No verdict in Ghislaine Maxwell trial as jury heads home for Christmas holiday
NEW YORK — Jurors mulling the fate of Ghislaine Maxwell couldn’t reach a verdict Wednesday before breaking for the holiday, ensuring the British socialite will mark her birthday on Christmas Day behind bars.
On the second full day of deliberations, the jury asked to review testimony from Jeffrey Epstein’s former house manager, Juan Alessi, who worked at his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion from 1990 to 2002.
The head housekeeper took the stand on Dec. 2 and described Maxwell as a micromanager who kept a wicker basket full of sex toys. Her accusers testified Epstein used the toys to sexually abuse them.
The jury of six men and six women weighing charges of sex trafficking and other crimes also sought testimony from another Maxwell accuser, Kate, who testified under a pseudonym on Dec. 6.
Defense attorneys persuaded Judge Alison Nathan to designate Kate and another accuser, Annie Farmer, as witnesses — not victims — of Maxwell’s alleged crimes. The judge ruled the jury can consider the women’s testimony about the couple when analyzing whether Maxwell is guilty of the crimes linked to two alleged victims, Jane and Carolyn. Those accusers testified they were 14 when Maxwell and Epstein’s abuse began.
The jury will return on Monday to Manhattan federal court. Nathan cautioned the panel before they took off for four days.
“Please stay safe over the long weekend,” the judge said. “Obviously, we’ve got the variant. And I need all of you here and healthy on Monday. So please take good care and take cautions.”
Wearing a dark green turtleneck and black slacks, Maxwell looked happy after it emerged the jury had not reached a verdict. She hugged members of her legal team and waved to an acquaintance seated in the gallery before U.S. Marshals escorted her back to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
The Oxford-educated suspect faces a maximum sentence of 70 years in prison if convicted on all six counts. She’s pleaded not guilty to charges alleging she enticed, trafficked and transported teenage girls abused by Epstein from 1994 to 2004. She also faces perjury charges for allegedly lying about the alleged conduct under oath.
Her lawyers say the government has unfairly scapegoated her in Epstein’s absence since his suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial for underage sex trafficking.
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