Manhattan federal prosecutors responded after an attorney for Ghislaine Maxwell complained about her “damaging” conditions last month, saying in a letter filed Tuesday that the real problem appears to be her inability to clean her “very dirty” cell and flush the toilet.
The letter came in response to a complaint sent to a federal judge in February by a lawyer for the British socialite.
Maxwell, who is facing trial for grooming and trafficking in girls for billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, claimed she was forced to drink dirty tap water and eat unheated meals and was “physically abused” by a guard during a search at the Center for Metropolitan Detention.
“The general conditions of detention have had a negative impact on Ms. Maxwell’s general health and well-being; and it is fading into a shell of what it was before – losing weight, losing hair and losing its ability to concentrate, ”defense attorney Bobbi Sternheim wrote to US District Judge Alison Nathan.
However, federal prosecutors in Manhattan paint a very different picture. In her presentation Tuesday, they say Maxwell is at a healthy weight, has no noticeable hair loss, received the COVID vaccine, and appears to sleep through nightly check-ups, but she has been warned of cleanliness issues herself.
The MDC determined that Maxwell’s allegation of an abusive search was “unfounded,” prosecutors wrote, before adding that detention staff warned the 59-year-old woman about her alleged refusal to keep the jail cell clean or even flush the toilet.
“Following the defense attorney’s complaint in his letter of February 16, 2021 about an improperly conducted search, the MDC conducted an investigation and found that, contrary to the defendant’s assertion, the record in question was recorded in his totality by a handheld camera, ”says a footnote in the letter filed by Assistant United States Attorneys Maurene Comey, Alison Moe and Lara Pomerantz.
“After reviewing the camera footage, the MDC concluded that the search was carried out appropriately and that the defendant’s complaint about that incident was unfounded,” his letter says. “The MDC’s legal counsel further confirmed that all the searches of the defendant are videotaped.”
The government letter added that after Maxwell’s abuse report, MDC staff ordered the heir to “clean her cell because it was very dirty.”
“Among other things, MDC staff noted that the defendant frequently did not flush the toilet after using it, causing the cell to smell bad,” the presentation continues. “Furthermore, the defendant had not cleaned her cell in some time, which made the cell increasingly dirty. MDC staff ordered the defendant to clean her cell in response to the smell and dirt, not in retaliation for complaining about a particular search. “
Prosecutors also say Maxwell has plenty of time for calls with his attorneys and, with access to both a desktop and laptop 13 hours a day, seven days a week, “continues to receive more time to review the discovery. than any other inmate. “
MDC also checked Maxwell’s email account after she claimed jail staff deleted her messages prematurely. “That examination revealed that the defendant had deleted some of her emails herself and had archived others,” the letter states. “That examination revealed no evidence to suggest that MDC staff deleted any of the defendant’s emails.” (In accordance with Bureau of Prisons policy, inmate emails are deleted every six months, based on filing notes.)
Maxwell is allowed out of his cell from 7 a.m. calls and a shower “.
You are allowed “outdoor recreation every day, although you have the option of declining that recreation time if you wish,” the government adds. “The defendant also has as much time, if not more, as any other MDC inmate to communicate with their attorneys.”
Prosecutors say they were informed by MDC’s legal counsel that Maxwell’s meals are heated in a thermal oven and that the facility’s water is New York City tap water. When the city performs maintenance, they say, inmates receive bottled water. “MDC’s legal advisor emphasized that MDC staff, including legal staff, drink the same tap water from the same water system as the defendant while at the institution,” their letter reads.
Last week, Maxwell’s legal team addressed the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in an attempt to secure his release from the MDC. The US District Court for the Southern District of New York has refused to grant you bail three times because it considers it a flight risk.
In his motion for pretrial release, Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus, compared her to other convicted sex offenders who were granted pretrial bail, including Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein. Markus referenced The silence of the lambs‘fictional serial killer, too.
“Since her arrest, Ms. Maxwell has faced nightmarish conditions,” the motion reads. “Although she is a model prisoner who poses no danger to society and has done literally nothing to provoke ‘special’ treatment, she is kept in isolation, suitable conditions for Hannibal Lecter, but not a 59-year-old woman who does not represent a threat to anyone. . “