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   From: drooler@gmail.com   
      
   If Ghislaine Maxwell is not granted a retrial in her Manhattan federal   
   court sex trafficking case, prosecutors are prepared to drop pending   
   perjury counts when she is sentenced, they said in a 10 January letter.   
      
   Prosecutors said they were prepared to dismiss the perjury counts in an   
   effort to bring swift closure for the victims and prevent them from being   
   re-traumatized at a possible second trial.   
      
   “In the event the defendant’s post-trial motions are denied, the   
   government is prepared to dismiss the severed perjury counts at the time   
   of sentencing, in light of the victims’ significant interests in bringing   
   closure to this matter and avoiding the trauma of testifying again,” they   
   said.   
      
   The jury at the Maxwell trial. US district judge Alison Nathan asked   
   Maxwell’s lawyers to formally request a retrial by 19 January.   
   Ghislaine Maxwell: key juror has hired lawyer, trial judge says   
   Read more   
   Prosecutors also called for Maxwell’s sentencing to take place   
   “approximately three to four months from today’s date”.   
      
   Maxwell was convicted of five counts on 29 December for facilitating the   
   late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of girls, some as young as   
   14. Maxwell’s defense team has called for a new trial following reports   
   that a juror might not have disclosed past sexual abuse before his   
   selection to the jury.   
      
   The British socialite still faces two perjury counts for allegedly lying   
   under oath during civil litigation that involved sexual misconduct claims   
   against her. Judge Alison Nathan, who is presiding over Maxwell’s case,   
   previously ruled that she would be tried separately for these perjury   
   counts.   
      
   Maxwell’s defense team has requested that Nathan postpone setting a   
   schedule for sentencing, based on their position that “there is a   
   compelling basis for the court to overturn Ms Maxwell’s conviction and   
   grant her a new trial based on the disclosures of Juror #50 during   
   deliberations,” the letter said.   
      
   “The parties are currently briefing that issue. The defense therefore   
   objects to setting a schedule for sentencing until this motion is   
   resolved,” prosecutors also said in the scheduling letter, which set out   
   both sides’ positions. “For the same reason, the defense intends to set   
   forth in its moving papers the reasons why Ms Maxwell should not be forced   
   to expend resources to brief other post-trial motions until after the   
   court decides this motion.”   
      
   The defense also contends that if Maxwell has to participate in pre-   
   sentencing proceedings while awaiting a decision on her request for a new   
   trial, it will “adversely impact her fifth amendment rights”.   
      
   “Ms Maxwell will be forced into the position of not cooperating with the   
   probation department’s investigation because any statement she makes to   
   probation, and any documents she provides, may be used against her at her   
   retrial,” the letter said of her lawyers’ position.   
      
   Epstein, a convicted sex offender and mega-millionaire, counted Prince   
   Andrew and former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump as associates   
   before killing himself in a New York jail in 2019, about one month after   
   he was arrested for sex-trafficking.   
      
      
   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/10/ghislaine-maxwell-retrial-   
   perjury-latest   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)