By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters). Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite was tried on sex abuse allegations. Her lawyers claimed that she was a scapegoat and attacked four women who claim she set them up to have sexual encounters as teenagers.

Experts said the defense was ultimately defeated by Maxwell’s decade-long marriage with Epstein, Epstein’s former boyfriend, and employer.

In 2019, Epstein committed suicide while in Manhattan prison, awaiting his trial for sex abuse.

In Maxwell’s month-long trial that ended with her conviction https://www.reuters.com/world/us/maxwell-jury-resume-deliberations-after-judge-warns-omicron-risk-2021-12-29 on Wednesday, prosecutors displayed never-before-seen photos of her and Epstein. The first photo showed Maxwell pressing Epstein’s heel against her chest, while the second featured Epstein riding on a red motorcycle with Maxwell wrapped around his waist.

“Those photographs were murder. Paul Applebaum, defense attorney, said that if I were a juror I would be like these men were Siamese twins.

Bank records showing Epstein having transferred Maxwell $30 million in total over the years were also presented by Prosecutors. They argued that she would do anything to make Maxwell happy and to maintain her lavish lifestyle.

Laurie Levenson of Loyola Law School said that the biggest problem for defense was Epstein’s financial, personal, and long-term connections between Maxwell and Maxwell.

According to She, evidence about their ties raised a question for the jury.

QOTIVES QUESTIONED

The defense attempted to claim that Maxwell wasn’t aware of Epstein’s wrongdeeds. They attacked the credibility of the witnesses and the motives of those who spoke about Maxwell.

Since decades, the defense strategy in cases of sexual abuse has included questioning female accusers’ integrity.

The federal evidence rules restrict the ability of attorneys to question witnesses regarding sexual encounters not directly related to the case. Maxwell’s lawyers requested an exemption. A pre-trial hearing regarding that subject was kept secret from the public.

Finaly, defense did not ask women about any other sexual activities.

Maxwell’s legal team did not cite the histories of two women who had previously abused drugs and instead argued that all of their past memories were corrupted by the passage of time.

Elizabeth Loftus was one defense witness. She is a psychologist that said “false memories” can be formed by people.

Maxwell’s legal counsel also interrogated the women about why Maxwell wasn’t mentioned during their first conversations with law enforcement. The attorneys argued that Maxwell had changed their story to help Epstein win money in a compensation fund.

Each of the four women claimed that they were awarded more than one million dollars.

The jury may have scrutinized the testimony of all four women closely. They requested to see transcripts from the testimony as well as that of any other witnesses, which included two ex-boyfriends who corroborated certain portions of their accounts.

The defense also asked for a transcript from Loftus’ testimony. This indicated that they were considering Loftus’ argument regarding how women’s memories might have been altered.

The jury convicted Carolyn and Jane, two of the most important witnesses. Both claimed that they were both 14 years old when Epstein began abusing them. Maxwell also touched their breasts.

Carolyn claimed that Maxwell would sometimes give her cash in the hundreds after Epstein massaged. Jane claimed Maxwell organized her trips from Florida to Epstein’s New York-New Mexico homes, where they shared sexual encounters.

The prosecution focused on their close relationship in 1994 to 2004 to discredit the defense claim that Maxwell didn’t know about Epstein’s abuse.

In her closing argument on Dec. 20, Alison Moe, Assistant U.S. attorney stated that “When you have been with someone for eleven years you will know their likes.” “Epstein liked underage girls. He enjoyed touching underage girls. Maxwell was aware of it.