British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell’s attempts to overturn her sex trafficking conviction have been dismissed as insufficient by US Government attorneys.
These lawyers insist that Maxwell’s arguments do not warrant the revocation of the jury’s decision.
Following Maxwell’s request to dismiss her case, the US government has implored the appeals court to maintain her conviction and 20-year sentence for aiding Jeffrey Epstein in sexually exploiting teenage girls.
Federal prosecutors presented a filing at the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan last Thursday night.
They claimed that Maxwell’s legal contentions questioning the equity of her trial lacked substance.
Prosecutors stated that the evidence presented by the government during the trial substantiated that Maxwell, over ten years, both facilitated and was actively involved in the sexual abuse of numerous underage girls.
Currently serving her sentence in Tallahassee, Florida, the 61-year-old convicted sex trafficker was found guilty by a Manhattan jury on five counts in December 2021.
These charges related to her recruiting and preparing four girls for Epstein’s abuse from 1994 to 2004.
Unless Maxwell, now identified as federal prisoner 02879-509, can successfully challenge her convictions, she will be almost 80 when she is released.
These convictions are tied to her aiding her former lover, Epstein, in abusing girls—a crime that hundreds of women have come forward to allege he committed against them.
Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the infamous British newspaper mogul Robert Maxwell, received a 20-year sentence in June of the previous year.
Soon after her conviction, Maxwell signaled her intention to appeal.
Her defense team argued that the victims’ recollections were “faded, distorted, and influenced.” They further claimed an unfair trial due to one juror, Scotty David, or Juror 50, failing to disclose prior experiences of sexual abuse in the jury questionnaire.
Nevertheless, US Government attorneys have urged the Second Circuit Appeals Court to maintain Maxwell’s conviction.
In reaction to the allegations concerning Juror 50, government lawyers noted that Judge Nathan conducted a comprehensive investigation and found that Juror 50’s unintentional errors on the jury questionnaire did not infringe upon Maxwell’s right to a fair trial.
Maxwell failed to address Judge Nathan’s well-reasoned opinion, asserting that Juror 50’s testimony during the hearing was “patently absurd,” they added.
Government attorneys argued that Maxwell’s claims “fall far short of demonstrating Judge Nathan abused her discretion” when she decided not to rescind the jury’s verdict.
