Maxwell’s lawyers have sought a new trial after a juror failed to disclose that he was a victim of childhood abuse before the trial began.
A judge in the US upheld Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction on British social media despite a grand jury recognize that he had perjured before the trial that he had not been sexually abused.
Maxwell, 60 years old, is sentenced in December helping late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. Maxwell requested a new trial in January after one of the 12 jurors in the case said in media interviews that he had been sexually abused as a child.
U.S. Judge Alison Nathan on Friday decided that the juror, known as Juror 50 in court papers, testified truthfully at a hearing last month about asking for a hearing. Maxwell’s new court.
“His failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse during the jury selection process is regrettable, but not intentional,” Nathan wrote. “The Court further concluded that the 50 Jury is not prejudiced against Defendant and can serve as a fair and objective juror.”
The decision to keep the faith paved the way for Maxwell will be sentenced in June. She faces 65 years in prison after being found guilty on five of the six counts she faces.
When asked in a pre-trial screening questionnaire whether he was a victim of sexual abuse, the jury marked “no”.
Maxwell’s attorneys said they would remove the jury from the panel if he answered honestly and argued that his false statement negated Maxwell’s right to a fair trial.
Prosecutors say Maxwell was unable to show that jurors were biased after he said during the jury selection process that he would be fair and objective and decide the case based on the evidence.
Maxwell’s attorneys have promised to appeal the guilty verdict. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters news agency on Friday.
In her written decision, Nathan denied a request by Maxwell’s lawyers the previous Friday to delay her decision on their participation in a new trial until after the streaming service Paramount + broadcast a documentary about Maxwell in which jurors were interviewed.
Judgment provides a sense of closure for Epstein’s victimwho has long sought to hold him and his associates accountable for sexual abuses dating back more than a quarter of a century.
Epstein die by suicide in a Manhattan cell in 2019 at the age of 66 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell’s test represents a speculation that Epstein, a global business investor who has counted elite politicians and business leaders among his social circle of friends, does not. when do you have.
This is also one of the most famous cases after the #MeToo movement, which encouraged women to speak out about sexual abuse by celebrities and power.
Four women testifying at the trial in federal court in Manhattan said Maxwell, daughter of British media mogul Robert Maxwell, recruit and prepare them when they were teenagers abused by Epstein between 1994 and 2004.
Maxwell plead not guilty and assumed she was being treated as a scapegoat. Her lawyers sought to undermine her accusers by arguing that they were motivated by money to implicate Maxwell and that their memories were flawed.
In interviews with the media after the ruling, Juror 50, who identified himself by his first and middle name Scotty David, said he discussed his own abuse as a child during discussions. of the jury to illustrate how imperfect the memories of Maxwell’s accusers could be.
He told Reuters he did not recall being asked in a jury questionnaire about his personal experience with sexual abuse, and would answer truthfully.
At the March 8 hearing, he said he rushed through the questionnaire, made the mistake of saying he was not a victim of sexual abuse, and did not knowingly lie to gain access to information. to the trial panel.
