Legal Fairness and Ghislaine Maxwell

The Maxwell family like most  very wealthy families or individuals have never been of much interest to me. Robert Maxwell who in England,  owned left wing basic newspapers which  I  hardly read, died in mysterious circumstances. He sounded at least from the obituaries, not the best of fathers although  some of his family members may disagree with such a view of an outsider.

His daughter Ghislaine though is currently suffering in a way which causes a legal headache for some. She has been found guilty in a New York criminal court, of crimes involving young girls, that are almost unspeakable and sentencing is set to follow.

Usually such a background would only interest me marginally, in that it might feature in The Times somewhere and be read briefly whilst  I was looking at that paper over a morning cup of coffee. 

Sadly though the Ghislaine Maxwell case following on from the suicide of her dreadful  sounding friend, Jeffrey Epstein, is becoming beset with legal problems. The problems are probably of interest to lawyers in many countries including some in England.

For me after  being called up to serve as a juror at the Kingston Crown court some months ago though, the issue or problem of the jury which convicted her, seems very significant. Juries need to be neutral and unacquainted with the person on trial and as far as possible, with the case against the accused. Initially the trial of Ms Maxwell appeared to comply with such requirements of fairness. Doubtless those who keep up to date with the exploits of wealthy personalities, awaited the judge's decision on sentencing and perhaps any appeal, with some interest.

However it now emerges that one if not two of the jurors has told friends or some media that they themselves had been abused as children. If correct, my view would be that the conviction could not fairly stand and should be quashed, whether by the trial judge or on appeal. A person who has been abused, has suffered greatly and is bound to be prejudiced against an adult accused of involvement in such abuse so such survivors should not serve on the jury in the criminal trial of an alleged abuser.

Quite what the next step would be if Ms Maxwell's conviction is quashed, is hard to say. The media  has I believe has been having a field day with the case throughout the USA and Europe as well as here in England, so securing a fair re-trial would seem to me at least, to be well nigh impossible. 

Furthermore, if a re-trial is ordered, Ms Maxwell's attorneys may  have a stronger case for arguing for her release on bail before any second trial, than they did for her first trial.