Ghislaine Maxwell, longtime associate of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, speaks at a news conference on oceans and sustainable development at the United Nations in New York, June 25, 2013 in this screengrab taken from United Nations TV file footage.
UNTV | Reuters
Ghislaine Maxwell, who was found guilty of crimes related to procuring underage girls to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein, filed a petition on Wednesday seeking to vacate her conviction, claiming “substantial new evidence has emerged” that undermines the case against her.
Maxwell’s long-shot habeas petition in U.S. District Court in Manhattan could, if approved, see the former British socialite released from the federal prison in Texas where she is serving a 20-year sentence.
However, such petitions are routinely denied.
The Supreme Court earlier this year declined to hear Maxwell’s appeal of her conviction.
Habeas petitions are, as a rule, the last option for an imprisoned person to void their convictions. Maxwell filed her petition “pro se,” or on her own, without a lawyer representing her in that effort.
The petition comes two days before a congressionally mandated deadline for the Department of Justice to release its investigative files about Epstein and Maxwell.
