GHISLAINE MAXWELL TRIAL BEGINS

 

Yesterday, the 29th of November, 2021, Ghislaine Maxwell's trial for sex trafficking connected to Jeffrey Epstein began.  Epstein was the prosecution's primary target.  He was well known for taking the very rich to his "Orgy Island" populated by teenage girls used as sex objects. Famous male guests reputedly included Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Prince Andrew, among others.

It was believed Epstein was blackmailing celebrities after setting them up with sexual encounters with underage girls on his island.  Epstein died in captivity while awaiting trial in August 2019; his death has officially been ruled a suicide.  There is no doubt Epstein victimized a LOT of young women.  After Epstein's death, the Superior Court of Virgin Islands set up the "Epstein Victim's Compensation Fund" out of Epstein's estate; from this fund, 150 recognized victims have been paid approximately $125 million.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime girlfriend, allegedly procured young girls for Epstein during their time together. With Epstein dead, prosecutors turned their attention upon Maxwell, after locating her in New Hampshire, where she had gone into hiding.  Maxwell was taken to Brooklyn, New York, where she has been held in solitary confinement without bail since July 2020, awaiting her trial. In the federal court system, there is one hearing at the outset of a prosecution to determine whether the accused will be released or held in captivity.

Maxwell is actually facing two sets of charges, and trials for these have been split into two separate prosecutions: one for her alleged participation in Epstein's sex trafficking, and a second in which she is alleged to have perjured herself in answering questions under oath in two 2016 depositions about what she knew about Epstein's activities.  The severance of the charges was necessary because evidence necessary and relevant to the perjury charges would be unduly prejudicial to Maxwell in her defense of the sex trafficking charges.  In other words, it is likely the perjury charges will reveal the extent of Epstein and Maxwell's activities beyond what is covered in the sex trafficking case.

Sex trafficking charges against Maxwell have been complicated for many reasons, including that Epstein reached a plea agreement in 2007 with the feds, that upon his "guilty" plea to one count of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution (in which he served a 13-month "work release" sentence) the feds would not prosecute him for specific allegations against him during the years 2002-2005.  Because Maxwell allegedly conspired with Epstein to commit these crimes, the non-prosecution agreement concerning Epstein actually protects Maxwell.

Because of this complication, the federal prosecutors initially limited the timeframe of allegations against Maxwell in counts one through four of their indictment to 1994-1997 concerning three specific victims.  However, additional counts were added against Maxwell concerning a fourth victim during the years 2001-2004, whom Maxwell allegedly paid to meet with Epstein, sent gifts, and employed to find additional underage girls to have sexual encounters with Epstein for a fee per girl.  Although Epstein and Maxwell had allegedly hundreds of victims, the trial will focus on these four girls.

Here are the six counts filed against Maxwell:

• Count 1 -- conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
• Count 2 -- enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
• Count 3 -- conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
• Count 4 -- transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
• Count 5 -- sex trafficking conspiracy
• Count 6 -- sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion

In the words of Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Pomerantz in her opening statement yesterday, "She helped normalize abusive sexual conduct.  She put them at ease and made them feel safe, all so she could be molested by a middle-aged man.  She knew what was going to happen to those girls.  She preyed on vulnerable young girls, manipulated them, and served them up to be sexually abused."

Maxwell's attorney has urged the jurors to recognize that the villain in this drama is Epstein, not Maxwell and that the jury should not punish Maxwell for Epstein's crimes.  Further, he urged, the witnesses for the prosecution were golddiggers who have "shaken the money tree" of the fund set up after the death of Epstein, not victims. An interesting analogy from the defense was the assertion that "Ever since Eve was accused of tempting Adam with the apple, women have been blamed for the bad behavior of men.  And women are often villainized and punished more than the men ever are."

Extremely interesting to me, as a criminal trial lawyer, is that each side, prosecution, and defense, chose a woman to lead the charge.  With the shadow of Jeffrey Epstein looming so large over this case, a male villain, apparently each side thought the optics would be more favorable if their arguments were presented by a female advocate.  One woman urging sympathy for the female victims, and one woman urging the defendant not to be victimized by Jeffrey Epstein's villainous acts.  Apparently, each side is going to play the victim card in this case.

This should be a very interesting trial.