Ghislaine Maxwell on suicide watch, may seek sentencing delay: lawyer
Mark Lungariello - June 25, 2022
Ghislaine Maxwell is on suicide watch — but isn’t really suicidal, her attorney said Saturday.
The declaration of a suicide watch for the disgraced British socialite and Jeffrey Epstein pal had her attorney promising that she’d look to delay Maxwell’s sentencing on charges that she recruited underage girls for Epstein to abuse.
“If Ms. Maxwell remains on suicide watch, is prohibited from reviewing legal materials prior to sentencing, becomes sleep-deprived, and is denied sufficient time to meet with and confer with counsel, we will be formally moving on Monday for an adjournment,” Attorney Bobby Sternheim wrote in a letter to U.S. Circuit Judge Alison Nathan.
Maxwell, 61, hasn’t been able to “properly prepare” because officials at a Brooklyn federal prison abruptly put her in solitary confinement and informed her she was on suicide watch Friday, the letter said, according to Reuters.
As part of her suicide watch, her regular clothes, toothpaste, soap and papers were taken away, Sternheim said.
Maxwell was put on suicide watch though she “is not suicidal,” according to her attorney. A psychologist evaluated Maxwell and backed up that assessment, according to Reuters.
Epstein – Maxwell’s one-time boyfriend — killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 awaiting his trial on sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell was convicted last year on charges she had groomed girls for Epstein between 1994 and 2004 that he abused. She and her attorneys have complained about the conditions of her incarceration since she was first arrested, with complains she was subjected to strip searches and awakened every 15 minutes.
A spokesman for US Attorney Damian Williams declined comment to the wire service.
https://nypost.com/2022/06/25/ghislaine-maxwell-on-suicide-watch-may-seek-sentencing-delay-lawyer/
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17318376/united-states-v-maxwell/?order_by=desc
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.677.0.pdf