Ghislaine Maxwell is woken up with a flashlight in her cell every 15 minutes to see if she is “breathing,” says her lawyer.

USA NewsDesk November 25, 2020 03:41


“Despite uninterrupted cell camera surveillance, Ms. Maxwell’s sleep is interrupted every 15 minutes when a flashlight wakes her up to see if she’s breathing,” wrote attorney Bobbi Sternheim.

Maxwell, who is awaiting trial in the Metropolitan Custody (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York, says he is “de facto in solitary confinement under the strictest conditions,” according to his legal counsel.

Maxwell is “over-invasively and invasively searched” and monitored 24 hours a day, his lawyer says the treatment is stricter than for prisoners convicted of terrorism or serious murder.

Portrait of faithful defender Jeffrey Epstein stands out from the unfinished Ghislaine Maxwell deposit

Sternheim asked U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan to instruct the MDC Superintendent to go to court over the terms of Maxwell’s detention.

Maxwell was quarantined earlier this week after a staff member working in the detention center tested Covid-19 positively. According to a letter from federal prosecutors to the court, the virus was tested negatively and showed no symptoms.

According to previous court submissions, Maxwell is being monitored by prison psychologists for several hours a day without his knowledge.
Increased security follows Epstein’s death last summer, while another federal institution, the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, was awaiting trial on a sex trafficking charge. According to the New York Medical Chief’s Office, Epstein died by suicide. Two guards dozed off and shopped online while allegedly observing Epstein, according to prosecutors, who accused them of submitting false records. The guards plead innocent.
Maxwell, 58, was arrested on July 2 and charged with recruiting, caring for and eventually abusing three alleged victims, including a girl under the age of 14. Maxwell did not plead guilty to the charges.
Judge Nathan denied Maxwell’s bail after finding him at risk for flying.
In August, the judge rejected Maxwell’s request to move among the prison residents and declared it unnecessary to change his detention at the time. The lawsuit is scheduled for July.

Maxwell’s lawyers have argued that Maxwell has never been diagnosed with suicide and is being treated unfairly in the current circumstances.

CNN’s Kara Scannell contributed to the report.

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