A judge in the case of Ghislaine Maxwell, the 60-year-old British socialite convicted of helping Jeffrey Epstein traffic and abuse minors, will determine if a juror lied on a questionnaire, McClatchy Newspapers reports. Scotty David, juror 50, gave interviews after the trial disclosing that he had been a victim of sexual abuse and shared his experiences with fellow jurors to help them understand why memories of trauma can be imprecise. In a court questionnaire he was required to fill out under penalty of perjury, he indicated that he was not a victim of sexual abuse.
The trial ended with Maxwell's conviction, including sexually trafficking a minor. Her defense team pointed out inconsistencies in testimony from victims as well as how some failed to report incidents when they happened. The jury deliberated for six days before finding Maxwell guilty. Juror 50 faces a hearing on March 8, where he will be questioned by Judge Alison Nathan. Maxwell’s defense lawyers argued in a filing unsealed Thursday that had the juror mentioned his sexual abuse history, they would have sought to disqualify him. Federal prosecutors countered that eight jurors who disclosed they had been victims of sexual harassment, sexual abuse or sexual assault were allowed to remain in the jury pool after saying that they could be fair and impartial in follow-up questioning.
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