Ghislaine Maxwell seeks retrial in sex abuse case

Ghislaine Maxwell has officially requested a retrial, weeks after she was convicted on sexual abuse charges.

The 60-year-old was found guilty of recruiting and trafficking young girls to be sexually abused by the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein.

She has yet to be sentenced and faces up to 65 years in jail.

The retrial request comes after a juror in the case told media that he used his own experience of being sexually abused to influence jurors reaching a verdict.

In Wednesday's court filing in New York, one of Maxwell's lawyers asked for it to remain publicly released until the court rules on "submissions pertaining to Juror 50". They did not name the juror.

Maxwell was found guilty on five of the six counts she faced - including the most serious charge, that of sex trafficking a minor.

Her jail term will be decided by US District Judge Alison Nathan, who has not yet set a sentencing date.

For the moment, Judge Nathan will be waiting to receive a pre-sentence report. This will be compiled by an impartial investigator who will look into things like Maxwell's background, family, education and employment history to determine if any of these should influence the severity or leniency of the sentence.

Source: BBC