Ghislaine Maxwell jurors who spoke to media about their experience with sexual abuse could be prosecuted if they lied under oath
Jury expert Jill Huntley Taylor, of Taylor Trial Consulting, told Insider that jurors are put under oath during voir dire, and also sign their questionnaires to attest that all of their answers are true.
She said defense attorneys typically use voir dire to try to weed out "stealth jurors," who often "hide experiences or biases with the intent of getting on the jury." Stealth jurors often go undetected, Huntley Taylor said — unless they speak to the press afterward.
Court records show that the questionnaire asked all prospective Maxwell jurors, "Have you or a friend or family member ever been the victim of sexual harassment, sexual abuse or sexual assault?"
During voir dire, prosecutors and defense attorneys typically interrogate prospective jurors who answer "yes" to such questions. But
CNN reported Thursday that transcripts showed Juror #50 was not questioned about his experiences with sexual abuse.
It's not immediately disqualifying for a juror to have previous experience with sexual abuse, Huntley Taylor said. However, she said that is something defense attorneys would have wanted to know "so that they can ask further questions to determine if that prior experience creates a bias against their client."
A second juror later
told The New York Times on condition of anonymity that they, too, discussed their experience with sexual abuse during deliberations. This second juror also said that sharing their story seemed to help convince the other jurors to believe Maxwell's victims.
Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys have formally addressed the second juror's comments.
