Deliberating Jury in Ghislaine Maxwell Trial Asks to Review Testimony From 3 Accusers

The jury in Ghislaine Maxwell's New York trial finished its first full day of deliberating Tuesday, requesting to review the testimonies of three of the women who accused Maxwell of helping the late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse them when they were teenagers.

The jury began deliberations late Monday after lengthy closing arguments took up much of the court day, but they put the process on pause and returned home after working for less than an hour. They resumed deliberations Tuesday morning and requested to review the testimonies less than an hour after converging in the large room where they are able to space themselves out as a COVID-19 safety provision.

Maxwell, a 59-year-old British socialite, pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges that stem from her interactions with a handful of teenage girls between 1994 and 2004. Maxwell has been accused of recruiting and grooming the underage girls to take part in sexual encounters with Epstein, and even participating in some of the encounters herself, CNN reported.

Four accusers total testified throughout the three-week trial in a New York federal court. Prosecutors have said that Maxwell's alleged grooming of the girls made them feel as though performing sexual massages on Epstein was not abnormal behavior.

Epstein, who was romantically involved with Maxwell before she began working for him, killed himself in August 2019 while waiting to face his own sex trafficking trial.

Maxwell declined on Friday to testify in her case after U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan told her that she had the right to testify in her defense or opt against it. Maxwell responded that "there is no reason for me to testify" because the government hadn't "proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt."

The defense rested its case shortly after her refusal.

In the prosecution's closing argument, they argued that Maxwell's alleged aid to Epstein was vital in facilitating the abuse, CNN reported.

"A single middle-aged man who invites a teenage girl to visit his ranch, to come to his house, to fly to New York, is creepy," prosecutor Allison Moe said. "But when that man is accompanied by a posh, smiling, respectable, age-appropriate woman, that's when everything starts to seem legitimate.

"And when that woman encourages those girls to massage that man, when she acts like it's totally normal for the man to touch those girls. It lures them into a trap. It allows the man to silence the alarm bells."

Maxwell's lawyers say the government has used her as a scapegoat after Epstein killed himself in 2019 as he awaited a sex trafficking trial of his own.

The transcripts requested by the jury pertain to the testimony of two women who testified anonymously as "Jane" and "Carolyn," along with the testimony of Annie Farmer, who identified herself by name and has spoken publicly about her experiences with Maxwell and Epstein.

Maxwell has been held without bail since her July 2020 arrest.

Jury deliberations will continue Wednesday morning.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.