DS9 Document EFTA00801124

1 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA Case No. 502009CA040800XXXXMB JEFFREY EPSTEIN, Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant, vs. SCOTT ROTHSTEIN, individually; BRADLEY EDWARDS, individually, Defendants/Counter-Plaintiffs. TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS DATE TAKEN: Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018 TIME: 9:00 a.m. - 9:18 a.m. PLACE 205 N. Dixie Highway, Room 10D West Palm Beach, Florida BEFORE: Donald Hafele, Presiding Judge This cause came on to be heard at the time and place aforesaid, when and where the following proceedings were reported by: Sonja D. Hall Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. 1665 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, Suite 1001 West I 3401 Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00801124 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 APPEARANCES: For Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant: LINK & ROCKENBACH, P.A. 1555 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, Suite 301 West Palm Beach, FL 33401 By KARA BERARD ROCKENBACH, ESQUIRE By SCOTT J. LINK, ESQUIRE For Defendant/Counter-Plaintiff: SEARCY, DENNEY, SCAROLA, BARNHART & SHIPLEY, P.A. 2139 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard West Palm Beach, FL 33409 By DAVID P. VITALE JR., ESQUIRE Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00801125 3 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE COURT: Well, based upon the fact that there is going to be, at least from my perception and my limited exposure to these emails, a continued insistence, I will presume by Mr. Epstein, on the utilization of some of those emails; and the fact that these emails have come to light subsequent to the trial court -- my orders relative to not permitting the floodgates to open and, again, with respect to discovery that should have been taken prior -- here I don't believe that's something that would be subject to that order, meaning, consistent with Judge Ray's ruling -- I too will allow Mr. Epstein to be -- on a limited basis -- questioned regarding his review of any of the documents in question prior to March 18th or subsequent thereto to the present time. Whether or not he has any knowledge regarding the compliance of the Court's order regarding destroying of the records, that's not necessarily going to be admissible at trial, although I think it's discoverable. Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00801126 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Whether or not he shared any of the allegedly privileged materials with anyone other than Mr. Link, Ms. Rockenbach or Mr. Goldberger; and which, if any, materials he plans to use to testify at trial, if he so testifies, the last issue can be avoided if there is a representation on the record that Mr. Epstein will not testify at any trial proceedings in this case. However, absent such a stipulation, he will be compelled to answer questions as to what, if any, of those materials he plans to use, even if he doesn't have those materials in his possession any longer. It would be based upon his review. So that would be the limited areas of inquiry that I would allow in conjunction with Judge Ray, and to be consistent, essentially, with the spirit and intent of Judge Ray's ruling, as well as a corollary to what we are looking for in this particular case relative to those materials. So, if you can, in preparing an order, Mr. Vitale, track the Court's ruling, I would appreciate it. Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00801127 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I wish you all a very pleasant rest of the week. Is there anything else that's remaining, because I think there were two hearings that were set? Is there something else? This is it? MR. LINK: I believe this is the only one, Your Honor. THE COURT: Thank you for your respective participation and arguments. I appreciate that very much. Thank you. (Whereupon the requested portion of the proceedings concluded.) Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00801128 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 COURT CERTIFICATE STATE OF FLORIDA ) : SS COUNTY OF PALM BEACH ) I, SONJA D. HALL, certify that I was authorized to and did stenographically report the foregoing proceedings and that the transcript is a true record of my stenographic notes. Dated this 25th day of May 2018. SONJA D. HALL Palm Beach Reporting Service, Inc. EFTA00801129