Ghislaine Maxwell Will Not Yet Get a New Trial But May After Juror Hearing

The judge in Ghislaine Maxwell's trial said in a new ruling that the convicted sex trafficker's initial request for a new trial has been rejected, but that a new hearing would be set for March 8 to determine whether a juror in the trial did not answer questions in the juror selection process honestly.

Scotty David, referred to as Juror 50 in Judge Alison Nathan's new ruling, said in interviews with multiple news outlets following the trial that he was a victim of sexual abuse, and reportedly told the other jurors that during deliberations, as well.

"To be clear, the potential impropriety is not that someone with a history of sexual abuse may have served on the jury," Nathan wrote. "Rather, it is the potential failure to respond truthfully to questions during the jury selection process that asked for that material information so that any potential bias could be explored."

After David's public statements following the conclusion of the trial late last year, prosecutors urged Nathan to investigate his comments while Maxwell's attorneys quickly requested a new trial.

"Juror 50's responses to the jury questionnaire and questions posed to him during in-person voir dire corrupted the voir dire process and violated Ms. Maxwell's right to a fair trial," her attorneys wrote in a letter at the time. "As set forth in the Motion, the defense believes that the existing record is clear and more than sufficient for the Court to grant Ms. Maxwell a new trial without the need for further factual development."

Nathan wrote that a new trial could not be ordered based simply on statements made in the media, and ordered that David needs to be questioned under oath about whether he made false statements in the juror selection process or provided false answers on a jury selection questionnaire.

"Following trial, Juror 50 made several direct, unambiguous statements to multiple media outlets about his own experience that do not pertain to jury deliberations and that cast doubt on the accuracy of his responses during jury selection," Nathan wrote. "Juror 50's post-trial statements are 'clear, strong, substantial and incontrovertible evidence that a specific, non-speculative impropriety' – namely, a false statement during jury selection – has occurred."

A question on the survey sent to potential jurors for Maxwell's trial read "Have you or a friend or family member ever been the victim of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual assault?" according to The New York Daily News. "This includes actual or attempted sexual assault or other unwanted sexual advance, including by a stranger, acquaintance, supervisor, teacher, or family member."

David has said that he did not recall the question being asked on the survey, and said he would have answered it honestly if it was there.

Maxwell was found guilty in late 2021 on several charges relating to trafficking and allegedly sexually abusing young girls along with Jeffrey Epstein, and is set to be sentenced later this year.

Update 02/24/22, 1:15 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional context and information.