Lawyers representing Ghislaine Maxwell, former associate of the late Jeffrey Epstein, have requested that their motion for a retrial remain unsealed for the time being, the New York Post reports.
While last year Maxwell was found guilty on five of the six sex-trafficking counts she faced as she stood trial in the United States on charges of procuring underage girls for Epstein, her legal team has since filed a motion for retrial amid revelations that some of the jurors involved in Maxwell's proceedings had been victims of sex abuse.
According to the newspaper, the lawyers asked the court to keep their retrial motion sealed until a ruling is made or a potential hearing on the request takes place, arguing that if the motion were to be unsealed, it would provide the juror "an improper preview of information he does not have and should never have, or at the very least should not have at this point in the process".
Previously, one of the jurors in Maxwell's trial, Juror 50, who was identified by his first and middle names as Scotty David, told media that he'd spoke to other jurors about his experience of sexual abuse while they were deciding the verdict.
While the jurors had to fill a questionnaire during the pre-trial selection process, which featured a question about whether they or a friend or family member of theirs had "ever been the victim of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual assault", Scotty David mentioned that he "flew through" the questionnaire and did not recall being asked about his personal sexual abuse experiences.
One of the bits of information Maxwell's attorney want to keep under wraps for now is the “exact” questionnaire responses the juror gave back then, the newspaper notes.
"The Motion will provide a roadmap of the defence’s examination of Juror 50 and will allow him to plan out and tailor his responses, or even potentially spoliate evidence, to paint himself and his conduct in the best light possible," the lawyers said in a letter to the court.