Citing COVID, judge prods Ghislaine Maxwell's jury to work longer hours

NEW YORK (AP) — The judge presiding over the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell cited an "astronomical spike" in the number of coronavirus cases in New York City as she explained Tuesday why she was urging jurors to work longer hours.

Judge Alison J. Nathan said aloud what had largely gone unmentioned in her previous requests to get the jury to work an extra day last week and longer hours this week as it decides whether Maxwell recruited and groomed teenage girls to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein. The jury declined to work an extra day last week.

Late Monday, the judge told jurors they should expect to deliberate until at least 6 p.m. beginning Tuesday rather than stopping at 5 p.m., as they had earlier.

Laura Menninger, a defense lawyer, told Nathan on Monday that any suggestion that the jury stay later "is beginning to sound like urging them to hurry up."

https://krcgtv.com/news/coronavirus/citing-covid-judge-prods-ghislaine-maxwells-jury-to-work-longer-hours