Maxwell ’too frail’ to testify
Socialite won’t face Epstein grilling
GHISLAINE Maxwell will avoid being grilled about Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew after her family claimed she was not up to taking the stand.
When asked if she would be giving evidence, a spokesman for the British socialite said she was “too fragile”.
Maxwell’s family claim her condition has deteriorated badly during her 18 months in jail, while awaiting her grooming and sexual abuse case in New York to be heard.
She will escape being quizzed about her relationship with former lover Epstein and her rich and famous friends mentioned during her trial, including Prince Andrew.
Last night, a source said: “Ghislaine is perfectly entitled to refuse to give evidence.
“It is up to the prosecution to prove their case against her with or without her testimony.
“Her family have long argued she has become a shell of her former self, accusing jail officials of holding her in inhumane conditions.
“They say she is being deprived of food and sleep.
Crucially, whether fragile or not, by not giving evidence, it prevents prosecutors from asking her about her relationship with Epstein and others, including Andrew, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.”
Maxwell, 59, is accused of procuring, grooming and at times sexually abusing four girls under 18 for Epstein, who hanged himself in his cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
If convicted of all six charges, she faces up to 70 years in prison.
She has pleaded not guilty on all counts.
Jurors are today to return to court after a three-day break, as lawyers scrambled to get defence witnesses to appear when prosecutors cut short their evidence by three weeks.