Ghislaine Maxwell's Team Request Retrial Over Verdict That Left Her 'Like a Stone'

Ghislaine Maxwell's legal team have filed for a retrial after suggestions a juror may not have disclosed his past experiences of sexual abuse.

The 60-year-old British socialite was convicted on December 29 of grooming girls for Jeffrey Epstein, and faces up to 65 years in jail. But the verdict was quickly thrown into chaos.

Juror Scotty David told news outlets he had shared his own experiences as an abuse survivor during deliberations.

A questionnaire during jury selection had asked candidates to reveal if they had previously been subjected to sexual assault.

David's post-trial interview raised the prospect his history had not been disclosed at that time.

A retrial would mean victims giving evidence again, which prosecutors previously said would be traumatic.

A letter from Maxwell's lawyer Bobbi Sternheim, announcing the retrial motion, requested submissions on Juror No. 50 "remain under seal until the Court rules on the Motion."

It comes as David recently told U.K. documentary Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile that the court process took its toll on the jury too.

"It was emotional. There were tears," he told ITV. "Because this is somebody's life on the line.

"And the prosecution had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Ghislaine Maxwell was guilty of these crimes. And we all felt comfortable but the emotional toll that it took on all of us after spending a week combing through all of the evidence all the testimony again was, it was brutal.

"I was looking at her the entire time because I felt like I wanted to see what her reaction would be.

"She looked forward and wasn't really looking around and there was no emotion. It was just like she was a stone."

During the trial, victims described how Maxwell played a key role in Epstein's abuse of them, normalising his behavior.

Carolyn Andriano told the court she was brought into Epstein's world aged 14 by a friend, Virginia Giuffre.

She said she needed money for drugs and her voice cracked as she revealed she visited about 100 times over four years, The Guardian reported.

She told the court there were points when Maxwell touched her as well: "I was upstairs setting up the massage table and at that point I was kind of comfortable because I'd been there so many times.

"I was getting fully nude, and she came in and felt my boobs and my hips and my buttocks and said ... that I had a great body for Mr Epstein and his friends. She just said that I had a good body type."

Asked whether she was motivated by financial gain, she wept as she said: "No. Money would not ever fix what that woman has done to me.

"What she did was wrong ... I'm so petrified for my daughters."

David told ITV that Carolyn's testimony was "the most gripping" and "most compassion."

"Regardless of her being arrested or her habitually doing drugs and addicted to
pain pills...What matters is, did you tell the truth? Did this happen to you and she told the truth every step of the way."

Ian Maxwell, the socialite's brother, broke down as he told the ITV documentary: "I'm just damn angry. And I don't see how anyone, anyone looking at this cannot feel that way.

"It's just wrong. I have devoted a lot of my time as have my brothers and sisters to help Ghislaine.

"We believe her. We love her and we hope that she will get the justice that she
definitely deserves."

Maxwell was found guilty on five counts, including the most serious charge, that of sex trafficking a minor.