U.S. marshalls (not seen) block Ghislaine Maxwell from speaking with her sister Isabel during jury deliberations in the trial of Jeffrey Epstein associate Maxwell in a courtroom sketch in New York City, December 29, 2021.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
Lawyers for British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell on Wednesday asked a judge to set aside her recent conviction for abetting the sexual abuse of underage girls after a juror from her trial told reporters that he himself had been sexually abused as a child and had discussed that fact during jury deliberations.
Maxwell’s lawyers asked Manhattan federal court Judge Alison Nathan for a new trial on the charges, saying “we believe the law and facts are clearly on our side.”
In a letter, they said there are “incontrovertible grounds for a new trial under” a federal rule of criminal procedure. Much of that letter contained details that were blacked out in a publicly available version.
The bombshell development came after prosecutors notified Nathan of the juror’s recent interviews with several media outlets, which were conducted after Maxwell was convicted of multiple felonies on Dec. 29 related to her procuring underage girls to be sexually abused by the late money manager Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell, 60, faces decades in prison when she is sentenced for the five counts on which she was convicted.
Prosecutors themselves asked Nathan to open an inquiry into the 35-year-old juror, who told at least three media outlets that he had shared his story about being sexually abused as a boy during deliberations in Maxwell’s trial.
The juror discussed that abuse when some of his fellow jurors questioned the reliability of testimony by Maxwell’s accusers, according to reports by Reuters, DailyMail.com and The Independent.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that a second juror told that newspaper that they discussed their own experience of sexual abuse with other jurors.
Prosecutors noted that the first juror is quoted in reports as saying he “flew through” a prospective jury questionnaire before he was picked for the trial, and did not recall being asked whether he had been a victim of sexual abuse.
But in interviews, the Manhattan resident told reporters he would have answered honestly if asked that question, the letter noted.
That questionnaire did ask if a would-be juror had been sexually abused, or if anyone in their families had been a victim of such abuse.
The letter did not reveal whether the juror who gave the interviews disclosed on his questionnaire that he had been sexually abused, much less whether that man was then questioned by Judge Nathan if that fact would affect his ability to be fair to Maxwell.
But if the juror, or any other juror, failed to disclose being sexually abused when asked on the questionnaire, Maxwell’s lawyers could cite that as grounds to set aside the jury’s verdict.
“The Government believes the Court should conduct an inquiry,” prosecutors wrote in their letter.
Within hours of the prosecutor’s letter, Maxwell’s lawyer Christian Everdell wrote Nathan, saying, “We write concerning an issue of pressing importance.”
“It has come to the attention of the defense that one of the twelve jurors in this case (the “Juror”) has been giving oral and videotaped interviews to various members of the press concerning the jury deliberations,” Everdell wrote.
“These interviews have been publicly reported in several media outlets. Among other things, the Juror told reporters that he disclosed to the other members of the jury during deliberations that he was a victim of sexual abuse and further described his memory of those events. According to the Juror, his disclosure influenced the deliberations and convinced other members of the jury to convict Ms. Maxwell.”
Everdell wrote, “Should the defense prevail on this motion—and we believe the law and facts are clearly on our side—it would render all other post-trial motions moot. Ms. Maxwell should not have to expend precious time and resources briefing other motions when this motion can and should be dispositive.”
Prosecutors asked Nathan to schedule a hearing in one month and suggested the juror be asked whether he wants a court-appointed lawyer for that hearing. That request implies that the juror might have legal exposure if he failed to disclose his sexual abuse on the questionnaire.
The first juror who spoke to reporters, identified in interviews by his first and middle names, Scotty David, told The Independent that he told fellow jury members during their deliberations about his abuse to explain why some of Maxwell’s accusers might misremember certain details related to their own abuse.
“I know what happened when I was sexually abused. I remember the colour of the carpet, the walls. Some of it can be replayed like a video,” he told The Independent.
“But I can’t remember all the details, there are some things that run together.”
The newspaper also reported that some jurors questioned why Maxwell’s accusers did not come forward earlier with their allegations.
David told The Independent that he had not disclosed his own abuse “until I was in high school,” and said the jury room went completely silent when he shared the story of that abuse.
Epstein, 66, died in August 2019 from what has officially been ruled a suicide by hanging while in a Manhattan federal jail as he awaited his own trial on child sex trafficking charges.
A former friend of Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as of Britain’s Prince Andrew, Epstein has been accused of abusing scores of underage girls over the years.
