Yahoo News Ghislaine Maxwell trial: Up to 600 potential jurors could be called
Up to 600 prospective jurors could be contacted before British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell goes on trial for sex-trafficking charges.
Maxwell, 59, has been charged with procuring teenage girls for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse with the charges dating back to the 1990s - she vehemently denies the allegations.
Judge Alison Nathan revealed as many as 600 people could be called over a three day period to determine who could sit as jurors.
She made the statement during an administrative hearing with the defendant attending via a telephone link in New York.
Potential jurors would be grilled over personal details, knowledge of the case and people involved as well as their availability to attend the trial, the judge said.
Only 12 would be selected as jurors with six additional alternatives chosen as backups.
Bobbi Sternheim, for Maxwell, expressed concerns some may be motivated to sit on the jury if they saw the questionnaire in advance.
She said the daughter of the late media mogul Robert Maxwell had been “significantly prejudiced” by press coverage.
However, the judge refused the defence’s request to seal the questionnaire for potential jurors in advance.
She was “not convinced” a person would be “somehow prejudiced in their response”.
Maxwell has been remanded in custody since her arrest in July 2020. She is due to go on trial on November 29.
Epstein killed himself in his cell in August 2019 as he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges.
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