Since July, when she was arrested in New Hampshire, Ghislaine Maxwell’s case has largely played out in court documents and tabloid reports. On Friday afternoon, the alleged Jeffrey Epstein accomplice appeared in a Manhattan courtroom in person for the first time, pleading not guilty to new charges of sex trafficking that federal prosecutors filed against her last month.
Prosecutors originally charged Maxwell with recruiting underage girls for Epstein’s abuse, as well as with perjury. She pleaded not guilty to those charges; she was denied bail and has been held at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since July. The recent superseding indictment, citing a fourth victim in the case, alleged that Maxwell had also committed sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking of a minor.
Friday’s arraignment at Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse lasted about 10 minutes. Dressed in a light blue prison uniform, Maxwell said little and waived her right to have her new indictment read aloud. Previously, in earlier days of the coronavirus pandemic, she had attended her hearings via videoconference from the MDC. Alison Nathan, the judge in the case, noted that Maxwell’s alleged victims were in the room with their counsel, as well as members of Maxwell’s family. There was some discussion among prosecutors, Maxwell’s lawyers, and Nathan about potential scheduling changes for Maxwell’s trial, currently set for July 12, but for now, Nathan said, “Everyone should assume that it’s July.”
Outside the courtroom after the arraignment, a group of three people held a banner reading, “Epstein Is the Virus.” David Markus, a lawyer for Maxwell, addressed reporters, saying about her condition in prison, “She’s hanging in there. It’s not easy.” Her lawyers have argued on several occasions that she’s been treated unfairly at the MDC—in part, they have said, because of Epstein’s 2019 death in prison, which was ruled a suicide—prompting the Federal Bureau of Prisons to issue defenses of her condition. “It’s the Epstein effect,” Markus said. “She’s being treated horribly.”
The lawyer David Boies, who represents some of Epstein’s alleged victims, also spoke to reporters, alongside a woman whom he said was an Epstein survivor. When asked whether the prospect of Maxwell standing trial brought any satisfaction, he replied, “Everyone felt that they were cheated by Epstein’s death.”
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