© AFP / US District Court for the Southern District of New York
On Wednesday, New York judge Alison Nathan gave the defense until January 19 to submit a legal motion to vacate the conviction. Maxwell's lawyers had told the court that there were "incontrovertible grounds for a new trial" after one juror - identified as "Scotty David" - told various media outlets that he'd revealed his experience of abuse during jury deliberations.
Prosecutors also asked the judge to conduct a hearing into Scotty David's interviews next month. The 35-year-old Manhattan resident told Reuters on Tuesday that he brought up his history after some jurors were skeptical about the accounts of two of Maxwell's accusers.
"When I shared that, they were able to sort of come around on... the memory aspect of the sexual abuse," David told the news agency, referring to how he had waited until reaching high school to talk to people about his abuse, in an effort to explain why some victims may not have come forward sooner.
Adding that he "flew through" the jury selection questionnaire, the juror also claimed he could not recall there being a question about personal experiences with sexual abuse, but maintained that he would have answered honestly. He also told the Daily Mail that "they don't ask your sexual abuse history" during the selection process.
However, court records reportedly show that some 230 prospective jurors had been given questionnaires that asked if they or someone they knew had experienced sexual abuse. According to the Daily Mail, the question required them to answer whether any such experience would affect their ability to serve impartially.
While David told the paper that he "definitely remembered" filling out the questionnaire on day one of selection and "would have definitely marked Yes," he added that he "honestly [doesn't] remember the question." But he did recall a question about "family or relative or something being sexually abused."
Meanwhile, in an interview with The New York Times, a second juror, who remains anonymous, revealed that they had also discussed being sexually abused as a child during jury deliberations. They told the paper it "appeared to help shape the jury's discussions."
Comment: See the Daily Mail's full interview with Scotty David below. He doesn't discuss how his sexual abuse may have influenced the trial, but he does go into more detail about the material that was shown to the jury.
He describes a photograph found in Epstein's apartment which shows a 6-year-old Celina Dubin (daughter of his ex-girlfriend Eva Andersson Dubin and hedge-fund manager Glenn Dubin) bending over and removing her underwear. Reportedly, Epstein was Celina's godfather and in later years he said that he wanted to marry her. Scott David said that there were other photographs of young girls littered around the house.