Ghislaine Maxwell speaks at the Arctic Circle Forum in Reykjavik, Iceland, October 2013.
The Arctic Circle via Reuters
British socialist Ghislaine Maxwell “withers” in jail due to difficult circumstances, which include alleged physical abuse by a guard and being forced to scrub shower walls after she reported the abuse, her lawyer said in a new letter to a federal judge.
“It is impossible to overstate the adverse effects of the conditions under which Ms. Maxwell is being held,” attorney Bobbi Sternheim wrote to Judge Alison Nathan, Manhattan District Court.
“She dries up a shell of her former self, to lose weight, lose hair and lose her ability to concentrate,” Sternheim wrote of Maxwell, who is accused of crimes related to the recruitment and care of underage girls who later sexually abused by eccentric investment adviser Jeffrey Epstein, and perjury.
The lawyer says ‘overmanagement’ and constant oversight of Maxwell by guards at the Brooklyn federal prison, in an apparent attempt to prevent her from killing herself while locked up like Epstein in 2019, “affect her endurance and efficiency to to prepare her. defense and consultation with advocates. ‘
Maxwell, 59, pleaded not guilty in the case in which she is charged in July 2020, a year after Epstein’s arrest on charges of sex trafficking in children.
Epstein, 66, died of a suicide that was officially ruled by hanging in the Manhattan federal jail a month after his arrest.
Maxwell, who was twice denied bail by Nathan, who considered her a flight risk, will be tried later this year.
Her lawyers are trying to gain greater access to a laptop to prepare for her trial.
Sternheim’s letter, the latest in a series of complaints about Maxwell’s prison terms, highlights the fact that her life over the past seven months has been very different from her days with Epstein, when they hung out with former presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. , and the British Prince Andrew.
Sternheim complained that ‘the vagueness and delays’ in moving Maxwell about 50 feet from an isolation cell were among the issues affecting her ability to adequately prepare for trial.
The lawyer said Maxwell’s regular examinations of guards, who had physically searched her about 1,400 times since July 6, had not yielded any smuggling style.
“Maxwell is still at the mercy of a rotating group of security officers who are used to guarding hundreds of inmates, but now focus their undivided attention solely on one respectable middle-aged female provisional prisoner,” Sternheim wrote.
“Recently, from the point of view of the security camera, Ms Maxwell was placed in her solitary confinement cell and physically abused during a pat search. When she asked that the camera be used to capture the event, a guard replied ‘no. ‘. “
“When Mrs Maxwell recoiled from pain and when she said she would report the abuse, she was threatened with disciplinary action,” Sternheim wrote.
“Within a week and while the same team was in charge, Mrs Maxwell was the subject of further retaliation for reporting the abuse: a guard ordered Mrs Maxwell to take a shower around the walls with a broom, cleaning, disinfecting and scrubbing. Ms Maxwell’s request to take the camera alone with her in the confined space is again denied. ‘
Sternheim has such strict oversight of Maxwell that ‘guards’ forbid Maxwell to stand in certain areas of her cell from six feet to nine feet, including telling her not to stand left or right over her toilet.
The lawyer also said that Maxwell ‘is still having serious problems with the food provided to her’, including that she is repeatedly refused some or all of her meals.
“For the duration of her detention, she has never received a properly heated meal,” Sternheim wrote.
Maxwell is regularly given food in a container not intended for use in a microwave oven, but staff microwave her food anyway, the attorney said.
“Ms. Maxwell’s food does not thaw the food or disintegrate it and melts the plastic container, making the food inedible,” Sternheim wrote.
“While guards eventually acknowledged serious problems with the food, they continued to microwave Ms. Maxwell’s food, which made the food inedible and dangerous for consumption, leaving Ms. Maxwell without food and replacement.”
‘Late last week, guards told me. Maxwell stated that her food would henceforth be heated in a heat oven, like that of all other prisoners. While it may be an improvement, it does not help to correct seven months of hardship affecting her nutrition. detrimental to her health, ”the lawyer wrote.
Sternheim also noted that prosecutors confirmed that guards point a flashlight at the ceiling of Maxwell’s cell “every 15 minutes from about 9:30 to 6:30 p.m.”
“It’s hard to convey orally the power of a light reflecting in a concrete box six by nine feet from a concrete ceiling, in Ms Maxwell’s eyes, giving her sleep and the ability to have a restful night. have, disrupt. “
“The mitigating effects of sleep deprivation have been well documented,” the lawyer wrote.