US Judge Rejects Ghislaine Maxwell's Request to Seal Motions for New Trial

Ghislaine Maxwell, who conspired with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been convicted of child sex trafficking and several other offenses in connection with the grooming and sexual abuse of underage girls. Her legal team is now vying for a retrial after a juror claimed in interviews that he had been sexually abused as child.

Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell must openly file any retrial motions related to the convicted child sex trafficker's case, according to a Friday ruling by US District Judge Alison J. Nathan.

Nathan argued that public access to Maxwell's motions for retrial, along with any resulting publicity, do not violate the 60-year-old's right to fair proceedings.

"The Court is unpersuaded by the Defendant’s concern that media interest in the motion warrants temporary sealing of the documents in their entirety," read Nathan's ruling.

The judge declared that prosecutors and the defense must both propose "narrowly tailored" redactions.

Maxwell's team argued that documents related to a retrial should be temporarily sealed because an early public filing "will provide a roadmap of the defense’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."

Following the trial, 'Juror 50,' identified as Scotty David, gave a series of interviews in which he claimed that he was a survivor of sexual abuse as a child.

Lawyers believe that David, who reportedly failed to disclose his history of sexual abuse during jury selection, may have swayed the votes of fellow jury members after revealing his alleged trauma.

David, claims he "flew through" the questionnaire on sex abuse and cannot recall how he responded to each question. However, the juror maintains that he answered the questions truthfully.