[Summary from The Independent]

Before the jury was brought in this morning, pre-trial proceedings included whether certain evidence should be admitted.

This includes schoolgirl costumes found in the massage room and art sexualising minors. This follows Mr Alessi’s testimony on Thursday about his duties including cleaning the massage room after it was used, and finding sex toys there.

The defence counsel is cross-examining Epstein’s former housekeeper Juan Alessi, after his detailed description of life inside the Palm Beach mansion on Thursday.

He testified about remembering seeing two girls in Epstein’s house who appeared to be minors. The first, “Jane,” testified earlier this week including graphic descriptions of her abuse.

The second was Virginia Giuffre, whose civil suit against Ms Maxwell helped spark her criminal prosecution.

Entered into evidence are two photos of Ms Giuffre who Mr Alessi described as looking young. Epstein’s former pilot said on Monday that she was a “woman”.

Mr Alessi said on Thursday that Epstein and Ms Maxwell would call him John, not his actual name, Juan.

In cross-examination, he says that everyone called him John and he did not take offence.

On Thursday he admitted that he stole $6,300 from Epstein when his marriage was falling apart and he was struggling financially.

Ms Maxwell’s lawyer asks whether he actually stole money twice, which he admits that he did. Mr Alessi says he went back to the house and stole $5,600 from Epstein’s briefcase.

He testified in September 2009 that he stole twice from his employer.

The judge admonished defence counsel for saying “Jane”’s real name during questioning, leading to a sidebar and the name being struck from the record.

The questioning returns to the Palm Beach house.

Mr Alessi says that when Epstein was going to be in residence he only wanted him and his wife there — no contractors.

The former housekeeper describes the setup as “slavery”.

Asked if Epstein liked to show off the house to famous visitors, Mr Alessi snaps that he does not know what his former boss liked to do.

“He had very little contact with me in the later years,” says Mr Alessi, prompting an accusation that his testimony is inconsistent as he had previously said his direct supervisor was Epstein.

“He would deal with me directly, and if he was not available, Ms Maxwell.”

Mid-morning recess has been called.

Mr Alessi is now being questioned about Virginia Giuffre and meeting her at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s property in Palm Beach, per his testimony.

He confirms that he recalls it was a hot day but there is a dispute as to whether he said it happened in 2001 or 2002.

On Thursday he testified about seeing Ms Giuffre: “She looked young. She had blonde hair, and she had a long white uniform, like the nurses.”

Mr Alessi said that his former boss: “never shared anything about his personal life with me”.

“He never suggested, implied, or tell me anything about it.”

The former housekeeper also said that he was told to remove pictures of Ms Maxwell when other women vistied the house.

Mr Alessi said that his former boss: “never shared anything about his personal life with me”.

“He never suggested, implied, or tell me anything about it.”

The former housekeeper also said that he was told to remove pictures of Ms Maxwell when other women vistied the house.

As the cross-examination of MR Alessi drew to a close, he was asked if he ever heard someone screaming in distress or looking afraid.

“No, sir. Never.”

Asked if he ever saw any sign that someone was hurt or injured or any sign of violence in the massage room, he also replies that he did not.

Ms Maxwell’s attorney asks if anyone ever complained to him, to which he responds: “I wish they would have, because I would have done something to stop it.”

Asked if he believed those sent to perform massages on Epstein were “of age”, he said that he believed so.

Cross-examination concludes with no redirect.

New witness: Gregory Parkinson, crime scene investigator Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey welcomes Gregory Parkinson, a crime scene investigator to the stand. Now retired, he once worked as a crime scene manager with the Palm Beach Police Department.

Mr Parkinson describes visiting Epstein’s property on 20 October 2005 on a report of a theft of currency. He met Epstein at the property and went into the garden room and the lake room, which was used as a study, and then into the kitchen area.

Court breaks for lunch recess

The Independent’s Bevan Hurley reports from the court in Lower Manhattan.

Juan Alessi provided some of the most colourful testimony of the trial so far. He was a combative witness who frequently clashed with defence attorney Jeffrey Pagliuca. Mr Pagliuca tried to point out numerous inconsistencies between Mr Alessi’s testimony in court and previous sworn statements he had made in depositions.

During the morning session, Judge Alison Nathan reminded counsel they were not to use the real name of the witness known as Jane. Shortly afterward, Mr Pagliuca said Jane’s real name and realising he had made a mistake, apologised.

Judge Nathan ordered that the mention be struck from the court record and admonished Mr Pagliuca. “You must carefully abide by my ruling,” she said, before calling both sets of lawyers into a sidebar.

Mr Pagliuca asked the witness about an order given by Epstein to remove all photos of Ms Maxwell before he entertained other female guests. Mr Alessi said it would have occurred about three or four times.

“You never told Ms Maxwell about removing the other pictures?” asked Mr Pagliuca. “It was a secret between you and Mr Epstein.” Mr Alessi became agitated in the witness box, replying: “It was not a secret, it was a mandate.” When asked again if it was a secret, Mr Alessi said: “He never shared any of his personal life with me… he never suggested, implied anything.”

He was then asked why he thought he was told to take the pictures down. “I have no idea.”

Images entered as exhibits in the trial of disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell have been released by the New York court at which the case is being heard.

In opening statements, Ms Maxwell’s defence team described her former partner and associate Jeffrey Epstein’s lifestyle as like that of James Bond, and many of the images released attest to that, showing lavish properties and a fleet of private aircraft.

Ms Maxwell is accused of sex trafficking and grooming underage girls to be abused by the late disgraced billionaire financier Epstein. She is also accused of directly participating in the abuse.

Ms Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to eight charges of sex trafficking and other crimes.

Afternoon session begins. The jury, but not the media or public, are being shown a video of the search warrant execution at Epstein’s Palm Beach house.

Crime scene investigator Gregory Parkinson is answering Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey’s questions about it, noting the three-car garage and photos of Epstein with Pope John Paul II and Fidel Castro.

Housekeeper drove accuser ‘Jane’ to Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion aged 14 Jeffrey Epstein’s former housekeeper testified that the first accuser in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial was a frequent visitor to his Palm Beach mansion when she was 14 years old.

Juan Patricio Alessi, who worked at Epstein’s Palm Beach property for 12 years, gave evidence on day four of Ms Maxwell’s trial in New York’s federal courthouse.

Mr Alessi said Ms Maxwell was the “lady of the house” and maintained an iron grip over every aspect of life at the Palm Beach mansion. Mr Alessi said he had picked up the accuser – who testified under the pseudonym Jane – from her school and home and drove her to Epstein’s home beginning in 1994.

Video walkthrough of the Epstein house concludes and the prosecutor instructs Mr Parkinson to look at three exhibits.

Jeffrey Epstein ordered all photos of Ghislaine Maxwell removed from his Palm Beach mansion when he entertained female guests, a New York federal court was told.

Cross-examination of Juan Alessi, who worked full-time at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion from 1991 to 2002, continued in Ms Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial on Friday. ‘It was not a secret, it was a mandate,’ housekeeper testifies of removing Maxwell pictures.

Why the Ghislaine Maxwell trial attracts QAnon extemists: “Where is Hillary Clinton?” asks the woman in the camouflage jersey. Speaking to her followers on TikTok, superimposing herself in front of a news story about jurors in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, she quickly declares the whole thing a whitewash: “These people need to be arrested! Nothing is ever gonna f***ing get done!”

It is just one drop in the tide of conspiracy theories that Ms Maxwell’s trial has unleashed throughout the internet. As journalists across the world follow every detail of the courtroom drama in New York City, social networks from Twitter to Telegram are awash in posts, videos, and meme images weaving each update into existing fantasy narratives.

As the jury took a snack break, Judge Allison Nathan commented on the video: “I don’t see why a public version can’t be made.”

She suggested it could be in a redacted form, to protect the privacy of “a few individuals”. Prosecution says they will work on that.

Ms Maxwell’s defence lawyer Bobbi Sternheim says that sealing the video (which is approximately 40 minutes long) gives the impression to the public that the house was a “domicile of debauchery”. In fact, she argues, only a couple of images were at issue.

The court is back in session after a long recess with the jurors now examining more photographs of the Epstein Palm Beach residence.

Some of the evidence is sealed. Mr Parkinson described one exhibit as “a bathroom with a phone and a pink, three-cushion couch.” He points out a portable, collapsible massage table.

Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey has offered Epstein’s actual green massage table into evidence as Government Exhibit 51. It was brought into the courtroom and shown to the jury.

“I asked that the exhibit be published for the jury by setting the table up.”

After Mr Nathan confirmed that it was manufactured in Vista, California, Ms Comey said she had no further questions.

Mr Everdell of the defence was invited to cross-examine the witness. Ms Maxwell’s counsel asks Parkinson about his knowledge of the defendant. He says he does not know Ghislaine Maxwell.

Mr Parkinson confirms that he was called to the Palm Beach property to investigate a burglary after Epstein reported several thousand dollars had been stolen. It is difficult for the media in the courtroom to report on the line of questioning given that so much of the evidence is sealed. The witness is excused.

With just over 20 minutes of Friday’s proceedings left to go, the prosecution introduces a new witness, Michael Dawson of the Palm Beach Police Department.

He was one of the detectives who searched Epstein’s residence. Mr Dawson said they were looking for the massage table, sex toys, correspondence, and other materials. He testifies that there were a lot of photographs of nude females.

In addition to the massage table, a phone book, a photo of a nude female, and a sex toy called the “Twin Torpedos” were seized. A photograph of Epstein’s sex toys was introduced into evidence.

Court adjourns for the weekend Cross-examination of Mr Dawson begins with just ten minutes of court time left and immediately goes to a sidebar.

Questioning starts by referring to Juan Alessi’s admission to stealing from Epstein, but same as all week, Judge Nathan promptly ends proceedings at 5pm sharp.

Noting that this is their first weekend apart, she reminds the jury not to discuss or research the case over the break.