A Harvey Weinstein juror recalled Tuesday how she cringed when shown naked photos of the portly 67-year-old pervert as part of the evidence at trial.
“I tried to block it out,” said the woman, who was not identified, to TV’s “Inside Edition.” “It was presented to us, so it wasn’t something that we could have blocked out, but it’s hard not to make a face.”
The photos were introduced into evidence by Manhattan prosecutors after rape victim Jessica Mann took the stand and described Weinstein’s private parts as being so “deformed” that she actually pitied him.
“He does not have testicles, and it appears like he has a vagina,” Mann testified in late January.
A few days later, jurors were shown some naked photos of Weinstein, including a full-frontal snap. The shots were among 72 photos previously taken by a photographer for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office during its investigation into the case.
As jurors reviewed the photos, Weinstein bowed his head at the defense table.
The panelist, only described by the TV show as Juror No. 2, said the deliberations leading up to Monday’s conviction of Weinstein for rape and forced oral sex were extremely tense at times.
“Tensions were very high. Everyone was nervous,” the woman said.
She said that when the jury finally reached a unanimous verdict against the sex predator, “My hands were sweating. I felt like my heart was literally going to pop out of my chest.
“It was just, I wouldn’t say nerve-wracking, but it was just, ‘This is it. This is the moment,'” she said.
Weinstein was convicted on charges involving Mann and former TV production assistant Miriam “Mimi” Haleyi, but the jury acquitted him of other raps tied partly to actress Annabella Sciorra, who said he raped her in his Gramercy Park apartment in the early 1990s.
The juror said some panelists believed Sciorra.
“The way things went for her, that was wrong,” the juror said of the actress.
“Every last woman that took the stand, I wish them the best,” the woman added. “I hope this is now a chapter that they can close and move forward with their lives now.”
Additional reporting by Julia Marsh