Ghislaine Maxwell REFUSED bail for the fourth time
Ghislaine Maxwell is REFUSED bail for the fourth time: Judge rules charges she groomed underage girls for pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and her ‘ability to flee’ make it impossible to allow her out on home detention while she awaits trial
- Judge Alison Nathan rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s bail application for the fourth time, citing her ‘ability to flee’ as to why she can’t trade a jail cell for her home
- The order also promised that Maxwell would be transported from her Brooklyn federal jail cell to her trial ‘in a way that is humane (and) proper’
- One of Maxwell’s lawyers previously complained that she was brought to the courthouse nearly six hours early and was poked awake by a holding cell guard
- The jury selection process began Thursday to find 12 people to fairly decide whether Maxwell helped Jeffrey Epstein recruit and sexually abuse teenage girls
- She faces up to 80 years if convicted of the charges, which she has consistently denied
- Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 while in jail
Ghislaine Maxwell was refused bail for the fourth time on Tuesday after a judge ruled that she groomed underage girls for pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and cited her ‘ability to flee,’ which would make it impossible to allow her out on home detention while she awaits trial.
U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan rejected Maxwell’s bail application in a two-paged order where she also promised that the 59-year-old would be transported from her Brooklyn federal jail cell to her trial ‘in a way that is humane, proper and consistent with security protocols.’
The judge said lawyers for the Metropolitan Detention Center assured these protocols in a sealed letter.
Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured in court sketch last Monday) was refused bail for the fourth time on Tuesday after US District Judge Alison J Nathan ruled that she groomed underage girls for pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and cited her ‘ability to flee,’ which would make it impossible to allow her out on home detention while she awaits trial
In a two-paged order Nathan rejected Maxwell’s bail application and promised that the 59-year-old would be transported from her Brooklyn federal jail cell to her trial ‘in a way that is humane, proper and consistent with security protocols’
A graying and shackled Maxwell appeared at a pretrial hearing at federal court in New York Monday November 1, ahead of jury selection later this month
Previously, one of Maxwell’s lawyers complained that she was brought to the courthouse for a hearing nearly six hours before its scheduled start time and was poked by a guard to force her to wake up when she briefly fell asleep in a cold holding cell.
Maxwell was pleading – yet again – to trade her jail cell for home detention, but Nathan rejected. Two of Maxwell’s earlier applications were also shot down by a Manhattan federal appeals court.
The jury selection process began Thursday to find a dozen people willing to fairly decide whether prosecutors can prove that Maxwell helped Jeffrey Epstein recruit and sexually abuse teenage girls from 1994 to 2004.
Maxwell is being held at the Manhattan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, and has pleaded not guilty for her role in the sex ring.
She faces up to 80 years if convicted of the charges, which she has consistently denied.
Prospective jurors answered written questions prior to a series of oral questioning by the judge scheduled for next week as a pool of hundreds of individuals is reduced to 12 jurors and six alternates.
Opening statements at a trial expected to last six weeks are slated for November 29.
In the latest bail request, Maxwell’s lawyer Bobbi Sternheim said that her client has been subjected to physical and emotional abuse by jail guards. She also cited poor and unsanitary living conditions, insufficient nutrition, difficulties reviewing millions of legal documents and sleep deprivation.
In arguing against bail, prosecutors wrote that the latest bail application ‘turns to rhetoric and anecdotes better suited to tabloids than briefs.’
Maxwell’s legal team also rehashed claims about her alleged mistreatment behind bars (Maxwell pictured earlier this year with ‘a black eye’)
‘Where legal arguments can be found, they are cursory and unpersuasive,’ they added.
In the most recent developments of the case, one of the four accusers in Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial could potentially be excluded from the case after federal prosecutors failed to address whether the woman could actually be considered a ‘victim,’ Nathan ruled.
The judge noted in court last Monday that the age of consent in the UK is 16 and that ‘Minor Victim-3’ could not recall if she was 17 or 18 when she was allegedly groomed for pedophile Epstein by the British socialite.
The inconsistencies could mean that the accuser’s testimony may not be used for the three counts of conspiracy-related charges against Maxwell.
There are four accusers mentioned in the indictment, identified only as Minor Victims 1-4. While Minor Victim-3 is understood to be British, her identity has not been publicly revealed.
The prosecution was asked to ‘provide its position’ as to whether the accuser ‘could be considered a “victim” of the crimes charged in the indictment for any legal purpose…’
But they were presented with a potential legal setback over the weekend when Nathan said she was not satisfied with their letter opposing Maxwell’s motion to exclude evidence.
In a court order filed in New York on Saturday, Nathan wrote that the prosecution’s submitted letter did ‘not address this issue.’
Such a development so close to the start of the trial could also be a significant boost to Maxwell.
‘At the November 1, 2021 conference, the Court asked the Government to provide its position as to whether Alleged ‘Victim-3’ could be considered a ‘victim’ of the crimes charged in the indictment for any legal purpose,’ Judge Nathan wrote in Saturday’s filing.
‘The Government’s supplemental letter does not address this issue,’ she added.
The judge acknowledged that the court’s request ‘may have been unclear’ before giving prosecutors another chance to file a supplemental letter responsive ‘on or before’ 12pm Sunday
Nathan acknowledged that the court’s request ‘may have been unclear’ before giving prosecutors a second chance to file a supplemental letter responsive to the question ‘on or before’ 12pm Sunday.
Maxwell is charged with three counts of conspiracy-related charges including, enticing minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, and conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
As the judge saw it, the victim’s evidence could be used to establish whether Maxwell was aware of the ‘sexual nature of the massages,’ performed on Epstein.
The remaining counts are: transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor.
Judge Alison J Nathan (pictured) gave prosecutors a second chance to file a letter responsive to the question
Two counts of perjury will be tried separately.
According to the indictment, Maxwell ‘groomed and befriended’ Minor Victim-3 in London between approximately 1994 and 1995 when she knew that the girl was under the age of 18.
The indictment states that Maxwell discussed Minor Victim-3’s ‘life and family’ with her and introduced her to Epstein, a wealthy financier.
‘During those interactions, Maxwell encouraged Minor Victim-3 to massage Epstein, knowing that Epstein would engage in sex acts with Minor Victim 3 during those massages,’ the indictment states.
‘Minor Victim-3 provided Epstein with the requested massages and during those massages, Epstein sexually abused Minor Victim-3,’ it added.
Maxwell had previously filed a motion asking for Minor Victim-3’s evidence to be excluded because she had ‘not alleged any illegal conduct whatsoever.’
Her filing stated that the woman was ‘not a minor’ in the UK and that she ‘cannot establish’ whether Maxwell or Epstein sought to ask her to travel while she was underage.
Maxwell’s lawyers said that prosecutors only included the woman’s claims in the indictment because they ‘did not know that she was above the age of consent in the UK.’
The defense has also listed a number of experts that they plan to call to the witness stand, including Elizabeth Loftus, who testified at the Weinstein trial about sex crime victims creating fake memories.
She could also call Park Dient, a forensic psychologist who has previously evaluated the Unabomber Jeffrey Dahmer and John Hinckley, who shot Ronald Reagan, according to court filings.
Bennett Gershman, one of the top authorities on prosecutorial misconduct, may be called upon too.
Meanwhile, Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 while being held in jail as he faced sex trafficking charges. He served 13 months in a Florida prison after pleading guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Source: Read Full Article