NEW YORK — A renowned psychologist on false memory took the witness stand for the defense Thursday in the Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking trial, testifying that research has shown that people can develop memories about events that didn’t happen — often as a result of suggested, or even planted, misinformation.
Elizabeth Loftus, a Stanford-educated professor and researcher, was called by Maxwell’s legal team in a quest to sow doubt among jurors about the truthfulness of the four women accusing Maxwell of facilitating and participating in sexual assaults of underage girls by the late New York financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Loftus has testified in more than 150 criminal cases, including for the defense in sexual assault cases against Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein, and she has conducted decades of research and written dozens of books on the science of memory. While she didn’t speak about Maxwell’s alleged victims, she said scientific studies have shown that memories can be manipulated, particularly when it’s distorted by a source that is trusted, such as a parent or a law enforcement officer.
She was among four witnesses who testified for the defense, which is expected to rest by Monday. Following closing arguments early next week, the jury could get the case as early as Tuesday — with a possible verdict by Christmas, which is Maxwell’s 60th birthday.
The case was supposed to last up to six weeks, but the prosecution only took two weeks, and the defense expects to wrap up in less than two days. Neither side called as many witnesses as they planned, and by Thursday afternoon, even some of the witnesses the two sides were arguing about earlier dropped off their lists.
The defense would not say Thursday whether Maxwell will testify, but her family indicated that she will not take the witness stand.
A family spokesman said Maxwell is “too fragile” to testify, according to Britain’s Telegraph. Family members didn’t elaborate, but they have long complained about Maxwell’s “abusive” treatment during the 18 months she has been locked up awaiting trial.
During the first two weeks of trial, Maxwell has been actively engaging with her lawyers and at times whispering and smiling with her sister, Isabel, and brother, Kevin, who sit in the front row.
Kevin Maxwell told reporters outside the courthouse during the trial’s first week that the family had filed a complaint with the United Nations concerning Maxwell’s “inhumane” prison conditions.
“It gave me a tremendous sense of relief to be close to her, to be able to see her in the flesh, even to be able to speak to her,” Kevin Maxwell said.
Court opened Thursday with the judge weighing in on whether several defense witnesses could testify using pseudonyms — an unusual request given that they weren’t claiming to be victims or under any threat or danger. They were instead citing “unwanted attention.”
Maxwell attorney Christian Everdell had argued it was only fair to give certain witnesses anonymity since the women accusers who testified for the prosecution were allowed to use pseudonyms.
“We all know that this case has gotten a lot of attention and that people who are testifying here might get a lot of unwanted attention, especially if they are testifying on behalf of Ms. Maxwell,” Everdell told the judge last Friday.
“And they would like to be able to do this, at least some of them, with some sort of anonymous protection.”
U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan wrote that the request was “unprecedented” and rejected several arguments Maxwell’s team had made to justify anonymity.
“It is notable that the defense does not cite in support of its motion a single case in which a court granted the use of pseudonyms to defense witnesses,” Nathan wrote.
Maxwell’s attorneys were also rebuffed in their efforts to call lawyers representing three of Maxwell’s accusers to the stand. Maxwell’s team had wanted to call the attorneys as witnesses because they claim that the lawyers pressured their clients to testify against Maxwell in the criminal case so that they could receive bigger payouts from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell’s lawyers have said that Robert Glassman, who represents a victim known as “Jane,” wrote an “ambiguous” email to the government suggesting that he told his client that cooperating in the criminal case could help her obtain a larger settlement.
Maxwell’s team began its defense by calling Maxwell’s former executive assistant, Cimberly Espinosa. Espinosa, 55, testified that while Maxwell had been a demanding boss, she taught Espinosa everything she knows about the challenges of completing large numbers of tasks and projects in a short period of time.
“I highly respect Ghislaine,” Espinosa said. “I looked up to her. I attribute my career as an executive assistant to working for Ghislaine.”
Espinosa worked in Epstein’s Madison Avenue office, and with a desk right next to Maxwell’s. She said she worked hand in hand with the British socialite helping to manage major projects — like staffing and obtaining supplies for Epstein’s island off the coast of St. Thomas. Espinosa said Maxwell was in charge of purchasing everything for all his properties — from linens and furniture to hauling in loads of sand and palm trees on the island to make the retreat more luxurious.
She said when she first started at the company in 1996, Maxwell was involved in all aspects of Epstein’s properties, juggling myriad duties. But by 2001, Maxwell and Epstein were no longer a couple, and Maxwell was dating other men, Espinosa said. Maxwell began coming into the office less frequently and another woman, Sarah Kellen, assumed some of Maxwell’s role. Kellen has been accused of helping Epstein arrange sexual massages with girls at his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion. She has not been charged.
Both Maxwell and Epstein often received massages in New York as well, but Espinosa said she never saw any women in the office who appeared to be younger than 18. She named a number of young women who were dating Epstein toward the end of her tenure with the company in 2002.
Espinosa did recall seeing “Jane,” at the New York office several times. “Jane” appeared to be 18, Espinosa said, and was referred to as Epstein’s “goddaughter.”
“She was kind of like family ... I felt it was a loving relationship,” she said about Jane and Epstein’s relationship. Jane eventually left New York to take an acting job in a soap opera in Los Angeles. Espinosa said the two of them stayed in touch because she was a fan of the show, and Jane sent her several autographed photos of the cast.
Espinosa, who now lives in California and works as an executive assistant for a CEO there, has also remained in contact with Maxwell, who has given her job references and allowed her to stay in her London townhouse when she visited Europe three years ago.
“Ghislaine was a very good resource for my career,” she said.
Espinosa said she never saw any evidence of anything improper, and called Epstein “a giver ... a kind person.”
Two other witnesses testified — one a New Jersey travel agent used by Epstein’s employees to arrange travel for “Jane” — and a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent who testified about international travel that was taken by Jane and two other victims, one named “Kate,” the other Annie Farmer.
It wasn’t clear how the two witnesses helped the defense, as there appeared to be no direct connections made to testimony by the accusers in the case.
The trial’s abrupt conclusion has led to questions about why certain witnesses weren’t called, even though they were prominently named by witnesses during trial. For example, prosecutors didn’t call Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who was mentioned several times as another underage victim recruited by Maxwell.
Instead of calling Giuffre herself, prosecutors used another witness, Juan Alessi — Epstein’s former butler — to testify that he was with Maxwell the day she met Giuffre at the spa at Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump’s private club in Palm Beach. Even more oddly, prosecutors called a records custodian at Mar-a-Lago to authenticate the employment record of Giuffre’s father, Sky Roberts, who worked at the resort at the time Giuffre met Maxwell. The record showed that Giuffre was his daughter. There was no indication whether the record showed Giuffre’s age or that she, too, worked at Mar-a-Lago.
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