A Manhattan judge upheld Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction on sex-trafficking charges on Friday, after one of the jurors in her trial failed to disclose that he was sexually abused as a child.
Maxwell was found guilty in December 2021 of five of six charges, including sex trafficking of a minor, in connection with her longtime friendship with Epstein, who himself was charged with sex trafficking of minors in 2019.
One of the jurors later told several media outlets that he was a victim of sexual abuse during childhood, but he had indicated that he was not a victim of sexual abuse on a jury questionnaire before the trial. The man, identified as Juror 50, said he told other jurors about the abuse he experienced during deliberations, in comments to Reuters.
However, U.S. Circuit Judge Alison Nathan ultimately concluded that the juror did not intentionally hide his prior experiences.
“His failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse during the jury selection process was highly unfortunate, but not deliberate,” Nathan wrote in a ruling on Friday. “The Court further concludes that Juror 50 harbored no bias toward the Defendant and could serve as a fair and impartial juror.”
Maxwell’s lawyers had argued that they would not have accepted David as a juror if he had disclosed prior abuse.
At a hearing earlier this month, the juror said he was distracted while filling out the jury questionnaire.
“I didn’t lie in order to get on this jury and then go to the press and tell them about my abuse. If I lied deliberately, I wouldn’t have told a soul,” the juror said.
Judge Nathan’s ruling will likely allow Maxwell to be sentenced as scheduled on June 28. Maxwell faces up to 65 years in prison following her conviction.
Source: National Review
