NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The fate of Ghislaine Maxwell is now squarely in the hands of a jury.
The jury received the case in Maxwell's sex-trafficking trial just before 5 p.m. Monday, after prosecutors and Maxwell's defense attorneys delivered closing arguments.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP鈥檚 earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� speeded to a finish Monday with a prosecutor labeling her a dangerous and sophisticated predator who recruited and groomed teenage girls to be sexually abused by financier Jeffrey Epstein while a defense attorney told jurors that Maxwell is an 鈥渋nnocent woman.鈥�
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe said Epstein could not have preyed on teenage girls for more than a decade without the help of the British socialite, who she described as the 鈥渓ady of the house鈥� as Epstein abused girls at a New York mansion, a Florida estate and a New Mexico ranch.
鈥淕hislaine Maxwell was dangerous,鈥� Moe told jurors, saying Maxwell accepted over $30 million from Epstein over the years. 鈥淢axwell and Epstein committed horrifying crimes.鈥�
Defense lawyer Laura Menninger said prosecutors had failed to prove any charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
鈥淕hislaine Maxwell is an innocent woman, wrongfully accused of crimes she did not commit,鈥� Menninger said.
That portrayal conflicted with Moe's depiction of Maxwell as a 鈥渟ophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing. She ran the same playbook again and again and again.鈥�
鈥淪he manipulated her victims and groomed them. She caused deep and lasting harm to young girls. It is time to hold her accountable,鈥� Moe said.
The summations came at the that was originally projected to last six weeks. With a coronavirus outbreak in New York worsening by the day and a holiday weekend ahead, Judge Alison J. Nathan urged lawyers to keep their closings tight so the jury could begin deliberating as early as Monday.
Menninger's closing revisited a theme defense attorneys pressed at the trial's start: that Maxwell was made a scapegoat after Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan federal jail cell in August 2019 as he awaited a sex trafficking trial.
鈥淕hislaine Maxwell is not Jeffrey Epstein,鈥� Menninger said.
Maxwell, 59, was supported in court by four siblings who sat next to one another in the first row of spectators.
Maxwell has been jailed without bail since her arrest in July 2020. The judge has denied her bail repeatedly, despite her lawyer's arguments that the pledge of her $22.5 million estate and a willingness to be watched 24 hours a day by armed guards would guarantee her appearance in court.
The closings came after two dozen prosecution witnesses testified, including with the help of Maxwell when they were teenagers.
Moe faced the jury as Maxwell, in a white sweater, sat behind her at the defense table and wrote notes, occasionally turning the pages of a notebook. Later, Maxwell turned in her chair toward the jury, sometimes pulling down her black mask to sip from a water bottle.
The prosecutor told jurors that Maxwell was a 鈥減osh, smiling age-appropriate woman鈥� who provided cover for Epstein鈥檚 鈥渃reepy鈥� behavior.
She asked them to ignore the testimony of a psychology professor who testified for the defense, saying the testimony that memories can fade over time and be influenced by what people hear, see or read was a 鈥渢otal distraction.鈥�
鈥淭hese women know what happened to their own bodies,鈥� she said. 鈥淵our common sense tells you that being molested is something you never forget, ever.鈥�
But Menninger defended the testimony of the memory expert, citing instances in which Maxwell鈥檚 accusers never mentioned the defendant鈥檚 name when they first spoke of the abuse they endured from Epstein.
She said the testimony from accusers was manipulated by civil lawyers representing them as they pursued millions of dollars in payouts from a special fund set up after Epstein鈥檚 suicide to compensate his victims.
Menninger said the women suddenly 鈥渞ecovered memories that Ghislaine was there.鈥�
Larry Neumeister And Tom Hays, The Associated Press
