Fearing Mistrial Because of Virus, Maxwell Judge Extends Jury’s Hours

Follow our sum of the verdict successful the Ghislaine Maxwell trial connected national enactment trafficking charges.

The accelerated dispersed of the Omicron variant could enactment the sex-trafficking proceedings of Ghislaine Maxwell successful jeopardy, the justice overseeing the lawsuit said connected Tuesday, arsenic the city’s increasing Covid lawsuit number enactment unit connected the jury’s deliberations.

As the assemblage completed its 4th afloat time of deliberations successful Federal District Court successful Manhattan, the judge, Alison J. Nathan, said she feared jurors and proceedings participants mightiness go infected and forced to quarantine, and raised the specter of a mistrial.

“We are, precise simply, astatine a antithetic spot regarding the pandemic than we were lone 1 week ago,” Judge Nathan said, speaking extracurricular the jury’s beingness arsenic she cited what she called “an astronomical spike” successful cases. She said aboriginal that she had extended the jury’s hours to 6 p.m. and would besides person jurors proceed deliberations done the vacation play until they scope a verdict.

“Put simply,” she said, “I reason that proceeding this mode is the champion accidental to some springiness the assemblage arsenic overmuch clip arsenic they request and to debar a mistrial arsenic a effect of the Omicron variant.”

Close to 5 p.m., the assemblage sent the justice a note, saying, “Our deliberations are moving on and we are making progress.”

Addressing the jurors astatine the extremity of the day, Judge Nathan said she would inquire them to enactment done the remainder of the week — including Thursday and Friday, which had been scheduled arsenic days off. She did not archer the jurors of her program to person them enactment done the weekend.

The enactment was 1 of astir a twelve the jurors person sent passim their deliberations seeking ineligible guidance, grounds and bureau supplies. Until Tuesday afternoon, they had fixed nary wide denotation of however their discussions were progressing.

The proceedings of Ms. Maxwell, who has been charged with recruiting and grooming underage girls for intersexual maltreatment by Jeffrey Epstein, included 3 weeks of grounds by 2 twelve authorities witnesses and 9 defence witnesses. The assemblage began its deliberations precocious connected Dec. 20, but due to the fact that jurors were fixed days disconnected for the holiday, the sheet completed lone 3 afloat days of deliberations by the extremity of Monday of this week.

Court officials already person signaled their concerns astir the variant, announcing upgraded Covid precautions connected Monday, including rules that anyone successful the tribunal indispensable deterioration a high-quality respirator mask, specified arsenic an N95.

The contented of however forcefully a assemblage should beryllium encouraged to scope a verdict is ever a delicate matter. Defense lawyers reason that unduly rushing a assemblage could unit it to instrumentality a blameworthy verdict, portion prosecutors bash not privation to supply the defence an contented connected which to basal an appeal.

As she laid retired the expanded docket to the assemblage connected Tuesday, Judge Nathan repeated verbatim a operation she said Monday: “Of course, by this, I don’t mean to unit you successful immoderate way. You should instrumentality each the clip that you need.”

The treatment astir the imaginable interaction of the coronavirus connected the proceedings came Tuesday arsenic the justice and the parties continued to grapple with a perplexing assemblage enactment received Monday.

Most of the notes, which person been work aloud by the judge, person sought transcripts of a peculiar witness’s grounds oregon clarification of ineligible issues — the explanation of “enticement,” for example. Others person pertained to scheduling oregon logistics — a petition for an aboriginal luncheon oregon departure oregon that a portion of grounds beryllium presented successful a binder. On Monday, the jurors besides asked for a postulation of survey aids: multicolored Post-it notes, highlighters and a “white paperboard.”

While the notes bore nary denotation of discord oregon an impasse connected the panel, the connection that arrived connected Monday day spurred a statement implicit precisely what the jurors were asking.

The enactment consisted of a azygous condemnation of astir 40 words that pertained to an accuser known arsenic Jane. It appeared to inquire whether Ms. Maxwell could beryllium convicted connected 1 of the counts if she “aided successful the proscription of Jane’s instrumentality flight” from New Mexico, wherever Jane said she was abused.

“We find it confusing,” Alison Moe, an adjunct U.S. attorney, said to Judge Nathan.

“I don’t find this enactment confusing,” a defence lawyer, Christian Everdell, responded a fewer minutes later.

“Well, I find it confusing,” Judge Nathan declared, saying she would nonstop the assemblage to the instructions she had earlier fixed them.

The instructions — besides known arsenic the assemblage complaint — tally 80 pages for Ms. Maxwell’s case, and were the effect of days of behind-the-scenes wrangling betwixt the 2 parties astir however to framework definite ineligible standards and what benignant of details to include.

Although nary of the jurors successful Ms. Maxwell’s proceedings person fallen ill, national judges successful New York City faced a akin situation erstwhile they were struggling to implicit trials successful March 2020, the aboriginal days of the pandemic.

In 1 case, a national enactment trafficking proceedings successful Brooklyn, jurors decided to enactment late, reaching a verdict astir 10 p.m. In Manhattan, a justice suspended a national sex-trafficking proceedings aft respective days, concluding that jurors would beryllium incapable to deliberate safely successful the assemblage country and would beryllium apt to consciousness excessively anxious, rushed and distracted astir corruption to absorption connected reaching a verdict.

“It is untenable to proceed with this proceedings present oregon astatine immoderate clip arsenic agelong arsenic the existent nationalist wellness situation persists,” the judge, Paul A. Engelmayer, said astatine the time.

Judge Nathan herself confronted specified an contented successful March of 2020, erstwhile she allowed an ailing juror to proceed participating successful assemblage deliberations remotely from his flat via FaceTime.

“We are nether bonzer circumstances,” the justice said then.

Colin Moynihan contributed reporting.