Photo: The Canadian Press A U.S. judge has ruled that Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction for sexual assault could not be overturned on Friday, despite a jury’s failure to reveal before the trial that he had been sexually abused as a child. Maxwell, a British social friend, was convicted in December of helping millionaire Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse several teenage girls. U.S. Judge Alison J. Nathan refused to order a new trial weeks after the jury was questioned in a New York courtroom over why he failed to reveal his personal history as a survivor of abuse in a questionnaire during the jury selection process. The jury said he “knew very quickly” about the questionnaire and deliberately did not give the wrong answer to a question about sexual abuse. “I did not lie to get on this jury,” he said. In her opinion, Nathan said that the jury’s failure to reveal his previous sexual abuse during the jury selection process was very unfortunate, but not intentional. The judge also concluded that the juror “had no prejudice against the accused and could act as a fair and impartial juror”. Maxwell’s lawyers had said they might have objected to the man’s appearance in court on the grounds that he may not be fair to a person charged with a similar crime. The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment. Messages were left with Maxwell’s lawyers.
