Ghislaine Maxwell seeks release from jail, citing ‘new evidence’
Michael R. Sisak And Larry Neumeister
new York: Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend and longtime collaborator Ghislaine Maxwell asked a federal judge to vacate her sex trafficking conviction and spare her a 20-year prison sentence, saying a “substantial new evidence” had emerged proving constitutional violations tainted her trial.
In his habeas petition, which he has promised to submit since August, Maxwell claimed that information that would lead to his acquittal at his 2021 trial was withheld and false testimony was presented to the jury. He said the cumulative effect of constitutional violations had led to a “total perversion of justice”.
A habeas corpus petition is a legal request for a court to review the legality of a person’s detention and request that the detention officer (such as a prison official) bring the prisoner before a judge to justify imprisonment. This serves as a fundamental protection against unlawful imprisonment and arbitrary detention by providing due process.
The suit, filed by or on behalf of a detained person, challenges constitutional violations such as ineffective legal advice or unfair trials and seeks release or other relief as a last resort, usually after appeals are exhausted.
“Since the conclusion of the case, significant new evidence has emerged from related civil lawsuits, government statements, investigative reports, and documents showing constitutional violations that undermined the fairness of the trial,” the filing in Manhattan federal court said. “In light of all the evidence, no reasonable jury could have convicted him.”
The filing comes just two days before records in his case are scheduled to be made public as a result of US President Donald Trump signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The law, signed after months of public and political pressure, requires the Justice Department to make records related to Epstein available to the public by December 19.
Forced to take action under new transparency legislation, the Justice Department said it plans to release 18 categories of investigative materials collected in the massive sex trafficking investigation, including search warrants, financial records, notes from interviews with victims and data from electronic devices.
Epstein, a multimillionaire financier, was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges. He was found dead in his cell at a New York federal prison a month later, and the death was ruled a suicide. British socialite Maxwell was arrested a year later and convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021. He was interviewed by the Justice Department’s second-in-command in July and was soon transferred from a federal prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas.
After the Justice Department asked a New York federal judge to allow public release of discovery materials collected in advance of the grand jury and trial, attorney David Markus wrote on its behalf that Maxwell “has not taken a position” on opening sealed documents from her case at this time, saying that doing so would “create undue prejudice so severe as to preclude the possibility of a fair retrial if the habeas petition is successful.”
Markus said the records “contain untested and unproven allegations.”
Last week, Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan granted the Justice Department’s request that the materials be made public.
On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said at a news conference on a separate matter that he would comply with the law and the judge’s orders regarding the records.
Engelmayer, who along with other judges had previously rejected the Justice Department’s unsealing requests before the transparency bill was passed, said the materials “do not establish that any person other than Epstein and Maxwell engaged in sexual intercourse with a minor.”
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