‘False memory’ expert who testified in OJ trial ‘will be defence witness for Ghislaine Maxwell’ in sex trafficking case
A ‘FALSE memory’ expert who testified for OJ Simpson and Harvey Weinstein will be used as a defence witness for Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial, a report says.
Ghislaine, the former lover of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, will face six charges later this year, including sex trafficking conspiracy and the sex trafficking of a minor.
Memory guru Professor Elizabeth Lotus could be asked to challenge the evidence of alleged victims of Maxwell who may be called upon during the trial, reports The Times.
She remains behind bars in New York after being arrested in July 2020 – but denies all allegations of misconduct against her.
Prof Lotus, who is an expert in “false memories”, famously gave evidence at the trial of American footballer OJ Simpson in 1995.
She examines how a person’s memory can be tampered with by incorrect information.
She told The Los Angeles Times: “I think people who are accused deserve some modicum of support as well.”
Meanwhile Psychiatrist Dr Park Diez, who previously examined the sanity of the cannibal serial killer and the Unabomber, is also on the list of eight potential expert witnesses.
Yesterday it was revealed that Maxwell has claimed a prison guard threatened her verbally, as she made a sixth bid for bail.
She claims that during the hearing a guard said when they were alone: “You think you are special? You are not special.
“Remember you are in custody and the judge doesn’t care about you.”
Maxwell’s lawyer Bobbi Sternheim says the “disturbing” treatment meant she should be released.
Her conditions in the prison are so bad they are akin to the surveillance of Hannibal Lecter in ‘The Silence of The Lambs’, wrote Sternheim.
Jury selection in Maxwell’s trial began on Wednesday with the first of 600 jurors filing into a court in New York as she tried to get bail for a sixth time.
They are answering questions over two days about their availability and whether they can serve to whittle them down to a panel of 12 people.
According to a draft of the jury questionnaire, jurors will be asked about their views on the MeToo movement and if they are prejudiced against people with “luxurious lifestyles”.
Maxwell’s former lover Jeffrey Epstein – a convicted paedophile and multi-millionaire financer – died in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The US Justice Department promised to go after Epstein’s alleged accomplices following his death – ruled a suicide by officials – leading to Maxwell’s arrest in 2020.
Ghislaine was eventually detained by the FBI in a $1m house in New Hampshire after months in hiding.
