Defense attorney Laura Menninger arrives before proceedings in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York on Dec. 17.JEENAH MOON/Reuters
Ghislaine Maxwell’s defence has rested its case after two days of presenting evidence on the British socialite’s behalf. Not among that evidence was testimony from the long-time Jeffrey Epstein associate herself.
Around a half-hour after Maxwell, 59, told the court Friday she would not testify in her own defence because “the government has not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt,” one of her attorneys announced the defence had rested.
U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan told the jury that announcement closed the evidence portion of the trial. She told jurors to return at 9 a.m. Monday, rather than 9:30 a.m., and to arrange to be in court as late as 6 p.m. She said the parties will do their closing arguments, then she’ll instruct them on the law and deliberations will begin.
Maxwell’s lawyers have offered a spirited defence, portraying her as a scapegoat targeted by the government because prosecutors could no longer bring Epstein to justice after he killed himself at a federal lockup in August 2019 while awaiting his own sex trafficking trial.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges stemming from her interactions with four teenage girls from 1994 to 2004. During that span, Maxwell was romantically involved with and then later worked for Epstein.
While she won’t testify before the jury, Maxwell has seemed active in her defence throughout the three weeks of the trial, frequently writing notes to her lawyers and hugging them as she enters and leaves court each day. As Maxwell declared her intention not to testify, attorney Bobbi Sternheim’s arm was wrapped around her lower back.
Her defence called another of Jeffrey Epstein’s one-time paramours to the stand earlier Friday: a former Miss Sweden, New York City doctor and tabloid fixture who told the jury that she trusted the financier with her young daughters and denied taking part in a group sexual encounter with a key accuser.
Eva Andersson-Dubin, 60, testified that she dated Epstein “off and on” from 1983 to the early 1990s, before he dated Maxwell.
Epstein and Andersson-Dubin remained friends after breaking up and, in 1994, she married another moneyed financier, Glenn Dubin, with whom she had three children.
One of the key accusers in the Maxwell trial, identified in court only as “Jane” to protect her identity, testified that a woman named “Eva” joined a group sexual experience with Epstein.
On Friday, Andersson-Dubin was asked by one of Maxwell’s attorneys if she had ever been in a group sexual encounter with Jane.
“Absolutely not,” she responded.
Asked if she had ever been in a group sexualized massage of Epstein with Jane, she responded: “I have not.”
Later, Andersson-Dubin acknowledged having issues with her memory upon cross examination.
“It’s very hard for me to remember anything far back,” Andersson-Dubin said. “My family notices it, I notice it. It’s been an issue.”
The Dubins have denied knowing anything about Epstein’s sexual misconduct, but were publicly supportive of Epstein when he initially was prosecuted and convicted of sex crimes in Florida in 2008. Another Epstein accuser whose allegations are not part of Maxwell’s trial, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, has said that she was trafficked to Glenn Dubin, among other powerful men, all of whom have denied her accounts.
As the Dubin children – including two daughters – grew up, they sometimes joined their parents on flights with Epstein, Andersson-Dubin said.
She testified that Epstein was fond of her children and the children viewed him like an uncle, sometimes calling him “Uncle F,” an apparent abbreviation of his name, minus the “J.”
When Andersson-Dubin was asked by a defence lawyer if she ever witnessed any inappropriate conduct between Epstein and teenage girls, she responded: “I did not.”
The testimony came on the second day of Maxwell’s defence presentation, which could be completed as early as the end of Friday. Nathan has said closing arguments could occur Monday and the jury might receive the case by the end of that day to begin its deliberations.
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