JANE DOE,
Plaintiff,
Vs.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN, et al.
Defendant.
CASE NO. 08-CV-80893-CIV-MARRA/JOHNSON
Related Cases:
08-80119, 08-80232, 08-80380, 08-80381,
08-80994, 08-80811, 08-80893, 09-80469,
09-80591, 09-80656, 09-80802, 09-81092
PLAINTIFF JANE DOE'S EMERGENCY MOTION TO HAVE EPSTEIN HELD IN
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE AND MOTION FOR
SANCTIONS
Plaintiff, Jane Doe, through undersigned counsel, hereby files this motion to have
defendant Epstein held in contempt for (1) failing to produce any state criminal
discovery and any correspondence with state prosecutors, and (2) producing only
redacted correspondence with the U.S. Attorney's Office. Both of these failures stand in
clear violation of this Court's discovery orders. Jane Doe further asks that Epstein be
directed to produce these materials forthwith and that the Court impose appropriate
sanctions. Jane Doe respectfully asks that this motion be decided rapidly.
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CASE NO: 08-CV-80119-MARRA/JOHNSON
As the Court is well aware, there has now been more than eleven months of
litigation on whether defendant was going to produce any discovery to Jane Doe. More
than a year ago, Jane Doe propounded three discovery requests:
Request No. 7: All discovery information obtained by you or your
attorneys as a result of the exchange of discovery in the State criminal
case against you or the Federal investigation against you.
Request No. 9: Any documents or other evidentiary materials provided to
local, state, or federal law enforcement investigators or local, state or
federal prosecutors investigating your sexual activities with minors.
Request No. 10: All correspondence between you and your attorneys and
state or federal law enforcement or prosecutors (includes, but not limited
to, letters to and from the States Attorney's office or any agents thereof).
After innumerable motions and continuances and delays, this Court's order to produce
these items came due yesterday. Jane Doe finally received her discovery last night.
Remarkably, however, Epstein deliberately limited his discovery in two ways.
First, while Requests No. 7, 9, and 10 clearly cover discovery information that
Epstein obtained in both federal and state proceedings, Epstein produced only federal
discovery (or, more precisely, because he claims to have received no federal discovery,
he provided nothing at all).
In addition, while Request No. 10 clearly covers
correspondence with both federal and state prosecutors, Epstein has produced only
correspondence with federal prosecutors. There is no basis for limiting production to
federal materials.
Second, while Request No. 10 clearly covers correspondence both to and from
Epstein's criminal defense attorneys, Epstein has redacted all of this correspondence so
that only correspondence to him is revealed. The resulting mishmash of redactions
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means that much of the correspondence — and virtually all of the correspondence most
useful to Jane Doe — has been withheld by Epstein.
These deliberate violations of the Court's orders are part of a persistent pattern
by Epstein to thwart legitimate discovery by Jane Doe.1 Accordingly, the Court should
order production of these items forthwith. Jane Doe seeks production on an emergency
basis because she has been compelled to attend a second settlement conference on
July 6, 2010, at 9:30 a.m., and these items of discovery might put her in a much better
position to understand the strength of her case at that time.
Jane Doe therefore
respectfully requests that the Court rule on this motion rapidly by Friday, July 2, 2010.
(Monday, July 5, 2010, is a federal holiday.)
Jane Doe also seeks appropriate
sanctions.
For the convenience of the Court, here is the full saga of several straightforward
discovery requests that Jane Doe has filed in this case. On July 20, 2009, Jane Doe
filed a motion to compel production of various previously-requested documents,
including discovery provided to Epstein by state and federal prosecutors in the criminal
cases against him and correspondence between his criminal defense attorneys and
state and federal prosecutors during the criminal investigation. Case no. 9:08-cv-
80119, doc. #210. Specifically, her motion sought production of the following:
I For another blatant example of improper delays during discovery, see Plaintiff's
Motion to Prevent Improper Use of 51b Amendment and Memorandum of Law, case no.
9:08-cv-80893, doc. #178 (Epstein's filibustering and insertion of irrelevant and
prejudicial information during his deposition).
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CASE NO: 08-CV-80119-MARRA/JOHNSON
Request No. 7: All discovery information obtained by you or your
attorneys as a result of the exchange of discovery in the State criminal
case against you or the Federal investigation against you.
Request No. 9: Any documents or other evidentiary materials provided to
local, state, or federal law enforcement investigators or local, state or
federal prosecutors investigating your sexual activities with minors.
Request No. 10: All correspondence between you and your attorneys and
state or federal law enforcement or prosecutors (includes, but not limited
to, letters to and from the States Attorney's office or any agents thereof).
(doc. #210 at pp. 10-12 (emphases added)). Epstein obtained an extension of time in
which to respond and, two-and-a-half months later, on October 6, 2009, Epstein filed an
objection to producing these items primarily on Fifth Amendment grounds (doc. #339).
On October 16, 2009, Jane Doe promptly filed a reply in support of her motion (doc.
#354). On January 22, 2010, Jane Doe filed a notice that more than 90 days had
elapsed since the filing of her motion (doc. #453).
On February 4, 2010, the magistrate judge granted in part and denied in part
Jane Doe's motion to compel, specifically ruling that Epstein had to produce the
discovery provided to him by state and federal prosecutors and the requested
correspondence, rejecting Fifth Amendment and other objections raised by Epstein.
(case no. 9:08-cv-80119, doc. #462). The magistrate judge specifically granted
requests 7, 9, and 10. Id. at 10 ("Accordingly, Epstein is ordered to produce the
documents subjects to these Requests [i.e., requests 7, 9, and 10] within ten (10) days
from the date hereof.").
Epstein then filed for an extension of time in which to appeal (doc. #464), which
Jane Doe opposed on grounds of delay (doc. #465). On February 11, 2010, the Court
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granted in part and denied in part the extension of time, specifically warning Epstein that
"[i]n the event that Magistrate Judge Johnson's February 4, 2010 Order is affirmed on
appeal, Defendant will have three (3) business days from the date of this Court's order
to produce the documents at issue."
(doc. #468). Epstein then ultimately filed his
appeal/motion for reconsideration of the magistrate decision on February 26, 2010.
(doc. #477).
On March 10, 2010, Jane Doe then filed her response in Opposition to
Defendant's Motion for reconsideration. (doc. #. 485).
On April 1, 2010, the magistrate judge rejected Epstein's challenge, reaffirming
his earlier order that "compelled production from state and federal prosecutors in the
criminal case against him." (doc. #513).
On May 6, 2010, the court held a status conference on the appeal (which also
involved other consolidated cases raising similar appeals and issues). The Court asked
the parties to attempt to reach a resolution of issues surrounding Epstein's net worth.
On May 12, 2010, Epstein filed a "Consolidated" Rule 4 Review and Appeal of
Portions of the Magistrate Judge's orders (doc. #545). On May 27, 2010, Jane Doe
filed a "protective" response to the consolidated reply, noting that she had previously
responded to all of the arguments raised by the appeal and that the "consolidated"
appeal did not require any new response from her (doc. #551). The response also
noted Jane Doe and Epstein had been unable to resolve disputed net worth issues.
On Friday, June 25, 2010, this Court entered an order affirming the magistrate
judge's discovery orders in all respects (case no. 9:08-cv-80119-KAM, doc. #572) and,
5
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as it previously warned Epstein, requiring Epstein to produce the discovery materials
within three business days.
At this point, despite having had a year to assemble the requested discovery
items and prepare for their production — and more than four months since this Court's
warning to be prepared to produce the documents on three days notice — Epstein began
filing motions to restrict production.
On Monday evening, June 28, 2010, at
approximately 5:11 p.m., Epstein filed a motion for a protective order regarding
dissemination of the materials (case no. 9:09-cv-80893, doc. #170). On Tuesday
morning, June 29, 2010, at approximately 9:31 a.m., this Court summarily denied the
motion (doc. #172).
Then, as the deadline for production drew even nearer, on
Wednesday, June 30, 2010, at approximately 2:19 p.m., Epstein filed a motion for a
right to redact tax returns that were being produced and informed the Court in his
Motion that he was going to go ahead and only produce redacted tax returns (doc.
#182). Shortly thereafter, Epstein began transmitting redacted returns to Jane Doe's
counsel via email. Acting with impressive speed, at approximately 2:33 p.m., the Court
summarily denied Epstein's motion (doc. #183).
Following these actions by the Court, yesterday defendant Epstein made his
production of unredacted tax returns electronically to Jane Doe's counsel. However,
Epstein remarkably still failed to produce materials he was required to produce in two
critical ways. First, Epstein did not produce any information he had obtained from the
state during discovery of the criminal investigation against him. Indeed, because he
had not (apparently in his view) obtained any federal discovery during the criminal
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CASE NO: 08-CV-80119-MARRA/JOHNSON
investigation, he turned over nothing at all responsive to Jane Doe's Requests No. 7
and No. 9. And similarly, with regard to correspondence from the prosecutors, Epstein
also produced only correspondence with federal prosecutors — not with state
prosecutors. Of course, this significantly limited the production he made, as Epstein
pled guilty to state sex charges rather than federal sex charges — leaving Jane Doe with
no correspondence or discovery from the State.
Second, with regard to his correspondence with federal prosecutors that he did
produce, Epstein redacted anything coming from attorneys, leaving only the responses
from the federal prosecutors. The result is an often unintelligible mishmash of back-
and-forth emails, where only half of what is being said is disclosed. It forces Jane Doe
to read everything out of context and severely limits the utility of what was produced.
To give but two of what are literally dozens of examples of the unintelligibility, consider
these e-mail chains — or, more precisely, half e-mail chains:
7
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That is fine. I'm sorry I
sooner. Since I am out of
reach me is on my cell, or
(which becomes a text message) to
[email protected]
didn't get your
the office, the
you can send an
e-mail
best way to
e-mail
Tomorrow I am available early in the morning (7:00 to
7:45), or at 8:30, or at 5:00, or after 6:45.
Thanks.
Ori ' al Messa e
S
alt
IIIIIiii°
Exhibit 1, found as Correspondence 5 from defense counsel (June 30, 2010).
8
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Jay — I hate to have to be firm about this, but we need to wrap this up by
Monday. I will not miss my indictment date when this has dragged on
for several weeks already and then, if things fall apart, be left in a less
advantageous position than before the negotiations. I have had an
82-page pros memo and 53-page indictment sifting on the shelf since
May to engage in these negotiations. There has to be an ending date,
and that date is Monday.
Exhibit 2,
2, found as Correspondence 3 from defense counsel (June 30, 2010).
The net result of these redactions, of course, is that what is produced is of
essentially no value to Jane Doe for discovery or at trial — what is left is merely
statements from prosecutors, rather than statements from agents of Mr. Epstein that
could be used to help build Jane Doe's case.
I.
REQUESTS NOS. 7, 9, AND 10
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CASE NO: 08-CV-80119-MARRA/JOHNSON
As noted above, Jane Doe's Requests for Production No. 7 and 9 plainly
requested that Epstein produce discovery provided to him in both the federal and state
criminal cases. See, e.g., Request No. 7 (requesting production of lap discovery
information obtained by you or your attorneys as a result of the exchange of discovery
in the State criminal case against you or the Federal investigation against you"
(emphasis added)). In addition, Request No. 10 plainly requested lap correspondence
between you and your attorneys and state or federal law enforcement or prosecutors
(including, but not limited to, letters to and from the States Attorney's office or any
agents thereof (emphasis added))." Indeed, given the intertwined nature of these two
investigations (with a federal non-prosecution agreement ultimately resulting when
Epstein pled guilty to state sex charges), it would be difficult to segregate the two. Of
course, Jane Doe would want discovery and correspondence from both cases — it
makes no difference to her the source of the documents or correspondence. And the
legal principles governing production would not vary between federal and state
investigations.
Astonishingly then, Epstein now after 11 months of litigation has decided that
Jane Doe's request — and the magistrate judge's order affirming that request — are
somehow to be limited to merely the federal criminal investigation. And, with amazing
convenience for Epstein, since he apparently deems all the discovery his criminal
defense team received to be purely state discovery, he has to produce nothing on
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CASE NO: 08-CV-80119-MARRA/JOHNSON
request for production nos. 7 and 9, and only half of what would be expected for request
for production no. 10.
In the context of this case, it should be readily apparent to the Court that Epstein
has deliberately decided to produce substantially less information than he is required to
produce. He is doing so by taking a ridiculous and absurd position that is not supported
by any reasonable reading of the discovery requests or this Court's rulings. And he is
doing so in a civil case, where discovery is supposed to be freely and readily
exchanged.
The only even arguable basis for Epstein's deliberate intransigence is that he is
apparently taking the position that a single sentence in one of Jane Doe's many
pleadings on these issues should be deemed to have "narrowed" the plain language of
her clear Requests for Production. In a reply brief in October 2009, counsel for Jane
Doe in briefly described the nature of requests for production nos. 7, 9, and 10, writing
one sentence that referred to the requests as covering materials from the federal
government. See Plaintiffs Jane Doe's Reply to Response to Motion to Compel, doc.
#354 at 3 (referring to requests as seeking "information that the federal government
gave to Epstein in the course of its plea discussions with him"). In reviewing that single
sentence, it should have been obvious that Jane Doe was not suddenly — and for no
apparent reason — narrowing her request to half of the material that she would
otherwise have been entitled to receive. At the very most (and this is debatable), it
appears that one could argue that Jane Doe's counsel spoke loosely or made a
typographical error, as the sentence could have more clearly said "federal and state
11
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CASE NO: 08-CV-80119-MARRA/JOHNSON
government." Whatever can be said of this single sentence, the remaining sentences in
this pleading immediately following this sentence plainly refer to both the federal and
state governments, as there is no limitation to the federal government in approximately
nine other sentences in close proximity to the sentence Epstein apparently seizes upon.
See, e.g.,id. at 4 ("The government itself gave Epstein the documents!" (emphasis in
original)); id. at 6 "the government was showing him the documents in the first place to
convince him to plead guilty to a crime" (emphasis added)); id. at 9 ("Jane Doe's
requests for production number 7 and 9, which seek respectively discovery provided by
the government and "evidentiary materials' provided by the government' (emphasis
added)). And, eliminating any legitimate confusion, at the end of this section in this
brief, Jane Doe explained quite clearly that she was seeking not only correspondence
with the U.S. Attorney's Office but more general with "government agencies," -- i.e.,
both federal and state agencies. Id. at 10.
Regardless of how Epstein might have intentionally misconstrued this single
sentence in the Jane Doe's reply, the magistrate judge ultimately ruled on the actual
request for production. The magistrate judge in using a shorthand to describing the
nature of the Requests for Production, also referred at one point to "the federal
government" and at another point to "the government." Compare case no. 9:08-CV-
80893, doc. 462 at 8 (describing Requests 7, 9 and 10 as involving "documents the
federal government gave to Epstein") with id. (describing requests as "documents the
government itself gave to Epstein"). But the Court's ultimate order was that the Request
for Productions 7, 9, and 10 was granted. Id. Nothing in the context of the magistrate
12
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CASE NO: 08-CV-80119-MARRA/JOHNSON
judge's decision indicated any principle of law that would make federal information and
correspondence discoverable and state information and correspondence non-
discoverable. Indeed, the magistrate judge made clear on the next page of the order
that he understood he was reviewing a discovery matter relating to documents involving
"Epstein's Florida guilty" plea and "federal or state criminal investigations." Id. at 9
(emphases added). Nor would there have been any logical reason for the magistrate
judge to have awarded to Jane Doe production of only half of the materials she sought
(i.e., awarded her only production of federal materials, but not state materials on the
same subject).
Following the magistrate judge's ruling, Epstein filed a motion to reconsider. If
Epstein believed that the order only obligated him to produce federal discovery
materials/correspondence and that he had no such materials — it would have been a
simple matter for him to have simply said that and not appeal the ruling on Requests
Nos. 7 and 9 (and to a large extent 10). To the contrary, however, Epstein spent nine
pages asking the magistrate judge to reverse its rulings on these three requests for
production. (case No. 9:08-cv- 80119-KAM, doc. #477, at 3-11). Epstein also stated
that he did not have discovery information or evidentiary information provided to him by
the federal government. Id. at 4.
In response, Jane Doe noted Epstein's glass-is-half-empty representations that
he had no federal discovery materials and objected to his "semantic games." Plaintiff
Jane Doe's Response to Defendant's Motion for Reconsideration and/or Request for
Rule 4 Review, case no. 9:08-cv-80119-KAM, doc. #485, at 3. She made clear that
13
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she expected Epstein to honor the Request for Productions as they were written and
produce both federal and state materials:
Jane Doe does not take these representations to mean that Epstein
possesses no information responsive to these requests. If this were the
case, Epstein could have avoided seven months of litigation by simply
making this representation to the Court at the outset. Rather, Epstein
seems to be playing semantic games. With regard to discovery request
no. 7, Epstein represents only that he has no discovery information from
the federal government — not contesting the obvious fact (as Jane Doe
has been reliably informed) that he received significant discovery in
connection with the state criminal charges to which he pled guilty. With
regard to discovery request no. 9, Epstein represents only that he has not
been given evidentiary documents by the federal government — again not
contest the obvious fact (as Jane Doe has been reliably informed) that he
received documents from both the state and federal authorities working on
his case. If Epstein is going to continue to mince words in this fashion,
Jane Doe asks that he clearly explain to the Court in any reply pleading
that he may file what materials responsive to the requests for production
he has so that the Court may make an informed ruling.
Id. (emphases in original). Jane Doe also noted specifically that request no. 10 "covers
correspondence with 'state or federal law enforcement or prosecutors.' For
convenience, the request will be described as being for correspondence with 'the
Government.'" Id. at 5 n.2.
In his reply to Jane Doe's response, Epstein cited the single sentence in Jane
Doe's October pleading discussed above and made an argument that the magistrate
judge had somehow impliedly adopted it as narrowing the scope of the her requests.
Defendant's Reply to Plaintiffs Response to Defendant's Motion for Reconsideration,
case no. 9:08-cv-80119-KAM, doc. #502, at 2-3. Epstein then went on to spend seven
pages arguing on the merits that he should not be required to produce state discovery
materials. He made two detailed arguments against producing state discovery
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materials. He first argued that the request for state materials was somehow "improper"
because Jane Doe's counsel had received some materials from state prosecutors. Id.
at 3-5.2 Epstein then argued that the state materials were "work product" because his
attorney had picked out certain materials from the state prosecutor. In support of this
argument, Epstein for the first time attached an affidavit from Jack Goldberger, his
criminal defense attorney, about the process of obtaining the state discovery materials.
Id. at 5-7.
As has been the case with many other claims presented by the Epstein in the
course of this litigation, the magistrate judge was not impressed with these arguments
against producing both federal and state discovery materials. In the final order on the
subject on April 1, 2010, the magistrate judge explained: "Epstein takes issue with that
portion of the Order which compelled production of discovery from state and federal
prosecutors in the criminal case against him, his recent tax returns, and his passport.
The Court stands behind each of these decisions for the reasons stated in its Order and
is not persuaded by any of Epstein's arguments to the contrary." Omnibus Order, case
no. 9:08-cv-80119-KAM, doc. #513 at 2 (emphases added). Notably, the magistrate
judge was not persuaded by "any" of Epstein's arguments — including, of course, his
argument that the single sentence in Jane Doe's earlier pleading has magically
"narrowed" the plain meaning of her requests. And notably, the magistrate judge
himself — in the face of a challenge from Epstein that the court order only required
2 To be clear, Jane Doe's counsel believes that Epstein possesses significant state
discovery materials that have never been seen by Jane Doe.
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Epstein to produce federal materials - specifically described the order as including
"production of discovery from state and federal prosecutors."
After various further delays engineered by Epstein as recounted above,
pleadings were filed before this Court (Marra, J.), on the appeal of the magistrate
judge's ruling. Epstein's pleadings were essentially "cut and paste" pleadings from his
pleading with the magistrate judge. Most important for present purposes, the pleadings
revealed no doubt that Epstein understood that Jane Doe was requesting — and that the
the magistrate judge had ordered -- production of both federal and state materials. See,
e.g., doc. #545 at 5 (discussing breadth of Jane Doe's request), at 15 (challenging
obligation to produce materials from state and local police agencies); at 17 (arguing that
materials in "Palm Beach state Attorney's File" were somehow work product material).
And on June 25, 2010, this Court affirmed all of the magistrate judge's discovery rulings.
(case no. 9:08-cv-80119-KAM, doc. #572).
Jane Doe has reviewed these pleadings in detail because they point to only one
conclusion: defendant Epstein is deliberately violating the clear order of Magistrate
Judge Johnson that he produce "discovery from state and federal prosecutors in the
criminal case against him" Indeed, Epstein has specifically presented his extraordinary
and crabbed interpretation of the order (i.e., that it only extends to the federal
government materials) to the magistrate judge, and the magistrate judge told him the
interpretation was rejected. And this Court affirmed. Epstein is therefore plainly in
contempt of this Court's order. He should be directed to immediately produce the
discovery and other information he received from state prosecutions and
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correspondence with state prosecution and be subject to other sanctions as explained
below.
II.
Defendant Epstein, making use of yet another dilatory tactic, has also
deliberately violated this Court's discovery order by failing to produce unredacted
correspondence with federal prosecutors. Instead, he has produced redacted discovery
that is essentially gibberish and, in any event, unusable by Jane Doe because it
contains no statements from Epstein or his representatives and forces Jane Doe to read
all communications about Epstein's crimes against minors out of context.
Epstein apparently takes the position that he is somehow entitled to redact the
correspondence, even though none of the underlying magistrate judge orders regarding
the correspondence even mention redaction and even though Epstein has never even
raised redaction. Perhaps Epstein was thinking about filing a motion for authorizing
redaction — only to be scared off by this Court's 14-minute turnaround time yesterday in
rejecting his frivolous motion to redact the tax returns he was producing. (case no.
9:08-cv-80893-KAM, doc. #183).
In light of these circumstances, it appears that
Epstein's legal counsel have calculated that it is better to force Jane Doe's attorney to
file a motion objecting to redaction rather than to present this preposterous idea to the
Court for summary rejection.
The redaction is in clear defiance of the orders in this case. Jane Doe's Request
for Production No. 10 plainly and broadly requested "[411 correspondence between you
and your attorneys and state or federal law enforcement or prosecutors (includes, but
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not limited to, letters to and from the States Attorney's office or any agents thereof)."
(case no. 9:08-cv-80119, doc. #210 at 10). The magistrate judge rejected Epstein's
arguments against production. (doc. #462 at 10). The magistrate judge "rejected out
of hand" any claim that the correspondence was somehow protected by the attorney-
client privilege or work-product doctrine, noting that the correspondence with state and
federal prosecutors could hardly be regarded as somehow "confidential." Id. at 9. The
magistrate judge therefore ordered Epstein to comply with Request for Production No.
10 "involving settlement discussions and plea negotiations." Id. at 10.
Once again, defendant Epstein filed for reconsideration, making it quite clear that
the Request for Production covered not only what prosecutors were saying to his
representatives, but also what his representatives were saying back. Thus, Epstein
asked the magistrate judge to reconsider not only because it was purportedly protected
by the attorney-client privilege, but also for a new reason: settlement discussion
confidentially. Epstein argued that because "[t]he requested communications include
the views of Epstein's counsel in the criminal case regarding why a federal prosecution
was inappropriate . . . . It also includes Epstein's counsel's views on the limits and
inapplicability of certain elements of 18 U.S.C. § 2255 . . . .This opinion work product
should not be disclosed . . . ." Defendant's Motion for Reconsideration and/or Request
for Rule 4 Review, case no. 9:08-cv-80119-KAM, doc. #477 at 7-8. Epstein also put in a
cryptic sentence stating: "Concomitantly, to the extent that the request is now limited to
communications form the Government to Epstein, see DE 54, pgs 3 and 8, the
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narrowed request implicate[s] the same concerns for the opinions, the work product,
and the expectations of the privacy of the United States Attorney . . . ." Id. at 8.
Jane Doe responded by explaining "[t]here is nothing confidential about materials
being exchanged between Epstein and government prosecutors - regardless of
whether the materials or correspondence were being sent from the prosecutors to
Epstein or from Epstein to the prosecutors."
Plaintiff Jane Doe's Response to
Defendant's Motion for Reconsideration, doc. #485 at 13 (emphasis added). Jane Doe
also objected that Epstein was improperly raising arguments concerning settlement
confidentiality for the first time on reconsideration. Id. at 5-6. Jane Doe went on to note
the "cryptic sentence" in Epstein's pleading, and explained: "It's hard to understand
what Epstein means by this sentence. The cited docket entry — DE 543 - has nothing to
do with the discovery request at hand. Perhaps this sentence is simply a mistaken
remnant of a botched 'cut and paste' from another pleading in another case where
docket entry 564 would relevant. In any event, to be clear, Jane Doe has not 'narrowed'
her request to only one-half of the relevant correspondence and thus the magistrate
judge's order is not limited to one-half of the correspondence." Id. at 13 n.4. Epstein did
not press the point in his reply brief. (doc. #502 at 1-3 (not raising this issue)).
The magistrate judge — once again — rejected all of Epstein's arguments,
reaffirming that Epstein was obligated to comply with Request for Production No. 10.
The Court singled out Epstein's argument about settlement confidentiality as specifically
Docket entry 54 is this Court's Opinion and order granting and denying in part Motion
to Dismiss and Motion for a More Definite Statement, entered on February 12, 2009 —
before any of the discovery requests at issue here at even been propounded.
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flawed: "Epstein's final argument, raised now for the first time, concerns settlement
discussion confidentiality.
Because Epstein never presented this argument to the
undersigned it is inappropriate to raise it now for the first time. . . . Even were the Court
to consider the argument on its merits, for the reasons explained in Jane Doe's
Response Memorandum (D.E. #485), pp. 4-9, the Court finds said argument without
merit." Omnibus Order, case no. 9:08-cv-80119-KAM, doc. #513, at 2-3.
As noted above, after various further delays engineered by Epstein, pleadings
were filed before this Court (Marra, J.), on the appeal of the magistrate judge's ruling.
Here again, Epstein's pleadings make it crystal clear that he knew he was obligated to
produce not only what prosecutors said to him, but what he and his representatives said
to them. He objected to producing correspondence involving "the opinion of each
counsel, Epstein's and the United States Attorney's[,] [which] were exchanged with
each other pursuant to the overall expectation that they were safeguarded from
disclosure by the policies of confidentiality that protect communications during
settlement and plea negotiations. The requested communications include the views of
Epstein's counsel in the criminal cases regarding why federal prosecution was
inappropriate [and other subjects]." (case no. 9:08-cv-80119, doc. #545 at 11
(emphasis added)). And on June 25, 2010, this Court rejected all of Epstein's
arguments and affirmed all of the magistrate judge's discovery rulings. (case no. 9:08-
cv-80119-KAM, doc. #572).
Once again, it is quite clear that Epstein stands in clear and deliberate defiance
of this Court's discovery order obligating him to produce correspondence as directed in
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Request for Production No. 10. Epstein should be directed to produce the discovery
and other information he received from state prosecutions and correspondence with
state prosecution forthwith and be subject to other sanctions as explained below.
III.
Jane Doe's counsel apologizes for forcing this Court to read this entire discovery
saga. But the bottom line remains that after eleven months of litigation, when Jane Doe
was receiving her first discovery production from Epstein yesterday, he clearly and
deliberately defied this Court's orders about the scope of that production. Moreover, as
the events recounted above make clear, the refusal to produce is willful. They also
seemed to be calculated to force Jane Doe's legal counsel to spend a significant
amount of time writing a pleading to obtain production, just when she has been ordered
(at Epstein's demand) to another settlement conference and while preparing for trial in
this matter.4 Indeed, it seems probable that Epstein is seeking to prevent Jane Doe
from having these materials to review before the settlement conference — and perhaps
to block her from having these materials when her trial starts in less than three weeks.
It is hard to view Epstein's maneuvers — and Epstein's recent attempts to restrict
discovery that this Court has summarily rejected — as anything other than a signal that
Epstein and his legal counsel believe that they need not follow the rules that apply to
other litigants. Perhaps the vast wealth of the defendant and the legal fees that he is
Judge Palermo has ordered Jane Doe to prepare a confidential settlement statement
and file it by 5 p.m. today as part of that conference. Jane Doe's completion of that
statement has been interrupted by the need to file this motion.
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paying his attorneys has engendered this attitude. Regardless of the reason, this Court
should not tolerate such clear intransigence and impose appropriate sanctions.
Epstein should be found to be in contempt of court. To find contempt, "the Court
must determine whether there is clear and convincing evidence that (1) the allegedly
violated order was valid and lawful; (2) the order was clear, definite and unambiguous;
and (3) the alleged violator had the ability to comply with the order." Brauchle v.
Southern Sports Grill, Inc., 2008 WL 4753707, at *1 (S.D.Fla.,2008) (citing McGregor v.
Chierico, 206 F.3d 1378, 1383 (111° Cir. 2000)). For the reasons described in detail
above, the discovery orders at issue here were clearly valid, unambiguous about their
breadth, and Epstein plainly had the ability to comply. Indeed, given all the
circumstances recounted here, it is clear that Epstein made a deliberate choice not to
comply. The Court accordingly should use the full panoply of powers that it possesses
to punish this blatant contempt. The Court also has additional powers under Rule 37 of
the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to deter discovery abuses.
Jane Doe respectfully requests the Court impose the following sanctions.
First, Epstein should be required to produce forthwith all discovery information,
documents, and other evidentiary materials covered by Requests No. 7, 9, and 10 —
e.g.., all discovery and evidentiary information from both the federal and state
prosecuting and investigating authorities and all correspondence — in unredacted form —
both from and to federal and state prosecuting and investigating authorities.5 Jane Doe
The full terms of the discovery requests speak for themselves.
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respectfully requests that the Court rule on this motion before her mandated settlement
conference, so that she can have the benefit of those materials at that time.
Second, Epstein's counsel should be required to pay $5,000 to the Court and
instructed not to play any further games as this case moves to trial.
Third, Epstein should be deemed to have waived any objection to the use by
Jane Doe at trial of any of the materials subject to the discovery demands at issue here
(Requests for Production Nol. 7, 9, and 10). See Fed. R. Crim. P. 37(b)(2)(A)(i)
(allowing the Court to award as a sanction for discovery violation "prohibiting the
disobedient party from supporting or opposing designated claims or defenses").
Jane Doe's counsel understands Epstein to object to this motion.
CONCLUSION
The Court should find that Epstein has deliberately violated its discovery orders,
hold him in contempt of court, direct that the requested discovery be produced
forthwith, and impose appropriate sanctions as described above.
DATED: July 1, 2010
Respectfully Submitted,
s/ Bradley J. Edwards
Bradley J. Edwards
425 North Andrews Avenue, Suite 2
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301
Telephone
Facsimile
Florida Bar No.:
E-mail:
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CASE NO: 08-CV-80119-MARRA/JOHNSON
and
Paul G. Cassell
Pro Hac Vice
Telephone:
Facsimile:
E-Mail:
I HEREBY CERTIFY that on July 1, 2010 I electronically filed the foregoing
document with the Clerk of the Court using CM/ECF. I also certify that the foregoing
document is being served this day on all parties on the attached Service List in the
manner specified, either via transmission of Notices of Electronic Filing generated by
CM/ECF or in some other authorized manner for those parties who are not authorized to
receive electronically filed Notices of Electronic Filing.
s/ Bradley J. Edwards
Bradley J. Edwards
SERVICE LIST
Jane Doe v. Jeffrey Epstein
United States District Court, Southern District of Florida
Jack Alan Goldberger, Esq.
Robert D. Critton, Esq.
Isidro Manual Garcia
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CASE NO: 08-CV-80119-MARRA/JOHNSON
Jack Patrick Hill
Katherine Warthen Ezell
Michael James Pike
Paul G. Cassell
Richard Horace Willits
Robert C. Josefsberg
Adam D. Horowitz
Stuart S. Mermelstein
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