Follow the New York Post’s live coverage in the trial of alleged Jeffrey Epstein madam Ghislaine Maxwell, which began last month in Manhattan Federal Court.
The jury deliberated for about 50 minutes Monday after hearing closing statements from prosecutors and Maxwell's defense team. The panel did not reach a verdict in their first, brief stint mulling the case over together. The jury will reconvene Tuesday at 9 a.m. and restart their deliberations. Jurors have begun deliberating whether Maxwell did in fact serve as Jeffrey Epstein’s partner in crime by recruiting and grooming young girls for him to sexually abuse. The 12-person panel will review more than two weeks of testimony as they weigh six counts against the former British socialite, including sex trafficking of a minor and sex trafficking conspiracy.Jury goes home without reaching a verdict
By Ben Feuerherd and Tamar Lapin Jury begins deliberations
By Ben Feuerherd and Tamar Lapin
Judge Nathan is delivering a charge to jury, explaining what they need to take into account when deciding if Maxwell is guilty or if the prosecutors failed to meet their burden.
Nathan is reading from an 80-page document that details how they could potentially decide to convict Maxwell -- and other instructions to take into account.
Part of the instructions include hearing the opinion of every juror on the panel.
"As you deliberate, please listen to the opinions of your fellow jurors, and ask for an
opportunity to express your own views. Every juror should be heard," the document states.
Assistant District Attorney Maurene Comey is now delivering the government's rebuttal to the closing argument from Maxwell's defense attorneys.
She slammed the defense for trying to discredit the four women who testified that Maxwell groomed them for abuse by Jeffrey Epstein when they were teens in the 1990s and early 2000s.
If the alleged victims were out for a payday and wanted to frame Maxwell "they would have told way better lies," Comey told the jury.
"There is no massive conspiracy here to frame Ghislaine Maxwell."
The defense has wrapped its closing argument, telling the jury that Maxwell is only on trial for her connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
"She’s being tried here for being with Jeffrey Epstein," lawyer Laura Menninger said. "Maybe that was the biggest mistake of her life, but that was not a crime."
The prosecution will now have a chance to issue a rebuttal, before Judge Alison Nathan gives the jury its instructions.
Defense attorney Laura Menninger told the jury that Maxwell "is an innocent woman wrongfully accused of crimes she did not commit."
"Ghislaine Maxwell is not Jeffrey Epstein," Menninger said, arguing that prosecutors are targeting the disgraced socialite because of their failure to bring Epstein to trial.
Regarding the testimony of Maxwell's four accusers, the lawyer declared: "Memories have been manipulated in aid of the money."
Judge Alison Nathan just called an early lunch break.
Right before that, prosecutors wrapped up their closing argument by telling the jury that Ghislaine Maxwell "trafficked underage girls for sex."
"Maxwell is guilty and you should convict her," Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe.
We'll be back in around 20 minutes to hear the defense's summations.
Maxwell's hand-written phone directory -- which prosecutors have called her "little black book" -- was brought up by Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe in her closing statement as evidence of the accused madam's guilt.
"This book, Maxwell’s book, proves to you that Maxwell is guilty," Moe told jurors, explaining that it corroborates testimony by a number of her accusers.
Moe said highlighted an entry for alleged victim Carolyn, who testified she was abused by Maxwell and Epstein starting when she was 14 years old.
Carolyn's entry in the book included a number for her ex-boyfriend, Shawn, who testified he would drop her off at Epstein's Palm Beach mansion and received calls to set up her massage appointments.
Federal prosecutors on Monday released a slew of new exhibits as part of Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial — including video of a 2005 raid on Jeffrey Epstein’s Florida mansion.
The materials also include several photos of a young Annie Farmer, one of Maxwell’s accusers, who testified on Friday that the disgraced British socialite gave her a nude massage and groped her at Epstein’s New Mexico ranch when she was a teen.
The exhibits were made public just before the government and Maxwell’s defense attorneys began delivering closing arguments in the high-profile case. Read more here.
Prosecutors are giving their closing arguments now, reiterating allegations that Ghislaine Maxwell acted as Jeffrey Epstein's "right hand"
"She was a sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing," Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe told jurors. "She ran the same play book again and again and again."
She added, "She was grown woman who preyed on vulnerable kids."
Four of Ghislaine Maxwell's siblings -- Kevin, Maxwell, Isabel, Ian and Christine -- arrived at the courthouse Monday morning ahead of closing arguments in their sister's trial.
Kevin and Isabel have been in court most days of the trial and often chat or make eye contact with their sister during breaks in the proceedings.
Good morning.
Ghislaine Maxwell's trial is in its final chapter and closing arguments are expected today. On Saturday, the government said its summations could last three hours and the defense could go just as long.
Maxwell declined to take the stand on Friday after her legal team called just a handful of witnesses.
Stay here for the latest out of 40 Foley from Post reporters Ben Feuerherd and Tamar Lapin.
