The jury in Ghislaine Maxwell‘s intercourse abuse trial is predicted to renew deliberations on Tuesday, after three weeks of testimony from ladies who stated the British socialite set them up for sexual encounters with Jeffrey Epstein after they have been youngsters.
Maxwell, 59, is accused of recruiting and grooming 4 ladies for the late financier between 1994 and 2004. She has pleaded not responsible to 6 counts of intercourse trafficking and different crimes.
In her closing argument on Monday, protection lawyer Laura Menninger known as Maxwell an “harmless girl” and sought to distance her from Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 whereas awaiting trial on intercourse abuse fees.
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Ghislaine Maxwell was Epstein’s ‘associate in crime,’ prosecutor says
Menninger argued that prosecutors have been scapegoating Maxwell, a former girlfriend and worker of Epstein, for his alleged behaviour.
“We aren’t right here to defend Jeffrey Epstein,” Menninger stated. “The federal government on this case has now pivoted as a result of Epstein’s not right here.”
The protection has additionally argued that the 4 accusers’ accounts are usually not credible as a result of their reminiscences have pale over time and since they’re motivated by cash to cooperate with prosecutors. All 4 ladies acquired million-dollar payouts from a victims’ compensation fund run by Epstein’s property.
In a rebuttal to the protection’s closing argument, Assistant U.S. Legal professional Maurene Comey urged the jury to “see (Maxwell) for the predator that she is.”
“The suggestion that she didn’t know borders on the absurd,” Comey stated. “The defendant didn’t depend on these teenage ladies rising up into the ladies who testified at this trial.”
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Accusers place Ghislaine Maxwell at middle of Epstein’s abuse, specialists say
Earlier on Monday, prosecutor Alison Moe stated in her closing argument that Maxwell, the daughter of the late British media baron Robert Maxwell, noticed supplying Epstein with ladies to abuse as a approach to preserve her opulent life-style, pointing to financial institution information that confirmed he transferred her $30 million through the years.
Maxwell faces as much as 70 years in jail if convicted on the six counts that have been heard within the trial. She additionally faces two perjury fees that will probably be tried individually.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Modifying by Noeleen Walder and Peter Cooney)
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