USA
Ghislaine Maxwell fails with application for a new trial
The court drawing shows Ghislaine Maxwell entering the courtroom at the beginning of her trial. Photo: Elizabeth Williams/AP/dpa
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Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-partner Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of trafficking a minor for abuse in late December. Now the way is clear for the sentencing.
The ex-partner of the deceased US multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, has failed in her application for a new trial.
Judge Alison Nathan said in New York, according to media reports, that the wrong information given by a jury in a questionnaire did not lead to a flawed trial. This clears the way for Maxwell’s sentencing on June 28. The 60-year-old faces several decades in prison.
Maxwell was charged with six counts, including trafficking a minor for abuse. She was found guilty of this and four other charges at the end of December. As a helper to her ex-partner Epstein, the British woman played a central role in building his ring for the sexual abuse of young girls, the jury decided in New York. After the guilty verdict, her lawyers officially requested a retrial.
A juror had previously stated in interviews that he himself had been a victim of sexual abuse. However, he answered “no” in a questionnaire that specifically asked potential jurors if they had experienced sexual abuse. Maxwell’s attorneys argued that if the jury had told the truth, “he would have been disqualified and disfellowshipped on good cause.”
Judge Nathan dismissed Maxwell’s claim that this undisclosed fact at trial deprived her of a fair and impartial jury. She pointed out that the hurdle for overturning a guilty verdict is high and “only occurs in the most exceptional circumstances”.