Ghislaine Maxwell Jury Can Consider If She Avoided Knowing Accusers’ Ages
Ghislaine Maxwell Jury Can Consider If She Avoided Knowing Accusers’ Ages
(Bloomberg) -- The jury in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial can consider whether the British socialite consciously avoided knowing the ages of her four accusers or deliberately ignored Jeffrey Epstein’s behavior with them, the judge ruled.
The ruling for the prosecution came Saturday in a rare weekend hearing convened by U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan. She held it to discuss with lawyers for both sides how she will deliver about 80 pages of legal instructions to the jurors on Monday, after the attorneys deliver their closing statements. Nathan said she expected the panel could begin its deliberations later that day.
During the three-hour hearing, lawyers sparred over the exact wording the judge will use to describe the legal elements the jury must find to convict Maxwell on six criminal counts. The defense won some rulings as well.
Maxwell, 59, is charged with recruiting, grooming and then helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls and faces as many as 40 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial, in what was ruled a suicide. Maxwell’s lawyers say the government, having failed to prosecute him, is going after her in his place.
Nathan noted on Saturday that throughout the trial, defense lawyers have elicited testimony that the accusers “looked 18” or were “mature” and that they also suggested in questioning witnesses that Maxwell wasn’t always aware of Epstein’s interactions with the girls. The defense asked the judge to remove the instruction that jurors could consider whether Maxwell consciously avoided knowing her accusers’ true ages or Epstein’s behavior. Nathan denied the request.
Prosecutors called 24 witnesses during the trial, including four women who testified that Maxwell lured them into the disgraced financier’s orbit. Maxwell, who pleaded not guilty, is accused of playing a central role in Epstein’s alleged scheme and of participating in some of the abuse.
The witness referred to as Jane testified that she was 14 when Maxwell and Epstein began subjecting her to sexualized encounters. Carolyn, another accuser, said she was about 14 when she engaged in a sexualized massage with Epstein, while the accuser called Kate said she was 17. Annie Farmer said she was 16 at the time of the alleged assaults.
Another ruling Saturday that favored the prosecution was on the defense’s request to omit the word “coercion” from the judge’s legal instructions to the jurors.
“We think the jury could conclude that the victims were coerced, and there’s no reason to delete it,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Rohrbach argued.
“Yes,” Nathan said. “I’m going to overrule the objection.”
Among the concessions Maxwell’s lawyers won was an unusual one: Nathan agreed to refer to their client as Ms. Maxwell in her instructions, instead of calling her “the defendant” as is typical. That has been a theme throughout the trial, which began with opening statements Nov. 29, as Maxwell’s team has avoided “defendant” even when marking and referring to their own exhibits.
Nathan also agreed not to ask the jurors to determine if any of the accusers were transported across foreign borders, though the panel will weigh whether they were moved across state lines.
Nathan, who was nominated for a seat on the federal appeals court in Manhattan, paused the Maxwell trial Dec. 13-15 for her Senate confirmation hearing, after weeks of keeping to a demanding daily schedule. At the weekend conference, apparently ordered to make up for lost time, she repeatedly slipped, telling lawyers she was ready to get back to work “tomorrow.” She corrected herself and directed them to return to court Monday morning for closing arguments and jury instructions.
The case is U.S. v. Maxwell, 20-cr-00330, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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