By Luc Cohen and Karen Freifeld

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – The failure to reveal that he had been a victim in the case against Ghislaine Maxill may not have enough power to reverse Maxwell’s conviction for sex trafficking and allow for a fresh trial. Legal experts stated on Thursday.

Maxwell (60) was found guilty last week of sex trafficking, and other charges related to recruiting teenage girls for sexual encounters. The juror informed Reuters and others that he had shared with him his experiences of being abused during the deliberations. Her attorneys requested a new trial.

It wasn’t clear if the juror (who asked for his initial and middle name, Scotty) shared this experience with pre-trial scrutiny.

Experts say not every instance of jurors not disclosing information is significant enough to warrant a fresh trial. In fact, many cases where verdicts are overturned involve jurors who intentionally withheld information to gain access to the panel.

“The system is not in favor of overturning decisions. Laurie Levenson of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles said that finality is important to us. She also stated that the judge in this instance has “broad discretion”.

Potential jurors in U.S. court proceedings can be disqualified for cause if the judge finds them biased or having a conflict. The defense and the prosecutors may each disqualify a limited number of jurors without giving any reason. This is known as a “peremptory strike”.

In the Maxwell case, prospective jurors were asked whether they’d ever been sexually assaulted during a questionnaire. According to court records, those who responded “yes” were later asked by Alison Nathan (U.S. District Court Judge) if they can be impartial.

Scotty David said Tuesday that he had “flew through” his form. Although he said he couldn’t recall a question about sexual abuse that asked him whether he had been one, he replied honestly. He stated to Reuters that he wasn’t asked about personal experiences of sex violence in the follow-up questions.

Prospective jurors can be removed from U.S. Federal Court cases if they are found to have conflict of interests or biased by the judge. Both the defense or prosecution can then dismiss one juror at a time for any reason.

Scotty David failed to respond on Thursday to our request for comment. Todd Spodek was a lawyer who appeared in court on behalf of an unknown juror following the defense’s request to have a second trial. He also didn’t respond to our request for comment.

“SHOULD HAVE BEEN REVEALED”

According to experts, Nathan was expected to investigate whether Scotty’s experience with abuse could have made him impartial. Deliberations allow jurors to share personal stories, provided they don’t use them as evidence.

However, they suggested Nathan could be limited in questioning what transpired in the jury room as judges are not allowed to reveal the secrets of deliberations.

It doesn’t mean that you cannot sit on the jury if you have been a victim to sexual assault. Zachary Margulis – Ohnuma is the principal attorney of ZMO Law PLLC.

A New York judge refused to reverse the conviction for manslaughter of Peter Liang, a New York City officer of police. This was despite jurors failing to reveal that Liang’s father was convicted.

Judge said that the defense hadn’t shown how the actions of the juror violated Liang’s right to fair trial.

It is not uncommon for jurors to lie during pre-trial screening. The late U.S. district judge William Pauley ordered the retrial of defendants found guilty of operating a tax shelter program. This was after it emerged that a jury had pre-trial screening lied.

She claimed that she was only a bachelor’s student and that she was “stay at home” even though she graduated law school. Later, she admitted lying in order to be more marketable as a juror.

Pauley called the juror a “pathological liar”, and claimed that, had the juror answered truthfully, he wouldn’t have allowed her to serve.

Bennett Gershman of Pace University, a Pace University professor, stated that the Maxwell case could have had a different result. He has previously written on jury misconduct. Maxwell was acquitted by the jury on one count. This suggests they were responsible for the deliberations.

He said, “It is something that should be revealed but does not seem to have compromised our verdict.”