In the most important abuse trial in American history, both prosecution and defense focus on one ghost.
Because the main culprit killed himself a year and a half ago: Jeffrey Epstein, whom more than one hundred young women and girls accuse of having sexually abused and exploited them.
Many of them were minors at the time of the crime;
some only fourteen years old.
Ghislaine Maxwell's defense attorneys therefore pursue a strategy that is called "empty chair" in the USA: the actual accused is not present and an empty chair in the courtroom is difficult to accuse.
But even the public prosecutor's office can only prove the accused's crimes if they always think about Jeffrey Epstein.
“One cannot work without the other,” reports Marc Pitzke in the podcast after he had observed the first day of the trial in New York Maxwell «- like a refrain.
You have to tie her to him, because without him you can't blame her - that's legally tricky. "
This unusually difficult legal situation is only one problem of the process. After Epstein was charged with sexual abuse and exploitation of minors in 2007, he was able to negotiate a compromise with the court, which only resulted in a suspended prison sentence of 18 months . Jeffrey Epstein was allowed to spend twelve hours a day outside of prison; He was released after only 13 months. A verdict that spawned allegations of a corrupt justice system and fueled conspiracy theories about Epstein's human trafficking in celebrities, the super-rich and politicians.
"This trial is not just a trial against Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein," says the deputy unfortunately of the SPIEGEL foreign department, Christoph Scheuermann, who has also been observing the Maxwell case for a long time.
“In this process, the important question is also negotiated: 'Is justice actually available in the USA?'”.
You can hear the current episode here: