The Ghislaine Maxwell Trial: A Conclusion?

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 after 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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     Although her lawyers keep trying to delay final sentencing and appeal the guilty verdicts rendered by a jury trial completed at the end of 2021, it looks like Maxwell won’t avoid significant jail time for her crimes.  Below we recap incriminating events from her final days in court.

Highlights from Day 7 of the Trial:

• A third accuser took the stand, by the name of Carolyn. Carolyn begins her testimony by describing her rough childhood growing up. She says that she dropped out of middle school and soon after became addicted to drugs. 
• Carolyn claims she met Epstein through Virginia Roberts when she was fourteen years old. 
• Roberts had asked Carolyn if she wanted to make money by giving massages to one of her friends. That friend was Epstein.
• Carolyn says that each time she met with Epstein to give him a massage, it always included a sexual encounter.
• Epstein would pay Carolyn hundreds of dollars after every visit, which she then used to buy drugs.
• She says that Maxwell and Epstein both knew that she was a minor of 14 years old at the time.

   

• The first accuser that testified spoke to her brother after her testimony. Typically, witnesses are told to not contact each other. Because Jane’s brother was also supposed to testify, Maxwell’s team wanted him to not be allowed to take the stand.
• Prosecutor Alison Moe says that the government had met with Brian (Jane’s brother), where they learned that what Jane told Brian “conflicted with what she said in court.”

Highlights from Day 8 of the Trial:

• The ex-boyfriend of accuser “Carolyn” takes the stand. “Shawn”, says he dated “Carolyn” when she was 14 and when he was 17. He also states that he drove Carolyn to Epstein’s mansion multiple times.
• “Shawn” says that every time she came out of Epstein’s mansion, she would be holding hundred dollar bills, which they would later spend on drugs. He also says that “Carolyn” once received a gift which contained lingerie, and was sent from an address in New York.
• A second pilot who worked for Epstein takes the stand as well. David Rodgers (the second pilot) says that he flew Maxwell and Epstein to many places, such as Travers City, Michigan, which is where Jane allegedly met the couple. He also said that he never allowed his daughter to massage Epstein. He also denies receiving millions of dollars from him.
• The prosecution reveals more images of Epstein and Maxwell’s romantic relationship.

Highlights from Day 9/10 of the Trial:

• At the beginning of day 9 of the trial, one of the lawyers on Maxwell’s trial had suddenly fallen ill, causing the trial to cut short and resume on day 10.
• At the beginning of tenth day, the fourth accuser, Annie Farmer takes the stand. She accused Maxwell of being a sexual predator.
• Farmer and her sister Maria Farmer had made complaints about Epstein early on. These were the earliest allegations made about Epstein. 
• In Farmer’s lawsuit, she describes that Maria met Epstein and Maxwell in an art show, where Epstein said he’d help her get into college as well as help her career in art.
• The lawsuit states that when Annie was 16, Epstein flew her out to his ranch in New Mexico, making her believe that she was going to be attending an education program. When she arrived at the ranch, she then realized that she was the only person in the ‘program.’ She says that Maxwell was very friendly towards her. 
• Farmer also says that the couple treated her lavishly. 
• Farmer says that Maxwell pressured her into giving Epstein a foot massage, before telling her to take her clothes off and get on the massage table. She says that Maxwell touched her inappropriately “against her will.”
• A lawyer on Farmer’s team claims that her lawsuit against Epstein was eventually settled with an agreement that disregarded all the claims against Epstein and Maxwell.

• Source for day 9 : https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/09/nyregion/ghislaine-maxwell-trial

 

Highlights from Day 11 of the Trial:

• Maxwell’s defense team begins to bring their witnesses in. We learn that defense witnesses are not going to be allowed to testify under pseudonym names. 
• One of Maxwell’s former assistants takes the stand and in her testimony, she says that she respected Maxwell. (Cimberly Espinosa)
• Espinosa testifies that she thought one of the accusers “Jane” was Epstein’s granddaughter. She says she “thought it was a loving relationship.” Espinosa also says that she never witnessed Maxwell do anything inappropriate. 
• Maxwell’s defense team also brings in an expert to describe how false memories can be formed over time. Elizabeth Loftus, the expert says that memory can be affected by things such as questioning from law enforcement. 
• “They fall sway to the misinformation. It becomes their memory,” says Loftus. 

 

Highlights from the trial’s final day:

• Maxwell tells a judge that she will not testify in her own defense case. “The government has not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and so there is no reason for me to testify,” says Maxwell in the courtroom. 
• Eva Anderson Dubin, a former girlfriend of Epstein’s, testifies for the defense, saying that she did not witness anything inappropriate between Epstein and teenage girls. Dubin also says that she had never had any sexual group encounters with Epstein or any of the teenage girls. 
• The defense rests their case in the trial after their closing statements. 

     Conclusion: Although defense lawyers still hope to successfully appeal the five guilty verdicts from Maxwell’s first trial, we reprint the details of how the first jury ruled below.

 

Count 1 – GUILTY: Conspiracy to Entice Minors to Travel to Engage in Illegal Sex Acts.

Count 2 – NOT GUILTY: Enticement of a Minor to Travel to Engage in Illegal Sex Acts.

Count 3 – GUILTY: Conspiracy to Transport Minors with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity.

Count 4 – GUILTY: Transportation of a Minor with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity.

Count 5 – GUILTY: Sex Trafficking Conspiracy.

Count 6 – GUILTY: Sex Trafficking of a Minor.