahuas?'. 

Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra accused Weinstein of raping her, sending her chocolate penises and Valium - and turned up at her Cannes hotel room with baby oil

Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra, who was the first accuser to take the stand, was brought in to testify about Weinstein allegedly raping her in her Manhattan apartment in the mid-1990s.   

Her accusation was too old to be the basis for criminal charges on its own due to the statute of limitations. 

Sciorra said she first met Weinstein at an industry event in Los Angeles in 1990 or 1991. 

By 1993, she had starred in one of his company's movies, the romantic comedy The Night We Never Met. 

Sciorra told the jury that Weinstein barged uninvited into her apartment in the winter of 1993 or 1994 and raped her after dropping her off from a movie-business dinner with actress Uma Thurman and other industry figures.  

He threw her on a bed and forced himself on her as she tried to fight him off by kicking and punching him, she said. 

Sciorra told the jury that eventually she 'couldn't fight anymore because he had my hands locked' and that Weinstein told her he had 'perfect timing' after ejaculating on her nightgown. 

Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra, who was the first accuser to testify, told the jury that the burly Weinstein barged into her Manhattan apartment one winter night in 1993 or 1994 and violently raped her. She is pictured left in court and right in January 1994

Recounting an accusation she said she kept largely secret for decades, Sciorra testified that after raping her, Weinstein went on to try to perform oral sex on her, saying: 'This is for you' as her body 'shut down'.

'It was just so disgusting that my body started to shake in a way that was very unusual. I didn't even really know what was happening. 

'It was like a seizure or something,' she said. 'I'm not sure if I fainted or fell asleep or blacked out, but I woke up on the floor with my nightgown kind of up and I didn't know if something else had happened.' 

At other points in the 1990s, Sciorra said that Weinstein sent her packages with Valium and a box of chocolate penises and turned up early one morning at her Cannes Film Festival hotel room in his underwear with the body oil and the videotape. 

She said he left after she frantically pushed buttons on the room phone to summon help.  

Sciorra said that roughly a month later, she ran into him and confronted him about what happened and he replied: 'That's what all the nice Catholic girls say.'

She claimed Weinstein then leaned toward her and added menacingly: 'This remains between you and I.' 

'His eyes went black and I thought he was going to hit me right there,' Sciorra testified. 

Afterwards, she spiraled into cutting herself and drinking heavily, she told the jury. 

She said she didn't tell anyone at first about the alleged rape, not even her brothers, saying: 'I wanted to pretend it never happened... I wanted to get back to my life.' 

Her friend and fashion model Kara Young testified that a fidgety Sciorra 'seemed a mess' with long cuts on her legs when the two watched the Academy Awards together in 1994.  

Do the Right Thing actress Rosie Perez also testified during the trial that her friend Sciorra told her in the mid-1990s that Weinstein had raped her but that she couldn't go to the police because 'he'd destroy me'. 

The Sopranos actress (above) confronted Weinstein from the witness standing during her testimony, saying that he overpowered and raped her

Annabella Sciorra is cross-examined by Weinstein's defense lawyer Donna Rotunno. Sciorra, who was the first accuser to testify, was brought in to testify that she was allegedly raped by Weinstein in 1993 or 1994 in her Manhattan apartment

Perez said her friend Sciorra had told at some point in 1993, her voice shaking on the phone, that something had happened to her: 'I think it was rape.'

Perez said she asked if Sciorra knew who had attacked her, but Sciorra wouldn't say at the time. But months later, on another phone call from London, she said Weinstein was harassing her and she was scared.

She testified that they both started crying after she said to Sciorra: 'He's the one that raped you'.

Sciorra later acted in another Weinstein-produced picture, 1997′s Cop Land but she said she didn't realize when auditioning that his studio was involved.  

Weinstein's lawyers sought to sow doubts about Sciorra's story, raising questions about her actions after the alleged rape and asking whether she had once described the encounter as 'awkward sex', which she denied. 

During cross-examination, Weinstein lawyer Donna Rotunno noted that Sciorra never went to police or a doctor about the alleged rape. 

'At the time, I didn't understand that that was rape,' Sciorra said. She testified earlier that she once thought rape was a crime of strangers. 

'I thought he was an okay guy. I felt confused. I felt like I wished I never opened the door,' she said. 

Rotunno also suggested that Sciorra's judgment and recollection were clouded by drinking but the actress replied that she remembered having only a glass of wine with dinner.

Weinstein's defense played a 1997 clip of Sciorra playfully telling late-night host David Letterman that she sometimes had fun with the media by making up stories such as her father raising iguanas for circuses. Sciorra said she would never lie about something as serious as sexual assault.

The defense also highlighted an August 2017 text message in which Sciorra told a friend she was broke and was 'hoping Harvey has a job for me'.

The actress said she was just 'fishing' to try to find out through the friend whether Weinstein knew that a reporter had gotten wind of her accusations, which were first published in The New Yorker two months later.   

Cocktail waitress Tarale Wulff claimed Weinstein masturbated in front of her at a New York club - then raped her in his apartment 

Former cocktail waitress and aspiring actress Tarale Wulff testified that Harvey Weinstein masturbated in front of her while she was working at the upscale New York club Cipriani and later raped her at his New York City apartment in 2005. 

She was one of three women brought in to testify about encounters separate from the crimes Weinstein was accused of committing to try to establish his motive and a signature pattern of behavior that could bolster the main accusers' claims.   

Tarale Wulff, a former cocktail waitress and aspiring actress, testified that Weinstein preyed on her vulnerabilities while pushing the notion that sex could lead to film roles. She is pictured left in court and right in 2009

She testified that Weinstein masturbated in front of her while she was working as a cocktail waitress at the upscale New York club Cipriani and later raped her at his New York City apartment in 2005

Wulff claimed Weinstein, who she met at the members-only club where she worked, raped her at his New York City apartment after luring her there in 2005 with promises of an audition for a film role. 

She described the much larger Weinstein grabbing her by the arm, pushing her onto a bed and spurning her pleas to stop with reassurances that she shouldn't worry because he'd had a vasectomy.

Wulff, now 43 and a model, said she froze as he continued, thinking that would make it 'easier to get through, to get past it'.

She testified that on an occasion before the alleged rape, Weinstein grabbed her arm as she served cocktails at one of his usual Manhattan haunts, led her toward a darkened terrace and started masturbating.

Wulff said she froze and scooted around him to go back to the bar.

Weinstein's lawyers raised doubts about Wulff's recollection after she disclosed that she had worked with a therapist for a year to fill gaps in her memory. 

Speaking to reporters later, Wulff's lawyer called that line of questioning a 'red herring' and said her memory of being raped has never altered. 

Weinstein put his hand up my skirt and tried trading movie roles for threesomes by claiming Salma Hayek and Charlize Theron had done the same, aspiring actress Dawn Dunning told the jury

Dawn Dunning, an aspiring actress, told jurors that Harvey Weinstein put his hand up her skirt and fondled her genitals during what was supposed to be a 2004 meeting about her fledgling career and later tried trading movie roles for three-way sex with him and his assistant.

Dunning told jurors she met Weinstein while waiting tables at a Manhattan night spot where bottle service was a trendy indulgence for the rich and famous. 

Weinstein immediately appeared to take an interest in her acting career, she said, and invited her to a lunch meeting where, noting his infamous temper, she said he was 'on the phone a lot yelling at people'. 

Dunning said several meetings followed, including one at a hotel where Weinstein was using a suite as a temporary office when she was 24. 

Weinstein led her into a bedroom at one point and put his hand up her skirt, she said.

'He just started talking really fast. He said, 'Don't make a big deal about this. It will never happen again,' she told the jury. 

Dawn Dunning, also an aspiring actress, (left in 2019 and right in 2011) told jurors that Weinstein put his hand up her skirt and fondled her genitals during what was supposed to be a 2004 meeting about her fledgling career

Dunning told jurors she met Weinstein while waiting tables at a different Manhattan night spot - one where bottle service was a trendy indulgence for the rich and famous

Dunning said she 'just kind of gave him the benefit of the doubt' and didn't scream or tell anyone because she was embarrassed and didn't want to be a victim.  

She said she later agreed to meet Weinstein at a cigar bar but that an assistant took her to a suite where the producer was standing in a bathrobe. 

She said Weinstein showed her a contract for three movie roles she would get on the condition she had 'a threesome with his assistant'.  

Dunning laughed thinking he was kidding and had a 'crass sense of humor.' 

'But when I started laughing, he got really angry and started screaming at me,' Dunning testified. 'He said, 'you'll never make it in this business, this is how this industry works.'

She said Weinstein claimed the lewd offer was the kind of thing that happened all the time in the film business and that he mentioned the names of several big stars in hopes of convincing her to do it. 

Dunning, now 40, said Weinstein went on to namedrop actresses Salma Hayek and Charlize Theron, implying they had done similar things to achieve success - something both women have strongly denied. 

Hayek has said she had to fight off Weinstein's constant harassment and bullying. Theron was upset when some accusers said he implied they had slept together.

Dunning said she didn't know what Weinstein would do after she laughed off the offer, so she ran for the door and down the hall to the elevator.

'He was a big guy. He was towering over me,' she testified. 'I was really scared.'

Weinstein's lawyers questioned why Dunning waited until last summer to tell prosecutors that he had had fondled her after she had gone public with the jobs-for-sex allegation, which was first published in a New York Times article in October 2017.  

'His penis looked like it had been cut and sewn back on': Lauren Marie Young told the jury Weinstein groped and masturbated in front of her in a hotel bathroom and said he had a 'disgusting looking penis'

Lauren Marie Young, the final accuser at Harvey Weinstein's trial, told jurors he groped her in a Beverly Hills hotel bathroom just days before the Oscars in February 2013.

Young said she first met Weinstein a year earlier in February 2012 when she was invited by a friend to an Oscars party for the producer. 

She testified that she met Mexican model Claudia Salinas there and told her about a script she was working on based on her life. 

Salinas gave her her e-mail address and then a year later asked her to bring her script for a meeting with Weinstein at the hotel where the alleged groping occurred. 

Lauren Marie Young, the final accuser at Weinstein's trial, told jurors he groped her in a Beverly Hills hotel bathroom just days before the Oscars in February 2013

'I was excited. I got ready. I put on my best dress,' the 30-year-old testified about first connecting with Weinstein at the hotel. 'I was excited to network and pitch my ideas.' 

At some point Weinstein said 'let's finish this conversation upstairs' and she went with him and Salinas, according to her testimony. 

Lauren Marie Young, the final accuser at Harvey Weinstein's trial, told jurors he groped her in a Beverly Hills hotel bathroom just days before the Oscars in February 2013

Once in the hotel room, Young claimed Salinas closed the bathroom door behind them and that she did nothing to stop her alleged assault. 

Young alleged that Weinstein stripped naked, groped her breast and then masturbated in front of her.  

Young said Salinas 'was standing right there' when Weinstein was finished and she managed to get out.

Young told the jury that shot Salinas 'an evil look and I left as quick as I could without saying anything'.   

Young described in explicit detail how Weinstein had a 'disgusting'-looking penis that appeared to be 'cut and sewn back on' and that he appeared to have no testicles.     

'His body was hairy, it had moles on his rolls, a disgusting looking penis,' she told jurors. 'It had looked like it had been cut and sewn back on, not a normal looking scar from circumcision. Something didn't look normal and I remember noticing that and I didn't notice balls in the sack. I just saw a penis.' 

Young described in explicit detail how Weinstein had a 'disgusting'-looking penis that appeared to be 'cut and sewn back on' and that he appeared to have no testicles

In a dramatic moment, the court was shown the lace dress Young claimed she wore the night of that alleged assault. 

Salinas was later called as a defense witness and denied ever locking Young in the bathroom with Weinstein. 

'That never happened,' Salinas told jurors.   'Did you ever close that door while Lauren Young was in the bathroom with Mr Weinstein?' Weinstein's lawyer Damon Charonis asked.

Salinas said: 'If I'd done that I'd remember it. I'd never close the door on anybody ever'. 

The ruling on Thursday was handed down by Judge Jenny Rivera with Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson and Judges Betsy Barros and Jessica Clarke concurring.

Judges Madeline Singas, Michael Garcia and Anthony Cannataro dissented, while Judges Shirley Troutman and Caitlin Halligan took no part.

Weinstein became the face of the #MeToo movement after dozens of women came forward alleging sexual abuse. The ruling on Thursday was described as 'a major step back' by his accusers.