NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - The possible failure of a juror in Ghislaine Maxwell's trial to disclose that he was a victim of sexual abuse may not be enough to overturn the British socialite's sex trafficking conviction and warrant a new trial, legal experts said on Thursday.
Maxwell, 60, was convicted last week on sex trafficking and other charges for recruiting teenage girls to have sexual encounters with Jeffrey Epstein. Her lawyers asked for a new trial after the juror told Reuters and other news outlets that he shared his experience of sexual abuse during deliberations.
It was unclear whether the juror, who asked to be identified by his first and middle names, Scotty David, revealed that experience during pre-trial vetting.
But not all instances of jurors failing to disclose information are significant enough to merit a new trial, experts said, noting that cases where verdicts were overturned largely involved jurors who deliberately omitted information to try to get on the panel. |