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Ghislaine Maxwell's Law Team Files Motion For Retrial, Arguing Juror Didn’t Disclose History Of Sexual Abuse
Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted last month on sex trafficking charges related to her time serving as sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's close friend and confidante.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers have formally requested a retrial, after a juror in her recent trial failed to disclose he was sexually abused as a child.
Attorney Bobbi Sternheim filed the motion to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan requesting a new trial on Wednesday, CNN reports. The motion also requests that all documents pertaining to "Juror. No. 50" remain under seal until the court rules on the motion.
The juror, who has been identified by multiple media outlets by his first and middle name of Scotty David— recently told The Independent and other publications that he was sexually abused as a child.
The jury convicted Maxwell, 60, of five counts related to child sexual abuse and trafficking last month. Maxwell’s lawyers say the juror failed to disclose this sexual abuse during jury selection when prospective jurors were asked on jury questionnaire forms if they had been sexually abused and, if so, if it would impact their abilities to be impartial.
It also appears that this particular juror’s past possibly played a role in the jury’s choice to convict.
During a recent Reuters interview, he admitted he shared his own story with other jurors during deliberations as they discussed witnesses’ memories.
"When I shared that, they were able to sort of come around on, they were able to come around on the memory aspect of the sexual abuse," he said.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors told jurors that the disgraced British socialite recruited and groomed teen girls as part of Jeffrey Epstein’s pyramid of sexual abuse. Epstein, 66, died in a Manhattan jail cell in August of 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges stemming from allegations made by dozens of victims.
Maxwell still awaits trial on two counts of perjury. Her conviction is likely to result in a significant prison sentence. Amongst the charges she was convicted of, were transportation of minors to engage in criminal sexual activity and sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud or coercion.
For more on the case, watch Peacock’s “Epstein’s Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell.”
