Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyer said prosecutors plan to call "Jane's" brother "Brian" to back up her testimony. Defense claims that "Jane" contacted him after leaving the stand.
Menninger said that "Jane" told "Brian" that Maxwell's lawyer was an "expletive that rhymes with 'front.'"
Maxwell's defense wants to exclude "Brian's" testimony.
Judge Nathan expressed concerns about whether any coaching took place and is considering the request to exclude it.
The prosecutor says that "Brian" informed the govt about the convo with "Jane," whom 'Brian' insists did not go into details of her testimony.
"Jane" told him "he should know that the defense attorney is an 'expletive,'" "Brian" told the govt.
Judge Nathan:
"The first task is for the govt to fully inquire about what 'Brian' learned from 'Jane' or anyone else" about the conservation.
To be clear:
At issue here is less the "expletive that rhymes with 'front'" than the conversation that took place. Ghislaine Maxwell's counsel is arguing that it could violate the court's sequestration order shielding witnesses from each other's testimony.
The FBI witness who ended yesterday's proceedings has returned to the stand.
"All rise."
The jury is entering.
Questioning of the FBI witness has resumed:
She identifies multiple photographs of Maxwell and Epstein.
These photos are being identified as being from a CD the FBI agent reviewed from the Maxwell investigation.
Testimony ended yesterday with CDs being found during the 2019 raid on Epstein's NY townhouse, including inside his safe.
Various photographs are shown to the jury of the two of them embracing and images of Maxwell appearing to massage Epstein's foot.
On cross examination, the FBI witness (Kimberly Meder) agrees that thousands of images were recovered — though she says she doesn't know when asked if tens of thousands were.
Q: In one set, there were more than 20,000. Is that right?
(Long pause as the witness reviews records, doesn't see the number, is prompted where to look and eventually replies yes.)
Asked whether she doesn't know whether the photos were altered, the witness replies: "Correct."
This witness's testimony concludes.
The next witness, from the FBI's Computer Analysis Response Team (CART), introduces an email from "GMax" complaining about unsatisfactory housekeeping from John, apparently a clear reference to the prior witness Juan Alessi.
Dated May 25, 2001, "GMax" grouses in the missive: "I need to what if any list John is using and he needs to understand he is doing a truly awful job."
Among her complaints, she says the "massage creams etc in JE's bathroom were a mess."
Intriguing new file created by "GMax" on Oct. 14, 2002, entered into evidence. It reads:
"Jeffrey and Ghislaine have been together, a couple, for the last 11 years. They are, contrary to what many people think, rarely apart — I almost always see them together."
"Ghislaine is highly intelligent and great company with a ready smile and an infectious laugh who always puts one at ones [sic] ease," the file created by "GMax" continues.
On cross-examination, the defense is establishing that the documents were written on a desktop and could not be geolocated.
Side note: The witness is treating the wrong letter of Ghislaine as silent.
He's pronouncing it "Gis-ayne."
It's "Ghee-lehn."
We're at mid-morning recess.
Trial continues and a witness testifying under the first name Carolyn takes the stand.
An attorney clarifies she's testifying under her first name only, rather than a pseudonym.
Carolyn describes a relationship with someone named "Sean," whom she says she told she was 17. She says he learned she was 14 at her birthday party.
Through Sean, Carolyn says, she met Virginia.
She says she was introduced to give Epstein a massage and make money.
Q: About how old were you the first time you went to Jeffrey Epstein's house?
A: 14.
Carolyn describes meeting Maxwell for the first time.
"She had an accent and she had shoulder-length black hair."
Carolyn says she called her by her surname: Maxwell.
"Because I didn't exactly pronounce her first name correctly."
Maxwell took off her clothes, and Carolyn left on her bra and underwear, she testifies.
Carolyn:
After 45 minutes of massaging his back, Epstein turned over, and Epstein and Virginia started having sex.
She says she and Virginia were both paid. Carolyn got $300.
Carolyn says she went to Epstein's house more than 100 times, two to three times a week, between the ages of 14 and 18.
Her voice sounds faint and emotional throughout her testimony.
Explaining why she went, Carolyn says it's because she was young and "$300 was a lot of money."
Carolyn said that she usually saw Maxwell when she entered the kitchen.
"She would just let me know that Mr. Epstein would be back, that he was on a jog."
Carolyn says that she told Maxwell that her mother was an alcoholic and that she was molested.
"I remember telling her that I had been raped and molested by grandfather starting at the age of four."
When invited to go to the island, Carolyn says, she told Maxwell she was "too young" and "there was no way in hell" she'd be allowed to go there.
Q: Did she touch you?
A: Yes.
Q: Where?
A: On my breasts.
Carolyn says she brought three friends to Epstein's house.
Asked what she was doing with the money she made at Jeffrey Epstein's house, Carolyn breaks down into tears when saying: "Buying drugs."
Carolyn says she had a son (whose father's first name she says in court) on March 12, 2004.
She says she returned to Epstein's house after that because she needed the money.
She stopped going because she realized she became "too old."
Q: How old were you?
A: 18.
She says she was arrested for her drug use.
"I handed the officer the drugs."
Q: Why did you do that?
A: Because I was an idiot. (she laughs)
She agrees she was later arrested for possessing stolen property.
Carolyn says she went to therapy following those incidents.
She says she later worked for an escort service and became a stripper. She sometimes had sex with men for money, she said.
(This is still the government's direct examination, apparently anticipating what Maxwell's attorneys will ask.)
Cross examination is beginning.
The initial questions look into Carolyn's prior statements about Virginia Roberts.
Flashback from Maxwell's defense opening:
"Carolyn was introduced to Epstein not by Ghislaine, by
a woman named Virginia Roberts."
Lunch break.
Cross-examination will resume after the recess.
ICYMI, my rundown of two days of testimony about evidenced seized from the 2019 raid on Jeffrey Epstein's New York townhouse.
The figure identified as "Sean" earlier in the thread should be "Shawn."
Cross-examination by Maxwell's lawyer Jeffrey Pagliuca resumes:
He questions Carolyn about FBI notes of her interview in August 2017.
Pagliuca says the FBI notes say that Carolyn described the woman as having an "unknown" accent.
The witness denies that, saying she told the FBI that the woman had an "accent."
As Pagliuca questions Carolyn about comparisons between her testimony today and what she told the government in earlier meeting, it'd be helpful to review this legal explainer from the time of "Jane's" testimony.
A rush of new photographs of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein were just made public. They were introduced into evidence yesterday during testimony of images recovered from the 2019 raid on Epstein's NY home.
Judge Nathan is about to rule on her limiting instruction as to Ghislaine Maxwell's last accuser, who says that Epstein made sexual contact with her in New Mexico.
The judge will tell jurors that was “not ‘illegal sexual activity’ as the government charged in the indictment.”
This is a less sweeping instruction than provided for the accuser known as "Kate," whom the judge told the jury was not a victim of the crimes charged.
Unlike "Kate," the judge says: "This is an alleged victim of the crimes charged in the indictment."
The second week of Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking trial will begin shortly. The first week ended with prosecutors hauling Jeffrey Epstein's massage table into court. Photos below.
Yesterday, Jeffrey Epstein's ex-house manager backed up testimony by Ghislaine Maxwell's accuser "Jane" in important respects. He said he saw "Jane" with the duo without her mother present.
The government concluded the direct examination of that house manager, Juan Alessi, ended on Thursday.
Cross-examination kicks off this morning.
In pre-trial proceedings, the parties have been arguing about the admission of certain evidence — such as schoolgirl costumes found in Jeffrey Epstein's massage room and art sexualizing minors.
Today's first witness was Paul Kane, director of finance from NYC's Professional Children's School.
He was there to introduce about an application for a 12th grade student, which stated "financial responsibility" by Jeffrey Epstein.
This testimony, brief and clerical, paved the way for the second witness: government expert Lisa Rocchio, a clinical psychologist who spoke about the grooming process.
She spoke about, among other things, how perpetrators find ways to access victims that won't be questioned.
The third day of Ghislaine Maxwell's trial begins this morning with continuing testimony by "Jane," the first woman prosecutors described at the very start of openings.