(Bloomberg) — A psychologist testifying at Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial cast doubt on the reliability of her accusers’ memories, telling jurors their accounts of alleged sex abuse can be tainted by things like questioning by law enforcement and media.
Elizabeth Loftus was the third witness to testify for Maxwell, telling jurors people who are exposed to new information following an event incorporate it into their memories, and they then become inaccurate.
“It’s not a video machine,” Loftus said, “We’re actually constructing our memories each time we retrieve them. We construct what feels like a recollection.”
Maxwell’s lawyers are using the memory expert in an ongoing attempt to undermine the credibility of her accusers. Earlier Thursday, the British socialite’s former assistant Cimberly Espinosa’s testimony was used to attempt to refute claims by Jane, one of Maxwell’s accusers, that she cut off all contact with Jeffrey Epstein and his associates after leaving New York for a job in California.
Espinosa, the first defense witness, told the jury she never saw either Epstein, or Maxwell, engage in illicit activity with underage girls. She said Jane remained in contact with her, sending photos of herself.
The jury has heard accounts from four prosecution witnesses who said Epstein abused them during sexualized massages, with help from Maxwell.
Espinosa characterized Epstein’s relationship with Jane as simply affectionate and said she thought Jane was Epstein’s goddaughter.
The U.S. claims Maxwell and Epstein used massages as a means of “grooming” underage girls for sex and that Maxwell “normalized” the encounters with her presence as a mature woman. Maxwell says the government, having failed to prosecute Epstein, is going after her in his place.
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Espinosa, 55, who worked for Maxwell from 1996 to 2002, testified that she used to book massages for Maxwell, who she said favored luxury spots with professional masseuses at Bliss Spa and Elizabeth Arden Red Door in New York. She said she also booked appointments five to 10 times for Epstein, who died in 2019 in jail while awaiting trial, in what was ruled a suicide.
At least three of the four accusers who say Maxwell and Epstein sexually abused them gave interviews to the media and all four repeatedly spoke to law enforcement during the investigation.
Loftus told the jury researchers were able to create false memories by presenting various scenarios to test subjects, such as suggesting they saw their parents engage in a violent fight as children or were viciously attacked by an animal, and the subjects later reported strong memories of these events.
“They were just as emotional about these created memories as these individuals who’d truly had these experiences,” Loftus said. “Emotion is no guarantee you’re dealing with authentic memory.”
Loftus said while she’s testified in approximately 300 trials, she’s only been called once to testify for prosecutors.
“The prosecution is frequently the one who’s putting on memory testimony and maybe wants to bolster that testimony,” she responded to a question of why she testifies primarily for defense lawyers. “Testimony about memory distortion and the potential for false memory is not something that typically fits in their agenda.”
Earlier on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan ruled that the defense can’t call anonymous witnesses. Maxwell had argued she should be allowed to call some witnesses without identifying them by name, because they need to protect their privacy.
Nathan said that unlike some of the government’s witnesses allowed to testify anonymously, including women who claim Maxwell and Epstein sexually assaulted them as girls, none of Maxwell’s witnesses “intend to testify to sensitive personal topics or sexual conduct.”
“Rather, they all are anticipated to deny misconduct by Epstein and Ms. Maxwell and therefore do not qualify as victims,” the judge said.
Nathan also said she wouldn’t allow Maxwell’s lawyers to call Jack Scarola, an attorney who represents accuser Carolyn in her civil suit against Epstein, or Brad Edwards, a lawyer who represents accuser Kate as well as several Epstein accusers. The judge said she would allow the defense to ask lawyer Robert Glassman one question regarding what he told Jane about whether working with the prosecution would help her improve her settlement with the Epstein Victims Compensation Fund.
As logistics were sorted, Maxwell lawyer Bobbi Sternheim told Nathan that one defense witness has Covid and is quarantined, and asked that the witness be allowed to testify by video link.
The government’s case came to a close on Friday, sooner than expected in what was originally to be a six-week trial. Court was in recess Monday through Wednesday.
The case is U.S. v. Maxwell, 20-cr-00330, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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