Ghislaine Maxwell: Judge grants immunity to juror who did not disclose abuse

A US judge has granted immunity to a juror in Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial who apparently did not disclose childhood sexual abuse during jury selection.

Maxwell, 60, was convicted of sex trafficking girls and her lawyers want a new trial because a juror failed to disclose he was once abused himself.

They say it could have affected the outcome of her case because he shared that fact with other jurors.

The ruling means this juror could be questioned later on Tuesday.

The hearing in New York will establish whether or not Maxwell is retried.

Maxwell, the daughter of a late British media tycoon, was convicted in December of grooming teenage girls for abuse by the late Jeffrey Epstein.

She faces up to 65 years in prison. Epstein killed himself in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

The juror in question, who asked to be identified by his first and middle name, Scotty David, had said he would not testify without protection from prosecution for lying in the jury questionnaire.

After the conviction of Maxwell he had told reporters that he had shared his own experience of sexual abuse with jurors after some had questioned the recollections from two of Maxwell’s accusers.

“I know what happened when I was sexually abused. I remember the colour of the carpet, the walls. Some of it can be replayed like a video,” he said he told the jury, according to The Independent.

“But I can’t remember all the details, there are some things that run together.”