Ghislaine Maxwell Trial

[ti-amie]

Recess is over.

Klasfeld via @threadreaderapp
Cross-examination continues after the conclusion of afternoon recess.

Pagliuca turns to Carolyn's history of alcohol and drug use, a subject anticipated by the prosecution's direct examination.

Q: Did you ever have sexual intercourse with Mr. Epstein?
A: No.

She interjects about the exchange:

"I replied 'No' because I was not a willing participant. He had sex with me and I stopped it."
Pagliuca asks Carolyn whether it's true she never mentioned Maxwell in therapy.

Correct, she replies.

[ti-amie]

A bit of a follow up before the above via @innercitypress and @threadreaderapp

Just before the jury comes back in, AUSA Comey asks how long the cross examination is going to be, it's already been longer than the direct. No answer.
All rise!
Pagliuca: Do you recall abusing drugs from the age of 13?
Carolyn: If you call pot drugs, yes.

Pagliuca: So you went to Georgia to detox, right?
Carolyn: No. I went to Georgia to escape traumatic events in my life.
Paugliaca: Let's talk about your claims of sex with Epstein. Isn't it true you used cocaine while you were at Mr. Epstein's house?
Carolyn: No.

Carolyn: What does any of this have to do with what I'm here for today? Ghislaine Maxwell fondled me and broke my soul --
Pagliuca: Move to strike.
Judge Nathan: Carolyn, you have to follow my rules. Jury will disregard.
Pagliuca: You received these funds from the Epstein Compensation Fund --
Carolyn: No amount of money will ever heal --
Pagliuca: Move to strike.
Judge Nathan: Jury will disregard. I instruct the witness to comply with the rules.
Pagliuca: You claimed you saw a photograph of Ms. Maxwell pregnant, correct?
Carolyn: Nude and pregnant. That was on multiple --
Pagliuca: No further questions.
AUSA Maurene Comey: Three minutes. Did you write your legal complaint?
Carolyn: No (crying)

[ti-amie]

More from @innercitypress via @threadreaderapp

Judge Nathan: Jurors, we're two minutes over. See you tomorrow.
Clerk: All rise!
Now government says: We will be resting this week (!)
They'd said five to six week trial - this is a big change. Now Judge Nathan floats a charging conference on Saturday the 18th.
Judge Nathan: I have inquired and we could get Ms Maxwell here on a Saturday, and open the overflow courtroom.
Again: Why no listen-only call-in line, as existed even today in US v. Steve Bannon in DDC?
Judge Nathan: Jurors, we're two minutes over. See you tomorrow.
Clerk: All rise!
Again: Why no listen-only call-in line, as existed even today in US v. Steve Bannon in DDC?
Judge Nathan: I remind you, one word objections only. Adjourned.

[ti-amie]

From @KlasfeldReports via @threareaderapp for 12/8/2021

Good morning from New York.

A rush of new photographs of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein were just made public. They were introduced into evidence yesterday during testimony of images recovered from the 2019 raid on Epstein's NY home.

Live feed ahead, @lawcrimenews.

Judge Nathan is about to rule on her limiting instruction as to Ghislaine Maxwell's last accuser, who says that Epstein made sexual contact with her in New Mexico.

The judge will tell jurors that was “not ‘illegal sexual activity’ as the government charged in the indictment.”
This is a less sweeping instruction than provided for the accuser known as "Kate," whom the judge told the jury was not a victim of the crimes charged.

Unlike "Kate," the judge says: "This is an alleged victim of the crimes charged in the indictment."
"Kate" was 17 at the the time, above the age of consent in the relevant jurisdictions.

This witness, Annie, was 16 at the time—the age of consent in New Mexico, but prosecutors say she was groomed in other jurisdictions.
The government wants to call a witness to authenticate records at Mar-a-Lago related to Virginia Roberts (now known as Virginia Giuffre).

Maxwell's defense is trying to keep it out.
Judge Nathan just said that they are waiting for a juror who encountered substantial train delay issues today.

(Anecdotal corroboration: NYC subways were something of a mess last night and this morning.)
The jury is in and trial has begun for the day.

First witness: a human resources staffer at Mar-a-Lago, who has worked there for almost 15 years.
The prosecutor is asking about personnel action notices, before turning the witness's attention to a binder of that evidence.
The jury is viewing the Personnel Action Notice for Sky Roberts.

Dated April 11, 2000, the notice turns the attention to the field "father of child."

(Not displayed but previously known: He's the father of Virginia Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre.)
The next witness is testifying under the name Shawn.
Shawn testifies that she was 14 when he first started dating Carolyn.

He was 17.

"She only had two jobs ever. She worked at Arby's, and she worked for Jeffrey [Epstein]," he says.

He corroborates Carolyn's account of an introduction through Virginia Roberts.
Shawn says he was present when Roberts told Carolyn she could make money by giving Epstein massages.
Asked Carolyn's response, Shawn says: "She was excited to make money."

Q: What's the difference between Palm Beach and West Palm Beach?
A: Money is no object out there.

(Objection)
(Sustained)
Q: Did you ever go inside Jeffrey Epstein's home?
A: No, ma'am.

But he says he saw it from the outside.
Shawn recalls Carolyn mentioning the woman's name "Maxwell."

Just like Carolyn said yesterday, he says she couldn't pronounce her first name.
Q: How did you know Amanda and Melissa? (Note: He doesn't spell the names, which may vary.)

Shawn says he was dating them at the same time he was dating Carolyn.
Shawn testifies that he saw Carolyn and Melissa enter Epstein's house and return with money in $100 bills.

Shawn acknowledges that he was using drugs at the time and was arrested for methamphetamine and being a convicted felon in possession of a weapon.

Perhaps anticipating cross-examination, prosecutor elicits that testimony at the end of her questioning.
I'll revisit cross-examination later. I had to turn my attention.

Next witness: Nicole Hesse, a teacher who works with young children.

She says she worked at Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach house. She refers to it as the Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell home.
Maxwell and Epstein weren't home when she was there, Hesse says.
She appears to be called to authenticate messages on message pads.

Q: Is your signature on all three of those books?
A: Yes, it is?

She said that she would jot down the time when people called and leaving messages.

Prosecutor moves to enter exhibits into evidence, including sealed exhibits.
Maxwell's lawyer objects on hearsay grounds for certain exhibits.
15 minute recess to sort this out.
We're back, and the government is introducing exhibits about three of the messages Hesse is being asked to authenticate.
Q: What's the date of that message?
A: 8/12/04

It's a message from Carolyn, the witness says.

(The same first name as one of Maxwell's accusers.)
Maxwell's lawyer is now cross examining the witness.

Asked about her knowledge about women visiting Epstein home, she answers: "Yes, that there were women who came for massages."

She adds that she was "not there to see it."
Hesse is asked about messages for Mr. "JE."
Other messages state "Jeffrey," "Sarah," and Mr. "JE," the witness confirms.

If you're looking for analysis of the first week of Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking trial by an ex-federal prosecutor, @MitchellEpner shares his thoughts on my @LawCrimeNetwork podcast "Objections."

Next witness: David Rodgers, the "chief pilot" for Jeffrey Epstein for more than a decade.

Hired July 1991.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey, the daughter of ex-FBI director James Comey.
Rodgers hired Larry Visoski, whose testimony you can catch up on here.

Just like Visoski testified, Rodgers says of Maxwell: "She would be No. 2" — just under Epstein.
Asked about the nature of Epstein and Maxwell's relationship:

"Early on, they were romantically involved," Rodgers testifies, adding that later, they weren't.
Rodgers' testimony turns to the passenger manifest.

He says he also kept a personal logbook.
Q: What's a log book?
A: "It just shows you the day you flew, the destination you went to," the time, etc.

The government enters a sealed and a public version of an exhibit, with the sealing to protect witnesses.
Rodgers describes flights to Teterboro, N.J., which he presumed to be a stop for Epstein to go to his Manhattan townhouse.

The witness said that Epstein, Maxwell and two other passengers—whose names aren't disclosed publicly—were on this flight.

Rodgers is testifying about flights to Traverse City, Mich., the closest airport to the Interlochen academy.

That's where "Jane" says she met Maxwell and Epstein. The witness recalls traveling there between 1991 to 1998.

Lunch recess.
Service advisory:

Because I'll be physically in the courtroom this afternoon, I will not be live-tweeting those proceedings, but I'll continue to report on them.

So will dozens of hard-working reporters from around the world.
There are other areas of the courthouse where proceedings have been streamed and credentialed reporters can live-tweet.

The judge has made a point to note that there are regularly seats available inside the court's overflow rooms to observe the public trial.

[ti-amie]

The tweets by @innercitypress are not being aggregated for whatever reason. This will be tedious.

P1.

[ti-amie]

P2

[ti-amie]

This is the piece Adam Klasfeld referred to.

‘Facts Are Not Persuasive; Stories Are’: Ex-Sex Trafficking Prosecutor Unpacks the Early Stages of Ghislaine Maxwell’s Trial
ADAM KLASFELDDec 8th, 2021, 12:16 pm

In 2000, former President Bill Clinton signed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, a landmark piece of legislation later reauthorized by his successors that protect survivors with tools like “T” visas and stiff penalties for alleged perpetrators.

“Prior to that, victims were loathe to cooperate, because they would often be shipped back to towns where the traffickers held power and could exact awful reprisals,” attorney Mitchell Epner, a former federal prosecutor who led intake on sex-trafficking cases in the District of New Jersey in 2003 and 2004, told Law&Crime. “Traffickers would often threaten girls and women that, if they cooperated with police/prosecutors, they would be killed in hideous fashion after being deported.”

Now of counsel with the firm Rottenberg Lipman Rich PC, Epner drew from his experiences navigating that then-nascent prosecutorial tool to offer insights into the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell. She stands accused of sexually trafficking minors for Jeffrey Epstein and enticed them to travel to perform illegal sex acts.

If convicted of all charges, Maxwell, 59, can be imprisoned effectively for the rest of her life.

Offering analysis at length in a Zoom interview, Epner told Law&Crime’s podcast “Objections: with Adam Klasfeld” that the outcome of Maxwell’s trial will depend less on the panel’s studious parsing of the various exhibits that come into evidence.

Instead, Maxwell’s fate will hinge upon something more fundamental: whose account the jury believes.

“Anybody who claims to understand how juries work […] is either much smarter than me or lying to themselves or lying to you,” Epner noted. “But what I do know is that stories matter much more than facts.”

Quoting the famed trial lawyer Gerry Spence, Epner said: “Facts are not persuasive; stories are.”

“So I don’t think that the jurors are likely to be motivated by any particular fact,” Epner said. “They will be motivated by the story that they believe, and then they will grab on to the facts that they believe support the story that they’ve already been convinced of. And there’s a lot of good science that shows that is the way human beings make decisions in jury rooms.”

Spence, who originally expressed that view of juries, says that he never lost a jury trial since 1969—nor any criminal case.

Maxwell’s first alleged victim to take the stand against her in the first week of trial was “Jane,” who accused Maxwell of touching her breast when she was 14. She also alleged that Maxwell groomed her for horrific sexual abuse by Epstein, including the “painful” use of a back massager as a vibrator.

“The old adage that first impressions are lasting impressions is absolutely proven science in trials,” Epner said. “If the jurors initially believed that they had a truth teller in front of them when Jane was testifying, it takes a lot on cross examination to make jury say, ‘Oh, I’ve been hoodwinked. This person isn’t telling the truth. This person is lying.'”

Maxwell’s defense attorney Bobbi Sternheim told jurors during her opening statement that the trial was about “memory, manipulation and money,” and the accused sex trafficker’s legal team has attacked Maxwell’s accusers on all three fronts.

Co-counsel Laura Menninger sharply questioned “Jane,” an accomplished soap opera actress testifying under a pseudonym, about her career and alleged discrepancies in her early interviews with government authorities.

“The defense here is not, at least with regard to Jane, that she’s mistaken,” Epner noted. “It that she’s giving the wrong understanding to innocent behavior by Maxwell.”

Notes from interviews indicate that “Jane” told law enforcement that Maxwell took her to see “The Lion King” on Broadway in New York City and celebrated the late journalist Mike Wallace’s 80th birthday, claims that Menninger suggested do not align with the timeline.

Another note from law enforcement seemed to state that “Jane” previously said that she could not recall if Maxwell kissed her.

Though Epner found that the “most effective” part of “Jane’s” cross-examination, he believed prosecutors effectively countered that later by asking the witness why she may have been reluctant to share all of the details in early interviews.

Her voice cracking, “Jane” answered: “Because I was sitting in a room full of strangers and telling them the most shameful, deepest secrets that I’d been carrying around with me my whole life.”

On the second week of trial, Maxwell’s other accusers have stepped forward. One, “Kate,” testified that she was 17 years old when Maxwell groomed her for sexual contact with Epstein. Since that was over the age of consent in the relevant jurisdictions, “Kate” was found by U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan not to have been a victim of the crimes charged in the indictment. Two other women, Carolyn and Annie Farmer, are listed as Maxwell’s alleged victims.

The latter is expected to testify on Wednesday, and the government may rest its case as early as Thursday.

https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/ghi ... lls-trial/

[ti-amie]

P3 @innercitypress





Inner City Press
@innercitypress
·
1m
Maxwell's lawyer Everdell: Now Mr. Visoski --
Judge Nathan: It's Mr. Rogers.
Everdell: [Uncomfortable laugh]

[ti-amie]

[mmmm8]

Ti - thank you for posting this. I've never really had the time or attention span to follow a trial so closely, this has been very interesting. (and sad)

[ti-amie]

Ti - thank you for posting this. I've never really had the time or attention span to follow a trial so closely, this has been very interesting. (and sad)

Thanks.

[the Moz]

The pic of Epstein & Maxwell at Balmoral is a keeper...not

[ti-amie]

From @KlasfeldReports

Good morning from New York.

As the government's case draws toward its conclusion, we are expected to hear from the last accusing witness against Ghislaine Maxwell—and the only one to testify under her real, full name: Annie Farmer.

Follow my coverage live, @lawcrimenews.
"All rise."

The jury is entering.
First witness of the day: Tracy Chapell, a senior paralegal at FedEx.
The witness is shown an invoice, a redacted form of which will be made public.
(The purpose of this witness is to authenticate invoices associated with the account of Jeffrey Epstein, all from the last few months of 2002.)
The witness is now being cross examined, and Maxwell's lawyer highlights one listing the name "S. Kellen," part of a clear defense strategy to distance their client and draw Kellen closer.
Note:

Often, these establishing pieces of evidence pass by with little notice—before the prosecutors and defense attorneys put the pieces together in summations.
Prosecutors want the parties to confer with the judge in the robing room.

Instead, Judge Nathan sends the jury out for a brief break.
Now, both are happening.

The jury has been sent out, and the parties confer with the judge in the robing room.
Side note:

The Ghislaine Maxwell trial has been getting wall-to-wall coverage from news organizations globally, and no one who actually has been here covering the case on the ground can honestly claim otherwise.



"All rise."

The jury is entering.
Judge Nathan tells the jury: "I've been informed that there's an attorney in the case who is ill."

She said they have no reason to believe it's COVID related.

But they're breaking for the day.

[ti-amie]

The pic of Epstein & Maxwell at Balmoral is a keeper...not

I refuse to post pics of them.

[ti-amie]

From @KlasfeldReports via @threadreaderapp

Good morning from New York.

After a false start yesterday, we are expected against to her from the only accusing witness against Ghislaine Maxwell testifying under her real name: Annie Farmer.

Pre-trial discussions today have not yet addressed the attorney's illness yesterday.
I am working on a story on popular conceptions about the Maxwell trial that experts tell me are rooted in lack of familiarity about the criminal process—and what these proceedings are and are not meant to accomplish.

Look out for that story, @lawcrimenews.
"All rise."

How Judge Nathan reports the update to the jury on yesterday's attorney illness.

"I'm very pleased to report that all of the attorneys are here. Everyone is doing well."
The prosecution reads a stipulation into the record attesting to the authenticity of certain exhibits.
First witness of the day: William Brown, who works at the DMV's division of field investigations.
Next witness:

AUSA: "The government calls Annie Farmer."

Judge Nathan: "Annie Farmer may come forward."
The witness states and spells her name.

The judge gives a limiting instruction to the jury, saying that her allegations about "physical contact" between Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein in New Mexico were not illegal.

She was 16 at the time there.
Prosecutor: “Can you see anyone in this courtroom who has ever given you a massage?”

Farmer identifies Maxwell in the courtroom.
Asked about her career, Farmer replies.

Describing her family's financial situation growing up, she says: "Money was tight. It had often been a stressor since my parents were divorced."
She describes her siblings, including Maria Farmer.

Their profile in the New York Times: "The Sisters Who First Tried to Take Down Jeffrey Epstein."

The Sisters Who First Tried to Take Down Jeffrey Epstein (Published 2019)
Nine years before any police investigation, Maria and Annie Farmer reported the troubling behavior of Jeffrey Epstein and his companion, Ghislaine Maxwell. No one would act.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/26/us/e ... xwell.html

Annie Farmer says Jeffrey Epstein purchased a ticket for her to go to New York.

She says that she was excited to see her sister, and as she moves onto Epstein, defense makes a hearsay objection.

Sustained.
Annie Farmer says she met Epstein in New York but not Maxwell.

(Note: Corrected a typo.)
The government introduces a photograph of herself from around the time she met Jeffrey Epstein.

She says she was 16 years old in the photograph.
Q: Where did you meet Epstein?
A: At his home.

"It was a very grand home. I was staying with my sister in her apartment."
Flashback to Ghislaine Maxwell's bail hearing in July 2020:

https://twitter.com/NinaPullano?ref_src ... 75302.html

Asked how she felt meeting Epstein, Annie Farmer replied: “I was excited. He was again very friendly with me. He seemed down to earth[…] He seemed very nice when I met him.”

She says she was excited that Epstein said he could help her.
She says Epstein took her to "Phantom of the Opera" and then a movie, where she sat next to Epstein.

He first "caressed" her hand and then her leg.

Annie Farmer: “I felt sick to my stomach. It wasn’t something that I was at all expecting.”
Annie Farmer reads from her diary: "The best night was when Maria and I saw 'The Phantom of the Night.'"

Her review at the timing: "I bawled. It was fantastic."
She reads from another entry from the journal on Jan. 25, 1996.

"A couple of quick details about New York that I didn't mention earlier."
The journal entry goes into what happened at the movie theater.

"It was a little weird. One of those things that was hard to explain."

At one point, she wrote: "Then he sort of caressed, rubbed my arm, shoe and foot."
The journal entry stated that it "weirded me out" that Epstein let go of her hand when he spoke to her sister, Maria.

But she she wrote about not wanting to bring it up: "She worships him [Epstein] and it would just create problems."
She wrote that she knew it sounded like she was "trying to justify him doing something weird, but it isn't."

Reflecting on what she wrote now, Annie Farmer said: "I was trying to come up with excuses or justification to make it try to feel okay."
Annie Farmer's testimony turns to New Mexico.
Asked how she got to New Mexico, Annie Farmer says: "I flew commercially."

She says it was in the spring of 1996.

"I believe it was April," she said.
Annie Farmer describes her first meeting with Maxwell:

"She was a trim, attractive woman. Well dressed." Dark hair.

Q: What did Ms. Maxwell sound like?
A: She had a British accent.

She was also "well spoken" and "articulate," Farmer said.
Annie Farmer said the presence of Maxwell made her feel comfortable, given what happened in the movie theater.
Annie Farmer's impression of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein:

"I thought that they were romantic partners."

She says that they appeared "intimate" with each other.
She describes being bought cowboy boots on the ranch.

Q: Who bought the boots for you?
She answers Epstein.

Q: Who was present with you when the boots were being purchased?
She answers Maxwell.
Annie Farmer says that she went to the movies with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

She says she didn't want to go because of her last experience at the movies but she says she thought it would be different this time because Maxwell was there.
They saw the movie "Primal Fear," she says.

"He right away tried to hold my hand and caress and hold my foot and my arm," Annie Farmer says, referring to Epstein.
Annie Farmer says Ghislaine Maxwell "sat and held one of [Epstein's] feet" and instructed her to massage the other.

"I just watched what she was doing and she instructed me."

"And so I did what she told me."
"I felt very uncomfortable," Annie Farmer says of the massage. "I wanted to stop, and I was hoping it’d be over quickly."
Q: Did Maxwell give you a massage?
A: Yes, she did.

Annie Farmer says she set up a table in the room where she was staying.
Q: What were you wearing during the massage?
A: Nothing.

Asked why, she responds: "She told me to get undressed."

Asked to clarify who, Farmer says Maxwell.
Q: What happened once you were laying on your back?

Annie Farmer says Maxwell "pulled the sheet down," "exposed her breasts," and touched her breasts.
Annie Farmer recalled having a "sense" that Epstein might be able to see her during the massage.
She recalled Epstein coming into the room and saying that he wanted to cuddle.

Q: Did you want to cuddle with Epstein?
A: No.
Annie Farmer describes moving home to Phoenix.
Asked if she wrote in her journal about her trip to New Mexico, Annie Farmer says no.

She says she didn't want to think about it.
Asked why she kept the boots, Annie Farmer says at first she shoved them in the back of her closet.

Agents then asked if she had them, she says.

Then, she says she found them and she wore the boots.
Asked what she told her mother after the trip, Annie Farmer said: "I told my mom I was not raped and I didn't want to talk about it."

Late summer of 1996.
Q: Did you tell the FBI that Maxwell had given you a massage?
A: Yes.

Asked why Annie Farmer said she wanted to "reclaim" the boots by wearing them again, she says: "It was a dark memory and I had felt so taken advantage of by them both."
Annie Farmer said she struggled to step forward because it was a "shameful" memory but she found that she wanted "accountability" and "these people being stopped."
Asked if she has any financial stake in the outcome of this trial, the witness replies: "I do not."

Cross examination will begin.

We just finished a morning recess. Here's a quick write-up of what happened during the early morning sessions. This is a DEVELOPING story, @lawcrimenews

Annie Farmer, the Only Ghislaine Maxwell Accusing Witness to Go Public, Testifies Against Her in Sex Trafficking Trial
Ghislaine Maxwell's only alleged victim to self-identify in court told a jury on Thursday that Jeffrey Epstein abused her when she was 16 years old—with Maxwell's help luring her to his ranch.
https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/ghi ... hislaine-m

Maxwell's attorney Laura Menninger establishes that there was no sexual activity in Epstein's New York home alleged.

Q: No one showed you any vibrators, massagers or anything like that in that home?
A: No.

Also, Maxwell wasn't present.
(Note: The allegations are about the New York movie theater and the New Mexico ranch and movie theater.)
Menninger questions Annie Farmer about her journal entries:

Q: You called the "Phantom of the Opera" the best night of your trip?
A: Yes.
Menninger asks whether the journal entries helped her remember details and emotions that she may have otherwise forgotten.

Annie Farmer generally agrees.
Menninger points out that Farmer's journal entry described Epstein's actions in the New York movie theater as "weird" and also "not weird."

Asked how she feels about it now, she says: "I still find it weird."

Q: Your memories today are colored by hindsight, right?
A: Of course.
Q: Without a journal entry from the New Mexico trip, we can't confirm who invited you there with a piece of paper?
A: With a piece of paper, no.

Menninger says that without a journal there's no piece of paper confirming what happened in New Mexico and how she felt about it.

Farmer agrees, as qualifying it with a "piece of paper" confirmation.
Menninger says that Farmer recalled the date of the trip by researching when the film "Primal Fear" came out and working backwards.

Farmer: "I don't think I would say it that way."
Lunch recess.
Service advisory: I will be in court for the afternoon session and so will not be tweeting then.

But I will continue to cover the case, as will dozens of reporters from around the world.

Back soon.