Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty in the US – details at a glance.
Update from Thursday, December 30th, 2021, 00:05: Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty by the competent court in New York, among other things, for sex trafficking with minors. The twelve jurors found her guilty on five out of six counts.
Maxwell faces life imprisonment. Several US media report this unanimously.
Ghislaine Maxwell: Judgment could be further delayed
First report from Wednesday, December 29th, 2021, 12.00 p.m .: New York – The trial against Ghislaine Maxwell has been running since the end of November. So that everything could happen quickly, less stuff was asked inside than originally planned. Both sides have already made their closing arguments. Maxwell himself refuses to testify. The US government could not prove their case without reasonable doubt, said the alleged accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, who is charged, among other things, with sex trafficking in minors.
On December 20, the jury began deliberations. A judgment in the Ghislaine Maxwell case did not come before Christmas. Now there may be further delays in completing the process – due to the coronavirus.
Trial against Ghislaine Maxwell: Corona could delay judgment further
The jury’s deliberations over the coming weekend could be temporarily interrupted if the current corona wave in the USA affects the process.
“We now have a high and escalating risk that juries and trial participants will have to go into quarantine,” said Judge Alison Nathan of the District Court for South New York. “That could disrupt the process and risk completing that process.”
The jury has deliberated for 32 hours over a five-day period, according to The Guardian newspaper. They have not yet come to a decision.
“All 50 states are in the soup at the same time,” said an expert from the New York Times on Monday (December 28, 2021) with regard to the corona virus. “It’s as if every state were hit by a viral hurricane.” But New York in particular is affected by the Omicron variant and a rapid increase in hospitalizations caused by Corona.
Ghislaine Maxwell trial: Judge awaiting jury verdict
Judge Nathan said, “We’re just at a different point when it comes to the pandemic than we were a week ago.” remain. The next morning she told the lawyers that given the Omicron variant, there had to be a jury schedule.
However, the jury did not want to stay long and informed the judge that there was progress in the deliberations. If there is still no decision on Wednesday, Alison Nathan wants to keep it there for the entire week and also for the weekend if necessary. The judge wanted to give the jury enough time to deliberate and form a judgment and to avoid an incorrectly conducted process – for example due to corona failures, she explained to the lawyers. However, she does not want to exert any pressure.
Ghislaine Maxwell has been in custody for 16 months. She turned 60 on Christmas Day. The British woman is charged on six counts. She is said to have recruited underage girls for her long-term partner and confidante Jeffrey Epstein and “served them for sexual abuse”. Ghislaine Maxwell pleads not guilty. (lrg / tu with dpa)
