Ghislaine Maxwell Denied New Trial Despite Juror Who Falsely Answered Jury Questionnaire “About His History of Sexual Abuse”

 Legal Insurrection (Emphases in the original)

. . ."Here are excerpts from the opinion, USA v. Ghislaine Maxwell – April 1 2022 – Opinion and Order Denying New Trial (emphasis added):

Before the Court is the Defendant’s motion for a new trial pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 33 on the basis that a juror provided inaccurate information during jury selection. Maxwell contends the juror’s presence on the jury violated her Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury. Bearing these principles in mind, the Court conducted an uncommon post-trial hearing. Although uncommon, the hearing was necessary because of incontrovertible evidence that Juror 50 failed to respond accurately during the jury selection process to a question on a written questionnaire about his history of sexual abuse. At the hearing, the Court questioned the juror under oath and under the penalty of perjury. The Court inquired about whether his answers were false, his explanation for giving those answers, and how he would have responded to follow-up questions if accurate answers had been provided at the time of jury selection. This inquiry was limited by Federal Rule of Evidence 606, which prohibits a juror from testifying about the content of deliberations or his mental processes in evaluating the evidence at trial. The rule embodies long-accepted federal law and is an important safeguard of the integrity of the jury trial system. The hearing was further limited by Supreme Court and Second Circuit law that permits inquiry only if there is clear and incontrovertible evidence of potential misconduct by the juror.". . .