Document EFTA 02736561¶
1 2 3 relatively straightforward. In my view, a public hearing clearly is nevertheless the preferred vehicle for its resolution.¶
4 5 6 7 8 9 Incidentally, while I’m on this subject, I got some help today from the New York Law Journal from two professors who write that a hearing is — let me tell you exactl they said. They say, in part, that this is an od transparency in a criminal case. I think that sentence to hear about, transparency in a c dd case. at for¶
10 11 12 13 14 They go on to say that normal to dismiss an indictment for such a the court would simply grant th f a prosecutor seeks sly worthy reason, As to that statement, I respectfully saIl i v s incorrect as a matter of law.¶
15 16 17 18 19 S i They go on he judge would not schedule a hearing and he de would not allow the victims to speak. If he did hold ing, whatever informational interests the victims may a would be served by affording them a chance to attend, ie he ring, not by giving them a speaking role.¶
20 21 22 23 24 25 c ) read it. It was incredulous. I’m still lous. I don’t quite understand at all. There is a ggestion in the article that the reason they are making these suggestions has to do with minimization of drama in this case. In the Jeffrey Epstein case, there has not been much a minimization of drama, and what little drama might happen¶
1 today, I don’t think it would be very significant.¶
2 On a somewhat more serious note, don’t quote me on 3 this, but it is my understanding that one of the authors of 4 that article is himself counsel in one of the Epstein-related 5 cases. 6 certain it is true. I was also surprised that that a t was 7 not disclosed in the Law Journal. I was surprised to learn that very recently. I’m AIIII0,40,51¶
8 But in any event, I think you know whe 9 I respectfully disagree with the Law Journa pie e. I was 10 saying that the government’s motion is tively 11 straightforward, and in my view, a i earing is clearly, 12 nevertheless, the preferred veh’ its resolution. I’m 13 still convinced of that. eading.¶
14 A few may differ o th s, but public hearings are 15 exactly what judges rings promote transparency and they 16 provide the court sights and information which the court 17 may not otherwi be aware of.¶
18 Th ims have been included in the proceeding today 19 both ause f their relevant experiences and because they 20 sh al ys be involved before rather than after the fact.¶
21 V Indictment 19 CR 490 charges Jeffrey Epstein with sex 22 fficking and with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. The 23 U.S. Attorney, on August 19, 2019, requested that the court 24 approve the government’s proposed order of nolle prosequi. I 25 think that’s a rough justice. That means noill prosequi,¶
1 2 discontinuance by the prosecutor of all or of a part of the case that he or she has commenced.¶
3 4 5 The government in its motion concludes that Epstein’s death abates these proceedings. In accordance with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 57(b), I determined to hold a public 6 hearing and I notified the victims that they would be i en the 7 opportunity to be heard before any final action o mo ion. 8 That is the purpose also of today’s proceeding. d do 9 that every time.¶
10 Also, recognized that Co) 11 any judgment of conviction 13 substance, to be appropriate 12 that the government’s proposed ears, in form and Epstein, Epstein died before ‘a )(46til against h en obtained, and¶
tkiltS1 14 Federal Rule of in Procedure 48(a) codifies the 15 nolle prosequi proce is entitled dismissal, and it 16 states in relevan at the government may, with leave of 17 the court, dismi a indictment, information, or complaint, 18 and that le the court proviso, you should know, was added 19 as an endm t to the original draft of Rule 48, which had 20 or 11 provided for automatic dismissal upon the motion of 21 t ernment.¶
22 This proviso, in my judgment, is clearly directed 23 toward an independent judicial assessment of the public 24 interest in dismissing the indictment. Thus, even whereas, in 25 this case, the standard of court review is deferential, the¶
1 court must still make its own independent determination. A 2 conclusory statement from the government that dismissal is 3 appropriate does not satisfy the court’s obligations.¶
4 It is also, in my view, required that the court 5 consider the views of the victims in the case at the hearing 6 and before deciding whether to grant the motion. Thi being 7 done here both as a matter of law and as a measur res 8 that we have for the victims’ difficult decisio t. ome 9 forward in this matter.¶
10 In a case called 11 H-e-a-t-o-n-, the government filed 8 motion for leave 12 to dismiss a charge against a d a who allegedly committed 13 a sexual offense against a y ictim. Although I should 14 point out, very important th that defendant was still 15 alive, which disting from our case.¶
16 Neverthe think it is irrelevant because in 17 evaluating the motion, then district Judge Paul G. 18 Cassell — now a law professor at the University of Utah 19 and is egar d to be a noted expert in victims’ rights 20 21 co ed hat under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, victims oad rights that extend to a court’s decision whether to 22 nt a government motion to dismiss under Rule 48.¶
23 I completely share that viewpoint in these 24 circumstances, even though the facts of our case, as I said, 25 I are somewhat different from those in IIMM. I believe it is¶
1 2 3 the court’s responsibility, and manifestly within its purview, to ensure that the victims in this case are treated fairly and with dignity.¶
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The fundamental substantive principle which applies in considering the government’s motion is termed the rule of abatement. This principle originated in the English law. It was adopted by most U.S. federal courts, 1 mor recently, it has faced some appropriate critici T e rule of abatement is best explained in the Second C case of¶
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 In that IIIIIIIcase, two d Alc, s had pled guilty to embezzlement and tax evasion. ndants appealed, but one of the defendants died w is appeal was pending in the Second Circuit. The Cou A peals rule that under the rule of abatement, the ju f conviction against the deceased defendant was re be vacated and the indictment was to be dismissed. e W h court held that when a convicted defendant d file his direct appeal as of right is pending, his de h eiC ab es not only the appeal, but also proceedings had du thtil course of the prosecution.¶
21 22 23 24 25 f..) :! The Second Circuit incidentally has also held that en a criminal conviction abates upon the death of a defendant, any restitution ordered as a result of that conviction must also abate, and it is also ruled the same with respect to associated forfeiture orders.¶
1 This latter application of the rule of abatement 2 regarding forfeiture has not been universally accepted among 3 federal courts, but it certainly is the law in this circuit. 4 Some of you may be interested to know that some United States 6 particularly in the face of growing recognition of vi 7 rights in the criminal justice system, including tl rim 8 Victims’ Rights Act. courts, state courts, have criticized the rule of abatement,¶
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(;) 9 It has been written and contended ( thg Brooklyn Law 10 Review — I can give 11 abate criminal convictions, they re 12 that legislatures intended to a through these 13 rights statutes. The state e Court has even concluded 14 that the expansion and c ion of victims’ rights provides 15 the changed conditio for overruling the rule of 16 abatement. It been stated that Alaska’s statute and 17 its constitutio require the criminal justice system to 18 accommodate ights of crime victims. Further, that the 19 abate of riminal convictions has important implications 20 fo se rights. you the cite cl:, late that when s burden on courts victims victim¶
21 But coming back to our case, which is what you are 22 cerned about and I am as well, it is appropriate to conclude 23 that if the rule of abatement applies 24 as in the Wrioht case, it should also apply a fortiori in the 25 Epstein case, which was still in the pretrial phase when to a convicted defendant¶
1 Mr. Epstein died, when there had been no conviction.¶
2 So that’s just some background I wanted to share with 3 you. At this point in time, I would like to turn to the 4 government prosecutors to hear from them in support of their 5 Rule 48 application to dismiss the Epstein indictment.¶
6 MS. COMEY: Thank you, your Honor.¶
7 Would you like me to address the court fr he 8 podium? O¶
9 THE COURT: If you wouldn’t mind.¶
C¶
10 MS. COMEY: Thank you, your Ho¶
11 I believe your Honor has a a y summarized the 12 state of the law, as set forth fur pers, in light of the 13 clear Second Circuit law, th the death of a defendant 14 before a final entry of a m t of conviction, all 15 proceedings must be a¶
16 In light clear law, the government is legally 17 obligated to se di missal of the pending indictment against 18 Jeffrey Epst p, and we respectfully submit, likewise, that the 19 entry the roposed order is similarly required by law.¶
20 few notes to make about that, though, your Honor. 21 ery clear, dismissal of this indictment as to Jeffrey 22 in no way prohibits or inhibits the government’s 23 ongoing investigation into other potential coconspirators, nor 24 does it prevent the bringing of a new case in the future or the 25 prosecution of new defendants.¶
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It also does nothing to prevent the government from continuing to explore the possibility of seeking civil forfeiture of any assets that were used to facilitate the crimes charged in this indictment. Indeed, as has been stated publicly, investigations into those matters have been ongoing, remain ongoing, and will continue following dismissal the indictment here.¶
I would also like to note that, as the •• -rifinent has previously mentioned, this dismissal in no y 1 ssens the government’s resolve to stand up for t ‘ctims in this case, both those who have come forward an cc; h )who have yet to do so. We agree with your Honor’s t that those victims should be respected, and we ciate your Honor’s recognition of that.¶
(S iv One houseke tter that I did want to reference for your Honor. destruction or tur of any and all discovery material upon conclusion e case. We have been in communication with ective order in this case requires defens coun 1, who have confirmed that they have returned all ph 1 pies that they have of discovery that the government duced to date, and they are in the process of deleting y copies that they may have made. So the parties are in compliance with the protective order.¶
Finally, I just wanted to say a word about the victims in this case, and particularly those who are here in court¶
1 today. I’ll note that in light of the court’s order indicating 2 that the victims and their counsel would be permitted to be 3 heard in court here today, the government has endeavored to 4 provide notice to all known victims of today’s proceeding. We 5 did so either directly where a victim was not represented by 6 counsel or through counsel where a victim is represent d by an 7 attorney.¶
8 The government does not know exactly h 9 or their attorneys are here today and we do now how many 10 of them or their counsel would like to 11 any individuals do wish to speak, w know the substance 12 of what they would like to say. left that entirely up 13 to the individual decisions victims and their attorneys. To the extent AQII; r I victims¶
14 I will note, tho g t at throughout this case, the 15 government has endeavdlledaody done our utmost to fulfill our 16 obligations under C mes Victims’ Rights Act. We have done 17 so by trying to ep as many victims as we are aware of up to 18 date about ngoing case and about any developments in the 19 case . ? S e¶
20 will continue to provide services and offer 21 s s to any of the victims in this case, even after the 22 ictment is dismissed. Both the U.S. Attorney’s office and 23 the FBI have been in touch with all known victims or have 24 attempted to be in touch with all known victims, either again 25 directly where victims are not represented by counsel or¶
1 2 3 through counsel where they have attorneys. We have expressed to them that services are available for those who wish to take advantage of them.¶
4 5 Unless the court has any questions for me, the government will otherwise rest on its papers.¶
6 THE COURT: I just have one question.¶
7 8 The protective order, is that self-executor o I need to do something?¶
9 (:::, MS. COMEY: It is self-executing, ur onor.¶
10 THE COURT: Thanks very much, Comey.¶
11 ) MS. COMEY: Thank you, you on¶
12 THE COURT: Yes.¶
13 14 turn Mr. Weingarten, I’m happ to counse ‘>he defense at this time. he r from you.¶
15 MR. WEINGAR r ank you.¶
16 17 18 19 20 Your Hon year to say the did the las e I was before you. For us, the elephant in e ctr the ro is yoic1:4 w see ink it is an understatement of the looks and feels differently today than it happened to our client. I would like to tell the world and where we are on that subject.¶
21 22 23 24 25 We start with the Attorney General’s statements, lic statements, that there were very serious improprieties in the jail. We obviously read the press. We see that the warden has been taken out. We see that the guards on duty at the time have been put on leave. We understand guards are¶
1 refusing to cooperate with the investigation. We have heard 2 allegations that people at the time who had responsibility for 3 protecting our client falsified information. We understand 4 that there were orders out there that Jeffrey Epstein was never 5 to be left alone and that the orders were ignored by many of 6 the employees of the prison.¶
7 In a word, yikes. In addition, obviously fol owed 8 the medical examiner’s report, or we haven’t fo • d he 9 report, we haven’t seen it, but heard concl ion , initially 10 not enough evidence to come to a concl , wanted to see 11 more. We assumed she was talking a t videotapes, but 12 then came to the conclusion tha suicide.¶
13 We report to the co¶
14 THE COURT: Suic c byfianging —¶
15 MR. WEINGART¶
16 THE COUR as her conclusion?¶
17 MR. WE GAR EN: Yes.¶
18 Ancg report to the court that we had a doctor there 19 at the ime, nd we also have been in receipt of a tremendous 20 am of edical and scientific evidence volunteered to us 21 o that the injuries suffered, as reported, were far more 22 o sistent with assault than with suicide, and we are happy to 23 supply the court with all the information that we have.¶
24 Now, in addition, as the court noted, we were underway 25 with our pretrial motions, and as the court obviously¶
1 2 3 understands, the NPA and the role of the NPA was going to be critically important. And I would simply like to report that we went pretty far along.¶
4 5 6 7 8 We interviewed all of the relevant lawyers on the defense side who participated in the NPA, and we were satisfied that we had a very strong argument that every one of lawyers believed with an objective basis that the wa global. That is, at the time¶
9 THE COURT: I’m sorry, that?¶
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 MR. WEINGARTEN: The deal of t PA was global. That is, more specifically, at the time, e rida prosecutors and agents knew of conduct in New Y defense counsel negotiating would have ever agreed t York prosecutors to that no competent AL d faith with the prosecutors e:$vback then that allowed New r r precisely the same conduct in the future, which rse, is what happened.¶
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 CI In addi ion we have come up with very powerful evidence, w ieve, that Florida prosecutors, who partic’ ated • Z’ rn uirthe deal, steered the victims and the alleged vi t New York on more than one occasion because they did t to suffer the sleights of attacks against them. So we ve advanced the ball on this very subject and we are prepared to completely report to the court as to where we are and what we’ve done.¶
25 Another point. We obviously had contact with our¶
1 client at or around the time of his death, and’obviously the 2 attorney-client privilege survives death and we are not going 3 to forfeit the privilege, but we will report to the court, with 4 as much specificity as the court may want, that at or around 5 the time of his death, we did not see a despairing, despondent 6 suicidal person. Details to follow, if the court wis¶
7 The 800-pound gorilla, for us, of course, th 8 video surveillance tapes. Obviously we assume s a tape 9 that leads directly to the door where Jeffr Eps ein was 10 housed. If that tape reports for 12 hoa be ore his death 11 that no one went in and out of that 12 that there was something other tt, a iicide seems 13 preposterous. en the suggestion¶
14 But there is no 4 e idence that has surfaced to 15 date. Just the oppo have heard, and we actually read 16 in the press, th a pes were either corrupted or not 17 functioning. T k a ut a yikes. If, in fact, the system was 18 broken for onths before Jeffrey Epstein was housed, I 19 mean, at w ld be stunning incompetence. If it was allowed 20 to to be inoperative when Jeffrey Epstein was housed, 21 i d be incompetence times ten. But what if the tapes only 22 oke down or were inoperative or were corrupted on the day he 23 was killed or the day he died? Then we’re in a completely 24 different situation.¶
25 So where does this lead? I think where it leads,¶
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Judge, is there are incredibly important questions that remain open. The public interest in this matter is obvious from this courtroom. There are conspiracy theories galore. We are all for finding the truth. We believe this court has an indispensable role to play.¶
Whether or not this indictment is dismissed, I hink this court has the inherent authority to find out ha pened on its watch. Obviously, when the court detain rey ater he would authority of Epstein, the court did not anticipate that be dead in his cell. I think given the court, the court should make in the ; Brent ACI¶
This could come in man Obviously the court made inquiry as to what happ ed n the first incident. When there was an allegation inquiry. The court q adEempted suicide, the court made was interested.¶
I recall one of the seve nguage. en questions You talked about that being indicating an interest on the t iSv court for ti hers as well. Obviously, the ultimate question is wha appe ed to the client.¶
E COURT: You’re talking about the July 23, 2019 t.¶
MR. WEINGARTEN: Yes.¶
The court obviously could hold hearings. The court could assign a lawyer to help the court. I think this is an area where there is intense public interest. We have complete¶
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24 In a word, we want the court to help us find out what 25 happened. The court has a role to play. It is the institution¶
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1 that most people have confidence in in these very troubled 2 times.¶
3 So whether or not you dismiss the indictment, to us, 4 is beside the point. We want you to stay on the case, we want 5 you to conduct an investigation, and we want to know what 6 happened here.¶
7 Thank you, your Honor.¶
8 THE COURT: Just so it is clear, so yo e on the 9 motion directly on its merits of the nolle osegui order and 10 application by the U.S. Attorney, do yo vea view on that?¶
11 12 13 MR. WEINGARTEN: I think i e urt ..414t) felt that the hS case had to stay alive for the I e, continue, we would oppose it. I think —¶
14 THE COURT: I’m 4o y, if what?¶
15 16 17 investigation o ar icipate in the investigation, then we 18 want, the r want you to play, if the indictment has to be 19 alive, e wo d oppose the motion. MR. WEINGAR the issue, if you took the position for you ct the investigation or lead the¶
20 don’t think you need to do that. I think you can 21 the indictment.¶
22 THE COURT: So you’re suggesting that you support the 23 government’s motion, just viewed in the context of —¶
24 MR. WEINGARTEN: Yes, of course.¶
25 THE COURT: Great.¶
MR. WEINBERG: Judge, if I can just supplement?¶
THE COURT: Absolutely.¶
MR. WEINBERG: Thank you, sir.¶
Thank you, as an out-of-town lawyer for the privilege to appear in front of you, your Honor.¶
THE COURT: It’s my pleasure.¶
MR. WEINBERG: First, as to the conditions, we think your Honor trusted the government, the Bureau of Prisons, to keep our client safe and keep him in civilized conditions. The government will again ask, as to other defendants, that they be detained at the MCC, some subset of them will end up in the SHU unit.¶
It is a horrific. I’ve called it medieval. There’s vermin on the floor. There is wet from the plumbing. There is no sunlight. There is limited exercise. It is simply conditions that no pretrial detainee — and I would go farther as a criminal defense lawyer — no United States defendant should be subjected to.¶
Certain judges have taken views of the conditions. We would urge your Honor, the government talks about and we talk about transparency, to see what kind of conditions there exist within 50 or 100 yards of one of the great United States district courts.¶
Second, in terms, we have a profound problem with the conclusions of the medical examiner. There are for three¶
1 reasons, your Honor.¶
2 One is the timing of Mr. Epstein’s demise. It was on 3 August 10. On August 12, a bail pending appeal motion was 4 being filed in the Second Circuit. On August 12 or 13, the 5 United States Attorneys were going to respond to our request 6 for the preservation and production of documents that wo ld 7 have facilitated and furthered our efforts to demo ate 8 communications between the Southern District of a, the 9 Northern District of Georgia, which was sta ingi in the shoes 10 of the Southern District of Florida maijr stice 11 Southern District. and the¶
12 In other words, we wer ng the process 13 discharging our 14 evidence that Mr. p c y g nst a 15 minor after 2005. ct matter of the New York 16 prosecution was s within the heartland of the Florida 17 NPA. We had a icant motion to dismiss. This was not a 18 futile, you w defeatist attitude. U *Im responsibili S e There had been no new E stei itted an offense a ai¶
19 20 Ho ad%cheduled. So the timing for a pretrial detainee to 21 suicide on August 10, when his bail pending appeal 22 otion is being filed on August 12, strikes us as implausible. Thirki, we had all the discovery motions that your¶
23 Second, we had an independent doctor who was present 24 at the autopsy which occurred on August 11. On August 11, the 25 city medical examiner’s findings were inconclusive. We are¶
1 2 3 4 5 6 told by a very experienced forensic pathologist that the broken bones in Mr. Epstein’s neck, in his larynx, are more consistent with external pressure, with strangulation, with homicide, if you will, than with suicide. It doesn’t exclude suicide, but the pure medical forensic evidence creates profound issues about what happened to him.¶
7 8 9 10 11 Also the time of death. Our medical exa opinion is it occurred at least 45 minutes and y hours before 6:30 a.m. on August 10, when he was will, according to the reports. Yet he moved, that is not ordinary in these circu 9n . ound, if you something¶
12 I would also 2-¶
13 m’sse e was moved? THE COURT: Excuse¶
14 15 16 17 18 ad of having the cell in the MR. WEINBERG: condition it was fou di e had been dead for 45 minutes or two hours or four s,, there were efforts to move him and, therefore, make t m re difficult to reconstruct whether or not he died of e or some other cause.¶
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 St I spoke to Stacey Richmond, who is a responsible me of his court who represents the family of Mr. Epstein. e to the medical examiner on the Friday after lid. Epstein’s death and asked why, if the conclusion was made late in the afternoon on Friday that week. She specifically asked about what extrinsic nonmedical evidence caused the medical examiner to go from uncertain to suicide, and she was¶
1 2 3 4 5 told that the medical examiner had seen nine minutes of one video which was on a stairwell between floors at the MCC. She I was told that the principal video that would haye showed the whole M was corrupted. It was in DC with the FBI to see if they can reconstruct it.¶
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 {sup}249 And I asked the same questions that my co-co ns 1 did, you know, was the dysfunction of the critical pivo vid o, in the most secure prison east of Florence, out in r do known to the MCC before August 10, or was this co on occurring on August 10, which would again cause be skeptical of the At ) servitude of the medical examiner’s n ions that this was suicide rather than some other Ihmc. v¶
13 14 15 16 17 co-couns , S e ask your Honor, it is not a question of trust or not t. They ask you to detain people and you trust the Bu jj Prisons. And it is within your inherit authorit onor, to find out what happened to our client. So with my¶
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 We r Ir angry about the conditions he was held in. And we’re so a ry, quite frankly, your Honor, that the only so o information that we get as to what happened to him is C:) the media rather than through the United States torney’s office. We’ve made requests informal. We have made Touhy requests. We’ve been told there is a pending investigation.¶
25 But we trust your Honor and the judiciary, and with¶
1 all due respect, we believe there is an inherent and central 2 role, a pivotal role in your Honor to find out what happened to 3 a defendant in a case before the court, whether or not the 4 court grants the nolle pros today or whether it holds it 5 pending an investigation into Mr. Epstein’s death.¶
6 We’re not here without significant doubts reclar ing 7 the conclusion of suicide. We are not here to say 8 happened. We don’t know what happened. But we want to 9 know what happened to our client.¶
10 Thank you, sir.¶
11 THE COURT: And you, as Mr ei rten, have the 12 view of the nolle prosequi moti same¶
A 13 MR. WEINBERG: Yes,4Ao Honor.¶
14 THE COURT: OK.¶
15 16 points? respond to some of those¶
17 THE CO T: Sure.¶
18 MS. EY: Thank you, your Honor.¶
19 Jus briefly. With the exception of the noting that 20 th en does not have an objection to the government’s 21 virtually everything else that defense counsel just 22 gued, respectfully is completely irrelevant to the purposes 23 of today’s proceeding and to the motion that is pending before 24 your Honor.¶
25 As an initial matter, the question —¶
1 THE COURT: Well, it may be. Well, I don’t know. You 2 say irrelevant.¶
3 It is a public hearing, and I think it: is fair game 4 for defense counsel to raise its concerns.¶
5 MS. COMEY: Certainly, your Honor. But it is 6 irrelevant to whether or not the motion should be gra to .¶
7 THE COURT: Right. I get that.¶
8 MS. COMEY: I would also note that the t on of 9 Mr. Epstein’s death is the subject of an on ing and active 10 investigation, as has been publicly not by a separate team 11 of Assistant United States Attorney o e Southern District 12 of New York, separate from the a w is handling this 13 prosecution, as well as a se r team of FBI agents.¶
14 There is an ong n an active 15 investigation into t mstances surrounding Mr. Epstein’s 16 death. It is the •n of a grand jury and of the Federal 17 Bureau of Inves on to investigate crimes in the federal 18 court syste t is not the purview, respectfully, of the 19 court con ct an investigation into uncharged matters. grand jury¶
20 respectfully, we disagree with defense counsel’s 21 A 22 dependent investigation. To the extent any other defendants 23 who are detained in the MCC have concerns about the conditions 24 or believe that the conditions are relevant to a future or 25 current bail determination, it is for those defendants and (Sp ion that the court has some authority to conduct an¶
There 23 24 II from Alaska case in Washington, DC, Judge Emmet SIM 25 ordered an independent investigation by a private lawyer when is precedent here. Ted Stevens, the Senator¶
1 their counsel to raise those arguments and for Ithe judges 2 hearing those arguments to evaluate those claims. It is not 3 relevant to today’s proceedings.¶
4 Thank you, your Honor.¶
5 THE COURT: In those other cases, Ms. Comey, 6 have authority to investigate, but don’t here? judges do¶
7 MS. COMEY: Not to investigate, your Mono 8 hear arguments about the conditions of confine n the MCC 9 as they may relate to any bail determinatio Il •- lieve that 10 was the argument that was made.¶
11 12 of today’s proceeding, as we un it, is to allow the 13 victims who have gathered hest ay to be heard and to comment 14 upon the case and to co n up n the motion that is pending, 15 and to bring this ca lose. The bigger picture here, is that the focus¶
16 THE COU¶
17 MR. WE1 j3MTEN: May I?¶
18¶
19 EINGARTEN: We obviously saw this as, perhaps, 20 th t portunity to be before you, and we wanted to take 21 a v ge of the opportunity to say our peace and thank you for 22 lowing us.¶
1 2 3 he was deeply troubled by the alleged Brady violations. I represented the prosecutors in that case, so I’m very, very familiar with it.¶
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 It is analogous. It is a situation where there was tremendous controversy over what happened in the case and whether or not the prosecutors went off the reservation Judge — and there were three or four independe independent, DOJ inquiries into the very same m But Judge wanted his own opportunity tc4 make a judgment with his own independent investigation.¶
11 THE COURT: OK.¶
12 13 MR. WEINBERG: If I co Illi1s*1.2 ly, add one precedent, your Honor.¶
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 The Chief judge n he istrict of Massachusetts or the Chief Judge at th Judge =, in a case called U.S. v. Fleming, t conditions at Walpole, which is a state prison wh- eral prisoners were being held — we A F4r don’t have eral MCC in Boston went to the prison, lch7e prison to determine whether or not the complaints ab he onditions were authentic.¶
21 22 0 I think your Honor has the inherent authority to go to ninth floor and see how the MCC houses pretrial detainees.¶
23 Thank you.¶
24 25 THE COURT: Are you saying that whether or not the motion is granted that is pending before us?¶
MR. WEINBERG: Yes, your Honor.¶
I think, like when appeals are taken, bail issues remain before the district court. Jurisdiction, is not completely divested. Your Honor issued a pretrial detention order and your Honor has the power, the inherent authority, they are not going to refuse to allow you to go look ninth floor. They are going to count on you to ma eci ions in the future.¶
I just trust that the executive br ch ‘s not going to prevent the judicial branch from looki to the death of Jeffrey Epstein or the conditions i e U unit at the MCC, sir.¶
THE COURT: Great. A4,/1 you.
¶
Just very b the dismissal of your Honor. I would note that upon ‘ctment, which I believe the parties agree is approp ate in this case, there would be no case. There would jurisdiction for the court to conduct any sort / o ing u y, even if the court had such authority.¶
outer Honor?¶
Si E COURT: Right.¶
O¶
OK. I think we’ve heard enough.¶
It is at this point in the hearing that I would like to call upon victims’ counsel, plural, for any remarks they may have and they may wish to make. Also, to introduce their clients, those of them who wish to be heard.¶
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Mr. It would be helpful if, in doing that,: if counsel and I see and I see Mr. Boise as well — I know they are counsel to several, at least several of the victims. It would be helpful if whoever is speaking, both Mr. and Mr. Boise, would indicate to the court whether or not they have discussed the pending motion with their clients, h t is to say and the rule of abatement, etc., etc. with D pr or to today’s hearing.¶
Are we going to hear from Mr. Edwa4ls f’rst, is that right?¶
MR. Thank you, r.
¶
¶A
il¶
THE COURT: You bet.¶
It would be helpful sy , if you would state and spell your name for t e ou reporter.¶
If you are introduce someone else, which I trust that you ar lldu could state and spell their name as (::..) well.¶
MR. ARDS: Yes, your Honor.¶
May lir t please the court. Brad EM., B-r-a-d E- -s, with the law firm of Pottinger. -c}¶
( I have in the courtroom today 15 victims that I present and have represented over the years. There are at least 20 more who didn’t make this hearing today for a multitude of reasons, some out of fear of public exposure, others because the way in which this case ended will never¶
1 bring full justice, and they decided it was best for them not 2 to talk today.¶
3 Some of my clients are going to address the court that 4 are here today. Others are not. Some are going to use their 5 names, and have in the past, and others wish to remain 6 anonymous. And I have instructed each of them to inf rm the 7 court reporter that they will be proceeding as Jane s that 8 the court reporter can take them down.¶
9 THE COURT: For those who wish to anonymous?¶
10 MR. Exactly, your¶
11 THE COURT: And that is sa 12 concerned. fa ry, as far as I am¶
13 MR. : Beforscso o that, I would like to 14 address a couple of the t s at have occurred this morning.¶
15 First of al er relevant or not, I personally, 16 and on behalf of s, do appreciate the presentation 17 that Mr. Weinga ade and Mr. Marty Weinberg made.¶
18 I tremendous respect for Mr. Weinberg. I’ve 19 worked ith ‘m through this and related cases for years, and I 20 un an the reason why they made the presentation that they 21¶
22 There is two things of interest to our clients in that 23 respect. One is, because of the tragic ending, that none of my 24 clients wanted, nor did I, nor did anyone else, if there is 25 some civil rights violation and there is some civil remedy for¶
1 Mr. Epstein that goes to the estate, certainly the victims are 2 interested in that as they might help to repairthe damage 3 done.¶
4 5 curious to us. But more so, it makes it absolutely impossible 6 for the victims to ever get the day in court that the nted 7 in court and to get full justice. That now can n ha 8 I know that Mr. Epstein’s attorneys say he wan , and they 9 know, we did too. And there are a lot of ople ere 10 that are very sad by the way that this d or both 11 Mr. Epstein and the fact that full ti was robbed from 12 them, once again. Second, Mr. Epstein’s untimely death, the timing is today¶
13 The second issue I n d to address was the Law 14 Review or the Law Journal ~ e that your Honor referenced, 15 which is troubling he opinion seems to say that 16 transparency is n p priate in the criminal system and is 17 not appropriate t t is point in time.¶
18 Though to swallow, especially in this case, 19 given e lo history of this case. Personally, it is tough 20 to lo , and on behalf of my clients, I can say that is very 21 ing. Transparency is the only way that the justice 22 stem works. We know this because there was a similar 23 investigation of Mr. Epstein many years ago, from 2005 to 2008.¶
24 My personal involvement in this case was because a 25 young female came into my office named and she¶
1 came to me not asking to file a lawsuit against Jeffrey 2 Epstein, but simply asking for the government t() talk to her. 3 She was cooperating in an FBI investigation and wanted the 4 government to speak with her, and I thought that was going to 5 be an easy task.¶
6 It was only a few months later that we learn hat 7 this investigation that was represented to my cli- n w itten 8 form, that it would be a long investigation, an patient. 9 Basically, to hang tight. It was resolved wa of a secret 10 deal that never allowed any of the more n 30 victims who had 11 been identified of Mr. Epstein’s ab 1 lorida to ever 12 participate in a single hearing e was a hearing. They 13 were never notified.¶
14 I then went on t4 pr sent many of them in civil 15 cases and also in ex ro bono work. And I can tell your 16 Honor that while pstein’s abuse of them hurt them and 17 harmed them for ny years, the feelings they had was 18 aggravated ntially by the facts that they had no rights 19 in the rimi 1 justice system, by the fact that they were 20 tr a if they didn’t matter. They were not allowed their 21 r under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act to meaningfully 22 fer with prosecutors, to be treated with fairness, to be 23 treated with dignity. That is what this is supposed to be 24 about, and to have notice of hearings.¶
25 So I do want to thank your Honor, and especially the¶
1 prosecutors who have worked this investigation and this case, 2 which is very different in experience for all of my clients and 3 the other Epstein victims in this case, because they were 4 allowed to be a part of the process. While some of them 5 elected not to be here today, that opportunity should always be 6 allowed for them.¶
7 In 2008, we filed that case under the Cr ict ms’ 8 Rights Act because our clients’ rights were vio , and as 9 your Honor knows, a federal judge has ruled r clients’ 10 favor that their rights were violated this hearing today 11 means a lot to them. The fact that e y never get their 12 chance to speak in court, they 13 and all of us 14 them the first time, woul 15 wouldn’t it more like 16 Jeffrey Epstein, have 4\ to wonder i their ye get complete closure, rights had been afforded right now. Or he case that everyone, including turned out better for it? y f us be here¶
17 Today, ha e not only represented, but met and become 18 very close many of these victims. Many of these 19 surviv s. ey are very strong people. They are people who 20 ha rs ered through a lot of adversity. It’s been a roller 21 c of emotions that has led us to where we are today. And 22 ‘le they have all been cast over the years because of the 23 secrecy of the first investigation, in the shadow as victims, 24 you can’t put them all in one bucket and say one size fits all. 25 They are each individual people who were harmed differently and¶
1 distinctly through not only the abuse, but the system.¶
2 3 4 5 6 And on behalf of all of them, I would like to thank your Honor for the fairness with which they’ve been treated, and the United States Attorney’s office for the way in which you have handled this investigation, and especially how you have treated the victims in this case.¶
7 8 9 Like I said, I have many who want to spe can’t. This is a very difficult day for them. appreciate the opportunity and the invitati that¶
10 11 12 The first client that I have t is going to address your Honor is the one who walked in lc ,fice in 2008 asking just to be heard, ,Aisy¶
13 14 THE COURT: Hold on \ n econd. Did you all want to be seated? A SӦ
15 16 17 You don’t neetJ e standing. Whatever is more comfortable until ready to give some comments. It’s up to you.¶
18 19 Ms II. ’ 4 d, if you could spell your name for the court report ;, s plZPIase.¶
20 21 4 INS C-o-u-r-t-n-e-y, last name¶
22 (Continued on next page)¶
23 24 25¶
My name is ( = and I’m a victim 2 of Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused me for 3 years, robbing me of my innocence and mental health. Jeffrey 4 Epstein has done nothing but manipulate our justice system, 6 II to this day. where he has never been held accountable for his actions, even¶
5¶
7 Jeffrey Epstein robbed myself and all the er 8 victims of our day in court to confront him one , and for 9 that he is a coward.¶
10¶
11 justice that has been long over due importantly, 12 given us, the victims, our day to speak our peace and 13 find some sort of closure. very angry and sad that 14 justice has never been se this case. Thank you. I want to thank the U.S. Attor or seeking¶
15 THE COURT: T very much.¶
16 MR. EDW elieve my next client who is going to 17 speak is probabl go ng to speak as Jane Doe.¶
18 E NO. 1: Yes, Jane Doe.¶
19 THE OURT: We’ll say Jane Doe No. 1, just for the re 20 c::!)¶
21¶
JANE DOE NO. 1: Okay. Thank you for allowing us to 22 peak today. I’ve shifted what 23 what’s already been said, and just about the question of 24 Jeffrey’s death. I don’t know what the relevance is to this 25 hearing, but I do know that it is profoundly relevant to my I want to say in hearing¶
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 life, as a victim. I don’t like that word, but :I still feel like I am learning the ways that he’s impacted me as a complex situation, but he was also a major part of my life. As destructive as that relationship was and as much of a villain as we have created him to be — based on facts we’ve created him to be a villain — he’s a complex villain and act al y all of that is irrelevant. Anybody deserves — an in gat on is the right thing to do. Like, we do need to kn e died.¶
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 It felt like a whole new trauma al ove again, and I don’t know why, you know, because I - -trying to defend myself against him at this point in , but it still does not feel good. It didn’t feel ake up that morning and find out that he had alleged fitted suicide. Okay. But I also wanted to say to th \ss I’m reading — I read my story in the paper. I read y other girls’ stories that are so similar to my own erything that’s been focused on is not CI the most import t p rt of it.¶
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Th at .* was — the problem with focusing on these, the facts the ituation, that were out of the ordinary and like beG6Q h was such a grand person, and it was just a unique t on. I know that that’s the more interesting side of the tory, but I don’t want to be used as entertainment. And the problem, the fundamental problem of the whole situation is the element of exploitation and coercion, and these are things that so many girls can relate to.¶
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And even though this Jeffrey Epstein brought it to a grand scale, on some level, a lot of girls could relate to the trauma that we are talking about, and even though this whole situation sucks, I would like to think that it may be possibly a catalyst for change because, obviously, as we’re seeing with the “Me Too” movement, change needs to happen and it’ what I’m seeing in the papers is not a common story, b ‘s o much more common than you realize. That’s all. you.¶
THE COURT: Thank you very much.¶
(…) MR. I believe that th extoclient is going to also be a Jane Doe; so I think fAilS7 of the record it will be Jane Doe 2.¶
THE COURT: Yes.¶
‘S - JANE DOE NO. 2: morning, your Honor¶
THE COURT: rning. How are you?¶
JANE DOE Doing okay. I hadn’t prepared any words to speak ay but there is something that was on my mind this mIS:4 ’ fg when I got here. It’s been on my mind in readin thro h the press and through the people that I’ve sp to bout it, friends, family. It’s something that’s C:) d me because I think it has a lot of blame in it, as ell, a little bit of what my friend, who was up here, was speaking about.¶
I think that a lot of people asked why we spent so much time, why we stayed. It’s an experience that’s really¶
1 2 3 4 5 6 hard to explain to people who haven’t gone through it. I think there’s a writer, 1IIIIINagel, who wrote an essay called “What is it like to be a bat?” And I think that he touches on it pretty strongly and if you haven’t experienced something, it’s very hard to fully understand why someone makes the decisions they do and what the circumstances were.¶
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 I don’t want to speak for all of the vic I think each of us has a different story and different m tances for why we stayed in it, but for me, I thin as really strategic in how he approached each of Things happened slowly over time. We didn’t — it like that analogy of a frog bei turning the flame up. You as like, putting it an of water and slowly realize it was happening, and it just — I don’t think 4r ne Ycan fully understand the experience, but I jus e blame feels very strong.¶
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 There’s support as well, but I just want people to try a erstand that we aren’t bad people. We t illt weren’t try to to ext t mo : (Sic y from someone. A lot of us were in very vu bl situations and in extreme poverty, circumstances e didn’t have anyone on our side, to speak on our alf, and that’s really scary. it wasn’t a situation where we were trying¶
23 24 25 You start to blame yourself because, at first, you don’t tell anyone what’s happening, and it becomes your deep, dark secret that you tried to keep from everyone. And I didn’t¶
1 even know I was a victim until I spoke with my lawyers. I had 2 II no idea. I had so much self-hatred and doubt and just guilt 3 for everything. I still do. I still don’t feel like I deserve 4 to say I’m a victim, and I think that’s a big problem with our 5 society right now, that people are still blaming victims, and I 6 think that does need to change.¶
7 I hope that today people understand that of us 8 has a story, has a past, has a family and just u a chance 9 to — you know, that’s basically all I just to say.¶
10 THE COURT: Thank you so much.¶
11 JANE DOE NO. 2: Thank you rr¶
12 THE COURT: Okay.¶
13 MR. : Okay. I in that the next person who 14 is going to speak is als ng o be speaking as Jane Doe; so 15 for the purpose of t , Jane Doe No. 3.¶
16 JANE DOE Thank you for allowing us to speak 17 today. I came Ne York City 15 years ago to pursue modeling 18 from a smal . I signed on with an agency and was excited 19 to pur e my assion and my dream. Several months later, I met 20 a e o told me about Mr. Epstein. She portrayed him as 21 a ing man who genuinely cared for people and that he was 22 ing to be able to help me in a modeling career.¶
23 I was excited to meet him, after hearing her talk 24 about him. He sounded like an amazing person. An introduction 25 was made at his New York home, and it is there ‘that I was¶
1 sexually assaulted. I left his home, after he threw me, 2 basically put money on the table, and I was ashamed. I was 3 embarrassed. This was not the way I was brought up, and I 4 couldn’t believe this had happened to me.¶
5 I left and my world kind of spiraled after that. I 6 stopped going on modeling castings. I gained weight. became 7 depressed. I stopped going out with my friends, a nly five 8 months after I had been in New York City to pur y dream, I 9 left. I left the modeling industry, and I ft New York City, 10 and I totally switched my career pathscp¶
11 I buried this deep within 12 occurrences that have come up i ia is what brought it 13 back up for me. And I feel ed and saddened that it took 14 so many years, and God kn o many victims, for this to 15 finally come out, bu • it did. And I’m just angry 16 that he’s not re to have to pay the price for his 17 actions. So I ank you a all of the for your time. new¶
18 TH URT: You’re very welcome.¶
19 20 is Z ’ Your Honor, Jane Doe No. 4, I believe, g speak now.¶
21 JANE DOE NO. 4: Good morning, your Honor.¶
22 THE COURT: Good morning.¶
23 JANE DOE NO. 4: I just have something very short to 24 say. I met Jeffrey Epstein at a very vulnerable place in my 25 life, and whatever the outcome is with everything, I just¶
1 2 3 wanted to express that we, the victims, we will always carry irreparable damage and pain throughout our lives after this. It’s something that’s never going to go away.¶
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 You know, whoever we marry in our life, whatever future we have in our life, it’s always going to be something that’s always there for us. And I’m very nervous rigs And Jeffrey Epstein, he took away the chance I ha having the future I had envisioned for myself as a yo r , and I think many of us here today will never full from that pain and the heartache that we’ll cont. carrying with us.¶
11 12 13 So I just wanted to say th s something that it’s irreparable. I can’t even se a better word to describe that. earing us today. IN So thank yo o¶
14 THE COURT: You’ e er welcome.¶
15 16 speak. MR. Honor, Jane Doe No. 5 would like to¶
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 JANE DC10. it’s going • Dear Jeffrey, I think you are a mentally disturfd hu n being. You used your power to make me believe (5.14::, at un age that I could have my dreams of being a model. d for your freedom. You violated my rights. You should have to pay for them, just as anyone else. You got a plea deal that no one else would have been able to get. You used your money to get out of paying the price for your actions. 5: This is a letter that I wrote; so¶
25 Also, as a victim, I never got to see what the¶
•¶
1 agreement was or why the special treatment got approved. I 2 think you should have been in jail for several years in 3 population and live like everyone else that is mentally 4 disturbed like you. You paid for yourself to get special 5 treatment while you were in jail. I don’t even think you spent 6 a day in a jail as a normal human being.¶
7 You had investigators come to my house an= Qso dent 8 to my friend’s house to question them. I will able to 9 over — I will never be able to get over th overw elming 10 emotions and embarrassment I experience om that trauma. I 11 needed therapy several times a week Ss high stress and 12 anxiety levels.¶
13 You paid your way t the public think that the 14 girls had nothing in life ng on for them. You wanted to try 15 and blame that we wer class and that was the problem 16 with the girls. am om a middle class family and did well 17 in school. I lined the American girl dream or the American 18 girl life. nt on family vacations around the world, grew 19 up in good ity, and my parents are still married to this 20 da as ally, everything you said that we didn’t have in our 21 did.¶
22 It all came down to I was told I was making $200 in an 23 hour. Being young, that was a lot of money, and I didn’t know 24 any better. Sadly, you were the one with an illness that you 25 should have to go and see a doctor and also have a mentor group¶
1 2 3 4 5 6 for the sickness you have. I will continue with writing my book about that secret life, with all the newspaper articles of the case, my high school agenda book of official dates. I’m basing that proof that I deposited cash after leaving Jeffrey’s. I still have all of the information, articles that I collected over the years.¶
7 8 9 10 11 You mentally and physically traumatized therapy, and it was the best thing I did for my only learns one thing from this case, I hop should not let you buy your way victim is a victim. Thank you. free. ime c ) (GS I went to If anyone at money is a crime and a¶
12 THE COURT: Thank you. ou very much.¶
13 14 MR. : Your n my next client is Chauntae S C-h-a-u-n-t-a-e, D-a-v-i-e-s.¶
15 16 17 18 19 20 Jeffrey Epstein through my first massage teacher, o took me in as his apprentice to 4C…A teach me a prac ‘ce wanted to learn while in desperate search to find a cal gr a debilitating neurological disorder that I have, ich nifests into violent vomiting attacks, largely¶
21 22 23 24 25 triC) y stress. It’s called Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome. I was recruited by Ghislaine Maxwell. Upon my first eeting of her, I wouldn’t know I had been recruited until many years later, when I would read it in a headline. Ghislaine and Jeffrey took me in. They sent me to school. They gave me a job. They flew me around the world, introduced me to a world I¶
1 had only dreamt of and made me feel as though I’ had become a 2 part of their family, another thing I was desperately searching 3 for.¶
4 5 brought me to Jeffrey’s island for the first time, and on the 6 first night there, came tapping on my do r ate at 7 night to inform me Jeffrey was ready for another 8 9 10 But on my third or fourth time meeting them, they instincts told me this didn’t feel right, but followed her to a villa I hadn’t yet seen. Ghislaine’s villa. I ey and and¶
11 12 13 14 bed. I tried to pull awa , ut e was 15 and pulling my body 16 could think. 17 meek, “No, plea p,” 18 more. I began my massage, trying fear and obvious discomfort, bu happening, he grabbed onto m.y\ w t and ct let him smell my I knew tugged what was me towards the unbuttoning my short: already naked body faster than I ing for words but all I could say was but that just seemed to excite him¶
19 He ntinued to rape me, and when he was finished, he 20 ho of and went to the shower. I pulled my shorts up, and 21 s fast as I could back to my own villa, my feet bloodied 22 om the rocks. I cried myself to sleep that night.¶
23 I spent two weeks vomiting, almost to death, in a 24 Los Angeles hospital after that first encounter. Jeffrey’s 25 abuse would continue for the next three years, and I allowed it¶
1 II to continue because I had been taken advantage of my entire 2 life and had been conditioned to just accept it.¶
3 4 maybe, and all it took to bring — and all that it took to 5 bring this man to justice has been robbed by his death. 6 day, every week I’ve spent in the hospital since, I ‘v v s ffered 7 and he has won. Every job offer that’s been offe o m and 8 then retracted because of my connection to this , I have 9 suffered and he has won. Every public humi I have 10 endured, I have suffered and he has wo very relationship 11 that I’ve had to end because of the hat I have endured 12 by the hands of this man, I hav d and he has won. It took me a long time to come forward, too long Every¶
i, 13 Every woman sittin r is room today, and all of the 14 women who have yet come fend who have not yet to come 15 forward and whose liv been affected by Jeffrey Epstein’s 16 sick abuse of you r , we have all suffered, and he is 17 still winning i dea h.¶
18 I to 19 fight ck w n Jeffrey Epstein sexually abused 20 ha ye found my voice. Well, I have found my voice now, 21 a le Jeffrey may no longer be here to hear it, I will not 22 top fighting, and I will not be silenced anymore. I needed 23 him to hear the pain he’s caused, what I’ve gone through 24 because of him. I wrote a 350-page book of all the pain that I 25 have endured at the hands of this man that I really needed him let this man win in death. I couldn’t me because I¶
1 to hear. His death has robbed me of that justice.¶
2 Please don’t rob us of justice again. Thank you.¶
3 THE COURT: Thank you.¶
4 MR. Your Honor, I think I have one more 5 client that is going to speak today,¶
6 THE COURT: Would you spell that?¶
7 Good morning, your Hono¶
8 THE COURT: Good morning.¶
(::!) 9 My name is spell A- -o-u-s-k-a, 10 D-e, space, G-e-o-r-g-i-o-u.¶
11 12 II to be heard this morning. Thank you, your Honor, for vi us the opportunity¶
13 THE COURT: Sure.¶
14 15 Epstein, I was young 1 of hope and the foolishness of a 16 teenager. I was i tic, and I saw the good in people. 17 Jeffrey Epstein ulated me, coerced me and sexually abused 18 me. introduced to Jeffrey¶
19 ( c ?orc 20 th ss of innocence, trust and joy is not recoverable. The 21 a spanning several years, was devaluing beyond measure and 22 fected my ability to form and maintain healthy relationships, 23 both in my work and my personal life. He could not begin to 24 fathom what he took from us, and I say “us” because I am every 25 girl he did this to, and they’re all me. And today we stand I think is very important to communicate is¶
1 together, those that are present and those that, aren’t.¶
2 I was a victim, and it has taken me many, many years 3 to stand here and say, yes, it was me. I was a victim, but I 4 will not remain a victim and be silent for one more day. 5 Although I think it’s tragic when anybody dies before their 6 time, I’m extremely relieved that Jeffrey Epstein wil n t be 7 in a position to hurt anymore children or anymore 4 n, nd 8 I’m glad to be part of a group of women who are banded 9 forever in the trauma that we endured at th s of this man. 10 II Thank you.¶
11 THE COURT: Thank you.¶
12 MR. Your Hon d one client who was 13 not able to be here but sent sage through a letter. Her 14 name is -e-1-1-e; last name, 15 L-i-c-a-t-a. And Br nderson, of my office, is going to 16 read her letter a t cted.¶
17 THE COURT: Sure.¶
18 MS. ERSON: Thank you, your Honor.¶
19 THE OURT: Yup.¶
20 21 y go when I was in high school, but it still effects my 22 e. I was told then that Jeffrey Epstein was going to be 23 held accountable, but he was not. In fact, the government 24 worked out a secret deal and didn’t tell me about it. The case 25 ended without me knowing what was going on, without him being What happened to me occurred many¶
1 held responsible, without any explanation and without a chance 2 for my voice to be heard. I was treated like I; did not matter.¶
3 Many years later, he was arrested again. These 4 investigators and attorneys representing the United States have 5 been completely different. I am still mad, concerned and 6 confused about how he committed suicide and escaped 7 responsibility again, but I know it is not the fau e 8 judge or the government attorneys.¶
9 I was allowed to be a part of the E(roceps this time. 10 My attorney was able to tell me what w ing 11 stage because they kept him informe k you for inviting 12 me. It means more to me than y er know. I was not 13 able to be here this time, b now that I was allowed to be 14 and I had the chance to t d phis hearing, which is helping 15 me in my healing pro he fact that I mattered this time 16 and the other vic tered is what counts. For that, I am 17 grateful. on at every¶
18 TH. T: :Thank you.¶
19 20 fi ? he 4Rcase under th Your Honor, finally, in 2008 when I e Crime Victims Rights Act, it wasn’t me 21 a I did it with Paul Cassell and Jay Howell.¶
22 Paul Cassell is here today, and I think your Honor 23 even cited to a piece of — an opinion of his from when he was 24 on the bench, and he has some remarks to make.¶
25 Once again, your Honor, I really do believe that this¶
1 2 is a model for how victims should be treated in a criminal process, and we really do appreciate it. Thank you.¶
3 THE COURT: Thank you.¶
4 5 6 7 8 MR. CASSELL: I’ll be very brief because I know there are others that want to speak here. I’m Paul Cassell, INIft\ r C-a-s-s-e-1-1, previously served as a federal judge a t e District of Utah, currently a law professor, where eac crime victims rights at the University of Utah, • e e of Law.¶
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 I just wanted to take one minute t add ess some suggestion that there would be no need a morning. I think, having heard alr m these powerful victims and recognizing how imp ving those statements hearing this will be in the trajectory o/f~,th5 lives, makes clear that your Honor has followed exactl e ight path. Legally, there is one precedent, which v. a, a case that you cited that I wrote abo a de ago, and as explained in that opinion, victim av important interests in the criminal 8 lar justice sys that can only be recognized if they’re given their c y in ourt.¶
20 21 22 23 24 25 ” h. th all due respect to other law professors that have y written an article, I think transparency is one of the verriding objectives in our criminal justice system, and the one substantive action that I would urge your Honor to take today is to publish your remarks as a published opinion. The case is, to my knowledge, the only reported decision on¶
1 this particular issue, even though it’s more than a decade old 2 and, yet, we can see today that these problems recur in many 3 other cases. Your remarks today, I think, should be published 4 so that they can serve as a guide for other judges around the 5 country.¶
6 I would encourage you to add into your remar 7 reference to the Crime Victims Rights Act. The Cr Vic ims 8 Right Act promises victims the right to be trea 9 fairness, dignity and respect, and the proc s t a we see 10 unfolding this morning is a clear examp f how victims can be 11 treated with fairness, dignity and¶
12 So I know that your Ho ndering what is the 13 appropriate action here. Un x ately, it seems like there 14 are no other legal option here was a legal option for 15 you to decide to exer hich was to allow these victims to 16 come forward. An t re’s been one positive thing that has 17 come out of the ag dies, the abuse, the other events of this 18 case, it’s our decision to allow these victims to be 19 heard ism ning, and I encourage you to publish your 20 de n d to encourage other judges to follow what is 21 22 ample that should be followed in other cases down the road. a model for crime victims rights and is clearly an¶
23 24 I being here. I had no idea that you would be here when I wrote 25 the remarks, but it was clear from the literature that you are THE COURT: Thank you very much. I appreciate your¶
1 the leading expert formerly of the District Court of Utah, I 2 believe, and it’s a pleasure to have you here today.¶
3 MR. CASSELL: Thank you, your Honor.¶
4 THE COURT: Thanks.¶
5 Mr. Boies?¶
6 MR. BOIES: Thank you, your Honor. David Boi es of 7 Boies Schiller Flexner. We have with us today fi th 8 victims that we represent. There are a number 4liod tional 9 victims who either were unable to attend or re s ill unwilling 10 to come forward publicly. This has be enormously 11 traumatic aspect of their lives, so hi that, as you’ve 12 already heard and will hear mor a is something that they 13 can never entirely escape fr .¶
14 I want to, as p Co nsel have, commend both the 15 Court and counsel fo partment of Justice for the 16 consideration and and attention that they have paid to 17 the victims. W el eve that that is not only right, as a 18 matter of h ignity, but we think that is exactly what the 19 law re ires nd intends.¶
20 ^ will be more blunt than the Court has been, or 21 or Cassell has been about Professor article. 22 at is an article that cites no authority, and I believe there 23 is no authority for his proposition. I entirely respect his 24 right to advocate on behalf of his client Alan Dershowitz, who 25 has retained him in connection with litigation that we’ve¶
1 2 3 brought against Mr. Dershowitz, but I would have expected that the Law Journal or Professor himself would have disclosed that connection, which I think is a conflict.¶
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 But regardless of the appropriateness of his disclosure, or lack of disclosure, I think that his article opposing allowing the victims to have a voice in th proceeding is inconsistent not only with the poli underlies the Crime Victim Rights Act and the v t tute that Mr. Epstein is being prosecuted under, but ig ores the actual language of those statutes, and other statutes, in r .44;;II) which Congress has made clear that kfi p ose of the criminal law is no longer simply to puni it is to find some way of try 4S’ v o mitigate the damage that dividual defendant, but has been done to the vict th ough restitution and economic mitigation, but also the ability to confront and to have the court s a the justice system and the prosecutors tre t se victims as they are victims, as they are human b and they are entitled to the respect that our societ need to give every human being. So I think that this is on commendable, but I think it is what the law¶
22 23 24 25 In response to the question the Court asked, I have discussed this hearing with my clients. I have told them that, under the applicable law, the government has no alternative but to move to dismiss this case, and I believe under the¶
1 2 applicable law in this circuit, the Court has np alternative but to grant that motion.¶
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 I think the current law is outdated, as the Court suggested in some of its remarks. I think there will come a time when either an Appellate court or the Congress will make clear that, just as it’s possible to continue civil c against someone after they have deceased, it is p e, at least for purposes of things like restitution, o n inue criminal cases, but we are not there now. d, ortunately, in this case, there are other ways and per even ways to vindicate the interests of Ac;:, ims more efficient here.¶
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 We greatly appreciate representative of the Depart of Justice today, and we, too, on behalf of the victims, a n going to stop when we walk out of this courtroo re going to continue to seek vindication again pstein’s estate and, in some senses, perhaps even mo i ortant, against the people who worked with him and ena him. ks of the¶
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 u have already heard, and will hear more, did not act alone. He could not have done what he the scope and the scale of what he did, for as many rs as he did it without the activities and support and the co-conspirator activity of a number of other key individuals, and those individuals also need to bear their share of responsibility, and those people need to have a reckoning as¶
well.¶
2 My partner Sig McCawley, who’s been working with me 3 for more than five years on this case, is going to, with the Court’s permission, introduce five of our clients who will 5 speak briefly to your Court. Thank you very much.¶
6 7 fi to have you here. THE COURT: Thank you very much, Mr. Boies. asure¶
8¶
9 10 that would like to speak today is MS. McCAWLEY: Thank you, your Hon the first victim¶
11 THE COURT: Can we have th ng of your name?¶
12 13 last name is M-c-C-a-w-1-e-y a I’m a partner at Boies 14 Schiller Flexner. MS. McCAWLEY: Sure. -g-r-i-d, and the¶
15 THE COURT: Twit ou.¶
16 MS. SELZ) morning.¶
17 THE COURT: Good morning¶
18 : Thank you, prosecutors and Judge, and the 19 Court. y n e is . I note today I do feel 20 re a nd listened to; so I appreciate that, and I have to 21 s t I commend the boldness of the New York prosecutors for 22 suing a man that has, you know — and others, that have 23 clearly taken a lot from a lot of people.¶
24 17 years ago I knew him only as “Jeffrey.” I was 25 recruited and brought from California to New York, and that¶
1 experience for the last 17 years has been a dark corner in my 2 story, in my life, in my life story and that has been 3 definitely made worse by my own self-shame and that — and 4 anger for normalizing all of the red flags. I feel like we are 5 conditioned to do that, and that’s something that needs to 6 change.¶
7 So I’m here today, you know, I’m coming 8 because it is time to bring light to that darkn d it’s 9 time to replace that darkness with light. d I am a survivor 10 of this, and I do aim to progress furt rom being a 11 survivor, you know. I feel I’ve wo d, quite hard, to 12 get to where I’m at now, and I’ ely at a place in my 13 life where I will no longer v I’ll no longer cover up 14 what needs to be brought o ig .¶
15 Jeffrey is r here, and the women that helped 16 him are, Ghislai 1. My experience is with Ghislaine 17 Maxwell and Sar Ke len, and they definitely need to be held 18 accountable elping him, helping themselves, helping one 19 anothe carr on this huge, almost like a system. So they need 20 to el accountable, all of them, and I would like to see 21 t ertainly on behalf of myself and for everyone here. 22 nk you.¶
23 THE COURT: Thanks so much.¶
24 MS. McCAWLEY: Our next client, who is going to speak 25 this morning, is¶
1 Good morning, your Honor.¶
2 THE COURT: Good morning. How are you?¶
3 il. Okay. Thank you. My name is¶
4 that’s V-i-r-g-i-n-i-a,¶
5 R-o-b-e-r-t-s, ca G-i-u, double F, for Fred, -r-e.¶
6 7 8 9 i am a victim of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislai e axwell in the dark and cruel and criminal acts they comm ag inst me and hundreds of other girls and young women e•rs and years and years, unstopped.¶
10 11 12 13 14 Thank you for allowing me to ss he Court and speak the truth. I commend the pro ;u cc) from the Southern District of New York for the on estigation and its pursuit of justice for us vi It has given me hope, and I will not let go of that h¶
15 16 17 18 19 20 When I was r by Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago, just was 17, I thought I was given a big break, and I’d ab e to reset my life and become an actual real massag erapist. My hopes were quickly dashed, and my dreams ere olen. Jeffrey Epstein is no longer alive, but¶
21 22 23 24 25 thS n about how he died. This is about how he lived. (..::5He will not have his day in court, but the reckoning accountability has begun, supported by the voices of these brave and beautiful women in this courtroom today. The reckoning must not end. It must continue. He did not act alone and we, the victims, know that. We trust the government¶
1 2 is listening and that the others will be brought to justice. Thank you, your Honor.¶
3 THE COURT: Thank you very much.¶
4 5 MS. McCAWLEY: The next client of ours that will be speaking this morning is¶
6 7 8 Thank you, your Honor. My nam i , R-a-n-s-o-m-e. I’m a victim of Jeffrey in nd Ghislaine Maxwell’s international sex trafficki¶
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 I would like to thank the Court fog( ignity and the respect you are showing me here to l as pi victims. I would also like to ackn e and extend my uthern District of half of the victims. gratitude to the prosecutors fr e\ r New York for pursuing justic o Please, please finish wha find the words to ade well as the other u ve started. I struggled to say how important your work is to¶
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 For a y ong time Jeffrey Epstein gamed the system at every le nd/ when he realized he couldn’t do that any longer wed the world what a depraved and cowardly human bet :r by taking his own life. But we, the victims, are sea ere, prepared to tell the truth, and we all know he did t act alone. We are survivors, and the pursuit of justice should not abate. Thank you, your Honor.¶
24 THE COURT: You’re very welcome.¶
25 MS. McCAWLEY: Our next client who is going to be¶
1 2 3 speaking this morning is Good morning, your Honor. THE COURT: Good morning.¶
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A-n-n-i-e, F-a-r-m-e-r. I had the opportunity to speak at Jeffrey Epstein’s bail hearing, and I really appreciate that you heard listened to me that day. I am so sorry that other 11 hot have the opportunity to stand before him the wa t I did. But I’m here today to speak on behalf of my istgr, =M c who could not be here.¶
11 12 13 14 15 16 Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine not only assaulted her, but as we’re hearing from of these brave women here today, they stole her a and her livelihood. She risked her safety in 1996 many years ago, to report them, to no avail, and it this destruction breaking to her and to me that all wrought since that time.¶
17 18 19 20 21 EC We death and t (lc in the over ent’s custody, and I’m encouraged to hear that th e it be a full investigation as to how that was allowed ‘C p )I en. wer ee ly t that disappointed and disturbed by Epstein’s that was allowed to happen while he was¶
22 23 24 25 But it is extremely important, as others are saying, that he did not act alone and that the other people that were a part of what he did are held accountable and that that investigation continues.¶
1 I believe that we have a real problem in this country 2 with perpetrators of sexual abuse and sexual assault being held 3 accountable. There are so many roadblocks to victims being 4 heard, to cases being investigated thoroughly, and then to 5 those cases being prosecuted. And so I think this is a really 6 important signal to send a message to victims out the a hat 7 people will take you seriously, people will follow oug , and 8 that even those in power, as we have unfortunat e-n, that 9 has not been often are able to escape that, thati even those in 10 power will be held accountable. Thank¶
11 THE COURT: Thanks so much¶
12 MS. McCAWLEY: Our nex , who’s going to address 13 the Court is Marijke Chartou he says it much more 14 beautifully than I do; s et her say it.¶
15 MS. CHARTOUN first name is spelled, 16 M-a-r-i-j-k-e; la is C-h-a-r-t-o-u-n-i.¶
17 My nam is arijke and I am a victim of 18 Jeffrey Eps ’ and the sophisticated sex trafficking operation 19 he ran wher he allegedly was to be a financier.¶
20 ^ was 20 and previously modeled and was living in the 21 llage. I met a young woman named Rena through a mutual 22 iend. We were friends for a few months. She was an amazing 23 artist and liked to party. One day she called me and asked if 24 I was interested in meeting a friend of hers. She told me he 25 wanted to meet me and really liked blonds, and I thought he was¶
1 II our age and liked to do the same things we did at that age; so 2 I agreed.¶
3 4 the Upper East Side. She then began to talk a little bit about 5 him on our way to his house. I was at his house. I was 6 sexually assaulted by both Rena and Jeffrey Epstein i h 7 mansion. It left me feeling both disgusted and be On a sunny, crisp day, we took the train together to¶
8 As we walked home to the subway afterw 9 continued to tell me about the man who had •used me with 10 her participation. She seemed exhilara from the horrific 11 experience. I was shocked and in a Az gOr his is a few things 12 that she had told me. She told a nt to IllIllunion. He 13 was a mathematical genius. a ad favorite girls that he 14 would take to Chanel for in e, all-you-can-buy shopping 15 trips. She told me h t-hand person had connection to the 16 arts and the fash d, and she could help me.¶
17 This i of my complete story. I’ll stop here. I’m 18 in a good, e place in my life, and I had decided to come 20 to ei ” story, or at least not yet. I feel like I am a 19 forwa’ S o a voice to the victims who may not be able to 21 s r.¶
22 Thank you, Judge Berman, for inviting victims to speak 23 today before you. We hope the government is listening very 24 closely to the words we are saying.¶
25 THE COURT: Thank you very much.¶
1 MR. BOIES: Your Honor, just very briefly.¶
2 THE COURT: Sure.¶
3 4 5 6 MR. BOIES: I would like to express to the Court how proud I am of all of these women who have come forward. It’s taken an enormous amount of strength and courage for them to do so. Thank you.¶
7 THE COURT: Thanks, Mr. Boies. Hold on o Ac:eco¶
8 (Pause)¶
9 10 11 12 (;:) ill MS. LERNER: Thank you, your Honor4 My name is Kimberly Lerner, of Lerner and Lerner, your Honor, with your permission, I would like my clot, nnifer Aroz, to stand next to me.¶
13 THE COURT: Sure.¶
14 MS. LERNER: Wo 4’h;Sie okay?¶
15 THE COURT: ly.¶
16 17 18 19 20 21 MS. LERN saying that I a r Honor, I would like to begin by we of all of these beautiful women. I just want t t you know, on behalf of Jennifer and myself, we admire u, respect you, and we applaud you, and you are br ur vors. And Jennifer’s heart is with all of you, and 0 k you so much for coming forward.¶
22 23 24 Jennifer, when she went public, she thought she was one of the only ones, and to see all of these faces is, I know, amazing for her.¶
25 Jeffrey Epstein was a predator, a pedophile and a sick¶
1 2 3 4 5 6 individual. However, he was also a thief. He stole Jennifer’s childhood dreams, her innocence and her self-confidence. She was 14 years old. What he could not buy, he forcibly took. Why? Because he surrounded himself with a network of powerful people who not only looked the other way, but also actively facilitated and participated in his sexual abuse of c it ren.¶
7 8 9 10 11 Jeffrey Epstein thought he was above the an essentially he was until now. The system let J and the other victims down, but it does not have to nd ¢ere. We ask the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI ring Epstein’s enablers and co-conspirat s t ustice. all of¶
12 13 14 15 16 It has taken Jennifer to find her voice, and again, Jeffrey Epstein has t will never have her chant has any power over he heard. o silence her. While she face him in court, he no longer , this brave survivor will be¶
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MS. AR L(: t hank you for allowing me to be able to my cha \ ’ n court today, able to tell you what this tie horrifC man id to my life. You can’t even imagine how much it ct my childhood, all the way through my adult life. (De d me of my dreams. He robbed me of my chance to pursue career I always adored. He stole my chance at really feeling love because I was so scared to trust anyone for so many years that I had such severe anxiety. I didn’t want to leave my house let alone my bed. to be¶
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The fact that he felt entitled to take away my innocence, the fact that he felt that he could do whatever he wanted, regardless of the laws, hurts me so very much. It took me years to tell anyone what Epstein did to me because I was so ashamed and embarrassed at what people would say or think of me until I found out there were other victims, girls jus 1 ke me. I knew I could no longer keep my silence no matter ru hless and powerful Epstein was, and still is even of s death.¶
The fact I will never have a chanc to ace my predator in court eats away at my soul en in death, Epstein is trying to hurt me. I had hoped at st get an apology, but this evil man had no remors ng for what he did to anyone. I felt let down by e eople who were supposed to watch him in prison. Th t is man kill himself and kill the chance of justic many others in the process, taking away our ability o¶
Out of C)11 he damages and side effects that Epstein I caused by heartless and selfish acts, it’s very hard to put c r my fee, ngs r d7 emotions into words, trying to let his ho ou actions go and attempting to forgive him, has been ;:‘,icult for me. Yet, as hard as it’s been to come so blicly forward, I refuse to let Epstein take me as a victim anymore.¶
I am a survivor. The many that stand before me here today that have shared the horrific experiences with this¶
1 2 3 4 5 deplorable human being, because even though this weak, evil coward tried to steal all of our childhoods, tried to steal all of our innocence and tried to steal all of our means of justice, he will never steal our inner strength, and he will never, ever, ever steal our voice. Thank you so much.¶
6 THE COURT: You’re welcome.¶
7 8 9 10 11 MS. GIBBS: Good morning, your Honor. Te ibb , T-e-r-i, G-i-b-b-s. For the record, I am a Cal • i attorney. I’m not admitted to the New York •ar. I am here to make a statement on behalf of ork attorney, Lisa Bloom. I work for her firm, The B1¶
12 13 14 15 16 17 Lisa Bloom represents o%0effrey Epstein’s AS°` victims, Jane Doe 6, for the e Jane Doe 7 and Jane Doe 8. I am so proud of all of y able to voice yoursel on the criminal c Bloom’s communications with her clients. ic ims who are here today and are not and cannot comment¶
18 19 20 7* Ms. oom would like to share three of her client’s s statement f the record. Here are the statements. Statement¶
21 22 23 24 25 ofo {sup}D To the Honorable Richard M. Berman. Jeffrey Epstein tole my innocence. He gave me a life sentence of guilt and shame. I do not consider myself a victim. I see myself a survivor. The abuse that I endured cannot continue. Let’s stop this before it happens to other young women. Jane Doe.¶
1 Statement of Jane Doe 7. To the Honorable Richard M. 2 Berman. I used to be relatively carefree, inquisitive, hopeful 3 and excited about life, but my life changed because of Jeffrey 4 Epstein. My perspective on life became very dark when I was 5 unknowingly recruited by one of his agents. 6 ruined me. His recruiter ruined 7 consequences of that day ruined my family’s lives. Jeffrey Epstein me. The far-reachin¶
8 I’ve chosen to remain anonymous in or rotect my 9 family from unwanted media attention.¶
10 I was just trying to figure out path in life when I 11 encountered Jeffrey Epstein in his City mansion. I 12 cannot even begin to summarize t ia detriments this 13 experience of 14 following the incident, I be around 15 other people. My par 16 where I became a for years. A\Y sexual assault l a ad u able on my life. to function and to rescue me and bring me home, Immediately¶
17 I was ang d forever and buried my assault deep down, 18 where the d re couldn’t hurt me anymore, but of course, it 19 has al ys n here, lingering and affecting me unconsciously. 20 At ti , I was mired in shame, guilt and humiliation. I 21 22 sault to happen, that I did it to myself, that I don’t 23 deserve to be alive or to be loved. I believed that I was a 24 disgusting, shameful person who does not deserve to ever be 25 happy. These are the thoughts I’ve lived with on a daily ehow tricked myself into thinking that I had allowed the¶
1 basis.¶
2 3 4 5 6 Furthermore, because I couldn’t tell anyone, out of fear of judgment, blame or retaliation, keeping this secret completely hindered my ability to uncover why these issues existed for me, which could have led to a path of healing over the years.¶
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 It is time for those of power to do the r. thing. It is time for compassion toward our fellow hu gs to reign over money, power and greed. We need ect our most vulnerable to allow them a chance at a al ife, and nothing should come in the way of that. I that for future generations, including my own c this case will set a precedent that victims must er suffer in silence on our own or be shamed for coml. or ard to seek protection.¶
15 16 17 18 19 This case sh others that there for the harm th in lict on innocent people. Judge Berman, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this forum and opport ity. monstrate to those who want to harm a reckoning, and they will pay dearly¶
20 21 22 o all of those survivors who came before me, I your bravery. There is no way I could have done this .thout you.¶
23 24 25 Thank you to the public following this story, for your outrage and desire for answers, which will hopefully move this case forward so that victims can stop having to relive their¶
1 experiences every day and move on to begin to heal.¶
2 God bless the victims, their families, the 3 investigators and public servants working so diligently to find 4 those answers and to right all these wrongs. Jane Doe 7.¶
5 (Continued on next page)¶
SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300¶
THE COURT: Thanks very much. MS. GIBBS: One more. Statement of Jane Doe 8.¶
In the past few weeks, I have had to reflect on my interaction with Jeffrey Epstein and realized that, though I have yet to put it all behind me, I am still a victim. I say this because I have to come to terms with it in an ef to truly get past the abuse I suffered at the hands¶
Pursuing criminal penalties against hi Raving an opportunity to address the egregious crimes tie committed against me and other young woman process. This all came to an abrup a hen he took his own life. This point of disclosure would helped my recovery V¶
I cannot say that I m eased he committed suicide, but I am at peace knowing wi I not be able to hurt anyone else. However, a sa remains. I, along with other people, will neve n answer as to why. I will never have :. w ongdoing. And most importantly, Epstein k an apology for e will not be home io ng the well-being of those girls like myself. In ch g death, Epstein denied everyone justice. y sentenced for his crimes. Now I sit in my¶
IC!) Any efforts made to protect Epstein’s name and legacy nd a message to the victims that he wins and that he is untouchable. I understand his case may be dismissed or closed, but this makes me feel as though I, and anyone else who fell pry to his hands, simply do not matter.¶
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 I ask that you very seriously consider the final decision, because it will undoubtedly affect all other facets of this case, including any future charges brought against the recruiters or third parties to his crimes. I do not want the narrative to be, Those poor girls. I want to send a message to anyone who would consider engaging in similar acts to Ifnk twice beforehand. I want some sort of closure fo se f us who relive those horrible moments where we wer= u ted, abused, and taken advantage of by Epstein.¶
10 11 12 13 You have the opportunity to h s t) appreciate your time and consider on d ask for your lli tc, continued support in dealing wi A i case to illustrate that g : we, Epstein’s victims, do m e seek that closure.¶
14 Sincerely, Jane 8.¶
15 16 On behalf o loom and The Bloom Firm, thank you, your Honor.¶
17 THE COOT: 1 Thank you, Ms. Gibbs.¶
18 19 Di have any other victim’s counsel or victims? Ms, tIZ Selir llred.¶
20 lit ALLRED: Good morning, your Honor.¶
21 +0 THE COURT: Good morning. How are you?¶
22 MS. ALLRED: Fine. Thank you.¶
23 24 Allred, Maroko & Goldberg by Gloria Allred, G-1-o-r-i-a A-1-1-r-e-d.¶
25 Your Honor, thank you so much for this opportunity to¶
1 2 3 4 5 afford the victims their voice, because many of them have never spoken before. They never spoke in Florida. They never spoke anywhere. They never told their mother. They never told their father. They never told their family members. This is an opportunity for them to be heard. We thank you for that.¶
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Your Honor, for 43 years my firm has been th 1 ading women’s rights private law firm in the United Stat We have helped thousands of victims. And I, as an offi f the court, and as a believer in the system, hay to encourage the victims to have confidence in the s 10 m that should 411 provide them access to justice that ou help them to assert and vindicate their rights in a A\r increasingly difficult in th’ e for me to say to my clients nc in the system of justice given r se, People v. Jeffrey Epstein. that they should have co what has occurred in law. It has been¶
16 17 18 19 20 , I am encouraged by the fact that Having s this court, esshtiaJly, in an unprecedented situation where the defenda deceased, is still affording these victims an opport it 14S y ti tb be heard. So we thank you for that. It is some¶
21 22 23 24 25 en ge C.:5 ent. Your Honor, you also asked do our clients wish to be eard in reference to some of the issues that have been raised this morning, including what should happen into this case. Your Honor, there has been a suggestion that the court should investigate the circumstances of the death of Mr. Epstein. I’m¶
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 not going to repeat the arguments made by counsel, but I would say that if there is jurisdiction, and I know that is a legal issue which has been previously argued, that certainly it would increase the confidence of my clients. Not just my clients, but victims all over, and some are, by the way, located in other parts of the world, to have the court oversee t investigation.¶
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 We are encouraged by the sensitivity Attorneys for the United States Attorney’s office for the outhern District of New York and the investigat that is going on with the separate team. However, a ourse, the defense is also conducting its own inve But I do think the ANr greatest confidence would be ‘f e court in some way would be able to oversee an invest party. And although out what happened ndants who are in the custody of the federal system JC:.1 d w o and the cha against them, but now are not because clearly the sy em h failed. should be there to io because the court is a neutral rt certainly has a stake in finding face the prosecutors¶
20 21 22 “CAI nd the United States Attorney has admitted that, and ch::,fore he admitted that, everybody knows the system iled. Failed the victims, failed the court, failed everyone.¶
23 24 25 In any event, your Honor, having seen so many thousands of victims of gender violence, sex harassment, sexual assault, I’ve dealt with child sex trafficking, child¶
1 molesters, I mean, this is a unique case because there are so 2 many victims and so many failures of the system. At this 3 point, what we would really ask for is not just words, but 4 words have been helpful, but deeds, and that is very important.¶
5 6 is the running theme of the betrayal of trust. Betra of 7 trust by Jeffrey Epstein. Betrayal of trust by th ste 8 And betrayal of trust to the victims who had a 9 justice. And the Crime Victims’ Act should t dust be words, 10 it should have meaning and it should In addition, I would like to say, throughout this case yrced.¶
11 In essence, we are asking, 12 of course, grant this motion to i≥(, I think because the 13 court has shown sensitivity tims and victims’ needs, if 14 there is a way to at leas ep he record open 15 who have not been ab 16 courtroom today a ave not been able to submit to the 17 court any lette ctim impact, and who have not been able to 18 secure atto or speak to attorneys yet — so, for example, 19 I’ll s h ring from victims who I have not been able to 20 meth et because they just recently are now contacting 21 0 if they could submit, at least for the record, their 22 ‘ctim impact statements, that, I think, would be a very 23 important assistance to them. So that would be, at least they 24 would know that what they are sharing is on the record. 5 th h you physically present may need to, so that victims in the¶
25 So, in summary, I would say that they are looking¶
1 2 3 4 forward to the very serious investigation by the United States Attorney of who may have conspired in this case, and that is very hopeful, and we’re hoping that everyone who may have a role to this criminal prosecution will submit that evidence.¶
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 This is about power. This is about many victims having lived in fear — fear of the rich, the powerfu famous, fear that the system will not afford them ice. fear of not coming forward. And fear, of cour a weapon that the rich, powerful, famous, and sexual red ors used to silence the victims. But that is gone a of of victims because they refuse to suffer in si c¶
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Finally, it does take We thank this honorable cour f iving these victims a voice. We thank them, even afte d ath of the defendant, for showing respect for ims, allowing them dignity, allowing them a v gal . 1 e do want truth, we do want justice, we do want acco tab lity, and we do want those conspirators to face the ju e system. o speak truth to power.¶
19 20 S y You Honor, right now we have two of our clients who ik to address the court.¶
21 IC:) 41 THE COURT: Sure.¶
22 23 MS. ALLRED: Then I have a couple of statements on victims who do not wish to address the court.¶
24 25 As they come up, we’ll give them the opportunity to say either their name or Jane Doe.¶
1 By the way, thank you, your Honor, for allowing some 2 of these victims to be called Jane Doe. What number the court 3 affords to them, we’ll accept whatever that is.¶
4 Thank you.¶
5 THE COURT: We’re up to nine.¶
6 MS. ALLRED: Thank you.¶
7 Hello. My name is T at is 8 T-e-a-1-a D-a-v-i-e-s.¶
9 I was going to start this statemen by aging that I 10 was a victim of Jeffrey Epstein. But ‘s not the case. I’m 11 still a victim of Jeffrey Epstein. 11 a victim because 12 the fear of not being heard sto m rom telling my story 13 for so many years. This lin r ear almost stopped me from 14 attending this monumental e t of strength and power.¶
15 I’m still a because I am fearful for my 16 daughters and eve daughters. I’m fearful for their 17 future in this rl where there are predators in power, a 18 world where le can avoid justice if their pockets run deep enough¶
19¶
20¶
f”% m still a victim because the 17-year-old reale was 21 ated into thinking she had found someone who cared, 22 o eone who wanted to help. Jeffrey knew I had nowhere to go. 23 He knew I was vulnerable, and he took advantage of that poor 24 girl, who will never be the same.¶
25 I cannot eat at the thought that Jeffrey Epstein — I¶
1 cannot eat at the thought of Jeffrey Epstein not serving the 2 time he needed to realize the pain and suffering he caused so 3 many vulnerable young girls. He thought he was untouchable, 4 and honestly, so did I. I thought he was the most powerful 5 person I would ever meet.¶
6 But the end is here and here I stand becomin mmlpre 7 powerful than he will ever be. Thank you.¶
9 JANE DOE: Jane Doe.¶
CO¶
8 THE COURT: Thank you.¶
10 Um, in 2004, when I was 15 ye ld, I flew on 11 Jeffrey Epstein’s plane to Zorro Ra re I was sexual 12 molested by him for many hours. remember most vividly 13 was him explaining to me how e icial the experience was for 14 me and how much he was h p g to grow. Pikes.¶
15 I remember so small and powerless, especially 16 after he position laying me on his floor so that I was 17 confronted by al th framed photographs on his dresser of him 18 smiling wit thy celebrities and politicians.¶
19 Aft he finished with me, he told me to describe in 20 de ho good my first sexual experience felt. That was the 21 f many lies I was forced to carry for him, the weight of 22 ‘ch proliferated my trauma. I felt powerless not merely 23 because one man wanted to strip me of my innocence, but because 24 I was the victim of a system that just enfranchises human 25 beings, making them vulnerable to pedophilic exploitation.¶
1 As unjust as what happened to me was, I believe that 2 experience to be a symptom of insidious and pathological 3 violence that extreme wealth yields, a violence which 4 ultimately stays hidden through channels of extreme power that 5 serve it.¶
6 7 was molested by Epstein, when another girl and I out two 8 of his ATVs and raised them across the mesa. h d mine 9 and expressed my concern to the other girl trig in 10 trouble, which she replied to me, Don’ r , no one gets in 11 trouble for anything here. ilmAv I first identified with this feeling the fig t fter I¶
12 Even as a child, I and 13 way, what I hoped we have t a ity of changing now. Even 14 though Epstein is dead, 15 for the crimes we tel 16 the system that s him for all these years. sad and precocious i r still justice to be brought less against concealing for him and¶
17 Thank u.¶
18 TH URT: You’re very welcome.¶
19 ill i MS. c! LRED: Thank you.¶
20 ur Honor, may it please the court. I would like to 21 r statement for Jane Doe, my client, who is present in 22 ourt, but requested that I read it. S¶
23 We only have one opportunity at childhood. One 24 opportunity to develop. One opportunity to find direction for 25 our lives. Jeffrey Epstein robbed and denied me at each¶
1 opportunity he had.¶
2 I came from a small Texas town, not far from the New 3 Mexico border. My mother died when I was 11, after suffering 4 from cancer for many years. My father was devastated, as were 5 my siblings and I. My father was saddled with debt. 6 hope for college was to get a scholarship. My only¶
7 When I was 15, I was.a blossoming freshma hi§h 8 school and was trying to carry on my mother’s d She 9 wanted me to the violin. After scho would often go 10 to a mall in a nearby city. A lady app hed me and saw I had 11 a violin case with me and asked if as y good. We talked 12 about the violin, my family, at el/14 ad clothes that looked 13 like hand-me-downs.¶
14 The lady told m N; 4 for a very rich man who had 15 a home close by and ould pay to hear me play. I was 16 told that if I co a away, she could arrange for 17 transportation an from his place and have me back before 18 anyone knew s gone. After some hesitation, I agreed. This 19 decisi was he beginning of the end of my childhood.¶
20 e man who only identified himself as J or Jeff had 21 a Of I would give him a massage, and over four visits, 22 ventually progressed to forced oral copulation. The money he 23 gave me further placed my young soul into a perverse sense of 24 hell.¶
25 I was so utterly disgusted with myself and what he did¶
1 2 3 to me that I stopped going to see him. I had documented the events with a Texas rape crisis center about the man I know now as Jeffrey Epstein.¶
4 5 6 7 8 9 Epstein targeted and took advantage of me, a young girl, whose mother had recently died a horrific death and whose family structure had deteriorated. His actions place a young girl, into a downward spiral to the point w purchased a gun and drove myself to an isolate e to end my suffering.¶
10 11 12 ( L ) A voice that could only have from my mother told me, quote, I am not the victim, I a he ctor, and I dare not pull the trigger.” I returned ttye in ays later.¶
13 14 15 16 17 Epstein is a cowar the souls of inspiring, could never know how once Epstein had another victim. almA lived his life leaching off g rrls due to the fact that he s inspired to live. Like a leach, , he would unlatch and seek out¶
18 19 20 Th sense of justice I had hoped to see Epstei bein sentenced. However, Epstein died as he lived, tar th easy way out without any responsibility. was¶
21 22 h:!) Your Honor, the next statement is also a statement of Jane Doe. May it please the court.¶
23 24 25 I was a 16-year-old virgin when Jeffrey Epstein first raped me. I was naive and gullable. He was a pillar of finance and a giant in the world that I was an insignificant¶
1 2 3 4 part of. I was so impressed that this great man would even talk to me and impart any of his wisdom on me. I gladly jumped at the chance to meet him again, when he told me how impressed he was with my personal story and maturity for my age.¶
5 6 7 8 When I was in his presence, he made an effort to call celebrities and influential people on speakerphone, Academy Award-winning actresses and super models, alw ys answered his calls. Sadly, I was impressed.¶
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 He was friends with former and fut e h ads of states and every other fixture in the New York/dial scene and beyond. He knew important people i up to and revered, but he spoke distractions far beneath his .fit I’tv down from his position an world that I looked em like they were sweet He could easily reach fl ence the people directly involved with my dail nd future prosperity. I was the perfect victim.¶
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 My whol li e was extremely turbulent. But one of my air mother’s gr st wishes was that all her children would gradua fro respectable universities. He promised me that he wo IC r me a letter of recommendation for Harvard if I got des and scores needed for admission. His word was worth ot, he assured me, as he was in the midst of funding and leading Harvard’s studies on the human brain, and the president was his friend.¶
25 The fact that all of you already know these next¶
1 details, which I’ll share, should ignite fire instead of induce 2 the complacency they did in the past, when heard repeatedly 3 over the years, but yes, an innocent massage turned sexual 4 almost immediately.¶
5 “Here, come. Come help me with a kink in my shoulder 6 while we finish our discussion.” A large vibrator an a couple 7 of hundred dollars, disgust and dirty secret, mor- ise and 8 imparted wisdom from a godlike figure, a delibe a d abolical 9 depression of grooming and submission for h 10 11 12 release. Even if I resisted, I was no h for powerless, ashamed, and embarrassed AI ;;)ted to vomit remembering these moments. asure and him. I felt¶
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 What I learned in t s epraved sessions, staring up at the dome ceiling in hi iv e massage room, tore a violent hole through any norm al awakening. I’m haunted forever, having learned ev there is to know about sex through a vile criminal. time a new molestation would bring a new t lesson, the ressive and constant unwinding. I was nothing more t d na enage prostitute. I was his slave.¶
20 21 22 ven once. When he stole my virginity, he washed my entire 23 body compulsively in the shower and then told me, “If you’re 24 not a virgin, I will kill you.” And then I wasn’t a virgin 25 anymore. lic had never even kissed a boy before I met him, and n (2) v hroughout the horrific abuse did Jeffrey Epstein kiss me¶
1 He forcefully penetrated me. I was numb. There was 2 pain, but his use of the vibrator and his fingers in previous 3 II sessions with me had left a black hole-like void between my 4 legs. I protested, but he forced my face into the bed to 5 stifle my cries. That was my first time.¶
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 I got a few hundred dollars, as usual, as he 1 me out of his mansion with assurances that I was on igh path guided by him. I lied to myself and tried to e im I became a hollow shell. If I missed an appo tme , he threatened me and let me know who was arge. “Do you know how important my time is? I’ll bur o I owe this — I won’t say the word — F’ing tow ould hang up.¶
13 14 that his assistant would 15 stay in line and not him. I was in complete denial. 16 Being paid after v eduled meeting felt routine and 17 disgusting. He as he IIIIII of the universe and the world 18 bent to his ’ Al\ r’ I would stand there r n in the street, terrified t reschedule I made sure to¶
19 He uld eventually brag to his assistants about my 20 ab t please him sexually right 21 grotesque and worthless. Everything in my outside life 22 falling apart. I distanced myself from friends and grew 23 further away from my family. I felt less human after each 24 ordeal. My psyche broke down completely and wouldn’t let me 25 continue. in front of me, leaving me¶
1 2 3 4 5 One day I walked out of his residence and passed a girl similar to myself. When I turned around, she was entering Jeffrey’s residence. He no longer even tried to schedule his appointments with other girls in secrecy from me. Maybe he never did. I was too stupid to see.¶
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Ask My world shattered. I had been so naive. I ha an epiphany in a calvary of desperation. I realized s j st one of many young girls he had in rotation come to e form for him for money. I went into a deep depressi never lifted completely. I wanted to inflict pain opse I was humiliated, angry, and suicidal. everything. I cut myself off f known. myself away from om the world I had¶
14 15 16 17 never be the same. the wonderful lif demon named Jef I endured the da4 ealagdhy l of knowing my life would never go back to New York City and taken for granted before I met this pstein.¶
18 19 20 21 22 23 Th eature had manipulated and outwitted the whole system incl ing some of the most intelligent scientists, po D al eople, and power players. How easy was in, anipulate a 16-year-old virgin who never had a boyfriend _hnd came from a background of hardship with no parental guidance or support. prosecutors,¶
24 25 I went to therapy and was given antidepressants for severe anxiety and depression. My only solace, years later,¶
1 2 3 4 5 was my desire to succeed on my own terms. I emersed myself into my studies and was accepted to every college I applied to, graduating from a top university. To this day, there is still an ache in my being that I did not apply to Harvard in fear of his influence there.¶
6 7 8 9 iAr They say you never forget your first. I’m i J {sup}a never-ending nightmare trying to do just that. I’ rev r suffering because everything reminds me of tha ho o . This new wave of worldwide publicity only worsen •espair.¶
10 11 12 13 14 man. It was only many years later I was finally intimate with a man again, and thos o s were marred by my actions as a child with Jeffrey e Even now is .14 impossible to separate his t \a ery from any care of a good ?Sy¶
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 For one br A4 i, t there was elation when he was recently arrested w Id finally get my chance to see him Cil again face to f eadshow him what I had become, that I had succeeded o wn, that I was worth something in spite of his abuse, nd t t I had surmounted the monumental obstacles he fo e me throughout my entire life since falling prey to C¶
22 23 24 25 I had hoped humanity would prevail, but it seems to me that he outsmarted everyone so far, and his ghost is still laughing at us. I appeal to all of those just and true that his evil legacy and his death not stand in the way of¶
1 resolution and justice for all of his underaged victims.¶
2 Thank you, your Honor.¶
3 And then just one last one, and this is much shorter.¶
4 Statement of Jane Doe, also my client.¶
5 I was a model in another country when I came to the¶
6 United States. I was told by a booker that I needed¶
7 with a man named Jeffrey Epstein, who was the own¶
8 Victoria’s Secret. The booker told me that Mr.j e n could 9 help me get into Victoria Secret’s world.¶
10 It was my childhood dream to Victoria’s 11 model. So I went one day in the of r o and I met 12 Mr. Epstein in his office in hi s in New York. A woman 13 introduced herself and sugge4 o me that I should be 14 extremely nice to Mr. Eps cause if he liked me, he would 15 probably have photog hooting photos of me right away. Secret¶
16 The told o o upstairs and directed me to Jeffrey 17 Epstein’s offic . Epstein had a robe on and we 18 chatted ver flQflyy. I had my portfolio of photos, but he 19 didn’t ven ok at it. Suddenly, he took his robe off and got 20 clg8 o . I got up to leave, but the door was locked.¶
21 V I didn’t know what was going on. It was my first 22 icial meeting to be cast in the United States. I was a 23 young girl and confused. He got very close to me, and I had a 24 skirt on. He started to touch my genitals. I refused him. 25 Then he went to the massage table and showed me the vibrator.¶
1 I took it and threw it at him.¶
2 3 4 5 6 7 At that point, I ran to the door again and figured out how to get out of there. A girl outside asked me where I was going and she said to be careful. She said that Mr. Epstein knew a lot of powerful people, including Bill Clinton, and that if I didn’t do what Mr. Epstein wanted, I would not le to have any job in the industry.¶
8 10 11 12 I was so scared. I couldn’t wait to g ► t of there, and I left. I took the train home. I had a 1 of my savings getting Victoria’s Secret linge to prepare for what I thought would be my audition. Bu s d, it seemed like a casting call for prostitution. ike I was in hell.¶
13 Thank you, your Hon¶
14 Thank you.¶
15 THE COURT: u, Ms. Allred.¶
16 17 Was they b y else, any victim’s counsel or any of the other victin why have not been heard and wish to be heard?¶
18 19 20 21 22 you, a of Weiru, for your participation in today’s remarkable he think everybody has benefited greatly from your and especially from the testimony of victims here today who have had the courage to come forward. then. All I have to say, really, is thank¶
23 24 25 We have also benefited throughout these proceedings, however brief altogether, from the attorneys’ legal advocacy and their written and oral submissions. I’m grateful to them¶
as well, both for the government and the defense and those representing the victims.¶
Finally, we’re also grateful to the press for their very diligent coverage of seemingly every detail of this case.¶
That concludes our work for today and we stand¶
adjourned. Thanks. (Adjourned) CO AS C O¶
Appendix 12¶
The Palm. Beach Post¶
REAL NEWS STARTS HERE_¶
The Man, Who Had ‘Everything: Jeffrey Epstein craved big’ homes, elite friends and vitderagp girls¶
By Andrew Marra¶
Posted Jul 17, 2019.m 6:02 AM¶
From the archives: When Palm Beach detectives start ing questions .and teenage girls started talking,. a wavec resistance followed.¶
Editoes.Note: This article appeared in The Palm Beach Post on Jeffrey gpstein!: arrett in him Beach County on a charge 2” three weeks after citation of prostitution.¶
WINGED GARGOYLES guarded’the gate at J pstdin’s.Palm Beach mansion, Inside, hidden cameras trolled two rooms, whiletb iris e and went.¶
:For the police detectives Who sifted a garbage outside and kept records of visitors, it was the lair of a troubling target.¶
Epstein, one of the most mys secrecy as, for hip love q ne things: magnificent homes, priyatejets,.beautiful women, friendships with.tliewo of the country’s mega-rich, wasknown as much for his ice.¶
Blitat Palm regular ar favo ‘ce headquarters, he Was becothingi known for something else: the teenage. irls he.hired to give him massages and, police say, perform sexual¶
Epstein as different from most sexual abuse suspects; he was far more powerful. He counted among his•friends former President Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Prince Andrew, along with someof the most prominent legal, scientific and.buSiness minds in the country.¶
When detectives started.asking questions and teenage, girls started talking, a wave of legal resistance followed.¶
» NEW: Jeffrey:Epstein: Lawyer saidfinancier.had•tex with woman during workrelease¶
If Palm Bead)) pOlice didn’t knowquite who Jeffrey Epstein was, they found out soottenough.¶
Epstein, now 51, was a quintessential.man of mystery. He amassed his fortune and friends quietly, always in the badcground as he navigated New York high Society.¶
When he first attracted notice in the early 19.90s, it was on account of the woma dating: Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the late British media tycoon Robert l vel¶
mita lengthy article, headlihed ‘The Mystery of Ghislaine Maxwell’s•Se Mail on Sunday tabloid laid out speculative stories that the socialite math teacher, a concert pianist or a corporate headhunter. ‘:the British a CIA spook, a i¶
i¶
I¶
`But what is the truth about him?’ the newspaper woad axwell, Epstein is, both flaniboyant.and intensely’private.’¶
The•media frenzy did not begin in full until a flunginto the limelight when he flew Cli Africa on his private jet. et. hi September 2002, Epstein was on Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker to¶
‘Suddenly everyone, wantedto •• pstein was.‘New York magazine and Vanity.Fair drk Post listed him as one of the city’s mdtteligible bachelors and began descrihin mitt zossip. columns with adjectives such as ‘mysterious” and `reclusive.’¶
Although Eris ve•no interviews, thebroad ‘strokes of his past started to come into focus.¶
Build’ f .extravagance¶
He was m blue-collar in 1953, the son of a New York City department employee, and raised in Brooklyn’s Coney Island neighborhood. He left’ ollege without a bachelor’s degree but became a math teacher at the prestigious Dalton School in Manhattan.¶
The story goes thattlie father of one ofEpstein’s students was so impressed with the man that he put himIn, touch with. a. senior partner at•Bear.Steuns, the globalinve,stment bank and securities firm.¶
In 1976, Epstein left Dalton for a job at Bear Steams. By the early 1’980s, 1r had started J. Epstein and Co. That is when he began making his millions in earnest.¶
Little is known or said about EpsteMs b.usirtess except this: He manages money for the extremely wealthy.. He is said to handle accounts only. of $.1 billion of greater.¶
It has been estimated he has roughly 15 clients, but their .identities are the subject of only speculation. All except:for one: Leslie Wexner, founder of The Limited retail chain Am; a former Palm Reacher who is said to havebeen a mentor to Epstein.¶
Wexner sold Epsteitione.of his most lavish residences: a’ assive townhouse tha niiitates a blocicon Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It is reported to have, among its:finer features, dosedcircuit television and a heated sidewalk to melt’away fallen snow. Sari¶
That townhouse, thought to be the largest private residency attan, is only a piece of the extravagant world Epstein built over time.¶
In New Mexico, he constructed a 27,000-square-fo-;hilltop mansion on a 10,000-acre ranch outside Santa Fe…Many believedit to be the 1 est home in the state.¶
In Palm Beach, he bought a waterfron o El Brillo Way. And he owns a 100-acre private island:in the Virgin Islands¶
» PHOTOS. The payer l s •••- , • ey Epstein :saga¶
Pethaps as remarkable lavish homes is his extensive network of friends and associates at the highest echel s of ,p wet. This includes not only socialites but also business tycoons, media Moguls, dans) royalty and Nobel Prizewinning scientists whose research he often funds.¶
r people collect:art, he.collects scientists; said Nowak, who directs the Prograaibfor Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard University and was reportedly the recipient of a’$30 million research donation from. Epstein.¶
;Epstein is. said to have befriended former. Harvard:President Larry Summervprorninent law Professor Alan Dershowitz, Donald Trump and.New York Daily News Publisher Mon Zuckerman.¶
And yet he managed for decades to maintain a low profile. He avoids eating out and was rarely ‘photographed.¶
“The oddthingis I never met him: said Dominick Dunne, the famous chronicler ofthetrials and tribulations of the very rich. ‘1 wasn’t even aware of him,’ except for, a Vanity Fair article.,¶
Epstein’s friendshipmith Clinton has attracted the most attention.¶
Epstein met Clinton as early as 1995, when. he paid tens of thousands of dollars to m at an intimateltinthraiiing .diritier in.Palm.Beach. But from. allappearances, th eit,4 ’ ot h2come close friends until aftercliptop left the Oval Office and.moyed to New Yo r1:.¶
Epstein:has donated more than SI 00,000 to Democratiocandidatee Including John Kerry’s presidential bid, the reelection’ ampaign of New Mexico Go ‘chardson and the Senate bids ofJoe Hillary Riidham Clinton, Dodd and Charles Schumer.¶
Powerful friends and enemies¶
A Vanity Fair.profile found cracks in the v lifestory. The2003 article said he left Bear Steams in the walte.of alede be d a possible. Securities arid Exchange Commission violation. It also ppip Citibank once sued him fordelaulting on a 820 million loan.¶
The article suggested that one daC’business mentors and previous employers was Steven Wittenberg, now serum on term after ‘bilking investors out’of more than 5450 million in one of the lay 1 St Pn emes in American history.”¶
As he ama O • w th, Epstein made enemies in disputes both large and small.. He sued the man* . sold him hismultimillion-dcillar Palm. Beach home ovef a dispute alioutiess tha in furnishings.¶
A formerfriend claimed Epstein ‘backed out of a promise to reimburse hint hundreds of thousands of dollars after their failed investment in Texas oil wells: A judge decided Epstein owed him nothing.¶
» Jeffrey Epstein:Model prisoner who swept, mopped floors official,says¶
les.a bad memory. I would.rathernot have ever met Jeffrey’Epstein; said Michael Stroll, the retired former president of Electronics and.Sega Corp. *Suffice, it to say ‘I have nothing good to say about film?’¶
AMong. the tharacteristiesmOst attributed to.Epstein is a perithantfor women.¶
lie hasbeen linked to Maxwell, a flume on the highrsocietyparty cjrcuitain both New York and London. Previousgiilfriends are:salt:Ile include a former Ms..:Sweden. and a Ro model.¶
“He’s a lot of fun to be with,’ Donald Trump told New York magazine.in that he likes beautiful women as much as I dm and many of them are(…) doubt about it, Jeffrey enjoys his social life? even said ger side. No¶
Investigation leads’to Epstein¶
Although he was not a frequenter of the Palm. Beach 14’ 4e, he made his presence felt.. Among his charitable donations; he gaye 890,00 Beach Police Department and 8100,000 to Ballet.Florida.¶
In Palm. Beach, he lived in luxury. Thr ?ack St’ ercedes sat in his garage, alongside a i Harley-Davidson,. His jet waited at a .Palm Beach International Airport. Ar home,.a I private chef and a small staffs th ready. From a window in his mansion, he could: look out on the Intracoastal Wate y ah the West Palm. Beach skyline. He seemed to be a man who had everything.¶
But extraordin fuel extraordinary desires.¶
» Epstei leave jail, for mansion in sex-trafficking case •••••••••• •I Plan- I-,¶
t • r.•¶
In 5, a worried mother contacted Palm Beach police. She said another parent had overhea a conversation between their children.¶
Now the mother was afraid her 14-year-old. daughter had been molested by a. man ‘op, the island.¶
The phone call triggered an extensive investigation, one that would lead detectives to Epstein but leave them frustrated.¶
Palm Beach police and the state attorney’s office have declined to discuss the case.. But a Palm Beach police report detailingthe criminal probe offers a window into what detectives faced as theysought to close in on Epstein.¶
Detectivesinterviewed the ,girl, who toldthem a friend had invited herto:a rich. man’s:house to perform a massage. She said the: friend told her to say she was 18 if asked. At the house, she. said she was paid $300 after stripping to her panties antimassagingtheman while he masturbated.¶
Police initerviewS alleged victims¶
The investigation began in full after the girl identified Epstein in a p paid hen Police arranged few garbage tracks to set aside Epstein’s’tra through it. They set up a video camera to record the comings monitored an airporthangar for signs of his private jet’s S :yti s clan who had ice could sift ings at his home. They departures.¶
They quickly learned that the woman who took the-4S4 ircr d girl to Epstein’s house was a Palm Beach CommunityColl%e stu≥ent rro in Loxihatchee. Ina sworn statement at police headquarters, M, n 18, admitted she had taken at leastsix girls to visit Epstein, all between the ages of 14 IN paid her for each Visit, she said.¶
During the drive back to her ho told detectives, ‘I’m like a Heidi Reiss;¶
Police interviewed five alleg vtcti s and 17 witnesses. Their report shows some of the girls said they:had been inst cted to aye sex with another woman in front of Epstein, and one said she had direct intercou him.¶
In October, looking fou shed the Palm Beach mansion. They discovered photos of naked, youngtat asseVeral of the girls had .described in interviews. Hidden tameras:were ge area and inside a clock.pn Epstein’s deSk, alongside a gift-Vs:high school¶
Two of Epstein’s former employees told investigators that young-looking girls showed up to perform massages two or three times a day when Epstein wasiti town.¶
They said the’girls were permitted manyindulgences.. A chef cooked for them. Workers gave them rides and.handed out hundreds of dollars at a time.¶
One employee told detectives he was told to send a dozen roses to one teenage girl after a high school drama performance. Others were given rental can. One, according to police, received a 1200 Christmas bonus.¶
The cops moved to cement their case. But as they tried to tighten the noose, they.encountered other forces at work.¶
In Orlando they interviewed a possible victim who told them nothing inappropriate happened between her and Epstein. They asked her whether she had spoken tea She said yes, a private investigator had asked her the same questions, e.¶
» Jeffrey Epstein: Acosta, Krischer trade barbs oTer sweethear¶
When they subpoenaed one of Epstein’s former employees, he •thPhrthe same thing. He and &private eye .had met at a restaurant.days earlier to go investigators. the man would tell¶
Detectives received complaintsthat private eyes os~lrgas police officers. When they told Epstein’s local attorney, Guy Fronstin, he sai ‘gators worked for Roy Black, the high-powered Miami lawyer who has defe the ikes of Rush Umbaughtand.William Kennedy¶
While the private eyes were ‘c professor, traveledb5 Weat,F! B dt With information about the girls. -From their own profiles on the popular Web site. ySpace.com, he obtained copies of their discussions about their use of alcohol and. ant parallel investigation, Dershowitz, the Harvard law¶
He took his a meeting with prosecutors, in early 2006,vhere he sought:to cast doubt p t ‘reliability,¶
Thep e4 had dug up enough din on thelirls to make prosecutors skeptical. Not only did some of the girls”have. issues with drugs or alcohol but also some had criminal records and other troubles, Epstein’s legal team claimed. And at least one of them, they said, lied when she told polite she was younger than 18 when she started performing massages for Epstein.¶
After the meeting, prosecutors postponed their decision to take the case io a grand jury.¶
•¶
In the following weeks, police received complaints that two of the victims or their families had been harassed or threatened. Epstein’s legal team maintains that its private investigators did nothing illegal or unethical during their research.¶
By then, relations between police and prosecutors were fraying. At a key meeting with prosecutors and the defense, DetectiveaRecarey, the lead investigator, was a no-show, according to Epstein’s attorney.¶
“The embarrassment on the prosecutor’s face was evident when the police officertrat showed up for the meeting,” attorney Jack Goldberger said.¶
Later in April, Recareywalked into a prosecutor’s office at the state a or ice and learned the case was taking an unexpected turn.¶
The prosecutor, Lanna Belohlavek, told Recarey the state attorZy’ office had offered Epstein a plea deal that would not require him to serve jail time of receive ‘a felony conviction.¶
Recarey told her he disapproved of the plea offer./ /¶
The deal never came to pass, however.¶
Future unclear after charge i\¶
/¶
On May I, the department asked prosecntors to approve warrants to arrest Epstein on four counts of unlawful sexual activity, with a minor and to charge his personal assistant, =, now 27, for heralleged role in arranging the visits. Police officials also wanted to charge a the self-described. Heidi Fleiss, with lewd and lascivious acts.¶
By then, the department was frustrated with the way the state attorney’s office had handled the case. On the same day the warrants were requested, Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter wrotta.letter to State Attorney Barry Krischer suggesting he disqualify himself from the case if he would not act.¶
Two weeks later, Recarey was told that prosecutors had decided once again to take the case to the grand jury.¶
It is not:known how many of the girls testified before the grand jury. But Epstein’s defense team said one girl who was subpoenaed - the one who said she had sexual intercourse with Epstein - never showed up.¶
The grand jury’s indictment was banded down in inly. It was not the one the police department had wanted.¶
Instead of being slapped with a ch’arge of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, Epst was charged with one count of felony solicitation of prostitution, which carries a m flaky: of five years in griSon.;kle was booked int:a the Palm Beach County Jail early 3 am released hours later:¶
0 Epstein’s legal team ‘doesn’t dispute that he had girls over for niassa s: G ldberger said. But hesaid their claims that they had sexual encounters with, himim. re 1 lg.,¶
“They are incapable of being believed,” he said. ‘They accusations of theft made against them by their em some of them.” records. They had ere was evidence of drug use by¶
What remains lot Epstein is yet to be see reS \¶
The Palm Beach Police Departme a the FBI to investigate the case. It also has returned the 890,0(X) Epstein jjao i 004.¶
In New York, candidates for or and state attorney general have vowed.to return a total of at least 860,000:in ca contributionarom Epstein. Meanwhile, Epstein’s powerful friends have re ed si nt as tabloideand Internet blogs feast on the, public. details of the police invest’ 0 to¶
Goldb tabs Epstein’s innocence but says the legal team has not Ailed out a future ple insists Epstein will emerge in the end with.his reptitaticb untarnished.¶
‘He will recover from this: he said.¶
Staff writer Larry and staff researchers Bridget Adger; Angelica Cortez/Amy Hanaway and Melanie Mena Contributed to ;this story.¶
@AMarraPBPost¶
THIS MOST INTELLIGENT GRID IN AMERICA¶
LEARN MORE¶
273 / 278 - Tuesday, November 16, 2004¶
Section: A SECTION¶
Page: 1A¶
Source: By PAUL OWERS Palm Beach Post Staff Writer¶
Illustration: PHOTO (C & 2 B&W) & MAP (B&W)¶
Memo: Ran all editions.¶
Dateline: WEST PALM BEACH¶
TRUMP SNAGS GOSMAN ESTATE FOR $41 MILLION¶
When it came time to bid Monday for the palatial Palm Beach digs of Abe Gosman, The Donald was not about to be trumped.¶
“Nobody was going to outbid me,” the brash developer-turned-TV-personality said from his New York office.¶
Trump bested two other bidders with a $41.35 million offer for the 43,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom estate on 6 oceanfront acres along the storied “Raider’s Row.”¶
But Trump, 58, proud possessor of Mar-a-Lago, has no plans to live in the Gosman home at 513 N. County Road. He wants to - what else? - sell it and make more money.¶
The star of the mega-hit The Apprentice said he intends to redevelop the site into a “super luxury house” that would be the “finest anywhere in the United States.” He might build another house before flipping the entire package.¶
“I’ve known about this house for quite some time,” Trump said. “It’s probably the best piece of land in Florida - and probably the country - for luxury real estate.”¶
Although Trump said he could subdivide the property into nine lots, Palm Beach Mayor Lesly [REDACTED] said zoning regulations allow for only two houses - and maybe a third. [REDACTED] said she’s not worried about Trump’s plans.¶
“He’s been a very good property owner in the town of Palm Beach,” she said. “He does his projects very well. He’s a perfectionist.”¶
Monday’s auction took place at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in West Palm Beach as part of Gosman’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. Proceeds from the sale will go into escrow for eventual distribution to creditors.¶
The auction began at exactly noon after Judge Steven [REDACTED] dismissed an objection from an attorney representing money manager Jeffrey Epstein. The lawyer argued unsuccessfully that Trump was not a qualified bidder because his contract stipulated that he would not close on the sale unless title insurance was in place beforehand.¶
With Trump listening via conference call, Epstein began the bidding at $37.25 million - $250,000 higher than Trump’s initial offer.¶
Mark Pulte, son of the founder of home-building giant Pulte Homes, passed when his turn came, letting lawyers for Trump and Epstein bid against each other until the price hit $38.85 million.¶
Pulte then bid $39.1 million, briefly raising the ire of Trump, who believed that Pulte had given up his right to bid by passing the first time.¶
But [REDACTED] allowed the offer to stand, and Pulte and Trump went back and forth until Pulte dropped out at $41.1 million. Epstein, a part-time Palm Beach resident, bowed out at $38.6 million.¶
[REDACTED] closed the bidding 10 minutes after it started, leaving Trump with the right to buy the 29,000-square-foot home (a typical Palm Beach County single-family house is about 2,200 square feet). The property also has a tennis house, a pool house and 1930s-era service quarters.¶
The closing could take place within a week but probably won’t happen until next month. Trustee Joe Luzinski and creditors said they were pleased with the outcome.¶
“We knew we were dealing with some substantial people … who were going to bid it up a bit,” Luzinski said.¶
“The system worked,” said Charles Tatelbaum, a lawyer for creditor JPMorgan Chase Bank.¶
“In bankruptcy court, the idea is to get the most for creditors, and that’s what happened.”¶
The auction proved to be a bonanza for creditors, Luzinski said, noting that the highest offer former listing agent Sotheby’s International Realty received was $32 million. Sotheby’s won’t receive a commission, he said.¶
Pulte, 42, of Boca Raton, said he figured Trump wouldn’t back down Monday.¶
“I got the feeling he was willing to go a lot higher, and I didn’t want to chase it,” Pulte said.¶
Pulte said Gosman asked him before the auction whether he would be willing to let him stay in the mansion after the closing until he decides where he wants to move. Trump and Luzinski said they have had no such discussions with Gosman.¶
Gosman, 75, had the house built after paying $12.1 million for the land in 1986.¶
The former health-care magnate declined interview requests before and after the auction Monday. He was at the courthouse but left before the auction took place.¶
The $41.35 million price tag eclipses the $30.35 million sale of Lowell “Bud” Paxson’s Palm Beach home and guest house but falls short of the $45 million that Virginia home builder Dwight Schar paid for Ron Perelman’s 26,000-square-foot estate, Casa Apava, a designated landmark.¶
Schar also paid $18.6 million for a lakefront lot across the street from the main house, for a total of $63.6 million. Insiders say Schar spent a total of $70 million for his new property, making it the priciest residential sale in U.S. history.¶
Gosman once had a fortune that Forbes magazine estimated at $480 million. He voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2001, listing assets of $250 million and liabilities of $233.6 million.¶
When a judge ruled that Gosman had to give up all of his exempt assets to creditors if he wanted to reorganize under Chapter 11, Gosman converted the case to Chapter 7 liquidation. Last year, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Larry Lessen ruled that Abe and Lin Gosman’s marriage is invalid because Florida law does not recognize a Dominican Republic divorce that Lin Gosman tried to obtain from another man, Michael Castre.¶
The judge’s decision was a huge victory for creditors because it prevents Abe Gosman from protecting assets by claiming joint ownership with his wife. Gosman’s assets, which include an extensive collection of artwork, could total as much as $70 million and will be sold later. Without Lessen’s ruling, Luzinski would have had a much harder time selling Gosman’s estate, said David Cimo, special counsel for the trustee.¶
“We would have been thwarted … or at least substantially impaired,” Cimo said.¶
0 • I¶
The, trustee alleged during a weeklong trial in May that Gosman fraudulently we his wife an ownership interest in.his home and other belongings only. to avoid losing them in bankruptcy. Gosman has denied any wrongdoing, saying he made theproperty transfers in 1’999, well before he filed forhankryptcy.¶
Lessen is expected to rule in the next two months whether Gosman made improper transfers, a decision that will affect bow much money will be available to creditors;¶
Cimo acknowledged. that Monday ‘wasn’t the best of days for the Gosmaxis but said they were willing to move.f.orwaril, in part becatise the upkeep of the estate now exceeds their eans. “This is not a happysoccasion for.them, but at least we’re moving to the:next level,” said. “That’s not a house you want to live in unless you’re making large amounts¶
like Donald Trump.” paul_owers@pbpost.cont • O S 4 49 Ao¶
The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS.STARTS HERE¶
indictment: Billionaire Solicited 3 Times¶
Posted.Jul1,2008 at 12:01 AM¶
Updated. et 2, 2019 M2:30 PM¶
(EDITORS NOTE: This story originally publisher! in The Pain; Beach Post on July 25, 20%)¶
Billionaire money manager and Palm Beach part-time resident Jeff solicited or procured prostitutes three or more times between 1 an a ct, 31 ot last year,. according to antindictment charginglim with fe ny scjltcitation of. prostitution.¶
Epstein, 53,.was booked,at the Palm Beach Coun Alc) ’ a 5 lin. Sunday.. He was.released on 53,000 bond.¶
Epstein’s case is unusual in that suspect 4 Aclte4 i ‘tutiori johns are usually charged with a misdemeanor, and even:a f chc is.typically made in i criminal information - an alternative to ‘ndic ent charging a person with the commission of a crime.¶
His attorney, Jack Go eclined to discuss the charge.¶
State attorney’st ce spokesman Mike Edmondson,also had little to say..¶
“Gener speak g, there is a case that has a number of different aspects to it,” Ed ‘cl of a prostitution-related charge being submitted to a grand jury.¶
etame aware of the case months ago by Palm Beach police.Ӧ
rosecutors and police worked together to bring the case to the grand jury, he said.¶
Palm Beach police confirmed that andzaid the department will release a repor today regarding its investigation.¶
Epstein has owned a five bedroom, 7’1/2-bath, 7,234-square-footh th a pool and a boat dock on the Intracoastal Waterway since 1990; c stein wasn’t hortie..A.Cadillec,Escalade registered to him was he e driveway, which.is flanked by two massive gargoyles. property records. A man answering the door there Monday¶
Epstein sued Properry.Appraiser Gary Nikoli N • . ontending that the assessment’othis home exceeded its fair v.. t He dismissed his lawsuit in December 2002.¶
A profile of Epstein in Vanity. F SnAl5 e.taid r he owns what are believed to be the-largest private homes fi - 91:400:square feet - and in.New Mexico - a IMO-acre 0 ra are.In additiontohis. 70-acre islanctin the U.S. Virgin islands an fleet aircraft. .¶
Epstein’s.friend dmirers, according to the magazine; include prominent business Deriho Ks and scientists and famed Harvard law professor Alan¶
r@pbp,ott.Coin¶
The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS;STARTS HERE¶
After long probe, billionaire faces solicitation charge¶
Posted Jul 27, 2006 at 12:01 AM¶
Updated Oct 3, 2019 at 311 PM¶
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally published in The Palm. Beads Poston 2006)¶
Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein paid to have underage s Oing women brought to his home, where he received massages an m Imes sex, according to an investigation by the Palm. Beach Polic a r ment.¶
Palm Beach police spent months sifting throu n s rash and watching his watetftont home and Palm Beach Internati S, onto keep tabs-on his private jet. An indictment charging Eps ii,t. was unsealed Monday, charging with-one count of felony ‘olio n.o stitution.¶
Palm Beach police thought th unlawful sex acts with a °Mile cause to:charge Epstein with wd and lascivious. molestation,¶
Police Chief Michael so angry with’State Attorney Barry grischer’s handling of the e that 6e wrote a memo suggesting: the, county’s top prosecutor disqu hnself.¶
“I u to examine the unusual course that your office’s handling of this taken and consider if good and sufficient: reason exists to require your + alTI Q to Krischen :cation from the prosecution of these eases,” Reiter wrote in a May 1¶
While not commenting specifically on the:Epstein case, Mike Edniondson, spokesman for the state attorney, said his ;office presents cases-other than murders to a grand jury when there are questions about witnesses’ credibility and their ability to testify,¶
By theoature of their jobs, police officers look at evidence from a.ione-sided perspective,” Edmondson said. “A prosecutor has to look at it in a inuch broader fashion,’ weighing the veracity of witnesses.and how they may fare under defense attorneys’ questioning, he said..¶
Epstein’s attorney, Jack: oldberger, said his, client committed no crimes.¶
‘The reports andstatements in question refer to false accusations that were not charged because the Palm Beach County state attorney questioned:the credib of the witnesses: Goldberger said. A county grand jury ‘found the allegat wholly unsubstantiated and not credible,” and that’s why his:client?was charged with sexual activity with-minors, he said.¶
Goldberger said Epstein passeda.lie detector test admitiistete. ya. . ntable polygraph examiner in which he said he did not know is were-minors. Also, a search warrant. served on Epstein’s home fo &neer° corroborate the girls’ allegations, Goldberger s¶
According to police documents:¶
- A Paltn BeachiCdmitiniity Coll en id she. gave Epstein a massage in the nude, then brought him s’ a , age 14 to 16, for massage and sex-tinged sessions at his home.
- A 27-year-old wom wh v7orked as Epstein’s personal assistant also facilitated the llaisons,p ing the PBCC student to arrange far girls when Epstein was com own.. And she escorted the girls upstairs when they arrived, ing h $heets on a massage table and placing massage oils nearby. k Sviorn statements from five alleged victims and 17 witnesses. They at on three occasions, Epstein hasisex with the girls.
t oney manager for the ultra-riCh, Epstein was named one of New York’s most eligible bachelors. in 2003 by. The New York Post. He reportedly:.hobnobs with• the likes of former President’Clinton, former Harvard University President Summers and Donald Trump, and.has lavish homes in Manhattan, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands.¶
He has contributed tens of thousands’ of dollars to Democratic Party candidates andorganizations, including Sen. John Kerry’s presidentiallid, and the Senate campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Dodd and. Charles Schumer.¶
CO¶
4 <);) Goldberger is one offive attorneys Eps saiAk retained since he became the subject of an. investigation, Edition on fhe:others: Alan. Dershowitz, the well-known H d,la rofessor and author, who is a friend of Epstein. Dershowita cold ched for comment.¶
Police said the win= 20, of Palm Beac Wellington and College* phone red young girls for Epstein was son has worked at an Olive. Garden restaurant in Was ajpumalism major at Palm Beach Community the s questioned by police last October. She ha an.unlisted r and couldnot be readied for comment.¶
- d she met:Epstein when, Apage 17, a friend asked her if she would like e money giving him a massage. She said she was driven to his fiveroom;71/2-bath home. n the Intracoastal. Waterway; then escorted upstairs to a bedroorn With a massage table and oils. Epstein and were both naked eluting the massage, she said, but when he grabbed her buttocks, she said she didn’t, want to be touched.
Epstein said he’d pay her to bringlim more girls - the younger the better, told police: When she tried once to bring a 13-year,old woman to him, Epstein said she was too 61d, said.¶
I= who has not been charged in the case, said she eyentuallybrobght six girls to Epstein who were paid 8200 each time, =said. ‘Tm like .a Heidi FleisS; police quoted her as saying. The girls knew what to expectwhen they were taken to Epstein’s home, Msaid. Glyn matsage - maybe naked - and allow some touching,¶
One 14-year-old girl:Mtook to meet Epstein ledpOlice to start :t investigation of him in March 2005. A relative of the girl called to thought the child had recently engaged in sexwitlya Palm Be e girl then got into a fight with a classmate who accused her of bein stitute, and she couldn’t explain why she had S300 in her purse.¶
The girl gave.police this account.of her meetin \ . :¶
She-accompanied =land a second’ s n’s house on a Sunday in February 20O5.. Once there, a wom u t was Epstein’s assistant told the girl to follow her upstairs to a roo Tng a mural ofa naked woman, several photographs of naked women lf, a hot pbfirand =sofa and a massage table..¶
She strippedto her br C rid anties and gave him a massage.¶
Epstein gave the r-old 1300 and she and the other girls left,she said. She said Rob n told r that Epstein paid her S200 that day.¶
Qt d similar stories. hp most accounts, Epstein% personal assistant at arah = now 27, escorted the girls to. Epstein’s bedroom.¶
en, whose most recent known address is in. North Carolina, has not been charged in the case.¶
Palm Beach police often conducted surveillance of Epstein’s home, and at. Palm Beach International Airport to see if his private jet’was therepso they would know when he was in:town. Police also arranged repeatedly to receive his trash from Palm Beach sanitation workers, collecting papers with names and phone numbers;sex toys and lemale’hygiene products.¶
One:note stated that :a temale could not come over at 7 p.m. because of soccer. Another said a girl had to work Sunday -‘Monday after sthoolr And still another note contained the work hours of a girl, Saying she leaves school at 11:30 a.m. and would come over the next day at 10:30 a.m.¶
Only three months before the.police department: probe begany Epstein donat $90,000 to the-department for the purchase of a firearros..simulator, said Struck”, town finance-director, The purchase: was neyermade.:The m¶
C returned to Epstein on Monday, she said. O AS A)C) +6s¶
Pain Beach Daily News¶
Police say lawyer tried to discredit teenage girls¶
Posted Jul 29, 2006.at 12:01-AM¶
Updated Oct 3, 2019 at 2:00 PM¶
(EDITOR’S NOTE:•This story originally was published in. The Palm Beach Post on July 29, 2006)¶
Famed Ha law protestor Alan D.ershowitt met with the State Attorney’s Office and provided damagintinformation a who say they:gave his client,.Pahn Beach billionaire Je charged massages, according to police reports. :Beach County eenage girls stein, sexually¶
The reports also.state that Another Epstein would have allowed Epstein to have no denies this happened. eed-to a plea, bargain that record. Hu current attorney¶
And the documents also reve private investigators aggr chased off visitors. father of at least one girl complained that lowed his car, photographed.his home and¶
Polite also take to Some ody who said she was offered money if she refused to cooperate with.t Beach Police Department probe of Epstein.¶
The ey.’s office said it presented the Epstein case-to countygrand with rather than directly charging Epstein because of concerns about credibility. The grand jury indicted Epsteini,53, on a tingle Count of ny solicitation .of prostitution, which carries a:maximum penalty offive years in prison..¶
Police believed there was probable cause to charge Epstein. with the- more serious crimes-of unlawful sex acts with a minor and.lewd and lascivious molestation. Police Chief Michael Reiter was so angry that he: wrote State Attorney Barry Krischer a memo in May suggesting he disqualify himself from the case.¶
The case originally was going to be presented to the grand jury in February, but was postponed after.Dershowitz produced information gleaned from the Web site myspace.com showing some of the alleged victims commenting on alcohol and maiijuana use, according to the police report prepared by ljetective Recarey.¶
a 20-year-old Palm Beach woman who told police she recruited girls for Epstein; ilto it profiled on myspace.corn. Her page includes photos of her and her friends, including one using the name “Pimpint.Made M, who was not-charged in the case, is a potential prosecution wi¶
According to Recarey, prosecutor Lanna Belohlavek offered Epste Dershowitz and Guy Fronstin a plea dealin April. Fronstin, a g with, Epstein, accepted the deal, in which Epstein would plead 01 o. e count of aggravated assault with intuit to commit a felony, be five years’ probation and have.no criminal record. The deal ca or Epstein to submit to a psychiatric and sexual evaluation and hay N o g rvisetivisits with Minor’s, according to Recarey’s report. Th b in was made in connection with only one of the five alleged victiu e ort states.¶
Fronstin -who declined to to e case - was subsequently fired and veteran defense attorney Ja er was hired. He deniesthere was any agreement by any of Eps neys to a plea:deal.¶
‘We absolutely did no to aplea ih. this case,” he said. Neither Belohlavek nor a state attor s okegroarr could be reached for comment.¶
The p or parties of alleged victims who complained of being harassed by vesifgators provided license tag numbers of two of the men. Police vehicles were registered to a private eye in West Palm Beach and er in Jupiter, according to Recarey’s report.¶
I.have no knowledge of it; defense attorney Goldberger said.¶
The report also salt a woman tonnected to the Epstein ease was contacted by somebody•Who :was still in touch with Epstein. That person. told her she would be compensated if she didn’t cooperate with police, Recarey’s report says. Those who did talk “will be dealt with; the woman said she was told. Phone records show the woman talked with the person who allegedly intimidated her around the time she said, Recarey reported.¶
Phone’ records also show that the person said to have made the threat then placed a call to Epstein’s personal assistant, who in turn called a New York corporation affiliated with Epstein, the report states.¶
The issue in the Epstein case is not whether. females came to his waterfro home, but whether he knew their ages.¶
“He’snever denied girls came to the house,” Goldberger said.. B wassiven asolygraph test, “he passed on knowledge. of age,” meysaid.¶
Aftertheindictment against Epstein was unsealed.th* ‘PoliceChief Reiter referred the matter-to the FBI. “We’ve received’ nd we’re reviewing it,” said FBI spokeswoman. ludy Chihuela.in¶
The chief himself has come under attar • o lawyers and ftiendrin New York, wherehe has a home. ew rk Post quoted Epstein’s prominent New York lawyer, G d Le urt, as saying his client was indicted only ‘because of the crazin ice chief.”¶
Reiter has declined to on thecase.¶
Prosecutors ha otpresented a sex-related case like Epstein’s to’ grandjury before, sai Mike ondson, spokesman for the state attorney’s office. ‘That’s what y with a case that falls into a gray area)” he said.¶
- h ttorney’s office did not recommend a particular criminal charge on o indict Epstein, Edmondson said. The grand: jury was presented with a of charges from highest to lowest, then deliberates, with the prosecutor out of the room,‘he said.
“People are: surprised at the grand jury proceeding West Palm Beach defense attorney Richard Tendler said. “It’s a way for the prosecutor’s office to: not take the full responsibility for not filing the (charge), and not doing what the. Palm Beach. Police Department wanted. I think something fell apart with those underage witnesses?¶
defended William• involved atone point. Miami lawyer Royilack -. who became nationally known when he suc tiS i on a rapecharge in Palm. Beach¶
Defense attorney’Rohert Gershman was a:prosecutor for six years. “Those girls must have been.incredible or untrustworthy, I don’t know; he. said.¶
Other attorneys said Epstein’s case raises the issue of whether wealthy, connected defendants like Epstein - whose friends include former President Clinton and Donald Trump - are treated differently from others. Once heltnew hewas the subject of:a.criminal probe, Epstein hired a phalanx ofpowerful attorneys such.as Dershowitz and Lefcourt, who is a past president of the National AssoCiation of Criminal Defense Lawyers.¶
Said defense attorney SuskauenT think it’s. rateEhepublic may get the perceptiontat with power, be ently than the average Joe.”¶
t.eaC)¶
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• • The Pam .Beach Post¶
REM. NEWS SPIRTS HERE¶
Expert: Ignorance of age isn’t defense sex cases¶
Posted Aug 5,2O6 at 12:01 AM¶
Updated Oct 3, 2019 at 1:WPM¶
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally published in The.¶
Palm Beach Post on Aug. 4, 2000¶
Even if Palm:Beach money manager Jeffrey Epstein di know that girls,who police say gave him sexual his Intracoastal home were under the legal age, tha wouldn’t have eXeMpted him from crimina s of sexual activity with minors.¶
“Ignorance is not a valid defense; i 1C(P)f o ilde, a legal skills professor who was a pr secutor for nearly 30 years, half of that time ec gin sex crimes against children,¶
‘There is no k concerned * ement as far as the. age is¶
After I la.morith investigation, Palm Beach policeeaid t :ere s obable cause to charge:Epstein, S.3, with la sex acts with a •minor and lewd and lascivious. motestation. They contend that Epstein -.friend of the rich ,., , and famottusood.fut d ancdital ptatron of Democratic ttd th Party with organiza ons es - ose five underage girls.¶
0¶
In the patt week, New York Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzerixo returned about $50,000 in campaign contributions he received.from Epstein?and Mark M, a candidate to replace Spitzer in¶
• • his current job, has returned II10,000 to:him because of ‘the Palm Beach scandal, the New York Daily News has reported.¶
Rather than file charges, the state attorney’s office presented the case to a county grand, jury. The panel indicted Epstein lasrweek on a single,, less: serious charge:of felony solicitation of prostitution.¶
The case raised eyebrows because the state attorney’s office rarely, if ever, kicks such charges to a grand jury. And it increases the difficulty. of prosecuting child sex abuse cases, especially when.the defendant ‘is enormously wealthy a can hire high-priced, top-tier lawyers.¶
At least one of Epstein’s alleged:vittims told ” e he hew’ she was underage when the two of the o for masaages and sexual activity. She w . Id, at the time and said Epstein asked her ut her high school, according.to policer¶
A girl who said shsm ltps when she was 15 said he told her if she toi hat happened at his house, bad things cou , thepOlice reports. state.¶
Epstein’s yt1 alleged victim was 14 when she says:she gave a massage that included some sexual activity. She 6’. TJte girl’s father says he doesn’t know Whether e told.Epstein her age.¶
“My daughter has kept a lot of:what happened from me because of sheer embarrassment” he said, “But she very. mueb.looked 14. Any prudent. man would have had second thoughts about that¶
Defense attorney.Jack Goldberger maintains that not only did Epstein pass apolygraph test showing he did not know the. girls were minors, but theirstories weren’t credible. The state attorney’s office also iMplied that their credibility was an issue when it decided not to charge Epstein directly, but instead give the case to the.grand jury.¶
‘A prosecutor • has to look- at it in a much broader • fashion,” a state attorney’s spokesman said lastweek.¶
Epstein hired Harvard law Professor Ala when he became aware.fie+was under ’ won, and. Dershoviitz.gave prosecutors inf at some of the alleged victims had spoke of coh I and marijuana on a popular Web site, acco alm Beath police report.¶
Prosecutors c raider two things in .deciding whether to arge ebody with sev,related offenses against mitt hether there is sufficient evidence and whet ere is a,ptiblic interestin doing.so, Delde said.¶
two tens are in a sexual relationship and theboy corns I efore the girl, he could be charged with a sex crime’if the sex continuo. There would be no public interest in pursuing that,, Delde said.¶
Ent.where+there. is a large.gap in ages -.arid especially in. cases of teachers with students - there is a pdblit interestin prosecuting, he said. :Likewise,if the accused has a. track. record.of sex with ‘minors.¶
• Still there is a “universal constant* in prosecuting these cases, Dekle said. Men who exploit underage children foir sex often carefully choose their victims in ways that will’ minimize the risk to them, he said.¶
Victims usually ar,e.from &lower social status, and they may suffer from psyChological problems, Dekle said..¶
“Lots of child sexual, abuse victims have been victimized by multiple. people over a.period of tithe. Theft the act of abuse produces behavior in the victims that further damages their credibility.* Examples include promiscuous behavior and. drug abuse.¶
Some of the alleged victims in the Epstein case his home multiple times for the.massage se and 8200 to 8300 he typically paid them per would be a. definite problem for the prosecgCE s3etty Resch, who prosecuted crimes against Ac S altnteach County. for five years and no ‘s wate,practice in Lake Worth.¶
“The victim becoal pathetic to a jury, Resch said: “ButAhe’s a vi pbvF eless. She’s• a kid?¶
Most men .with sex crimes against minors look no eklesaid. A Jury.expecting to see a monster 140 .. And the victims ages work against’them and in VW: o the defendant. in a trial, nekle said.,¶
If a child and an adult tell different•stories and both swear they’re telling the truth, adult jurors are more likely to believe the adult, Dekle said..¶
“You have all these things working against:you in a child. abuse case. Prosecutors normally tryto be verytareful in filing those cases because they know what they’re getting into. There is no such thing as an iron-clad child sexual abuse case!¶
• fb The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS SARIS NERE¶
Epstein camp calls female accusers liars¶
Posted Aug 8, 2006 at 12:01 AM¶
Updated Oct 3, 209 at VS PM¶
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally published- in The¶
Palm Beach Poston Aug. 8; 2000¶
Attorneys and publicists for Palm Beach finaneierjeffr S A Epstein went on the offensive Monday, contendin teenage.girls who have accused Epstein of sexual shenanigans at his waterfront home are li ying that the Palm Beach Police Department < • twos “e¶
‘There never was any sex betwee e and any underage women; his lead a r a Goldberger, said from Idaho where he wa4catt g with his family.¶
Epstein did have:yo en.come house to give him massages, said: ‘Mr. Epstein absolutely insisted any y came to his house be over the age of 18. How he d that, I don’tknow. The luestion did anyth le al occur: The law was:not tolated here,”¶
S e onhad o explanation as trainingwhy to Epsteihn wilouldd,pay girls or en no massage e + Osaid was iilf thefcfhasese- 52.00 to 83ra for their .visitis. “The questioned;” Goldberger said.¶
Epstein-, 53, was indicted bya county grand:jury last, month on a charge of felony. olicitation of prostitution, After an I I-month investigation that included sifting-through Epstein’strash and surveilling his home, Palm Beach police concluded there was enough: :evidence to charge.him with sexual activity with minors. When the grand jury indicted
¶
Epstein on theiess serious charge, Police Chief Michael Reiter referred the case to the. FBI to determine Whether there were federal law violations.¶
After .a spate of stories aboUt the case last week; New Y4sk publicist Dan Kjores - whose client list has included Paris Hilton. and Jennifer - said on Saturday that Epstein’s camp wasseady `to: get their story out:¶
They did that Monday via•Goldberger and a Los Angeles publicist for Miami criminal..defense attorney Roy Black, who .also has represented Epstein in the case.¶
-We just•think there has been a distorted view of tic in the media presented by the Palm Beach police Goldberger said.¶
Reiter has consistently declined to co e t Ijrdte case and did not tespond to a request f rt t Monday:¶
( S \¶
A S 17*¶
The implication that State Attorney’Barry Krischer was easy on.Epstein by presenting the case to a grand jury rather than filing.Charges. directly against him is wrong, Goldberger said.¶
• TheP•alm }leach ‘Police Department was “happy and ecstatic” that the panel was going to review the evidence. “I think what happened is they weren’t happy with the result. They. decided to use the press to embarrass Mr. Epstein.”¶
But records show that-Reiter wrote Krischer on May 1 well before the case went to the grand jury - suggesting that Krischer “consider if good and sufficient reason exists to require your disqualification from the-prosecution of these cases.”¶
Rather than flat-out decline to charge Epstein, ltrischer referred the case to. the grand jury to -appeases the-chie Goldberger said.¶
A state attorney’s spokesman would say onl the office refers casesto the grand jury whenthe with the viability of the evidence or wimetse ’ c¶
Both-the state attorney and ju concluded there. was not sufficient evidenc a em bad sex with minors, according to r. It was just a childish performance by t ch Police Department; Goldberger¶
The defens ey said one of the alleged victims-who claim twas.a minor was in fact over the age of 18. s”noth al eged victim: who was subpoenaed to testify to e grandjury failed to do so. Epstein ‘s accusers, he added, Oliars, We’ve established thathi e histories of drug abuse and thefts. “These women are¶
But why would:dm), all invent their stories about meeting. Epstein for sexual ‘massages?
¶
“1 don’t have an answer as to what was the motivation for these women to come forward and make these allegations,” Goldberger said.¶
Reiter focus of fire in Epstein case¶
Clipped By:¶
reiter_m Sat, Apr 22, 2017¶
Copyright © 2019 Newspapers.com. All Rights Reserved.¶
Newspapers.com¶
• • The Palm. Beach. Posh:. REA( HS -MEd HERE¶
Delays in Epstein case unusual, lawyers say¶
Posted Mar 13, 2007 at 12:01 AM¶
Updated Oct 3, 2019 at 3:48 PM¶
(EDITORS NOTE: This story originally published in The Palm Beach Post March IA 2007)¶
A federal probe or a:plea deal could explain the.waitin Patin Beacher’s solicitation case,¶
Nearly eight months after Palm Beach tycoo rey Epstein was charged with felony solicita stitution, there has been no discernible. ptogre . No witnesses deposed. No trial date h g, save.for routine.mort hearings reset v4Jb t explanation..¶
“Usually that would be attorney Glenn case. ” said criminal defense has no involvement in the¶
‘As a gene rut it would be unusual for nothing to have happ ttorn i ‘It ti,” agreed Michael butko, a criminal defense ort Lauderdale. He represents¶
0, of Palm Beath, potentiallye key witness in the¶
0 ca + A routine hearing for Epstein was pulled fronythe court docket last week and reset for May lb. The delays and inaction could be due to a potential feileril.probe of Epstein or because a plea deal ‘is in theworks, attorneys say.¶
Unusual is the word that best describes everything about the case against Epsteln,.54, an enigmatic money manager in New York.City who counts Bill Clinton and.Donald Trump among his friends.
¶
“Highly unusual” is how Palm Beach Police-ChietMic.bael Reiter described State Attorney Barry Krischer’s handling of the casein a bluntly critical letter to )(Ascher last year before Epstein was indicted.¶
Reiter referred the Matter to the FBI to determine whether any federal laws had been violated. Epstein’s allies countered by attacking the chief personally and professionally.¶
Reiter’s department investigated Epstein for 11 months:. Police sifted repeatedly through his trash awiconducted surveillance on his five-bedroom, 7 1/2-bathe 7,234-sq foot home on the Intracoastal Waterway.¶
Police said Epstein paid women and girls as as 4 to give him.erotic massages at.his home.-P ht there was probable cause to charge him a sex acts with a. minor and lewd and lasci lestation¶
Epstein responded by hi ri ng ala x of lawyers. One of them, Harvard law professor and author Alan Dershowitz, provided the state 4orne0office with information about alcohol and;mgr tap by some of thegirls.who said they were¶
Pros rs then referred the case to the grand jury rather an f charges directly against Epstein.¶
in’s attorneys deny he had serwith underage girls, elawyers say the girls’ stories are not credible:Butlithe court’ ile is any indicator, they’ve made no effort to depose the girls.¶
Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys have sought .to question =, said Dutko, her attorney. She recruited teenage girls to visit Epstein for massages and sexual activity,. Palm Beach police said, and presumably would ‘be a key witness:¶
1¶
EpStein s attorney Jack Goldberger•did not return phone messages.¶
A source close to. the case suggested it:is languishing peridirita decision by the FBI on whether-to refer it.to federal. prosecutors.¶
-Westill have a,pending case,’ FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said Monday.¶
State Attorney- Kristher did not rettitti a -tall for comment. His spokesman,:Mike Edmondson, detlined to saywhether federal investigators. are delaying the Epstein case..But, I} addect,.‘il another agency isloolcing at something, w wouldn’t want to step on their toes?¶
Attorneys say inertia-in a, criminal case’ ft to a pending plea deal.¶
It would not surprise me if so AStas happened that’s not reflected in the court fit d Dutko ,such as an y agreement that will be f zed ater.¶
Defense attorney r said defense attorneys sometimes p e conducting discovery— deposing witnesses, uest documents and the like — because doing sc.creat ore work for harried prosecutors who may angry and not offer a plea deal.¶
etimes defense lawyers,,knoviing that, will try and do scovery without taking depositions,’ said Shiner, aformer .prosecutor for 13 years:¶
Instead,•they may conduct a’ below-the radar probe such as having a. private investigator check out leads, he said.¶
Shiner and others say a plea dealfor Epstein probably would result in.pretrial intervention; in which a defendant may be ordered to undergo a. psychological evaluation, counseling or other conditions in return fqr dropping the charge.¶
• • Edmondson, spokesman for State Attorney Kiischer, said there is no plea offer and no request for the prosecution to show its cards.¶
`To.my knowledge, it’s.neeer happened before on a filed case,” he slid.¶
Cos¶
252 / 278 - Thursday, October 18, 2007¶
Section: LOCAL Page: 5B Source: The Associated Press Illustration: PHOTO (B&W) Memo: Ran all editions. Dateline: NEW YORK¶
WOMAN SUES BILLIONAIRE INVESTOR, SAYS THEY HAD SEX WHEN SHE WAS 16¶
A billionaire investor, already facing jail in Palm Beach County on charges of soliciting underage prostitutes, is being sued by a young woman who says he had sex with her when she was 16 and had sought his help becoming a model.¶
The lawsuit, filed late Tuesday in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, says financier Jeffrey Epstein had the teen perform a sex act when she brought photographs of herself for him to review in his Upper East Side mansion sometime in 2000.¶
Epstein, 54, a money manager, told the teen he managed finances for Victoria’s Secret and “could get you into the catalog” if she were “nice” to him, court papers say. The papers say being “nice” included massages and other favors.¶
When the girl told Epstein, “I am 16 years old and just want to model,” he replied, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody,” court papers say.¶
Epstein, said by London’s Mail on Sunday to be a close friend of England’s Prince Andrew, has been indicted in Palm Beach on charges of soliciting underage prostitutes. That case is pending.¶
The girl visited Epstein “several times over the several months and engaged in bizarre and unnatural sex acts” while she was a minor, the lawsuit says.¶
Epstein “repeatedly requested that (the girl) return with her 14-, 15-, and 16-year-old girlfriends, stating, ‘Come by with your friends your age next time. Don’t bring Sherrie (a mutual friend in her 40s). I love girls your age.’”¶
The young woman, now 23, kept returning to Epstein because she has “mental issues,” said her lawyer, William J. Unroch. He refused to elaborate, but court papers say she was “disabled as a result of severe mental disease and defect.”¶
Epstein’s lawyer in New York, Gerald Lefcourt, said, “The girl has admitted she is insane, but she can read a newspaper and recognize the word ‘rich.’”¶
Lefcourt also said the statute of limitations has expired for the woman’s case criminally and civilly, and will almost certainly be dismissed.¶
He refused to comment on Epstein’s Florida charges.¶
Meanwhile, Unroch, 57, also acknowledged that his client was living with him and was at the center of a $10 million lawsuit he filed last year against a neighbor who said he was having sex with underage girls. That case is pending.¶
“What she was doing at 22 is irrelevant to what happened to her when she was 16,” Unroch said Wednesday. He went on the say he hoped Epstein would agree to “do right” by his client and resolve the case out of court.¶
• • The Palm Beach Post RIM NEWS STARES HERE¶
Palm Reacher pleads in sex case¶
Updated det 3, 2019 at 1A7PM¶
(EDITOR’S NOTE:. This story originally published in The¶
Palm Beach Post on July 1, 2008)¶
Jeffrey Epstein will serve./ 1/2 years on teen solicitation charges.¶
He lives in ‘a Palm Beath waterfront mansion and company with:the. likes of.Presicient Clinton, Prin Andtaw and Donald Trimtp, but investnie • riefftey Epstein will call the Palm. Beach Coun for the next It months.¶
Epstein, 55.,.pleaded.guilty a felony solicitation of prostitution and prifituri is under the agent :Mot prostitutioneAfter s g 18 onths in jail, he will be: under house arr r. And he will ‘have a lifelong obligation t r a seroffenderne. must submit to ari,HIV tes thi 8 hours, with. the results being provi t far to his victims ortbeir parents.¶
s part the plea deal, federal investigators agreed to drop ’ - investigation of Epstein, which they had taken to a grand jury, two law enforcement sources *aid.¶
Epstein was’indicted two years ago after an 1’1 -month investigation by Palm Beach police.. They received a complaint from a.relativenf a 14-year-old girl who had given Epstein a:naked massageat his five;bedroom, 7,234 square-foot, 88.5 million Intracoastal home..¶
Police concluded that there were several other girls brought in 2004 and 2005 to an upstairs room at the home for similarmassages and sexual touching.¶
The indictment chargedtpstein only with felony solicitation of prostitution. The state attorney’s office later added the charge.of procuring underage girls for that purpose.¶
Prosecutor Lanna telohlavek said of the plea: “I took into consideration the. length the trial would have been and witnesses having to testify” about sometimes embarrassing incidents.¶
Epstein may have:made a serious mistake soon after he was charged. He rejected.an offer to plead guilty to one count’ o aggravated assault withintent to commit.a felony, according to police documents, Be would have go years’ probation, had ilia crithinalreeordand not registered sex offender, the documents in¶
Epstein arrived in court Monday wi t ree attorneys. He wore:a blueblazer a lue jeans and and gray sneakers. Aft C itJudge Deborah Dale Puci.Uo accepted the plea was \rin gerprinted. Epstein then removed his bl handcuffed for the trip to jail while his atto to shield him from photographe ec¶
When he ly is released to house arrest, Epstein•will have to obv,rve a..10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, have,no supescyised contact with anyone youngerthan 18 and Ther own, nor possess pornographic or sexual materials “that are relevant to your deviant behavior, the judge said.¶
Epstein will be allowed.to leave home for work. The New York-based money manager told the judge he has formed the not4or-profit Florida Science Foundation to finance scientific research. ‘I’m there.every day,’ Epstein said.¶
The foundation was incorporatedin November. Epstein said he already has awarded money to Harvard and MITI¶
• • When he is released from jail, there is a chance that Epstein will be forced to move. Sex offenders are not allowed to live within 1,000 feet of a school, park or other areas where children may gather. No-determination has been made as to. whether Epstein’s home complies, but attorneys said it likely does.¶
Sex offenders also typically must attend.counseling sessions, Belohlavek said that was, waived for Epstein because his privattpsychiatrist is worldngwith.him. The judge was¶
skeptical but agreed twit. S l Epstein’s legal woes don’t end with Monday’s plea, The are four pending federal:civil lawsuits and one. in s to coo related to his behavior. At least one *Oman has sicsu i in New York, where he owns a 511000-5quar anhattan mansion.¶
alesvalidation.of what we’re.sa mil cases,’ said Miami.attornty Jeffrey He represents the alleged victims in the federal la Palm. Beach attorney Ted Leopold represe ne.a .ged victim in a civil suit in state court He s ‘pates amending thatlawsuitto add ‘a few o es well.¶
e, policewent so far toscour.Epstein!s duct surveillance at Palm Beach. International irporfywhere they watched for hit private jet so they Id know when he7wnsin town. They concluded,that Epstein paidgirls8200 to .1300 each after the massage: sessions.¶
“I’m like a Heidi Fleisst S now 22, told police about her efforts in recruiting girlifor Epstein.¶
There was probable cause to charge Epstein with unlawful sex acts with .a minor and lewd and lascivious inOlestation, police concluded.¶
• • The state attorney’s office said questions about the girl? credibility led it to take the unprecedented step of presenting the evidence against Epstein to a grand jury,, rather than directly charging him.¶
Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter was furious with State Attorneytarry Krischet, saying in a May 2006 letter that, the prosecutor should disqualify himself. 1 continue to find your office’s treatinent of these cases highly unusual,” he wrote. He then asked for and got a.federal investigation.¶
Epstein hired a phalanx of high-priced lawyers -‘including Harvard lawprofessor and author Alan:Dershowitz - a public relations people who questioned Reiter’s to and the victims’ truthfulness.¶
In addition to mansions. in Palm Beach ttant Epstein owns homes inNew Mexic a zxgin Islands,. Hist frequent contributor to D arty candidates. He also donated $30.million and in .2003.¶
Former N,ew York Go gm returned a$$0,000 campaign contrib t Epstein after.his indictment, then resigned ring his own sex scandal. And the same Palm each ce Department that vigorously investigate in returned his S90,000 donation forthe purc firearms.simulatot¶
writer Eliot Kleintietg and former Staffresearcher M chelle Quigley contributed to this story.¶
• • The Palm Beach Post REAL NEWS STARTS HERE¶
Jeffrey Epstein: Scientist, stuntman, `sex slave’ visit jailed tycoon.¶
By LARRY / Palm Beach Post Staff Writer¶
Posted Aug 13, 2008 at 12:01 AM¶
Updated Jul 16, 2019 at 4:54 PM¶
Tycoon Jeffrey Epstein mingled with an eclectic mix of people, including beautiful yountwomen, before.he po into trouble for paying teenage girls to give him se massages at his Palm Beach mansion.¶
Not Much has changed, even though h dorm at. the Palm Bcach.Cciunty.Sh 967-bed stockade near the fair esina o’s 17-acre,¶
During his first month o fmtent, Epstein was visited by the female lanai o, s told police, had escorted them to the roe sion where they gave him naked massa¶
Also trekkin e jail was a young woman whom Epstein Purl’ escribed as his Yugoslavian set slave.¶
e-wealthyfinaticier..An.d science wonk also ;has been O visaedloyAn expert on artificial intelligence, as well as a Man who. is:a mixed martial arts aficionado and sometime movie stuntman.¶
“41 ..¶
The only other people to visit:him at the jail, accordingto records, are a Island man and’ n individual who. listed Epstein’s Pilm Beach address as his own.¶
Epstein, 55, pleaded guilty on June 30 to two prostitutionrelated charges and was sentenced to 18 months in jail,: followed by year of house arrest: Epstein paid teenage¶
girls $200 to $300 in 2004 and 2005 for massages in his home that sometimes included sexual touching, Palm Beach police said,¶
His jail visitors in July included;¶
29, who:some of the teen masseuses said phoned them when Epstein was.in town and escorted them upon their arrival at his Palm Beach waterfront home to an upstairs Male Where•she prepared the massage table and provided the oils for:their encounters.with him. visited Epstein three times in July, according to aiail visitor’s log. lists a Manhattan:home address.. Reached by telephone, she declined to.discuss Epst¶
23, whose family in Y via Epstein patd.money to so that he could the United States to be his ‘sex slave, girls told police. One girl told police that et rutted and her to kiss sex while he watched and masturbated. Moth ids ngaged in, sex with at EPste visited Epstein in jail four tithes he lists.her address as on the Upper East.s attan, not far from Epstein’s• enormous¶
- Rog k, 62, founder.of the Institute for Learning t Northwestern. University and ait expert on •• cial intelligence, paid one visit to Epstein. Schank has written numerous books on that subject and has a doctorate degree froth Yale University in linguistics. He was one of 19 people who applied to be president of Florida Atlantic University in 2003.. He became “chief learning officer” atthe online Trump University. in 2005. Schank listed his address as being in Stuart, and records.show heals() owns a home .in Lake Worth.
Epstein as financed a number of scientists o’er • the years, including Nobel Prize winners, He gave 830 iniftrt to Harvard University in 2003. In November, he formed the not-for-profit Florida Science Foundation, which he said finances scientific research.¶
- Igor Zinoviev, a Russian mixed martial arts fighter, who coaches a Chicago team in the International Fight League. He also has worked as a personal trainer, celebrity bodyguard and movie stuntman, according to the leagues Web site. TheNew Jersey resident visited Epstein seven
times in J”uly. comment. Staff researcher Niels Heimeriks contrib s story. cw v r¶
Zinoviev, Schank and Martinkova could not be re¶
0 • Palm Beach:Daly Nesms¶
Bighonaire sex offender leaves Jail six days tweek for work¶
Updated Oct 4.2019 at 917 AM¶
Palm Beach billionaireJeffrey Epstein, who’s serving 18 months in jail for soliciting an’underage girl for prostitution, is allowed to leave the Palm Beech .County, Acte Stockade six days a week on a work-release program.¶
Teri Barbera, spokeswoman for the Palm Beach Sheriffs Office, cOnfirtned.that Epstein, 55, work-release program since Oct, 10.¶
“He works six days a week Friday g1Wednesday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.,’ Barbera said ail -(He) works at his local. West Patin. Beach o red on an active GPS system (he wears an a b et). Mr. Epstein hires a permit deputy, at for his own security’at his workplace due he•is out.’¶
Miami atto reyHerttian represents six young wom vh&ve sued Epstein, claimingle sexually abused Palm Beachlome when they were minors.¶
an said he. received a letter about the work-release program from the U.S. Attorneys Office withinthe past few days. But. Herman says Epstein had.been out on work- ‘release for several weeks before the notification.¶
“Myclients expressed shock. and disappointment,” Herman said.’( find it incredible that he’s on work-release intlie community and my clients aren’t notified of this and we get this. letter weeks After the fact°¶
‘He. goes to work every single day and, goes back to jail at night, just like everybody else (in the program), Geldberger Said.¶
Epstein pleaded guilty June 30 to two felony counts: soliciting prostitution and procuring a person.under 18 for prostitution. As part ofthe plea agreement, Epstein must serve one year of house arrest and register as a lifelong sex¶
offender. CO S¶
• The Palm Beach Post. REAL NEWS STARTS HERE¶
Womenwant Epstein sex plea deal :unsealed:¶
Updated Oct Z 2019 at 2:23 PM¶
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally published in The¶
Palls Beach Post June 10, 2009)¶
Their attorneys will, ask aJudge to open JeffreyEpsteine records.¶
When wealthy money manager Jeffrey Epste* P C ) Beach pleaded guilty last year to procu r prostitmion, his case detoured aroun state rules regarding the sealing of court d¶
At a plea confetence:on th ages, a judge, a defense lawyer and .a prosecutor u .the bench and decided that a deal.gIntein with federal prosecutors to avoid charges aled, according to a transcript of the hearing¶
AndseAvas” ir¶
utF.lo da: rules of judicial administration, as well as rules e Palm Beach County court system, require public notification that a court documenthis been orwill be sealed,, meaning kept from. public view. The rules also require a judge.ro. find a significant reason to seal,. such as protecting:a.trade. secret or.a compelling government interest,¶
‘,hum notification or reason, occurred in:Epstein.% case, according to tourt.records.¶
4 1111 ,tein s own attorneys, in federal filings; have referred to his confidential deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office, struck in September 2007, as “unprecedented” and “highly unusual.”.And it was “a significant inducement” for Epstein to accept the state’s deal, observed the state judge who accepted his plea, County Judge Deborah Dale Pucillo.¶
Epstein now faces at least a dozen civillawsnits in federal and state courts filed by young women who said they had sex with him and now are seeking damages.¶
Attorneys for some of those women want his agreemen with federal prosecutors unsealed and will ask Ci Jeffrey Colbath to do so today.¶
“lt.is against public policy for these doc istvi e have been sealed and hidden from publics a member of the public, E.W., has a right to e documents unsealed,” wrote former Ciro’ e Bt11 Berger, now in private practicOand rep e of the women.¶
The Palm Beac ill ask Colbath to unseal the agreement. Deantia.Shullrnan Will argue that the public It a ri t to know the specifics of Epsteitisa deal.:¶
Accor . er.various media accounts, Epstein moved in irdn: t included. resident Clinton, Donald Trump and Pt ceAndrew.‘I’nternational Moneyman of Mystery; Oeclared a 2002 New York magazine profile•of Epstein,¶
Epstein, 56, is in the Palm’Beach County Stockade, serving an 18-month sentence after pleading guilty nearly a year ago to felony.s6licitation of prostitution and procuring teenagers for’prostitution.¶
He is allowed out from 7 aan. to 11 p.m., escorted by a deputy, said Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office. spokeswoman Teri Barbera.¶
During • a Palm Beach Police Department.investigation,.five • victims and 17 witnesses gave statements. They told of young women brought by his• assistants to Epstein’s mansion on El Brills) Way for massages and sexual activity; and then being paid afterward.¶
At ENtein’s plea conference last year, his attorey, Jack: Goldberger, and:then-Assistant State Attorney Lanna Belohlavek approached Pucillo in a sidebar conference. Putillo, who had left the ben& nine years earlier, was filling.jntemporarily as a senior judge.¶
According to a transcript, Goldberger told Pucillo that Epstefu had:entered a confidential agreement with attorney’s office .in which federal prosecutors brok pursuing charges against him if he pleaded n state court. Pucillo then said she wanted a s the agreement filed in his case, and Gol ncurred that he wanted it sealed. Belohlave te si d off on it.¶
The Florida Supreme ressed “serious concern” and lauoched an all nqut into sealing procedures across the state edia reports in 2006 of entire cases being s:appearing from court records.¶
“The’public’ s4titutional right of access to court records must inviolate, and this court is fully committed to ing this right; justices wrote in their final report.¶
Eol.db t,eine’sofficehond’Turesdday referred anypqueusitions tohas declined to comment.¶
O¶
• The Palm. Beach Post PEAL MaSMA HERE¶
Epstein secret pg.. with Feels reveals “highly unusual” terms¶
Posted Jun 10.2009 at 12:01 AM.¶
Updated Oct 4, 2019 at 923¶
40¶
financier Jeffrey Epstein struck with federal proses A secret non-prosecution agreement multimillionaire iCYbeing called ‘highly unusual’ by former federal pro and downright outrageous by attorneys noof smiting young women who serviced him.¶
(EDITORS NOTE: This story originally published’ in The¶
Palle Beath POst Siptenibir 19, 2W9)¶
The deal revealsthat the FBI an .7lftomeys Office investigated him for several, cri es, including engaging minors in corn al he crimes are punishableby anywh years to life in prison..¶
But federal pro eked down and agreed to recall grand jury bpoe if Epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution felonies in state.court, which he d. He received an 18-month jail sentence, of¶
(shich tv served 13 months. O U.S. Attorney’s Office also agreed not to charge asiy of Epstein; possible. co-conspirators: a¶
S. Lesley oroff.and¶
The tleal was negotiated in partbyheavyweight New’York criminal:defense attorney Gerald -Lefeourt.¶
Unsealed on Friday after attorneys for some oftpstein’s victims and The’ Palm Reach Post sought its release, it offers the first public look at the deal Epstein’s high-powered legal counsel brokered on his behalf.¶
. II MarkJo son of Stuart, a former federal prosecutor, described the disparity in.potential sentences as unusual, but even more so a proviiion on attorney payment.¶
I¶
The first draft of the agreement in September. 2007 required that ‘Epstein pay an attorney — tapped by the U.S. Attorneys Office and approved by Epstein t-to represent some of the victims. That attorney*is-prominent Miami lawyer Bob Josefsberg.¶
But an.addendum to the:agreement signed the fallowing month strucktristein’s duty to pay Josefsberg if he and.the victims did not accept settlements — capped.at 5S150,00O and instead pursued lawsuits.¶
,IM said it appearsthe government was; to, balance the lesser sentence for Epstein- ring 8150;000 for each victim. “I’ve never anything like that in my. life: he said. “It’s n uaL” l►vt,¶
Id The deal does ‘not say whe, or consulted before the aims were contacted.¶
Attorney Brad Fort Lauderdale, who represents three of the n en, believes that none ofthe 30 to 40 woman ed as victims in the federal investigation were d ahead of time. said his dierits received tters the U.S. Attorney’s Office months after the deal as signed,.assuring them Epstein would:be prosecuted.¶
”.÷. °Never consulting the victims is probablythe most • outrageous aspect alit,” said. “It taught them that someone with money can buy his way:out of anything: I’t’s outrageous and embarrassintfor United-States Attorney’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office.”’¶
:Epstein now faces many civil lawsuits filed by the women, who are represented by a variety of attorneys. In many, the allegations are the same: that Epstein had a predilection for teenage. girls, identified. poor, vulnerable.ones and used
¶
• • other young women. to lure them to his Palm Beach mansion. They walkedawaywith between 5200 and $1)000.¶
I Former Circuit Judge Bill Berger, also representing victitrisi called the.agreement a “sweetheart deal:”¶
Why was it so important for the government to make, this deal?’ Berger asked rhetorically.’` e have not yet had an honest mtplanation by any:public.official as to Why:it was made… and:vihy thevictimstwere sold down, the: river..”¶
Former federal prosecutor Ryon McCabe described the, agreement as “very unorthodox:” Such agreements, are usually reserved for corporations, not individu¶
“Ws very, very rare, Eve never seen or ha procedure that wasset up here,” said involvement in any Epstein litiga¶
“He’s essentially avoiding f ution because he can afford to pay that m wy to: help those victims review their cases. er n has no money, he couldn’t be able to strik this’indavoid federal prosecutiQ¶
The ckroom eal with federal prosecutors is all the more inter light of the legal powerhouses who.have mike OrEpsteiti, including Harvard professor Man howitz and Bill Clinton investigatorKennethStary. Lefcourvis apast president of theNational Association of Criniinal Defense Law.yeit.¶
Epstein’s local defense attorney, Jack Goldberger,iss.ued a statement Friday saying he had fought the release of the sealed agreement to protect the third parties named there: “Mr. Epstein has fully abided by all of its terms and conditions. He is looking forward to, putting this difficult period in his life:behind him. He iscontinuing his lOngstanding history of science philanthropy.”¶
• • The investigation triggeredtensions between police and, prosecutors, with then-Palm Beach.Chief Michael Reiter saying in a May 2006 letter.to then-State. Attorney Barry ICrischerthat the chief proseciitot should disqualify continutto find your office’s treatment of these cases highly unusual’ Reiter wrote. He then asked for and got the federal investigation that ended in the sealed deal. “The Jeffrey Epstein matter was an experience of what a many-million-dollar defense can accomplish; Reiter told the. Palm Beach Daily News upon his retirement. CO +o¶
187 / 278 - Wednesday, January 27, 2010¶
Section: LOCAL & BUSINESS¶
Page: 3B¶
Source: By JANE MUSGRAVE Palm Beach Post Staff Writer¶
Dateline: WEST PALM BEACH¶
JUDGE RULES EPSTEIN ATTORNEYS CAN SUBPOENA ABORTION RECORDS¶
In a decision that could spark a constitutional showdown over privacy rights, a judge Tuesday gave lawyers representing multimillionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein the right to subpoena abortion records from women who are seeking millions in damages from the part-time Palm Beach resident.¶
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Donald Hafele said the records could help Epstein rebut the women’s claims that they suffered psychological ills after being paid to give him sexually-charged massages at his Palm Beach mansion when they were as young as 14. Hafele told Epstein’s attorneys they couldn’t go on a fishing expedition. The medical records, he said, can’t be sought until the women are asked whether they have ever had an abortion, how many and where. Further, he said, the records would not be made public and might not be admissible during trial.¶
But, he said, since the women claim Epstein, now 57, is responsible for their emotional distress, his attorneys can explore the impact of other events. Medical records, Hafele said, are a better source of information than a person’s memory.¶
Attorney Louis Silver, who represents the Presidential Women’s Health Center, a West Palm Beach clinic where abortions are performed, warned Hafele that he was stepping on shaky constitutional grounds.¶
“These records are protected by our constitutional right of privacy,” he said, referring to the Florida Constitution.¶
After the hearing, Silver said an appeal won’t be necessary until Epstein attorneys seek the records.¶
In another ruling Wednesday, Hafele also said that videos from depositions in the state cases can’t be released without a court order. The ruling came after Epstein attorney Robert Critton complained that a video of Epstein being asked whether he had an “egg-shaped” penis became a youtube.com sensation. It first appeared on The Palm Beach Post Web site. Critton blamed attorney Spencer Kuvin for releasing it. Kuvin said it was public record. The civil suits began mounting after Epstein agreed to plead guilty to two state charges: procuring a minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution. He served 13 months of an 18-month sentence. As part of the deal brokered with federal prosecutors, he agreed not to contest the accusations in the civil lawsuits. He can argue the women don’t deserve the millions they are seeking.¶
• Palm:. Beach Post. REAL NEWS STARTS HERE¶
EPstein Journal’s Findings Could! Resurrect Case¶
By JaltMIJIEf1C;¶
Posted Sep 17, 2019 at 12:01 AM¶
Updated Oct 1, 2019 at 10:51 AM.¶
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally published in The 4• Alsi’ Palm Beach Post on March 24 2010)¶
A purloitied journal that is said to contain the nam fc) ‘huridreds’ of victims of convicted sexoffergler Je Epstein could be used to’reopen the investi multi-millionaire’s appetite for. eenagei c( ) representing seven of the victims s”\ • into the cirtiey¶
blew details about the conten orre jo ynal were released this week WhenAltredo rig ho worked as a property manager for e,Pa ach resident, pleaded guilty to obstructi for lying to federal agents when asked if information abowthis former boss cr’ acti He later tried to sell the journal he stole from. for 850,000 to an unidentified person, who ,authorities, according to court records.¶
S part , of the plea agreement, federal prosecutors said he Oj .o rn investigation, “ctciontains d ci infei th t i rniatiott material to the. Epstein es and additionitvictims.”¶
‘Had the items been produced in response to the inquiries of state or federal authorities… the materials would have been presented to the federal grand jury,’ federal prosecutors wrote.¶
• {sup}01 Instead, prosecutors short,circuited the grand jury investigation andcut a deal with Epstein. They agreed not to pursue federal charges if he didn’t.contest prostitutionrelated felonies in state.court..The money manager pleaded guilty in July 2008 co procurinta minor for prostitution and soliciting prostitution. He served 13 inciiithl: of an18 month sentence.¶
Attorney Adam Horowitz; who represents seven of the roughly 18 women who have filed civil suits against. Epstein, said the new information could trump the socalled ;non-prosecution agreement.¶
The multifaceted agreement, he said, deals only wi specific list.of victims that the U.S. Attorney’s Off about when it penned the deal in 2007.1( I victims are listed in the journal Rodriguez stoi said federal prosecutors could reopen non..¶
1t: opens the door for furthe on,” he said.¶
In addition to turnip ournakto federal agents, Rodriguez told th his former boss was :having sex with.unde I en he worked for him:in 2004 and 2005. had naked girls;Wha looked likelninors, in the pool o rein’s S13.6 million mansion. He had seen porn c images ofyoung girls-on Epstein’s..computer, cocdi to court records.¶
Neither Epstein’s criminal defense attorney, Jack Goldberger, nor attorney Robert Critton, who represents Epstein in the civil lawsuits, could be reached. Federal prosecutors have consistently declined comment.¶
The wordingLathe controversial. agreement is unclear. It saya federal prosecutors would pro9ideEpsteirt’s attorneys *with a list of:individuals whom it has identified ‘LS victims,” Miami attorney Robert losefsberg was appointerd to¶
• • represent any of the victims on the list who wanted to pursue Epstein in civil court. As part of theagreement; Epstein is to pay for Josefsberg to represent the women.¶
Some of the women; most identified as Jane Doe in lawsuits, had already hired attorneys to represent them. Some h:ave since settled their suits with Epstein, although terms•werenot disclosed.¶
Horowitz said he has filed court papers to get the journal that Rodriguez stole. it’s another piece of evidence that shows our clients were at Epstein’s mansionrhe said.¶
Rodriguez told prostcutors he didn’t turn over the when both FBI and palm Beach police askedlor it hewanted money for it. He also said he was Epstein would make him °disappear.-The infor S ) told investigators, was hi! ‘insurance po 14• ’,,¶
Refaces a maximum 20 years \ Ak on hen he is sentenced on June It¶
jane_musgrave@pb.¶
so¶
heFalco Beach. ost REAL NEWS STARTS HERE¶
Epstein naidthretWOffien$5;5 million to,end,findeira 0. sex loWspits¶
By Jane Musgrave¶
Posted Oct 3, 2017 at 12:01,AM¶
Updated Oct:4, 2017 at 12:46 AM¶
Ending years of speculation about how much Palm Beach billionaire Jeffr paid young women who claimed he used them as sex toys, court documents filed how he shelled out 85.5 million to settle lawsuits with three of more than two do who sued him.¶
Responding to requests. from Epstein’s, attorneys in a com sex scandal, attorney said:the politi offender pitd more than Si million to each of the itthat was spawned by the ed 64-year-old convicted sex represented:¶
Identified in court. papers only by their Mill onyms because of the nature of the allegations and.their youthful ages; G.M. ‘d E.W. 81Million.and Jane.Doe $1.5.million, said.of the settl negotiatedWith Epstein to end the lawsuits.¶
Jack Goldberger, one of Epste defense attorneys, on Tuesday dec1ined comment on the revelations, citing confid uali agreements.thatwer.e part of the settlements. Por the same reason; he dedin to say w ether Epsteih.paid.similar amounts tci:Setde roughly two dozen lawsuits filed by a oung women against Epstein, claiming he paid them for sex when some we, you as 14 years old.¶
rcila, who is said his client was compelletito divulge settlements to answer questions posed bytpstein’s attorneys. Brilliant move he said.¶
Even if Epstein’s attorneys hadn’t opened.the door, Scarola said the information would have likely come outs He says. the.informatiOn will bap him undermine.Epstein!s claimsthat “ginned urthe allegations to help: his former lawpartner, imprisoned and disbarred Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein, perpetuate a 81.1 billion Ponzi scheme.¶
The revelations of the settlements came as part of an ongoinglawsuitthat started as a dispute between. Epstein and Rothstein, both billionaires.¶
A year after Epstein in 2008 pleaded guilty to•solicitation of prostitution and procuring a minor for prostitution, he suecl.Rothstein and.Edwards, claiming they trumped up the allegations of sexual molestation to perpetuate the Ponzi. scheme..¶
Rothstein was sentenced to 50 years inprison in 2010 after admitting, heliad.builehistwildly successful law firm by forging the names of federal judges and others to persuadelffeestors he had negotiated setdements in lawsuits against highiprofile people. Investors 4old they could get a cut of the cash.¶
0 One of the high-profile people Rothstein used to lure investors was stet ,.according to a lawsuitWest Pahn Beach attorney Robert Crition filed on Ep ’ be . According to the lawsuit; Rothstein told investors Epstein, a. money manag eeci to settle the lawsuits with the teens for 8200 million — a claim trinon desc S r complete fabrication!’¶
After Epstein dropped the.lawsuit in 2012; Edw n the tables on him. accused. Epstein of filing the lawsuit maliciously-to s or representing the young women. Although was a partner in Ro t in. w defunct firm, Scarola claims Epstein had no evidence was involved scheme. Federal prosecutors successfully charged other attorneys and me e firm, but: was never implicated, Scarola said in the malicious prosecu on la tt.¶
The revelations about oney Epstein paid to three. f the young woman dune last week ‘in documents filed kf he .Tuesdarinpreparation for a Decembettrial.onthe lawsuit.¶
Atto ;4144 art, because.slie claimed ikeJ3as been unable to a to her client since his estate onhia private island’in the US.Virgin Islands was devastated last. month by Hurricane Irma, ‘Eve had tn.ability to communicate: Mr. Epstein; she said. added Coleman, who repteseittsEpsteinion .Tuesday sought a delay of the:¶
Pointing out Epstein’s enormous wealth.and his private jet, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Donald Hafele rejected her request. While saying he didn’t want to appear insensitive to those victimized by the storm that hammered the Caribbean and roared through South Florida, he said Coleman offered no proof,‘such as an affidavit from ‘Epstein, to shore up her claims.¶
Still, Hatele.gave Coleman extra time to respond to various motions that he will have to decide before the case goes to trial.¶
Despite Scarola’s insistence that had nothing to do with. Rothstein’s Po heme, sc Coleman said the evidence indicates, otherwise. Why else would he try to de • o pstein’s well:known friends, such as now President Donald Trump, former Presi. I t Linton and illusionist David Copperfield, she. asked. He used the celebrities as a: aid.¶
‘he Epstein cases were used to fleece money and defraud inv c, ‘she said.¶
Edward’s:malicious prosecution case bas,been difficult: etc es because both Epstein and have refused to answer questions. As he d’ ‘n e. ‘I lawsuits; Epstein has invoked his Fifth.Amendment right against self-incrimi tt wh xi questioned by SCar.ola. has claimed that much of the information Ejin king:is protected by attorney-client privilege.¶
The malicious prosecution lawsu against Epstein. Edwi the federal Crime Victims Ri Epstein, o hotly-contested lawsuits that continueto pit suing the U,$. Attorney’s office,. claimingit violated when it negotiated ‘a:non-prosecution. agreement with,¶
Only after fede Irsrosec its ors agreed to drop their in’veXtigation of Epstein, did he agree to plead guilty o p stinition charges in, alm Beach County Circuit Court.. In federal court records r s claim one of the key reasons they agreed to drop their case was Epstein’s agre settle lawsuits filed against him by dozens of his underage victims.¶
• Palm Be cf L’Daily News¶
Judge rules.feds’ agreement with Jeffrey.•,E,psteim pact violated teen victims’ rights¶
By Jane Musgrave¶
Posted Sep 17, 2010 at 4:02 PM¶
Undated Oct 8,20190112:31 PM¶
(EDITORS NOTE: This story originally published in The:¶
Palm Beach Post on February 22, 2019)¶
Federal prosecutors violated the rights ofJeffrey teenage, tilts by failing’to reveal they h’ plans to prosecute the.billionaire on:dozens arges in connection with the girls’ claims em for sex at his Palm Beach mansion, U. nct Judge Kenneth Marra ruled on Thursday. ?so¶
In ;blister* 33-pa ling; arra meticulously and methodically d umerous steps federal prosecutors e the agreement from more than 40 young wozrkn whpd claim:Epstein paid them for sex when they re as young as 14.¶
le e government spent untold hours negotiating the s and implications of the NM With Epstein’s attorneys, scant information was shared with the victims,’ Marra wrote. instead,:the victims were told: to be ‘patient’ while the investigation proceeded.”¶
By then, it was too late. A deal had already been cut with. then-South Florida U.S.. Attorney Alex Acosta and Epstein’s attorneys to shelve a 52-page federal indictment’against Epstein, a former Math teacher tined money manager who counts Presidents Donald Trump and. Bill Clinton. among his friends.¶
• • Frosecutors’failure to alert the: oung women about the deal violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act,.Marra ruled. “At a, bare minimum the (act) required the government to inform. (the young women) that it intended to enter int”) an agreement not to prosecute Epstein, he wrote.¶
Still,Marra said he wasn’t second-guessing prosecutors’ decision not to pursue Epstein on:federalcharges if he pleaded guilty to minor state prostitution charges and agreed to compensate his victims for the trauma he caused.¶
`The court 4:not ruling that the decision not to prosecute was improper; Marra wrote. “The court is simply ruli that, under the facts of this case, there was a violat the CVRA7¶
Further, he made no decision about wh .should be. He gave prosecutors and presenting the young women .15 days to m o ow to.unravel the complex legal web. that. hanging over Epstein andhis young vittitns.fo ore a decade,¶
The chances an ac e reached are slim, said attorney jack’ o is representing the two Jane Does who the prosecutor? actions.¶
he said, there is no r9ad.rnap to follow. The attorney filed on behalf of the two “deritifitd.yount women, claiming prosecutortviolated federal act, is unique, be said.¶
“We are treading.= virgin ground, to use.what is probably an ‘inappropriate phrase in this situation,’ he said.¶
Scarola said he and will ask that the nonprosecution agreement be thrown tout. That would open the possibility that’the long-shelved federal indictment could be:dusted off and filed against the 66-year-old Epstein, Who spends most of his time on a private bland he owns. in the U.S. Virgin Islands.¶
• • 1: don’t see the government conceding to that remedy,” Scarola admitted. Further, he said, it is likely Epstein will be allowed to weigh in. Miami attorneyItoy Black years ago filed papers asking to intervene on Epstein’s behalf.¶
The U.‘S. Attorney’s Office said it wouldn’t comment oh Marra’s ruling. Neither. Black.nor.New York City, attorney Jay Lefkowitz, who led efforts to bury the: ederal indictment, responded to pmailsor phonetalls for comment. West Palm Beach attorney Jack Goldberger, who represents Epstein, also didn’t respond.¶
Scarola said it is likely Epstein’s star-studded legal team argue that .Epstein fully complied with the terms of agreement he made in 2007 with federal prosecuto therefore the agreement can’t be, undone:.¶
As he promised, Epstein pleadedgu 008:to state charges of soliciting a minor for And soliciting. .prostitution;He served 13 m an 111-month jail term in a vacant wing of the ; st de that he was allowed. tgleave 12: hours ad e ”tda ., wait.¶
Further, as agr settlements to the young women who sued the settlements were confidential, court recur hcpaiel three women a tonal of $5.5. millio¶
( return, E federal prosecutors held up their end of the ha, ?ig.:Their investigation.ceased.¶
‘Haying done all that prosecutorsasked of.kim, Scarola said ‘Epstiin will make a simple. argument: can’t turn around and deprive me of the benefits I ,bargained for.”¶
However, Scarola: said, using Marra’s.ruling, counter tharthe contract.Epstein signed was illegal and therefore unenforceable.¶
Even if Marra agrees to toss our the non-prosecution • agreement, Scarola concededthat doesn’t mean Epstein will face federal charges.¶
“The contract can be set aside and the federal government can attempt to. enterinto the same agreement,” he said. `Except the spotlight of public attention will be.mi thetii and the 40 victims will be able to explain to the court why this sweetheart deal should not be approved.’¶
Scarola said that prosecutors May:have had good reason not to pursue Epstein, “There may be .a reasonable explanation but we don’t know.what:that reason may have been,” h said.¶
In court papers; federal prosecutors have sai • many of the young women were afraid to cross t politically connected:money manage y refused’to testify against him.¶
In other cases;they Sid, tied their Stories: Jim Doe 2, who as try e the non-prosecution agreement throw ly described Epstein as ‘an awesome rake rosecutors ihetoped “nothing happens’ t de she later agreed to testify against Epstein,, pro rs said they feared :Epsteira attorneys woul r words to destroy her if she ever took the: tne rand.¶
0¶
NMica, however, said the.young. woman’s comments didn’t mean she wasn’t entitledto know about theprosecutors’ plans to drop the charges. “There is no dispute that Epstein, sexually abused:Jane Doe 2 while she was adMoor.: be wrote.: “Therefore, regardless eitheromments to the prosecutor, she was. a victim.”¶
Before the case is finally:resolved, Scarola predicted.thara lot of people are going to have to answeE g lot of questions.Ӧ
• In his-ruling, Marra detailed what’ appeared to be a cozy relationship between.Acosta, his line prosecutors and Epstein’s team of lawyers. His phalanx of lawyers included noted Harvard.law professor Alan Dershowitz and:Kenneth Starr, the former US. solicitor general whose investigation led to the impeachment of President Clinton.¶
Marra describes an October,2007’breakfast meeting between Acosta, who is now U.S. labor secretary;and Lefkowitz ihortly after the non-prosecution agreement was inked,¶
After the. meeting,lefkowitz sent Acosta.a.noie thanki \ him for “the commitment you made to’me during October 12 meeting in whith you assured me that Office would not … contact any of the Wen individuals, potential witnesses, or potN t’ ) laimants. an and their respective.counsel in this tt¶
to Marra quoted an equally pleas S ishte en-Palm Beach County State Attorney.B Kn er sent to Assistant U.S. Attorney Vill wh as the lead prosecutor in EpStein’s tase. “C d get this worked out for reasons Iwo ting; Krischer wrote, shortly after the no non agreement was signed. “After’this is res lved I d love to buy. you a cup ar Starbucics and have oli froje, a rsation.”¶
of notes thatwere exchanged dealt wirh rosecutors’ and Epstein’s.lawyers’ shared desire to. keep the deal secret from.Epttein’s accusers. In a September email, Villafana asked Lefkowitz for guidance about what-she should reveaL ‘And can we’ have: a conference tall to. discuss what I may &dote to…the girls regarding the: Agreement,’ She asked.¶
• Such c’ ration between prosecutors and defense attorneys is unusual, Marra said. “It was a deviation from the governmenes:standartpractice to negotiate with defense counsel about the extent of crime victim notifications,” he wrote.¶
Further, he noted, that when and his two.young clients asked for: information, they were repeatedly misled. `The CRVA was designed to protect vittitns’ right and ensure their.inyOlvernent in the criminal justiteprocessi .Marra wrote. “When the government gives information to victims it cannot be misleading?¶
Ultimately, the tetras of the non-prosecution agreejse were revealed only after and attorneys fo press successfully sued to make them publi¶
jmusgray.e@pbpostcom¶
gapbrourts¶
( S 1¶
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76 / 278 - Tuesday, July 9, 2019¶
Edition: Final¶
Section: A Section¶
Page: 1A¶
Source: By Jane Musgrave, The Palm Beach Post¶
Epstein indicted on sex charges Part-time Palm Beacher pleads not guilty to sex trafficking, conspiracy charges in federal court in Manhattan¶
Dressed in a blue prison jumpsuit, billionaire Jeffrey Epstein on Monday pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of creating a vast network of girls as young as 14 that he exploited for his sexual pleasure at his homes in Palm Beach and Manhattan.¶
The 66-year-old money manager’s appearance in U.S. District Court in New York City capped more than a decade of recriminations by young women and their attorneys who claimed Epstein used his money and political influence to avoid federal prosecution.¶
Epstein’s attorney Reid Weingarten dismissed the two-count indictment on sex trafficking charges as “essentially a do-over” of allegations that landed Epstein in the Palm Beach County Jail for 13 months more than a decade ago.¶
However, unlike in 2007 when then-South Florida U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta agreed to shelve a 53-page federal indictment after Epstein agreed to plead guilty to two state prostitution charges, prosecutors in New York indicated they aren’t willing to deal. Acosta is now U.S. labor secretary.¶
“The alleged behavior shocks the conscience,” New York City U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said at a morning news conference. “And while the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, it is still profoundly important to many of the alleged victims, now young women. They deserve their day in court.”¶
At a detention hearing scheduled for Monday, Berman said he will ask a federal judge to keep Epstein behind bars until he is tried on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Epstein paid dozens of young women to give him nude massages that, for most, led to sex, he said.¶
If convicted of exploiting dozens of young women, including many Palm Beach County girls who were students at [REDACTED] Palm Beach High School, Epstein faces a maximum 45-year prison sentence.¶
Citing Epstein’s enormous wealth, his homes in New York, Palm Beach, the U.S. Virgin Islands, New Mexico and Paris and his ownership of two jets, Berman said there are few conditions that could keep Epstein from fleeing to a foreign country to evade prosecution.¶
“We think he’s a significant flight risk,” Berman said of the man who ferried Britain’s Prince Andrew, actor Kevin Spacey, famed Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and former President Bill Clinton on his jet, dubbed the Lolita Express.¶
Berman’s hard-line stance was welcomed by young women who for years have been told that Epstein couldn’t be touched because Acosta signed off on the nonprosecution agreement, promising not to charge Epstein in federal court.¶
Former Palm Beach County resident Virginia Guiffre, who has accused Epstein of turning her into his sex slave and forcing her to have sex with others, including Dershowitz and Prince Andrew, praised Berman. He showed the case is “being taken in a serious way,” she told the Associated Press. Dershowitz has vehemently denied Guiffre’s claims.¶
New York prosecutors were able to ignore the controversial nonprosecution agreement because it contained some significant fine print, said former federal Judge Paul Cassell, who for years has fought to get the agreement thrown out. It says only that no charges could be filed against Epstein in South Florida, he said.¶
Berman agreed. “That agreement only binds, by its terms, only binds the Southern District of Florida,” he said. “The Southern District of New York is not bound by that agreement and wasn’t a signatory of it.”¶
That means the sordid allegations that have been leveled at Epstein for years are now part of a federal indictment.¶
Contrary to Epstein’s claims, he knew the women who came to his homes in New York and Palm Beach were minors because they told him their ages, according to the indictment.¶
Epstein preyed on young girls because he knew they were “vulnerable to exploitation,” prosecutors added.¶
As part of a carefully orchestrated sex ring, Epstein or his associates would call girls while he was in New York so they would be available for sex once he returned to Palm Beach, the indictment says. The employees weren’t named. They were identified only as “Employee-1,” “Employee-2” and “Employee-3.”¶
To ensure he had a steady stream of young girls, Epstein would turn some victims into recruiters. He would pay them to bring new girls to his home on El Brillo Way along the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Beach or to his palatial townhouse on New York’s Upper East Side.¶
“This allowed Epstein to create an ever-expanding web of new victims,” Berman said. In both New York and Palm Beach, the lurid operation was similar. Unidentified employees of Epstein’s would escort the teens into a room. They were told to take off all or most of their clothes before giving the naked billionaire massages, according to the indictment.¶
“Epstein would also typically masturbate during these encounters, ask victims to touch him while he masturbated, and touch victims’ genitals with his hands or with sex toys,” the indictment says.¶
As part of the criminal complaint, prosecutors are asking that Epstein be forced to turn over his multimillion-dollar townhouse on East 71st Street. The complaint does not seek forfeiture of Epstein’s house in Palm Beach.¶
While heartened that Epstein now faces serious criminal charges in New York, Cassell said he would continue to push a West Palm Beach-based federal judge to throw out the nonprosecution agreement that Acosta forged with Epstein’s star-studded legal team.¶
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra has already ruled that Acosta violated the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act by not telling Epstein’s victims about the agreement before it was inked. Coincidentally, Cassell and Epstein attorney Roy Black had to file papers by midnight Monday, explaining what action Marra should take to redress that wrong.¶
Cassell insisted Epstein should face charges in federal court in West Palm Beach. “Florida victims deserve justice in Florida,” said Cassell, who is working on behalf of Epstein’s victims with attorneys [REDACTED] and Jack Scarola.¶
Since it’s likely Florida women will get to testify against Epstein in New York, Scarola said he’s not focused on whether Epstein will face charges here. Instead, he said he wants to know how and why the agreement was reached.¶
“There’s been no explanation as to how a deal like this could have been cut and how the federal government could have been involved in a conspiracy to violate federal law,” Scarola said of his interest in continuing the legal battle over the nonprosecution agreement.¶
When Acosta agreed to drop the federal investigation, Epstein in 2008 pleaded guilty to two prostitution charges and served 13 months of an 18-month sentence in a vacant wing of the Palm Beach County Jail - a cell he was allowed to leave 12 hours a day, six days a week. He was also forced to register as a sex offender and settle civil lawsuits more than 30 young women filed against him.¶
U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, said she shares Scarola’s interest in finding out how the agreement came to be. “I am especially more interested in why Epstein got the deal he got,” Frankel said. “We need to know why he was given such an easy sentence.¶
While she has asked the House Oversight Committee to investigate Acosta, Frankel said she is not sure that will happen. “It just seems to me it was a travesty that this guy got off the way he did and, without pre-judging it, let’s have a proper court case,” Frankel said.¶
Former Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter was inflamed in 2006 when then-State Attorney Barry Krischer refused to charge Epstein with serious crimes. Reiter took the information his officers had gathered from dozens of Epstein’s victims to Acosta, believing he would prosecute Epstein. He didn’t.¶
Reiter said he was heartened that 13 years later, Epstein will finally face justice.¶
“Thankfully, U. S. Attorney Berman and the other authorities in New York have the good judgment to investigate and prosecute Epstein in the way that should have occurred in Florida over a decade ago,” Reiter said in a statement.¶
And, Scarola said, there are signals that Berman’s investigation is far from over.¶
Berman declined to answer questions about whether others, such as Epstein’s high-powered friends, would be charged. He brushed off questions about the significance that the investigation was being handled by the Public Corruption Unit.¶
While agents on Saturday were arresting Epstein aboard his private jet at the Teterboro Airport in New Jersey after returning from Paris, other officers were searching his New York City townhouse. Agents seized nude photos of young girls who appeared to be minors, Berman said.¶
He said his focus was on finding more women who were exploited and abused by Epstein. Turning to a poster, detailing the charges that had been filed against Epstein, he pointed a finger at a photo of the convicted sex offender who was once described as “a man of mystery.”¶
“If you believe you are a victim of thismak Jeffrey Epstein, we want tollear fitim you?¶
Berman said. A special number, I-800-CALLFBI, will link victims of authorities.¶
Bill Sweeney, assistant director of the FBI’s New York.office, said after years of being ignoredby federal agents? the victims’ voices will be heard.¶
“The Jeffrey Epstein matter is N0.1 on the major case list in the country,” Sweeney said.¶
Turning to address Epstein’s victims directly, he said: “Your bravery may empower others to speak out against crimes against them.”¶
Appendix 13¶
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA¶
CASE NO.: 50-2019-CA-014681 CIRCUIT CIVIL DIVISION: “AG”¶
CA FLORIDA HOLDINGS LLC PUBLISHER OF THE PALM BEACH POST,¶
Plaintiff/Petitioner¶
-VS-¶
DAVE ARONBERG, SHARON R. BOCK,¶
Defendant/Respondents.¶
HEARING BEFORE THE HONORABLE KRISTA MARX (ZOOM CONFERENCE)¶
Wednesday, June 3, 2020 10:08 a.m. - 10:28 a.m.¶
REMOTE ZOOM CONFERENCE Port Saint Lucie, Florida¶
Stenographically Reported By: SONJA M. [REDACTED] Court Reporter¶
1 APPEARANCES:¶
2 On behalf of the Plaintiff/Petitioner: 3 GREENBERG TRAURIG, P.A. 14 1840 Century Park East 5 Suite 1900 Los Angeles, California 90067 6 310.586.7700 boyajian@gtlaw.com 7 BY: NINA D. BOYAJIAN, ESQUIRE¶
8 On behalf of the Defendant/Respondent: 9 JACOB, SCHOLZ & WYLER, LLC 91 961687 Gateway Boulevard 10 Suite 2011 Fernandina Beach, Florida 32034 11 904.261.3693 doug.wyler@comcast.net 12 BY: DOUGLAS A. WYLER, ESQUIRE¶
13 On behalf of the Defendant/Respondent: 14 CLERK & COMPTROLLER, PALM BEACH COUNTY 15 P.O. Box 229 16 West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 17 561.355.2983 18 nfingerhut@mypalmbeachclerk.com 19 BY: NICOLE R. FINGERHUT, ESQUIRE¶
PROCEEDINGS¶
this is a question of You’re all acutely aware as the 1 {sup}sthat of going to be diving into not be deciding law. So. {sup}w the COu4s4 the merits. of this motion {sup}sning. We are se of that motion to make. Sure that. we all facts And dismiss. So {sup}Ijust stay .on track an e all on that same. page. simply here for the sol Ac4”¶
THE COURT: We are here today for .a very limited purpose. I’m sure the attorneys are aware of that, but I just don’t want there to be any confusion, we are here. on Defendant Dave.Aro I and Defendant Sharon Bock for the Comptrol nd the State Attorney’s motion to dismiss Count’.¶
So7 Ms. . I — 0 urge, we all know’ that the Law 101, {sup}Imust lop the four corners of the motion, which alle thaE the State Attorney., David Aronberg, and {sup}tand Comptroller, Sharon Bock, actually have .‘y .and control of these grand jury proceeding-I’ll send it to you first,¶
‘it whether that is true or not is not for this cOUtt to determine because I’M lot:king simply .at the four corners of the complaint. But, not .for nothing, think we all know that. they don’t have !control and¶
1 2 Custody of the VeCorda. 814 Ifm going to.assume that it’s correct because that’s what has been alleged.¶
3’ 6 7 9 So what I first want to hear from is the attorney for Florida Holdings with regard to, assuming arguendo, that Florida Statute 9136,23 dies create. a cause of action, what relief is it t A you’re seeking from — in Count It, specif’ Not the dec action, We’re not here on _ _ _de), - what is: it you hope to get, a judgment.¶
to. 1.1 12 MS. B0YAGIAN: thank -you, y or. Gobd Morning, and thank you forth. ege. of appearing before this court.¶
13 14 15 1.6 The relief we are rl is disclosure of the grand jury records, - a t to the F0rtherance of Justice Exception io lTr . .27, And under the First Amendment.¶
17 18 19 Ihe press, _ your Honor is aware, has a right of :access r the First Amendment as a surrogate of the¶
20 21 E COURT: Let me• just stop you for a minute, 51 ike you to answer my specific question..¶
22 2a 24 25 So I am not particularly convinced. -•- and I’d like for ‘you to address that. So we’re not going to dive into t4cts or the press’s- standing because that’s not something we’re here to discuss today:¶
1 And I have read the voluminous paperwork — 2 I’ve received paperwork as — and — five-minute ago 3 from some of the other parties. But I deeply 4 appreciate the fact that you sent this to me so much 5 in advance and I have been able to spend some time 6 with, as I said, the voluminous paperwork that was 7 provided.¶
8 But as you know, [REDACTED], we are here for such an 9 extremely limited issue today, and that their motion 10 to dismiss where they state “you’re suing the wrong 11 people”; that the court has these records.¶
12 And so, more importantly, I want you to address 13 whether Section 905.27 gives you a private cause of 14 action against the state attorney and the clerk.¶
15 Again, I’m going to assume the facts are true 16 that are asserted in the motion. Whether they are or 17 not — because I think we can all agree we’re not for 18 sure if they ever — that the state attorney doesn’t 19 have these records. So what is it you’re seeking in 20 Count II — not the dec action. I know you want the 21 records. I’ve got that. But in Count II, 22 specifically, what do you — what’s the relief you’re 23 seeking and, more importantly, how under this statute 24 do you get to assert a private action — a private 25 cause of action against the state attorney and the¶
1 clerk?¶
4 MS. BOYAGIAM Your Honor, we: are aware, of course, that there is no expressed private right of action, 9O5.27. But that does not end thp inquiry.¶
5 As the Florida. Supreme Court stated:.¶
6 “Where :a statute like 90’5.27¶
7 8 9 forbids an act which is to Plaintiff’ injury, the pa-rty Abjured: should an action.”¶
10 11 And that’s the Piezo of taterialS that we sent you n the volume¶
12 13 14 ‘There’s no question h the denia1 of the FIRST AMENDMENT right t ess is, an injury which gives rise to a nigh f tion.¶
15 1.6 17 18 1.9 Stated anot , looking at the analysis that the Fisc alf Court. looked at there• are three factors etermining whether. there is 0 private ri action where a statute does not expr y p ovide for one.¶
20 21 22 23 f is whether the Plaintiff is part of the ,o r which the statute is intended to protect; cond is a legislative history; and the third is the underlying purposes of the statutory scheme.¶
24 25 The arst factor l already Addressed, that the press is part of the class that the statute is¶
1 2 intended. to benefit, being the surroga’t’e of the public and ‘exercising its first amendment right..¶
4 5 6. 7 The second issue of legislative history and the pUrpope — statutory purpose are somewhat related. We were unable to find much legislative history this issue of a:private right of action under statute.¶
8 10 11 There is nothing that says we int o nate a, private action, but there’s certainl hing that says we do not want to create a e right of action.¶
12 13 1.4 15 1.6 17 1. 19 What we do have is th 94, the same time that 905.27 was reenact atute that pertains to the secrecy of State a Jury — statewide grand juries was also e That provision, which is 9:05.395, has tions for for revealing these recordS, By c est, the legislatUre intentionally enacted 90 with the. Furtherance .of Justice Exce¶
20 21 22 23 24 he public through the press can’t bring a e right of action to enforce that exception or seek relief under that exception, that intentionally placed exception of furthering justice is essentially rendered hollow —¶
25 (Speaking simultaneously,)¶
THE COURT: Okay. Pause for a mineee.¶
I don’t think anybody is saying that. there isn’t a cause of action or that the press doesn’t have standing. That’s not what I’m asking yoe, I’m asking you, how are the clerk and the state. trey the. proper defendants?¶
So, you know., nowhere have I said t = snit a cause of actlon. Clearly there is. led by the procedural posturing of this case ng the state attorney.¶
And, you khOw4 I’m,furt t ‘led by the fact that you allege in your c that they have - particularly David Aro e State Attorney - that he hat these x¶
But goi sume that’s true. So I’m not telling y don’t have a cause of action. I’m just sayi kay, let’s run this all the way out. Let you win and you get a judgment agai the State Attorney Dave Aronberg.¶
t’s he supposed to do With it? He can’t se the. grand juxy testimony. Me has no thority whatsoever to. do that.¶
MS. BOYAGIAN: well, your Honor, as you stated, this is a motion_ to dismiss stage, and we are entitled to discovery on the issue of pOpsession,¶
1 2 4 5 6 custody,. and control. Ny’underStanding 10 that the state attorney has asserted that he does not have possession. It’s not my understanding that the clerk has taken that position. So the clerk may indeed be the — someone who does have possession, custodand. control,¶
7 9 10 11, 12 control or direct the entity or t011tr61 and posSeSSion the judgment, to relA sy In any event, we would submit. that th te attorney, even it does not have actual ion at this time, it might be. able to have th er to s who do have — to effect¶
13 14 15. 16 17 18 19 THE COURT: So let l4c, you this: So the clerk is the keeper t record. But even if you got a judgment a er let’s say you asserted this cause of and let’s. say you win and you get a judgment inst the clerk. The clerk cannot release gr ury testimony to you. Only the court can.¶
20 21 22 23 eally — all I’m saying to you is I do not stand the way this case was filed or why these e the defendants because it’s impossible for them to perform.¶
24 25 I mean? I’m going to assume, based on your motion/ again, that they do have the records. But we¶
1 2 4 all know — everyone in the room knows they do not - that only the court — they’re — they’re with a court interpreting. And only the court can release the records.¶
8 So if you get, a judgment against either the state attOrneyor the clerk, they cannot — I I guess what you’re saying to me is, well, t to do discovery and we want them to PAY-U. .1vocally “I is, have these records” or “I don’t have tC m¶
10 11 12 13 And — I. mean, the law is. a• tly clear. You cannot 80 :it without d co -rmining whether, in the furtherance of lust e release is appropriate.¶
14 15 16 MS. BOYAQIANI 4 t is a determination we’re asking your o r to make, and we’re asking for. an order from urt.¶
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE =JR eft we get tq the merits of the case, sure s But, again, yoU’re asking me to make t determination and for me. to make a d- nation- of whether the grand jury records d be released. ‘And the only thing we’re here day about is why should. the clerk and the state attorney have to. defend a civil action when. it’s .a poSsihitity of performahe? They — even if you were to win and ‘get. a judgment against them, they cannot¶
1 give you. what they don’t have,¶
2 3: 4 6. 7 So — I mean,, it’s as simply as this: Are you — you just want to engage in some discovery for them to Absolutely assert, particularly, the state Attorney, ’!I don’t ‘have these records”; look to the rules that say the moment the grand jury’s ov they’re sealed and.they’re turned over an ‘cannot be released. without court order?¶
9 10 is 12 13 14 15 So. I’m not addressing the merits ether you have an exception .or you’re able gue that there’S an eXCePtion it the ce Of justice. Wetre not getting there to is simply saying why should these two entiti to defend this lawsuit when even down the they win they can’t give you what they do¶
16 17 18 ‘MS. BOYA iX s your Honor stated, I’m not pure that’s th se with the clerk. their — t ssue was not stated in That was tct in their papers.¶
19 20 21 22 23 CO RT1 Let me ask you this, th then: Do you you g9t a judgment and.1 or the court t make the determination that: the grand jury cords should be released, that the clerk would be able to perform?¶
24 25 Would they be able to say “here you go”? I. meen4 could the clerk just make that unilateral¶
1 2 deciSion. “I’mgoing. to release the records, sealed confidential records”?¶
4 5 6 MS. B0YAGIANs My understanding., your :Honor, is that 9O5.21 requires a court order before the records are unsealed,¶
7 THE COURT: Exactly. Exactly.¶
8 9 AlI right, Let me hear from Mr. attorney, Mr. Wyler.¶
10 11 MR. WYLER: Thank you, Ira& . May it please the Court —¶
12 THE COURT.: Good morn¶
13 MR. WYLER: Good m¶
1.4 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Your Honor, I j < nted to let. yoll know that I space with coun the clerk, Ms, Fingerhut, a t couple of days e this hearing.,and we decided that T would j )Make the presentation for both of of us4 bei at our arguments overlap except for the f of who this claim — whether they have the te r not, which, of course, we’ve said we don’t custody of the records.¶
22 23 24 25 But, nonetheless, our arguments overlap. The Plaintiff it attempting to assert a cause of action under SectS9h - .905,27, That statute settled testimony not to be. disclosed exceptions, So it’s just¶
Does she have any authority to do that?¶
1 2 explaining exceptions to the disClOSure of the grand jury testimony.¶
3 .4 Our position is. that it doesn’t set forth a cause of action. and that it’s impossible. for us to perform what they’re asking.¶
6 8 9 10. 1.1 12 I know you said you didn’t. really want t. Abet ( ( into Q) that’s what they’re using as their bas’ . . t to Q91 these.. But it’s our position that the 1 r unambiguous statutory language, ws that this disclosure only applies. to a criminal, case, and that within that civil, inal —¶
13¶
14 15 THE COURT: Aga — I’ll sorry. As I told Plaintiff’s couns¶
16 17 MR. WYLE . - fan only be used in the defense for —¶
18 19 20 21 r. THE C , Okay, We’re not there. We’-re not discy ngte . h merits of the case, and — I’m not re P Ct04$ that bridge. I’m. here :£or a very, :invited hearing today.¶
22 23 24 25 So just as I stopped Plaintiff’s counsel from arguing the merits of the case: and whether or not the Furtherance Of Justice Exception y6,11. apply in this instance, we’re not even there, yet.¶
(Speaking simultan )¶
1 2 4 5 I’m only here for the purpose of determining whether or not the clerk and state attorney should be dismissed. And I am bound by the four corners of the document, which assert that you do have control and custody over it.¶
6 7 So if youill fashion. your argument with ./-gaiiv ;Le to that limited purpose, I would. appreciat¶
8 9 0 MR, WYLER: No problem, your Bono. apologize,¶
10 11 12 13. 14 15 16 Within the four corners position. is that they filed action under 905,27. It d doesn’t list that there adequately pled to a that, There’s - for is records of complaint, V’ a cause of Ack f provide: for — it el ement that they have cause of action under e only thing they’re asking e don’t have. our¶
17 18 19 There’s And we wou y not much more to it, your FlOnors k that you. would grant our motion to dism for failure to state a cause of action.¶
20 21 E COURT: Okay. NS. Altk . a phone? FingerhUt, are yqu still¶
22 MS. FINGERHUT: Yes, your Honor.¶
2a THE COURT: IS there anything. you wish to add?¶
24 MS! FINGERHUT: We agree with the state¶
25¶
1 2 3! 4 7 attorney’s position, and we also agree with what the Court has said, that the plain language of the statute; a cause of action doesn’t exist. And we really. cannot — we’ll be defending something without the f0ur corners. We’re simply iavolved in this action because the clerk is the custodian of records.¶
8 THE COURT: Okay, Thar* you,-Ma’ 0¶
9 Ms, Boyagian, back to you.¶
10 ii 12 13 14 Court limited the applicat MS. IMAGIAN: Your Honor, 1 ke to note that in the Butterworth case . the .SUPX0Me -\SS .27 ;by saying that a witness can reveal her lt.imony and prohibiting that they violate th Amendment¶
15 THE COURT: t again, please.¶
1.6 17 18. 19 20 21 MS. BOYA n the Supreme Court casei the Butterworth ca in which the supreme Court ruled that 9O5.2 t. restrict a Grand Jury witness from !nye her own testimony, that would be a vi on of First Amendment, in-that case the state¶
22 23 24 25 At.• . orney was, ,in fact, a party. THE COURT: Well, I assume the state attorney that was present ,- I Mean, I don’t find that that’s close to what we’re talking about here,, and that’s whether or not — I mean, as we know., this was in¶
1 2 2006.. Certainly Dave Aroftberg.weenIt even the state attorney then, But this is About the. release of records,¶
-4 5 6: 7. 8 9 10 11. want to give you ample opportunity — and. Again/ sincerely appreciate that all. of the ca law and the way that it was presented to the such. a timely fashion. I really do. And spend some time with it. But I want. to give toyer opportunity you want to take to convin that it is in as to Count 2, again. e dec action whether the-Se would be the AP e defendants.¶
12 13 14 15 And, you know; really you to boil it down. for me as to this s take it all the way down the toad, You ou. get a Itidgment against the clerk and the. e attorney.¶
1.6 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 I know t ther reasons why you might have filed. it this But I’m just simply puzzled because I bar what the clerk and. the: state atto ying, and that is, performance- is ble. They don’t have the records and Absolutely, ThereAs not even an inch. of ggle room —that they could release the records even. if y0U got a judgment. It is solely a determinatiOn for the court.¶
25 I,: frankly, think, you know, there’s ways to¶
1 2 3: get to mat records. There’s .ways to get confidential records. But it. isn’t by suing the state attorney and. the clerk.¶
.4 6 7 .9 So I just want to hear your last final argument on bow Count II, the appropriate defendants are clerk and the state attorney’. Even assuming they .have. the records — we know they don’• =Yyou were to get a judgment against. them, ho. • you expect. them to perform?¶
10 11. 12 13 14 15 1.6 MS. BOYAGIAM: Two points, y •nor: One is that, Again, the. Clerk did no in her papers s, that she does not have con A- that is a position that the State Attorney’ e has asserted. It is ei4x our allegation, and y must be accepted the proceedin HOnor noted, allegations as true at this stage of¶
17 18 19 20 21 22 Second, also our understanding that the state atto and the clerk intend to block access to t re ords. So our allegation is that they do ha ession, custody, or control, which the clerk Ali!? i, of denied; and. second, that they are trying to ock access to the records —¶
23 24 25 THE COURT: what do you mean? What do you mean? They’re not trying to block it- They’re. .saying that despite the fact — let’s just talk about¶
1 the clerk, because we all know the state attorney 2 doesn’t have it.¶
3 So the clerk is the custodian of records. 4 That’s her main job. There’s no doubt about it. We 5 all know that. But we also know, unequivocally, — 6 unequivocally, only the court can make the 7 determination of whether the moving party has 8 satisfied that there is an exception that these 9 should be released.¶
10 So, again, I ask you — she is, in fact, the 11 custodian of the records — is it your opinion that 12 if you got a judgment saying clerk and comptroller 13 gets a judgment against them, that she can release 14 the records without the court — without the court 15 weighing in, without the court making that 16 determination as required by law?¶
17 MS. BOYAGIAN: No, your Honor. We are asking 18 your Honor to order the clerk to do that under your 19 discretion.¶
20 THE COURT: All right.¶
21 Mr. — Ms. Fingerhut, you wish to be heard on 22 that?¶
23 MS. FINGERHUT: Your Honor, our position is 24 that we’re not trying to block access to the 25 records —¶
1 (Speaking SimultaneOUbly,)¶
2 3 THE COURT: Can you hear? Can the attorneys hear?¶
4 5 M8. FINGERHUT: — custodian the records And that be cannot release the records without court —¶
- THE COURT: Exactly.
7 Okay. All right. Anything further, yler?¶
8 9 10 11 MR. MYLER: No, your :Honor. I go h the attorneys for the clerk’s office that impossible for us to. release these records. S no intent to hide them. or block anythin, he Plaj.Atiff.¶
12 13 THE COURT: Okay. Ms. Fingerhu0 keiZSo, urther,¶
14 M$. FINGERHUT: iSpUr. Honor.¶
15 16 THE COURT: . Boyagian, anything. further,¶
17 II, BOYAG Nothing further, yoUr ROnor.¶
18 19 20 THE . Okay, I will. get an order out quit Thank. you, folks so* much, And I’ll see on next round. Thankg a lot. you¶
22 MR. WYLER1 Thank. you, your Honor.¶
23 (The proceedings tOnCluded at 10:28 a..m.Y¶
24 25¶
S.. BOYINGIAN Thank you”. your, Honor,¶
1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER¶
2 3 4 I, Sonja M. [REDACTED], Court Reporter, certify that 5 I was authorized to and did stenographically report the 6 foregoing proceedings and that the transcript, pages 1 7 through 19, is a true and complete record of my 8 stenographic notes.¶
9 10 11 Dated this 3rd day of June, 2020. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25¶
NOTA CERTIFIED COPY¶
Sonja M. Reed Court Reporter¶