Ghislaine Maxwell Could File for Mistrial if Juror Did Not Reveal His Own Childhood Abuse When Selected

In what many will view as a travesty of justice and a waste of taxpayers’ money, the New York Times reports Ghislaine Maxwell could “file for a mistrial.” 

The startling turn of events comes after one of the jurors disclosed he used his own “experience of childhood sexual assault to sway deliberations.” 

Possibly compounding matters, the juror in question “cannot remember” if he disclosed his past and potential bias during the jury selection process.

Ghislaine Maxwell, partner of and mistress to the now-deceased Jeffery Epstein, who died in prison while facing charges of trafficking young women and forcing them into sexual service, was convicted of five federal sex trafficking charges last week.

Bringing Maxwell and Epstein to trial has been a multi-million dollar endeavor. Yahoo News reports that Maxwell’s defense team alone cost $7 million. 

After more than a year of work and a jury conviction on five counts, the prosecution team believed the case was all but closed. NBC News reported that a sentencing date had not yet been set, but Maxwell could face up to 65 years in prison.

However, Maxwell’s immediate fate is now in doubt after a juror, known only by his first and middle names, Scotty David, said in deliberations he told follow jurors about his history of sexual abuse and, according to the Western Journal, convinced jurors who “voiced doubts” to vote to convict Maxwell.

The New York Post reports that David acknowledged he told “fellow jurors how he had waited until high school before revealing his childhood abuse to anyone.” According to the Post, David’s statement was intended to “explain why” two witnesses did not “come forward earlier with their accusations against Epstein and Maxwell.”

“When I shared that, they were able to sort of come around on, they were able to come around on the memory aspect of the sexual abuse,” David said in the interviews, according to NBC News.

NBC also reports that “[a]ll the potential jurors” received a “confidential questionnaire” and were specifically asked “whether they or any relatives had been sexually abused.”

Legal experts note that the turn of events is likely grounds for a mistrial.

Judge Nathan, who is overseeing the case, gave the defense until Jan. 19 to file a motion for a new trial and set Feb. 2 as the government’s deadline for responding to the appeal, according to the New York Times.