Court wrongly claimed Ghislaine Maxwell judge had been replaced

Judge Alison Nathan will continue to preside over Maxwell’s mistrial appeal

The US District Court in Manhattan says an “administrative error” led to it incorrectly claiming Judge Alison Nathan had been removed from Ghislaine Maxwell’s mistrial appeal.

Judge Nathan, who was appointed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals last month, will continue to preside over the case, the court said in an updated filing on Friday.

Maxwell has filed a motion to dismiss her sex-trafficking convictions after a juror known as Scotty David failed to disclose his history of sexual abuse during a pre-trial questionnaire.

On Friday, the court filed a “notice of reassignment” stating that Maxwell’s hearing had gone to Judge Vernon S. Broderick, and “Judge Alison J. Nathan no longer assigned to the case”.

It issued a correction several hours later, saying the incorrect filing was due to an “administrative error”.

At a hearing to determine whether Maxwell should be granted a retrial last month, Scotty David blamed a recent relationship break up and noisy jury room for incorrectly answering the questions.

He denied he had deliberately misled the court by withholding his abuse, or that it had affected his deliberations in finding Maxwell guilty of five counts of sex-trafficking at a trial last year.

In December, Maxwell was convicted of five sex-trafficking charges in a federal courthouse in Manhattan for recruiting and grooming young girls to be abused by her former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein.

She is facing a maximum of 65 years in prison.

Epstein died in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex-trafficking offenses.

His death was ruled suicide by the medical examiner.