Ghislaine Maxwell says she will not testify in sex abuse trial

NEW YORK (REUTERS) - Ghislaine Maxwell said on Friday (Dec 17) she will not testify in her own defence at her sex abuse trial, stating that prosecutors had not proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of sex trafficking and other crimes.

Prosecutors say she recruited and groomed girls for the late financier Jeffrey Epstein to abuse.

Defendants in US criminal trials are not required to testify, and often do not, since the burden of proof is on prosecutors.

"Your honour, the government has not proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt and so there is no need for me to testify," Maxwell, standing up in the courtroom, told US District Judge Alison Nathan.

Four women who testified for the prosecution said Maxwell set them up for abuse by Epstein when they were teenagers. The defence began its case on Thursday and has sought to undermine the women's credibility, calling several witnesses who have said they did not observe inappropriate conduct by Epstein or Maxwell.

Maxwell's attorneys argue that prosecutors are treating her as a stand-in for Epstein, who died by suicide at 66 years old in jail in 2019 while awaiting his own trial on sex abuse charges.

The defence is expected to rest its case later on Friday, paving the way for closing arguments on Monday. The trial, which began on Nov 29, is moving much faster than the six-week timeframe lawyers for both sides initially anticipated.

Earlier on Friday, jurors heard from Eva Andersson, who dated Epstein from 1983 until the early 1990s and is now married to billionaire former hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin. Andersson testified for the defence that she never saw any inappropriate conduct between the late financier and teenage girls.

Maxwell's lawyers also called two FBI agents to the stand as part of their efforts to undercut the accounts of her accusers.