Ghislaine Maxwell denied bail by U.S. judge

[webfact]

Ghislaine Maxwell denied bail by U.S. judge

By Jonathan Stempel

 

FILE PHOTO: Audrey Strauss, acting United States 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 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

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday denied bail to Ghislaine Maxwell, citing the risk the British socialite might flee from charges she assisted in the late financier Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking of girls.

 

U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan said federal prosecutors persuaded her that Maxwell "poses a flight risk" despite her proposed $28.5 million bail package, and should remain jailed because "no conditions of release" reasonably assured she would appear in court.

 

Lawyers for Maxwell did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan declined to comment.

 

Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and groom girls as young as 14 years old for sex in the mid-1990s, and not guilty to perjury for denying her involvement under oath.

 

She has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn following her July 2 arrest at her New Hampshire home, where prosecutors said she was hiding out.

 

The proposed bail package included $22.5 million posted by Maxwell and her husband, as well as home confinement with electronic monitoring and 24-hour guard to ensure Maxwell remained safe and would not escape.

 

Maxwell said she wanted to stay in New York to clear her name, while her lawyers objected to jail conditions including invasive searches and surveillance by flashlight-toting guards who woke her every 15 minutes to ensure she was still breathing.

 

But Nathan, who rejected a $5 million bail package for Maxwell in July, said none of the new arguments had a "material bearing" on whether Maxwell was a flight risk.

 

In opposing bail, prosecutors cited Maxwell's abilities to hide her wealth and evade capture, and the prospect she might flee to France or the United Kingdom, where she holds citizenships and they said she might elude extradition.

 

Maxwell faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted. Her trial is scheduled for July 12, 2021.

 

Epstein, 66, killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

 

Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr criticized errors by jail personnel that he said contributed to Epstein's death.

 

Nathan described her "bottom line" conclusions in a two-page order. A longer opinion explaining her reasoning will be filed after lawyers for Maxwell and the government propose redactions to account for potentially confidential information.

 

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler and Richard Chang)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-12-29

 

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[mtls2005]

No clue why she didn't do a runner instead of trying to hide out in NH?

 

Can't see her getting out on bail, but if she does, poof.

 

Get those lads from MA, who helped Ghosn hoof it out of Japan?

 

Or maybe sneak her name into the pardon-palooza list at the trump wh.

 

 

[Tug]

Good keep her in the can till trial or trump pardons her lol.I imagine she’s got some story’s to tell lots of rich folks are plenty nervous 

[sanuk711]

49 minutes ago, webfact said:

while her lawyers objected to jail conditions including invasive searches and surveillance by flashlight-toting guards who woke her every 15 minutes to ensure she was still breathing.

That,s torture isn't it---not to have more than 15 minutes sleep night or day for months---is the sort of thing you expect in the Guantanamo Bay prison.

[Chomper Higgot]

Good to see waving tens of millions of dollars as bail surety didn’t buy her out of jail.

 

She’s charged with participating in heinous crimes, has three passports and with upto 35 years in the slammer if convicted she has ample reasons to flee.

 

Good also to see she’s under constant supervision.

 

 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Chomper Higgot

[TheFishman1]

I would like to hear all her stories I’m sure there’s some good ones maybe she should call Donald and ask for a pardon

[RubbaJohnny]

Life in the jizzlane

[Pedrogaz]

I wouldn't mind being her cell mate for a few weeks.

[sammieuk1]

She need to go with it wasn't me I was at a Pizza Express restaurant in Woking it seems to work ????

[from the home of CC]

I'm hoping some 'lifer' looking to make a name for herself guts her like a fish..

[malibukid]

6 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

No clue why she didn't do a runner instead of trying to hide out in NH?

 

Can't see her getting out on bail, but if she does, poof.

 

Get those lads from MA, who helped Ghosn hoof it out of Japan?

 

Or maybe sneak her name into the pardon-palooza list at the trump wh.

 

 

Trump can't help her since he will be out of office when and if she is convicted

[stevenl]

5 minutes ago, malibukid said:

Trump can't help her since he will be out of office when and if she is convicted

He could already pardon her.

[kamahele]

As the president has pardoned some murderers recently, I wonder if he'll pardon this alleged sex trafficker on his way out the door. 

[Meat Pie 47]

6 hours ago, malibukid said:

Trump can't help her since he will be out of office when and if she is convicted

Yeah and Trump will be in the can himself

[pegman]

10 hours ago, kamahele said:

As the president has pardoned some murderers recently, I wonder if he'll pardon this alleged sex trafficker on his way out the door. 

I think she will likely be  among the last Trump pardons along with some of his former Sicilian Mafia associates 

[Thingamabob]

How long is it legally possible in the USA to imprison without trial ?

[cmarshall]

10 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

How long is it legally possible in the USA to imprison without trial ?

 

She has not been "imprisoned," but only "detained" pending trial. The only valid reasons for a judge to deny bail is risk of flight or danger to the community.  Maxwell, because of her wealth and foreign citizenship clearly poses a risk of flight.  

 

The trial is almost certainly being delayed at the request of Maxwell's defense counsel.  Normally, when a prosecutor brings charges, he has completed his investigation and is ready to go to trial.  The defendant is entitled to a speedy trial, but if the defense requests additional time to prepare a defense or makes a series of motions for bail, to exclude evidence, etc. then the judges are usually inclined to give wide latitude to delay the trial.

 

The system is routinely unfair, especially to poor defendants, but in the case of Maxwell, it looks fair enough to me.

Edited December 30, 2020 by cmarshall

[Sujo]

58 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

How long is it legally possible in the USA to imprison without trial ?

Same as all countries.

[sanuk711]

22 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

She’s charged with participating in heinous crimes, has three passports

She has no passports obviously Chomper----- but  I didn't post on whether she should be allowed  bail or not, just the fact that sleep deprivation should not be used on a detainee inside an American institution.

[mtls2005]

2 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

How long is it legally possible in the USA to imprison without trial ?

 

Depends. Are you black or white?

 

 

 

 

[bonzerpom]

23 hours ago, malibukid said:

Trump can't help her since he will be out of office when and if she is convicted

they should give her complete immunity .she can cough her guts, put all these paedos in prison. then she can spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder

[dexterm]

On 12/29/2020 at 5:37 PM, kamahele said:

As the president has pardoned some murderers recently, I wonder if he'll pardon this alleged sex trafficker on his way out the door. 

He can't do that.

According to QAnon, Trump is our saviour sent to destroy the child sex traffickers, Obama Hillary Clinton and George Soros, operating out of a pizza parlor in Washington. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzagate_conspiracy_theory

 

Or maybe it would be Trump's double double bluff. Hmm ..good thinking 99.

[Baerboxer]

On 12/29/2020 at 12:22 PM, Chomper Higgot said:

Good to see waving tens of millions of dollars as bail surety didn’t buy her out of jail.

 

She’s charged with participating in heinous crimes, has three passports and with upto 35 years in the slammer if convicted she has ample reasons to flee.

 

Good also to see she’s under constant supervision.

 

 

 

She has, I believe, a French passport and French citizenry. AFAIK France will never extradite a French citizen. So she could have fled there. The UK, would so don't think she'd run there. Don't know what the third one is you elude to.

 

But she chose not to do a "Red Bull Boy"; even though she had opportunity and certainly has the resources and connections. Rather strange really. Seemingly trying to hide under the radar, and hope it all blew away. Or perhaps she thought she was being protected by certain people so as things were kept quiet?

 

Will be interesting to see where this all goes. 

[Chomper Higgot]

30 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

She has, I believe, a French passport and French citizenry. AFAIK France will never extradite a French citizen. So she could have fled there. The UK, would so don't think she'd run there. Don't know what the third one is you elude to.

 

But she chose not to do a "Red Bull Boy"; even though she had opportunity and certainly has the resources and connections. Rather strange really. Seemingly trying to hide under the radar, and hope it all blew away. Or perhaps she thought she was being protected by certain people so as things were kept quiet?

 

Will be interesting to see where this all goes. 

She has UK, US and French nationallities.