Maxwell Jury Ends Fourth Day of Deliberations Without Verdict

(Bloomberg) -- Jurors in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial ended their fourth day of deliberations without reaching a verdict, prompting the judge to ask the panel to stay later starting on Tuesday.

Returning to court after the holiday weekend, jurors on Monday asked to review testimony of one of her accusers’ ex-boyfriends and one of Jeffrey Epstein’s former private pilots as deliberations continued for a second week. They also asked the judge for a definition of “enticement” and clarification of the elements of one of the counts. 

The jury began deliberations shortly after hearing closing arguments on Dec. 20 and continued through Tuesday and Wednesday before breaking for the holiday. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan excused the jurors just after 5 p.m. on Monday but said they would need to work later starting Tuesday.

“If deliberations are not complete starting tomorrow, I would like you to make yourselves available to 6 p.m.,” the judge said. “By this, I don’t mean to pressure you in any way. You should take all the time that you need.”

‘Induce or Lure’

The trial, in which Maxwell is accused of luring and grooming underage girls for abuse by Epstein and participating some of the abuse herself, began on Nov. 29. 

Jurors sent three separate notes to Nathan on Monday. In the first they asked for the enticement definition. Two of the six counts Maxwell is charged with involve enticing an underage girl to travel to engage in sex acts. The judge replied to the jurors that the word means “to attract, induce or lure, using hope or desire.”

The jury also asked to the review testimony by “Matt,” the former boyfriend of “Jane,” one of Maxwell’s accusers. Jane testified that Maxwell and Epstein began sexually abusing her when she was 14 and said the abuse continued for years after that. Matt said on the stand that Jane told him Epstein was a “godfather” who helped her family financially when she was younger but that she had to do things in exchange for the money.

Read more about Matt’s testimony here.

Matt also testified that Jane told him there had been an older woman at the financier’s home who made her mother feel “comfortable” about allowing Jane to pay visits alone.

Transport Charges

In a second note sent to Nathan later on Monday, the jury asked to see the transcript of testimony by former Epstein pilot David Rodgers. The pilot said on the stand that he saw how Maxwell “downsized” to a Manhattan studio apartment after the 1991 death of her father, disgraced British publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell, but acquired a lavish Upper East Side townhouse less than a decade later. Prosecutors said Rodgers’ testimony supported their argument that Ghislaine Maxwell was paid millions of dollars by Epstein in part to procure young girls for him.

The pilot also kept copious records on the passengers who flew on Epstein’s planes. Prosecutor Alison Moe told jurors in her Dec. 20 closing arguments that Rodgers’s logs corroborated Jane’s testimony that the couple flew her from her home in Palm Beach to New York on at least three occasions when she was underage. Maxwell is charged with a number of counts relating to transporting minors for illegal sex acts.

“What you’re looking at is cold, hard proof that Jane was an underage girl being transported to New York,” Moe said. 

Rodgers also testified that he flew several times with Virginia Giuffre, whose name appeared on the pilot’s flight logs as also being transported across state lines by Maxwell and Epstein when she was underage. Giuffre didn’t testify at the trial, but prosecutors have told jurors she’s also a victim of the couple’s abuse. 

Massage Table

The jury additionally asked for the testimony of Gregory Parkinson, a retired officer with the Palm Beach Police Department who described a 2005 search of Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida, mansion. Parkinson said that he and colleagues found a green massage table during the search. Prosecutors brought the table into the courtroom and said it was the table upon which Epstein sexually abused underage girls. 

Prosecutor Alison Moe argued in her Dec. 20 closing statements that the table and other evidence was proof they could use to find Maxwell guilty of trafficking one of her accusers for underage sex. Carolyn, who testified using only her first name, said that she was 13 years old when she was recruited by Maxwell to give Epstein sexualized massages for hundreds of dollars each time. 

The sex-trafficking charge involving Carolyn is the most serious crime of which Maxwell is accused. If convicted on that count, she could be sentenced to as much as 40 years in prison. Prosecutors pointed out that the massage table was made in California and shipped to Florida, thereby impacting interstate commerce, an element of the sex-trafficking charge.

In a note sent late Monday, the jury asked for clarification on one of the counts alleging Maxwell transported a minor with intent the girl would engage in criminal sexual activity. Nathan told jurors that in order to convict, the jury needed to find that prosecutors had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Maxwell “knowingly transported” an underage Jane across state lines to engage in sexual activity with Epstein.

Earlier on Monday, the jury also requested different colored post-it notes, a white board, and highlighters of different colors. Last week, the jury asked for testimony transcripts of Maxwell’s four accusers and Juan Alessi, the house manager of the Palm Beach mansion the socialite shared with Epstein.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.