On April 1, Federal Judge Alison Nathan denied a motion by attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell for a new trial. Maxwell was convicted last year of sex trafficking charges stemming from her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
One of the jurors who convicted Maxwell came forward after the trial to say that he had been a victim of sexual abuse, and that he brought up his past in jury deliberations. Maxwells attorneys asked for a new trial based on the fact that the juror, identified as Juror 50, did not disclose his past sexual abuse.
Judge Nathan, who presided over Maxwell’s trial and sentencing, denied the request for a new trial, writing in her decision “the court concludes that Juror 50 testified credibly and truthfully at the post-trial hearing. His failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse during the jury selection process was highly unfortunate, but not deliberate.”
Juror 50 was interviewed by the court and by prosecutors after being granted immunity. Judge Nathan found that, “he was distracted as he filled out the questionnaire and ‘skimmed way too fast’, leading him to misunderstand some of the questions, and “Assuming mistakenly that he would not be one of the 12 jurors selected from the hundreds of prospective jurors who had been summoned, he rushed through the questionnaire. This led to inaccurate answers. Juror 50’s lack of attention and care in responding accurately to every question on the questionnaire is regrettable, but the Court is confident that the failure to disclose was not deliberate.”
Maxwell was found guilty of five counts of sex trafficking of a minor, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and three counts of conspiracy. Maxwell, 60, faces life in prison when she is sentenced on June 28 and remains in jail at the Manhattan Correctional Center, (MCC).
Her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein spanned 20 years. Esptein was convicted in 2008 for child prostitution, and was being held on sex-trafficking charges when he died by suicide in 2019.
In January of 2022, Maxwell, through her attorneys, withdrew her claim to keep the names of 8 men accused by Esptein victium Virginia Guiffre of sexually abusing her when she was a minor. To date, those names have still not been made publicm, by Maxwell or Guiffre, who just won a multi million dollar settlement from Prince Andrew.
Both Maxwell and Guiffre know the names of the John Doe 8. Who else knows is anybody’s guess.
Guiffre has accused high profile attorney Alan Dershowitz of sexually abusing her, a charge that Dershowitz denies and has counter sued Guiffree for libel. Guiffre is also suing Dershowitz for defamation.
Unsealed court documents from Guiffre’s lawsuit against Maxwell include a 2016 deposition in which Guiffre claims that Maxwell ordered her to have sex with Dershowitz, and with former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and former US Senator George Mitchell. Other names in that deposition include L Brand founder Les Wexner, formerly the owner of Victoria’s Secret, and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, according to Herald reporter Julie K. Brown.
Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown, whose work on the Epstein case deserves a Pulitzer, said that Prince Andrew, Dershowitz and former President Bill Clinton’s names were redacted from a Guiffre lawsuit court filing in 2020.,
The other two famous persons who have been photographed with Epstein, or have admitted spending time with Epstein, are former President Donald Trump and Micosoft founder Bill Gates. Bill Gates ex-wife, Melinda Gates, spoke publicly about her repulsion of Epstein, and how she had nightmares on the one occasion she met him. When asked by CBS host Gayle King about her ex-husbands involvement with Epstein played a role in their divorce, she said,” It was many things. But I did not like that he’d had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein. I made that clear to him.”
When King questioned Melinda Gates further on Bill Gates relationship with Epstein and whether or not he had numerous affairs, she said, “those are questions Bill needs to answer.”
Former Attorney General Bill Barr said, “Any co-conspirators should not rest easy. The victims deserve justice, and they will get it.”
We hope so.
