LET’S END THIS

Prosecutors: We’ll Drop Ghislaine Maxwell Perjury Charges to Avoid Sex-Trafficking Retrial

Maxwell’s lawyers demanded a new trial after a juror revealed his own past sexual abuse.

The prosecutors who sent Ghislaine Maxwell to prison have offered to drop pending perjury counts against her on the strict condition that there’s no retrial for her sex-trafficking convictions. In a letter dated Monday, the prosecutors reportedly wrote that they were prepared to drop two perjury charges in order to end the Maxwell trial as soon as possible and avoid the possibility of making her traumatized victims testify for a second time. According to The Guardian, the lawyers wrote: “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.” Maxwell’s lawyers demanded a new trial after a juror told reporters that he may not have disclosed his own past sexual abuse. Maxwell was convicted of five sex-trafficking counts on Dec. 29, but still faces two perjury counts for allegedly lying under oath.