Imprisoned Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell seeks release, citing 'new evidence' [View all]

Source: AP

Updated 5:28 PM EST, December 17, 2025


NEW YORK (AP) — Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell asked a federal judge on Wednesday to set aside her sex trafficking conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence, saying “substantial new evidence” has emerged proving that constitutional violations spoiled her trial.

Maxwell maintained in a habeas petition she has promised to file since August that information that would have resulted in her exoneration at her 2021 trial was withheld and false testimony was presented to the jury.

She said the cumulative effect of the constitutional violations resulted in a “complete miscarriage of justice.”

A habeas petition (or writ of habeas corpus petition) is a legal request for a court to review the legality of someone’s detention, demanding that the custodian (like a prison official) bring the prisoner before a judge to justify the imprisonment, serving as a fundamental safeguard against unlawful confinement and arbitrary detention by ensuring due process. Filed by or on behalf of someone in custody, it challenges constitutional violations, such as ineffective legal counsel or unfair trials, and seeks release or other relief, often as a last resort after appeals are exhausted.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/epstein-maxwell-sex-trafficking-case-records-a4d5907d6eef420aefc79e9848cec953