Former Miss Sweden testifies when witnesses withdraw
A former Miss Sweden who has been dating the late, disgraced Jeffrey Epstein for several years has testified at the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex shop in New York.
Eva Dubin-Andersson, a beauty queen and Ford model who became a doctor, told the court that she dated Epstein from 1983 to 1991, before it was adjourned for a break on Friday.
Ms Dubin-Andersson is married to and shares three children with billionaire hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin, who has previously been publicly accused of having sex with a minor teenager, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, which he firmly denies.
Ms Roberts Giuffre has claimed that she was Epstein and Maxwell’s “sex slave” and claimed that Dubin was part of the couple’s sex trade ring, which he also denies.
Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to the charges that she acted as a madam for the disgraced financier Epstein, by recruiting and holding young girls accountable for his sexual exploitation.
On Friday, one of Maxwell’s lawyers, Laura Menninger, told Judge Alison Nathan that her client’s “life is at stake” when it emerged that one witness had refused to answer a lawsuit, another had promised to invoke the Fifth Amendment (the right to refuse to answer questions) and a third had been withdrawn.
In addition, Maxwell’s legal team has tried to fly in an 81-year-old pub owner from England to strengthen her case at eleven o’clock. The earliest he could come to the United States and testify is on Monday, Maxwell’s lawyers said.
The court heard that the man lived across the street from a house that Maxwell owned and could vouch for when she lived there, which showed inconsistencies in some of the prosecutor’s testimonies.
The trial, which began on November 29, is going at a faster pace than originally expected, paving the way for the defense to rest its case as early as Friday, followed by closing arguments from both parties next week. After summations, the judge will instruct jury members who are not sequestered.
The defense has tried to undermine four women’s credibility by claiming that their memories have become confused over time and that they are financially motivated to implicate Maxwell. The single couple’s inner circle included royalty, Hollywood stars and former American presidents.
Maxwell’s first defense witness was Cimberly Espinosa, who worked as her assistant from 1996 to 2006. Espinosa told the court she “highly respected” and “looked up to” Maxwell and never saw her act inappropriately with a minor.
On Thursday, Elizabeth Loftus, a psychologist who studies how people can form false memories based on information they hear after an event takes place, testified that “false memories … can be very vivid, detailed.”
“People can be sure of them, people can be emotional about them, even if they are fake,” she said.
During cross-examination, Loftus admitted that people who experience trauma may forget “peripheral details” but “core memories” tend to be stronger.
Maxwell’s legal team has also tried to show that she has become a scapegoat for Epstein – who pleaded guilty to recruiting minors for prostitution in 2008 and was found dead in a federal prison cell in Manhattan pending trial for sex trafficking in 2019. His death was determined a suicide .
Prosecutors rested their case on Friday after two weeks of emotional testimony from four women who said they were teenagers when Maxwell lured them to Epstein under the guise of paying to give him a massage.
“Jane”, an actress in soap opera, testified under pseudonyms, told the jury that Maxwell massaged her breasts and considered her to be sexually exploited by Epstein when she was 14 years old in his palace-like home in Palm Beach, Florida, New York. City and on his ranch in New Mexico.
“Kate”, a former British model, testified that she was 17 years old when Maxwell enticed her to give the disgraced financier a sexualized “massage”. Carolyn, who took a stand with only her first name, told the court that Maxwell touched her breasts and saw her naked about 30 times in Epstein’s home, for the first time when she was 14 years old.
Annie Farmer was the only prosecutor to testify under her full name. She told the jury that Maxwell was sitting on one side of Epstein in a movie theater while he “caressed” her on the other side when she was 16 years old. Ms Farmer said Maxwell also massaged her breasts at Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico that weekend.
Maxwell, who turns 60 on Christmas Day, is unlikely to testify during her trial, but her legal team is expected to formally confirm that decision before resuming later today or on Monday.