231 Angry Jurors: Jury Selection in Epstein ‘Pimp’ Maxwell’s Sex Trafficking Trial Begins in NYC

The 59-year-old British socialite and associate of deceased financier and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was arrested by the FBI in July 2020 and faces charges of enticement of minors, sex trafficking of children, and perjury. If convicted, she could face up to 80 years in prison.

The jury selection process for Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking of minors trial is set to kick off in a Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, with Maxwell expected to come into contact with some 231 possible jurors.

The British socialite appeared in a court hearing on Monday morning, with media describing her as "relaxed" at the proceeding, wearing a casual outfit instead of prison clothes, and not restrained by handcuffs or shackles. Alison Nathan, the judge presiding over her case, was said to have discussed with the prosecution and the defence the jury selection process.

The prosecution and the defence agreed to the questioning of the 231 possible jurors after over 600 people filled out jury questionnaires. Nathan told the parties that about 50 potential jurors would be processed daily, with most of the questioning to be open to the public, according to the judge. By the end of the process, 12 jurors and six alternates will be selected in the case.

In federal legal practice, potential jurors are questioned by attorneys and the judge, with people asked whether there are any reasons they cannot serve, whether they have any prior knowledge of the case, or have any relevant experiences that might cause them to be biased. The prosecution and the defence are each given the right to question jurors, and typically given a number of "peremptory challenges" – allowing either side to dismiss a juror because he or she is perceived not to serve the interests of their client. The selection process can therefore become a balancing act as lawyers compete to pick a jury that will be sympathetic to their side, while being mindful of the fact that the number of peremptory challenges at their disposal is limited.

According to Reuters, questioning in the Maxwell trial will include lines of inquiry about whether potential jurors have any opinions on “people who are wealthy or have luxurious lifestyles,” or if they have any connections to alleged victims in the case.

Black Book Filled With Big Names

Maxwell has been charged with eight federal crimes, including enticement of minors and sex trafficking of minors. She is accused of helping to procure and facilitate the abuse of girls as young as 14 by the late financier and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who was found dead in a New York prison cell in August 2019 in what authorities said was "an apparent suicide." The "madam" maintains that she is innocent and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Since her July 2020 arrest, Maxwell has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn. Opening arguments in the highly anticipated trial are expected to take place on 29 November. If convicted on all counts, she will die in prison.

The Epstein-Maxwell saga has garnered significant media attention in the US and around the world, particularly in the wake of the financier’s mysterious death in prison, with much of the focus centered on Prince Andrew, Duke of York, due to his public friendship with Epstein, and photographic evidence of the prince with Virginia Roberts, one of the possible victims in the case.

However, Andrew is far from the only big name to appear in Epstein’s little black book of contacts, which also includes people like former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, members of the Kennedy family, former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert, former British PM Tony Blair, Prince Charles, billionaires Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and Rupert Murdoch, designer Tom Ford, rock stars Mick Jagger and Courtney Love, movie stars Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Dustin Hoffman, and Elizabeth Hurley, journalists Barbara Walters and George Stephanopoulos, former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, former Treasury secretary and Harvard president Larry Summers, and many others.

Maxwell is the youngest child of Robert Maxwell, the deceased publishing tycoon with alleged connections to US, British, and Israeli intelligence. Ms. Maxwell met Epstein in the 1990s, becoming his closest confidant and, according to Epstein’s victims, an enabler of his crimes.