Prospective jurors in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial were asked multiple questions regarding their past experiences with sexual abuse during jury selection – and warned that their answers would be used to determine whether they could be impartial in the case.
The more than 51-question document that hundreds of prospective panelists filled out is under the microscope this week after a juror who helped convict the Jeffrey Epstein madam admitted he used his own past with sexual abuse to sway deliberations.
Prior to being selected, Scotty David — and hundreds of other potential jurors — were asked to truthfully fill out the questionnaire that included these specific questions:
- Have you or a family member ever supported, lobbied, petitioned, protested, or worked in any other manner for or against any laws, regulations, or organizations relating to sex trafficking, sex crimes against minors, sex abuse, or sexual harassment?
- Witnesses in this case may testify claiming sexual abuse or sexual assault. Would you have any difficulty assessing the credibility of a witness claiming sexual assault or abuse just like you would any other witness?
- Have you or a friend or family member ever been the victim of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual assault? (This includes actual or attempted sexual assault or other unwanted sexual advance, including by a stranger, acquaintance, supervisor, teacher, or family member.)
- Have you or a friend or family member ever been accused of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual assault? (This includes both formal accusations in a court of law or informal accusations in a social or work setting of actual or attempted sexual assault or other unwanted sexual advance, including by a stranger, acquaintance, supervisor, teacher, or family member.)
In several press interviews this week, David claimed he wasn’t asked about his sexual abuse history during the jury selection process and said he “flew through” the questionnaire.
Potential jurors in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial were asked about their past experiences with sexual abuse during jury selection. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
Scotty David claims he “flew through” the jury selection questionnaire.
But when he was told one of the questions did in fact ask whether he was a victim of sexual abuse, he told the Daily Mail, “I would have definitely marked, ‘Yes.’ But I honestly don’t remember the question.”
David’s revelation has thrown Maxwell’s conviction into question — as prosecutors and the defense seek to determine whether he answered untruthfully on the questionnaire. His and other jurors’ answers remain under seal.
If he answered that he had been the victim of sexual abuse, Maxwell’s team likely would have asked for him to be excused.
David, who spoke to outlets using only his first and middle names, admitted to Reuters that he only opened up about his own abuse during deliberations when others questioned the credibility of two of the women testifying against Maxwell.
He told the Independent that the room went silent when he detailed his past, telling them that — like the witnesses — he could only remember some of the details.
He also told his fellow jurors how he’d waited until high school before telling anyone about his abuse, in an effort to justify why the witnesses, Jane and Carolyn, may not have come forward earlier.
In letters filed in the case Wednesday, the defense asked that Maxwell be granted a new trial in light of the interviews, while prosecutors pushed the judge to launch an inquiry.
Defense attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell want a new trial. United Nations Photo/Rick Bajornas via AP, FileOn Thursday, David was spotted by a Post photographer leaving his Midtown apartment with a suitcase and overnight bag slung over his shoulder — and then using a family-size box of extra toasty Cheez-It crackers to shield his face. He also blocked a shutterbug’s view using what appeared to be a pink kitty litter box.
The situation has forced David to lawyer up with Todd Spodek in the event Judge Alison Nathan schedules a hearing over the debacle.
Spodek has represented a series of high-profile clients, most recently Anna Sorokin, the wannabe socialite who pretended to be the scion of a wealthy European family to scam banks, businesses and friends.
Additional reporting by Lee Brown




