By Aaron Miller-
Jurors in the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell have requested more transcripts of evidence as they ended their third full day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.
They asked for a white board and different coloured sticky notes, as well as the transcript of the testimony of one of the witnesses, a sign thy still want to consider a few things before arriving at their decision.
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Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender with high-profile associates including Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, was arrested in July 2019 for sex trafficking minor teens. He killed himself in a New York City federal jail about a month after his arrest, while awaiting trial.
Jurors began deliberating late on 20 December. They did not attend court on 23 or 24 December, due to the Christmas holiday.
They have asked to see testimony from Maxwell’s accusers and several witnesses who appeared to corroborate their accounts.
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On Monday, jurors requested to see a transcript of testimony from Matt, the ex-boyfriend of Jane, the first Maxwell accuser to testify.
Shortly after requesting Matt’s testimony, jurors asked to see a transcript of testimony by a former Palm Beach police officer, Gregory Parkinson.
Interestingly, they further asked for an explanation of the word enticement, which the judge wrote the word means to “attract, induce or lure using hope or desire”.
The judge also referred them to the legal instructions that she had read to them just before they began deliberations a week ago.
Judge Nathan said that when they return on Tuesday, if they do not reach a verdict, they should consider deliberating until 6pm – one hour later than usual.
But she added: “I don’t mean to pressure you in any way. You should take all the time that you need.”
Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking trial: Socialite won’t testify and says prosecution has not proven its case beyond reasonable doubt
Maxwell faces a total of eight charges – including six counts of enticing minors and sex trafficking over a 10-year period. Maxwell also faces two counts of perjury which will be tried separately, and could be sentenced to 80 years in prison if found guilty of all counts.
The charges involve four alleged underage victims and multiple locations between 1994 and 2004. The youngest alleged victim was 14 years old at the time.
Epstein killed himself in his prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges.
She has pleaded not guilty to all the six counts she is charged with.
Her lawyers have argued that prosecutors are scapegoating her because Epstein is dead, and say that the accusers’ memories cannot be relied upon.
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