Greetings, From a Courtside bench in Manhattan

Covering another twist in the Maxwell trial saga / "Chatty Juror 50" takes the stand

By the time this post reaches your inbox I’ll be severed from WIFi in a cell phone surrender as last step in protocol to secure a seat in the courtroom (ideally next to Leslie who’s clean concise notes always help keep me straight on dates and details as I am typically distracted by plenty of …other things…)

I’m back in New York specially to cover this hearing today. To document this latest twist in the never ending Ghislaine Maxwell trial saga. A chapter dedicated to juror 50 and his post trial confessions, now at risk of overturning the whole damn verdict.

Scotty David appears to have a little penchant for legal flair. Hiring on Todd Spodek (famed attorney featured in ‘Inventing Anna’) and requesting full immunity. Likely to be granted by the government to gain truth by testimony, without fear of legal repercussions looming over him.

In other words he will talk, but only if he knows he isn’t going to be legally punished for any statements made under oath.

One lawyer I read yesterday confessed that in all of his 40 years in law he’s never once seen a juror plead the 5th. Exactly why the decision regarding this ruling is so significant. As It sets a precedence for all other cases down the line, similar in nature, who will refer to this one as prime example.

Whatever the ruling, Judge Nathan must ensure that her response to this juror’s mishap squashes concern over individuals seeking seats in high profile cases to gain fame or notoriety. A trend more dangerous now in a digital age when crime docs / podcasts prove a most profitable genre.

As one of Maxwell’s family members points out via the twitter account they run in her defense:

“The whole point of the voir dire process is to elicit information from the venire that may shed light on bias, prejudice, interest in the outcome, competence, and the like so that counsel and the parties may exercise their judgment about whom to seat and whom to challenge.

Prospective jurors now have more reason to lie than they did in the past because they know that sitting as jurors in a high-profile trial may bring them fame, prestige, and even profit.

We live in an age of reality television in which the “true crime” genre is dominant…This has given rise to the so-called “stealth juror” who deliberately lies or evades full disclosure of bias to get on a jury.”

-Source: NACDL Amicus Brief

---

---

We know now for a fact is that David’s personal tales of abuse ultimately swayed a few undecided jurors during their deliberations (those not sold on convicting Maxwell based on lingering skepticism surrounding two of the witness’s testimonies) Injecting a bias that went unchecked during jury selections because of how he answered (or failed to answer) that particular box in his questioner.

Practically speaking it’s hard to eliminate all victims of sexual abuse from a jury pool based on such grim statistics. Legally speaking, however, it’s vital that the defense do their best to eliminate any subjective motives.

Had Maxwell’s team been privy to David’s claims of abuse, they would have used any remaining strikes against him.

---

Scotty David being hounded by the media once his identity was uncovered

---

If you’ve been following along (and y’all should be if you’re the devoted students I brag about) you know this is only one of a handful of new theatrics trailing the Maxwell trial post conviction.

In fact, the story has been ripe with drama since the close of that last court day on December 23rd. Starting with Lucia’s bombshell interview with Scotty on January 3rd, prompting a war of legal documents filed by Maxwell’s team, screaming juror fraud. Then Carolyn’s attacks on Virginia accusing her of being all about the money, arguing that she should pay the same consequences for her role in grooming / trafficking as Ghislaine. Followed by a defamation lawsuit filed by two victims against Julie K. Brown over her portrayal of them in her best selling book “Perversion of Justice” detailing her investigatory work on Epstein for The Miami Herald which reignited the FBI’s interest in him.

Mix in a brutal hit piece on Vicky Ward (fueled by her longstanding feud with Grayson Carter, over who dropped the ball on exposing Epstein’s crimes in that now infamous old Vanity Fair piece) A Prince Andrew pay off, a Brunel jail cell suicide, and Lady Victoria on an IG rampage promising to drum up enough evidence to prove Virginia Giuffre is indeed lying about almost everything we know.

All to be outshone by Melinda Gates last week suddenly announcing to the world that Bill’s relationship with Epstein was in fact a contributing factor to their billion dollar divorce.

Enough to keep our heads spinning and our attention focused on Maxwell.

---

Todd Spodek pictured in court defending Anna Delvey

---

I’ll be back later to unload all the details of today’s hearing

Will Ghislaine return in one of her signature turtlenecks?

Will Isabel accidentally smile at someone outside her bloodline?

Will Nathan go hard on Scotty “wants a book deal” David?

Will all three sketch artists show up?

And what lawyers, out of Ghislaine’s dedicated four, will make it after trying to talk the judge out of this seemingly Inconvenient court date?