Jury deliberations begin after closing arguments in trial of Ghislaine Maxwell

Jury deliberations in the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell began late Monday afternoon. The jury received the case just before 5 p.m. EST.

Before jury deliberations began, most of Monday’s Maxwell trial developments were spent on an abbreviated version of closing arguments. Judge Alison J. Nathan urged lawyers to keep their closings tight due in part to a worsening coronavirus outbreak in New York City, as well as a fast approaching holiday weekend. Monday’s closing arguments kick off the trial’s fourth week. The trial was originally expected to last six weeks.

In her closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe said Jeffrey Epstein could not have preyed on teenage girls for more than a decade without the help of Maxwell. Moe described Maxwell as a “sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing. She ran the same playbook again and again and again.”

“Ghislaine Maxwell was dangerous,” Moe told jurors. “She manipulated her victims and groomed them. She caused deep and lasting harm to young girls. It is time to hold her accountable.”

Meanwhile, defense lawyer Laura Menninger said in her closing arguments that prosecutors had failed to prove any charges against Maxwell beyond a reasonable doubt. She said the testimony from accusers was manipulated by civil lawyers representing them as they pursued millions of dollars in payouts from a special fund set up after Epstein’s suicide to compensate his victims.

“They all changed their stories when the Epstein victims’ compensation fund was opened up,” Menninger told the jury. “That should make you hesitate.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey rebutted this argument and asserted that Maxwell believed her accusers were beneath her.

“In her eyes, they were just trash,” Comey said as Maxwell shook her head slightly and then drooped her eyes. Maxwell was composed and at times cheerful as she interacted with her lawyers and family members for the first three weeks of the trial. However, she appeared to get emotional at that point during closing arguments, as well as when Comey attacked the defense’s portrayals of the women who testified about abuse.