Maxwell to seek new trial after reports of juror's sex abuse

NEW YORK – Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted past week of conspiring to enlistee and groom teenage girls to beryllium abused by Jeffrey Epstein, intends to petition a caller proceedings aft revelations by 1 of the jurors successful her lawsuit that helium was a unfortunate of intersexual abuse, her defence lawyers said Wednesday.

Two defence lawyers — Jeffrey Pagliuca and Laura Menninger — said successful a missive to U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan that “based connected undisputed, publically disposable information, the Court tin and should bid a caller proceedings without immoderate evidentiary hearing.”

“Ms. Maxwell intends to petition a caller trial,” they wrote. “Any submission volition see each known undisputed remarks of the Juror, including recorded statements, the applicable questionnaire, and different noncontroverted facts. It is wide to Ms. Maxwell that based connected this grounds unsocial a caller proceedings is required.”

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They added that if a proceeding is required, it should hap soon and that each jurors who deliberated “need to beryllium examined, not to impeach the verdict, but to measure the Juror’s conduct.”

Attorney Christian Everdell said successful his ain missive to Nathan that the justice should suspend each different post-trial motions successful the lawsuit portion learning much astir the juror’s actions due to the fact that the revelation “presents incontrovertible grounds for a caller trial.”

“Should the defence prevail connected this question — and we judge the instrumentality and facts are intelligibly connected our broadside — it would render each different post-trial motions moot,” helium wrote.

He said Maxwell “should not person to expend precious clip and resources briefing different motions erstwhile this question tin and should beryllium dispositive.”

In interviews published Tuesday and Wednesday by The Independent and the Daily Mail, 1 juror described a infinitesimal during the deliberations erstwhile helium told chap jurors successful Maxwell's proceedings that, similar immoderate of the victims of the precocious financier Epstein, helium had been sexually abused arsenic a child. And helium said helium convinced different jurors that a victim’s imperfect representation of enactment maltreatment doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

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“I cognize what happened erstwhile I was sexually abused. I retrieve the colour of the carpet, the walls. Some of it tin beryllium replayed similar a video,” helium said helium told the jury, according to The Independent. “But I can’t retrieve each the details, determination are immoderate things that tally together.”

In their ain missive to Nathan, adjacent prosecutors said those reports “merit attraction by the Court.” The juror was identified lone by his archetypal and mediate sanction successful the articles.

Prosecutors suggested successful their missive that Nathan docket a proceeding successful astir 1 month, on with a docket for lawyers to record briefs regarding the applicable instrumentality and the scope of the hearing.

“The Government respectfully submits that immoderate juror probe should beryllium conducted exclusively nether the supervision of the Court,” prosecutors wrote.

If the justice decides to behaviour a hearing, her unit should “promptly interaction the juror to notify him” and inquire whether helium would similar a lawyer to beryllium appointed successful transportation with it, prosecutors said.

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Potential jurors successful Maxwell's lawsuit were asked to capable retired a questionnaire asking: “Have you oregon a person oregon household subordinate ever been the unfortunate of intersexual harassment, intersexual abuse, oregon intersexual assault?”

Quoting from the property reports, prosecutors said the juror asserted that helium “flew through” the questionnaire and didn’t callback being asked if he’d been a unfortunate of enactment abuse.

Defense lawyers did not respond to requests for comment. Prosecutors said successful their missive that they'd reached retired to defence counsel connected Tuesday nighttime but they had not yet responded.

Epstein killed himself successful jailhouse successful 2019 arsenic helium awaited a enactment trafficking trial.

No sentencing day has been acceptable aft the condemnation of Maxwell, 60, and she is inactive facing proceedings connected perjury charges.

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