Ghislane Maxwell’s trial was canceled Thursday after an attorney in the case became ill and needed medical attention, according to The Associated Press.
U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan told the jury in Manhattan the attorney was “ill and has to get care” and was required for direct examination for Maxwell’s fourth accuser, The AP reported.
Judge Nathan also stated she doesn’t believe the attorney’s illness was related to COVID-19. Testimony is expected to resume Friday after jurors were sent home for the rest of the day. (RELATED: FAA Accidentally Reveals 704 Previously Unknown Epstein Flights)
Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of sex trafficking and perjury after she was accused of tailoring underage girls for sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein, BBC News reported. Maxwell’s lawyers have continuously gone after prosecutors for shaping her as a fall guy for Epstein’s heinous sex crimes.
Acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Audrey Strauss, announces charges against Ghislaine Maxwell during a July 2, 2020, press conference in New York City. – Maxwell, the former girlfriend of late financier Jeffrey Epstein, was arrested in the United States on July 2, 2020, by FBI officers investigating his sex crimes, multiple US media outlets reported. (Photo by Johannes EISELE / AFP) (Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)
Jurors heard one witness who said that Epstein sent several women overnight packages in late 2002 before adjourning on Thursday evening, according to the AP.
Should the trial resume Friday, the fourth accuser, Annie Farmer, will be called to the stand and testify about her past history with Epstein as well as Maxwell’s alleged involvement with the widespread sexual abuse, the AP reported.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 after several women accused him of sexually assaulting them when they were underage. Federal prosecutors found a collection of nude photos in his Manhattan mansion. The disgraced financier was taken off suicide watch before he was found dead in his cell in a New York City jail in August 2019, according to the AP.