NEW YORK—The Honorable Alison J. Nathan, the judge who presided over the Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking case in federal court last month, received two requests on Jan. 5 regarding the trial.
One came from the prosecution and one came from the defense.
At the center of both requests is an individual who’s recently given interviews to the media regarding his service on the jury.
He’s publicly stated he was a victim of childhood sexual abuse and made this known to his fellow jurors during deliberations.
Maxwell was found guilty of five of the six counts of sex-trafficking on behalf of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein on Dec. 29, and four alleged victims testified Maxwell was directly involved in their sexual abuse when they were minors.
In the three-page letter, the prosecution wrote, “Assuming the accuracy of the reporting, the juror asserted that he ′flew through′ the prospective juror questionnaire and does not recall being asked whether he had been a victim of sexual abuse, but stated that ′he would have answered honestly.′”
The letter states that “based on the foregoing, the government believes the court should conduct an inquiry” and further requests “a hearing in approximately one month.”
The letter also suggests that the juror be asked whether he'd like a lawyer appointed to him, should the hearing be conducted.
Maxwell’s defense team wrote its own letter on the subject to Nathan, stating it “presents incontrovertible grounds for a new trial under Rule 33.”
Prior to these developments, it was understood that the defense was going to file an appeal and that Nathan was going to sentence Maxwell, most likely this month.
However, in his letter, defense attorney Christian Everdell wrote, “Should the defense prevail on this motion—and we believe the law and facts are clearly on our side—it would render all other post-trial motions moot.”
Maxwell is facing additional charges of two counts of perjury.
