A Manhattan judge has recently ruled to make several records of a civil lawsuit from 2015 against Ghislaine Maxwell accessible by the public.
Lawyers representing Maxwell have been working on challenging the court order to have the documents released, saying that the details contained within could threaten Maxwell's currently ongoing criminal sex abuse case.
Right to access
According to Unilad, US District Judge Loretta Preska declared that the public's right to have access to the vast majority of the documents far outweighed Maxwell's reasons for keeping them private.
Judge Preska has also reportedly said that authorities would redact the names and identifying information of several non-parties from at least 80 of the documents to keep their persons private.
It has also been revealed that the documents will not be revealed immediately as the court will give Maxwell's legal representatives a one-week timeline to file an emergency motion with the federal appeals court of Manhattan to stop the documents' release.
The documents were part of a previous defamation lawsuit from 2015 that has since been resolved. Virginia Roberts Giuffre was responsible for filing the lawsuit, and she has also accused Epstein of sexually abusing her. At the same time, she was underage and claimed that Maxwell was his co-conspirator.
Maxwell has since denied the allegations as she pleaded not guilty to the charges that she was involved in Epstein's sex trafficking of young children. The accused has been released earlier this month, as reported by Independent.
A judge has also denied her bail previously, arguing concerns that Maxwell could very well be a flight risk and has set a tentative trial to be held in 2021.
The judge in charge of Maxwell's case ruled on Thursday against placing a gag order that would have prevented prosecutors and witness attorneys from talking about the incident in public.
Previous investigations
In August, some of the documents have been revealed, a day after Epstein was found dead in his jail as a result of hanging, a case which has been ruled as suicide.
Maxwell was revealed to have sought adult professional massage therapists for the deceased Epstein, as revealed from excerpts from a 2016 deposition. At the time, Giuffre was only 17 years old when she allegedly provided massage services to Epstein.
"Jane Does" who have accused Epstein of sexually abusing their persons will be redacted from the documents if they are ruled to be released to the public. Additionally, medical records with be withheld to keep their identities hidden, Judge Preska announced.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents arrested Maxwell inside her property in New Hampshire on July 2. According to The New York Times, the accused attempted to evade officers by ignoring their calls and fleeing towards a different room and shutting the door.
The agents continued to break down the door and forcibly enter the home, taking Maxwell into custody. During a search of the house, prosecutors stated that investigators discovered a mobile phone wrapped in tin foil placed on a desk, which was considered to be an attempt by Maxwell to evade detection by law enforcement.
