Ghislaine Maxwell Appeals Felony Convictions Amid New Document Release
Federal Judge Rejects Habeas Petition as Maxwell Cites Constitutional Violations and Withheld Evidence in Bid to Overturn 2021 Sex Trafficking Verdict.
Image: Eddie Pollard / AI
Carla Rooney
Ghislaine Maxwell has appealed her five felony convictions.
Ghislaine Maxwell maintains her sex trafficking conviction is a complete miscarriage of justice, arguing information leading to her exoneration was withheld and false testimony presented to the jury.
Federal Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, however, rejected Maxwell's habeas petition, a legal avenue typically used to challenge the legality of a person's detention.
Maxwell's petition also raised a 2007 non-prosecution agreement between federal prosecutors in Miami and Jeffrey Epstein, claiming it protected her despite her not being named in the agreement.
She claims this agreement, along with other trial issues, contributed to constitutional violations; these issues included a juror who later revealed he was a sexual abuse victim and evidence allegedly not made available to her defense team.
The Department of Justice documents were released after President Donald Trump signed a measure compelling their disclosure.
Maxwell appeared virtually before the US House Oversight Committee in February this year.
She has reportedly refused to voluntarily testify to Congress without assurances of clemency; her lawyer stated Maxwell would cooperate if first granted clemency by Trump.
Maxwell claims substantial new evidence has emerged in her case, alleging constitutional violations that she believes undermine her right to a fair trial.
Ghislaine Maxwell indicated that Her 2021 conviction should be rendered invalid, unsafe and infirm, asserting additional factual development is necessary following the release of millions of documents and images connected to investigations into Epstein and Maxwell.
She further claims her 2021 conviction should be rendered “invalid, unsafe and infirm,” asserting additional factual development is necessary following the release of millions of documents and images connected to investigations into Epstein and Maxwell.
Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges and died in jail in August 2019.
Maxwell was moved from a federal prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas, continuing her legal battles from her new location.