Ghislaine Maxwell will face two separate trials on charges of grooming underage victims of Jeffrey Epstein and lying under oath, a judge ruled Friday.
Manhattan Federal Judge Alison Nathan wrote in a 34-page ruling that trying the cases together raised thorny legal issues.
Maxwell is charged with procuring and grooming three underage Epstein victims in the mid-1990s. She’s also accused of lying under oath about her sex life in two depositions in 2016. Having one jury consider both allegations would result in them being exposed to “a wider swath of information” than is necessary, Nathan wrote.
“It would introduce unrelated allegations of sexual abuse, which would potentially expose the jury to evidence that might otherwise not be admissible,” the jurist explained.
The judge’s decision did not address a new charge against Maxwell of trafficking a minor in the early 2000s, which was included in a superseding indictment issued by a grand jury last month.
Nathan also rejected a slew of legal challenges Maxwell, 59, brought against her indictment.
The British socialite has pleaded not guilty and is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. She’s currently scheduled to face trial in July, though she seeks a delay.
