Ghislaine Maxwell scored some points in Court Friday as a key witness against her had his credibility undermined and her defense was able to exclude photographs of Jeffrey Epsteinās New York mansion.
So satisfied were the victors that at the end of the day, Maxwell was smiling as she put her arm around Bobbi Sternheim, one of her lawyers, according to the Miami Herald.
In federal Court in Manhattan, Maxwell is facing charges that between 1994 and 2002 she procured underage girls that Epstein would later sexually abuse. Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges.
On Friday, the prosecution and defense dueled over pictures taken in a 2005 FBI raid of Epsteinās Palm Beach mansion. Included in the images were ones that showed framed photos of a partially clad prepubescent girl.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey said the photos were āevidence of Jeffrey Epsteinās lifestyleā that ācontradicts the public persona presented by the defense.ā
Judge Alison Nathan allowed two Palm Beach photos to be shown, including one of a girl laying across Epsteinās lap. In the image, the girlās rear end is shown and Epstein pretends to bite her, the Herald reported.
But pictures from a 2019 search of Epsteinās New York mansion were thrown out. An accuser in the case had talked about the dĆ©cor of the house in 1994.
Nathan said the prosecution never connected photos found in 2019 to allegations of the houseās dĆ©cor in 1994 or showed their connection to Maxwell.
The judge said a Maxwell accuser known as āJaneā should have indicated whether the 2019 images showed the same dĆ©cor as 1994.
āYou could have and should have shown her the photographs after her testimony,ā Nathan said.
Also on Friday, defense attorney Jeffrey Pagliuca undercut the credibility of Epsteinās Palm Beach house manager, Juan Alessi.
Alessi had claimed Maxwell recruited at least one underage girl from spas near Palm Beach.
However, Alessi had admitted on the stand on Thursday he had stolen $6,300 from Epsteinās mansion after he was no longer employed, the Herald reported.
āIt was the worst thing I ever did in my life,ā Alessi said, according to the Herald.
Pagliuca asked if there was a second theft.
āNever,ā Alessi said.
āIsnāt it true that you went to Epsteinās house to steal a gun, and you went there twice to steal money?ā Pagliuca said.
āI donāt remember,ā Alessi said.
āDidnāt you tell police you stole the money to pay for a friendās immigration papers?ā Pagliuca said
āI was trying to help her,ā Alessi said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.