(CN) — Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal defense attorneys claim she is being treated worse in confinement than other pretrial detainees and won’t receive a fair trial unless the government discloses the identities of three victims cited in the indictment accusing her of helping Jeffrey Epstein exploit and abuse underage girls.
In a letter motion submitted to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan Monday, attorneys Christian R. Everdell and Mark S. Cohen claim their client is being held under “uniquely onerous conditions,” which include being put on suicide watch even though she says she has never been suicidal.
The attorneys claim that Maxwell has been treated differently than other similarly situated detainees at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn because of what happened to Epstien, who was put on suicide watch and psychologically evaluated after a suicide attempt on July 23, 2019. Epstein’s body was found in his cell on Aug. 10, 2019, and a medical examiner ruled his cause of death was suicide by hanging.
“As a result of what occurred with Mr. Epstein, Ms. Maxwell is being treated worse than other similarly situated pretrial detainees, which significantly impacts her ability to prepare a defense and be ready for trial on the schedule set by the Court,” the letter states.
The attorneys ask that Maxwell be released to the general population, granted privileges given to other pretrial detainees, and be given increased access to a computer terminal in order to review discovery.
“Ms. Maxwell does not seek special treatment at the MDC; but she does ask that she not be specially disfavored in her treatment in detention, especially when it comes to preparing her defense to conduct that allegedly took place over 25 years ago,” the letter states.
The attorneys also claim they should “not have to speculate” which of the “dozens, if not hundreds” of Epstein’s alleged victims are the three referenced in the indictment, and say that Maxwell cannot receive a fair trial unless the victims’ identities are disclosed.
“The defense’s narrowly-tailored request, which only seeks the disclosure of the identity of Victims 1-3, and not the government’s entire witness list, is also reasonable in light of the circumstances of this case,” the letter states. “And because the protective order prohibits Ms. Maxwell, defense counsel, and others on the defense team from disclosing or disseminating the identity of any alleged victim or potential witness referenced in the discovery materials ... the disclosure will have no impact on the privacy interests of Victims 1-3.”
The government said it would “only disclose the identities of alleged victims through its production of Ruel 16 discovery or as part of its production of Jencks Act material closer to trial,” according to the letter motion.
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