Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers can’t call witnesses under pseudonyms, judge rules

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers in her Manhattan federal court sex trafficking trial will not be able to call defense witnesses under pseudonyms, the judge in this case has ruled.

The decision came moments before Maxwell’s lawyers were going to start their defense case.

In a decision made public Thursday morning, Judge Alison Nathan wrote: “None of the defense’s witnesses intend to testify to sensitive personal topics or sexual conduct. Rather, they all are anticipated to deny misconduct by Epstein and Ms Maxwell, and therefore do not qualify as victims … Further, there is no similar concern, as there are for alleged victims of sexual abuse, that denying the use of pseudonyms will deter reports of misconduct.

“It is notable that the defense does not cite in support of its motion a single case in which a court granted the use of pseudonyms to defense witnesses,” Nathan also wrote. “Neither does the government. And nor could the court after significant independent research.

“It appears, then, that the defense’s requested relief is unprecedented.”

The former British socialite’s counsel had asked Nathan to permit some of their witnesses to testify under pseudonyms or with their first names, saying they might otherwise not take the stand. Shortly before the defense called their first witness, Nathan rejected that request.

“We have been in contact with a number of our potential witnesses, and we are already getting requests – and I think these are valid requests – that at least some of them testify anonymously,” said lawyer Christian Everdell said Friday.

“We all know that this case has gotten a lot of attention and that people who are testifying here might get a lot of unwanted attention, especially if they are testifying on behalf of Ms Maxwell,” Everdell also said. “And they would like to be able to do this, at least some of them, with some sort of anonymous protection.”

Nathan addressed this in her opinion, writing: “These generalized concerns are present in every high-profile criminal case. They do not present the rare circumstances that prior courts have found justify the use of pseudonyms.”

Before Maxwell’s defense started calling witnesses, they revealed that one of their planned witnesses had Covid-19 and couldn’t come to court. They asked for this witness to testify via Webex, a video-conferencing platform. Nathan said she anticipates the witness could do so.

Maxwell, 59, is being tried on six counts for her alleged involvement in disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of minor teens. She was arrested at a luxe New Hampshire property in July 2020.

Maxwell insists that she is innocent of all wrongdoing.

Epstein, a convicted sex offender, counted Prince Andrew and former US presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton among his high-profile associates. He killed himself in a New York City federal jail more than two years ago, while awaiting his own sex trafficking trial.