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A trio of judges from a federal appeals court in Manhattan denied Ghislaine Maxwell’s request to be let out on bail while she’s awaiting trial for allegedly procuring underage girls for multimillionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The three-judge panel from the 2nd Circuit Court handed down the one-page ruling Tuesday afternoon, denying the bid and ordering Maxwell’s attorneys to raise any issue they might have about her incarceration in a lower district court.
Maxwell’s attorney David Markus said in an email that he was “heartbroken” by the decision.
“We are considering our options for next steps,” he added.
The ruling came after Maxwell Markus argued on Monday that she faces harsh conditions in the jail during a remote hearing in front of the three-judge panel.
Markus insisted Maxwell can’t prepare for trial because she’s awakened every 15 minutes in the night by jail guards who shine flashlights in her cell.
In the hearing, Assistant US Attorney Lara Pomerantz said the constant checks were “routine” in the lockup — a claim Markus disputed.
“There’s nothing routine about it,” Markus said.
“The idea that she has an eye mask is wrong. She either uses a sock or a towel to block out the light on her own,” he added.
The appeals court panel said in the order Tuesday that she should raise those concerns with district court Judge Alison Nathan, who is overseeing her case in Manhattan federal court.
“To the extent Appellant seeks relief specific to her sleeping conditions, such request
should be addressed to the District Court,” the panel wrote.
Maxwell has requested bail three times since she was arrested, but has been rejected each time.
In letters to Nathan, her attorneys detailed harsh conditions at the jail, including the constant checks in the middle of the night, which they say are done by guards because the Bureau of Prisons failed to stop Epstein from killing himself in a jail cell in 2019.
They also argued she’s dropped weight, lost hair — and was abused by a guard during a pat-down search earlier this year.
Maxwell is accused of grooming underage girls for Epstein to abuse in the 1990s and early 2000s in an eight-count indictment filed in Manhattan federal court. The indictment includes two counts of perjury that will be tried separately from the sexual misconduct charges. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
A trial date for Maxwell has been tentatively set for July.
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