by Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. - attorney, law professor emeritus, and author of Federal law
We are continuing our day-by-day breakdown of the transcripts of Ghislaine Maxwell's trial. Today we are talking about days 8 and 9 of the trial. The transcripts are included for Notes from the Front members.
As is always the case, the first several pages of the Day 8 transcript are the housekeeping matters between the judge and the lawyers, and out of earshot of the jury. They talk about the presenting of witnesses, and also of documents. The defense objects to certain requests made by the prosecution, and we discover that at this point it's not known whether the defense plans to put on a defense in chief, or just let their cross-examination during the government's witnesses stand as Maxwell's defense.
Then the jury is seated and the first witness is called: Tracey Chapell. Ms. Chapell is a paralegal at FedEx, and she is being put on the stand to authenticate the invoices from FedEx to Epstein. In particular she authenticates an invoice from December, 2002, where the sender is "S. Kellen" in New York City, and the recipient is "Carolyn", in West Palm Beach, Florida. Another invoice using Epstein's account is sent by Celia Steen at Epstein's New York address, also going to Caroline at the West Palm Beach address. All of this is to establish that FedEx deliveries were going to Caroline at West Palm Beach. Then the defense examines Ms. Chapell and gets her to say that neither S. Kellen nor Celia Steen are Ghislaine Maxwell, right? (Right.) Someone named Lisa Anasrons *did* receive a FedEx from Maxwell, but nobody seems to know who she is, not even the attorneys. Then the defense attorney takes her through a litany of sender/recipient combinations.
It may seem dry, but this is how cases are built.
THEN one of the attorneys gets ill, and day 8 of the trial is ended for the day, which is why I am giving you days 8 and 9 together.
On day 9 the first witness is William Brown. Mr. Brown works at the New York DMV, and he is being examined to authenticate DMV records of one of the victim witnesses to document her date of birth and that she was 11 years old in 1996.
Then they call Annie Farmer to the stand. She is there to testify about what happened to her, with Epstein and Maxwell, at Zorro Ranch.
Annie is asked to look around the room and "do you see anyone in this courtroom who has ever given you a massage?"
Annie identifies the defendant, Ghislaine Maxwell, and says she was 16 years old at the time of the massage.
She explains that her sister Maria Farmer, who is nine years older than Annie, worked for Jeffrey Epstein.
Next you are going to see my previous explanation of the hearsay rule in action. They discuss a phone call between Annie and Maria:
"Q. What had your sister, Maria, told you about the trip to New York?
A. She had said that Epstein was interested in possibly helping me with my education, and this was one of the reasons that he was purchasing my ticket.
MS. MENNINGER (defense counsel): I renew my objection, your Honor.
THE COURT: So I'll overrule the objection, but I will tell the jury that the testimony that Ms. Farmer just provided about what was told to her is not being offered for the truth, but for the limited purpose of the effect on the listener, Ms. Farmer."
Then Annie describes her first meeting with Epstein (remember that her sister Maria worked for Epstein at that time). She flew to New York - Epstein had purchased the tickets. He bought them tickets to Phantom of the Opera. He served them champagne. She was 16.
Then she talks about them all watching a movie during that same trip, her, Epstein, and Maria.
She describes what happened (trigger warning):
"Q. Who did you sit next to at the movie theater?
A. I sat next to Epstein.
Q. And where was Maria seated?
A. She was seated on his other side.
Q. What happened during the movie?
A. Initially, when the lights went down, watching the movie. And then at some point he reaches over and puts his hand on the armrest in between our seats and starts to reach for my hand. And then, you know, caressed my hand; and then, you know, interlocked his hand with mine, holding my hand. And then also was rubbing my -- I think I had my, you know, legs crossed, so he was rubbing the bottom of my shoe and then rubbing my foot and my leg.
Q. When he was doing that, what was your reaction?
A. I was very surprised. I was very nervous and anxious. I felt sick to my stomach."
There are pages and pages and pages of her testimony. On page 44 you will find another excellent example of what is the hearsay rule, what are some exceptions, etc..
The Zorro Ranch stuff starts at about page 47 of this 267-page document. (Included for Notes from the Front members)
She explains that she was invited for a weekend, that Epstein paid for the plane ticket, and that she stayed in a "small residence" and that nobody else was there other than her, Epstein, and Maxwell.
During her visit to Zorro Ranch she, Epstein, and Maxwell went to the movies, and a repeat of what happened in New York happened, with Epstein touching her throughout the movie. Only, she says, "it was very blatant" (page 54).
Back at the ranch she was instructed in how to give Epstein a foot massage.
Then she describes being in bed the next morning and Epstein "bounding" into her room, saying he wants to cuddle, and climbing into bed with her, pressing himself up against her (page 58).
I’m not going into great detail for the above for several reasons but, again, it’s all in the transcript.
Again, she is 16.
She also talks about a school trip to Thailand, for which Epstein paid.
Then the cross-examination happens, in which the defense tries to suggest that she has dates wrong or that she had to rely on the Internet to get some of the dates, and so that, the implication is, her memory is faulty.
After Annie is excused they call her high school boyfriend, David Mulligan to the stand. He is there to testify about what Annie told him had occurred with Epstein.
Then they are done for the day.
Notes from the Front members: The transcripts of days 8 and 9 are in your inbox. (Note: if you have installed the Substack app on your phone you need to be sure to go to your notifications settings *in the app*, and set notifications to "email" because it defaults your account to "not email").
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