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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document643_ Filed 03/11/22 Page 39 of 49
Mem. at 44). Instead, the questioning of Juror 50 should be limited to only what is strictly
necessary to determine the relevant issues.
3. There Is No Basis to Call Any Other Juror as a Witness
There is no basis to call any other witness at a hearing aside from Juror 50. The questioning
of Juror 50 is sufficient to address the only questions as to which the rigorous standard for an
evidentiary hearing has been met.
The defendant nevertheless proposes calling each of the twelve jurors for testimony about
whether they have experienced sexual abuse. (Def. Mem. at 50, 57). It would be difficult to
imagine a spectacle more damaging to the jury process than requiring each of the jurors to return
to court weeks or months after their service was complete to testify about such a deeply personal
and sensitive subject. The defendant’s request is exactly the sort of “fishing expedition” that
presents the “evil consequences” of which the Second Circuit has repeatedly warned. See
Tanniello, 866 F.2d at 543; Moon, 718 F.2d at 1234.
The defendant’s request for such an inquisition is based on a single sentence in a newspaper
article, which reports that an anonymous “second juror described in an interview with The New
York Times having been sexually abused as a child.” See
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/nyregion/maxwell-trial-jury-inquiry.html.'” It is
questionable that this report itself may be considered under Rule 606(b), insofar as the next
sentence refers to the juror’s experience in the context of jury deliberations, so it is not clear from
the article whether the anonymous juror made any statements to the reporter that were separate
" The defendant’s motion also states that Juror 50 has made public statements about another juror
who discussed experiences with sexual abuse in the context of deliberations. Rule 606(b)
precludes the Court from considering this. See Warger, 574 US. at 43 (affirming denial of motion
for a new trial under McDonough, where the only evidence of juror dishonesty was an affidavit
from another juror regarding statements a juror had made during deliberations).
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Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00009837.jpg |
| File Size | 742.8 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.3% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,206 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 17:50:55.041528 |