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Ghislaine Maxwell has virtually run out of legal routes to overturn conviction, experts say (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 5 days ago by ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world to c/Epsteinfiles@lemmy.world

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Ghislaine Maxwell seems to be all but guaranteed to have run out of legal avenues to challenge her conviction for her involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of girls and young women with perhaps her lingering hopes of freedom resting on a pardon from the Trump administration.

Paul Engelmayer, a Manhattan federal court judge, last week rejected Maxwell’s contention that her constitutional rights were violated at trial and sentencing for her crimes. “Maxwell’s claims are all meritless and all or almost all are frivolous,” Engelmayer wrote in his ruling on the former British socialite’s legal gambit.

Engelmayer also rejected Maxwell’s claim that new evidence, which she said came to light during Epstein Files Transparency Act disclosures, did not support her allegations of constitutional violations. “On the contrary, to the extent it is relevant, far from exculpating her, it incriminates her or reinforces the correctness of the legal rulings,” he ruled.

Maxwell’s family said in a statement that Engelmayer’s ruling was “marked by a tone of sarcasm and disdain that, in our view, undermines the appearance of impartiality and invites scrutiny of the judge’s conduct”. They also said Maxwell “will continue to pursue every available legal avenue” for relief.

Legal veterans said, however, that Maxwell had virtually exhausted all her court-based routes. With Maxwell apparently running out of legal pathways, many have wondered whether Donald Trump will at some point deliver a Hail Mary – a presidential pardon.

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[-] ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world 16 points 5 days ago

Maxwell’s family said in a statement that Engelmayer’s ruling was “marked by a tone of sarcasm and disdain that, in our view, undermines the appearance of impartiality and invites scrutiny of the judge’s conduct”.

They must not have read the absolute dog she filed pro se in spite of having a full team of attorneys to do it for her:

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.869.0.pdf

You don't have to be an attorney to read these things: skip the citations and read the text, it's easy enough.

The "sarcasm and disdain" they're squealing about is nothing of the sort; if anything it is actually a kindness that neither the filing nor the appellant deserve. He lays out, point by point, exactly what bullshit she laid before the court, and yeah, I imagine it stung them to read him rebuke her points one after another after another.

But that doesn't change the fact that in this appeal she simply shat out line by line whatever she thought might stick, in a gish gallop of lies and distortions, nor that she did it DIY, appearing pro se despite having a very highly paid team of attorneys to do it for her, so that she could fill it with items that would never pass the smell test for a real attorney.

From a distance, the whole thing -- the appeal and resulting family dismay alike -- reads like a plea for political attention, and at the end of that rainbow a presidential pardon. Whether it gets that remains to be seen.

this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2026

165 points (99.4% liked)

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