Defiant Ghislaine Maxwell declines to testify at sex crimes trial as defence rests
- Speaking for the first time since the trial opened, the UK socialite said there was ‘no need’ for her to testify since prosecutors had not proved their case
- Maxwell faces an effective life sentence if convicted of six counts of enticing and transporting minors for sex with her long-time companion Epstein
A defiant Ghislaine Maxwell said on Friday that prosecutors had failed to prove her guilty of sex crimes, as her defence wound up in a trial that heard lurid claims she groomed minors for abuse by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking for the first time since her sensational trial opened late last month, the 59-year-old British socialite addressed the New York court only to say she would not be testifying.
“Your honour, the government has not proven its case beyond reasonable doubt so there is no need for me to testify,” Maxwell, wearing a black turtle neck and matching face mask, told judge Alison Nathan.
The defence rested its case at 4pm after less than two days of testimony after it struggled to put witnesses on the stand.
The daughter of former newspaper baron Robert Maxwell faces an effective life sentence if convicted by the jury of six counts of enticing and transporting minors for sex with her long-time companion Epstein.