Jurors in Ms. Maxwell\u2019s sex-trafficking trial have given no indication of their progress toward a verdict. Deliberations are to resume on Monday.<\/b>
\nThe jurors in the Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking trial were sent home by the judge on Wednesday after a second full day of deliberating without reaching a verdict. The jury\u2019s departure followed a quiet day in the Manhattan courtroom where the trial is being held. Defense lawyers and prosecutors largely stayed away while reporters, sketch artists and court security officers wandered in and out. It was not until about 3:45 p.m. that the jury sent its first note of the day to the judge, Alison J. Nathan, requesting that copies of testimony by two of Ms. Maxwell\u2019s accusers and a third government witness be provided to them in a binder. The jury\u2019s nearly daylong silence was impossible to read, but Ms. Maxwell\u2019s lawyers, and the defendant herself, seemed chipper as they entered court in the late afternoon to hear from the judge. Two of Ms. Maxwell\u2019s lawyers gave each other a high-five. Received wisdom in courthouses is that quick decisions from juries are typically guilty verdicts, with longer deliberations signaling confusion, a lack of consensus or a complicated split decision. But when there are few notes from a jury, attempts to divine its leanings are often futile, and the jury in Ms. Maxwell\u2019s case must analyze three weeks of complex testimony and evaluate six separate charges. The jurors have given no indication that there is any disagreement among them. Judge Nathan gave the jury the option of deliberating on Thursday, even though the courthouse would technically be closed for the holiday break. In a note on Wednesday after their request for testimony, the jurors declined that offer. \u201cNo, thank you,\u201d they wrote. Following an asterisk, they elaborated: \u201cJurors have made plans for tomorrow.\u201d Ms. Maxwell, who will turn 60 on Christmas Day, has pleaded not guilty to all six counts, including sex trafficking and conspiracy, stemming from what prosecutors say was her role in the recruiting and grooming of girls for sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who was her longtime companion. Ms. Maxwell\u2019s trial has widely been seen as the courtroom reckoning that Mr. Epstein never had: He died in August 2019 after being found hanging in a Manhattan jail cell where he was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Ms. Maxwell\u2019s trial will resume on Monday, beginning its fifth week. During its deliberations this past Tuesday, the jury made several requests of the judge, which at least suggested some of the topics the jurors may be discussing. In one note, the jury asked for an F.B.I. document summarizing a 2007 interview with one of Ms. Maxwell\u2019s accusers, who has been identified only by her first name, Carolyn. The indictment charges that Carolyn was a sex trafficking victim of Ms. Maxwell. Ms. Maxwell\u2019s lawyers, while cross-examining Carolyn, tried to show that her trial testimony conflicted somewhat with statements she made in the 2007 interview. The judge wrote back to the jury that the F.B.I. summary had not been admitted as evidence and said that the testimony about it was in the trial transcript that they had. In another note later on Tuesday, the jury asked whether it could consider the testimony of another accuser, Annie Farmer, who used her true name when testifying at the trial, in weighing two of the conspiracy counts against Ms. Maxwell. The parties disagreed sharply on how broadly to respond. \u201cThe correct answer is yes,\u201d a prosecutor, Maurene Comey, told the judge. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s correct at all,\u201d a defense lawyer, Christian Everdell, started to respond. The dispute continued for a few minutes. \u201cYour honor, the jury asked a very simple yes-or-no question,\u201d Ms. Comey said. \u201cThey need a very simple answer.\u201d Judge Nathan crafted a short response for the jury: \u201cI will say, \u2018I received your note. The answer is yes, you may consider it.\u2019 \u201d On Wednesday afternoon, assembled in the courtroom shortly before 4:30 p.m., a few jurors glanced at the clock at the back of the room as Judge Nathan issued her usual instructions that the jury was not to discuss the case or to consume any news media about it, and that jurors should keep an open mind. She also told them of a new rule that will go into effect: As of Monday, N95 masks, or masks of similarly high-quality, would be required for everybody in the courthouse. Most of the jurors have worn cloth or surgical masks during the trial. \u201cPlease stay safe over the long weekend,\u201d the judge told the jurors before dismissing them. \u201cObviously we\u2019ve got the variant, and I need all of you here and healthy on Monday.\u201d After the jury left, Ms. Maxwell hugged her lawyers before she was escorted from the courtroom. She remains jailed without bond at a federal detention center in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n