“Depending on the age of the accusers during the time frame of the conspiracy, consent may be an appropriate and viable defense,’’ Maxwell’s attorneys said in one motion, noting that in Florida at the time the crimes were allegedly committed, “individuals under the age of 18 could be charged with commission of the crime of prostitution.” Sometimes she joined in the sex, the accusers allege. In addition to being his girlfriend, Maxwell functioned as as one of Epstein’s recruiters, victims say, luring women and underage girls to his opulent homes around the world, including in Palm Beach, Manhattan, the Virgin Islands and New Mexico, to engage in massages that turned into sex acts. The daughter of the late British media baron Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine Maxwell was once a fixture on the New York social scene who possessed a Rolodex of names and direct phone numbers to former presidents, world leaders, billionaires and celebrities. Maxwell, whose wealth has been assessed at more than $20 million, has marshaled her considerable resources in an effort to destroy their case.ĭefense lawyers have lined up a team of high-priced experts to testify about the psychological aspects of victimization and such topics as the science of memory, grooming, post-traumatic stress disorder and the “halo effect” - a tendency for positive impressions of a person in one area to positively influence one’s opinion or feelings in other areas - all intended to cast doubt in the minds of the jurors. One of the biggest challenges for prosecutors is time: more than two decades have passed since the alleged abuse occurred. Maxwell’s family contends that she, too, was a victim who was exploited by Epstein and is now being unjustly tried for crimes that he committed. After both parties in the case submit proposed questions for David, the court will question him in a public hearing on March 8.While Epstein and Maxwell have been universally vilified on social media, the case is not a slam-dunk for prosecutors, who face several obstacles in proving guilt. Nathan’s order for an inquiry casts further doubt on the Maxwell verdict and heightens the possibility for a mistrial. Rather, it is the potential failure to respond truthfully to questions during the jury selection process that asked for that material information so that any potential bias could be explored.”ĭavid’s lawyer Todd Spodek declined to comment on Nathan’s ruling. “To be clear,” Nathan wrote on Thursday, “the potential impropriety is not that someone with a history of sexual abuse may have served on the jury. “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 told the outlet. David told Reuters in January that after some jurors questioned the credibility of two of Maxwell’s accusers, he told them that he recalled the major elements of his abuse even if he couldn’t remember each and every detail.
Nathan also cleared up some potential misconceptions about David’s conduct during jury deliberations. district judge Alison Nathan ruled that the court will question David, who has been identified in court documents as “Juror 50,” under oath.
MAXWELL TRIAL BLACK BOOK SERIES
On Thursday, after a series of motions from both the prosecution and defense, U.S.
The New York Post photographed him near his apartment as he tried to hide from the cameras. David told Reuters in January that he didn’t recall the question and that he “flew through” the process-but that he would have answered honestly.ĭavid’s comments caused Maxwell’s team to move for a mistrial and prompted a minor tabloid frenzy.
That presented a problem since, during jury selection in the case, potential jurors had been asked whether they or family members had ever been victims of sexual abuse. Identifying himself only by his first and middle name, Scotty David told reporters that his own experience of being sexually abused as a child helped inform his discussions with fellow jurors. His comments threw the finality of the verdict into question. Shortly after a federal jury found Ghislaine Maxwell guilty on five of six counts of facilitating Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse last month, one of the trial’s jurors spoke with several news outlets about the deliberations.
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