In a firm dismissal, a federal judge has turned down Ghislaine Maxwell’s recent bid to challenge her conviction, criticizing her submission as excessively lengthy and disorganized. The judge deemed her arguments to be without substance and mostly frivolous.
U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, in his decision made public on Tuesday, denied Maxwell’s plea to overturn her conviction following her trial as Jeffrey Epstein’s associate. Engelmayer emphasized the “overwhelming” evidence presented against her in the court case held in the Southern District of New York.
Self-represented, Maxwell sought to annul her conviction along with the 20-year sentence, arguing that there were breaches of her constitutional rights during both the trial and sentencing phases.
In a courtroom illustration, Ghislaine Maxwell is seen consulting with top defense lawyer Bobbi Sternheim before Judge Alison Nathan enters during Maxwell’s trial for sex trafficking on November 30, 2021, in New York. A longtime pilot for Epstein testified that Maxwell, accused of aiding Epstein in exploiting underage girls, was second-in-command within his operations.
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Judge Engelmayer noted that most of Maxwell’s claims were dismissed for procedural reasons, as she either addressed and lost them during direct appeal or failed to raise them at an earlier stage.
The judge also shot down Maxwell’s reliance on material released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, finding that the purported new evidence did not support her claims. The supposedly “new” evidence was largely irrelevant to Maxwell ‘s case, the judge said.
“To the extent it is relevant, far from exculpating her, it incriminates her or reinforces the correctness of the legal rulings Maxwell challenges,” Engelmayer wrote.
“The Court accordingly denies Maxwell’s petition,” he concluded.
Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 on five felony counts stemming from her participation with Epstein in the sexual abuse of young girls over the course of a decade.