Ghislaine Maxwell denied a new trial in US sex trafficking case

A federal choose has denied Ghislaine Maxwell a brand new trial, concluding {that a} juror’s failure to precisely reply a pre-trial questionnaire didn’t point out bias or violate the British socialite’s proper to an neutral jury.

The ruling issued on Friday night by Choose Alison Nathan will deprive Maxwell of what was her most quick hope of reversing a December conviction on prison intercourse trafficking fees stemming from her lengthy relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted intercourse offender.

Maxwell’s attorneys can nonetheless attempt to attraction in opposition to the decision on different grounds. She was convicted in December on 5 of six prison counts after a three-week trial through which prosecutors portrayed her as a “refined predator” who helped Epstein recruit underage ladies and groom them for abuse.

She pleaded not responsible to the costs and denied wrongdoing, sustaining she was a scapegoat for crimes dedicated by Epstein, who was discovered hanged in a jail cell earlier than he might stand trial.

The decision was hailed as a milestone for victims of sexual abuse. However it quickly got here into doubt after one of many 12 jurors disclosed in a post-trial media interview that he had been a sufferer of sexual abuse, which he had not disclosed on a pre-trial questionnaire.

Talking to Reuters, the juror recalled how his expertise helped allay different jurors’ issues about victims’ inconsistent reminiscences.

“After I shared that, they had been capable of kind of come round on, they had been capable of come round on the reminiscence side of the sexual abuse,” he mentioned on the time.

The juror was referred to as to testify below oath final month earlier than Choose Nathan, and mentioned he was distracted and had “skimmed method too quick” whereas filling out the questionnaire. In her resolution, Choose Nathan concluded that he had been truthful and that his mistake was “regrettable” however “not deliberate”.

Even when the juror’s prior historical past of sexual abuse had been recognized, it might not have been enough grounds to exclude him below the legislation, Choose Nathan wrote. A minimum of two different jurors had suffered related experiences that had been disclosed.

“To suggest or infer that Juror 50 was biased — just because he was himself a sufferer of sexual abuse in a trial associated to sexual abuse and intercourse trafficking, and regardless of his personal credible testimony below the penalty of perjury, establishing that he could possibly be an even-handed and neutral juror — can be tantamount to concluding that a person with a historical past of sexual abuse can by no means function a good and neutral juror in such a trial,” she wrote.

Maxwell, 60, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 28 and should spend the remainder of her life in jail. One of many 5 fees in opposition to her, prison intercourse trafficking, carries a 40-year most sentence.