Maxwell jury to resume deliberations after judge warns of Omicron risk

[December 29, 2021]  By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The jury in British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell's sex abuse trial was set to resume deliberations on Wednesday, after the judge in the case warned of an increasing risk of a mistrial due to the rapid spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

After a fourth full day of deliberations, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan said on Tuesday a positive COVID-19 case among jurors would "(put) at risk our ability to complete this trial."

Maxwell, 60, is accused of recruiting and grooming four teenage girls to have sexual encounters with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein between 1994 and 2004.

Nathan told jurors they should plan to meet every day this week until they reach a verdict. Jurors had initially been scheduled to have Thursday and Friday off due to the New Year's holiday.

Nathan also floated the idea of holding deliberations on the weekend if necessary.

"We are very simply in a vastly different place regarding the pandemic," Nathan said, citing the "astronomical spike" in COVID-19 cases in the New York City area due to the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Epstein, who counted top business executives and politicians among his associates, died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 at age 66 while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges.

Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell sits as the jury continues to deliberate in her trial in a courtroom sketch in New York City, U.S., December 28, 2021. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to six counts of sex trafficking and other crimes. Her attorneys have argued she is being scapegoated for Epstein's behavior since he is no longer alive.

Jurors began deliberating on Dec. 20. In a note to Nathan on Tuesday, the jury said its deliberations were "moving along."

"We are making progress," said the note, which Nathan read aloud in court.

Nathan has not had to replace any of the 12 jurors so far. If one or more were unable to continue serving, she would have to call back at least one of the five alternate jurors and deliberations would resume from scratch.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller)

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