Ghislaine Maxwell says Bill Cosby’s release justifies Reuters stopping allegations of sex trafficking

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell say the suspension of Bill Cosby’s 2018 sexual assault conviction justifies the dismissal of sex trafficking and other charges against Jeffrey Epstein’s financial death.

Cosby, 83, was released from prison Wednesday when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s 2005 attorney’s agreement said Andrea Constand Temple University should not impeach the actor and comedian ten years later for not accusing him of drugging and assaulting a Temple University employee.

In a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Alison Nathan of Manhattan, Maxwell’s attorneys said the British man’s case was similar to Cosby’s because it was embedded in Epstein’s 2007 indictment-free settlement.

He said he supports the dismissal of four of Maxwell’s eight indictment charges, which cover the alleged crimes of 1994 and 2004, and could impose an 80-year prison sentence. Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty.

“As in Cosbi’s case, the government is denying her agreement and is trying to try Ms. Maxwell 25 years later for the same crimes that gave her immunity,” Maxwell’s lawyers said. “That is not in line with the principles of basic fairness.”

U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss of Manhattan has sought to resign from her Manhattan office.

Epstein signed an agreement with Florida federal prosecutors in exchange for pleading guilty to state prostitution charges.

Nathan decided in April that the deal would not bind Manhattan prosecutors. He also claimed that Maxwell was covering up conspirators of defendants like himself.

Cosby’s decision not to charge him paved the way for his testimony in a 2005 civil lawsuit filed by Constand, which ended in a $ 3.36 million settlement.

Pennsylvania prosecutors later used incriminating testimony from Cosby to build a new criminal case. A Pennsylvania court said they could not, and Cosby was released after serving a potential 10-year sentence over two years.

On Wednesday, one of Maxwell’s attorneys, David Markus, argued in an opinion piece in the New York Daily News that Cosby’s dismissal justified ending Maxwell’s indictment.

He said it is unfair for prosecutors to use Maxwell’s testimony in 2016 to prosecute Virginia Giuffre Epstein to build his case through a civil lawsuit against him, and that the jury must dismiss his “weak and outdated accusations”.

On Thursday, the prosecutor said Markus’ opinion violated a ruling against lawyers who make “out-of-court statements” that could tarnish the jury’s set, and asked Nathan to order him to comply.

Maxwell’s attorneys have accused prosecutors of using unfair tactics to shake up potential jurors.

Maxwell’s trial could begin in November.