Judges are testing the future of Ghislaine Maxwell as Covid’s threat approaches

Judges examining the future of Ghislaine Maxwell late Tuesday, on their fifth day of debate, told the judge they were making progress – and then asked to return home early.

During their hearing, the 12 judges sent interesting, confusing, smoke signals in letters to the judge. The length of their argument shows a matter of government it has not been a burden, although there are alarming signs of security.

Of particular concern was the threat of Covid-19, as a threat Omicron power search New York City. When judges have been arguing for a long time, the risk of becoming infected with the virus increases with one or more cases, which can lead to sexual harassment.

Judge Alison Nathan upheld the threat when he ordered judges Tuesday to remain in custody for the rest of the week, even on weekends, until a verdict was handed down, due to “celestial volatility” in Covid cases.

“Time is a friend of security, especially in this case,” said Neama Rahmani, a state attorney who now works for West Coast Trial Lawyers in Los Angeles. He took it as a sign of concern for the protesters when the judges failed to issue a verdict before the Christmas holidays.

“If this continues, it will be worse for the accused and a greater risk for another judge to be appointed and the judges will be hanged,” Rahmani said.

Even so, he did not expect it Maxwell, 60, to go free, which would require the judge to acquit her of all six counts of preparing young women for sexual abuse of her ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein committed suicide in New York City Prison in 2019, a month after he was arrested on a charge of sexual misconduct. Maxwell, a British and the daughter of a late and deceitful journalist, Robert Maxwell, was arrested the following year. He has denied the allegations, and his lawyers say he has been turned into a scapegoat.

The judges, after returning from a Christmas break, requested Monday morning to provide white and light pens, indicating that they were actively investigating a complex case that had been taking place more than 20 years ago.

He also asked for evidence of one of Epstein’s pilots, whose writings suggest that he addressed one of his employers’ opposers four times, along with the meaning of the word “persuasion.”

Although it is impossible to know where he stands, there was Maxwell’s frustration last week when judges asked if he would consider the testimony of one witness, Annie Farmer.

Farmer testified about a trip to Epstein Farm in New Mexico at the age of 16, when Maxwell, he said, encouraged her to have her genitals removed and then rubbed her breasts. Now a licensed psychologist with an Ivy League degree, Farmer was a seemingly incontrovertible witness whose testimony was supported by an old high school boyfriend and his mother.

“The answer is yes, you can imagine that,” the judge said in defiance of Maxwell’s lawyers.

Some government officials have been victimized for many years, and while the main tensions were the same, some disagreements could provide an opportunity for any unbelieving judge.

A Witness named Carolyn remembers accompanying an elderly friend to the Epstein mall in Palm Beach when she was 14 years old to caress a rich man for money. He met a woman who came to be known as “Maxwell”, said Carolyn, who helped set up 100 or more trips over the next two years of Epstein’s sexual harassment.

But when questioned, Carolyn admitted that he had never mentioned Maxwell to the FBI when he first spoke to him about Epstein in 2007. The following year, the prosecutor said, he filed a lawsuit against Epstein and Sarah Kellen, one of his aides. – but not Maxwell.

Carolyn is the only witness whose testimony is based on a case of child trafficking, which carries a maximum sentence: up to 40 years in prison.

Maxwell’s lawyers and his family appeared pleased when the judges asked on the second day of the hearing to review Carolyn’s FBI copy, though the judge refused because it was not accepted as evidence.

Jane, a State Witness, also testified to Epstein and Maxwell’s torture at the age of 14, and her family was in critical condition after her father died of cancer.

In an interview, Maxwell’s lawyer, Laura Menninger, said that Jane had been waiting 20 years for a report from the police.

Jane told the judges that Epstein and Maxwell took her to her room when she was 14, and took off their clothes before urging her to do so. But after the December 2019 meeting, the FBI wrote that Jane had no “real memory” of Maxwell’s first massage. “Do you remember this two years ago?” Asked Menninger.

Security officials have repeatedly cited the money the women received from Epstein’s compensation fund, saying they had changed their accounts over the years to support the government and strengthen their claims.

“Historically, in cases of sexual misconduct the government should have increased the number of victims,” ​​Rahmani said of the protesters’ allegations. “These were four people who were severely tortured by the government.”