Disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell will lodge an appeal to overturn her sex trafficking conviction, arguing that a juror who was sexually abused as a child biased the panel against her. The daughter of the late media tycoon Robert Maxwell was given a 20-year sentence last June after being convicted of procuring young girls for the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell’s lawyers said the appeal is based on a number of alleged “errors” made by the US Government and the district court.
One of the jurors, known as Scotty David, did not reveal his own experience of sexual abuse during jury selection, only disclosing his childhood trauma in a newspaper interview after the trial.
Asked why he failed to disclose this in information, he told judge Alison Nathan in court that he was distracted when he filled out the screening questionnaire for potential panellists.
Given the nature of the conviction, the sexual abuse and assault question on the survey was considered vital to the process of picking a fair panel in a high-profile case that centred on the abuse of underage victims.
Maxwell’s lawyers have said he should never have been a member of the jury and will argue on appeal that his false statements had denied her the right to a fair trial.
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The disgraced socialite’s lawyers will also argue that she was made a scapegoat for Epstein’s crimes.
They are set to say: “The government prosecuted Ms Maxwell as a proxy for Jeffrey Epstein.
“It did so to satisfy public outrage over an unpopular non-prosecution agreement and the death of the person responsible for the crimes.
“In its zeal to pin the blame for its own incompetence and for Epstein’s crimes on Ms Maxwell, the government breached its promise not to prosecute Ms Maxwell, charged her with time-barred offences, resurrected and recast decades-old allegations for conduct previously ascribed to Epstein and other named assistants, and joined forces with plaintiffs’ attorneys, whose interests were financial, to develop new allegations out of faded, distorted, and motivated memories.”
The billionaire financier was found hanged in an apparent suicide in his prison cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex offences.
Maxwell’s attorneys will also argue her prison conditions are leaving her “unable to meaningfully assist” in her own defence case during the trial.
They are expected to claim she was held in solitary confinement in the Brooklyn detention Center under “inhumane conditions”, denied bail and access to legal counsel.
Furthermore, the disgraced socialite will argue that the Government breached its promise not to prosecute her, claiming that a non-prosecution deal struck by Epstein in 2007 gave her immunity.
The latest development comes after Ghislaine Maxwell’s a wide-ranging interview with TalkTV last month led to her being put in solitary confinement after prison authorities accused her of profiting from speaking to the media, claim reports.
In January, she gave a wide-ranging interview with TalkTV from her prison cell.
In the bombshell jail interview, Ghislaine spoke about prison life, Epstein’s death and how she wished she had never met the paedophile financier.
Bosses at Federal Correctional Institute Tallahassee in Florida were concerned because only friends, family and lawyers on a closely-vetted list are supposed to be approved for “video visits”.
