Harvey Weinstein, the former co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., center, arrives with his attorney Donna Rotunno, left, at state Supreme Court in Manhattan on Feb. 24. Photo: Peter Foley/Bloomberg

A Manhattan jury Monday morning convicted former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein on criminal sexual act and third-degree rape charges, but split its verdict by acquitting him on the most serious charges in the case, predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape.

District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and lawyers representing Weinstein's accusers immediately hailed the verdict, while Weinstein's lawyers said they have a strong case for appeal.

"It is a new era. The #MeToo movement has educated us all," said Deborah Katz of Katz, Marshall & Banks, who represents accuser Dawn Dunning.

Weinstein was jailed Monday in anticipation of his sentencing, set for March 11. He also faces criminal charges, including forcible rape, in Los Angeles.

His lawyer, Arthur Aidala of Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins, said the defense team will ask for Weinstein's release on bail pending appeal this week. Appellate lawyers who reviewed the case file over the weekend raised a number of issues for appeal, Aidala said, including the complicated verdict sheet and the testimony of "prior bad acts," or Molineux, witnesses.

During the monthlong trial, three Molineux witnesses were allowed to testify about incidents that did not lead to an indictment for Weinstein in New York, testimony that legal experts believe could have shifted the verdict in the case.

Weinstein, 67, has maintained his innocence amid all the allegations against him, which reportedly involve more than 100 women at this point. Many told their stories publicly after The New York Times and the New Yorker magazine published a pair of major investigations into his behavior toward women in October 2017.

When the verdict was read in court Monday, Weinstein was "stoic," Aidala said.

"All he kept saying was 'I'm innocent. But I'm innocent,'" Aidala said.

The jury found Weinstein guilty of criminal sexual act in the first degree, which carries a sentence of five to 25 years in prison, against Miriam Haley. Haley testified that Weinstein performed forcible oral sex on her in his New York apartment in 2006. He was also found guilty of third-degree rape against Jessica Mann, which could lead to a short prison sentence or probation.

Vance said he is not disappointed in the verdict, even though Weinstein was acquitted of the top charge, predatory sexual assault, which carried a maximum sentence of life in prison. He said the case "turned the page" of public understanding on how sexual assault works.

"Rape is rape … whether it's committed by an indigent person or a man of immense power, prestige, and privilege," Vance said. "Rape is rape whether the survivor reports it within the next hour, within a year, or never at all. It's rape, despite the complicated dynamics of power and consent after an assault. It's rape even if there is no physical evidence. Even if it happened a long time ago."

Weinstein's defense attorneys, notably the Chicago attorney Donna Rotunno, conducted tough cross-examination during the trial, asking the women why they didn't run away sooner or fight back more violently. Asked about the anxiety women often face in coming forward, Vance said he hopes the verdict shows that that kind of cross-examination is not effective.

"I hope that with this verdict it will become more obvious that those kinds of attacks on survivors and victims who are on the stand, making it seem like it's all their fault, will be realized as legal attacks that just simply are no longer going to work in this day and age," he said.

Six women testified against Weinstein at his trial, describing three decades of interactions with Weinstein. Prosecutors described Weinstein as a calculating predator who targeted vulnerable women and took advantage of his status in the entertainment industry to keep them quiet.

Weinstein's defense team also spoke often about Weinstein's professional power, but argued that the women agreed to sexual relationships with Weinstein to build their own careers and enjoy his power and wealth.

"Every single one of these women reaches out, asks for things, and he does everything he can do to make it happen," Rotunno said during her closing argument. "This is not a monster."

In Los Angeles, Weinstein is charged with forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint, prosecutors in California announced on the day his trial began in New York.

Weinstein is likely to stay in a jail infirmary because of ongoing issues with his health, his lawyers said. In addition to back problems that led him to use a walker throughout the trial, Weinstein is under the care of five doctors and is receiving injections "in his eyes" to prevent blindness, Rotunno said just after the verdict was read.

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