A federal judge on Friday denied granting a new trial to British social media site Ghislaine Maxwell, who argued her sentence for bribing underage girls to be sexually abused. by Jeffrey Epstein was defiled by the presence of a juror who did not disclose that he himself had been sexually abused as a child.
Judge Alison Nathan said Maxwell’s attorneys had failed to respond to requests to grant a new trial in a criminal case.
Nathan wrote in his ruling that the juror had credibly testified during a hearing in March that he was “surfing too quickly” through a questionnaire before Maxwell’s trial last winter. , asked potential jurors if they were victims of sexual abuse.
Maxwell’s attorneys say Juror 50’s failure to answer yes, instead of no, as he did, violated her right to a fair trial.
But Nathan wrote that based on Juror 50’s testimony last month, she believes “he is unbiased and will not be charged for ‘must serve on a jury’ even if he has paid correctly answer each question in the questionnaire.”
Ghislaine Maxwell appeared via video link during a placement hearing, where she was denied bail for her role in assisting Jeffrey Epstein in recruiting and ultimately abusing underage girls, in Manhattan Federal Court , in New York, July 14, 2020 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
The March hearing was held after Juror 50 gave an interview to the media and revealed that he had been a victim of sexual abuse, and that he had mentioned that abuse. with other jurors while deliberating in court.
The 50 grand jury initially said he would refuse to answer questions at the hearing by invoking a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, but took an oath after being granted immunity from prosecution.
Maxwell, 60, was convicted December 29 in United States District Court in Manhattan of five counts, including conspiracy to entice a minor to travel to commit illegal sexual acts. France.
She faced decades in prison when she was sentenced on June 28 for those crimes, related to the abuse of underage girls by herself and Epstein in the 1990s.
The accusers in the case were teenagers when they were allegedly abused by Epstein at his properties in the United States and London.
Maxwell, who was Epstein’s girlfriend and his property manager, has been held without bail since her arrest in July 2020 in New Hampshire.
That arrest came a year after Epstein himself was arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges for abusing dozens of underage girls.
The 66-year-old money manager died in a federal prison in Manhattan in August 2019 while awaiting trial, from what was officially ruled suicide by hanging in his cell.
Epstein was previously friends with a number of rich and famous people, among them former presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, and Britain’s Prince Andrew.
