Accused of sex-trafficking young girls, Ghislaine Maxwell faced 80 years in prison. But during her trial, she was treated as more of a celebrity than criminal.
first time I saw Ghislaine Maxwell in the flesh, on November 29, 2021, in Lower Manhattan’s Thurgood Marshall Courthouse on Foley Square, she was wearing a cashmere turtleneck, tailored black slacks and an incredibly calm, even relaxed, expression. She stood tall and elegant, defiant even, her trademark short, black pixie-cut now grown out to a tidy bob.
Every day, for the duration of her five-week trial, I studied this woman closely, a shadowy figure who had captured the public imagination the world over since the extent of her and Epstein’s activities had been exposed, primarily by Julie K.
She behaved like the celebrity she was. She’d grown up the youngest of nine children to the disgraced media mogul, Robert Maxwell , which afforded her socialite status. She was rich and fabulous-looking, well-spoken and clever. Throughout the trial, she seemed calm, relaxed – even happy. In all my time as a court reporter, I’d never seen a defendant so well treated.
Sometimes she did become actively involved in her own defence. This tended to happen when other witnesses – pilots, bank representatives, memory experts – were on the stand. Then she’d be gripped by a pressing need to write notes to her lawyers, possibly suggesting follow-up questions or giving commentary on what she considered to be the truth, or otherwise, of their statements. This was rare, though.
Another encounter with Maxwell that I’ll never forget occurred on December 27, 2021. Judge Alison Nathan, determined that the trial would finish before the end of the year, had given us a short break for Christmas. Maxwell’s birthday is on Christmas Day and she’d just celebrated her 60th birthday in a Manhattan jail cell before the court had reconvened.
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