Ghislaine Maxwell's defense attorneys want her to be referred to as "Ms. Maxwell" rather than "the defendant" when the judge informs the jury in her case on the legal intricacies they must consider when deciding.
Christian Everdell, Maxwell's attorney, requested a rare Saturday morning session during which her defense team and prosecutors sparred over the language to be included in Judge Alison Nathan's jury instructions.
Prosecutors did not object to her being referred to in the proposed indictment with the honorific in several cases.
Everdell stated that the team identified particular locations where the phrasing should be changed in the proposed charge.
"For the interest of clarity, your Honor, we are not substituting 'Ms. Maxwell' for every usage of the word 'defendant.' We attempted to choose the ones that made the most sense," he explained.
Veteran defense attorneys regarded the request as "unusual" — and likely made in an attempt to humanize Maxwell for the jury that would decide her fate.
"I'm not sure I've ever seen such a request," attorney Julie Rendelman told The Post.
"We saw the opposite in recent trials such as Rittenhouse, where the judge barred the prosecution from using the term 'victim' to refer to those shot," added Rendelman, a former prosecutor with the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.
According to attorney Jeffrey Lichtman, who previously represented Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and John Gotti Jr., the request may be an attempt to disassociate Maxwell from a criminal name.
"They're attempting to humanize her. As a person, rather than as a 'defendant,' which makes her sound defensive, as a criminal," Lichtman told The Post.
"I wouldn't call it uncommon. "It is unusual," he continued. "At the end of the day, it's a deceptive method of swaying the jury. However, no one is being acquitted or convicted due to it. Nonetheless, each time a defense attorney goes into minute detail to win a case is a good thing."
Maxwell's trial is set to conclude early next week, with final comments slated for Monday by prosecutors and defense attorneys.
Her defense team rested on Friday following two days of calling witnesses in an attempt to undermine her accusers' claims.
Maxwell said on Friday that she would decline to testify in her defense.
"Your Honor, the government has not established its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and as a result, I am not required to testify," Maxwell explained to Judge Nathan.
Prosecutors called almost two dozen witnesses during their two-week case against the disgraced socialite, including four accusers who revealed how they were groomed and, in some cases, assaulted by Maxwell.
One woman, who testified under the pseudonym Carolyn, told jurors that Maxwell assaulted her while she was 14 years old and setting up a massage table at Epstein's Palm Beach residence.
Carolyn testified before jurors on Dec. 7 that "she came in and felt my boobs, hips, and buttocks."
Since her arrest, Maxwell has maintained her innocence. If convicted on all counts, she faces a maximum sentence of 70 years in jail.
