Ghislaine Maxwell trial verdict – live: Socialite to spend 60th birthday in jail as jury halts deliberations

The jury in Ms Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial is made up of six men and six women who range in age from their 20s to 70s.

The jury selection process took nearly a month, as the defence challenged 10 prospective members and the government challenged six.

The jurors’ names are currently sealed by the court to protect them from undue influence.

The jury in Ms Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial will resume its fourth day of deliberations on Monday, 27 December, after requesting a break over the holiday weekend.

The socialite and alleged madam for Epstein has pleaded not guilty to six federal charges, including one for sex trafficking of a minor and one for sex trafficking conspiracy.

The four other charges related to the Mann Act, which bars transporting individuals across state lines for illegal sexual activity.

It’s impossible to say how long the jury will take to come to a verdict on each of the six charges.

Experts had speculated that jurors would aim to have the trial wrapped up before Christmas arrives.

But asked on Wednesday if they wanted to continue deliberating the next day, jurors said: “No, thank you.”

Judge Nathan subsequently sent jurors home until next week, meaning Ms Maxwell will spend her 60th birthday – which falls on Christmas Day – behind bars.

The Independent’s Megan Sheets reports:

Almost 30 years after some of the alleged abuse took place, accusers of convicted paedophile Epstein and his alleged madam Ms Maxwell have finally had their day in court.

Four women – three of them testifying under pseudonyms – took the stand during Ms Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial to testify that Epstein’s former girlfriend preyed on vulnerable underage girls and groomed them for abuse by the late financier.

The women testified that Ms Maxwell, 59, both enabled Epstein in his abuse and took part in some of the abuse herself.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has more:

The jury is deliberating on a total of six charges against Ms Maxwell.

Here’s a breakdown of each charge and its corresponding maximum sentence:

Count 1: Conspiracy to entice a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts – maximum sentence of five years

Count 2: Enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts – maximum sentence of five years

Count 3: Conspiracy to transport a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity – maximum sentence of five years

Count 4: Transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity – maximum sentence of 10 years

Count 5: Conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors – maximum sentence of five years

Count 6: Sex trafficking of minors – maximum sentence of 40 years

The Independent’s Megan Sheets reports:

Prosecutors in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial released more than 150 exhibits as part of its case, including many never-before-seen images of the socialite’s jet-setting lifestyle with Jeffrey Epstein.

They show the pair on private jets, his mansions, and kissing and embracing in exotic locations around the world.

Ms Maxwell faces six charges; one each of enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking of a minor, and three counts of conspiracy related to the other counts. She has denied all the charges.

The jury’s move to delay deliberations until Monday means that Ms Maxwell will be spending her 60th birthday – which falls on Christmas Day – in her cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

The Independent’s Megan Sheets reports:

The court reconvened at 4.25pm EST, with Judge Nathan confirming a delay in deliberations.

She told jurors: “Alright. You declined my invitation to deliberate tomorrow. We will resume Monday at 9am.

“Same instructions. Please stay safe over the long weekend. I need all of you here and healthy on Monday.”

Jurors sent a note to the judge just before 4pm indicating they do not want to deliberate on Thursday.

Judge Nathan indicated she will grant the request, meaning deliberations would resume on Monday, 27 December.

In closing arguments, both sides painted diametrically-opposed portraits of Ms Maxwell and her relationship with Epstein.

The prosecution described her as a “sophisticated” predator and said she and Epstein “were partners in crime who exploited young girls together”.

The defence sought to distance Ms Maxwell from Epstein, saying: “These were things that Epstein did … but Ghislaine Maxwell is not Epstein.”

The Independent’s Gustaf Kilander recaps the final words from each party on Monday:

As the daughter of British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine Maxwell has always been in the limelight and from a young age, rubbed shoulders with high flying celebrities and heads of state.

Her first string of jobs in the 1980s still in her early 20s came through her father. She worked among executive directors at Oxford United football club which her father owned as well as doing work for her father’s Mirror Group newspapers.

She continued to climb the ranks in her father’s empire, working at The European and also seeking to become a fashion editor at the New York Daily News. Through her father’s connections, she was never far from A-listers and soon developed her own socialite lifestyle meeting Epstein along the way in the early 90s.

Ms Ghislaine then became the property manager for Epstein where she said she hired assistants, architects, decorators, cooks and cleaners for his properties, she said in a 2016 deposition.