Ghislaine Maxwell Trial Finally Begins After 15 Months
Ghislaine Maxwell is set to finally stand trial on Monday after a 15-month wait after her incarceration for sex trafficking children, perjury, and the enticement of minors while she was a close associate of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The Guardian reports that since the jury process expects to be lengthy, it will give the international community plenty of opportunity to focus on two key issues: first, the likelihood that Maxwell and her lawyers will offer up details of prominent names implicated in the case, including potentially Donald Trump and Prince Andrew, and the alleged poor state of Maxwell’s health. Her lawyers had argued against Maxwell being held in prison while she awaited trial, but she was remanded to custody in a Brooklyn jail in July 2020 after being deemed a flight risk.
Her legal team has argued that her time in prison has done even more harm to her health. Maxwell is under 24-hour surveillance in a cell measuring just 9ft by 6ft, which they claim amounts to “excessive cruelty”. She has slept on a concrete bed beside a toilet and has had no access to natural light. Maxwell also claims her eyesight is failing and her hair falling out, while her guards repeatedly wake her by shining a torch in her face. Prison officials say the scrutiny is designed to prevent Maxwell from harming herself in the light of Epstein’s cell suicide two and a half years ago, but her lawyers argue this is merely the “cover story for a persecution campaign”. Maxwell’s defense team is also expected to argue that she was also a victim of Epstein’s “malevolent and controlling personality”.
To give some perspective, these photos of #GhislaineMaxwell with #VirginiaGiuffre were taken in London around the same time Virginia was photographed with Prince Andrew at Ghislaine’s home in London.
Looks like a normal adult party, but with a definite CHILD (minor) attending. pic.twitter.com/Cgz0nzc34K
— The Real Royals of Windsor (@realwindsors) October 31, 2021
Four accusers are expected to testify at trial, including one unidentified British woman, but others, including the Duke of York’s accuser, Virginia Giuffre, may come forward during the trial. The alleged British victim claims that Maxwell recruited her in London in 1994 when she was 17, asking her to massage Epstein.
No bail for Ghislaine Maxwell as trial nears -U.S. judge | Reuters https://t.co/JxBupe2ozC
— julie k. brown (@jkbjournalist) November 9, 2021
[This is a continuing and developing story, please check back for updates]