Judge Engelmayer Denies Ghislaine Maxwell's Attempt To Overturn Her Conviction (Part 2) (9/28/26)

Judge Paul Engelmayer rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s attempt to overturn her conviction and 20-year prison sentence, dismantling the arguments she raised in a sprawling petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Maxwell claimed that newly released Epstein-related records, alleged prosecutorial misconduct, false testimony and withheld evidence demonstrated that her trial had resulted in a miscarriage of justice. Engelmayer was unequivocal, finding that nearly all of her claims were either procedurally barred because they had already been raised or could have been raised on appeal, or were simply unsupported by the record. He described the evidence presented against Maxwell at trial as overwhelming and concluded that the purportedly new material she relied upon did not undermine the jury’s verdict.

Engelmayer also found that much of the material Maxwell portrayed as exculpatory was either irrelevant or actually reinforced the case against her. He rejected all 10 principal claims in her petition, denied her request for an evidentiary hearing and refused additional discovery, concluding that she had failed to show any constitutional violation warranting relief. The court also declined to issue a certificate of appealability and certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith for purposes of proceeding without paying filing fees. The August 25, 2026 ruling therefore left Maxwell’s conviction and sentence fully intact while closing one of her remaining avenues for challenging the verdict in federal court.



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