After the guilty verdict against the ex-partner of the deceased US multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, her defense lawyers want to request a new version of the trial. The reason is statements by a jury: He recently said in interviews that he was himself a victim of sexual abuse.
Maxwell’s defense attorneys informed New York federal judge Alison Nathan in a letter on Wednesday (local time). Nathan then set a deadline of January 19 to negotiate a possible retrial motion. However, the judge refused to suspend all other deliberations in the proceedings until then.
Maxwell’s attorneys also requested an examination of the jury selection process. “I know what happened when I was sexually assaulted,” the jury member told the British Independent. “I remember the color of the carpet and the walls.” But there are also details that he no longer remembers. He told his story during the jury deliberations. It had become very quiet. He thinks he could have helped others understand the victims.
Truthfully answered the questionnaire?
A second member of the jury, who asked to remain anonymous, also reported on Wednesday New York Timesthat she experienced sexual abuse as a child and spoke about it at jury deliberations. The two jurors’ revelations could be problematic if they did not disclose their experiences to the court before the trial began, the wrote New York Times further. All potential jurors were asked in a confidential questionnaire whether they, relatives or friends had been victims of sexual abuse.
In an interview with the British Daily Mail one of the two jury members said he could not remember the details of the questionnaire, but added that he had answered all questions truthfully.
Maxwell was charged on six counts, including trafficking in children for abuse. She was found guilty of this and four other charges in late December. The jury in New York had decided that the British woman had played a central role as the helper of her ex-partner Epstein in setting up his ring for the sexual abuse of young girls. The 60-year-old could be imprisoned for several decades.