DOJ-OGR-00001598.jpg

Case 1:20-cr-00330-AJN Document18 Filed 07/10/20 Page 18 of 26 837 F.2d 48, 49-50 (2d Cir. 1988) (overturning district court’s decision that defendant posed a flight risk based in part on the ground that the defendant took “no steps” to flee jurisdiction in three-week period between execution of search warrant at home and arrest); United States v. DiGiacomo, 746 F. Supp. 1176, 1179-80 (D. Mass. 1990) (concluding defendants did not present a flight risk because each of them “for three years knew there was substantial evidence of the likely charges against them and did not attempt to flee before indictment’). Indeed, the absence of any allegation by the government that Ms. Maxwell was taking steps to leave the country at the time of her arrest is conspicuous. The government has offered no proof that she was making plans to leave the country. In fact, had the government alerted her counsel that she was about to be arrested, we would have arranged for Ms. Maxwell’s prompt, voluntary surrender. Instead, the government arrested Ms. Maxwell without warning on the day before the July 4” holiday, thus ensuring that she would be in federal custody on the one-year anniversary of Epstein’s arrest. @, Ms. Maxwell’s Actions to Protect Herself From Intrusive Media Coverage and Death Threats Do Not Demonstrate an Intent to Flee Furthermore, the steps Ms. Maxwell took to leave the public eye after Epstein’s arrest are not indicative of a risk of flight. The government notes that Ms. Maxwell dropped out of public view after Epstein’s arrest, which the government seeks to portray as “hiding” from the law. The government further argues that she has taken several steps to avoid detection, including moving residences and switching her phone and email address. (Gov. Mem. at 8). But Ms. Maxwell did not take these steps to hide from law enforcement or evade prosecution. Instead, they were necessary measures that Ms. Maxwell was forced to 14 DOJ-OGR-00001598