Judge upholds Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking conviction despite juror's revelations

1 April 2022, 22:40 | Updated: 2 April 2022, 00:47

A judge has upheld British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell's conviction for sex trafficking despite a juror's revelations that followed the trial.

One member of the jury that convicted the former girlfriend of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein said he falsely stated ahead of the trial that he had not been sexually abused.

It raised questions as to whether Maxwell would be to secure a new trial but her attempt to do so has failed.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted in December for helping Epstein, the disgraced financier, sexually abuse teenage girls between 1994 and 2004.

She was described by prosecutors then as "dangerous".

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After the case, a juror said in interviews with the media that he was sexually abused when he was a child but told a pretrial questionnaire that he hadn't been abused.

Lawyers for Maxwell claimed that by completing it falsely and then taking part in the jury that convicted her, she had been denied her right to a fair trial, describing it as "not fair and impartial".

However, Judge Alison Nathan refused the request for a retrial after questioning the juror under oath in a New York courtroom.

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Upholding Maxwell's conviction on Friday, Judge Nathan said: "His failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse during the jury selection process was highly unfortunate, but not deliberate.

"The court further concludes that Juror 50 harboured no bias toward the defendant and could serve as a fair and impartial juror."

Lawyers for Maxwell have said they intend to appeal her conviction.