UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
x
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
: 20 Cr. 330 (MN) v.
GHISLAINE MAXWELL,
Defendant. •
•
x
GHISLAINE MAXWELL'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS IDENTIFICATION
Jeffrey S. Pagliuca
Laura A. Menninger
HADDON, MORGAN & FOREMAN P.C.
150 East 10th Avenue
Denver
Phone:
Christian R. Everdell
COHEN & GRESSER LLP
800 Third Avenue New
York, NY 10022
Phone:
Bobbi C. Sternheim
Law Offices of Bobbi C. Sternheim
225 Broadway, Suite 715
New York NY 10007
Phone:
Attorneys for Chislaine Maxwell
EFTA00090466
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BACKGROUND 1
ARGUMENT 2
i
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TABLES OF AUTHORITIES
Cases
Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98 (1977) 2, 3
Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188 (1972) 2, 3
Raheem v. Kelly, 257 F.3d 122 (2d Cir. 2001) 3
Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377 (1968) 2, 3
Stovall v. Demo, 388 U.S. 293 (1967) 2
United States v. Concepcion, 983 F.2d 369 (2d Cir. 1992) 3
United States v. Hemmings, 482 F. App'x 640 (2d Cir. 2012) 3
ii
EFTA00090468
Defendant Ghislaine Maxwell, through counsel, moves to prohibit the Government from
offering testimony from Accuser 4 identifying Ms. Maxwell as a perpetrator
of any crime. Any in-court identification is tainted by unduly suggestive photo array procedures
employed by the Government that violate Ms. Maxwell's right to due process under the United
States Constitution for the following reasons:
BACKGROUND
Accuser 4, was first contacted by the FBI in 2007. was
interviewed on August 7, 2007 by Agents and asked
about any abuse by Jeffrey Epstein.
did not identify Ms. Maxwell as someone who recruited her, groomed her, or
otherwise interacted with her in Palm Beach, Florida, or any other location. She identified
as someone she interacted with and who took nude photographs of her at Mr. Epstein's
direction.
After her FBI interview, represented by counsel, filed i.' lawsuits against
Jeffrey Epstein . Neither of those lawsuits mentions Ms. Maxwell. MI
During her deposition in connection with the lawsuit,
She did not identify Ms.
Maxwell as having had any role in any alleged sexual abuse or trafficking.
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On June 23, 2021, almost twenty years after the alleged events, and 14 years after
did not identify Ms. Maxwell as the perpetrator of any crime, the Government
presented with a series of• photographs, attached as Exhibit A.
The photographic identification procedure used was the functional
equivalent of a one-on-one show-up. Any identification is tainted and should therefore be
suppressed by the Court.
ARGUMENT
A defendant's right to due process includes the right not to be the object of suggestive
police identification procedures that create "a very substantial likelihood of irreparable
misidentification." Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 384 (1968); accord Neil v. Biggers,
409 U.S. 188, 198 (1972); see also Manson v. Brat Waite, 432 U.S. 98, 106 n.9, 114 (1977). This
principle applies both to show-ups, see, e.g., Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293 (1967), and to
photographic identifications. Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 384 (1968).
2
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When a defendant challenges the admissibility of identification testimony given by a
witness who made a pretrial identification, the Court is required to conduct a two-part inquiry,
asking first whether the pretrial identification procedures were unduly suggestive and, if so,
whether the identification is nonetheless independently reliable. Raheem v. Kelly, 257 F.3d 122,
133 (2d Cir. 2001).
A Government arranged photo array is unduly suggestive when a procedure "give[s] rise
to a very substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification." Simmons v. United States at 384
(1968); see also United States v. Hemmings, 482 F. App'x 640, 646 (2d Cir. 2012). In the context
of a photo array, familiar examples of a suggestive presentation include the "use of a very small
number of photographs," "the use of suggestive comments," or the display of the accused's
photograph in a way that "so stood out from all of the other photographs as to suggest to an
identifying witness that that person was more likely to be the culprit." United States v.
Concepcion, 983 F.2d 369, 377 (2d Cir. 1992).
The photo looks like a mug shot, is
different than the others, and the manner in which it was presented was unduly suggestive.
Where, as here, pretrial procedures have been unduly suggestive, the court must
determine whether an in-court identification will be the product of the suggestive procedures or
whether instead it is independently reliable. The factors to be considered include "the
opportunity of the witness to view the criminal at the time of the crime, the witness' degree of
attention, the accuracy of the witness' prior description of the criminal, the level of certainty
demonstrated by the witness at the confrontation, and the length of time between the crime and
the confrontation." Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. at 199-200; accord Manson v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S.
3
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at 114. The factors must be assessed in light of the totality of the circumstances, and the linchpin
of admissibility is reliability.
Here, the factors weigh heavily in favor of suppression. in interviews,
court filings, and under oath, never identified Ms. Maxwell as anyone who abused her in any
fashion. There was no "opportunity" for to "view the criminal at the time of the
crime" because Ms. Maxwell did not participate in any crime. There was no prior description of
Ms. Maxwell by and the length of time between the alleged event and the
suggestive identification procedure was extraordinarily long.
Accordingly, any identification, both out of court and in court, should be suppressed.
Dated: October 18, 2021
Respectfully submitted,
st Jeffrey S. Pagliuca
Jeffrey S. Pagliuca
Laura A. Menninger
HADDON, MORGAN & FOREMAN P.C.
150 East 10th Avenue
Denver CO 80203
Phone:
Christian R. Everdell
COHEN & GRESSER LLP
800 Third Avenue
New York NY 10022
Phone:
Bobbi C. Stemheim
Law Offices of Bobbi C. Stemheim
225 Broadway, Suite 715
New York. NY 10007
Phone:
Attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell
4
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Certificate of Service
I hereby certify that on October 18, 2021, I electronically filed the foregoing
Memorandum of Ghislaine Maxwell 's Motion to Suppress Identification with the Clerk of Court
using the CM/ECF system which will send notification of such filing to the following:
U.S. Attorney's Office, SDNY
One Saint Andrew's Plaza
New York NY 10007
s/
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The document is a motion to suppress identification, which is a legal request to exclude certain ev
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