A US judge denied Ghislaine Maxwell's request for a new trial and upheld the conviction for trafficking in minors

The British Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's partner who was convicted of child sex trafficking at the end of last year, will no longer be tried in a new trial as requested for three months, decided this Friday by an American judge.

“The defendant's petition for a new trial is denied,” said Judge Alison Nathan of the federal court in Manhattan, according to a court order made public by the US justice system.

The judge refused to order a retrial weeks after questioning the juror under oath in a New York court about why she did not disclose her personal history as a survivor of abuse in a questionnaire during the jury selection process.

The juror said he “went over too quickly” the questionnaire and did not intentionally give a wrong answer to a question about sexual abuse.

“I didn't lie to be on this jury,” he said.

In his opinion, Nathan said that the jury's failure to disclose his previous sexual abuse during the jury selection process was very unfortunate, but not deliberate.

The judge also concluded that the juror “did not harbor prejudice towards the accused and could serve as a fair and impartial jury.”

If the jury had answered the questions correctly, Maxwell's lawyers had said they could potentially have objected to the man's presence on the jury on the grounds that he might not be fair to a person accused of a similar crime.

The U.S. Attorney's office declined to comment on Friday. Messages were left with Maxwell's lawyers.

Maxwell, 60, was found guilty of sex trafficking and other charges after a month-long trial that featured the testimony of four women who said she played a role in preparing them for Epstein's abuse.

Epstein committed suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial in a federal jail in New York on charges related to sex trafficking.

Maxwell says he's innocent.

After the conclusion of the trial, the jury, identified in the court documents only as Jury No. 50, gave interviews to various media outlets describing the deliberations and revealing that he had been abused as a child. He said he convinced some jurors that the imperfect memory of a victim's abuse doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Potential jurors in the case were asked to complete a 50-page questionnaire that included a question that asked, “Have you or a friend or family member ever been a victim of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual assault?”

The jury marked “No.”

The jury said in one of the interviews that he did not remember being asked that question, that it was number 48 on the form.

Maxwell's defense attorneys asked the judge to immediately order a new trial, but she said she couldn't do it without questioning the jury.

After Nathan questioned the jury in early March, lawyers on both sides submitted written arguments. Prosecutors said the jury made an “honest mistake” and that it was “very clear” that Maxwell received a fair trial.

Maxwell's lawyers disagreed.

“Excusing Juror 50's false answers because he believes that his hidden history of sexual abuse did not affect his ability to serve as a fair and impartial jury does not satisfy the appearance of justice,” they argued. “Only a new trial would do it.”

(With information from AFP and AP)

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