OAN Shannon Kelland
4:10 PM PT – Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Ghislaine Maxwell is seeking the annulment of her conviction as she claims a series of errors undermined the integrity of her trial and that prosecutors made her a scapegoat because of the death of a financier. .
Maxwell, 61, was convicted in December 2021 and is serving time at the federal correctional facility in Tallahassee, Florida.
She is serving a 20-year prison sentence on five charges of recruiting and grooming four teenage girls for abuse by Epstein between 1994 and 2004.
The appeal was made by her new legal team. Led by Arthur Idala, the attorney who represented Harvey Weinstein in the first sex crimes trial of 2020.
Maxwell’s attorneys argued that she was denied a fair trial because one of the jurors failed to disclose her history of sexual abuse during jury selection.
“Whether or not the jury’s false statements were intentional, and apparently so, along with the juror’s public statements, the similarities to the traumatic experiences described by the jurors and the victims of the case were established jury bias,” the appeal reads. Briefly.
Maxwell’s attorney also said her “deplorable” prison conditions had exposed her to raw sewage, sleep and water deprivation, and excessive surveillance, leaving her “very disoriented and debilitated” and unable to defend her defense properly. He claims that he is no longer able to go to
Maxwell’s attorneys have argued that the charges are barred by a five-year statute of limitations, reviving “decades-old allegations” previously blamed on Epstein, who committed suicide in prison.
“The government has indicted Ms. Maxwell as Jeffrey Epstein’s agent.
