While everyone was fretting about a less-lethal COVID variant, January 6, rising inflation, and a host of other issues, you can see how this trial would be buried in the news. Also, the liberal media would probably do so regardless since it could place some very powerful members in trouble, namely a ton of Democrats, including Bill Clinton. Ghislaine Maxwell was recently found guilty for aiding her indicted dead pedophile pal Jeffrey Epstein in procuring teenage girls and sex trafficking. Epstein was well-known among wealthy and powerful circles and the circumstances of his death via suicide (allegedly) in August of 2019 still have people talking. No one believes that he killed himself especially after the reports of guests being recorded and taped. Yet, we could be heading towards a mistrial for Maxwell after a juror revealed he was abused as a child (via NYT):
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday asked the judge who oversaw Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial to investigate the process by which one of the jurors was chosen, after he told news outlets he was a sexual abuse victim and had discussed his experience during deliberations.
The prosecutors’ request, in a letter filed with the court, raised the possibility of additional inquiry into how jurors who voted to convict Ms. Maxwell had been selected and the prospect of Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers moving to have a mistrial declared in the closely watched case.
Later on Wednesday, Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers indicated they planned to do just that, saying in two letters to the judge that their client would seek a new trial and that the judge “can and should order” one without holding a hearing, as the government had requested.
Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers said Ms. Maxwell planned to make her request under a federal rule that grants a judge the power to grant a new trial when the “interest of justice so requires.”
NBC News has more:
Scotty David, 35, a Manhattan resident who was identified in interviews with Reuters and a British newspaper only by his first and middle names, said he “flew through” the initial questionnaire and would have answered honestly about his own history of being sexually abused had he been asked during follow-up questioning, known as voir dire.
A copy of the juror questionnaire made public in the case specifically asks, “Have you or a friend or family member ever been the victim of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual assault?”
David said he told his fellow jurors about his experience after some voiced doubt about the credibility of Jane and Carolyn — both pseudonyms — who are two of the four women who testified that Maxwell groomed them for sex with Epstein when they were just teenagers.
“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,” he said in the interviews with Reuters and The Independent.
Recommended
Oh, what a mess. This whole circus could restart because the government skipped a step apparently, and that would mean potentially retraumatizing the survivors in this case. Yet, this wouldn’t be the first time the federal government has totally fouled up here. First and foremost, they totally dropped the ball in keeping Epstein alive. He was in federal custody on suicide watch, and he still died. Oddly enough, he was taken off such watch hours before his death. The prison guard logs were cooked. Oh, and this Epstein’s second attempt at killing himself. The footage from his first attempt has disappeared.
So, once again, it’s par for the course concerning the government being able to do its job. Even on supposed slam-dunk cases like Maxwell’s.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member