Ghislaine Maxwell may be looking at another trial. The juror who tossed her guilty verdict into limbo isn’t going to be able to get away with “pleading the Fifth.” That means Juror “Scotty David” (an alias) might end up in jail himself, unless he spills his guts.
Ghislaine verdict in limbo
Juror number 50, identified in the most recent court filings by his first and middle names, “Scotty David” lawyered up solid ahead of an upcoming evidentiary hearing. He helped find Ghislaine Maxwell guilty but he never told anyone ahead of the trial that he had been molested as a child himself.
That’s a huge no-no. He thought he could get cute by keeping his mouth shut, after he said too much already. Prosecutors have a way around that.
The New York Post got a copy of a letter prepared by his legal counsel. “I write to inform the Court that Juror 50 will invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination at the hearing,” attorney Todd Spodek wrote.
It’s not clear if Ghislaine will be at next week’s hearing to grin at him. Prosecutors didn’t take long to write back.
Federal prosecutors responded by informing the court that they have no interest in prosecuting the wayward juror for perjury or anything. They simply want to get to the bottom of what happened. There’s a good chance Ghislaine could still wriggle out of this. They’ll grant Scotty full immunity. So, there.
“The Government writes to notify the Court that it is in the process of seeking internal approval to seek an order, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 6002 and 6003, compelling Juror 50’s testimony at the hearing.” That means talk or be held in contempt of court and dragged off to a cage. He can be held as long as it takes until ready to sing like a bird.
Sidestep the Fifth Amendment
The great thing about the Fifth Amendment to our Constitution is that it gives you the right not to implicate yourself in a crime. If you have a pre-arranged immunity from prosecution, there simply can’t be any crime for you to implicate yourself in. That means you have to tell all you know or face the consequences.
As soon as the judge approves the immunity, he can autograph another order compelling the witness to testify. Ghislaine could have to go through a whole new trial start to finish.
Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell have already been working to get a new trial. Ever since the rogue juror “gave interviews to several news outlets confessing that he had been a victim of sexual abuse when he was a boy.”
He admitted to Reuters that “his experience helped to sway the jury toward a guilty verdict.” He claims he never saw the questions about that on the juror survey.
Scotty claims he “flew through” the questionnaire like it was a stop sign. He also didn’t “remember being asked about his sexual assault during follow-up questioning.” Court records show all jurors were asked “whether they had been sexually assaulted or whether they knew someone who had been sexually assaulted.”
Ghislaine Maxwell’s verdict is hanging on the question of the juror’s “potential failure to respond truthfully to questions during the jury selection process that asked for that material information so that any potential bias could be explored.“
