Ghislaine Maxwell has traded jailhouse garb for a business casual getup.
Maxwell appeared in court Monday morning ahead of jury selection in her upcoming sex-trafficking trial — and sported civilian clothes for the first time in public since her 2020 arrest.
The accused Jeffrey Epstein madam wore gray slacks, a black turtleneck, black reading glasses and black boots as her attorneys hammered out the logistics of how some 230 prospective jurors will be posed questions by Manhattan federal Judge Alison Nathan starting Tuesday morning.
Maxwell was escorted by US Marshals into the courtroom, but was not shackled or handcuffed, as she had been during her previous appearances.
She spoke with her legal team and shared a laugh with them after the brief hearing concluded. One of her attorneys, Jeffrey Pagliuca, also stroked her hair and wiped it out of her face as they exchanged words.
On Tuesday morning, prospective jurors will be posed questions to determine their ability to be impartial if chosen to sit on the panel.
The questions will include a query on views of people who are “wealthy or have luxurious lifestyles,” according to court documents.
The potential panelists will also view a prerecorded message from Nathan, who will say Maxwell is accused of enticing “minor females to travel to engage in criminal sex activity, to transport minors to engage in criminal sexual activity, and to engage in sex trafficking of a minor.”
The judge will note Maxwell has pleaded not guilty and the indictment against her does not prove her guilt and is not evidence in the case.
Roughly 600 potential jurors filled out questionnaires about their ability to serve on the panel, which will ultimately be whittled down to 12 people and six alternates who will make up the jury.
Opening statements in the trial are scheduled to begin on Nov. 29.
Maxwell is accused of grooming and enticing girls to travel to engage in sex acts with Epstein, a multimillionaire financier, from 1994 to 2004.
She has been locked up in what she has described as horrid conditions in a Brooklyn federal facility since her arrest.
Epstein killed himself in a Lower Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.