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Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of five sex trafficking offences but her lawyers have already said they will appeal.Credit:AP

The developments could endanger a verdict that was widely hailed as offering long-delayed justice to victims of Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell,60,was convicted on December 29 of luring and grooming underage girls for sexual abuse by Epstein and participating in some of the abuse herself. She faces up to 40 years in prison for sex-trafficking,the most serious of the five counts on which she was found guilty.

Epstein,a financier and convicted sex offender,killed himself in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting his own sex trafficking trial.

The judge late on Wednesday set a schedule for the defence to ask for a new trial,saying it should make the request by January 19,with prosecutors replying by February 2.

“The juror told reporters that he disclosed to the other members of the jury during deliberations that he was a victim of sexual abuse and further described his memory of those events,” Maxwell lawyer Christian Everdell wrote in a letter to the judge. “According to the juror,his disclosure influenced the deliberations and convinced other members of the jury to convict Ms. Maxwell.”

Prosecutors had earlier asked Nathan to investigate the juror’s comments,and Nathan in her order also asked both sides to provide written arguments on “whether an inquiry of some kind is permitted and/or required,and,if so,the nature of such an inquiry.” The judge granted the government’s request to offer a court-appointed lawyer to the juror.

As the lawyers battled over the one juror’s remarks,theNew York Times reported that it had interviewed another juror who said they had been a victim of sexual abuse and discussed it during the deliberations that led to Maxwell’s conviction.

One juror,who asked to be identified by his first and middle names,Scotty David,told Reuters he “flew through” the juror questionnaire used before trial to determine whether prospective jurors could judge Maxwell fairly.

Scotty David said he also did not recall being asked about his experiences with sexual abuse. He said he would have answered honestly.

In a letter to US District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT),prosecutors led by US Attorney Damian Williams said the juror’s statements to the media “merit attention” by the court,and asked that a hearing be scheduled about one month from now.

They also said court staff should ask the juror whether he wants a lawyer. Media cited by prosecutors includeReuters,theDaily Mail andThe Independent.

Moira Penza,a partner at the Wilkinson Stekloff law firm and a former federal prosecutor,said any inquiry would likely focus on whether the juror made a mistake or omission in answering questions on an initial screening questionnaire for prospective jurors or follow-up questions from the judge.

The juror said he “breezed through” the questionnaire during the selection process.Credit:AP/Elizabeth Williams

Maxwell’s jurors had been asked whether they or family members had personally experienced sexual abuse or assault.

Jurors who said yes were asked by the judge during follow-up questioning whether that would affect their ability to be fair and impartial.

“Defence lawyers will argue that this question was so part and parcel to figuring out that juror’s bias or any juror’s bias,” she said.

Penza said there have been instances where courts granted new trials based on “purposeful lies or omissions” during the process of screening jurors,known as voir dire,which she said “is not what we’re hearing so far”.

Scotty David,a 35-year-old Manhattan resident,told Reuters that during deliberations,after some jurors questioned some recollections from two of Maxwell’s accusers,he shared his experience of having been sexually abused as a child.

“When I shared that,they were able to sort of come around on,they were able to come around on the memory aspect of the sexual abuse,” Scotty David said,referring to other jurors.

He added that reaching a unanimous verdict “wasn’t easy,to be honest”.

Penza said that in any inquiry about the juror’s statements,the judge would be restricted from asking about the impact Scotty David’s statements had on jury deliberations because the secrecy of the deliberation process is considered “sacrosanct”.

Maxwell was convicted on five of the six counts she faced. She faces two additional perjury counts at a second trial that has yet to be scheduled.

Reuters,Bloomberg