Ghislaine Maxwell’s legal team is arguing that the overturning of the 2018 sexual assault conviction against American former comedian Bill Cosby justifies dropping sex trafficking and other charges against their client.
Bill Cosby, 83, walked free on Wednesday after Pennsylvania's Supreme Court overturned his sexual assault conviction based on an earlier non-prosecution agreement dating to 2005.
Maxwell’s charges stem from her ties to the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The British socialite is accused of grooming young girls and women for Epstein, who was charged with running a sex trafficking network of minors in 2019. The woman, 59, who has since been branded the disgraced tycoon’s pimp, has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.
Maxwell's lawyers sent a letter to US District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan on Friday, outlining the similarity of her case and Cosby’s, as she had been immunised under Epstein's 2007 non-prosecution agreement.
"As in Cosby, the government is trying to renege on its agreement and prosecute Ms. Maxwell over 25 years later for the exact same offences for which she was granted immunity. This is not consistent with principles of fundamental fairness," Maxwell’s attorney Christian Everdell of the firm Cohen & Gresser said in the letter.
According to the legal team, four charges should be tossed out from Maxwell's eight-count indictment, which covers alleged crimes committed from 1994 and 2004 and could land her behind bars for 80 years.
FILE PHOTO: Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks alongside William F. Sweeney Jr., assistant director-in-charge of the New York Office, at a news conference announcing charges against Ghislaine Maxwell for her alleged role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein in New York City, New York, U.S., July 2, 2020
© REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
The non-prosecution deal currently seized upon by Maxwell and her team has been cited by them before.
Earlier in April Judge Alison Nathan weighed in on the plea deal that Jeffrey Epstein struck with federal prosecutors in Florida in 2008, ruling that it did not bind prosecutors in Manhattan. Nathan also rejected the former Jeffrey Epstein confidante’s claim that the agreement extended to accused co-conspirators like the socialite.
In the wake of Bill Cosby’s release from prison on Wednesday, David Markus, one of Maxwell's lawyers, argued in an opinion piece in New York's Daily News that the Supreme Court ruling in the disgraced comedian’s case justified ending his client’s prosecution.
Referring to a 2016 testimony by Ghislaine Maxwell in the civil lawsuit against her by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, he urged a jury to reject the "flimsy and stale charges." The following day prosecutors slammed Maxwell’s appellate counsel's opinion as violating a court rule against lawyers making "extrajudicial statements" that could “taint the jury pool”.
Epstein-Maxwell ‘Partnership’
Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, a financial consultant who rubbed shoulders with presidents, royals, and celebrities, in 2008 pleaded guilty to procuring a person under 18 for prostitution and felony solicitation of prostitution.
The plea deal with federal prosecutors in Florida allowed him to avoid prosecution on federal sex-trafficking charges. He was subsequently released after a brief stint in jail.
The plea deal with federal prosecutors in Florida allowed him to avoid prosecution on federal sex-trafficking charges. He was subsequently released after a brief stint in jail.
Attorney Gloria Allred, holds a picture of Jeffrey Epstein and her client Teala Davis during a news conference, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019, in New York, about the filing of a lawsuit against the estate of Epstein. Davies says she was 17 when she was victimized by Epstein
© AP Photo / Jeenah Moon
However, in 2019 federal prosecutors in New York resuscitated the case against Jeffrey Epstein, and in July he was arrested on charges of running a sex trafficking ring of minors, with dozens of women accusing him of sexual abuse and rape.
In August of that year, the 66-year-old, who had pleaded not guilty to the charges, was found dead in his prison cell in New York City, with officials later declaring that he had committed suicide.
Daughter of a UK publishing tycoon, Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on 4 July 2020 and faces eight charges, including sex trafficking of minors and enticing minors as young as 14 to engage in illegal sex acts. Several of Epstein’s alleged victims have claimed that Maxwell acted as a pimp for him, luring young women and girls with the promise of lucrative jobs.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial is set for 29 November, when opening statements will be heard.