KEY POINTS

  • Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell filed a motion to have her moved out of special observation to general population
  • Maxwell was held under suicide watch since arriving at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City
  • In a second motion, her legal team seeks to block the release of documents from a 2015 civil case due to "critical new information" they had learned

The legal team for former Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell complained about prison conditions and requested she be held in general population in a motion filed Tuesday.

In their filing, her lawyer’s said she has been “treated less favorably than a typical pretrial detainee” because of her charges and history with Epstein. The filing then alleged her guards were not “regular personnel” who worked at the Metropolitan Detention Center, but did not provide greater detail.

“These prison guards observe Ms. Maxwell and take notes on her every activity,” the filing said.

Maxwell has been held at Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City’s Brooklyn-borough since July after her arrest on multiple sex crime charges in New Hampshire. She was placed on suicide watch given her history with Epstein, who committed suicide while under federal custody in New York City in August 2019.

This reportedly included keeping her under 24-hour surveillance and regular searches by guards nearly every day.

Her lawyers argued since she has been taken off suicide watch, Maxwell should be transferred into general population and placed under normal guard until her July 2021 trial begins.

It was the second motion filed by Maxwell’s legal team in less than 24 hours, the previous coming on Monday in an effort to once again block the release of sealed documents from her 2015 civil case. Her attorneys said they had learned of “critical new information” about her case and have requested the documents’ release be postponed three weeks.

Her legal team members said they were not at liberty to share details about this “critical new information” because of a standing protective court order on Maxwell’s case. However, the team said it will use the three-week period to discuss the information with the prosecution and determine if it could be shared with the court.

Ghislaine Maxwell -- shown here with the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein -- is being held at Brooklyn's high-security Metropolitan Detention Center
Ghislaine Maxwell -- shown here with the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein -- is being held at Brooklyn's high-security Metropolitan Detention Center AFP / Johannes EISELE