April 15, 2021- 9:18 p.m.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers have asked a judge to delay the start of her trial in light of the new indictment against her — citing, in part, the need to look over thousands of ‘highly confidential’ photos.
The photographs, of which there are 2,100, are among hundreds of thousands of pieces of evidence the accused madam and her attorneys must check over before she goes to trial, the lawyers said in a Thursday letter to Judge Alison Nathan.
Much of the evidence was already handed over by prosecutors and “must be re-reviewed” as a result of the two new sex trafficking charges against the former British socialite.
Maxwell’s trial is currently set to begin on July 12.
Her lawyers said: “We cannot adequately prepare for a trial containing the new charges and a substantially expanded conspiracy in the less than three months remaining.”
Maxwell’s own inspection of the mountain of evidence is also being hindered by technological issues, the lawyers said.
“We have tried to use an FBI-supplied laptop and hard drive to review approximately 2,100 ‘Highly Confidential’ photographs that were not produced to us in discovery,” Maxwell’s lawyers wrote.
“Because of technical issues with the laptop, we still have not completed the review.”
The judge has yet to rule on the postponement request.
Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 and charged in Manhattan federal court with procuring underage girls for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse, then lying about it under oath.
She’s remained behind bars since her arrest and maintains her innocence.
