Convict Ghislaine Maxwell appeals over 'inhumane conditions'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
1 Mar 2023 11:47

Ghislaine Maxwell will file for an appeal next Tuesday, claiming she was held "under inhumane conditions" during the investigation.

In this courtroom sketch, Ghislaine Maxwell center, confers with her defense attorney Jeffrey Pagliuca, right, before testimony begins in her sex-abuse trial, in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021 (AP).

Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's partner and "pimp," whose charges stemmed from 1994 to 2004, was sentenced, in June, to 20 years in jail on sex trafficking and sexual assault charges, has reportedly sought to file an appeal on Tuesday, in which she could claim that she was held "under inhumane conditions" while in custody at Brooklyn Detention Center throughout the investigation.

According to reports, the appeal, to be filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, will reportedly highlight the following points: sleep deprivation, malnutrition, living with vermin in her cell, inability to gain proper access to her lawyer, overall deplorable conditions.

Arthur L. Aidala, the convict's lawyer, said "by the time of trial, she was so disoriented and diminished that she was unable meaningfully to assist in her own defense, much less to testify."

Earlier, Page Six, in an exclusive, quoted Aidala saying that "[Maxwell] was so mistreated during her period of incarceration that it violated so many of her constitutional rights to defend herself... she's supposed to sit for a trial [with her] life on the line... In the United States of America, anyone who's accused of any crime should not be abused by the US government the way she was abused."

The lawyer also explained that the appeal for the convicted sex trafficker would reference investigative errors such as: One juror failed to disclose his own history of child abuse during jury selection; the government being "barred by a five-year statute of limitations from bringing the charges."

Moreover, the lawyer noted that one of the most significant errors was that prosecutors "breached a non-prosecution agreement that immunized Maxwell for these offenses."

According to sources, Maxwell's appeal may be denied, thereby upholding her 20-year sentence. Maxwell's first attempt to obtain a new trial was denied by the judge presiding over her present case.