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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document 387 _ Filed 10/29/21 Page17 of 21
issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, [or] waste of time.” Fed. R.
Evid. 403. According to the government, Accuser-3 is expected to testify that she was “sexually
abused” by Epstein, not because she was underage and incapable of consent by law, but because
her “subjective experience” of these incidents was that they were “traumatic, exploitative, and
abusive.” Gov’t Mem. in Opp. to Def.’s Pretrial Motions (Dkt. 204) at 162 n.57. If Accuser-3 is
allowed to testify that she felt she was “sexually abused” by Epstein, the jury will naturally
assume that the alleged sex acts were illegal, when they were not. Indeed, even if she is not
allowed to use the phrase “sexual abuse,” the mere fact that Accuser-3 will be testifying about
alleged sex acts that she participated in with a much older man when she was 17 years old will
likely lead the jury to assume that the conduct was illegal, especially after they have heard the
expected testimony of the other accusers in this case.
Hence, there is a strong likelihood that the jury will be misled by Accuser-3’s evidence
and will misapply it in evaluating Ms. Maxwell’s guilt or innocence to the charged Mann Act
conspiracies, both of which require that Ms. Maxwell acted with the intent that the accusers
would engage in illegal or criminal sexual activity. This risk substantially outweighs the limited
probative effect of Accuser-3’s evidence. Even if the Court were to give the jury an appropriate
limiting instruction, there is a substantial risk that it would not be sufficient to ensure that the
jury did not misinterpret or misapply this evidence. See Curley, 639 F.3d at 60 (quoting United
States v. Figueroa, 618 F.2d 934, 946 (2d Cir. 1980) (“limiting instructions cannot be regarded
as a guaranty against prejudice”)). Accordingly, the Court should exclude Accuser-3’s evidence.
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Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00005681.jpg |
| File Size | 671.2 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.2% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 1,962 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 17:02:19.122940 |