So now Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyer, Markus, is demanding that Maxwell be freed for similar reasons to Cosby, who recently had his conviction for sex crime overturned. The reason being, he was offered immunity in exchange for a deal which included compensation for his victim/s following a frank deposition in an ensuing civil case.
In the case of Maxwell, it might be more complicated because it is not known for sure whether she and the other two (or three?) alleged 'co-conspirators' with Epstein, were conferred legal immunity by Alex Acosta in Florida.
The case was then reopened and moved to New York on the grounds of an alleged improper deal by Acosta. Epstein died whilst in custody and charged brought against Maxwell. The question arises, why are the other two (or three) 'co-conspirators' also not being charged?
The other fly in the ointment is Maxwell is alleged to have lied in her deposition in the civil case brought by Guiffre, alleging defamation by Maxwell calling Giuffre 'a liar'. Maxwell claimed she only knew about Epstein's alleged sex crimes, 'the same time as everybody else'. If this is a lie, then she has been less than frank, unlike Cosby (see the Cosby thread for more detail on his release). However, how can it be proven it was a lie or not, without a hearing? OTOH if it is now deemed wrong of NY to have overridden Acosta's 'deal' then the whole thing could become moot.
Epstein's victims who came forward as of the time of his deal, were already compensated without having to be cross-examined. Epstein in effect 'paid them off' in exchange for a lenient sentence and legal immunity from further prosecution for the same crimes. Much will depend on whether Maxwell was actually named as an alleged 'co-conspirator' but more to the point, would it be fair for the same witnesses against Epstein to now have a 'second bite of the cherry', as it were, and even if estopped from being cross-examined, could still be used as 'character witnesses' (as in the Weinstein trial) of all of Epstein's past crimes but pointing the finger at Maxwell? Given Maxwell's sheer wealth (claiming she could raise a $28m bail) and the vocal support of the Victim's movement, how can we know they are motivated to be totally truthfully rather than shiny-eyed idealistic, believing they are testifying on behalf of others and in the name of a good cause, forgetting Maxwell's essential right to fairness.
GUARDIAN