Ghislaine Maxwell Trial: Closing Arguments
(Ryan DeLarme) We have reached the final act in this placation production we are calling “The Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell”. Closing arguments were heard today, Monday, December 20th, 2021. On Saturday, the prosecution announced that its summations could last three hours and that the defense could go just as long.
Maxwell declined to take the stand last Friday after her defense called just a handful of witnesses.
Last week, Maxwell’s lawyers begged the judge for more time to locate witnesses, saying “our client’s life is on the line”. Defense attorney Laura Menninger told Judge Alison Nathan on day 12 of the socialite’s sex trafficking trial that they were struggling to find a witness named Kelly whom they had issued a subpoena to testify.
Maxwell’s lawyers called nine witnesses over two days, and on Friday afternoon, Maxwell spoke to Judge Alison Nathan to answer a question that has been plaguing observers since the trial was announced: “Your honor, the government has not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, so there is no need for me to testify,” she told the judge. Attorneys will present their closing arguments on Monday.
Four of Ghislaine Maxwell’s siblings — Kevin, Maxwell, Isabel, Ian, and Christine — arrived at the courthouse Monday morning ahead of closing arguments in their sister’s trial. They managed to get a somewhat humanizing photo-op.
Kevin and Isabel have been in court most days of the trial and often chat or make eye contact with their sister during breaks in the proceedings.
The prosecution gave their closing arguments today, reiterating allegations that Maxwell acted as Epstein’s “right hand”.
“She was a sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing,” Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe told the Jurors. “She ran the same playbook again and again and again… she was a grown woman who preyed on vulnerable kids.”
New exhibits were released today (Monday) by federal prosecutors, including video of a 2005 raid on Jeffery Epstein’s Florida Mansion.
The materials also include several photos of a young Annie Farmer, one of Maxwell’s accusers, who testified on Friday that the disgraced British socialite gave her a nude massage and groped her at Epstein’s New Mexico ranch when she was a teen.
The exhibits were made public just before the government and Maxwell’s defense attorneys began delivering closing arguments in the high-profile case.
In closing, the question of Maxwell’s little black book was FINALLY raised. This is the morsel that could potentially have geopolitical implications.
Maxwell’s hand-written phone directory was brought up by Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe in her closing statement as evidence of the accused madam’s guilt.
“This book, Maxwell’s book, proves to you that Maxwell is guilty,” Moe told jurors, explaining that it corroborates testimony by a number of her accusers.
Moe highlighted an entry for alleged victim Carolyn, who testified that she was abused by Maxwell and Epstein starting when she was 14 years old. Carolyn’s entry in the book also included a number for her ex-boyfriend, Shawn, who testified he would drop her off at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion and received calls to set up her massaged appointments.
“Maxwell is guilty and you should convict her,” pleaded Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe just before the court broke for lunch.
After lunch, the defense began their arguments.
Defense attorney Laura Menninger told the jury that Maxwell “is an innocent woman wrongfully accused of crimes she did not commit.”
“Ghislaine Maxwell is not Jeffrey Epstein,” Menninger said, arguing that prosecutors are targeting the disgraced socialite because of their failure to bring Epstein to trial.
Regarding the testimony of Maxwell’s four accusers, the lawyer declared: “Memories have been manipulated in aid of the money.”
The defense has wrapped its closing argument, telling the jury that Maxwell is only on trial for her connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
“She’s being tried here for being with Jeffrey Epstein,” lawyer Laura Menninger said. “Maybe that was the biggest mistake of her life, but that was not a crime.”
The prosecution will now have a chance to issue a rebuttal before Judge Alison Nathan gives the jury its instructions.
Assistant District Attorney Maurene Comey is now delivering the government’s rebuttal to the closing argument from Maxwell’s defense attorneys.
She slammed the defense for trying to discredit the four women who testified that Maxwell groomed them for abuse by Jeffrey Epstein when they were teens in the 1990s and early 2000s.
If the alleged victims were out for a payday and wanted to frame Maxwell “they would have told way better lies,” Comey told the jury.
“There is no massive conspiracy here to frame Ghislaine Maxwell.”
