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The lawyer David Markus said it's unfair to
force Maxwell to review millions of pages of materials from
behind bars, with guards waking her with flashlights every 15
minutes on a misplaced concern she might, like Epstein, commit
suicide.
"We just want a fair opportunity, a fair chance, so she can get
ready for the trial of her life," Markus told a panel of the 2nd
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. "It's impossible to
prepare for trial when you're getting no sleep."
Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit
and groom three girls for sex from 1994 to 1997, and sex
trafficking for grooming and paying a fourth girl for nude
massages and sex acts with the financier from 2001 to 2004.
The British socialite is appealing U.S. District Judge Alison
Nathan's March 22 rejection of a $28.5 million bail package that
included renouncing her British and French citizenships.
Nathan has denied bail three times, and said Maxwell was a
"significant risk of flight" even with high bail.
Maxwell has been jailed in Brooklyn since her July 2020 arrest
at a million-dollar New Hampshire home that prosecutors called a
hideout. Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August
2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Federal prosecutor Lara Pomerantz told the three-judge appeals
court panel that Nathan did not commit "clear error," a high
legal standard, in denying bail.
One judge asked whether prison officials not wanting to "risk
another embarrassment" of another inmate's suicide should let an
independent psychiatrist evaluate Maxwell.
Pomerantz said Maxwell's lawyers haven't asked for one, and said
Nathan has "actively" monitored her jail conditions to ensure
she'll be ready for trial.
The appeals court did not say when it will rule.
Maxwell faces up to 80 years in prison if convicted. A trial is
scheduled for July 12, but Maxwell wants it delayed until
November or next January because of its complexity.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Grant
McCool)
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