I need sock over my eyes to sleep says Ghislaine
Maxwell is sleeping with a sock on her face to shield her from light being shone into her cell by guards every 15 minutes.
her lawyer David Markus said she is also using a towel to cover her face to stop herself being woken up.
he made the claim during a hearing for Maxwell’s appeal against her third bail refusal, which was rejected by Judge alison nathan last month.
The judge has denied all three applications in spite of the alleged chief recruiter for Jeffrey epstein putting up a $28.5million (£20.5million) bail package and pledging to renounce her British and French citizenship.
Judge nathan said ‘no combination’ of factors would guarantee that Maxwell, 59, would not flee the country and deemed her a flight risk. During the latest hearing yesterday at the second Circuit appeal court in new York, the judges questioned why Maxwell was having a light shone in her cell every 15 minutes.
assistant Us attorney lara Pomerantz said: ‘The light is not being shined into her eyes, it’s being shined into the ceiling so [prison] guards can check on her security and ... she uses some sort of makeshift mask to cover her eyes.’ One judge asked Miss Pomerantz: ‘it’s routine to shine a light into the eyes of every prisoner every 15 minutes? are you really telling us that?’
Miss Pomerantz admitted that the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, where Maxwell is being held, had not informed her office that she was a suicide risk. Maxwell’s lawyers have questioned why she is being treated as a suicide risk, causing her to face more draconian security measures.
But any issues Maxwell had were raised through Judge nathan and addressed, Miss Pomerantz said.
Mr Markus told the court: ‘she tries to use either a sock or a towel to block out the light on her own, it’s not wrapped around her head. You can imagine trying to keep that on your eyes at night so the guards don’t wake you every 15 minutes.’ he claimed Maxwell was only being subjected to such conditions after epstein killed himself in august 2019 while in prison awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The judges said they would reserve their decision to a later date. On Friday Maxwell looked more frail and grey during her first appearance in a courtroom since she was detained last year.
she denied two new charges including trafficking a minor. Judge nathan is set to decide whether Maxwell’s trial will be delayed from July.