- I'd like you all to take a huge deep breath,
inhale, exhale.
- That's Ghislaine Maxwell,
the British socialite accused of luring minors
to be abused by the late pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.
In November, 2021, the alleged madam
will stand trial in the U.S.
for what prosecutors say was her key role
in Epstein's sex-trafficking operation from 1994 to 2004.
She's being represented by a team
of top-tier attorneys from across the country,
but who would agree to take on such a controversial case?
I'm Margaret Cho and this is what we know so far
about Ghislaine Maxwell's defense.
On July 2, 2020, Maxwell was plucked from her hideaway
in Bradford, New Hampshire and booked on charges
related to her alleged involvement
in Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking ring.
Four days later, she arrived
at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn,
where she's awaiting trial
in a unit separate from other inmates.
According to her lawyers that hasn't stopped
rat droppings and raw sewage from getting in.
Despite her and her lawyer's best efforts,
it doesn't look like Maxwell's
going anywhere anytime soon.
In June, 2021, she was denied bail
for the fifth time in less than a year.
According to her lawyers
Maxwell offered to pay 28.5 million
for her temporary freedom, but a judge said, "No."
So what has Maxwell been accused of exactly?
The 2020 indictment charged her with six counts:
one, conspiracy to transport minors
with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity;
two, conspiracy to entice minors to travel
to engage in illegal sex acts;
three, enticement of a minor
to travel to engage in illegal sex acts;
four, transportation of a minor
with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity;
and two counts of perjury.
When people conspire to do something illegal
it doesn't matter
whether they actually succeed in breaking the law,
what matters is that they made an agreement to do so,
and a step was taken by any conspirator
to move the plan forward.
Now this spoke to legal expert,
and Lewis & Clark law professor, Tung Yin,
who told us.
- In this case, those particular conspiracy crimes
charge Ms. Maxwell with conspiring with
the late Jeffrey Epstein
to engage in various federal sex crimes.
So as long as the government can prove
that Ms. Maxwell and Mr. Epstein both agreed
that they were going to engage in the particular actions
it doesn't matter if they succeeded.
- Two of Maxwell's charges relate to her alleged role
in luring and transporting minors across state lines
in order for them to be subjected to sexual abuse.
- And here, the nature of the crimes
requires the government prove
that the victims were underage
and that they crossed the state lines
and that they did so because of some enticement
or inducement by Ms. Maxwell or Mr. Epstein.
- The last two counts are perjury,
the legal term for lying under oath.
Someone commits perjury if they make a sworn statement,
or sign a document that they know
contains false information.
- There were some simple lawsuits
in which Ms. Maxwell was deposed,
meaning she had to give testimony under oath,
and the government alleges
that she made false statements
during those depositions.
- For example, Maxwell previously testified
that she was not aware of the presence
or use of sex toys at Epstein's residences,
and that she did not give an underage girl a massage,
the government alleges that isn't true.
The evidence against Maxwell includes testimony
from at least three unnamed witnesses
who claim to be victims of Maxwell and Epstein
between 1994 and 1997.
All three witnesses were under the age of 18
at the time of the alleged crimes.
Minor victim one, claims she was abused
by Maxwell and Epstein in New York and Florida.
Minor victim two, in New Mexico,
and minor victim three, in London, England.
Then in March, 2021,
prosecutors filed a superseding indictment
in order to add more charges to the original indictment.
According to prosecutors,
they obtained new evidence after Maxwell was arrested
that warranted escalating her charges
along with the initial six counts.
Maxwell is now facing one count
of sex trafficking conspiracy,
and one count of sex trafficking of a minor.
The March filing references a new witness,
minor victim four, who was allegedly trafficked
by Epstein and Maxwell between 2001 and 2004.
The indictment claims Epstein and Maxwell
knew minor victim four was underage at the time
and alleges Maxwell brought her to Epstein's residences
to give naked massages and perform other sex acts on him.
It also claims the underage girl
was paid hundreds of dollars by him, or Maxwell,
for each encounter and that she was encouraged
to find other girls to be trafficked, which she did.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty on all counts,
but a not guilty verdict is,
statistically speaking, unlikely.
Only 2% of federal criminal cases
actually go to trial and in those rare cases
four out of five defendants are found guilty.
Most cases don't go to trial at all
because so many defendants take plea deals.
- You know, the default assumption is
that this is the nature
of our current criminal justice system
that nine out of 10 defendants will actually be convicted
not because the jury convicted them,
but because they convicted themselves.
- Yin says in Maxwell's case, a deal is still possible.
- So, the question is,
does she have anything to offer
that is valuable enough to the government
and will the government offer enough
of whatever sentencing reductions,
or charge reductions that would motivate her.
- So far she's maintained her innocence.
The trial's still on and her legal team
is busy preparing her defense.
But who are Maxwell's lawyers
and what kind of strategies could they use to defend her?
As far as legal teams go,
Maxwell's five are first-class,
they're all nationally recognized trial attorneys
with expertise in criminal defense.
Laura Menninger and Jeffrey Pagliuca
are shareholders in the Haddon Morgan and Foreman law firm
in Denver, Colorado.
They also represented Maxwell in a past civil case.
Menninger, a former Goldman Sachs analyst
served as a Deputy State Public Defender
before joining Haddon Morgan in 2012.
According to the firm's website,
she's considered one of the top
criminal defense attorneys in the country
and focuses her practice on any case destined for trial.
According to the Colorado Bar Association,
she has coauthored professional defense of the accused
with Pagliuca since 2009.
According to his firm profile,
Pagliuca has been a trial attorney for 39 years,
and he's been listed by "Best Lawyers In America"
every year since 2005 in the areas of white collar
and non-white collar criminal defense.
More recent additions to Maxwell's roster include,
Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell,
who are partners in the New York City office
of Cohen & Gresser.
Cohen co-founded the firm in 2002
and heads it's white-collar defense and regulation group,
but his experience isn't limited to defense.
In 1992 Cohen helped to convict mafia hitman
and martial artist, Tommy Pitero
of murdering six people.
After nearly a decade as the Assistant U.S. Attorney
for the Southern District of New York,
Chris Everdell joined Cohen's firm
and his white-collar defense group in 2017.
While working for the government
Everdell specialized in terrorism
and international narcotics.
Like Cohen he's no stranger to high-profile cases.
Everdell helped take down Sinaloa's drug cartel kingpin,
Joaquin, El Chapo, Guzman.
Cohen and Everdell's experience
prosecuting federal criminal cases
could certainly give them an advantage
in strategizing for Maxwell's trial.
Last, but not least, is Bobbi Sternheim.
According to court filings,
Sternheim runs her own practice in New York City,
though she is listed online as counsel for the law firm
of Fasulo Braverman & Di Maggio.
According to her firm profile,
Sternheim has top security clearance
and often handles cases related to organized crime
and international terrorism.
Notably, she defended Khalid al-Fawwaz,
Osama bin Laden's London-based spokesperson
for his role in the 1998 bombings
of two U.S. Embassies in East Africa
that killed 224 people.
Sternheim is a former president
of the New York Women's Bar Association,
and its website describes her as the first,
and so far only woman,
to receive the New York Criminal Bar Association's award
for excellence in the profession.
She's long been an advocate for women in the courtroom
noting in a 1992 article
for the "New York Law Journal,"
that women remain the predominant victims
of violence in our society.
Although violence towards women,
particularly rape and sexual abuse of women and girls,
is given increasingly high profile in the media,
the plight of battered women
has just recently become recognized.
Sternheim wrote that,
"While the law has traditionally been a conservative force
which has perpetrated the subordinate status of women,
it's also the most important tool available
to the American people to shape social injustice."
Sternheim's history of supporting survivors of abuse,
and gender discrimination, may seem at odds
with the job she's taken,
but the way Tung Yin sees it defending those accused
of the most heinous crimes is in a way a progressive cause.
- Having somebody who will represent
even the seemingly worst defendants,
who will represent them vigorously, and zealously,
provides society with what I think
is a measure of confidence
that when people are convicted and sentenced to long terms,
that it was not a show trial,
that there was a real defense in place,
that they had somebody who stood up
and forced the government to the burden of its proof.
We know there are mistakes that are made,
there are wrongful convictions,
but at least we can sort of minimize those
if we actually have defense lawyers
who really are giving it their all,
no matter how horrible we think
that their clients have been.
- That's one way to look at it,
but there's a more pragmatic way
to interpret a lawyer's decision
to take a case like Maxwell's.
- Now you can imagine for that particular lawyer,
or those lawyers, what a great calling card that is
for future clients.
Look, this case that nobody thought we could win, we won!
We got our clients acquitted, that's gonna, you know,
drive in a lot of future business.
- Still others have speculated
that Maxwell's attorneys may encourage her
to plead out.
Soon after Everdell joined the team,
Jennifer Rodgers, a CNN Legal Analyst,
who specializes in anti-corruption tweeted,
"Chris Everdell was a longtime SDNY AUSA
who I happened to supervise once upon a time.
He will of course do what is in the best interests
of his client, but no doubt he will be talking to her
about the benefits of becoming a cooperating witness."
That's not to say Maxwell's attorneys
are in any way, trial shy.
Menninger, for example, is an expert in cross examination.
In an interview with Women Criminal Defense Attorneys,
Menninger said she subscribes to the chapter approach,
an organized method of cross examination
designed to keep the jury engaged
and give witnesses less time
to establish their credibility.
Basically, each point the attorney wants to make
becomes its own chapter of questions
that start broad and get more specific.
Whether the goal is to expose bias,
make the witness appear less credible, or something else,
the chapters are told in the most persuasive order.
Eventually, if it's successful,
the witness logically arrives at the attorney's theory.
- You, however, had time to hide the gun,
didn't you Chutney, after you shot your father?
- I didn't mean to shoot him,
I thought it was you walking through the door.
- Order. - Remember with a jury trial,
a little doubt can go a long way.
A favorable outcome for Maxwell
could be as simple as convincing one juror
that she may be unfairly
taking the fall for Epstein's crimes.
- If they can persuade one juror
that there's reasonable doubt
about whether Ms. Maxwell knew what Mr Epstein was doing,
and whether she helped him,
that is enough to get a hung jury.
It's not exactly a legal argument,
but if they could build some sympathy for her
in the eyes of the jury,
and make it seem like she's a scapegoat,
you know, that might be one of the things
that might tip one or two or however many jurors over
into thinking that there is reasonable doubt.
- Jury selection for Maxwell's trial
is expected to take place in mid-November
and opening remarks will happen November 29th.
At issue will be her role
in the alleged sex trafficking operation,
but not her alleged perjury
that's because on April 16th, 2021,
Judge Alison Nathan decided
Maxwell will face the sex trafficking charges separately
from the perjury charges.
In her decision Nathan noticed
that trying them together would risk an unfair trial
since Maxwell is accused of lying in a civil case
where she was represented by Menninger and Pagliuca,
meaning they could potentially be called as witnesses
or be disqualified.
Former Federal Prosecutor, David S. Weinstein
told the "Tampa Bay Times"
that the separation of the charges into two trials
does little damage to the prosecution's case
and he suspects Maxwell will only face the perjury charges
if she's acquitted in the first trial.
For that we'll have to stay tuned.
If convicted on all counts Maxwell could face
up to 80 years in prison.
The sex trafficking charges alone
carry a maximum prison sentence of 40 years,
which at 59 is effectively a life sentence.
For more on Ghislaine Maxwell
be sure to check out the brand new docu-series,
"Chasing Ghislaine," now on Discovery+.