Ghislaine Maxwell's request for a new trial was denied by a federal judge who on Thursday ordered a hearing into whether or not a juror who served in the suspect's case lied during the selection process that may have clouded his guilty verdict.
Judge Alison J. Nathan said that she would question the juror, an individual who was identified as to be Juror 50, under oath at the hearing on Mar. 8. A jury convicted 60-year-old Maxwell on Dec. 29, 2021, of sex trafficking and four other counts in the Federal District Court in Manhattan.
Ghislaine Maxwell's Request
The jury listened to three weeks of testimony where witnesses said Maxwell helped the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein entice, groom, and sexually abuse underage teenage girls. Juror 50, a Manhattan man in his 30s, revealed to news media outlets after the trial ended that he told his fellow jurors during deliberations that he had been sexually abused as a child.
However, it was later revealed that in a confidential questionnaire that was administered to people who were prospective jurors, they were asked whether they have experienced being the victim of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual assault. Juror 50 was seen to have checked the box that answered "no," as per the New York Times.
Prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the judge heavily relied on the questionnaire as a screening tool for jurors. There have been many prospective jurors who have been dismissed outright with no further questioning based on their form answers alone.
In her order, Judge Nathan wrote that Juror 50 made "several direct, unambiguous statements to multiple media outlets about his own experience that do not pertain to jury deliberations and that cast doubt on the accuracy of his responses during jury selection."
According to the Washington Post, on top of the controversy with the juror, the judge denied Maxwell's request for a new trial over the issue. However, many believe that the defendant's team will renew that motion after the proceeding scheduled for next month.
Lying on Juror Questionnaire
During a recent interview, the juror, who identified himself only as Scott David, said that during deliberations, some jurors had issues with the memories of two accusers who took the stand. He then said that he shared his own experiences of sexual abuse as a child, arguing that it helped sway the other jurors' views.
David said that after he shared his own experience, the other jurors seemed to have come around on the memory aspect of a sexual abuse victim. On the other hand, Maxwell's attorneys argued that the fact the juror lied in the questionnaire form gave their client the right to a new trial.
Judge Nathan's rejection of Maxwell's request was based on the current record that "relies extensively" on statements from the juror involving deliberations that the court was not legally able to consider. In her Thursday ruling, the judge emphasized that the "potential impropriety" is whether or not the juror lied on his juror questionnaire and not his history of surviving sexual abuse, CNN reported.
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