Judge finalizes jury instructions at Maxwell sex abuse trial

By TOM HAYS
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has appeared in court for a rare weekend hearing where attorneys made arguments about how the judge should instruct a jury on the law in Maxwell’s sex abuse trial. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan scheduled the hearing on Saturday in an otherwise closed courthouse with jurors absent. The scheduling was an effort to keep Maxwell’s trial on a fast track that will have her case reach a jury early next week. Closing arguments and Nathan’s instructions are set for Monday. The 59-year-old Maxwell has denied charges she groomed teenagers to have sexual enounters with financier Jeffrey Epstein.