Ghislaine Maxwell at her bail hearing
In the first motion filed on Jan. 25, lawyers for Maxwell argue that counts one through four — which charges the British socialite with conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts — should be dropped because the alleged crimes happened more than two decades ago.
"Because Counts One through Four charge Ms. Maxwell with offenses that were completed no later than 1997, and because the indictment was not returned until July 2020, these counts are time-barred unless 'otherwise expressly provided by law,'" the filing states.
In a separate filing, her team moved to dismiss the other two counts that charge Maxwell with perjury for allegedly lying she knew nothing about Epstein having sex with underage girls in a civil defamation suit accuser Virginia Giuffre filed against her.
"These counts fail, as a matter of law, because the questions posed were ambiguous, the answers given were true, and both the questions and answers were immaterial to the defamation action. Accordingly, the Court should dismiss Counts Five and Six," court papers say.
The 59-year-old Maxwell has denied any involvement in trafficking minors for her late pal Epstein, who committed suicide in a Lower Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex charges.
Maxwell is currently housed in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where she has constantly complained about the conditions in the federal prison.
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