Ghislaine Maxwell lawyers reveal more than 2,000 ‘highly confidential’ photos in the evidence against her
The trial is set to begin 12 July
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Thousands of "highly confidential" photos entered as evidence into the Ghislaine Maxwell court case may temporarily stall the hearings, as her lawyers have requested time to pore over the new trove of information.
There are tens of thousands of pieces of evidence included in Ms Maxwell's trial, and the new release of 2,100 photos will only add to the mountain of evidence the alleged sex trafficker's lawyers will have to pore over before she goes to trial.
Ms Maxwell's lawyer sent a letter to Judge Alison Nathan requesting more time to review the materials.
The trial is set to begin on 12 July.
Ms Maxwell was hit with two additional charges of sex trafficking late last month after a new accuser levied claims against her. As a result, Ms Maxwell's lawyers have asked to "re-review" the existing evidence to consider the latest charges.
The latest accuser, a woman who is now in her 30's, alleged that Ms Maxwell recruited her to send sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein nude "sexualised messages" to his home in Palm Beach between 2001 and 2004. She also claimed that Ms Maxwell groomed her to engage in sex acts with Epstein.
According to the indictment discussing her accusations, “Maxwell asked Minor Victim-4 about her family and other aspects of her life. Maxwell also sought to normalize inappropriate and abusive conduct by, among other things, discussing sexual topics in front of Minor Victim-4 and being present when Minor Victim- 4 was nude in the massage room of the Palm Beach Residence.”
The accuser would have been between the ages of 14 and 17 at the time she was involved with Epstein.
“We cannot adequately prepare for a trial containing the new charges and a substantially expanded conspiracy in the less than three months remaining,” the lawyers said in their letter.
Ms Maxwell's lawyers also claimed that technology issues were hindering her ability to review the evidence herself.
“We have tried to use an FBI-supplied laptop and hard drive to review approximately 2,100 ‘Highly Confidential’ photographs that were not produced to us in discovery,” the lawyers wrote in the letter. “Because of technical issues with the laptop, we still have not completed the review.”
Thus far, a ruling to change the date of the trial has not been made.
Ms Maxwell was arrested in 2019 for her alleged role in arranging and training girls for Epstein to sexually abuse and for lying under oath about her involvement with the infamous sex trafficker.
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