Jury selection in the federal sex offender trial against Ghislaine Maxwell began Tuesday at the Thurgood Marshall United States Court in New York City.
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Jury selection in the federal sex offender trial against Ghislaine Maxwell began Tuesday at the Thurgood Marshall United States Court in New York City.
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images
The jury selection in the federal sex trafficking trial against Ghislaine Maxwell was conducted Tuesday in a Manhattan courtroom. Judge Alison Nathan questioned potential jurors about the case, seeking to coax a jury of hundreds into a panel that will hear allegations that Maxwell helped disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused a minor as young as 14 years old.
Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty. She is accused lure minors and young women into Epstein’s orbit from the 1990s to the early 2000s, groom them for sexual abuse and sometimes engage in sexual encounters on their own.
Jury selection is expected to be a lengthy process
On Tuesday, Maxwell watched as the judge questioned prospective jurors about the case at the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Court in lower Manhattan.
A key question centers on whether jurors are familiar with the names of Maxwell or Epstein – and if so, whether what they already know about them would make it difficult to act as a fair juror. and objective.
During the proceedings, Nathan was “particularly interested in finding out whether any member of the jury panel – gathered from a large area in and around New York City – could still carefree after being sexually harassed or having a bad experience with law enforcement.” Associated Press reports.
In this courtroom sketch, Ghislaine Maxwell looks over her shoulder in front of the courtroom audience before starting jury selection during her trial on November 16, 2021 in New York. Potential jurors get their first look at Maxwell, the British social media site accused of helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls and women, when a judge begins questioning them.
Elizabeth Williams / AP
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Elizabeth Williams / AP
In this courtroom sketch, Ghislaine Maxwell looks over her shoulder in front of the courtroom audience before starting jury selection during her trial on November 16, 2021 in New York. Potential jurors get their first look at Maxwell, the British social media site accused of helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls and women, when a judge begins questioning them.
Elizabeth Williams / AP
The trial is scheduled to begin November 29, with 12 jurors and six substitutes.
Maxwell remains in federal custody as she awaits trial.
Maxwell’s ‘black books’ will play some role in the case
One of the most intriguing elements of the trial was the role played by what prosecutors say was Maxwell’s contact book – an entry that has long intrigued those who have followed the case. Epstein and Maxwell moved among the world’s wealthy elite, and they were accused of arranging sex massages and other encounters that caused girls and young women to pair up with men. old.
Prosecutors say they only plan to use limited excerpts from the book. But they also said that testimony during the trial would prove that the book belonged to Maxwell and that it contained “compelling evidence of her guilt,” prosecutors said in a recent court filing.
The FBI acquired Maxwell’s “black books” in 2009, when Epstein’s former butler, Alfredo Rodriguez, tried to sell the book to an attorney representing one of Maxwell and Epstein’s alleged victims. Attorneys alerted authorities, and Rodriguez admitted that he took the book from Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion, where he worked from 2004 to early 2005. Rodriguez later pleaded guilty to obstruction of public law. physical; he died after his criminal case was over.
In court filings, the contact book is officially known as “Government Document 52.” It remains stamped by court order, but prosecutors say the information in it will help determine who and what Maxwell knew – including “an inference that the defendant knew that at least some of the This number is a minor.”
Maxwell was charged with trafficking and transporting underage girls
Maxwell and Epstein’s most prominent accuser were Virginia Giuffre, who has previously drawn a list of famous men she says she has been asked to have sex with, including Britain’s Prince Andrew, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and the law. monk. Alan Dershowitz. All of those men have denied the allegations.
The criminal indictment against Maxwell says that she “had close ties to Epstein and was also paid by Epstein to manage his various assets.”
Prosecutors said Maxwell also helped Epstein trade and transport underage girls to engage in criminal sex activity.
Federal agents arrested Maxwell in July 2020, almost a year later Epstein was arrested and accused minors of sex trafficking and paying victims to recruit other underage girls. About a month after being arrested, Epstein died after being found unresponsive in his cell in Manhattan. His death was ruled a suicide.
