The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Monday denied Ghislaine Maxwell’s effort to reverse the decision of a lower court that ordered her 2016 deposition transcript to be made public.
“(T)he District Court correctly held that the deposition materials are judicial documents to which the presumption of public access attaches and did not abuse its discretion in rejecting Maxwell’s meritless arguments that her interests superseded the presumption of access,” the appellate court panel wrote.
Maxwell, 58, was charged by federal prosecutors in early July for allegedly helping recruit, groom and ultimately sexually abuse minors as young as 14 as part of a years-long criminal enterprise with Jeffrey Epstein. She pleaded not guilty and was ordered jailed pending trial. She also is charged with two counts of perjury.
The deposition Maxwell’s legal team is fighting to keep sealed is connected to a 2015 defamation case brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claimed Epstein sexually abused her while she was a minor and that Maxwell aided in the abuse. The civil case was settled in 2017.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
