This is an FBI investigation document from the Epstein Files collection (FBI VOL00009). Text has been machine-extracted from the original PDF file. Search more documents →
FBI VOL00009
EFTA00185206
310 pages
Pages 301–310
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Case 9:08-cv-80736-KAM Document 361 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/10/2016 Page 49 of 57 The Government's inability to demonstrate that it afforded victims their right to confer is unsurprising. Under the CVRA, identified crime victims are granted "the reasonable right to confer with the attorney for the Government in the case." 18 U.S.C. § 3771(a)(5). In some cases, there might be a debate about how much conferring is "reasonable" for the prosecutor to undertake. But here, no such debate is possible for the simple reason that the Government simply concealed that it was planning to enter into an agreement blocking the federal prosecution of Epstein from more than 30 of Epstein's identified victims. See, e.g., ¶¶ 17, 32-33, 38, 41, 44- 46, 66, 71-72, 87.88, 95, 102, 113, 123, supra. Whatever other rights the CVRA extends to crime victims, it surely extends the simple right to know when the Government is entering into a deal with a sex offender blocking his prosecution for crimes committed against them. See, e.g., ¶ 155, supra. Here, the Government violated the victims right to confer during at least three separate time periods: (I) on and before September 24, 2007, when the Government was negotiating and signing the NPA; (2) in and around January 2008, when it sent letters telling the victims not about the previously signed NPA, but rather counseling "patience" while the Government finished its "investigation;" and (3) in and around June 30, 2008, when the Government didn't tell the victims that the state plea would effectively extinguish their rights to ever see Epstein prosecuted. See ¶¶ 17, 32-33, 38, 41, 44-46, 66, 71-72, 87-88, 95, 102, 113, 123, supra. noting its "carefult] review" of the issues). 49 EFTA00185506
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Case 9:08-cv-80736-KAM Document 361 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/10/2016 Page 50 of 57 Simply put, the NPA barred prosecution of the federal sexual offenses that Epstein had committed against Jane Doe I, Jane Doe 2, and other similarly-situated victims. Under the CVRA, the victims were entitled to confer about this disposition and attempt to persuade prosecutors to reach a different result. Recognizing a right to confer about such dispositions is "not an infringement ... on the government's independent prosecutorial discretion; instead, it is only a requirement that the government confer in some reasonable way with the victims before ultimately exercising its broad discretion." In re Dean, 527 F.3d 391, 395 (5th Cir. 2008) (internal citations omitted) (emphasis added). The victims fully understand that if they had conferred with the Government, the prosecutors could possibly have ultimately reached the same kind of agreement. But there is good reason to believe that if the prosecutors had exposed their dealings to scrutiny by Jane Doe I, Jane Doe 2, and the other victims, they would not have reached such a sweetheart plea deal. See ¶¶ 121-23, supra. For example, despite the fact that this case has been in litigation for more than seven years spanning several hundred pleadings, the Government does not write even a single sentence explaining why it entered into an NPA with a sex offender who had committed hundreds of federal sex offenses against young girls. Perhaps there is some reason for this extraordinary leniency. But if so, the Government has yet to offer it. In any event, regardless of the ultimate consequences of conferring, Congress promised to all crime victims—including Jane Doe I, Jane Doe 2, and other similarly-situated victims—that they would be able to confer with prosecutors before a disposition was reached in their case. 18 U.S.C. § 377I(a)(5). The victims never received that congressionally-mandated opportunity. 50 EFTA00185507
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Case 9:08-cv-80736-KAM Document 361 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/10/2016 Page 51 of 57 In sum, the Government repeatedly violated the victims' CVRA right to confer — and did so at the specific request of Jeffrey Epstein. Summary judgment is thus appropriate on this basis. B. The Government Violated the Victims' Right to Be Treated With Fairness. The Government also violated the victims' "right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victim's dignity and privacy." 18 U.S.C. § 3771(a)(8). Entirely apart from whether the victims had any right to confer with prosecutors, at a bare minimum they had a right to be treated fairly and not be deceived by the Government. Yet here the Government repeatedly and deliberately misled the victims about what was happening in their case, concealing from them the NPA's negotiation and all of the terms it ultimately contained. As with the violation of the right to confer, these violations occurred at multiple points in the process, including the time before the NPA was signed, after the NPA was signed, and when Epstein was entering his State court guilty plea. A clear-cut example of the Government's violating the victims right to be treated fairly is its remarkable decision in 2008, well after the NPA had been signed, to send the victims (and, in some cases, their attorneys) deceptive information that the case "is currently under investigation" and that "[t]his can be a lengthy process and we request your continued patience while we conduct a thorough investigation." See ¶¶ 91-103, supra. When the Government finally did inform the victims about what had happened, the notifications were not only incomplete and inaccurate, but they also arrived too late for the victims to do anything about the deal. Specifically, it was too late to confer with the prosecutor or attend the sentencing hearing. See ¶¶ 124-48, supra. Most important, the notifications did not inform the victims that a NPA had been 51 EFTA00185508
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Case 9:08-cv-80736-KAM Document 361 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/10/2016 Page 52 of 57 signed with Epstein, preventing federal prosecution in the Southern District of Florida (and thus, as a practical matter, any prosecution for most of the victims) for the crimes he and his co- conspirators had committed against them. The notification letters also described this litigation as "the disclosure" of the NPA, rather than its true purpose of vindicating the victims' rights and securing for the victims a right to confer about prosecuting Epstein free from the backdrop of the NPA. See ¶¶ 145-48, supra. The foregoing facts provide numerous other examples of the victims not being treated fairly. These examples include, but are not limited to: • Secretly discussing with Epstein's defense counsel contrived charges to avoid making victim notifications (fl 17-22, supra); • Secretly discussing with Epstein's defense counsel arranging a guilty plea in a jurisdiction located some distance from the victims to make it hard for them to find out what was happening (123, supra); • Secretly reaching a resolution of the case that would make it hard for a judge to see what was going on (¶ 25, supra); • Not telling the victims the NPA was under consideration (11 41-47, supra); • Deviating from standard policy by negotiating with defense counsel about the extent and substance of crime victim notifications (149, supra); • Negotiating with defense counsel about concealing the agreement (11 48-58, supra); • Working to have agents attend Epstein's sentencing hearing "incognito" without telling the victims what was happening (1 58, supra); • Making a commitment to Epstein not to contact victims about the NPA (¶ 62, supra); • Entering into a NPA with a confidentiality provision that precluded compliance with CVRA victim notification obligations (1165-69, supra); 52 EFTA00185509
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Case 9:08-cv-80736-KAM Document 361 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/10/2016 Page 53 of 57 • Sending FBI agents to meet with three victims, while precluding the agents from being able to discuss the NPA (¶¶ 69-73, supra); • Agreeing with defense counsel to stop victim notifications required under the CVRA (¶¶ 76-77, supra); • Agreeing to notify victims only after Epstein had entered his plea (¶¶ 80-81); • Sending deceptive letters about the case still being "under investigation" (¶¶ 91-94, 98); • Concealing the NPA from attorneys for the victims (¶¶ 100-02, 116-17); • Failing to provide reasonable notice of Epstein's sentencing hearing to the victims (¶¶ 105-10); and • Agreeing with Epstein to oppose the release of the NPA to the victims after his plea (¶¶ 134-36). The Government took all of these actions, it should be noted, with the knowledge of — and, indeed, at the insistence of— Epstein, the criminal who had sexually abused the victims. See ¶ I, supra. The overarching point on many of these actions is that victims of crime are not treated fairly if prosecutors are deceiving them about what is going on with regard to prosecuting their abusers. Whatever else "fairness" might mean, it has to at least mean that the Government keep the victims properly informed and otherwise try to insure that their interests are respected in the criminal justice process. See 150 CoNG. REC. 7303 (Apr. 22, 2004) (statement of Sen. Kyl describing right to fairness in broad terms). The foregoing facts amply demonstrate numerous situations wherein the Government deliberately kept the victims in the dark about what was happening. Accordingly, the Government violated their right to fairness too and summary judgment is warranted on this independent basis as well. 53 EFTA00185510
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Case 9:08-cv-80736-KAM Document 361 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/10/2016 Page 54 of 57 C. The Government Violated the Victims' Right to Reasonable and Accurate Notice. The Government also violated the victims' "right to reasonable, accurate and timely notice of any public court proceedings...involving the crime." 18 U.S.C. § 3771(a)(2) (emphasis added). The Government may claim that it complied with this right by giving the victims notice of the state court proceeding in which Epstein pled guilty to sex offenses involving other girls less than one business day before the hearing.176 But the Government violated the victims' right to "reasonable" and "accurate" notice about this hearing. The Government concealed from Jane Doe I, Jane Doe 2, and all the other victims, that the NPA and the federal investigation were implicated in this hearing—and thus their right to see Epstein prosecuted was about to be permanently extinguished. As a result of this concealment, they missed their only chance to speak to the Court about the crimes committed against them and to see with their own eyes Epstein being sent to jail. indeed, even afterwards, the Government continued to hide what was happening with regard to the NPA. See ¶¶ I24-148, supra. Importantly, one of the motives for this concealment was to avoid scrutiny by the victims—and the public—of what the Government was doing. See ¶¶ 121-23, supra. Jane Doe I, Jane Doe 2, and other similarly-situated victims of serious federal sex offenses did not attend Epstein's plea hearing and sentencing for the obvious reason that they thought it had nothing to do with them—which is precisely what the Government and Epstein were trying to accomplish 176 The Government also seems to argue that the CVRA did not apply to this hearing because it was held in state court. But the hearing was one "involving the crime" committed against the victims, 18 U.S.C. § 3771(8)(2), because the NPA was directly involved in the proceedings in state court. Because of the way the Government and Epstein had constructed the NM, the state pica triggered the applicability of the federal NPA — and thus the CVRA. 54 EFTA00185511
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Case 9:08-cv-80736-KAM Document 361 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/10/2016 Page 55 of 57 together. Whatever else might be said about one of the most extraordinarily lenient plea arrangements in American history, the Government simply failed to discharge its duty to Epstein's victims to provide "reasonable" and "accurate" notice about court hearings connected with their abuse. Summary judgment should therefore also be granted on this basis. CONCLUSION Under the Crime Victims' Rights Act, once the Government had identified the victims of Epstein's sexual offenses, it had statutory obligations to them that it was legally required to respect. Despite those responsibilities to the victims, the Government chose instead to side with the man who had victimized them. Rather than properly inform the victims what was happening, the Government engaged in months of undisclosed plea negotiations with Epstein. Once the negotiations had produced a plea arrangement that was sufficiently lenient to be acceptable to Epstein, rather than tell the victims what had been agreed, the Government conspired with Epstein to conceal that agreement. The undisputed facts clearly show that, for months, the Government deceived the victims about the existence of this arrangement—deception that was necessary to permit the agreement to be consummated before the victims could object. Perhaps before Congress enacted the CVRA, such outrageous behavior could escape a judicial response. But Congress has now spoken. The Government has an obligation to confer with crime victims, to treat them fairly, and to provide them reasonable and accurate notice of judicial proceedings relevant to their victimization. To the contrary, the undisputed facts in this case show that the Government did not make any effort to extend to any of Epstein's dozens of victims any of the rights which Congress promised them. This Court is accordingly now 55 EFTA00185512
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Case 9:08-cv-80736-KAM Document 361 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/10/2016 Page 56 of 57 obligated to take all necessary steps to "ensure" that the victims' rights are protected. 18 U.S.C. § 3771(b). This is not a close case. This is a summary judgment case. For all the foregoing reasons, the Court should find the Government violated the rights of Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2, and other similarly situated victims under the Crime Victims' Rights Act. If the Court grants their motion, the victims would then ask the Court to set an appropriate schedule for briefing and a hearing on the issue of the remedy for the violations of their rights. DATED: February 10, 2016 Respectfully Submitted, IsI Staley 9 5444444 Bradley J. Edwards FARMER, JAFFE, WEISSING, EDWARDS, FISTOS & LEI IRMAN, P.L. 425 North Andrews Avenue, Suite 2 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 Telephone (954) 524-2820 Facsimile (954) 524-2822 E-mail: brad@pathtojustice.com And Paul G. Cassell Pro Hac Vice S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah' 332 S. 1400 E. Salt Lake City, UT 84112 Telephone:801-585-5202 Facsimile:801-585-6833 'This daytime business address is provided for identification and correspondence purposes only and is not intended to imply institutional endorsement by the University of Utah. 56 EFTA00185513
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Case 9:08-cv-80736-KAM Document 361 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/10/2016 Page 57 of 57 Attorneys for Jane Does I and 2 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that the foregoing document was served on February 10, 2016, on the following using the Court's CM/ECF system: I.= 500 S. Australian Ave., Suite 400 West Palm Beach, FL 33401 Fax: E-mail: E-mail: Attorneys for the Government Roy Eric Black Jacqueline Perczek Black Srebnick Komspan & Stumpf 201 S Biscayne Boulevard Suite 1300 Miami, FL 33131 305-371-6421 Fax: 358-2006 Email: pleading®royblack.com Attorneys for Jeffrey Epstein Is/ Stadieg 9 Edayouto 57 EFTA00185514
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EFTA00185515
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