Maxwell on trial.
By Reona Alam
Introduction: When a “vice” or public-morals trial hits the media, it can be hard to know what to think of all the individuals involved. The high-profile case of Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell has been especially confusing because it allegedly implicates ultra powerful international figures from Prince Andrew of England and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, to former President Donald Trump. Due to various trial delays, extensions, and appeals, the legal case is also taking a long time to resolve, which is why we are covering the proceedings with separate reports as new things happen. As teenagers, we RamPage staffers will soon enter the adult world being impacted (and even shaped) by this scandal. We are covering this story as a way to examine how modern legal systems, class values, and personal ethics continue to shift over issues of lawful consent, sexual propriety, and women’s rights in this “MeToo” era.
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As of November 29th, 2021, the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell and her former partner and employer, Jeffrey Epstein, began in the Federal District Court in Manhattan. Here is a recap of everything that happened during the first six days of her trial:
Highlights from Day 1 of the Trial:
- The jury first listens to the story of Jane, one of the victims of Epstein, who met him when she was only 14.
- Jane explains how she met the couple in 1994, at a picnic bench. The encounter ended with Jane providing the couple with her phone number.
- Jane says that Maxwell “helped normalize abusive sexual conduct” that she experienced with Epstein.
- Afterwards, the defense will try to prove that the accusers’ memories are unreliable. Defense lawyer Bobbi C. Sternheim says that over the years their memories may have been altered, as well as “corrupted” or “contaminated” due to “constant media reports.”
- The same lawyer also began to shift the blame to Epstein, claiming that Maxwell was his “scapegoat” as Epstein had committed suicide in prison.
- The prosecution brought in one of Epstein’s pilots as a witness for the jurors. Lawrence Paul Visoki Jr. (the pilot), describes Epstein’s and Maxwell’s relationship as “couple-ish.” He also says that he did not always know who was flying with Epstein on the planes.
Highlights from Day 2 of the Trial:
- One of the accusers, who went by the pseudonym “Jane” testifies in court.
- She explains how Maxwell and Epstein both made her feel “special” as they would invite her over to Epstein’s house in Palm Springs, and take her to movie theaters and shopping as well. Epstein would give Jane money as well, which Jane said was helpful, as her family was experiencing problems with money.
- Jane says that one day Epstein took her into a private room, and claimed that this was when he first sexually abused her. She says that afterwards, every time she visited his home, Epstein and sometimes Maxwell would always abuse her.
- During her testimony, she cried and said “I felt my heart sinking in my stomach . . . I did not want to go see him.”
- The defense began their cross-examination; however the trial ended for the day before the defense team could go any further.
Highlights from Day 3 of the Trial:
- The third day of the trial began with the defense resuming their cross-examination of Jane.
- Defense attorney Laura Menninger was said to have made multiple attempts to find inconsistencies in Jane’s statements. She claimed that some of Jane’s statements that were made to government prosecutors contrasted with those that were made in her testimony.
- Throughout the cross-examination, Menninger highlights the fact that Jane is a professional actress, suggesting that Jane was playing a “role” of some sort in the trial, essentially saying that she was lying, as she had the skill to do so.
- Jane says that she met a lot of famous people through Epstein, for example, former president Donald Trump, as well as Prince Andrew.
Highlights from Day 4 of the Trial :
- Day 4 of the trial began with an expert witness who described how sexual abusers groom their victims.
- Afterwards, Juan Alessi, a former property manager of Epstein’s Palm Beach home, testified to provide the jury with an inside view of life at the house. While on the stand, he read from a document titled “Household Manual,” which essentially compiled all the rules that employees of Epstein had to follow. One of these rules was, “Remember, that you see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing, except to answer a question directed to you. Respect their privacy.” He also says, “I was supposed to be blind and dumb . . . To say nothing [about] their lives.”
Highlights from Day 5 of the Trial:
- Day 5 of the trial began with the defense cross examining Juan Alessi. During the cross-examination, one of the lawyers from Maxwell’s teams brought up the fact that Alessi had stolen money from Epstein twice, to which Alessi replied, “I guess I did.”
- A new piece of evidence is shown to the jurors afterward, this being one of Epstein’s massage tables from the second floor of his Palm Beach home. (A retired police officer from Palm Beach, Gregory Parkinson, was asked to identify it, as he had been the one to originally photograph it during the 2005 search of Epstein’s home.
- Even more evidence is presented to the jurors. The government’s final witness for the day was Sgt. Michael Dawson of the Palm Beach Police Department. He was one of the detectives that searched one of Epstein’s homes that was located on El Brillo Way in 2005.
Highlights from Day 6 of the Trial:
- On the sixth day of the trial, a pseudonymous accuser by the name of “Kate” testified in front of the jurors to speak about the abuse she experienced under Epstein.
- Like “Jane”, who testified just days earlier, Kate met Maxwell when she was a teenager. Kate was to serve as a fill-in masseuse for Epstein. Maxwell led Kate into a “dimly lit” room inside Maxwell’s house in London. Inside the room, Epstein stood naked. Kate says that was the first of the regular sexual encounters she would have with him.
- Kate says that she thought of Maxwell as a friend. Despite their age difference, Kate says that Maxwell was “almost like a schoolgirl.”
- Kate also says that when she met Epstein, she felt intimidated by their power status, creating the unbalanced power dynamic. “She told me that she was friends with Prince Andrew, friends with Donald Trump,” Kate testifies.
- During the cross-examination, one of Maxwell’s lawyers brings up the history of Kate’s past of drug abuse. He questions whether or not she acknowledges that her past of abusing drugs could have altered her memories of Epstein and Maxwell, to which Kate replied that she was not allowed to be drunk or use drugs while she was around Epstein and Maxwell, hence the reason why she remembered the events so clearly.
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As a reporter who is also a young woman, what really shocks me about this case is how easily Maxwell allegedly manipulated these young girls, leading them to be abused by both her and Epstein. This trial has brought to light many things, like how sex traffickers lure in their victims in the beginning, and how the typically unequal power dynamic between adults and minors in situations like this plays a big role.
Throughout the witnesses’ testimonies we see how Maxwell allegedly treated the victims “specially,” and would get naked in front of them, as a way to normalize the abuse that would then continue to happen. We also see how Kate explains the power dynamic, and why she was so afraid to refuse Epstein and Maxwell, due to their age and high social status in society.
One of the biggest takeaways from this case is new knowledge about how we can prevent minors today from being sex trafficked and sexually abused. The National Human Trafficking Hotline statistics showed a 25% increase in sex trafficking cases between 2017 and 2018, just in the United States of Amerca. The majority of these victims are unfortunately U.S. citizens. We must do everything we can to lower these statistics, and keep people safe from the dangers of sex trafficking.
[As of December 16th, 2021, Maxwell’s trial came to an end, with her pleading guilty to five of the six charges. The RamPage will post an in-depth analysis on the last six days of her trial, a deeper look into the charges to which she pleaded guilty, and more updates on the current status of the case.]