The prospective jurors to the Ghislaine Maxill case were quizzed on their knowledge about the British socialite and billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. They also had questions regarding Donald Trump’s Florida estate during Tuesday’s jury selection.
She was 59 years old when Judge Alison Nathan took her to New York federal court. He questioned many potential jurors that would decide her fate in the coming months.
This is the latest stage of jury selection. It involves approximately 200 jurors being reduced down to a group of 50-60.
The defense and the prosecution can then strike off 10 jurors. This will reduce the total number of jurors (and six alternates) that will make up the jury.
The final jurors will not be chosen until November 29, when opening statements will begin. It is possible that the trial will continue until mid-January.
Judge Alison Nathan vetted potential jurors in court Tuesday, ahead of Ghislaine’s sex-trafficking trial later this year.
Ghislaine Maxwell and Bobbi Starheim embrace each other during jury selection
Maxwell, 59, who is accused of procuring underage girls for pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, is set to stand trial on sex trafficking charges on November 29. Maxwell has pleaded guilty to the charges.
Every prospective juror had to stand alone in a box while Nathan answered questions approximately 10 feet from them. After filling in a questionnaire, many were expelled.
They were once asked whether they knew Donald Trump Palm Beach, also known as the “Winter White House”, when Trump was president.
This question indicates that Maxwell will be mentioned by prosecutors during Maxwell’s trial on charges of recruiting and trafficking girls underage for Epstein.
The federal court in New York began the proceedings. It was discovered that Maxwell had employed the same jury consultant who Harvey Weinstein.
Renato Stabile was the film producer who advised Maxwell on selecting a jury. He could be seen looking through juror profiles in binders as Maxwell sat beside him.
Each juror received a list of witness companies and locations during the hearing. They were then asked questions about their’specific knowledge’.
They were instructed to speak only one letter for each entry. However, four jurors blurted out “Mar-a-Lago” as a location they knew from news reports.
Epstein was a friend of the President for many years, until they fell out about a property dispute.
Mar-a-Lago captured a 1992 video of Trump and Epstein conversing while their cheerleaders dance before them. Epstein then doubles over laughing.
Maxwell can also be seen moving in the background during one part of the video.
On Tuesday morning, 14 jurors were allowed to join the final panel.
The defense asked them if they held biases towards law enforcement and the criminal justice systems. They also sought to know if they were prejudiced against those who live ‘luxurious lives’.
The question provoked laughter from a white 72-year-old juror. He said that rich people had “provided my livelihood” while working in a top-end catering business that attended events at UN, Met Opera and Met Museum.
An unidentified white 24-year-old woman claimed that her friend had been ‘coerced into getting a relationship’ with her professor, and was then ‘blackmailed into doing it.
It was claimed that the school had paid Maxwell’s friend to keep him quiet. Although the victim was not the jury, the friend insisted that Maxwell could be given a fair trial.
Beide were admitted to the final jury pool. The panel of twelve will then be determined.
An older black woman, in her 40s, was not allowed to serve on the case. She said Maxwell reports had caused her to feel’very uncomfortable.
An 28-year-old special education teacher claimed that Epstein was “famous”, and she believes he is an actor.
Her permission was granted to continue to the last pool.
Maxwell, who is 59 years old, has denied all charges. He faces up to 80 years behind bars if convicted.
The case will last for six weeks and opening statements are expected to be made in her favor on Nov 29.
On Monday Maxwell appeared to have had a jailhouse makeover ahead of her sex trafficking trial later this month.
On Monday, the British socialite, 59 years old, looked even more glamourous in court. She had her long, straight hair styled into a shoulder-length, with her greying roots highlighted and dyed black.
Maxwell had her hair cut in a pixie style, but it looked much more shiny and clean than last week.
Her prison-issued blue top was also gone. She now wears street clothes, a black turtleneck with gray pants.
As she attended a pretrial hearing, she looked healthier and relaxed than in many months. The judge discussed how she would proceed tomorrow with jury selection at New York’s federal court.
Ghislaine Maxwell wore a more glamourous look to a New York pre-trial hearing on Monday. She ditched her prison jumpsuit in favor of a black turtleneck with gray pants
British socialite, 59 (pictured above), also cut her long, straight hair into a shoulder-length style with her greying roots dyed black.
Maxwell showed her confidence after the hearing, which lasted an hour. She was standing face-to-face with Jeff Pagliuca.
In an intimate moment between them, Pagliuca smoothed Maxwell’s loose hair on her face.
Maxwell had her makeover just a day before Jeffrey Epstein’s final jury selection.
On Tuesday, the process will start. Judge Alison Nathan announced that 600 potential applicants were already reduced to just 231 people after each person completed a questionnaire asking about their availability.
Maxwell has been repeatedly criticized by Maxwell’s legal team for her mistreatment behind bars. Maxwell is seen in prison with “a black eye” earlier this year.
Maxwell is currently being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre. Her makeover may have been done entirely by Maxwell.
For $9.50, the Bureau of Prisons offers hair dye to prisoners in its commissary. Available in several colors, including black.
Maxwell spoke about her experience cutting her hair in prison during her interview in the jailhouse over the weekend.
Maxwell stated that her guards were impressed when Maxwell cut Maxwell’s hair using nail clippers. It was a straight cut.
The woman said that she only had a 3x5in by 5in mirror. They gave me paper scissors, and suggested that I may open my own salon.
The second phase of jury selection (known as voir dire) is scheduled to start Tuesday. Opening statements for the case will take place on Monday 29th.
Potential jurors already completed a questionnaire asking questions such as whether they felt biased towards people living ‘luxury lifestyles’ or if they knew about the MeToo movement.
Judge Nathan expressed hope that in this hearing she would be able to narrow down the pool of potential jurors from 50-60 by asking them each individually during three days of court.
Maxwell, who was wearing longer and grayer hair last week, was dressed in prison scrubs blue
Since her imprisonment last summer, the British socialite appears noticeably grouchy at court appearances. Photo taken in July 2020.
The jury will then select the 12 remaining members of the jury, who are expected to serve for six weeks.
Judge Nathan indicated that she would decide on many outstanding issues prior to or during the November 23rd final pretrial conference.
It is unclear if the third accuser, thought to be British national, will be allowed in evidence.
Judge Nathan indicated that the jury would meet between Christmas Eve and New Year. They will be absent the 23rd, 24th, and 30th of December and the 31st and 31st respectively.
Maxwell’s lawyers asked for Sunday evening’s subpoena of a victim.
Judge Nathan stated that the subpoena must be given to the woman, and that it could be challenged later by the prosecutors.
Christian Everdell, Maxwell’s attorney, stated that there were issues with certain ‘border crossing records’. The prosecution agreed to work on it.
Prosecutor Maurene Comey indicated that another matter was still unresolved, namely the ‘authentication birth certificates.’ However she did not identify which accuser.
Maxwell, who is 59 years old, has denied eight of the charges against her that could lead to Maxwell being imprisoned for as long as 80 years.
Maxwell’s hair looked lustrous and had grown from her signature pixie haircut. Photo taken in 2013.
Ghislaine maxwell, in a Sunday world exclusive, has written about the misery she endured at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center. As she used the bathroom, she found that a rats would be allowed to sit next to an open sewer.
Maxwell spoke to The Mail on Sunday for the first time about her ‘living hell’ behind bars – claiming that she has been assaulted and abused by prison guards, purposely deprived of sleep and given rotting food to eat.
In a world exclusive, Maxwell, who had her $28million (£21M) bail application denied for the fourth time last week, also claims negative media coverage while she has been in custody and the deliberate withholding of evidence have made it ‘impossible’ for her to receive a fair trial.
Maxwell spoke from her prison cell, 10ft x 12ft, in New York’s Metropolitan Detention Center. Maxwell has been there for 16 months. She said that she had been abused and assaulted almost every day for the last year.
“I’ve never had a healthy meal since I was a teenager. I haven’t slept without lights on – fluorescent lights that have damaged my eyes – or been allowed to sleep without constant interruptions.
‘I am weak, I am frail. I lack stamina. I am tired. Even my shoes don’t fit me properly. They give me bad food. One of the apples contained maggots. “I have been forbidden to exercise.”
Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), Brooklyn, where Ghislaine Maxill, the accused accomplice to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein is currently awaiting trial
Maxwell faces the rest of her life behind bars if convicted of abusing and procuring young girls for billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein – charges that she vehemently denies.
The lawyer for Epstein will argue that she is being penalized by proxy because someone has to pay.
Maxwell told his friends that he fears it won’t be possible to have a fair trial. I fear the overwhelming negative media coverage will harm my jury pool and impact the outcome my trial, despite the fact that all that jurors believed was true will be proven false.
“I’m looking forward to my chance to stand in front of the judge to show that I was not involved in Epstein’s crimes.”