Simone Bianchi, 24, accused the 43-year-old Maxwell of breaking into her apartment. Maxwell denied the accusations, saying Bianchi would have tried to assault her if she had actually attacked her. She also said Bianchi had given her permission to look through her laptop and enter her apartment.
Then there was the question of whether or not the pornographic photos that appeared on Bianchi’s computer had an explicit intent. Ashley Paz, 26, the woman in charge of safety and security for the one-time publishing executive, said the images that appeared at the trial were actually images taken of Bianchi from her own cellphone and were only supposed to be viewed by the two other women — Bianchi and Ms. Maxwell — who were in the apartment together.
The images include a nude Bianchi masturbating and Maxwell standing nearby. Some images also appeared to show Bianchi naked inside the apartment. Maxwell says none of the images she saw were explicit, as Bianchi described. Bianchi initially told police that the images appeared on her computer because she accidentally transferred them to it, something she said happened last year.
The defense used an FBI examiner to look over the images, telling the jury in an opening statement that no pornographic material was found. The witness testified that he also could not determine what Bianchi’s image might have been intended for.