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Ghislaine Maxwell Appeals Sex Trafficking Conviction, Claims Was Prosecuted as 'Proxy for Epstein'

© AP Photo / John MinchilloAudrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks during a news conference to announce charges against Ghislaine Maxwell for her alleged role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein, Thursday, July 2, 2020, in New York
Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks during a news conference to announce charges against Ghislaine Maxwell for her alleged role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein, Thursday, July 2, 2020, in New York - Sputnik International, 1920, 01.03.2023
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Earlier, it was reported that Ghislaine Maxwell, now serving a 20-year sentence for helping the late Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls, would outline in her upcoming appeal that she was held "under inhumane conditions" while in custody at Brooklyn Detention Center throughout the investigation.
Disgraced former British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has asked a US appeals court to throw out her sex trafficking conviction, insisting she was used as a scapegoat for the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The case should either be dismissed or retried, according to the filing with the second US circuit court of appeals in Manhattan, made late on February 28.

"The government prosecuted Ms Maxwell as a proxy for Jeffrey Epstein” to satisfy “public outrage,” relying on the tycoon's accusers “to develop new allegations out of faded, distorted, and motivated memories,” Maxwell's lawyer Arthur Aidala said in a statement.

According to Maxwell's legal team, the 61-year-old has been the target of unprecedented "vilification."
The appeal laid out a plethora of arguments. Thus, it contended that Jeffrey Epstein's 2008 plea deal struck with prosecutors in southern Florida should have shielded Ghislaine Maxwell from prosecution as a "potential co-conspirator." At the time, the hedge fund manager pleaded guilty to a Florida state prostitution charge and served 13 months in jail.
The appeal filing also makes the case that throughout the trial, which began on November 29, 2021, US District Judge Alison Nathan made multiple errors. The legal team cited an incident when one juror failed to disclose before trial that he had been sexually abused as a child. "Ample evidence" pointed to the fact that the juror, known as Juror 50, "harbored actual bias," and the judge should have voided the conviction, Maxwell's lawyers said.
Ghislaine Maxwell's appeal also highlighted other factors, stating that she had been held "under inhumane conditions" while in custody at the Brooklyn Detention Center during the investigation. Other points incorporated into the appeal are as follows:
Sleep deprivation
Malnutrition
Living with vermin in her cell
Inability to gain proper access to her lawyer
Overall deplorable conditions
Maxwell's lawyer, Arthur L. Aidala, known for having represented Harvey Weinstein back in 2020 during the disgraced Hollywood producer's first sex crimes trial, was cited by media as saying that "by the time of trial, she was so disoriented and diminished that she was unable meaningfully to assist in her own defense, much less to testify."
In this courtroom sketch, Ghislaine Maxwell enters the courtroom escorted by U.S. Marshalls at the start of her trial, Nov. 29, 2021, in New York. - Sputnik International, 1920, 24.01.2023
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In December 2021, a Manhattan jury convicted Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend and accomplice, on five charges for recruiting and grooming four girls for abuse by the billionaire between 1994 and 2004. Since then, she has been serving a 20-year prison sentence in a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida.

Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for sex trafficking and sexually abusing more than 200 women, including minors, and was awaiting trial when he hanged himself in his New York prison cell in August 2019, his death having been officially declared a suicide.

Ghislaine Maxwell's previous attempt to gain a retrial in 2022 failed. After her lawyers insisted the verdict be cast into doubt because one juror had failed to disclose his own sexual assault in the jury questionnaire, US District Judge Alison Nathan nevertheless ruled that Juror 50's "tone, demeanor, and responsiveness gave no indication of false testimony."
British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell appears during her arraignment hearing on a new indictment at Manhattan Federal Court in New York City, New York, U.S. April 23, 2021, in this courtroom sketch.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 02.04.2022
US Judge Denies Ghislaine Maxwell’s Bid for New Trial Despite Juror’s Mistake
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