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The judge in the Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking trial is warning that Omicron could disrupt jury deliberations and drag out the case.
U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, who is presiding over the case against the British socialite, said the jury might need to deliberate each day this week and over the weekend if a verdict isn’t reached.
Jurors were previously scheduled to be off Thursday and Friday for the New Year’s Eve holiday, but Judge Nathan said she’s worried about “an astronomical spike” in the number of Covid-19 cases in New York.
“Put simply, I conclude that proceeding this way is the best chance to both give the jury as much time as they need and to avoid a mistrial as a result of the Omicron variant,” she said.
“The judge’s decision came as the jury wrapped up its fourth full day of deliberating. At the end of Tuesday, jurors sent a note asking the judge for permission to leave at 5 p.m., saying that our deliberations are moving along and we are making progress. Despite her extension of daily deliberations by an hour, the judge allowed them to leave at the requested time,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
“Maxwell, 60 years old, is accused of helping disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage teens. She faces six criminal counts at trial, including sex-trafficking of minors. Prosecutors say Ms. Maxwell recruited and groomed teens for sex acts with Epstein between 1994 and 2004, often under the pretext of procuring massages,” the report continued.
“Ms. Maxwell has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. Her lawyers have said she is a scapegoat who wasn’t indicted until nearly a year after Epstein died in a federal jail in August 2019 while awaiting his own sex-trafficking trial. The New York City medical examiner ruled his death a suicide. Judge Nathan told prosecutors and Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers about her decision before informing the jurors,” the report added.
“At the urging of Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers, the judge agreed to tell jurors only that they would need to deliberate each weekday this week. She said she would wait until Wednesday to inform them that they might need to deliberate over the weekend. Ms. Maxwell’s lawyers have raised concerns that by extending deliberations, jurors will feel pressured to reach a verdict,” the report continued.
The jury began deliberating on Dec. 20.
Judge Nathan said the surge in Covid-19 cases since last week changed her thinking on giving jurors additional time to deliberate.
“We are, very simply, at a vastly different place regarding the pandemic than we were only a week ago,” the judge said.
“We now face a high and daily escalating risk that jurors and or necessary trial participants would need to quarantine, thus disrupting trial — putting at risk our ability to complete this trial. Put simply, I conclude that proceeding this way is the best chance to both give the jury as much time as they need and to avoid a mistrial as a result of the omicron variant,” she added.
