Ghislaine Maxwell formally requested a new trial Wednesday, two weeks after one of the jurors who convicted her last month of child sex trafficking told reporters that he was a sexual abuse victim and had persuaded other jurors to convict Maxwell.
Maxwell attorney Bobbi Sternheim filed a brief late Wednesday evening, just before a midnight deadline set by the judge, Alison Nathan. The motion and all its exhibits were filed under seal.
But earlier, Maxwell’s lawyers said they would request a new trial based on “undisputed remarks of the juror, including recorded statements, the relevant questionnaire and other non-controverted facts.”
The juror, referred to as Juror No. 50, gave an interview six days after the verdict to Britain’s Independent using his first and middle name, Scotty David. He said he found all the accusers who testified believable in part because he, too, was a victim of sexual abuse.
“I know what happened when I was sexually abused. I remember the color of the carpet, the walls. Some of it can be replayed like a video,” he told the newspaper.
“But I can’t remember all the details, there are some things that run together.”
In a subsequent interview with Reuters, he said he didn’t recall being asked about sexual abuse during pretrial selection, and that he “flew through” a survey given to the prospective jurors, which asked jurors whether they or anyone they knew had been sexually abused. Later, upon questioning by Nathan during the pretrial process known as voir dire, Nathan asked him if he felt he had any reason to be impartial, and he replied that he did not.
Federal prosecutors, who also asked for an inquiry into the matter, have until Feb. 2 to respond to the defense’s request for a new trial.
The panel of 12 jurors convicted Maxwell, 60, on five of six counts related to transportation and trafficking of minors on Dec. 29. The verdict followed a monthlong trial in which four victims recounted emotional stories of how they were sexually exploited and abused by Maxwell and her longtime companion, Jeffrey Epstein. Two of the victims, 14 at the time of the alleged abuse, said they were groomed by Maxwell in how to please Epstein sexually. Most of the abuse happened more than a decade ago, at Epstein’s homes in Florida, New York and New Mexico.
It wasn’t clear why Maxwell’s lawyers filed the motion under seal, given that the juror’s comments were public. But legal experts said there could be several reasons for the secrecy.
“There might be information about Juror No. 50 that they have uncovered that is not yet part of the public record and they want to keep that information out of the public’s view,” said David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor.
Miami defense attorney Joel Hirschhorn added that it could have been related to maintaining the anonymity of other jurors.
Whatever her case for secrecy might be, experts say Maxwell still faces steep obstacles in getting a new trial granted.
Hirschhorn was able to get a new trial for one client convicted of murder after showing that one of the jurors had lied about his background, but has failed in other instances.
“Impeachment of a jury’s verdict because of juror misconduct is extremely rare,” he said. “This could be that extremely rare case.”
Epstein, 66, was first arrested in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2006, following an investigation by the Town of Palm Beach police, which found he had sexually abused at least a dozen middle and high school girls.
The state attorney, Barry Krischer, elected to take the case before a grand jury, which was not presented evidence of the full scope of Epstein’s crimes. The case was then taken over by the FBI and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alexander Acosta. Acosta signed off on a lenient plea deal that allowed Epstein to avoid prison time. He served 13 months in the Palm Beach County jail, most of it under work release.
Epstein was rearrested on new trafficking charges in July 2019, following publication of a Miami Herald investigation about the case, “Perversion of Justice.”
He died at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging.
Maxwell was arrested a year later, charged with helping Epstein with his sex trafficking operation.
Her sentencing has been scheduled for June 28.
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