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The photo was attached to a letter from
Maxwell's lawyer Bobbi Sternheim to U.S. District Judge Alison
Nathan in Manhattan, who oversees Maxwell's criminal case.
Guards at the Brooklyn jail housing the 59-year-old Maxwell
"confronted" her on Wednesday night about the bruise and
threatened to put her in a separate housing unit if she didn't
explain its origin, according to the letter.
Sternheim said Maxwell did not know where the bruise came from,
but it may be from her using a sock or towel to shield her eyes
because guards shine light into her cell every 15 minutes, to
ensure she is breathing and has not committed suicide.
Neither jail officials nor the U.S. Attorney's unit in
Manhattan, which is prosecuting Maxwell, immediately responded
to requests for comment.
Sternheim did not immediately respond to a similar request. Her
letter did not say who took the photo.
Late on Thursday, Nathan ordered prosecutors to explain by May 5
whether and why jail officials might be subjecting Maxwell to
nighttime "flashlight surveillance," and whether she could
receive "appropriate eye covering."
Lawyers for Maxwell have complained repeatedly about her
confinement, saying the conditions undermine her preparation for
her scheduled July 12 trial.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and other
charges over her alleged role in procuring four teenage girls
for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.
Epstein killed himself in jail in August 2019 while awaiting
trial on sex trafficking charges.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Catherine Koppel in New York;
editing by Grant McCool)
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