By Luc Cohen

(Reuters) – Two weeks of emotional, specific testimony at Ghislaine Maxwell’s intercourse abuse trial from 4 ladies who stated the British socialite groomed them as youngsters for deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein might largely undercut the protection’s argument that prosecutors are utilizing Maxwell as a scapegoat, authorized consultants stated.

The ladies – who say they met Maxwell at completely different instances in locations as far off as Florida, New Mexico and London – all portrayed her as central to the sexual encounters that they had with Epstein.

Maxwell’s attorneys did rattle three of the 4 accusers throughout robust cross-examination and scored two favorable rulings from U.S. District Decide Alison Nathan, who stated that two of the 4 ladies prosecutors referred to as victims have been sufficiently old to consent on the time of the alleged encounters.

However because the protection prepares to mount its case, persuading jurors that Maxwell was not concerned will likely be tough, some consultants stated.

“The federal government has executed a very good job of conserving the jury targeted on Maxwell,” stated Sarah Krissoff, a accomplice at regulation agency Day Pitney and former federal prosecutor. “The federal government will argue that the truth that every sufferer has a unique story – and did not exaggerate Maxwell’s position in that story – demonstrates the credibility of these accounts.” 

Prosecutors, who say Maxwell recruited and groomed 4 teenage ladies for Epstein from 1994 to 2004, rested their case on Friday in Manhattan federal courtroom.

Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not responsible to eight counts of intercourse trafficking and different prices. Her attorneys didn’t reply to a request for remark for this story.

Her attorneys have argued that she is a “handy stand in” for Epstein, who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 whereas awaiting trial on intercourse abuse prices.

The remarkably comparable accounts of the accusers might assist undermine that argument, consultants stated.

For instance, a lady testifying underneath the pseudonym Kate stated that Maxwell inspired her to rub Epstein’s ft when Kate was 17 in London in 1994. Weeks later, at Maxwell’s request, Kate stated she gave Epstein a full-body therapeutic massage that escalated right into a sexual encounter.

Annie Farmer, now 44, stated she and Maxwell gave Epstein a foot therapeutic massage on the financier’s New Mexico ranch in 1996, when Farmer was 16.

“I watched what she was doing and he or she instructed me,” Farmer stated.

Massages, and Maxwell’s central position in them, got here up repeatedly throughout the ladies’s testimony.

Jane, who stated she was 14 in 1994 when Epstein first abused her, testified that Maxwell would typically take part when massages later escalated into sexual encounters.

Prosecutors stated the ladies’s testimony supplied them with particulars that are essential to show prices that Maxwell enticed the women to journey throughout state strains and in some instances paid them for sexual exercise.

Jane stated Maxwell assisted her with preparations when she traveled to Epstein’s house in New York. And Carolyn, a lady who says Epstein abused her beginning when she was 14, stated she was paid $300 after she massaged Epstein. A few times, it was Maxwell who handed her the money, Carolyn testified.

‘ROOM FULL OF STRANGERS’

Maxwell’s legal professionals argued that the ladies’s recollections have been corrupted within the a long time because the alleged abuse, and that they have been motivated by cash.

Three of the 4 ladies regularly grew to become agitated when the protection challenged their credibility by pointing to obvious inconsistencies between their testimonies and prior statements made to regulation enforcement.

Maxwell legal professional Laura Menninger grilled Jane about why she initially informed the FBI that she didn’t recall being in a room alone with Epstein and Maxwell or Maxwell ever touching her.

Jane referred to as the notes “incorrect,” however on additional questioning by prosecutors cried as she defined why she didn’t share sure particulars initially.

“I used to be sitting in a room filled with strangers and telling them essentially the most shameful, deepest secrets and techniques that I might been carrying round with me my complete life,” Jane stated.

Later within the trial, Maxwell legal professional Jeffrey Pagliuca pressed Carolyn about $3.25 million she obtained from a compensation fund arrange for Epstein victims.

“Why is that being talked about greater than as soon as?” stated Carolyn, who later sobbed on the stand.

Jeffrey Cohen, an affiliate professor at Boston Faculty Regulation Faculty and former federal prosecutor, stated the protection might argue that the accusers’ reactions underneath cross-examination might point out “they’re merely out for vengeance and clouded by ardour.”

However on this case, he stated, the jury would possible be “forgiving of the victims’ outrage.”

In a victory for the protection, U.S. District Decide Alison Nathan dominated that Kate and Farmer have been sufficiently old to consent on the time of their alleged encounters, which means any bodily contact that they had with Epstein was not “unlawful sexual exercise” as prosecutors alleged of their 2021 indictment.

However the injury to the prosecution’s case from that call could also be restricted, consultants stated.

Neither Kate nor Farmer are the only alleged victims underlying any of the costs Maxwell faces, which means that jurors can use Kate and Farmer’s testimony to again up the accounts of the opposite accusers.

Kate and Farmer “described strikingly comparable patterns of habits on Maxwell’s half,” bolstering Jane’s and Carolyn’s testimony, stated Deborah Tuerkheimer, a professor at Northwestern (NASDAQ:) College Faculty of Regulation.

“In essential methods, the testimony of the ladies who have been over the age of consent throughout the sexual interactions strongly corroborates the testimony of the 2 alleged victims,” Tuerkheimer stated.