Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers have been allowed to apply for a retrial, after reports emerged that two jurors may have swayed others to convict her for sex trafficking by revealing their own childhood sexual abuse histories.
On Wednesday, New York judge Alison Nathan gave the defense until January 19 to submit a legal motion to vacate the conviction. Maxwell’s lawyers had told the court that there were “incontrovertible grounds for a new trial” after one juror – identified as “Scotty David” – told various media outlets that he’d revealed his experience of abuse during jury deliberations.
Prosecutors also asked the judge to conduct a hearing into Scotty David’s interviews next month. The 35-year-old Manhattan resident told Reuters on Tuesday that he brought up his history after some jurors were skeptical about the accounts of two of Maxwell’s accusers.
“When I shared that, they were able to sort of come around on… the memory aspect of the sexual abuse,” David told the news agency, referring to how he had waited until reaching high school to talk to people about his abuse, in an effort to explain why some victims may not have come forward sooner.