SMR Maxwell
Documents unsealed in case against Ghislaine Maxwell (July 2020)
02:13 - Source: CNN
CNN  — 

Attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell, the alleged accomplice of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, said in a court filing Monday that they’ve learned of “critical new information” that impacts her criminal case and a civil case where dozens of documents are expected to be unsealed.

Her attorneys have asked that the documents, including depositions, remain sealed for three weeks as they work with prosecutors to see if they can share information with the court.

The filing did not provide details about the new information, saying that Maxwell’s attorneys aren’t at liberty to disclose it because it’s subject to a court protective order in the criminal case.

Maxwell’s attorneys initiated conversations with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York over the weekend with the intention of modifying the protective order so they could share the information, possibly under seal, to argue to stop the release of documents.

At a court proceeding last month, Maxwell pleaded not guilty to charges by New York federal prosecutors that she helped recruit, groom and ultimately sexually abuse minors as young as 14.

The former British socialite – who was arrested in New Hampshire in July – is being held in a New York jail after a federal judge denied her bail and ordered her held until trial, citing a number of reasons that she is a flight risk, including her financial resources, international ties, and “extraordinary capacity to avoid detection.”