Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Aug 22, 2026

Ghislaine Maxwell trial: attorneys and judge hash out jury instructions

Ghislaine Maxwell trial: attorneys and judge hash out jury instructions

Charge conference unfolds without notable incident while jurors will start deliberating next week
Prosecutors and lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell convened on Saturday in front of the judge in the Briton’s sex trafficking trial in Manhattan federal court, to discuss how jurors would be instructed.

The attorneys and Judge Alison Nathan hashed out what Nathan will tell jurors before they start deliberating next week, such as which allegations against Maxwell correspond to specific counts against her.

In such proceedings, typical in US jury trials, both sides are able to object or make suggestions about proposed wording for jury instructions. The judge ultimately determines which requests will be met.

Maxwell’s charge conference unfolded without notable incident. Some changes to the proposed jury instructions were agreed.

Changes included referring to the Briton as “Ms Maxwell” rather than “the defendant” and refining when specific age cutoffs would be used instead of “minor”, in references to alleged victims. Maxwell’s lawyers had lobbied for stricter language surrounding descriptions of sex-trafficking.

Maxwell, 59, was apprehended in New Hampshire in July 2020. She is being tried on six counts in relation to alleged involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of minor teens. Maxwell has pleaded not guilty. She alluded to this on Friday, telling Nathan she would not take the stand in her own defense.

“Your honor,” she said, “the government has not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and so there is no need for me to testify.”

Epstein, Maxwell’s long-term boyfriend and a convicted sex offender, counted Prince Andrew and former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump as associates before killing himself in a New York jail in 2019, while awaiting his own sex trafficking trial.

Maxwell’s defense rested on Friday. One of their key witnesses was Eva Dubin, a former Miss Sweden.

Dubin testified that she dated Epstein on and off from 1983 to about 1991, and traveled with him on his private planes. Following her marriage in 1994, she said, they stayed friendly. Dubin also said she and her husband were comfortable with the relationship between their children – two girls and a boy – and Epstein.

“They called him ‘Uncle F’,” she said, adding that she never saw Epstein engage in inappropriate conduct with teenage girls.

Closing arguments are scheduled to begin on Monday. Nathan told attorneys she wanted outstanding legal issues worked out, warning: “I don’t want objections during closings.”

Maxwell’s lawyers have contended that she is a surrogate for Epstein, who cannot be prosecuted in death. On Friday, Nathan told Maxwell’s lawyers: “There will be no argument on the government’s motivations.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Petrol Bombs Set Luxury Cars Alight Outside Birmingham Wedding as Police Hunt Three Men
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
England and Wales Have Fewer Than 1,800 Prison Places Left for Men
Suspected People Smuggler Arrested After Investigation Identified Him
Children's Doctors Warn That Vaping Can Lead Young People to Smoking
Hundreds of Thousands of Students Receive GCSE and Vocational Results Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Here Is What Can Never Happen in Your Country: Taiwan Is Giving Money to All Its People Because It Collected Too Much Tax
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
UK Issues New Conduct Guide for Asylum Seekers on Consent and Respect
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Reform UK Unveils Plan to Cut Welfare Spending by More Than £50 Billion a Year
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Praised Extinction Rebellion for Doing a 'Great Service'
UK Wildfire Phone Alert Triggers Backlash as Users Switch Off Emergency Warnings
Heathrow Roads Reopen After Burst Water Main Floods Access to Terminals 2 and 3
Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Say They Will Enter 2027 WNBA Draft
Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Found Dead Days After Resigning Amid Plagiarism Row
US Appeals Court Rules AI Agent's Website Actions Are Legally Attributed to the User
France's Constitutional Council Blocks Social Media Ban for Children Under 15
Liechtenstein Changes Royal Succession Rules to Allow Women to Inherit the Throne
Women Allege Rape and Sexual Abuse at British Army College for Teenage Recruits
Minnesota: Two independent investigators posed as Muslims (one wearing a burqa) and showed how they could vote in elections without identification.
China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express
Former Labour Adviser Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for China Held Privileged Access as Top Party Donor
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
Donald Trump Warns FIFA Against Ousting Gianni Infantino Amid Revolt by Global Football Leaders
Jeff Bezos Joins Investor Group Closing In on $6 Billion Liverpool FC Stake
UK Councils to Receive Sweeping Planning Powers to Ban New Vape and Betting Shops
Russia’s A7 Builds a State-Linked Payments Network Beyond Western Sanctions
Hyper-Realistic Reborn Dolls Draw Collectors Seeking Comfort and Craft
Gen Z Cuts Back on Dating as a Night Out Nears $200
Patients Turn to Artificial Intelligence for Therapy as Psychiatrists Warn of Privacy and Clinical Risks
Couples Embrace ‘Sleep Divorce’ to Protect Rest and Reduce Tension
Meta Ordered to Pay $567 Million and Change Facebook and Instagram Safeguards for Children
Up to only 10 Months in Prison for Swedish Officer’s Murderer Sparks Anger
Success: Nvidia Turned Gaming Chips Into the Engine of the AI Boom
Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi’s Father and Longtime Agent, Dies at 68
×