Ghislaine Maxwell Trial: Opening Statements

Maxwell’s trial begins as socialite faces 40-year sentence Prosecutor says Maxwell sexually exploited young girls Maxwell and Epstein were partners in crime, prosecutor says.

NOTE — I’LL KEEP THIS UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON. Latest statements are at the top of the thread. Also, Courtroom audio is not being used.– ASK

1m ago14:37“They encouraged girls to bring other girls,” Pomerantz says, explaining Epstein and Maxwell’s alleged predatory patterns. “And when a girl brought someone new, they were rewarded with cash.” Mary BiekertLegal Reporter

Just Now14:37

Maxwell, meanwhile, is passing notes to someone sitting on the side of the courtroom. She appears calm and is looking down. Mary BiekertLegal Reporter

14:341m ago

Pomerantz: 

“You will learn about multiple girls who were targeted by Epstein and the defendant for sexual abuse.”

Chris DolmetschLegal Reporter2m ago14:33

Pomerantz says Epstein and Maxwell encouraged Jane to travel with Epstein to New York, where he also abused her. 

But she wasn’t the only one, Pomerantz says. Mary BiekertLegal Reporter2m ago14:33

Pomerantz says Jane stayed in Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse, where she was also abused.Chris DolmetschLegal Reporter3m ago14:32“These horrifying massages occurred frequently. It continued for years,” Pomerantz says. “When Jane was 15. When Jane was 16. 

“And the abuse was not limited to Palm Beach, Florida.” Mary BiekertLegal Reporter4m ago14:31Epstein regularly gave Jane hundreds of dollars, knowing that she needed the money, 

“But that wasn’t all that happened during those visits,” Pomerantz says. “Epstein started sexually abusing Jane,” at times when Maxwell was in the room. “Making it feel normal.” Mary BiekertLegal Reporter5m ago14:30

Pomerantz:

“They pretended to be Jane’s friend. They took her to the movies and on shopping trips.” 

Mary BiekertLegal Reporter5m ago14:30

Pomerantz returns to the story of Jane, explaining the first time Jane visited Epstein’s house in Palm Beach, Florida, when she was just 14. 

Epstein was in his early 40s; Maxwell in her early 30s. 

“They were each more than double her age, yet they were befriending a child.” 

Mary BiekertLegal Reporter7m ago14:28

“Make no mistake: She knew exactly what Epstein was going to do to those children when she sent them inside those massage rooms,” Pomerantz says. 

“She knew exactly what was going to happen. The defendant was essential to this scheme. As an adult woman, she was able to provide a cover of respectability for Mr. Epstein that enabled her to draw these young girls and their families into a sense of security.”

Chris DolmetschLegal Reporter8m ago14:27

“So the defendant could stay in the lifestyle in which she was accustomed,” Pomerantz adds. Mary BiekertLegal Reporter8m ago14:27

Pomerantz argues that Epstein and Maxwell lured their victims with a promise of a bright future only to sexually abuse them. Meanwhile, as this was happening, Maxwell was living a luxurious life. 

“These girls were a means to support her lifestyle.” 

Mary BiekertLegal Reporter9m ago14:26

Pomerantz: 

“Sometimes she was in the room for those massages herself.” 

Mary BiekertLegal Reporter10m ago14:25

The prosecutor offers graphic details of how Epstein abused the girls. 

“The defendant helped Epstein find those girls, she helped him recruit those girls for so-called massages,” she says. “She manipulated the girls, groomed them for abuse.”Chris DolmetschLegal Reporter11m ago14:24

“Epstein brought girls into his massage rooms every single day,” Pomerantz says. Chris DolmetschLegal Reporter11m ago14:24

Pomerantz explains what Epstein’s rooms looked like: filled with photographs of naked women. 

“But was happening in those massage rooms was not massage. It was sexual abuse.” 

Mary BiekertLegal Reporter12m ago14:23

Pomerantz said a “massage” was a ruse to get the girls to touch Epstein and to allow Epstein to touch the girls. 

“These are the crimes the defendant and Epstein committed.” 

Mary BiekertLegal Reporter12m ago14:23

Pomerantz explains that the cover of “massaging” Epstein was Maxwell’s way of starting the abuse. Mary BiekertLegal Reporter13m ago14:22

“They were wealthy and influential people who used that cover to make the girls and their parents feel comfortable and safe,” Pomerantz says.

“But what came next was anything but safe. The next stage involved getting the girls comfortable with sexual contact involving Epstein.”

Chris DolmetschLegal Reporter13m ago14:22

“They figured out what the girls dreamed of being when they grew up and promised to help,” Pomerantz says. 

“They made these girls feel seen. They made them feel special. But that was a cover.” 

Mary BiekertLegal Reporter14m ago14:21

“The defendant and Epstein promised these girls the world,” Pomerantz says. 

“The defendant and Epstein were wealthy and powerful and well-connected, and they flaunted it.” 

Mary BiekertLegal Reporter16m ago14:19

“Maxwell was Epstein’s best friend and right hand,” Pomerantz says. “Epstein was a multimillionaire connected to famous and powerful people.” Chris DolmetschLegal Reporter17m ago14:18

Pomerantz:

“The defendant walked the girls into a room where she knew that man would molest them, and there were times she was in the room when it happened, making it all feel normal and casual. That is why we are here today.”

Mary BiekertLegal Reporter18m ago14:17

Pomerantz opens with a story of a girl named Jane, who was at a camp for talented young kids. 

“She turned 14 years old that summer. She was sitting at a picnic table for kids when a man and woman walked by. The man introduced himself as someone who gave scholarships for kids.

“They asked Jane for her phone number. What Jane didn’t know then was that this meeting at summer camp was the beginning of a nightmare that would last for years.” 

She adds:

“This meeting was the beginning of that man and woman targeting Jane for sexual abuse that would last for years.”

Mary BiekertLegal Reporter23m ago14:12

Pomerantz is starting her opening statement. Mary BiekertLegal Reporter25m ago14:10

Maxwell is looking on at her jury. Mary BiekertLegal Reporter26m ago14:09

The jury is entering the courtroom for opening statements.Chris DolmetschLegal Reporter28m ago14:07

Maxwell and her attorney Christian Everdell, who is sitting next to her in the courtroom, whisper to each other before prosecutor Pomerantz begins her opening statement.Mary BiekertLegal Reporter32m ago14:03

Court is back in session and prosecutor Lara Pomerantz is readying to make her opening statement. Mary BiekertLegal Reporter34m ago14:01

Maxwell’s brother, Ian Maxwell, isn’t here but Leah Saffian, a lawyer who has represented Maxwell in the past, is also sitting with her sister.Maxwell’s brothers and sisters last week petitioned the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention about her conditions in jail, saying her rights are being violated. Patricia HurtadoLegal Reporter37m ago13:58

FIRST WITNESS: One of Jeffrey Epstein’s former private pilots will be one of the government’s first witnesses against Ghislaine Maxwell, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

More here:Epstein Pilot to Be One of the First Witnesses Against MaxwellAndrew DunnTOPLive Editor38m ago13:57Damian Williams, the newly sworn-in U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has arrived in the courtroom for opening arguments. 

Read More: 

Wall Street Enforcer Who Nabbed Visium Fraudster Takes Top JobTina DavisExecutive Editor Legal38m ago13:57

While we know that Maxwell’s sister is attendance today, courtroom watchers will be trying to figure out if another family member is watching the trial: Maxwell’s husband. 

Her husband’s identity has been kept a secret so far, even as he (along with several of her friends and relatives) pledged $22.5 million in assets in an attempt to get her out of jail ahead of the trial. 

At one point, Maxwell said she and her husband were discussing divorce as a way to shield him from “the terrible consequences of being associated with her.”

Read More:

Maxwell Says She and Spouse Pledge All Their Assets for BailTina DavisExecutive Editor Legal46m ago13:49

Attorneys are filtering back into the courtroom now.Mary BiekertLegal Reporter53m ago13:42

The courthouse today has been mostly swarming with press and a few members of the public. Press and public have been dispersed into several overflow rooms over many floors throughout the building.Mary BiekertLegal Reporter58m ago13:37

JURY PROFILE: Ghislaine Maxwell once inhabited an exclusive world of Upper East Side townhouses and private Caribbean islands, but her fate will be decided by a jury that includes a home health aide and four public-sector workers, write Bloomberg’s Mary Biekert and Patricia Hurtado.

Two of the jurors work in the financial industry, with one 61-year-old woman identifying herself as a trader’s assistant for a bank and a 35-year-old man saying he’s an executive assistant at a financial firm.

More on the panel here:Maxwell’s Fate in Hands of Home Health Aide, City WorkerAndrew DunnTOPLive Editor

Updated 37m ago1h 5m ago13:30

We are on a lunch break until 1:45 p.m.Mary BiekertLegal Reporter1h 19m ago13:16

Avoiding social media won’t be a problem for Juror 50, a 35-year-old man who said he deleted his social media accounts “last week” after a breakup. 

Sad for him, but great timing.Katia PorzecanskiTeam Leader – Legal1h 28m ago13:07

“It is your duty not to discuss this case with anyone,” Nathan tells the jurors. “And this includes members of your own family and friends.”Patricia HurtadoLegal Reporter1h 29m ago13:06

Jurors are being advised to avoid all social media and not to talk to anyone about the case. 

“I know, in this day and age, this is a temptation,” the judge says, “but all you need to know will be presented in this courtroom at trial.”

The jury is told report any improper communication attempts by outsiders to the court and her staff.Patricia HurtadoLegal Reporter1h 32m ago13:03

“This case has received significant attention in the media,” Nathan says. 

Some of the witnesses will be known by a pseudonym or only a first name to protect them because of the nature of the charges, she says.Patricia HurtadoLegal Reporter1h 34m ago13:01

“You are to decide this case solely on the evidence provided in the courtroom,” Nathan tells the jury — not on what the panelists hear outside the courtroom.Patricia HurtadoLegal Reporter1h 36m ago12:59

The judge tells jurors what their job will be. While she issues rulings on the law, Nathan says, “you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, are the triers of fact.” Patricia HurtadoLegal Reporter1h 41m ago12:54

For the first time since the court conducted individual questioning of potential jurors, Maxwell gets to see the jury that will hear her case.Patricia HurtadoLegal Reporter1h 42m ago12:53

So it appears Nathan has resolved the issues with the two problematic jurors. She’s now going to bring them in, swear them in, give them preliminary instructions and then excuse them for a 45-minute lunch break.Patricia HurtadoLegal Reporter1h 52m ago12:43“Thank you for your patience and time. We couldn’t have done this without you” Nathan tells the rest of the potential jurors before she excuses them. 

“I thank you for your service.”

Patricia HurtadoLegal Reporter1h 53m ago12:42Nathan just took the bench to tell the lawyers that she’s going to bring the jury in, give them preliminary instructions and send them to lunch.

“We have our 18 jurors,” the judge announces to the lawyers.Patricia HurtadoLegal Reporter2h 18m ago12:17

We remain in a holding pattern.Patricia HurtadoLegal Reporter2h 18m ago12:17Nathan addresses the potential jurors, thanking them for their patience. 

“The process is still ongoing and it remains possible we may call upon you for jury duty,” she tells them.Patricia HurtadoLegal Reporter