Federal judge denies Ghislaine Maxwell's request for new trial

A federal judge rejected Ghislaine Maxwell's bid for a new trial and upheld the disgraced socialite's sex trafficking conviction in a decision Friday.

Judge Alison Nathan of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Maxwell's request after it was revealed that one of the jurors, known as Juror 50, did not disclose he was a victim of child sex abuse.

According to the Washington Examiner, Nathan wrote: "His failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse during the jury selection process was highly unfortunate, but not deliberate." Thus, the court concluded that Juror 50 "harbored no bias toward the Defendant and could serve as a fair and impartial juror," Nathan continued.

Nathan said "he was not biased and would not have been stricken [from the jury] even if he had answered each question on the questionnaire accurately."

Maxwell was convicted previously on five of the six felony counts of which she was charged, among them the charge of sex trafficking. The infamous Epstein accomplice is awaiting sentencing, which has been scheduled for June 28. Maxwell could be facing a sentence of as many as 65 years in prison for her crimes.

Now-deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in July 2019. Later in August that year, Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan prison cell pending trial over charges of child sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors.

Maxwell's family now "fears for her safety" after Epstein associate Jean-Luc Brunel's death in a prison cell in February 2022. The co-founder of MC2 Model Management was found hanged by his bedsheets, according to authorities.