Ghislaine Maxwell vows to take her case all the way to the Supreme Court if she ... trends now
Ghislaine Maxwell will take her case to the Supreme Court if she loses her appeal, her lawyers said today.
Attorney Arthur Aidala said that Maxwell would fight on because her case could 'put a stake in the heart of the trust' between citizens and their government if she loses.
Aidala said that the US government agreed not to prosecute Maxwell as part of a deal with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2008 and it couldn't just 'rip it up.'
Maxwell's legal team said it was 'cautiously optimistic' after the hearing before a three-judge panel in New York, who reserved their decision.
Lawyers for the disgraced British socialite are seeking to overturn her 2021 conviction for sex trafficking for luring girls as young as 14 to Epstein.
She is serving 20 years in jail at a prison in Tallahassee, Florida, with a release date of 2037, should her appeal fail.
An appeal hearing was held today in New York for British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who listened on the phone during the 20-minute hearing
Maxwell's lawyers said she will take her case all the way to the Supreme Court if she loses her appeal
Maxwell's close relationship with Epstein was well-documented in public over the years, yet she still denies having knowledge of the dead financier's crimes
Aidala was appearing at the Second Circuit appeal court in New York in the same courthouse where Maxwell was put on trial.
Maxwell, 62, listened in on a phone line to the 20-minute hearing.
Speaking afterwards, Aidala said that Epstein's plea deal in 2008, under which he served just 15 months in jail for soliciting underage girls for prosecution, gave immunity for Maxwell under a provision related to co-conspirators.
Maxwell's lawyer Arthur Aidala said he was 'cautiously optimistic' after the hearing before a three-judge panel, who reserved their decision
Aidala said that the deal with Florida prosecutors referred to the 'United States' which he said referred to prosecutors in the entire country.
That made it unfair when Maxwell was brought to trial by prosecutors in New York in 2020, after Epstein hanged himself while awaiting his own trial.
'You can't rip up an agreement between the government and its citizens', Aidala said.
Aidala said that Maxwell was 'very optimistic' that her appeal would win and he called her a 'very intelligent' woman who was helping with the case.
If they lose the appeal they would go to the Supreme Court because 'it's not just about Ghislaine, it's about the whole system' Aidala said.
'It puts a stake in the heart of the trust that goes between (the government) and the citizens of this country'
In court, Diana Fabi Samson, another of Maxwell's
