More than a hundred women have said they were abused by Jeffrey Epstein, but only four of them were called by prosecutors to testify in the sex-trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, his alleged right-hand woman.
It’s a decision that lawyers who have represented some of those other women question.
“They had a mountain of evidence that they could have brought,” said Adam Horowitz, who previously represented several Epstein victims. The prosecution “had a very difficult burden and didn’t seem to put on as much evidence forward as I thought they would have.”
The jury began deliberations in the case on Monday and broke for the holidays Wednesday without reaching a verdict. They will reconvene on Dec. 27.
Maxwell is charged with enticing and grooming underage girls for sexual abuse by Epstein, her former boyfriend and employer. If convicted on the top sex-trafficking count, she faces as many as 40 years in prison. Her lawyers claims she’s being scapegoated for the crimes of Epstein, who was found dead in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting his own sex-trafficking trial.
‘Inclined To Acquittal’
Horowitz thinks Maxwell’s lawyers have scored points with the jury.
“An acquittal wouldn’t surprise me,” he said. “It’s a difficult case and [the prosecution] put on some really good witnesses, but the defense did a good a job poking holes in some of them.”
Robert Lewis, who represents Sarah Ransome, an Epstein victim who has attended the trial but is not testifying, also thinks Maxwell’s lawyers made some inroads with jurors.
“The defense has readied some interesting questions” that the jury will need to discuss, he said. “Some of them might be inclined to acquittal.”
The lawyers said the defense was relying on an age-old “play-book” of discrediting the four victims who testified. On cross-examination, Maxwell’s lawyers questioned them about inconsistencies between their trial testimony and previous accounts they’ve given to law enforcement or in civil suits. For instance, Carolyn, who testified using only her first name was asked why she said in a lawsuit that Epstein called her on one occasion but attributed the same call to Maxwell on the stand.
“I think it’s normal for people to tell the same story a little differently each time,” Horowitz said. “But in the context of a jury trial, when it’s sworn testimony, it becomes effective when the defense can poke those holes.”