A juror at the trial of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell who told reporters he was sexually abused as a child has retained a lawyer, the trial judge has revealed.
Public interviews by juror “Scotty David” led defence lawyers in the case to say they will request a new trial.
US District Judge Alison J Nathan asked them to do so by January 19.
In an order on Thursday, Judge Nathan said the juror’s retained lawyer, Todd Spodek, had informed her that the juror did not want the court to appoint a lawyer for him as she had offered.
Mr Spodek did not immediately return a request for comment.
Mr Spodek’s clients have included New York “fake heiress” Anna Sorokin, who pretended to be the scion of a wealthy European family to scam banks, businesses and friends.
The revelations by the juror in interviews published by The Independent and the Daily Mail on Tuesday and Wednesday threatened to upend the guilty verdicts returned against Maxwell last week on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges, among others.
In the interviews, the juror said he revealed to other jurors during week-long deliberations that he was sexually abused as a child, and he said the information helped him convince some jurors that a victim's imperfect memory of sex abuse does not mean it did not happen.
Memories and how they relate to sexual abuse victims were a contentious point among lawyers during the trial as each side summoned a memory expert to testify.
During deliberations, the jury requested transcripts of the testimony by the defence's memory expert, who said memories can be corroded over time by outside influences and general decay.
No sentencing date was set.
Maxwell’s lawyers have written to Judge Nathan to claim the juror’s alleged failure to disclose the information “presents incontrovertible grounds for a new trial”. Meanwhile, prosecutors have called on the judge to conduct an inquiry.
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Legal experts have suggested the juror may have retained a lawyer out of concern he may have committed perjury when he apparently failed to correctly answer a question during the selection process on whether he had any personal experience of sexual abuse.
Scotty told Reuters he “flew through” the 50 questions on the juror questionnaire and does not remember that one.
On Wednesday, Lisa Bloom, who has represented a number of Ghislaine Maxwell’s accusers, said the possibility of a mistrial in the case was a “punch in the gut” for all the victims.
Epstein, 66, took his own life at a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019 as he awaited a trial on sex trafficking charges.
