i IN THE DISTRICf URT OF APPEAL FOURTH DISTRICT oF FLORIDA CASE NO JEFFREY EPSTEIN Petitioner vs STATE OF FLORIDA PALM BEACH NEWSPAPERS INC and Respondents Pending in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County Florida Case Nos CF CF IAMB PALM BEACH NEWSPAPERS INC d/b/a THE PALM BEACH Posrs RESPONSE TO EMERGENCY A A 4A E0 A4 DE a qr?q rq qrCX HhL Kg lg d?a d6U a M3 flW y??S m/y t0 I F/Z V/j 1a qC KS u?v vZ O5 a qr rCX qC 0V I I dc rM?M rM 10Cy n??m?n k?o?h I A I w?!ac qr MCX 10Cy ITy qr M3 Ґ??1rA5R h?H?T3P K?z X?K H?o I Idc rM?M rM 10Cy f헊?f?Tz e?e:Aa I v"x i X5 EO5 5a r?q CX 9r Cy rq rqC M3 ş?:c p/p0 5H V)V 6T Y2 G5 qrM?r?qr?r9 q?10Cy rCX qr l1 X?l 3K fm?Q Z2f CX CX gT L??T 2E Cy 3P EM3 J4T L?h??M q?ᡚ?Y r??O?rJt CTX i P!e i I CTX rC YY I 1e 2j CTX X0T1i k3v Jh/e0h1 H(K W/Q0 CTX j?!k 5B r2 CTX A A A 4v z"p A A A0A?A AK CTX A A?!k CX qCX YCX i!d A fi8 l8 yuZ 6L pH m?c sP;0 6ZR Ni P0 0Q X(P0s s(s p0 Pp CTX qq dR B/J Va A y!k N?M??N rC f?Nla3 Yz N?q qr NEeD K?i N?M?qr EeD 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MWA LL MPM M?M 4M XY qr qr qr NEeD 10Cy qYY E2 GH l1 Pd h3V g?KIq V5kL O65S d_xKKU vV 5H p1 Z6 CTX U0 U1 CTX U0 U1 A0 1D qr qr 10Cy YY K??Kl 1B AMwv 1K F1 KV yW Gd T?H CTX CTX I CK M?qr K?SK?PQZ I IRZX 8YCX 10Cy qr CX kv zg S5kB??a iG wA CTX U2 6Y CTX U2 6Y I K,,j j,s 6Y P!p qr 10Cy qr YY G?O 9K mSd X0 9r?yal 1d bY0 XNf??qN D?J CTX P!Z b!o C,C qrM 10Cy qr8 I fX2 9R lO KV CTX Oo CTX A qr r?qr rq YY Lsy7H4 C,6E IL CTX U3 CTX J,O3_3xx qrM?r q?CX Y9/C 9CX CTX Y10Cy CX CX CX YC YY FV uTl bEWa ȓjJ-8 Gc G??Q9E 9Wq CTX CTX Up i I A 9_ qr qr YY D.X 7s F??Y bc3_c iH CTX CTX A qr 10Cy YY EMq 7H AY mK9Z BY A2 P6L N7 CTX CTX a I I i qr rC CTX CTX 7O I FMM qr qr i I I3 CTX Z6 I L(K4 P:u Z6P CTX y8 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ii INTRODUCTION JURISDICTION NATURE OF THE RELIEF SOUGHT STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND FACTS SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT ARGUMENT I STANDARD OF REVIEW II THE TRIAL COURT CORRECTLY UNSEALED THE NP A A The NP A was not Properly Sealed in the First Instance Closure of the Non-Prosecution Agreement Improperly Occurred without a Motion Notice Hearing or a Proper Order Closure of the Addendum Improperly Occurred without any Procedures to Protect the Right of Access at all No Basis Exists for Current Closure of the Non-prosecution Agreement or Its Addendum Petitioner Cannot Identify a Rule Interest that Warrants Closure The Federal Courts Decisions in Case No S.D Fla Did Not Preclude the Lower Courts Orders Unsealing the NPA Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure Did Not Preclude the Lower Courts Orders Unsealing the NPA CONCLUSION CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Federal Cases Craig Harney U.S Doe Hammond Supp 2d D.D.C In re Grand Jury Investigation of Ven-Fuel Supp M.D Fla Lockhead Martin Corp Boeing Co Supp 2d M.D Fla Oregonian Publishing Co United States District Court F.2d 9th Cir U.S Rosen Supp 2d E.D Va United States Kooistra F.3d 11th Cir State Cases Anderson E.T So 2d Fla 4th DCA Barron Florida Freedom Newspapers Inc So 2d Fla Combs State So 2d Fla Doe Museum of Science and History of Jacksonville Inc Case No WL Fla 7th Jud Cir June Fla Sugar Cane League Inc Fla Dept of Envtl Reg Case No Fla 2d Jud Cir Sept Hous Auth of the City of Daytona Beach Gomillion So 2d Fla 5th DCA In re Amendments to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration So 2d Fla Sarasota Herald Tribune Div of the New York Times Co Holtzendorf So 2d Fla 2d DCA Sarasota-Herald Tribune State So 2d Fla 2d DCA Sentinel Communications Co Watson So 2d Fla 5th DCA Wallace Guzman So 2d Fla 3d DCA Other Authorities Fla Const Art I Fla Const Art I Fla App Fla Jud Admin INTRODUCTION This appeal concerns attempts to thwart public scrutiny of how government responded to the prostitution of children in Palm Beach County In the order at issue below the trial court correctly unsealed a non-prosecution agreement and its addendum A predecessor judge found that the agreement significantly induced Petitioner to accept a plea agreement that allowed him to serve months in jail for luring children to his Palm Beach mansion for massages or sexual activity At the time that the non-prosecution agreement and its addendum collectively the NP A were accepted for filing no basis for closure was asserted or found Thus the NP A was not properly sealed and the prior closure order was properly vacated Moreover no basis currently exists for closure and the pending petition like Petitioners filings below contain nothing more than unsubstantiated assertions that confidentiality is required Thus continued closure is not warranted Certainly unsealing the documents was not such a clear departure from the essential requirements oflaw as to warrant certiorari relief Consequently the pending petition must be denied In addition this Court should exercise its inherent authority under Rule of the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure to sanction Petitioner for his frivolous and bad faith attempts to cloak the resolution of the criminal charges against him in secrecy by awarding to Respondent Palm Beach Newspapers Inc d/b/a The Palm Beach Post the Post its attorneys fees and costs in responding to this petition JURISDICTION The Post adopts Responden tatement concerning jurisdiction Insofar as this Court finds jurisdiction the Post requests that this Court expedite its consideration of this matter so as to remedy the denial to date of the publics and pres constitutional and common law rights of access Art I Fla Const Fla App Sarasota-Herald Tribune State So 2d Fla 2d DCA rule permits expedited review of orders excluding the press NATURE OF THE RELIEF SOUGHT The Post asks this Court to deny the pending petition and to let stand the circuit courts Orders dated June and June which unsealed the NP A and directed the Clerk of Court in and for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida to release these records to the public Petitioner has sought review of the June Order by motion rather than by petition for writ of certiorari Though the June Order does address the matter of Petitioners request for stay the order also directs the Clerk of Courts to release the records review of which should have been sought by certiorari STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND FACTS This proceeding concerns the publics constitutional and common law rights of access to records crucial to the disposition of criminal charges against Petitioner Jeffrey Epstein Specifically Petitioner seeks review of two orders unsealing a non-prosecution agreement and its addendum collectively the NP A which are records of the trial court below State Epstein Case Nos CF9454AMB CF9381AMB Petitioner was investigated by the State of Florida for felony solicitation of children for prostitution at The victims allege Epstein brought and paid teenage girls to come to his home for sex and/or massages at and Epsteins minor victims are numerous at and the case drew attention of the highest-ranking law enforcement officials in Palm Beach County Frustrated during the course of the investigation Police Chief Michael Reiter even penned a letter to State Attorney Barry Krischer calling his offices handling of the investigation highly unusual and suggesting that he disqualify himself from the case if the state would not act at A at A federal investigation of Epsteins conduct as it relates to soliciting children for prostitution ensued References to A are to Petitioners Appendix Then abruptly in June Epstein pleaded guilty in the trial court below to felony solicitation of minors for prostitution was designated a Sexual Offender pursuant to Florida law and was sentenced to 18-months jail and community control Before accepting the terms of his state plea Epstein entered into a non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors at The non-prosecution agreement and its addendum were filed under seal in the lower court on July and August respectively According to Epsteins lawyers and presumably the NPA itsel taking the state plea was a condition of the NPA at The NPA is invalidated if Epstein fails to fulfill the obligations of the state plea deal A at In accepting the state plea the trial court viewed the NPA a significant inducement in accepting the plea and recognized that the NP A influenced the defendant to make the state plea A at In considering the plea at the hearing the court requested a sealed copy of the non-prosecution agreement and asked whether Petitioner had signed it at The NP A and its addendum were filed under seal in this Court on July The Post and its lawyers have not seen the NP A though it was reviewed in camera by the trial court Epsteins lawyer indicated it was signed and interjected that he would like to seal the copy at Representatives from the U.S Attorneys Office were present at the hearing at but stated no objection to filing the non-prosecution agreement in the state court file Thereupon without any further consideration the trial court requested a sealed copy of the non-prosecution agreement at On July without any further proceedings on the issue the court entered an Agreed Order Sealing Document in Court File which allowed Epstein to file the non-prosecution agreement that was attached to the Agreed Order under seal By its terms the closure order was limited to the non-prosecution agreement and did not include its addendum The order makes no findings with respect to closure and never expires The addendum was filed six weeks later on August without any further order of the Court with respect to closure Since Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution he has been named in at least civil lawsuits that like the charges in this case allege Epstein lured teenage girls to his Palm Beach mansion for sex and/or massages At least cases are pending In another lawsuit one of the Epsteins See also at citing Doe Epstein Case No S.D Fla Doe No Epstein Case No S.D Fla Doe No Epstein Case No S.D Fla Doe No Epstein Case No Footnote continued on next page accusers has alleged that federal prosecutors failed to consult with her regarding the disposition of possible charges against Epstein at Given the important public interest in this matter on June the Post moved to intervene below for the purpose of obtaining access to the NP A The Court granted the Posts motion to intervene on June Supp.A.-1 at The trial court granted the Posts petition for access on June and on June denied Epsteins motion for stay and directed the clerk to release the records at noon on Thursday July Epsteins emergency petition for writ of certiorari regarding the June order and his emergency motion to review the June order followed S.D Fla Doe No Epstein Case No S.D Fla C.M.A Epstein Case No S.D Fla Doe Epstein Case No S.D Fla Doe No Epstein Case No S.D Fla Doe No Epstein Case No S.D Fla Doe II Epstein Case No S.D Fla Doe No Epstein Case No S.D Fla Doe No Epstein Case No S.D Fla Doe No Epstein Case No S.D Fla See also at citing In re Jane Doe Case No S.D Fla References to Supp.A correspond to the supplemental appendix filed by the Post simultaneous with this brief SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT Petitioners initial filing of the NP A under seal was achieved without any regard for the publics constitutional statutory and common law rights of access Florida law flatly prohibits the standardless permanent closure that was achieved in this case The public has a right to know what transpires in its courtrooms generally and in particular has an interest in understanding how the resolution of this highly unusual prosecution occurred Moreover no present basis for closure exists Petitioner has not shown and cannot show that continued closure is proper Instead he has made conclusory assertions and relied on red herrings in attempting to keep the public from understanding how government responded to his solicitation of children to perform sex acts The trial court having reviewed the records in camera saw through Petitioners flimsy arguments The trial court did not depart from the essential requirements of law in ordering the records unsealed ARGUMENT I STANDARD OF REVIEW The standard of review for a petition for writ of certiorari is whether the trial court departed from the essential requirements oflaw See Combs State So 2d Fla Anderson E.T So 2d Fla 4th DCA II THE TRIAL COURT CORRECTLY UNSEALED THE NP A The NP A was neither properly sealed in the first instance nor is properly sealed at present The trial court did not depart from the essential requirements of law in unsealing the records A The NP A was not Properly Sealed in the First Instance The NP A a significant inducement to Petitioners acceptance of the plea was accepted for filing under seal without any deference to the publics right of access to court records Such standardless closure cannot withstand scrutiny Florida has traditionally served as a model for open government and courts It is well-settled in Florida that a trial is a public event and what transpires in the court room is public property Miami Herald Publg Co Lewis So 2d Fla quoting Craig Hamey U.S When considering a request to seal judicial records this Courts analysis must begin with the proposition that all civil and criminal court proceedings are public events records of court proceedings are public records and there is a strong presumption in favor of public access to such matters Sentinel Communications Co Watson So 2d Fla 5th DCA Indeed the people of this State added Article I Section to the Declaration of Rights in the Florida Constitution to make clear that the right of access to the records of all three branches of government is of constitutional magnitude All citizens possess the right to inspect or copy such records Plea agreements and related documents typically are public record See Oregonian Publishing Co United States District Court F.2d 9th Cir plea agreements have typically been open to the public United States Kooistra F.3d 11th Cir documents relating to defendants change of plea and sentencing could be sealed only upon finding of a compelling interest tl!at justified denial of public access Florida law likewise recognizes a strong public right of access to documents a court considers in connection with sentencing See Sarasota Herald Tribune Div of the New York Times Co Holtzendorf So 2d Fla 2d DCA While a judge may impose whatever legal sentence he chooses if such sentence is based on a tangible proceeding or document it is within the public domain unless otherwise privileged Under Florida law closure of judicial records is warranted only under very limited circumstances In particular the party seeking closure must demonstrate that restricting public access is necessary to prevent a serious and imminent threat to the administration of justice no alternatives other than a change of venue would protect the defendants right to a fair trial and closure would be effective in protecting the rights of the accused without being broader than necessary to accomplish this purpose Miami Herald Publg Co Lewis So 2d Fla This test as well as the standard announced in Barron Florida Freedom Newspapers Inc So 2d Fla was essentially codified in former Rule of Judicial Administration now which was applicable in both criminal and civil cases Sarasota-Herald Tribune So 2d at In April the Florida Supreme Court adopted emergency amendments to Rule in response to Florida media reports of hidden cases and secret dockets a process that has come to be known as super-sealing In re Amendments to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration So 2d Fla In adopting the interim rule the Florida Supreme Court confirmed its commitment to safeguarding the publics constitutional right of access to court records which the Court held must remain inviolate Id at By its terms Rule does not apply to criminal cases however later this year the Supreme Court will consider amendments to the rule that essentially seek to apply the standards applicable in civil cases to criminal ones See In re Amendments to Florida Rule of Judicial Administration Case No Fla In the circuit below however the new Rule procedures have been in effect since September Supp.A.-2 In addition the sealing of the NPA violated principles of Florida law established long before the amendments to Rule Consequently the unsealing of these documents was proper Closure of the Non-Prosecution Agreement Improperly Occurred without a Motion Notice Hearing or a Proper Order The non-prosecution agreement was sealed pursuant to an agreed order dated July At the time Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Administrative Order applied to requests for closure of court records in the lower court Supp.A.-3 The order requires a motion notice and a hearing none of which occurred in this case Id at r,r The order further provides that closure is proper only upon showing that the factors set forth in Lewis have been met Id at and that the reasons supporting sealing the file must be stated with specificity in the order sealing the court record Id at neither of which occurred in this case Contrary to Petitioners assertion Petition at neither this rule nor the common law of Florida nor the Florida constitution contemplates sua sponte closure of court records upon simple request of the Court or any party Nor was the closure in fact sua sponte as Epstein himself requested closure A at and admittedly filed the NP A in the court file under seal pursuant to an agreed order at The agreed order contains none of the findings required by Lewis or paragraph of the Administrative Order The closure order is invalid and was properly vacated Closure of the Addendum Improperly Occurred without any Procedures to Protect the Right of Access at all With respect to the sealing of the addendum to the non-prosecution agreement no procedures were put in place at all The original non-prosecution agreement was attached to the July agreed order which allowed to be filed under seal the attached document only It appears from the record that the addendum which was not attached to the July order but was filed six weeks later was simply filed and accepted under seal without any order allowing for closure Closure of the addendum was thus improper on that basis as well The trial court properly unsealed these documents No Basis Exists for Current Closure of the Non-prosecution Agreement or Its Addendum After the Post intervened at a June hearing on the issue of closure the trial court asked Epsteins counsel about the Posts motion specifically Epsteins counsel replied If the Posts position is the public has a right to ace access this then there is a procedure in place and ultimately the Court has to conduct a hearing and do a balancing test where you look at whether there is some compelling government interest and thats going to require an evidentiary hearing So I have no great objection to filing the Request for Closure and then having a hearing in front of the Court Supp.A.-1 at Importantly Petitioners counsel did not assert that he had complied with these requirements but that he would The Court reset the hearing for June Petitioner filed a Motion to Make Court Records Confidential on June In it Epstein cited four reasons the NPA should remain under seal to prevent a serious and imminent threat to the administration of justice to protect a compelling government interest to avoid substantial injury to innocent This assertion apparently has been abandoned by Petitioner because his petition asserts that he has asserted three bases for confidentiality and does not include this basis Accordingly it will not be addressed except to make note of the fact that Epstein has not at any point in this proceeding identified a threat to the administration of justice much less a serious and imminent threat third parties and to avoid substantial injury to a party by disclosure of matters protected by a common law and privacy right not generally inherent in these specific type of proceedings sought to be closed at The motion failed to explain how these interests were implicated failed to address alternatives to closure and failed to explain how closure would protect the interests The lower court heard argument on June The United States Attorneys Office was provided notice of the hearing but chose not to appear A at In fact the U.S Attorneys Office has taken no position on this matter throughout the lower court proceedings and specifically informed counsel for that it had no position at At that hearing the Court found that the proper procedures to initially seal the records were not followed and then heard argument from Epsteins counsel on his June motion Epsteins counsel consented to that procedure at The Judge held that neither the State nor the U.S Government nor Epstein had shown why the NP A ought to remain confidential and ordered the records unsealed It is important to note that the State Attorneys Office appeared at the hearing for the limited purpose of objecting to the release of minor victims names which turned out to be a non-issue because the Court having reviewed the documents in camera determined that no victims names were included in the documents at The federal government as mentioned above took no position Footnote continued on next page The trial court did not depart from the essential requirements of law in unsealing the NPA Administrative Order of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit applies to Petitioners June request to seal the records in this case Supp.A.-2 That administrative order consistent with Lewis and its progeny applies Rule standards to requests for closure of records in criminal proceedings in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Any order authorizing closure must contain findings that one of the interests set forth in Rule of Judicial Administration A is met and that closure is no broader than necessary to protect that interest Supp.A.-2 at see also Lewis So 2d at Motions seeking closure must include a signed certification by the party making the request that the motion is being made in good faith and is supported by a sound factual and legal basis Supp.A.-2 at Epsteins initial oral request for closure failed to comply with the requirements of then-applicable law and he has never presented a sound factual or legal basis for present closure Consequently unsealing the documents was fully consistent with the essential requirements of law and did not appear at any of the hearings on this matter Nor has either agency appealed the lower courts decision Petitioner Cannot Identify a Rule Interest that Warrants Closure Though Epsteins belated written motion identified four interests set forth in Rule that purportedly warrant closure he failed to explain either in his motion or at the hearing how any of them applied Instead Petitioner asserted closure was proper because these broad interests would be served by closure principles of comity require closure and because the records contain information protected from disclosure by Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure Even though Petitioner now attempts to craft his arguments around the interests set forth in Rule the trial court cannot be said to have departed from the essential requirements of the law in holding that Epsteins burden had not been met Epsteins petition asserts that closure is necessary to protect a compelling government interest because he claims the U.S Attorneys Office who has been notified of these proceedings and has taken no position whatsoever has a compelling interest in having the confidentiality provision of its contract with Mr Epstein honored See Petition at Assuming such a provision exists the Post has not seen the document Petitioner is in no position to assert a compelling interest on the governments behalf given its decision to take no position on the matter If such an interest exists the U.S government is the party to assert it and it has specifically failed to do so The trial court did not depart from the essential requirements of law in holding that Petitioner failed to demonstrate a compelling interest in closure Epstein next asserts that closure is warranted to protect the interest of innocent third parties and identifies those third parties as Mr Epsteins co conspirators Petition at Again Mr Epstein lacks standing to assert the interests of third parties Doe Museum of Science and History of Jacksonville Inc Case No WL Fla 7th Jud Cir June plaintiff lacks standing to assert privacy interest of third party minor victims of sexual assault by defendants former employee who had been convicted copy attached at Supp.A.-4 In addition even if the third parties Mr Epstein identifies his purported co-conspirators were before the Court they would have no privacy interest in matters pertaining to their criminal conduct Post-Newsweek Stations Florida Inc Doe So 2d Fla Does whose names were implicated in criminal prostitution scheme had no right to privacy by virtue of their participation in a crime and thus their names could not be redacted from records provided to the public Thus the trial judge did not depart from the essential requirements of law in finding insufficient third-party interests to justify closure The third interest Epstein seeks to invoke is his own right to privacy See Petition at While Epstein actually does have standing to assert his own right to privacy Florida law is clear that closure is only proper to protect a substantial injury to a party by disclosure of matters protected by a common law or privacy right not generally inherent in the specific type of proceeding sought to be closed Fla Jud Admin A vi emphasis added Epstein argues disclosure of a plea agreement is not generally inherent in a state court plea hearing See Petition at That argument is absurd Of course Epsteins plea agreement is generally inherent in his criminal prosecution It is the very reason that prosecution ended and as the lower court recognized in accepting the plea it was a significant inducement to Petitioner to take the states deal at Moreover Floridas constitutional right to privacy is expressly subordinate to the rights of Floridians to access the records of their government To wit Article I which sets forth the right to privacy further provides this section shall not be construed to limit the publics right of access to public records and meetings as provided by law Fla Const Art I As the Florida Supreme Court has recognized the privacy amendment has not been construed to protect names and addresses contained in public records Post Newsweek So 2d at The trial court having reviewed the NP A in camera certainly had an opportunity to assess whether a privacy interest not inherent in his criminal prosecution for felony solicitation of children for prostitution is implicated by the NP A It cannot in good faith be argued that the trial court departed from the essential requirements of law in determining that no such privacy interest was implicated The Federal Courts Decisions in Case No S.D Fla Did Not Preclude the Lower Courts Orders Unsealing the NP A Nor did the trial courts rejection of Petitioners comity argument depart from the essential requirements of law In the Southern District of Florida one of the minor victims of Epstein filed a Petition for Enforcement of Crime Victims Rights Acts The victim also asked the federal court to allow her to share the NPA with third parties Judge Marra denied the motion finding as the U.S Government had argued that the NP A was not a record of the federal court First as respondent points out the Agreement was not filed in this The Post adopts and incorporate arguments and analysis on this issue in addition to the arguments it sets forth herein The Post notes that through were not part of the record below If the Court is inclined to consider these federal court pleadings then in fairness it must consider those related pleadings which are attached hereto as Supp.A.-5 through Supp.A.-7 of the Posts Supplemental Appendix case under seal or otherwise The federal court also declined to provide any relief from restrictions on the parties use and dissemination of the discovery document without prejudice at Petitioner argues that the Post should be required to seek relief in Judge Marras court He mischaracterizes the nature of the proceedings there There is no document to unseal in Judge Marras court The NPA is not a record of that court and thus any effort by the Post to obtain access to the NP A there would be futile and any order requiring it be unsealed by the lower court herein does not conflict with any decision of the federal court at In fact when Judge Marra has been asked to seal records of his court that quote the NP A he has refused to do so and has required such records to be filed in the public court file Supp.A.-5 through Supp.A Thus though the NP A is not a record of the federal court the federal court has rejected attempts to file portions of it under seal As a result portions of the NP A appear in the public court file in Page of Supp.A.-5 and paragraph of Supp.A.-6 both publicly on file in the federal court quote from the NP A In addition Epsteins own lawyers quoted extensively from the NP A in seeking to stay one of the civil suits against him A at incorporating by reference Supp.A.-5 through Supp.A-6 and Supp.A.-7 C.M.A Epstein Case No S.D Fla at Dkt pp the federal civil litigation against Epstein Supp.A-5 at Supp.A.-6 at I Supp.A.-7 at pp The proverbial cat is already out of the bag Notwithstanding the NP A is a record of this lower court The lower court did not enter an order conflicting with Judge Marras rulings at expressly noting lack of conflict with Judge Marras orders and did not depart from the essential requirements of law in unsealing the NP A Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure Did Not Preclude the Lower Courts Orders Unsealing the NPA Finally unsealing the NPA did not conflict with federal law Records available under state law are sealed by federal law only when federal law absolutely conflicts with state law and requires confidentiality of the records The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution Art VI U.S Const comes into play only when federal law clearly requires the records to be closed and the state is clearly subject to its provisions Wallace Guzman So 2d Fla 3d DCA exemptions to federal Freedom of Information Act do not apply to state agencies Hous Auth of the City of Daytona Beach Gomillion So 2d Fla 5th DCA Federal Privacy Act does not exempt from disclosure records of housing authority which are open for inspection The Post adopts and incorporate arguments and analysis on this issue in addition to the arguments it sets forth herein under Florida Public Records Act Fla Sugar Cane League Inc Fla Dept of Envtl Reg Case No Fla 2d Jud Cir Sept per curiam affirmed So 2d Fla 1st DCA documents received by state agency in course of settlement negotiations to resolve federal lawsuit and confidential settlement agreement with U.S Department of Justice open to inspection because federal law did not clearly require confidentiality Supp.A.-8 Federal law imposes no such preemption of the Florida constitution and common law in this case In particular Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure does not restrict access to the NPA Federal Rule restrains grand jurors court reporters government attorneys interpreters and the like from disclosing matters occurring before the grand jury Petitioner apparently the former target of the grand jury is none of these persons His actions in filing the NP A under seal do not implicate Rule no matter what information the NPA contains The lower courts actions in unsealing the NP A likewise do not implicate Rule because the lower court also is not restrained by Rule Moreover the information contained in the NP A does not constitute matters occurring before the grand jury within the meaning of Rule The secrecy rule is limited to such matters for the purpose of preventing targets of an investigation from fleeing or tampering with witnesses or grand jurors encouraging witnesses to appear voluntarily and speak fully and frankly avoiding damage to the reputation of subjects or targets of the investigation who are not indicted and encouraging grand jurors to investigate suspected crimes without inhibition and engage in unrestricted deliberations Lockhead Martin Corp Boeing Co Supp 2d M.D Fla The rule aims to prevent disclosure of the way in which information was presented to the grand jury the specific questions and inquiries of the grand jury the deliberations and vote of the grand jury the targets upon which the grand jurys suspicion focuses and specific details of what took place before the grand jury In re Grand Jury Investigation ofVen-Fuel Supp M.D Fla In other words Rule is implicated if disclosure would reveal secret inner workings of the grand jury U.S Rosen Supp 2d E.D Va Disclosure of details of a government investigation that is independent of a parallel grand jury proceeding does not violate Rule Id Statements by a prosecutors office about its own investigation therefore are not covered by the secrecy rule Id at Likewise the mere mention of other targets of an investigation does not implicate the grand jury secrecy rule In re Interested Party Supp 2d D.D.C government not prohibited by Rule from disclosing plea agreement and other materials Doe Hammond Supp 2d D.D.C same Moreover when the fact or document is sought for itself independently rather than because it was stated before or displayed to the grand jury there is no bar of secrecy In re Grand Jury Investigation of Ven-Fuel Supp at Here the Post seeks to review the NP A for its own intrinsic value and not for the purpose of discerning what transpired before the grand jury now more than a year ago It is clearly well within the publics right and interest to review the NP A given the circumstances surrounding the investigation and prosecution of Petitioner as well as the civil claims by women who say Epstein sought to make them his child prostitutes These facts clearly constitute a proper basis for unsealing these improperly sealed documents Finally and even assuming for a moment that the NP A contains grand jury information which the Post doubts when the grand jurys work has concluded and the accused apprehended the veil of secrecy no longer is necessary and safely may be lifted In re Grand Jury Investigation of Ven-Fuel Supp at Here Petitioner has been convicted and nothing in the record suggests the grand jurys work is ongoing Consequently no basis exists for finding that the trial court departed from the essential requirements of law CONCLUSION The trial court was correct in unsealing the non-prosecution agreement and its addendum These materials were not properly sealed in the first instance Moreover Epstein has not and cannot provide any basis for closure at this juncture The trial court did not depart from the essential requirements of law in unsealing the NP A Its order should be affirmed and the Post should be awarded its fees and costs and such other further relief as this Court deems proper Respectfully submitted oCICERO PL nna Shullman lorida Bar No James Lake Florida Bar No N.E Third Avenue Suite Fort Lauderdale FL Telephone Facsimile Attorneys for The Palm Beach Post CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing has been furnished via U.S Mail to Hon Jeffrey Colbath Palm Beach County Courthouse Dixie Highway Room lF West Palm Beach FL Alexander Acosta United States Attorneys Office Southern District Australian Ave Ste West Palm Beach FL Barbara Burns Esq State Attorneys Office West Palm Beach North Dixie Highway West Palm Beach FL Jack Alan Goldberger Esq Atterbury Goldberger et al Australian Ave Ste West Palm Beach FL Robert Critton Esq Burman Critton Luttier Coleman Flagler Drive Suite West Palm Beach FL Jane Kreusler-Walsh Esq Flagler Drive Suite West Palm Beach FL Spencer Kuvin Esq Leopold-Kuvin P.A PGA Boulevard Suite Palm Beach Gardens FL and Bradley Edwards Esq and William Berger Esq Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler East Las Olas Blvd Suite Fort Lauderdale FL on this th day of July CERTIFICATE OF TYPE SIZE AND STYLE Counsel for Petitioners certifies that this Petition is typed in point proportionately spaced Times New Roman a a I I I IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL FOURTH DISTRICT OF FLORIDA JEFFREY EPSTEIN Petitioner vs STATE OF FLORIDA PALM BEACH NEWSPAPERS INC AND Respondents SUPPLEMENTAL APPENDIX TO PALM BEACH NEWSPAPERS INC d/b/a THE PALM BEACH POSTS RESPONSE TO EMERGENCY a a I I I I Document Tab Transcript of June hearing Administrative Order No Of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Administrative Order no Of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit John Doe Museum of Science and History of Jacksonville Case No WL Fla 7th Jud Cir June Governments Response to Victims Emergency Petition for Enforcement of Crime Victim Rights Act U.S.C Declaration of A Marie Villafana In Support of United States Response to Victims Emergency Petition for Enforcement of Crime Victim Rights Act U.S.C Defendants Jeffrey Epstein and Sarah Kellens Motion for Stay Florida Sugar Cane League Inc Florida Dept of Environmental Regulation Case No Fla 2d Jud Cir Order Releasing Public Records dated September a a I a I I a a I a i a I a I IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY FLORIDA CRIMINAL DIVISION CASE NOs AXX and AXX STATE OF FLORIDA Plaintiff vs JEFFREY EPSTEIN Defendant PROCEEDINGS HELD BEFORE THE HONORABLE JEFFREY COLBATH JUNE A.M A.M PALM BEACH COUNTY COURTHOUSE WEST PALM BEACH FLORIDA Reported by Louanne Rawls Notary Public State of Florida West Palm Beach Office al a I a a a I I a a I a Proceedings June APPEARANCES On behalf of the Defendant JACK ALAN GOLDBERGER ESQUIRE Atterbury Goldberger et al Australian Ave South Suite West Palm Beach FL On behalf of the Defendant ROBERT CRITTON JR ESQUIRE Burman Critton et al Flagler Drive Ste west Palm Beach FL On behalf of Third Party WILLIAM BERGER ESQUIRE BRADLEY EDWARDS ESQUIRE Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler Las Olas Blvd Suite Fort Lauderdale FL On behalf of Third Party The Post DEANNA SHULLMAN ESQUIRE Thomas LoCiero Bralow PL N.E 3rd Avenue Suite Fort Lauderdale FL a I I a a a Proceedings June I BE IT REMEMBERED that the following proceedings were had and testimony adduced before the Honorable Jeffrey Colbath at the Palm Beach County courthouse west Palm Beach Florida beginning at the hour of a.m on June with appearances as herein noted to-wit THE COURT State vs Epstein Let me have for the record announce everybodys appearance MR BERGER Your Honor William J_ Berger and Bradley Edwards for non-party MS SHULLMANz Your Honor Deanna Shullman of Thomas LoCiero Bralow for non-party The Palm Beach Post THE COURT of The Post is Let me slow down a little bit On behalf MS SH ULLMAN Deanna shullman THE COURT MS SHULLMAN S-H-U-L-L-M-A-N THE COURT Ms Shullman good morning Mr Berger MR BBRGER good morning And Mr Berger yes your client is THE COURT Anybody else here MR EDWARDS Brad Edwa 267rds on behalf of as ell Judge Thanks a I I a I a Proceedings June THE COURT Last name is spelled MR EDWARDS Edwards E-D-W-A-R-D-S THE COURT Okay MR GOLDBERGER For the other side Your Honor Jack Goldberger along with Robert Critton on behalf of Jaffrey Epstein THE COURT It is the Posts and Motion to Intervene for the purpose of unsealing records MR BERGER Yes sir THE COURT Heres what I think I know and I tell you this so that you can fill in the gaps of what you know that I don"t know and suggest what you think I ought to do It appears to me tbat there was some agreement an agreement that was sealed and then an addendum or amendment to the agreement that was sealed as to documents in the courts files under seal and it appears as though the punitive interveners want to unseal those and take a peak at them I dont see where any of the proper procedures to seal the documents was aver followed to begin with I dont know but its not jumping out at me when I reviewed the file so Im thinking that it might be appropriate and the burden might be on the moving party being the State and Mr Epstein to give them the opportunity to jump through the hur hoops to seal the documents if they are entitled to have them sealed then a I I Proceedings June Ill grant that request If theyre not entitled to seal then Ill order it as documents unsealed But thats kind of procedurally where I think the case is I will allow Mr Berger and Ms Shullman to argue if they wish to otherwise I will go over to Mr Goldberger and Mr Critton to perhaps talk about what they think about my suggestion Mr Berger MR BERGER I Id like to hear what they say THE COURT Ms Shullman MS SHULLMAN Agreed THE COURT Mr Goldberger MR GOLDBERGER Your Honor THE COURT I mean it 2671ooks like they just handed up an Agreed Order to sign MR GOLDBERGER Well if the Court I know the court is trying to short circuit here and the idea in theory is not horrible its not terrible its actually not so bad But let me alert the court to a couple of issues First of all this is not something that came up ahead of time where we were moving to close a hearing or file documents under seal and the Rules of Judicial Administration makes an important distinction between things that are done in advance and things that come up during a hearing and the fact that maybe it goes to the Rule talk about situations that arise during the course a a a a a a I Proceedings June of a hearing that the Rules would not apply to that secondly,-Motion to Intervene is brought under a Rule that does not apply because she brought it under a Rule that applies to non-criminal cases Having said that I know the Courts desire to get to the issues here and I just need to alert the Court to one other matter because I think its really important The Plaintiffs has this agreement already They have this agreement counsel will tell you they have this agreement There have been two hearings in front of Judge Marra who has the Federal cases here They moved to unseal the non-prosecution agreement in front of Judge Marra He entered an initial Order a very very well reasoned Order which I have a copy for the Court THB COURT Oh thanks MR GOLDBBRGBR He entered a very very well reasoned Order weighing the interest of the Plaintiffs to have access to the non-prosecution agreement with the confidentiality that the parties in ended to be part of this agreement And what he did he said they can have this agreement They can review it all they want If they want to review it with somebody else they need to give them a copy of this Order that it is not to be disclosed to anyone else Subsequent to that so that"s the Rule thats in place right now Subsequent to that the a a a i I I I a a a I Proceedings June Plaintiffs went back and said we want to disseminate this Order We want to disseminate this agreement to other parties and Judge Marra entered a second Order denying that request and said no My Order is in place but if you have some compelling reason why you want this agreement to be disseminated to others file a motion and come back to me THE COURT This is as a result of some civil litigation pending in the Federal Courthouse MR GOLDBERGER Yes THE COURT going on As opposed to any criminal prosecution MR GOLDBERGER It is civil proceedings that are going on in Federal Court But in the interest of comedy Your Honor the court has ruled on the confidentiality agreement and has put a well reasoned procedure into place If the parties want that agreement unsealed where they need to go is go back to Federal Court and Judge Marra invited them to do so THE COURT That may be as it pertains to but what about The Post MR GOLDBERGER I think and I think I know where the Court is going on this If The Posts position is the public has right to ace access to this then there is a procedure in place and ultimately the Court has to conduct a a a I a a I Proceedings June a hearing and do the balancing test where you look at whether there is some compelling government interest and thats going to require an evidentiary hearing so I have no great objection to filing the Request for Closure and then have a hearing in front of the Court THE COURT Well lets do Im thinking out loud Im not ruling I will give you all a chance to argue further but this is what Im thinking I will do grant the Motion to Intervene It gives standing ta It gives standing to The Post to contest the fact that these were sealed And then I will shift the burden back on the State and Defendant Mr Epstein to petition the Court to seal these documents Until such time that I rule on that I will leave them under seal because they might have been correctly sealed but the procedure wasnt followed There"s got to be notice You"ve got to comply with the Administrative Order Youve got to comply with the Rule of Jud cial Administration I think even though thats a civil it addresses a civil matter this is you know in the nature of a civil procedure So Ill do that And thank you for these Orders So where do we go from here Im thinking out loud not ruling Mr Berger MR BERGER Judge with all due respect I completely disagree with counsels characterization of a a I I a a i Proceedings June those two Orders I dont know if he handed up both to you THE COURT MR BERGER you they say THE COURT MR BERGER THE COURT argument MR BERGER THE COURT seal MR BERGER I do They simply do not say what he tells Ill read them All right and Ill allow you to make that And and at the time of the Renewed Motion to All right And also I don"t think the Court I think the Court needs to deal with this immediately expeditiously This is a matter that the Supreme court has placed incredible scrutiny over And the Rule that we are traveling under were not only traveling under a Rule of Judicial Administration that applies to criminal and civil cases were applying to an Administrative Order of this Court that was in place when the sealing was done and that superseded the sealing THE COURT I MR BERGER Im just saying I respectfully request that the Court not delay this one minute THE COURT Youve got the agreements a a a Proceedings June MR BERGER l?ardon me THE COURT Youve got the agreements anyway Youve got whats under seal MR BERGS:R Judge we cannot do anything with them THE COURT Take that up with Judge Marra MR BERGER No sir That is not what the Order says May I quote Judge Marra If a specific tangible need arises in a civil case the relief should be sought in that case In other words the civil cases which are in front of Judge Hafele is one forum that Judge Marra said go to it Judge Marra did not say that this Court does not have jurisdiction to unseal its own sealed records or to vacate its own Order sealing And any characterization is is false THE COURT Ill take a look at it and Ill draw from it what it says what I think it says I appreciate your zealous representation of your client Please it appears as though youre yelling at me MS SHULLMAN Your Honor THE COURT Ms Shullman MR BERGER Judge this happens to be a very serious matter and every day of delay delays our discovery THE COURT Ms Shullman MS SHULLMAN Your Honor if I may be heard on the a a i a I Proceedings June issue as well As a representative of the publics right of access THE COURT Right MS SHULLMAN here essentially I would agree with Mr Barger that we need an immediate hearing on this issue Thats what were here to do today I think I heard Your Honor say that he"s not clear that the procedures were applied My review of the record does not reveal that the procedures were complied with My review is similar to Your Honors It looks like sort of everybody approached the bench and Judge Pucillo said lets take it under seal If Mr Epsteins counsel is not prepared to go forward today and meet his burden then I would ask that this Court set a hearing as soon as practical because the right solution here should be to unseal the records and then you know THE COURT Ive gotcha MS SHULLMAN and they have to make a motion THE COURT Well what house is on fire I mean whai is the I think what they have to do is theyve got to give ten days notice pursuant to the Rule the Administrative Order Rules of Judicial Administration to go through that process What what prejudice is there What house is burning down if I say okay State and defense go ahead and expeditiously move through the a a a I i a I a Proceedings June process and lets get this back on my docket as quickly as possible and give them until Priday to tile their notice and ten days after that we have an evidentiary hearing I go through the process then What bad thing is going to happen by waiting these extra twelve to fifteen days MS SHULLMAN The bad thing thats going to happen Your Honor is that the status quo in Florida is that the constitutional right of access is openness THE COURT Right MS SHULLMAN You know certainly if Your Honor is inclined to postpone this hearing I would ask that it be done expeditiously as you suggest THE COURT Yeah MS SHULLMAN You know Friday and then ten days thereafter it just delays access for another two weeks and it infringes on our rights THE CO,URT I agree Mr Berger I will let you answer that same question MR BERGER THE COURT MR BERGER THE COURT I dont think Anything specific rather than Yes You know anything closed that the people are allowed to look at is a transgression and any transgression is bad but anything unique beyond that MR BERGER Your Honor Your Honor I do not a a a a a a i Proceedings June believe that this Court has the jurisdiction to revisit the propriety of the sealing of these records and give the Defendant or the State for that matter a second bite at the apple If the records are sealed improperly which the Court has said on its face that appears to have occurred I do not believe that this Court has jurisdiction to allow them a second bite at the apple to go through with the notice requirements They should have done that in front of Judge Pucillo a year ago and they did not do it The Rule of Judicial Administration simply does not give this Court the right to reactivate the procedure that you outlined THE COURT Okay MR BERGER Thank you THE COURT Anything further Mr Goldberger or Mr Critton MR GOLDBERGER Just note Your Honor as far as the timing of this and we want to do this expeditiously of course this sealing occurred not last week not two weeks ago not four months ago but eleven and one half months ago The Post reported this last July So I understand the right for the pubic to have access and we want to do this as quickly as possible but there is no fire here There is no house burning THE COURT Then Ill go ahead and enter an Order as I I I I Proceedings June Ive indicated that is that Ill grant the Interveners Motion to Intervene You have standing I will order that the State and/or the defense by noon Friday file a Notice of comply with the Administrative Order and the Judicial Rule the Rule of Judicial Administration paragraph that outlines the procedures to seal files in these types of cases and then well get a hearing scheduled for argument on whether or not they will be sealed Until that time they will remain sealed because Judge Pucillo signed off on the Order and Im not inclined to disturb that until I find more about the merits of the movant position MR GOLDBERGER Thank you THE COURT Anybody want to reduce any of that mess to a written Order MR EDWARDS Id like to Your Honor Id like to know if you"re going to give us a hearing date today THE COURT Ill deal with that Yeah Let me give you some time How much time do you think its going to take I dont think Im going to have any surprises How much time do you think we need A half hour MR 6DWARDS lon est THE COURT Not more Id say an hour at the Im not taking evidence or anything like that In the meantime do you agree it would be prudent a a I a i I Proceedings June for me to take a look and see what the content of these things are so I can be articulate on what their know about I didnt do that for todays hearing MR GOLDBERGER The defense MR EDWARDS The non-prosecution agreement THE COURT Right Whatever is under seal Whatever it is thats under seal Ill take a look at it so that I can at least have a feel for apparently what you all know and I dont MR GOLDBERGER The defense has no objection THE COURT Okay Ill go ahead and read those two sealed documents and Ill see you back here assuming that Mr Goldberger and Mr Critton get that done between now and Friday Ten days from this Friday is the 22nd How about we do this on the 25th at MR GOLDBERGER One moment Your Honor Thats fine with me MR BERGER Thank you THE COURT All right Great Thank you so much MR GOLDBERGER Thank you Judge PROCEEDINGS CONCLUDED a I a a I a a Proceedings June I I A I LOUANNE RAWLS certify that I was authorized to and did digitally report the foregoing proceedings and that the transcript is a true and complete record of my notes Dated this 10th day of June LOUANNE RAWLS a a a a a Proceedings A ace access addendum addresses adduced Adler Administr Administr advance ago agree Agreed agreement agreements ahead al ALAR alert allow allowed amendment and/or announce answer Anybody anyway apparently appearance appearances appears apple applied applies apply applying appreciate approached appropriate argue argument I arises articulate assuming Atterbury Australian authorized Ave Avenue AXX a.m back bad balancing Beach beginning behalf believe bench Berger beyond bit bite Blvd Brad Bradley Bralow brought burden Burman burning case cases certainl.y certify chance I June character circuit civil clear client close closed Closure Colbath come comedy compelling complete completely complied comply CONCLUDED conduct confident constitut content contest copy a I a I I i Proceedings correctly counsel counsels county couple course Court Courthouse Courts criminal Critton date Dated day days deal Deanna Defendant defense delay delays denying desire digitally disagree disclosed discovery disseminate disseminated distinction disturb DIVJ:SJ:ON docket documents draw Drive due Edwards eleven enter entered entitled Epstein Epsteins ESQUIRE essentially at everybody every:bocly evidence evidantiary axpeditio extra E-D-W-A-R face fact false far Federal feel fifteen PIPlEENlH file files filing fill June find fine fire First FI Flagler Florida followed following foregoing lort forum forward four Friday front further gaps give a a a a I I a a Proceedings gives go goes going Goldberger good gotcha government grant great Hafele half handed happen happens hear heard hearing hearings HELD Honor Honorable Honors hoops horrible hour house hur idea immediate immecilately important improperly inclined incredible indicated infringes initial intended interest Intervene interveners zntervener invited issue issues Jack Jeffrey JR Judge Judicial July jump jumping June jurisdiction kind know Las Lauderdale leave lets litigation little June LoCiero longest look looks Louanne loud Marra matter mean meet merits mess minute moment months morning motion movant move a I a a i a Proceedings moved moving name nature need needs non-criminal non-party non-prose noon NOS Notary note noted notes notice N.B objection occurred Office Oh okay Olas openness opportunity opposed order Orders ought outlined outlines Palm paragraph Pardon part parties party peak pending people pertains petition PL place placed Plaintiff Plaintiffs Plaintiffs Please position possible Post postpone Posts practical prejudice prepared procedurally procedure procedures proceedings process proper propriety prosecution prudent pubic public publics PUcillo punitive purpose pursuant put question quickly June quo quote Rawls reactivate read really reason reasoned record records reduce relief remain R.EMBMBERBD Renewed report reported represent represent request I I I Proceedings require requirements reapect respectfully result reveal review reviewed revisit right rights Robert Rosenfeldt Rothstein rule ruled Rule ruling saying says scheduled scrutiny seal sealed sealing second Secondly see serious set shift short Shullman side sign signed similar simply sir situations slow solution somebody soon sort sought south specific spelled standing State statua Ste Sul sequent suggest suggestion Suite superseded supreme surprb1es S-H-U-L take talk tangible tell tells ten terrible test teatimony thank June thanks theory thing things think thinking lhird lhomaa time timing today todays to-wit tranacript transgres traveling true a a a a I i Proceedings trying twelve two types ultimately understand unique unseal unsealed unsealing vacate vs waiting want wasnt week weeks weighing went west well were William wish words written Yeah year yelling zealous 10th 22nd 25th 3rd June a a a a I a i a I a a IN TllE CIRCUIT COURT OF TllE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PAtM BEACH COUNTY FLORIDA STATE OF FLORIDA Plaintiff vs JEFFREY E:PSTEIN Defendant CRIMINAL DIVISION PROCE:EDINGS l!ELD BEFORE THE HONORABLE JEFFREY COLBATH JUNE A.M A.M PAIM BEACH COUNTY COURTHOUSE WES PAIM BEACH FLORIDA Reported by Louanne Rawls Notary Public state of Florida West Palm Beach Office a a a a a i Proceedings APPEARANCES on behalf of the Defendant JACK ALAN GOLDBERGER ESQUIRE Atterbury Goldberger et al June Australian Ave South Suite West Palm Beach FL On behalf of the Defendant ROBERT CRITTON JR ESQUIRE Burman Critton et al Flagler Drive Ste West Palm Beach FL On behalf of Third Party WILLIAM BERGER ESQUIRE BRADLEY EDWARDS ESQUIRE Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler Las Olas Blvd Suite Fort Lauderdale FL On behalf of Third Party The Post DEANNA SHULLMAN ESQUIRE Thomas LoCiero Bralow PL N.E 3rd Avenue Suite Fort Lauderdale FL a a a I a a I a Proceedings June I BE IT REMEMBERED that the following proceedings ware had and testimony adduced before the Honorable Jeffrey Colbath at the Palm Beach COWlty courthouse West Palm Beach Florida beginning at the hour of a.m on June with appearances as herein noted to-wit TilE COURT State vs Epstein Let me have for the record announce everybodys appearance MR BERGER Your Honor William Berger and Bradley Edwards for non party MS SHULLMAN Your Honor Deanna Shullman of Thomas LOCiero Bralow for non 225party The Palm Beach Poat TilE COURT Let me slow down a little bit on behalf of The Poat ia MS SRULIMI Deanna Shullman TilE COURT S-H-U MS Sl!ULLMAN S-H-U-L-L-M-A-N THE COURT Ms Shullman good morning Mr Berger good morning And Mr Berger your client is MR BERGER yes TIIB COURT Anybody else here MR EDWARDS Brad Edwards on behalf of as well Judge Thanks a a a a a a I a a Proceedings THE COURT Last name is spelled MR EDWARDS Edwards E-D W-A-R-D-S THE COURT Okay June MR GOLDBERGER For the other side Your Honor Jack Goldberger along with Robert Critton on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein THE COURT It is the Posts and-Motion to Intervene for the purpose of unsealing records MR BOGER Yes sir THE COURT Heres what I think I know and I tell you this so that you can fill in the gaps of what you know that I dont know and suggest what you think I ought to do It appears to me that there was some agreement an agreement that was sealed and then an addendum or amendment to the agreement that was sealed as to documents in the Courts files under seal and it appears as though the punitive interveners want to unseal those and take a peak at them I dont see where any of the proper procedures to seal the documents was ever followed to begin with I dont know but its not jumping out at me when I reviewed the file So Im thinking that it might be appropriate and the burden might be on the moving party being the State and Mr Epstein to give them the opportunity to jump through the hur hoops to seal the documents if they are entitled to have them sealed then a a I I a i a Proceedings June Ill grant that request If theyre not antiUad to seal than Ill order it as documents unsealed But thats kind of procedurally where I think the case is I will allow Hr Berger and Ms Shullman to arqua if they wish to otherwise I will go over to Mr Goldbarqar and Mr Critton to perhaps talk al out what they think about my suqqastion Mr Berger MR BERGER I Id like to hear what they say THE COURT Ms Shullman HS SHULLMAlh Agreed THE COURT Mr Goldberqar MR GOLDBERGER rour Honor THB COURT mean i.t 1ooke 1i.ka they just handed up an Agreed Order to sion MR GOLDBERGER Wall if the Court I know the Court is trying to short circuit hara and the idea in theory is not horril la it"s not tarril la its actually not so bad But lat ma alert the Court to a couple of isauas First of all this ia not sanathing that came up ahead of time where we ware moving to close a haarinq or file documents under seal and the Rules of Judicial Administration makes an important distinction between things that are dona in advance and things that cane up during a hearing and the fact that maybe it goes to the Rule talk about situations that arise during the course a a a a a Proceedings June of a hearing that the Rules would not apply to that Secondly Motion to Intervene is brought under a Rule that does not apply because she brought it under a Rule that applies to non-criminal cases Having said that I know the Courts desire to get to the issues here and I just need to alert the Court to one other matter because I think its really important The Plaintiffs,_ has this agreement already They have this agreement Counsel will tell you they have this agreement There have been two hearings in front of Judge Marra who has the Federal cases here They moved to unseal the non prosecution agreement in front of Judge Marra He entered an initial Order a very very well reasoned order which I have a copy for the Court THE COURT Oh thanks MR GOLDBERGER He entered a very very well reasoned order weighing the interest of the Plaintiffs to have access to the non-prosecution agreement with the confidentiality that the parties intended to be part of this agreement And what he did he said they can have this agreement They can review it all they want If they want to review it with somebody else they need to give them a copy of this Order that it is not to be disclosed to anyone else Subsequent to that so thats the Rule thats in place right now Subsequent to that the a a I I Proceedings June Plaintiffs went back and said we want to disseminate this Order We want to disseminate this agreement to other parties and Judge Marra entered a second Order denying that request and said no My Order is in place but if you have some compelling reason why you want this agreement to be disseminated to others file a motion and come back to me TIJE COURT This is as a result of some civil litigation pending in the Federal Courthouse MR GOLDBERGER Yes THE COURT As opposed to any criminal prosecution going on MR GOLDBERGER It is civil proceedings that are going on in Federal Court But in the interest of comedy Your Honor the Court has ruled on the confidentiality agreement and has put a well reasoned procedure into place If the parties want that agreement unsealed where they need to go is go back to Federal court and Judge Marra invited them to do so TilE COURT That may be as it pertains to but what about The Post MR GOLDBERGER I think and I think I know where the Court is going on this If The Posts position is the public has right to ace access to this then there is a procedure in place and ultimately the Court has to conduct I I a a I Proceedings June a hearing and do the balancing test where you look at whether there is some compelling government interest and thats going to require an evidentiary hearing So I have no great objection to filing the Request for Closure and then have a hearing in front of the Court TIIE COURT Well lets do Im thinking out loud Im not ruling I will give you all a chance to argue further but this is what Im thinking I will do grant the Motion to Intervene It gives standing to It gives standing to The Post to contest the fact that these were sealed And then I will shift the burden back on the State and Defendant Mr Epstein to petition the Court to seal these documents Until such time that I rule on that I will leave them under seal because they might have been correctly sealed but the procedure wasnt followed Theres got to be notice You"ve got to comply with the Administrative order Youve got to comply with the Rule of Judicial Administration I think even though thats a civil it addresses a civil matter this is you know in the nature of a civil procedure So Ill do that And thank you for these Orders So where do we go from here thinking out loud not ruling Mr Berger MR BERGER Judge with all due respect I completely disagree with counsels characterization of a a a a I I a I Proceedings June those two I dont know if ha handed up both to you Saal THE COIJRT I do MR BERGER Thay simply do not say what ha tells you they say THE COURT Ill read th MR BERGER All right THE COURT and Ill allow you to malta that argument MR BERGER nd and THE COURT at tha time of tha Ranawad Motion to MR BERGER All right nd also I dont think the Court I think the Court needs to deal with this immediately expeditiously This is a matter that the Supreme Court has placed incredible scrutiny over And the Rule that we are traveling under were not only traveling under a Rule of Judicial Administration that applies to criminal and civil cases wara applying to an Administrative Order of this Court that was in place when the sealing was done and that superseded the sealing THE COURT I MR BERGER Im just saying I respectfully request that the Court not delay this one minute THE COURT Youve got the agreements Proceedings I I a I a June MR BERGER Pardon me THE COURT Youve got the agraamants anyway You ve got what under seal MR BERGER Judge we cannot do anything with them THE COURT Take that up with Judge Marra MR BERGER No sir That is not what the Order says May I quote Judge Marra If a specific tangible need arises in a civil case the relief should be sought in that case In other words the civil cases which are in front of Judge Hafele is one forum that Judge Marra said go to it Judge Marra did not say that this Court does not have jurisdiction to unseal its own sealed records or to vacate its own Order sealing And any characterization is is false THE COURT Ill take a look at it and Ill draw from it what it says what I think it says I appreciate your zealous representation of your client Please it appears as though youre yelling at me MS SHIJLU 1AN Your Honor THE COURT Ms Shullman7 MR BERGER Judge this happens to be a very serious matter and every day of delay delays our discovery THE COURT Ms Shullman MS SHULUoll Your Honor if I may be heard on the a a a I a Proceedings June issue as well Aa a representative of the publics right of access THE COURT Right HS SIIULLMl here essentially I would agree with Hr Berger that we need an immediate hearing on this issue Thats what were here to do today I think I heard Your Honor say that hes not clear that the procedures were applied My review of the record does not reveal that the procedures were canplied with My review is similar to Your Honors It looks like sort of everybody approached the bench and Judge Pucillo said lets take it under seal If Hr Epsteins counsel is not prepared to go forward today and meet his burden then I would ask that this Court set a hearing as soon as practical because the right solution here should be to unseal the records and then you know THE COURT I"ve gotcha HS SIIULLMl and they have to make a motion THE COURT Well what house is on fire I an what is the I think what they have to do is they"ve got to give ten days notice pursuant to the Rule the Administrative Order Rules of Judicial Administration to go through that process What what prejudice is there What house is burning down if I say okay State and defense go ahead and expeditiously move through the Proceedings a June procesa and l.et get this back on n,y docket as quickl.y as possibl.e and give tbam until Friday to fil.e their notice and tan days after that we bava an avidantiary hearing I go through the procesa than What bad thing is going to happen by waiting these extra twaJ.va to fifteen days MS SIIULLHIIN The bad thing thats going to happen Your Honor is that tba status quo in Fl.orida is that the constitutional right of access is openness THE COURT Right MS SHULLMAN You know 225rtainly if Your Honor is inclined to postpone thie hearing I would that it be don you augqeet THE COURT Yeah MS SIIULLHIIN You know Friday and than ten days thereafter it just dal.aya access for another two weeks and it infringes on our rights THE COURT I agree Hr Barger I wil.l let you anawer that same question MR BERGER I dont think THE COURT Anything specific rather than MR BERGER Yes THE COURT You know anything closed that tba peopl.e are al.l.ovad to look at is a transgression and any transgression is bad but anything unique beyond that MR BERGER Your Honor Your Honor I do not a a a a a a I I a a i a a Proceedings June believe that this Court has the jurisdiction to revisit the propriety of the sealing of these records and give the Defendant or the State for that matter a second bite at the apple rf the records are sealed improperly which the court has said on its face that appears to have occurred I do not believe that this Court has jurisdiction to allow them a second bite at the apple to go through with the notice requirements They should have done that in front of Judge Pucillo a year ago and they did not do it The Rule of Judicial Administration simply does not give this court the right to reactivate the procedure that you outlined THE COURT Okay MR BERGER Thank you THE COURT Anything further Mr Goldberger or Mr Critton MR GOLDBERGER Just note Your Honor as far as the timing of this and we want to do this expeditiously of course this sealing occurred not last week not two waelte ago not four months ago but eleven and one half months ago The Post reported this last July So I understand the right for the pubic to have access and we want to do this as quickly as possible but there is no fire here There is no house burning THE COURT Then Ill go ahead and enter an Order as a Proceedings a a June indicated that is that Ill grant the Interveners Motion to Intervene You have standing I will order that the State and/or the defense by noon Friday file a Notic:e of comply with the Administrative Order and the Judicial Rule the Rule of Judicial Administration paragraph that outlines the procedures to seal files in these types of cases and than well get a hearing sc:heduled for argument on whether or not they will be sealed Until that they will ramain sealed because Judge Pucillo signed off on the order and Im not inclined to disturb that until I find more about the marita of the movants position HR GOLDBERGER Tha you THE COURT Anybody want to reduce any of that meas to a written Order MR EDWAJIDS Id like to Your Honor Id like to know if youre going to give us a hearing data today THE COURT Ill deal with that Yeah Let ma give you soma How much time do you think its going to take I dont think Im going to have any surprises How much time do you think we need A half hour MR EDWARDS Not more Id say an hour at the longest THE COURT Im not taking avidanc:e or anything like that In the antima do you agree it would be prudent a Proceedings a a a I a a i I June for ma to take a look and sea what the content of these things are so I can be articulate on what their know about I didnt do that for tOdays hearing MR GOLDBERGER The defense MR EDWABDS The non-prosecution aQreamant THE COURT Right Whatever is under seal Whatever it is thats under seal Ill take a look at it so that I can at least have a feel for apparently what you all know and I dont MR GOLDBERGER The defense has no objection THE COURT Okay Ill go ahead and read those two sealed documents and Ill see you back here assuming that Mr Goldberger and Mr Critton get that done between now and Friday Ten days from this Friday is the 22nd How about we do this on the 25th at MR GOLDBERGER one mcmant Your Honor Thats fine with ma MR BERGER Thank you TI-IE COURT All right Great Thank you so much MR GOLDBERGER Thank you Judge PROCEEDINGS CONCLUDED a a a a I a a a a Proceedings June I I A I LOUANNE JUIHLS certify that I was authorized to and did digital.lY report the foregoing proceedings and that the transcript is a true and ca,plate record of my notes Dated this 10th day of JUne LOU1,NNE RAWLS a a i Proceedings June A ace access addendum addresses adduced Adler Administr Administr advance ago agree Agreed agreement alert allow allowed amendment and/or announce answer Anybody anyway apparently appearance appearances appears apple applied li app es arises articulate assuming Atterbury Australian authorized Ave Avenue AXX a.m back bad balancing Beach apply beyond bit bite Blvd Brad Bradley Bralow brought burden Burman burning character circuit civil clear client close closed Closure Colbath come comedy compelling complete completely complied co CONCLUDED a a a I a a I Proceedings June correctly counsel counsels County couple course Court docket date documents Dated day draw days Drive deal Deanna due evidence find evidentiary fine expeditio fire First extra FL E-D-W-A-R Flagler 1!1orida followed Defendant defense Edwards delay eleven delays enter denying entered desire entitled face fact false far Federal fo11owing foregoing Fort forum forward four Frida a a a a ll I a I Proceedings gives go goes going Goldberger good gotcha government grant great Hafele half handed happen happens hear heard hearing hearings HELD Honor Honorable Honors hoops horrible hour house hur idea immediate immediatel.y important improperly inclined incredible indicated infringes initial intended interest Intervene interveners ntervener invited issue issues Jack Jeffrey JR Judge Judicial Jul.y jumping June jurisdiction kind know I Las Lauderdale leave lets litigation little June LoCiero longest look looks Louanne loud Marra matter mean meet merits mess minute moment months morning motion movants move a I a i a I a Proceedings June noved noving name nature need needs non-criminal non-party non-prose noon NOS Notary note noted notes notlC N.E objection occurred Office Oh okay Olas openness opportunity opposed order Orders ought outlined outlines Palm paragraph Pardon part parties party peak pending people pertains petition PL place placed Plaintiff Plaintiffs Plaintiffs Please position possible Post postpone Posts practical prejudice prepared procedurally procedure procedures proceedings process proper propriety prosecution prudent pubic public publics Pucillo punitive purpose pursuant put question quickly quo quote Rawls reactivate read really reason reasoned record records reduce relief remain REMEMBERED Renewed report reported represent represent request I a a i I a Proceedings require requirements respect respectfully result reveal review reviewed revisit right rights Robert Rosenfeldt Rothstein rule ruled Rules ruling saying says scheduled scrutiny seal sealed sealing second Secondly see serious set shift short Shullman side sign signed similar simply Sir situations slow solution somebody soon sort sought South specific spelled standing State status Ste Subsequent suggest suggestion Suite superseded Supreme surprises S-H U-L take talk tangible tell tells ten terrible test testimon thank June thanks theory thing things think thinking Third Thomas time timing today todays to wit transcript transgres traveling true a a a a a Proceedings trying twelve two types ultimately understand unique unseal unsealed unsealing vacate vs waiting want wasnt week weeks weighing June went west we we William wish words written Yeah year 22nd yelling 25th zealous 3rd 10th I I I I a a IN THE CIRCUIT OCURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY FLORIDA ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO IN RE SEALING OF COURT HEARINGS AND RECORDS The Florida constitution mandates that the public shaU have access to court records subject only to certain enumerated limitations which are restricted by operation of state law federal law or court rule In re Amendments to Florida Rule of Judicial Admin Sealing of Court Records So.2d Fla The Rules of the Supreme Court strongly disfavor court records that are hidden from public scrutiny The Florida Supreme Court recently adopted Interim Rule of the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration which addresses the procedures for sealing noncriminal court records In order to ensure that both criminal and noncriminal court records are sealed properly it is NOW THEREFORE pursuant to the authority conferred by Florida Rule of Judicial Administration it is ORDERED as follows A request to make court records or a court hearing confidential in any type of case must be made by written motion Parties cannot submit an agreed-upon order The Motion must be captioned Motion to Make Court Records Confidential or Motion to Make Court Hearing Confidential The Motion must identify with particularity the records or hearing to be made confidential and the grounds upon which it is based The Motion must include a signed certification by the party making the request that the motion is being made in good faith and is supported by a sound factual and legal basis The records that are the subject of a Motion to Make Court Records Confidential will be treated as confidential pending resolution of the motion The case number docket number or other identifying number of a case will remain public Pseudonyms may be used as permitted by the court Court records made confidential under this rule must be treated as confidential during any appellate proceeding in this Circuit A public hearing on any motion to seal a court record or court hearing will be held as soon as practicable but no less than ten days prior to the notice being given to the public and the press and no later than days after the filing of the motion A party may seek to hold all or a a a a a I a portion of the hearing on a Motion to Make Court Records Confidential in camera if necessary to protect any of the interests listed in Interim Rule of Judicial Administration A The moving party will be responsible for ensuring that a complete record of any hearing be created either by use of a court reporter or by any recording device that is provided as a matter of right by the court A sealing order issued by a court must state with specificity the grounds for sealing and the findings of the court that justify sealing The order granting the sealing request must contain as much detail as possible including the parties names or pseudonyms whether the progress docket is to be confidential the court records that are to be confidential and the names of persons who are permitted access The order must contain specific findings that the degree duration and manner of confidentiality are no broader than necessary to protect the interests listed in Interim Rule of Judicial Administration A The order will not reveal the information that is to be made confidential The order will direct whether the progress docket is to be sealed If an order sealing a court file is silent as to whether the progress docket is to be sealed the clerk shall seal the court file but maintain a public docket with no alternation of the parties names In accordance with Interim Rule of Judicial Administration the Clerk shall NOT seal the case number docket number or any other identifying number of a case that is sealed by court order The Court will direct the Clerk to post the order sealing the court file on the Clerks website as well as on the bulletin board located at the Main Courthouse within ten days following the entry of the order and must remain posted in both locations for at least days A nonparty may file a written motion to vacate a sealing order,in accordance with Florida Rule of Judicial Administration In re Amendments to Florida Rule of Judicial Admin Sealing of Court Records So.2d Fla A public hearing must be held on any contested motion to vacate a sealing order The court in its discretion may hold a hearing on an uncontested motion While challenge hearings must be open to the public a party may seek to hold a portion or all of the hearing in camera if necessary to protect the interests listed in Interim Rule of Judicial Administration A The movant must ensure that a record of the hearing is made The movant seeking to vacate an order bears the burden of showing that the order is unsound If the identity of a party is to remain confidential all applicable pleadings will be filed with the fol1owing designation on the front of the pleading Confidential Party Court Service Requested The judicial assistant for the division in which the pleading is filed is responsible for providing such notice to the applicable parties The judicial assistant is to provide such notice so as not to inadvertently reveal the identity of the confidential party a a a a a a a This administrative rule does NOT address the confidentiality of records admitted into evidence and it does NOT pertain to the statutory process for sealing or expunging criminal history records Motions to Seal pleadings or court records filed in a criminal case must however comply with this Administrative Order This administrative order also does NOT pertain to court records that are confidential pursuant to statute rule or other legal authority If a motion to seal is not made in good faith and is not supported by a sound legal and factual basis the court may impose sanctions upon the movant The Clerk of Court or a deputy clerk is hereby authorized to open any court file sealed by operation oflaw or court order for the purpose of filing documents pertinent to the particular file as well as for microfilming or imaging files and for preparing a record on appeal The Clerk or deputy clerk shall reseal the file immediately upon completion of the task with the date and time of the unsealing clearly marked on the outside of the file along with the initials of the deputy clerk In all matters except adoption and surrogacy cases the Clerk of Court will make the contents of a sealed file available to adult parties and their attorneys of record The contents of adoption and surrogacy files shall not be made available to any person absent a court order DONE AND SIGNED in Chambers in West Palm Beach Palm Beach County Florida this.,_.lf day of September supersedes admin order a a a a a a a I a a a a i IN TI rE CIRCUIT COURT Of THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY FLORIDA ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO IN RE SEALING COURT HEARINGS AND RECORDS WHEREAS all court proceedings are public events and a strong presumption of public access attaches to all proceedings and their records and WHEREAS records made or received pursuant to court rule law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business are subject to public disclosun l1Jld WHEREAS privacy rights oflitigants may in certain circumstances require that court recon:ls or documents in the record should be sealed NOW THEREFORE it is ORDERED that to balance the competing interests of litigants privacy interests and the publics right to access to court records the following procequn:s are established for scaling court records I When a Motion is received for the sealing of a hearing or all or part of a court record the Court will direct a hearing be held on same The Court will give notice of the hearing by posting lme on the electronic bulletin board established by the Clerk of Court expressly for this purpose Unless otherwise ordered with a reason given by the Court notice should include enough disclosure to identify the case the movant the respondent and a brief generic description of the matters sealed or sought to be sealed The Court will not set a hearing less than ten I days prior to the notice being given to lhc public and the press Where prior notice to the public and press regarding the scaling of a record is not practicable the Court will address such Motion and if granted provide notice of any decision to seal on the Clerks electronic bulletin board Unless otherwise ordered with a reason given by the Court notice should im;ludc enough disclosure to identify the case the movont the re:1pondcnt and a brief generic description of the matters scaled or sought to be sealed Access to court proceedings and records may be restricted to protect the interests of litigants only after a showing that the following has been met i the measure limiting or denying access closure or sealing of records or both is necessary to prevent a serious and imminent threat to the administration of justice a a a a a a I a ii no less restrictive alternative measures are available which would mitigate the danger and ill the measure being considered will in fact achieve the courts protective purpose The reasons supporting sealing the file must be stated with specificity in the order sealing the court record or hearing The Case number should n.-main acce.,sible on bani,er regardless of whether the case has been seah:d DONE and ORDERED in Chambers at West Palm Beach florida this day of ct lbcr ISi Judge Kathleen Kroll Chief Judge supersedes adminislralive order no The Court rccogni7.cs the present technology as of October used by the Clerk supports this however it can not happen without a system modification which shall be completed by December I I I a a a a a I a Westlaw Not Reported in So.2d Page I Not Reported in So.2d WL Fla.Cir.Ct Media Rep Cite as WL Fla.Cir.Ct Florida Circuit Court Seventh Judicial Circuit Volusia County JOHN DOE I THROUGH JOHN DOE-4 and Par ents of John Doe I through John Doe-4 Plaintiffs MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND HISTORY OF JACKSONVILLE INC Defendant Nos Div June William Ogle Ormond Beach FL Douglas Childs Jacksonville FL Jonathan Kaney Jr Daytona Beach FL OPINION AND ORDER ON MOTION TO CLOSE TRIAL RICHARD ORFINGER Circuit Judge THIS MATTER is before the Court on the plaintiffs motion to exclude the public from the tri al of this case Notice of hearing was given to rep resentatives of the media as required by law News Journal Corporation publisher of The News Journal filed a response and appeared in opposi tion to the motion Defendant took no position According to the complaint a man who worked at the local museum sexually abused the minor plaintiffs He had first come into contact with three of the minors as they served as volunteers under his supervision More than four years ago the abuser was prosecuted and sentenced to prison Since then the plaintiffs have settled suits for damages result ing from this abuse against the Daytona Beach Mu seum of Arts and Sciences the Volusia County School Board and the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services As a previous employer of the abuser plaintiffs allege this de fendant failed to disclose information about the ab users record of sexual abuse when it received an inquiry related to his employment in this com munity Although so many persons have become familiar with the case that defendant has listed eighty-one potential fact witnesses no victim has yet been identified in the media Relying on a privacy interest in the facts relating to the sexual abuse plaintiffs argue that closure is ne cessary to prevent the substantial harm that likely would result from revelation of these facts and fi FNI ent1 1cat1on as v1ct1ms Thus the motion calls upon the court to decide whether a privacy in terest in the facts relating to sexual abuse suffered by the minors provides a proper basis for closure of the trial of the minors suit for damages arising out of this abuse For the reasons that follow the court concludes that this is not a proper basis for closure and denies the motion FNI Previously plaintiffs moved for an order restraining anyone including the me dia from publishing information disclosed during the trial that would identify the minor victims The court denied this mo tion See Nebraska Press Association Stuart U.S and The Flor ida Star B.J.F U.S Whenever other interests compete with the public interest in open judicial proceedings our analys is must begin with the proposition that all civil and criminal court proceedings are public events re cords of court proceedings are public records and there is a strong presumption in favor of public ac cess to such matters Sentinel Communications Co Watson So.2d Fla 5th DCA citing Barron Florida Freedom Newspapers Inc So.2d This presumption rests on the most fundamental values of American government Thomson Reuters/West No Claim to Orig US Gov Works a a a a I a Not Reported in So.2d Page Not Reported in So.2d WL Fla.Cir.Ct Media Rep Cite as WL Fla.Cir.Ct he people have a right to know what is done in their courts The greatest publicity to the acts of those holding positions of public trust and the greatest freedom in the discussion of the proceed ings of public tribunals that is consistent with truth and decency are regarded as essential to the public welfare Barron So.2d at citing In re Shortridge Open ness in courts has a salutary effect on the propensity of witnesses to tell the truth and of judi cial officers to perform their duties conscientiously It informs persons affected by litigation of its effect upon them and fosters respect for the law intelli gent acquaintance with the methods of govern ment and a strong confidence in judicial remedies which could never be inspired by a system of secrecy Id citing WIGMORE EVIDENCE Chadbourn These fundamental values come into play whenever the court is in ses sion and the presumption of openness applies in hard cases as well as easy cases The reason for openness is basic to our form of government Id This motion is opposed by various news organ izations but the presumption of openness is of lar ger importance than the immediate interest of the press in the case of the moment To be sure the press has a cognizable interest in maintaining open courts because its ability to gather news is directly impaired or curtailed by restrictions on access Moreover the press is assigned a fiduciary role in enforcing public rights of access because the press may be properly considered as a representative of the public for enforcement of public right of ac cess Nevertheless the values of openness in courts transcend the interests of the press because freedom of the press is not and has never been a private property right granted to those who own the news media It is a cherished and almost sacred right of each citizen to be informed about current events on a timely basis so each can exercise his discretion in determining the destiny and security of himself other people and the Nation State ex rel Miami Herald Pub Co McIntosh So.2d In serving the right of each cit izen to be informed judicial openness of which the press is an instrument sustains public confidence in the judiciary and thus serves the ultimate value of popular sovereignty This higher purpose of openness is not always ap parent in the public scrutiny of the daily business of the courts Depending on the definition of news worthiness it may be possible to dismiss as un worthy much that transpires in civil courts Here it is easy to ask what public interest is served by sub jecting these minor victims to the risk of public identification However Barron teaches that this is the wrong question because it overlooks the higher purpose of openness in the courts In Barron a case involving privacy concerns inher ent in a divorce case the court strongly reaffirmed the presumption that Florida civil courts are open In dissent Justice McDonald saw the question in case-specific terms He would have closed the pro ceeding because the rights of the public to inform ation contained in a domestic relations lawsuit is minimal if existent at all So.2d at Impli citly this approach would have required the pro ponent of openness to show a particular need to know facts of the specific case in order to gain ac cess The majority rejected this approach because it saw the conflicting interests in broader terms The parties seeking a dissolution of their marriage are not entitled to a private court proceeding just be cause they are required to utilize the judicial sys tem So.2d at A closure request implicates the integrity and cred ibility of the judicial system itself and not just the immediate concerns of the parties The balance to be struck is not between the peoples need to know the particular facts of the case versus the parties need to keep these facts private but between the public interest in open courts versus the personal desire for a private forum Public trials are essen tial to the judicial systems credibility in a free soci ety Barron at Although the Florida Supreme Court holds that Thomson Reuters/West No Claim to Orig US Gov Works a a Not Reported in So.2d Page Not Reported in So.2d WL Fla.Cir.Ct Media Rep Cite as WL Fla.Cir.Ct the public and the press have a fundamental right of access to all judicial proceedings however this right is not absolute State ex rel Miami Herald Pub Co McIntosh So.2d at In Bar ron the court took the occasion to establish the standards upon which the presumption of openness may be overcome when necessary to protect com peting interests The court wrote a definitive statement to assist judicial officers in this sensit ive area So.2d at Barron establishes a strong presumption of open ness for all court proceedings and records places the burden on the proponent of closure and grants standing to the public and media to challenge clos ure orders Before a court may enter any order of closure it must determine there are no reasonable alternatives to closure and must order the least re strictive closure necessary to accomplish the pur pose of closure So.2d at A closure or der should be drawn with particularity and nar rowly applied So.2d at Barron specifies an exclusive listing of those com peting interests that may under appropriate circum stances be sufficiently weighty to justify closure Closure may be ordered only when necessary to serve one of six competing interests a to comply with established public policy set forth in the constitution statutes rules or case law to protect trade secrets to protect a compelling governmental interest e.g national security confidential informants to obtain evidence to properly determine legal issues in a case to avoid substantial injury to innocent third parties e.g to protect young witnesses from of fensive testimony to protect children in a di vorce or to avoid substantial injury to a party by disclos ure of matters protected by a common law or pri vacy right not generally inherent in the specific type of civil proceeding sought to be closed At the outset the proponent of closure must identi fy one or more of such interests that is implicated in the proposed closure Here it is not necessary to go beyond this first level of analysis because plaintiffs have not connected their motion to a valid interest that would justify closure This motion poses a direct confrontation between the individual interest in privacy and the public in terest in open courts Because there is inherent in the case sensitiye intimate and embarrassing private facts plaintiffs seek to litigate their claim in a closed proceeding They argue that revelation of the identities of the minor plaintiffs has the po tential to inflict substantial harm upon them as a matter of common sense There is no question there are strong reasons to keep private the facts surrounding the abuse prac ticed on the minors by the now-imprisoned abuser The question this court must decide however is whether these are reasons to secure the courtroom The question is not whether to afford privacy to the plaintiffs but whether to afford plaintiffs a closed forum in which to disclose these facts Although there is no case directly on this point the present question comes fully within the holding of Barron which thoroughly considered the com petition between the peoples interest in public courts and the personal interest in private facts In effect Barron raised the question of the role to be assigned to privacy in a system of public courts and the majority resolved the issue by granting a narrow role to privacy based on considerations re lating to the legitimate expectations of privacy In the Florida Supreme Courts well-developed pri vacy jurisprudence the fundamental basis of the right of privacy is a legitimate expectation of pri vacy Not every fact in every circumstance is private and not every act of government violates Thomson Reuters/West No Claim to Orig US Gov Works a a a a Not Reported in So.2d Page4 Not Reported in So.2d WL Fla.Cir.Ct Media Rep Cite as WL Fla.Cir.Ct the right to be let alone The concept by which the court separates the appropriate from the inappropri ate instance for invoking the privacy right is this expectation Stall State So.2d In order to establish a right of privacy the individual must establish that a reasonable ex pectation of privacy exists Winfield Divi sion of Pari-Mutuel Wagering So.2d A right of privacy cannot attach when there is no expectation of privacy Under our historic tradition of public courts what reasonable expectation of privacy could a litigant possibly entertain Concur ring in Barron Justice Erhlich would have con ceded the litigant no reasonable expectation of pri vacy He pointed out we have recognized that the potential for invasion of privacy is inherent in the litigation process Rasmussen South Flor ida Blood Service So.2d While civil litigants may have a legitimate expecta tion of privacy in pretrial depositions and interrog atories which are not filed with the court citations omitted no such expectation exists in connection with civil proceedings and court files which histor ically have been open to the public See Forsberg Housing Authority So.2d Overton concurring there is traditionally no expectation of privacy in court files So.2d at Justice Erhlich shows the conflict between pri vacy and publicness If the privacy interest were al lowed unbounded scope it would overcome the public nature of trials Thus a system of public tri als must insist that litigants abandon qualms about disclosure of private facts when they place them in contest in the court Without rejecting this view entirely the majority nevertheless identified a limited scope of privacy within civil litigation We find that under appro priate circumstances the constitutional right of pri vacy established in Florida by the adoption of art icle I section could fonn a constitutional basis for closure under or So.2d at I The majority thus conceived of two instances in which a reasonable expectation of privacy might be found First there is the privacy expectation of persons who are not parties to the case Involuntary parti cipants may have a reasonable claim of privacy Thus under item Barron recognizes that closure may be justified if the proponent carries the heavy burden of showing closure is necessary to avoid substantial injury to innocent third parties e.g to protect young witnesses from offensive testimony to protect children in a divorce I So.2d at I I Second there is the more limited privacy expecta tion of a party Again the doctrine of legitimate ex pectation is applicable Alth ugh a litigant has no right to expect privacy in matters involved in the case litigated in a public court there may be mat ters extrinsic to the case with respect to which a lit igant has a reasonable privacy claim Under Bar rons item a proponent may be entitled to clos ure if he or she carries the burden of showing that closure is necessary to avoid substantial injury to a party by disclosure of matters protected by a com mon law or privacy right not generally inherent in the specific type of civil proceeding sought to be closed So.2d at Barron rules out closure based on privacy interests of parties in the subject matter of the case itself In recognizing a peripheral role for the privacy claims of civil litigants the majority held there can be no privacy interest in that which is inherent in the case Because litigation in a public court system in volves an inherent tendency to invade privacy a lit igant has no reasonable expectation of privacy in the subject matter of a case This must be so if as Barron soundly affirms there is to be a system of open courts in Florida Applying this standard in Barron the court determ ined the medical history in question should not be sealed because it was inherent in the case Although generally protected by ones privacy right medical reports and history are no longer pro tected when the medical condition becomes an in tegral part of the civil proceeding particularly Thomson Reuters/West No Claim to Orig US Gov Works a a I I I Not Reported in So.2d Page Not Reported in So.2d WL Fla.Cir.Ct Media Rep Cite as WL Fla.Cir.Ct when the condition is asserted as an issue by the party seeking closure Medical information is an inherent part of these proceedings and cannot be utilized as a proper basis for closure So.2d at The same is true in this case Those private facts which form the basis of the motion for closure are the facts inherent in the plaintiffs case Neverthe less plaintiffs argue their request implicates the competing interests Barron listed in item a deal ing with public policy item dealing with pri vacy of third party and item dealing with pri vacy ofa party Plaintiffs first argue that closure of the trial is ne cessary under item a to comply with established public policy set forth in the constitution statutes rules or case law So.2d at Plaintiffs rightly contend the State of Florida has long re cognized as a matter of public policy the need to protect minors who come into contact with the justice system and cite statutory provisions ex empting records of sex crimes and child abuse from public records disclosure and providing for closure of adoption and dependency proceedings See Fla.Stat To be sure it is public policy to protect minor victims of sex crimes from unnecessary public ex posure The cited exceptions to public records laws illustrate this as does the practice of anonymous pleading However state policy neither requires nor permits closure of public trials on the basis of the privacy interests of minor victims of sex crimes The trial of the perpetrator of a sex crime against a minor must be conducted in public as a matter of Florida com mon law.FN Under Fla.Stat the court has a certain ability to clear the courtroom during testimony of a person under the age of I but the press specifically may not be excluded.F A re cent statute protecting minor witnesses does not purport to authorize closure of the trial to protect FN Wh mmor witnesses en state prosecutes parent of a minor child for sexual abuses practiced on the child the trial is not closed nor is there sup pression of the identity of the parent from which as plaintiffs argue here the identity of the child is readily inferred.FN Indeed from the reports of tort suits by minor victims of sexual crimes seeking damages from the perpetrator or those vicariously liable it can be seen that the courts of this state conduct cases like the present as open public trials FN6 name party FN2 Bundy State So.2d cert denied U.S Miami Herald Publishing Co Lewis So.2d See also Globe Newspaper Company Superior Court S.Ct Same under First Amendment FN3 See Palm Beach Newspapers Nourse So.2d Fla 4th DCA Error to summarily exclude press from arraignment of defendant charge with lewd and lascivious act on child under age News-Press Pub Shearer Med.L.Rptr Fla 2d DCA Error to exclude press from courtroom while juvenile witness in sex crime testi fies and error to seal record from press Compare Miami Herald Pub Co Morphonios So.2d Error to gag press from publishing testi mony of minor witness via prerecorded video and Thornton State So.2d Fla 2d DCA Statute cannot override defendants Sixth Amendment right to public trial without case-by-case balancing test See also Doe Doe So.2d I Fla 4th DCA Affirming denial of motion to close pro ceedings in which mother seeks authority for surgical sterilization of mentally handi capped daughter FN4 Fla.Stat Authorizing the court to permit or prohibit the attendance Thomson Reuters/West No Claim to Orig US Gov Works a a I Not Reported in So.2d Page Not Reported in So.2d WL Fla.Cir.Ct Media Rep Cite as WL Fla.Cir.Ct of any person at the proceeding emphasis supplied FNS See e.g Schmidt State So.2d Father prosecuted for crime of video recording of minor daughter in violation of statute concerning depiction of sex acts Sanders State So.2d Fla 3d DCA Father prosec uted for lewd and lascivious acts against minor daughter FN6 See e.g Zordan Page So.2d Fla 2d DCA Suit by minor and parents against carrier for damages in curred when insured fondled private parts of minor plaintiff Hennagan Depart ment of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles So.Zd Fla 1st DCA suit by minor and parents against FHP for damages when minor driver was allegedly sexually abused by patrolmen after being stopped on pretext of suspi cion Drake Island Community Church Inc So.2d Fla 3d DCA Suit by minor and parents for damages from sexual abuse by teacher on minor pu pil Compare Freehau.fv School Board of Seminole County So.2d I Fla 5th DCA cause dismissed So.2d Suit for abuse inflicted on son by stepmother failure to report suspected abuse by school Fischer Metcalf So.2d Fla 3d DCA Suit by minors against psychologist for damages from abusive father when suspicion of ab use was not reported The court concludes that it is not necessary to close this trial in order to comply with any public policy of the State of Florida The plaintiffs next argue that closure is necessary to serve the interest of innocent third parties whose privacy warrants closure under item of Barron The plaintiffs assert that each minor in this consol idated cause is a third party as to the other three ac tions and thus the trial should be closed to protect them as third parties in the consolidated cases Hav ing voluntarily joined to bring the action they can not claim to be third parties to the action nor assert a legitimate expectation of privacy in the disclos ures that necessarily follow from their decision to act in concert Plaintiffs also assert the privacy interest of other minors who were victims of this same abuse but who have not joined in this suit There is no evid ence that trial of this case would implicate these third parties In any event plaintiffs lack standing to assert the interest of these third parties and the Court will not decide any issue affecting their rights unless a party with standing raises the issue Finally plaintiffs attempt to bring their motion un der item relating to the privacy interest of a party To be entitled to an order of closure under this item however plaintiffs must show that clos ure is necessary to avoid substantial injury to a party by disclosure of matters protected by a com mon law or privacy right not generally inherent in the specific type of civil proceeding sought to be closed So.2d at emphasis added Plaintiffs argue their identities are not inherent facts in the case and thus the trial should be closed to prevent revelation of the identity However plaintiffs also contend it will be impossible to try the case without revelation of their names Their ar gument refutes itself The identity of a party is in herent in the case and that concern alone could not justify total closure This argument is a proxy for the ineffective argument that the sensitive nature of inherent private facts should justify a private forum Facts regarding abuse form the core of their case and thus it is an inherent part of these proceedings and cannot be utilized as a proper basis for clos ure I So.2d at The decision to litigate this issue is tantamount to a decision to place the in formation before the public As sympathetic as their claim is it fails to state a cognizable reason for closure under the law The Thomson Reuters/West No Claim to Orig US Gov Works a a I a a I Not Reported in So.2d Not Reported in So.2d WL Fla.Cir.Ct Media Rep Cite as WL Fla.Cir.Ct request to close a civil trial because of a partys dis closural concerns with facts inherent in the cause cannot be reconciled with Barron Facts generally protected by a partys privacy right are no longer protected from disclosure when they become an in tegral part of a civil proceeding Indeed plaintiffs argument for a private forum could be asserted as the basis for a wide array of exceptions that would swallow up the presumption of openness The argument based on this interest therefore proves too much That same interest could be relied upon to support an array of mandatory closure rules proves too much and runs contrary to the very foundation of the right of access Globe Newspa per Company Superior Court S.Ct Accordingly having considered the briefs and argu ments of counsel for the reasons set forth in this opinion it is ORDERED that the Motion to Close Trial be denied DONE AND ORDERED Fla.Cir.Ct John Doe-I Through John Doe-4 Museum of Sci ence and History of Jacksonville Inc Not Reported in So.2d WL Fla.Cir.Ct Media Rep END OF DOCUMENT Thomson Reuters/West No Claim to Orig US Gov Works Page I I a i I I a a a a a Case ument Entered on FLSD Page of UNITED STA TES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA CASE NO 08-80736-CIV-MARRA/JOHNSON FILED by D.C IN RE JANE DOE JUL Petitioner I STEVEN lJ RIMORE CL tRK U.S IST CT OF FLA GOVERNMENTS RESPONSE TO VICTIMS EMERGENCY a a a a a a I Case ument the Southern District of Florida Entered on FLSD Page of Title S.C Section provides in pertinent part that in any court proceeding involving an offense against a crime victim the court shall ensure that the crime victim is afforded 1he rights described in subsection a There is no court proceeding in the instant case since Epstein has not been charged with violation of any federal statute No federal grand jury indictment has been returned nor has any criminal information been filed There can thus be no failure of a right to notice of a public court proceeding or the right to restitution In her memorandum petitioner relies upon In Re Dean F.3d 5th Cir here the Fifth Circuit held that the CVRA required the government to confer in some reasonable way with the victims before ultimately exercising its broad discretion Id at In Dean the government sought and obtained an ex parte order permitting it to negotiate a plea agreement with BP Products North America without first consulting with the victims individuals injured and survivors of those killed in a refinery explosion A plea agreement wa ultimately negotiated and the victims objected The appellate court found that the CVRA granted a right to confer However the court declined to grant mandamus relief for prudential reasons finding that the district court had the benefit of the views of the victims who chose to participate at the hearing held on whether the plea agreement should be accepted Id at Dean is legally distinguishable in several respects For one thing the courts discussion of the scope of the right to confer was unnecessary because the court ultimately declined to issue mandamus relief Pean F.3d at Also in offering its view that this right applies pre charge it is noteworthy that the court in purporting to quote the statute omitted the last three words of section a in the case words that arguably point in the opposite direction by a a I a i Case cument Entered on FLSD Do Page of suggesting that the right applies post-charge Further the court went to great lengths to emphasize that its holding was limited to the particular circumstances presented in that case i.e the simultaneous filing of a plea agreement and formal charges which of course is not the case here No federal charges have been filed in the instant case and this case unlike Dean involves an agreement to defer federal prosecution in favor of prosecution by the State of Florida and not a guilty plea lg,_ at Finally the Dean court expressly declined to speculate on the right to confers applicability to other situations Id Nothing in a supports the petitioners claim that she had a right to be consulted before the Government could enter into a non prosecution agreement which defers federal prosecution in exchange for state court resolution of criminal liability and a significant concession on an element of a claim for compensation under U.S.C II THE GOVERNMENT HAS USED ITS BEST EFFORTS TO COMPLY WITH U.S.C a The Epstein case was investigated initially by the Palm Beach Police Department in Exhibit A Declaration of Assistant United States Attorney A Marie Villafana Subsequently the Palm Beach Police Department sought the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Id Throughout the investigation when a victim was identified victim notification letters were provided to the victim by both the FBI Victim-Witness Specialist and AUSA Villafana Id Petitioners counsel Brad Edwards Esq currently represent and The U.S Attorneys Office victim notification letter to was provided by the FBL and the letter tolwas hand-delivered by AUSA Villafana to her when she was interviewed in April FBI victim notification letters were mailed tcl an-on a a a a a a I I a i Case cument Entered on FLSD Do Page of January I and to-on May Villafana Deel i Throughout the investigation AUSA Villafana and the FBIs Victim-Witness Specialist had contact with Villafana Deel i Earlier in the investigation-was represented by James Eisenberg Esq Consequently all contact with-was made through Mr Eisenberg In Epsteins attorneys approached the U.S Attorneys Office in an effort to resolve the federal investigation Id i At that time Mr Epstein had been charged by the State of Florida with solicitation of prostitution in violation of Florida Statutes Mr Epsteins attorneys sought a global resolution of this matter The United States subsequently agreed to defer federal prosecution in favor of prosecution by the State of Florida so long as certain basic preconditions were met One of the key objectives for the Government was to preserve a federal remedy for the young girls whom Epstein had sexually exploited Thus one condition of that agreement notice of which was provided to the victims on July is the following Any person who while a minor was a victim of a violation of an offense enumerated in Title United States Code Section will have the same rights to proceed under Section as she would have had if Mr Epstein had lleen tried federally and convicted of an enumerated offense For purposes of implementing this paragraph the United States shall provide Mr Epsteins attorneys with a list of individuals whom it was prepared to name in an Indictment as victims of an enumerated offense by Mr Epstein Any judicial authority interpreting this provision including any authority determining which evidentiary burdens if any a plaintiff must meet shalJ consider that it is the intent of the parties to place these identified victims in the same position as they would have been had Mr Epstein been convicted at trial No more no less The Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance May Article a a a a a a Case cument Entered on FLSD IV Services to Victims and Witnesses provides the following guidance for proposed plea agreements Proposed Plea Agreements Responsible officials should make reasonable efforts to notify identified victims of and consider victims views about prospective plea negotiations In determining what is reasonable the responsible official should consider factors relevant to the wisdom and practicality of giving notice and considering views in the context of the particular case including but not limited to the following factors a The impact on public safety and risks to personal safety The number of victims Whether time is of the essence in negotiating or entering a proposed plea Whether the proposed plea involves confidential infonnation or conditions Whether there is another need for confidentiality Page of Whether the victim is a possible witness in the case and the effect that relaying any infonnation may have on the defendants right to a fair trial Throughout negotiations Epsteins attorneys claimed that one reason victims came forward and pressed their claims was their desire for money They argued that victims might have an inducement to fabricate or enhance their testimony in order to maximize their opportunities to obtain financial recompense Villafana Deel The Government was extremely concerned that disclosure of the proposed tenns would compromise the investigation by providing Epstein the means of impeaching the victim witnesses should the parties fail to reach an agreement In light of the fact i that the United States agreed to defer prosecution to a previously filed state criminal case ii that as a result sentencing would take place in state court before a state judge i that if the state resolution failed to meet minimum standards such that a federal prosecution was warranted the victims would be witnesses and thus potential a a a a a a a I a Case ument Entered on FLSD Page of impeachment issues were of concern and iv the United States was already making efforts to secure for victims the right to proceed federalJy under U.S.C even if prosecution took place in state court the Government determined that its actions in proceeding with this agreement best balanced the dual position of the Jane Does as both victims and potential witnesses in a criminal proceeding On Friday June at approximately p.m AUSA Villafana received a copy of the proposed state plea agreement and learned that Epsteins state plea hearing was scheduled for Monday June at a.m Villafana Deel AUSA Villafana and the Palm Beach Police Department attempted to provide notification to victims in the short time that they had Id Although all known victims were not notified AUSA Villafana did call attorney Edwards to provide notice to his clients regarding the hearing AUSA Villafana did this even though she had no obligation to provide notice of a state court hearing Mr Edwards advised that he could not attend but that someone would be present at the hearing Id The Government has complied with U.S.C by using its best efforts to 267see that crime victims are notified of and accorded the rights described in subsection a Specifically petitioner was afforded the reasonable right to confer with the attorney for the Government under U.S.C a Disclosure of the specific terms of the negotiation were not disclosed prior to a final agreement being reached because the Government believed doing so would jeopardize and prejudice the prosecution in the event an agreement could not be made Further although U.S.C a does not apply to state court proceedings the government nonetheless notified petitioners counsel on June of the plea hearing in state court on June Case cument Entered on FLSD Page of Section provides in relevant part that nothing in this chapter shall be construed to impair the prosecutorial discretion of the Attorney General or any officer under his direction The Government exercised its judgment and discretion in determining that there was a need for confidentiality in the negotiations with Epstein The significant benefit of obtaining Epsteins concession that victims suing him under U.S.C a were victims of the enumerated offenses despite the fact he has not been convicted in federal court was of sufficient importance to justify confidentiality of the negotiations I THE GOVERNMENTS DISCUSSIONS WITH Attorney Brad Edwards has advised the Government that he represent and Victim letters were provided to all three individuals The letters to and were forwarded on January Villafana Deel On May 2008,-status as a victim was confirmed when she was interviewed by federal agents Id The FBI Victim Witness specialist sent her a letter on May Id When the agreement was signed in September JI was openly hostile to a prosecution of Epstein andlhad refused to speak with federal investigators Id While individual victims were not consulted regarding the agreement none of Mr Edwards clients had expressed a desire to be consulted prior to the resolution of the federal investigation Id In October not represented by counsel Id i She was given telephonic notice of the agreement as were three other victims Id These four individuals were also given notice of an expected change of plea in state court in October In mid-June Mr Edwards contacted AUSA Villafana to advise that he represented and-and requested a meeting Id i AUSA Villafana asked Mr Edwards to send a a a a a a I Case ument Entered on FLSD Doc.7 Page of to her any information that he wished her to consider Nothing was provided Id AUSA Villafana also told Mr Edwards he could contact the State Attorneys Office if he wished To her knowledge Mr Edwards did not make the contact The Government has acted reasonably in keeping_ and informed Petitioners rights under the CVRA have not been violated Therefore her emergency petition should be denied By Respectfully submitted ALEXANDER ACOSTA Assistant U.S Attorney Fla Bar No N.E th Street Miami Florida Fax E-mail dexter.lee usdoj.gov Attorney for Respondent CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was sent via facsimile transmission and U.S Mail thi;Jffl day of July to Brad Edwards Esq The Law Offices of Brad Edwards Associates LLC Harrison Street Suite Hollywood Florida tlC 1uv Assistant U.S Attorney I I I a I I I Case Entered on FLSD Doc.7 Page of UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA Case No 08-80736-Civ-Marra/Johnson FILED by o.c IN RE JANE DOE JUL Petitioner STEVEN LARIMORE CLERK U.S 01ST CT OF Fl.A I I DECLARATION OF A MARIE VILLAFANA IN SUPPORT OF UNITED ST ATES RESPONSE TO VICTIMS EMERGENCY a ll ll a I Case ument Entered on FLSD Doc Page of I am the Assistant United States Attorney assigned to the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau oflnvestigation FBI The federal investigation was initiated in at the request of the Palm Beach Police Department PBPD into allegations that Jeffrey Epstein and his personal assistants had used facilities of interstate commerce to induce young girls between the ages of thirteen and seventeen to engage in prostitution amongst other offenses lbroughoutthe investigation when a victim was identified victim notification letters were provided to her both from your Affiant 267and from the FBIs Victim-Witness Specialist Attached hereto are copies of the letters provided to Bradley Edwards three clients and Your Affiants letter was provided by the FBI Ex I Your Affiants letter was hand-delivered by myselft at the time that she was interviewed Ex Bot and also received letters from the FBIs Victim Witness SpeciaJist which were sent on January Exs was identified via the FBIs investigation in but she initially refused to speak with investigators status as a victim of a federal offense was confirmed when she was interviewed by Attorney Edwards filed his Motion on behalf of Jane Doe withou which of his clients is the purported victim Accordingly I will address facts related to and All three of those clients were victims of Jeffrey Epsteins while they were minors beginning when they were fifteen years old Please note that the dates on the U.S Attorneys Office letters tol anclare not the dates that the letters were actually delivered Letters to all known victims were prepared early in the investigation and delivered as each victim was contacted a a a I a Case ument Entered on FLSO Page of federal agents on May The FBIs Victim-Witness Specialist sent a letter to on May Ex Throughout the investigation the FBI agents the FBls Victim-Witness Specialist and your Affiant had contact with-and Attorney Edwards other client was represented by counsel and accordingly all contact with-was made through that attorney That attorney was James Eisenberg and his fees were paid by Jeffrey Epstein the target of the investigation In the summer of Mr Epstein and the U."S Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Florida the Office entered into negotiations to resolve the investigation At that time Mr Epstein had been charged by the State of Florida with solicitation of prostitution in violation of Florida Statutes Mr Epsteins attorneys sought a global resolution of the matter The United States subsequently agreed to defer federal prosecution in favor of prosecution by the State of Florida so long as certain basic preconditions were met One of the key objectives for the Government was to preserve a federal remedy for the young girls whom Epstein had sexualJy exploited Thus one condition of that agreement notice of which was provided to the victims on July is the following Any person who while a minor was a victim of a violation of an offense enumerated in Title United States Code Section will have the same rights to proceed under Section as she would have had if Mr Epstein The undersigned does not know when Mr Edwards began representing or whether _,er fonnall:y tenninated Mr Eisenbergs representation a a a a I a a Case cument Entered on FLSD Page of had been tried federally and convicted of an enumerated offense For purposes of implementing this paragraph the United States shall provide Mr Epsteins attorneys with a list of individuals whom it was prepared to name in an Indictment as victims of an enumerated offense by Mr Epstein Any judicial authority interpreting this provision including any authority determining which evidentiary burdens if any a plaintiff must meet shall consider that it is the intent of the parties to place these identified victims in the same position as they would have been had Mr Epstein been convicted at trial No more no less An agreement was reached in September The Agreement contained an express confidentiality provision Although individual victims were not consulted regarding the agreement several had expressed concerns regarding the exposure of their identities at trial and they desired a prompt resolution of the matter At the time the agreement was signed in September openly hostile to the prosecution of Epstein The FBI attempted to interview in October at which time she refused to provide any information regarding Jeffrey Epstein None of Attorney Edwards clients had expressed a desire to be consulted prior to the resolution of the federal investigation As explained above one of the terms of the agreement deferring prosecution to the State of Florida was securing a federal remedy for the victims In October shortly after the agreement was signed four victims were contacted and these provisions were discussed One of those victims waslwho at the time was not represented and she was given notice of the agreement Notice was also provided ofan expected change of plea in October When Epsteins attorneys learned that some of the victims had been a a a a a a a a Case cument Entered on FLSD Do Page of notified they complained that the victims were receiving an incentive to overstate their involvement with Mr Epstein in order to increase their damages claims While your Affiant knew that the victims statements had been taken and corroborated with independent evidence well before they were informed of the potential for damages the agents and I concluded that informing additional victims could compromise the witnesses credibilit at trial if Epstein reneged on the agreement After had been notified of the terms ofthe agreement but before Epstein performed his obligations contacted the FBI because Epsteins counsel wa attempting to take her deposition and private investigators were harassing her Your Affiant secured pro bono counsel to represent and several other identified victims Pro bono counsel was able to assist in avoiding the improper deposition That pro bono counsel did not express to your Affiant that was dissatisfied with the resolution of the matter I In mid-June Attorney Edwards contacted your Affiant to inform me that he represented and and asked to meet to provide me with information regarding Epstein I invited Attorney Edwards to send to me any information that he wanted me to consider Nothing was provided I also advised Attorney Edwards that he should consider contacting the State Attorneys Office ifhe so wished I understand that no contact with that office was made Attorney Edwards had alluded to so I advised him that to my knowledge-was still represented by Attorney James Eisenberg a a a a a i I Case cument Entered on FLSD Page of On Friday June at approximate p.m your Affiant received a copy of the proposed state plea agreement and learned that the plea was scheduled for a.m Monday June Your Affiant and the Palm Beach Police Department attempted to provide notification to victims in the short time that Epsteins counsel had given us Although all known victims were not notified your Affiant specifically called attorney Edwards to provide notice to his clients regarding the hearing Your Affiant believes that it was during this conversation that Attorney Edwards notified me that he represented and I assumed that he would pass on the notice to her as well Attorney Edwards informed your Affiant that he could not attend but that someone would be present at the hearing Your Affiant attended the hearing but none of Attorney Edwards clients was present On todays date your Affiant provided the attached victim notifications to and ia their attorney Bradley Edwards Exs A notification was not provided to because the U.S Attorneys modification limited Epsteins liability to victims whom the United States was prepared to name in an indictment In light prior statements to law enforcement your Affiant could not in good faith include-as a victim in an indictment and accordingly could not include her in the list provided to Epsteins counsel Furthennore with respect to the Certification of Emergency Attorney Edwards did not ever contact me prior to the filing of that Certification to demand the relief that he requests in his Emergency Petition On the afternoon of July after your Affiant had a a a a I Case cument Entered on FLSD Do Page of already received the Certification of Emergency and Emergency Petition I received a letter from Attorney Edwards that had been sent via Certified Mail on July While that letter urges the Attorney General and the United States Attorney to consider vigorous enforcement of federal laws with respect to Jeffrey Epstein it contains no demand for the relief requested in the Emergency Petition I declare under penalty of perjury pursuant to U.S.C that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief Executed this day of July a P"-sq a a a a a a a i a Case cument Entered on U.S Department of Justice United States Atlorney Southern Distnct of Florida South Australian Ave Suilt IVest Palm Beach FL JJt/01 Facsimile June DELIVERY BY HAND Miss Re Crime Viclims and Witncs.SJ Rights Dear Miss Pursuant to the Justice for All Act of as a victim and/or witness ofa federal offense you have a number of rights Those rights are I The right to be reasonably protected from the accused The right to reasonable accurate and timely notice of any public court proceeding involving the crime or of any release or escape of the accused The right not to be excluded from any public court proceeding unless the court dctennincs that your testimony may be materially altered if you are present for other portions of a proceeding The right to be reasonably heard al any public proceeding in the district court involving release plea or sentencing The reasonable right to confer with the attorney for the United States in the case The right to full and timely restitution as provided in law The righi to proceedings free from unreasonable delay The right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victims dignity and privacy Members of t1e U.S Department of Justice and other federal investigative agencies including the Federal Bureau of lnvestigat,on must use their best efforts to make sure that these rights are protected If you have any concerns in this regard please feel free to contact me at or Special Agent Nesbitt Kuyrkendall from 267the Federal Bureau of Investigation at You also can contact the Justice Departments Office for Victims of Crime in Washington O-.C at That Office has a website at w.ovc.gov cu can seek the advice of an attorney with respect to the righf listed above and if you believe that the rights se forth above are being violated you have the right to petition the Court for relief a a a a I Case cument P-.GE Entered on FLSD Do Page In addition to these rights you are entitled to counseling and medical services and protection from inlimidation and harassment If the Court determines that you arc a victim you also may be cnlilled lo restitution from the perpetrator A list of counseling and medical service providers can be provided to you if you so desire If y9u or your family is subjected to any intimidation or harassment please contact Special Agent Kuyrkendall or myself immediately It is possible thal someone working on behalf of the targets of the investigation may contact you Such conlacl does not viola"INee lavw However if you are contacted you have the choice of speaking to that person or refusing toitdo 1o If you refuse and feel that you are being threatened or harassed then please contact Special Agent Kuyrkcndall or myself You also are entitled to notification of upcoming case events Al this time your case is under investiga11onJ If anyone is charged in connection with the investigation you will be notified By cc Special Agent Nesbitt Kuyrkendall F.B.l Sincerely Alexander Acosta United States Attorney Jbif QAP A Marie Villafana Assistant United Slates Attorney a a a I a a I Case cument Entered on FLSD U.S Department of Justice Uniled States Allorney Southern District of Florida South Au.straliun tlve Sulle West Palm Beach Fl Facsimile August Re Crime Victims and Witnesses Rights DearMiss Pursuanl to the Justice for All Acr of as a victim amVor witness of a federnl offense you have c1 number of rights Those rights are I The right to be reasonably protected from the accused The right to reasonable accurate and timely notice of any public court proceeding involvi:ig the crime or of any release or escape of the accused The ri ht not to be excluded from any public court proceeding unless the court detenn nes that your testimony may be materially altered if you are present for other portions of a proceeding The right to be reasonably heard at any public proceeding in the district court involving release plea or sentencing The re,.sonable right to confer with the anomey for the United States in the case The right to full and timely restitution as provided law The right to proceedings free from unreasonable delay The right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victims dignity and privacy Members of the U.S Departmenl of Justice and other eral investigative agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation must use their best efforts lo make sure that these rights are protected If you have any concerns in this regard please feel free to contact me at I or Special Agent Nesbill Kuyrkendall fror1 t_he Federal Bureau of Investigation at I You also can contact the Justice Departments Office for Victims of Crime in Washington D.C at That Office has a website at w.ovc.gov You can seek the advice of an attorney with respect to the right listed above and if you believe that the rights iet forth above are being violated you have the right to petition the Court for relief a a a a Case MISS AUGUST PAGE ument Entered on FLSD In addition to these rights you are entitled to counseling and medical services anrl from intimidation and harassment If the Court detennines that you are a victim you I entitled to restitution from the perpetrator A list of counseling and medical service I be providc::d to you if you so desire If you or your family is subjected to any int1.1 harassment please corctact Special Agent Kuyrkendall or myself immediately It is someone working on behalf of the targets of the investigation may contact you Such not violate the law However if you are contacted you have the choice of speaking ii or refusing to do so If you refuse and feel that you are being threatened or harassed contact Special Agent Kuyrkendall or myself You also are entitled to notification of upcoming case events At this time your investigation If anyone is charged in connection with the investigation you will he By cc Special Agent Nesbitt Kuyrkendall F.B.I Sincerely Alexander Acosta United States Attorney A Marie Villafana Assistant United States Attorney Page of I I a Case KAM lcument January Entered on FLSD Do Page.,12c,Qf U.S Department of Justice Federal Bureau of lnvestigaUon FBI West Palm Beach Suite500 South Flagler Drive West Palm Beach FL Phone Fax Tt,ls caae is curranlly under Investigation This can be a lengthy process and we rvquest your continued patience wt ile we conduct a thorough investigation As a crime victim you have the following rfghts under United States Code JTT1 The right to be reasonably protected from lhe accused The right to reasonable accurate and tlrrsely notice of any public court proceeding or any parole praceadlng lnvoMng the aime or of any release or escape of the aCQ.laed The right not to excluded from any auch pUblfc court proceeding 1leu he court after receiving clear and cor,vlndng evtcSe determinea that testimony by Iha vtcllm would be materially altered If the victim heard other testimony at that proceeding The right to be reasonably heard at any public proceeding In the district court lnvoMng releaae plea sentencing or any parole ptOC9edlng The reuonable right to confer with the attomey for the Government In the case The right to full and timely restitution as provided In law The right to proceeding free from unreasonable delay The right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the vlctlm"s dignity and privacy We will mak.e our best efforts to ensure you are accorded the rlghta described MO of these rights pertain i,vents occurring 1r he arrest or indictment of an Individual for the crime and ll wil bewme the responsibility of the pro ecutlng unned States Attorney Office to enaure you are accorded those rights You may also seek the acMce of a private attomay wllh reaped these rlghtl The Victim Notfficallon System VNS ia designed tD provide you with direct Information rega,dfng the case a it proceeds through the criminal justice system You may obtain current Information about this mauer on the Internet al W.Ncllfy.USOOJ.GOV or tram the VNS call Center at TDD/TTY International In addition you may use U1e ean Center or Internet to ate yrAJr contact information and/or change your decision about participation in lhe notiflC8tion program If you update your lnfonnatlon to lnc:fude a current emaH addreSa VNS will send information to that address You wl need the following Vldlm ldanUflcatlon Numbs VIN 225lsihd Personal ldentlffoatlon Number PIN-anytime you contact the Call Center and the first lime ycu log on to VNS on the lntemel In addition the first time you accna the VNS tntamet site you will be prompted to enter your la name or business name currently contained in VNS The name you lhould enter a a I I a Case cument Entered on FLSD Doi Page of If you have additional queations which lnvolVe this matter please contact the office listed above When you cal please provide the file number located at the top of this letter Please remember your participation in the noUflcation part of his program is voluntary In order to continue to receive nollficalions it ia your responsibility to keep your contact information currenl Sincerely TwllerSmith Victim Specialist im CA a a I a a i a I Case January io James Eisenberg one Cleartake Center Sta Australian South West Palm Beach FL Re Dear James Elunborg Entered on FLSD Doc.m.S i Paget:MtUf U.S DepartmNlt of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI West Palm Beach SuHe South Flagler Drive West Palm Beac:h FL Phone fax You have requested to rec.eive notlflcationa for_ Thia caae Is currenlly under lnvasllgation This can be a lengthy proc:eas and we request ygur continued patienc;e while we conduct a lhorough investigation A a crime victim yau have the following rights under United States Cade The right to be reasonably protected from the accused The right to reasortable accurate and 1fmefy notice of any public c;ourt proceeGing or any parole proceeding lnvoMng the crime or of any releaM or escape of the accused The right not to be excluded from any auc;h public court proc;eeding unless the court after receiving clear and convincing evidence determines that teltlmony by the vtcllm would be matetially alt1red if the victim heard other testimony at lhal proceeding The right to be reasonably heerd at any public proceeding In lh di trlc;t court Involving relea plea sentendng or any parole proceeding The reasonable right to confer with the attorney for lhe Govemment in the case The right to full and tlmely reetitution as provided in law The right to proceedings ff from unreasonable delay The right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victim dignity and privacy We wlU make our best affortll to ensure YoU are accorded the rlght8 described Most of these rightS pertain ID events oc:eurring after the arrest or Indictment of an individual for the crime and It will bec:ome the rnpon iblty of 1he prosecuting United States Attorneys Off,ce lo ensure you are accorded those rights You may a9o aeek the advice of a private attomey With respect to lhe rights The Victim NotlticatlOn System VNS is designed to provide you with dired Information regarding the case as it proceedS through rhe criminal justice system You may obtain current lnfonnaUon about 1hls matter on lhe Internet at W.Notify USOOJ GOV or from the VNS Call Center at 00J-4YOU TDDfTTY International In addition y0u may use the Cal Center or Internet to update your contact infonnatton and/or change your decision about participation in the notification program If YoU update your lnfo,matton to Include a current emall addrasa VNS wl send information ID that adore11 You wll need the followlng Vlctlm Identification Number VIN Personal Identification Number PIN anytime you contad the Call center and the first time you log on to VNS on the Internet In addition thl fi time you ac:cess the VNS lnt alte you wl be prom your last name or bu ineu name ae currently contained in VNS The nam you should enter is I I a a Case ument Entered on FLSD Docl Page If you have addltlonal queations whldl lnvotve this matter please contact the office listed above When you cefl please provide the file number located at the top of this letter Please remember your partkipation in the notification part of this program ia voluntary In order ta continue to receive notifications it is your responslbly to keep your contact Information current Slnceroty Twiler Smith Victim Specialist a a a a I a i Case May ument Entered on FLSD U.S Department of Justice Faden1I Bureau of lnvestlgetion FBI West Palm Beach Suite South Flagler Drive West Palm Beach FL Phone Fax Your name was referred to.the FBls Victim Assistance Program as being a possible victim of a federal crime We appreciate your assistance and cooperaUon whhe we are Investigating this case We would lil to rneke you aware of the victim sorvled that may be available to you and to answer any question you may have regarding the criminal justice procaas throughOut the Investigation Our program is part of the FBls effort i,nsure the victims are treated with respect and are provided information about their rights under federal law These Tights Include notification of the status of lhe case The encloSed brochures provide information about tt,e FBls Victim Assistanee Program 19soun:es and instruction for accessing the Vlctbn Notification System VNS VNS is dHigned to provide you with infom,ation regarding the status of your case This case Is currently under Investigation This can be a lengthy process and we request your continued patience whlle we conduct a thorough investigation As a crime victim you have lhe roll0Wlng right under United States Code The right to be raasonably protected from lhe accused The right to raas able eccurata and timely notice of any public court proceeding or any parole proceeding involving the crime or or any release or escape of the accused The right not to be excluded from any such public court proceeding unless the court after receiving clear and con-,incing evidenc:e determines that testimony by the victim would be materially altered If the victim heard other testimony at that proceeding The right to be reasonably heard at any public proceeding In 1he district urt invoMng release plea sentencing or any parole procee9ing The reasonable right to confer with the attomay for the Govemmant in the case The right to full and timely resUtutlon as provided law The right to proceedings free from unreasonable delay The right to be treated with fairness and wi respect for lhe Victims dignity and privacy We will make our best efforts to ensure you are accorded the rights described Most of these rights pertain to events occurring after the arreat or indictment of an individual for the CJime and it will become the responsibility of the prosecuting Unltld States Attorneys Office to ensure you are accorded those rights You may also seek the advice of a private attorney with respect to these rights The Victim Notification Syatem VNS Is dNignad to provide you with direct information regarding the case as it proceeds through the Cttminal justice system You may obtain current information about this matter on the Internet at W.Notify.USDOJ.GOV or from the VNS Call Center at TOD/TTY lntematiooal In addition you may use the Can Canter or lnfamet to up,:late your contact information and/or change your decision about participation in the notification program 1r you update your lnfonnation to include a currant email address VNS will send information to that address You will need tha following Victim Identification Number VIN ft and Personal ldenti11caUon Number you contact the Cell Center end the rst time you log or to VNS on the Internal In a_ddfflon the tins time you access the VNS Internet site you will be prompted to enter our last name or business name currently contained in VNS The name you should enter ii SyW?y k??O Ϫ?Ü oj ee 鯏?ǡx nt g4o Ϩ?bE?P 줛Ӎ?a?U,?1H Y?5S Q?r?L?S e?7F Xz?1 ʄ4 ގ5 L2 5hY eIp O??t mJ g?y?e??Lwq h?P a?P oϤ 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6?OD vI ד?P hr i a a a a I a a I I CaseU9 Entered on FLSD Doc8rn-6 Page wrot If you have addltlonal questlOns which Involve this matter please contact the office ted above When you call plea provide the ffle number located at the top of this letter Please remember your participation in the notification part of this program is voluntary In order to continue to receive notifications it is your responsibility to keep your contact information current Slncerely TwilerSmith Victim Specialist TOT a i a I Case Ament14 Entered on FLSD Paqe of U.S Department of Justice United States Attorney Southern District of Florida South Australian Ave Suite West Palm Beach FL II Facsimile July VIA FACSIMILE Brad Edwards Esq The Law Offices of Brad Edwards Associates LLC Harrison Street Suite Hollywood Florida Re Jeffrey Epstein NOTIFICATION OF IDENTIFIED VICTIM Dear Mr Edwards GOVERNMENr EXHIBn CASE EXHIBIT NO By virtue of this letter the United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Florida asks that you provide the following notice to your client On June Jeffrey Epstein hereinafter referred to as Epstein entered a plea of guilty to violations of Florida Statutes Sections felony solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors to engage in prostitution in the 15th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County Case Nos and AXMB and was sentenced to a term of twelve months imprisonment to be followed by an additional six months imprisonment followed by twelve months of Community Control I with conditions of community confinement imposed by the Court In light of the entry of the guilty plea and sentence the United States has agreed to defer federal prosecution in favor of this state plea and sentence subject to certain conditions One such condition to which Epstein has agreed is the following Any person who while a minor was a victim of a violation of an offense enumerated in Title United States Code Section will have the same rights to proceed under Section as she would have had if Mr Epstein a a a a I I a Case lument BRAD EDWARDS ESQ NOTIFICATION OF IDENTIFIED VICTIM JULY PAGE Entered on FLSD Doc.07 had been tried federally and convicted of an enumerated offense For purposes of implementing this paragraph the United States shall provide Mr Epsteins attorneys with a list of individuals whom it was prepared to name in an Indictment as victims of an enumerated offense by Mr Epstein Any judicial authority interpreting this provision including any authority determining which evidentiary burdens if any a plaintiff must meet shall consider that it is the intent of the parties to place these identified victims in the same position as they would have been had Mr Epstein been convicted al trial No more no less Through this letter this Office hereby provides Notice that your client Page of is an individual whom the United States was prepared to name as a victim of an enumerated offense Should your client decide to file a claim against Jeffrey Epstein his attorney Jack Goldberger asks that you contact him at Atterbury Goldberger and Weiss Australian Avenue South Suite West Palm Beach FL Please understand that neither the U.S Attorneys Office nor the Federal Bureau of Investigation can take part in or otherwise assist in civil litigation ti wevir i you do file a claim under U.S.C and Mr Epstein denies that your client is a victim of an enumerated offense please provide notice of that denial to the undersigned Please thank your client for all of her assistance during the course of this examination and express the heartfelt regards of myselfand Special Agents Kuyrkendall and Richards for the health and well-being of Ms By cc Jack Goldberger Esq ALEXANDER ACOSTA UNITED STA TES ATTORNEY A MARIE VILLAFANA ASSISTANT U.S ATTORNEY a a a I I a a Case ument Entered on FLSD Page of ll.S Department of Justice United States Allorney Southern District of Florida South Australian Ave Suite West Palm Beach Fl I Facsimile July VIA FACSIMILE Brad Edwards Esq The Law Offices or Brad Edwards Associates LLC Harrison Street Suite Hollywood Florida Dear Mr Edwards NOTIFICATION OF GOVEFINMENT EXHIBIT CASE EXtlBIT NO By virtue of this letter the United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Florida asks that you provide the following notice to your client On June Jeffrey Epstein hereinafter referred to as Epstein entered a plea of guilty to violations of Florida Statutes Sections felony solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors to engage in prostitution in the 15th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County Case Nos and AXMB and was sentenced to a term of twelve months imprisonment to be followed by an additional six months imprisonment followed by twelve months of Community Control I with conditions of community confinement imposed by the Court In light of the entry of the guilty plea and sentence the United States has agreed to defer federal prosecution in favor of this state plea and sentence subject to certain conditions One such condition to which Epstein has agreed is the following Any person who while a minor was a victim of a violation of an offense enumerated in Title United States Code Section will have the same rights to proceed under Section as she would have had if Mr Epstein a a a a a a I Case BRAD EDWARDS ESQ ument NOTIFICATION OF IDENTIFIED VICTIM JULY PAGE2012 Entered on FLSD had been tried federally and convicted of an enumerated offense For purposes of implementing this paragraph the United States shall provide Mr Epsteins attorneys with a list of individuals whom it was prepared to name in an Indictment as victim of an enumerated offense by Mr Epstein Any judicial authority interpreting this provision including any authority determining which evidentiary burdens if any a plaintiff must meet shall consider that it is the intent of the parties to place these identified victims in the same position as they would have been had Mr Epstein been convicted at trial No more n_o less Page of Through this letter this Office hereby provides Notice that your client is an individual whom the United States was prepared to name as a victim of an enurnerated offense Should your client decide to file a claim against Jeffrey Epstein his attorney Jack Goldberger asks that you contact him at Atterbury Goldberger and Weiss Australian Avenue South Suite West Palm Beach FL Please understand that neither the U.S Attorneys Office nor the Federal Bureau of Investigation can take part in or otherwise assist in civil litigation however if you do file a claim under U.S.C and Mr Epstein denies that your client is a victim of an enumerated offense please provide notice of that denial to the undersigned Please thank your client for all of her assistance during the course of this examination and express the heartfelt regards ofmyselfand Special Agents Kuyrkendall and Richards for the health and weH--being of By cc Jack Goldberger Esq ALEXANDER ACOSTA UNITED STATES ATTORNEY A MARIE VILLAFANA ASSISTANT U.S ATTORNEY I I I a I I a a I a a a a ument Entered on FLSD Plaintiff vs UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA CASE.NO 08-80811-CIV-ZLOCH/SNOW FILED UNDER SEAL JEFFREY EPSTEIN and SARAH KELLEN Defendants I JUL STEVEN LARIMORE CLEAi U.S DIST CT S.D FLA MIAMI DEFENDANTS JEFFREY EPSTEIN AND SARAH KELLENS MOTION FOR STAY Page of This motion is filed under seal because the deferred-prosecution agreement between the United States Attorneys Office by Assistant U.S Attorney Marie Villafana Esq and Mr Epstein discussed herein contains a confidentiality clause GRAND AVENUE SUITE COCONIJT GROVE FLORIDA a I a a Ca.se cument Entered on FLSD Page of Defendants Jeffrey Epstein and Sarah Kellen respectfully move for a mandatory stay of this action under Title United States Code Section Section I and alternatively under this Courts discretionary authority to stay civil litigation based on the existence of a pending federal criminal action Introduction This lawsuit arises from a pending federal criminal action concerning among other things an alleged assault of the plaintiff Jane Doe who according to her complaint on numerous occasions provided massages to Epstein with no credentials to provide massage therapy and was sometimes paid for the sessions Compl i,i A federal statute directly on point provides that when a civil suit alleging damages to a minor victim arises out of the same occurrence as a criminal action the civil suit shall be stayed until the end of all phases of the criminal action U.S.C emphasis added The full text of the mandatory-stay provision reads If at any time that a cause of action for recovery of compensation for damage or injury to the person of a child exists a criminal action is pending which arises out of the same occurrence and in which the child is the victim the civil action shall be stayed until the end of all phases of the criminal action and any mention of the civil action during the criminal proceeding is prohibited As used in this subsection a criminal action is pending until its final adjudication in the trial court U.S.C GRAND AVENUE SUITE COCONITT GROVE FLORIDA I I i Case lument Entered on FLSD Page of Accordingly a stay of this case is mandatory until the criminal action arising from the same allegations is no longer pending The Pending Federal Criminal Action In a Florida state grand jury indicted Jeffrey Epstein on allegations similar to those i_n the instant action State of Florida Jeffrey Epstein Case No CF Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Palm Beach County the Florida Criminal Action Shortly thereafter the United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Florida the USAO began a federal grand-jury investigation into allegations arising out of the same incidents alleged in the instant action Grand Jury No WPB United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida the Federal Criminal Action In September the USAO and Mr Epstein entered into a highly unusua1 and unprecedented deferred-prosecution agreement the Agreement in which the USAO agreed to defer not dismiss or close the Federal Criminal Action on the condition that Mr Epstein continue to comply with numerous obligations the first of which was pleading guilty to certain state charges in the Florida Criminal Action The Agreement itself uses the term deferred rather than dismissed or closed to describe the status of the Federal Criminal Action THEREFORE on the authority of Alexander Acosta United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida prosecution in this District for these offenses shall be deferred in favor of prosecution by GRAND AVENUE Sum COCONUT GROVE FLORIDA a a I I a Case ument Entered on FLSD Do the State of Florida provided that Epstein abides by the following conditions and the requirements of this Agreement Agreement at Page of By no stretch did the USAO finalize close complete dismiss or abandon the Federal Criminal Action Indeed as the lead federal prosecutor recently explained the USAO merely agreed to defer federal prosecution in favor of prosecution by the State of Florida See In re Jane Doe Case No 80736-CIV-Marra/Johnson S.D Fla D.E Deel of AUSA Villafana attached hereto as Exhibit A emphasis added Under the Agreement the USAO presently retains the continuing right to indict Mr Epstein or to unseal any already-existing federal charges that may already have been handed up by the federal grand jury and sealed should he breach any of its provisions Agreement at The period of the deferral continues until three months after Mr Epstein completes service of his sentence in the Florida Criminal Action Id Indeed the final three months of the Agreements term constitute an extended period during which the USAO expressly retains the ability to evaluate whether Epstein committed any breaches of his numerous obligations under the agreement while he was serving his state sentence and if it so determines reserves the right to indict Le.wis_ __ T_ein lh"l-1 II GRAND AVENUE SUITE COCONUT GROVE FLORIDA Case ument Entered on FLSD Page of or unseaJ an existing indictment against Mr Epstein even after he has completed serving his entire state sentence The Agreement further provides that upon Epsteins execution of a plea agreement in the State Criminal Case the Federal Criminal Action will be suspended and all pending grand-jury subpoenas will be held in abeyance unless and until the defendant violates any term of this agreement Agreement at emphasis added The Agreement directs the USAO and Epstein to maintain their evidence specifically evidence requested by or directly related to the grand jury subpoenas that have been issued and to maintain such evidence inviolate Id emphasis added It also expressly provides that the grand-jury subpoenas continue to remain outstanding until the success ul completion of the terms of this agreement Id emphasis added Further it includes a promise not to prosecute movant/defendant Sarah Kellen only if Epstein successfully fulfills all of the terms and conditions of th agreement Id Finally the Agreement provides that the USAOs declination of prosecution for certain enumerated offenses and dismissal of any existing sealed charges will not occur until days following the completion of his state sentence If the United States Attorney should determine based on reliable evidence that during the period of the Agreement Epstein willfully violated any of the conditions of this Agreement then the Le.wis._:rein.ti llh"tl1._l GRAND VENUE SUITE COCONUT GROVE FLORIDA Case To"cument Entered on FLSD Do I I a I a United States Attorney may within ninety days following the expiration of the term of home confinement discussed below provide Epstein with timely notice specifying the condition of the Agreement that he has violated and shall initiate its prosecution on any offense within sixty days of sic giving notice of the violation Any notice provided to Epstein pursuant to this paragraph shall be provided within days of the United States learning of facts which may provide a basis for a determination of a breach of the Agreement After timely fulfilling all the terms and conditions of the Agreement no prosecution for the offenses set out on pages and of this Agreement nor any other offenses that have been the subject of the joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorneys Office nor any offenses that arose from the Federal Grand Jury investigation will be instituted in this District and the charges against Epstein if any will be dismissed Agreement at Page of Consistent with the Agreement and its position that the Federal Criminal Action continues to remain pending the USAO recently sent letters to attorneys for people that the USAO has designated as victims In those letters the USAO asked Ifyou do file a claim under U.S.C and Mr Epstein denies that your client is a victim of an enumerated offense please provide notice of that denial to the undersigned AUSA See Deel of AUSA Villafana Exhs at July The clear implication of the USAOs request by which the USAO appears to involve itself in the instant litigation despite advising the recipients that it cannot take part in or otherwise assist in civil litigation id at is that the USAO believes that such denial might breach the Agreement GRAND AVENUE SUITE COCONUT GROVE FLORIDA a I a a a a Case lcument Entered on FLSD Do Page of Accordingly the Federal Criminal Action remains pending Discussion I Section Imposes a Mandatory Stay The language of Title United States Code Section is clear and mandatory a parallel civil action shall be stayed until the end of all phases of the criminal action I U.S.C emphasis added The word sha/f means that the statutes command is mandatory and not subject to a Courts discretion See e.g Lopez Davis U.S noting Congress use of a mandatory shall to impose discretionless obligations emphasis added Lexecon Inc Mi/berg Weiss Bershad Hynes Lerach U.S explaining that the mandatory shall normally creates an obligation impervious to judicial discretion emphasis added Cf Miller French U.S construing the litigation-stay provision of the Prison Litigation Reform Act holding Through the PLRA Congress clearly intended to make operation of the automatic stay mandatory precluding courts from exercising their equitable powers to enjoin the stay And we conclude that this provision does not violate separation of powers principles emphasis added One District Court within the Eleventh Circuit recently construed the plain language of as requirfing a stay in a case where a parallel criminal action is pending Doe Francis No CV WL Le.wis __ Tein lh"ll,l GRAND AVENUE SUITE COCONUT GROVE FLORIDA a a a a a I I a I Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of at N.D Fla Apr Francis JI emphasis added Accord Doe Francis No CV WL at N.D Fla Feb I Francis I staying federal civil action in favor of a criminal case currently pending in state court in Bay County Florida arising from the same facts and involving the same parties as the Instant action noting that the language of U.S.C is clear that a stay is required in a case such as this where a parallel criminal action is pending which arises from the same occurrence involving minor victims emphasis added There is no contrary opinion from any court In detennining that the federal stay provision is mandatory the Francis II court expressed that there was apparently no case law supporting or even discussing the avoidance of a stay under the command of Francis II WL at Deferring to the statute as written the Francis II court rejected the plaintiffs argument that some of the alleged victims had already reached their majority See id The court similarly rejected the plaintiffs argument that it would be in the victims best interests to avoid a stay so as to counteract the victims ongoing and increasing mental harm due to the frustrating delay in both the criminal case and the civil case Id GRANO AVENUE Sum COCONVT GROVE FUlRlA a a a a a I a a I Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of II Section Applies to Investigations Not Just Indictments While there is no unsealed indicted criminal case against Mr Epstein the governments criminal investigation against him remains open Section clearly applies to stay civil cases during the pendency not only of indicted criminal cases but also of pre indictment criminal investigations The term criminal action is not expressly defined in It is defined however by a closely related statute Title S.C provides a civil remedy for forced labor and sex trafficking violations but stays such actions during the pendency of any criminal action arising out of the same occurrence in which the claimant is the victim In enacting Congress The full text of that statute provides Civil remedy a An individual who is a victim of a violation of section or of this chapter may bring a civil action against the perpetrator in an appropriate district court of the United States and may recover damages and reasonable attorneys fees Any civil action filed under this section shall be u.s.c stayed during the pendency of any criminal action arising out of the same occurrence in which the claimant is the victim In this subsection a criminal action includes investigation and prosecution and is pending until final adjudication in the trial court GRAND AVENUE SUITE COCONUT GROVE FLORIDA a a a I a Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of specifically intended that the term criminal action would be applied extremely broadly Accordingly Congress took pains to ensure that courts would give it the broadest possible construction and for that reason specified in the definition provision that criminal action also includes investigation u.s.c The only reported decision addressing this provision interpreted it according to its plain language See Ara Khan No CV WL E.D.N.Y June ordering all proceedings in this case stayed pending the conclusion of the governments criminal investigation of the defendants and of any resulting criminal prosecution emphasis added Given that the USAOs Agreement with Epstein indicates that the grand-jurys subpoenas remain outstanding Agreement at the subpoenas are Id in abeyance id the subpoenas are not withdrawn id the parties must maintain their evidence id which would be entirely unnecessary if the investigation against Epstein were closed any existing charges will not be dismissed until after Epstein has timely fulfilled all the terms and conditions of the Agreement id at emphasis added arid prosecution in this District shall be deferred id but not closed or dismissed then the only reasonable conclusion is that the Federal Criminal Action remains pending Le_w.ui._.:I"ein ff I I GkAND A VENUE SUIT COCONUT GROVE fLORIOA JJ a a a a a a Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of The ordinary meaning of the adjective pending is remaining undecided awaiting decision Blacks Law Dictionary 8th ed See also White Klitzkie F.3d 9th Cir relying on Blacks Law Dictionary in the context of a criminal case for the definition of pending as awaiting decision Swartz Meyers 3d 3d Cir relying on Blacks Law Dictionary for the definition of pending expressly because pending is not defined in the statute Any common-sense reading of the Agreement and the USAOs recent sworn construction of it is consonant with the Federal Criminal Actions remaining undecided and awaiting decision See Unified Gov of Athens-Clarke County Athens Newspapers LLC No S07Gl WL Ga June reviewing a public-records request against Georgias pending investigation exception to its open-records law and holding that a seemingly inactive investigation which has not yet resulted in a prosecution logically remains undecided and is therefore pending until it is concluded and the file closed emphasis added The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit routinely relies on Blacks Law Dictionary for the definition of statutory terms including in criminal cases See e.g United States Young F.3d 11th Cir definitions of criminal complaint and indictment United States Brown F.3d 11th Cir definition of knowingly in criminal statute GIVoNO AVENUE SUITE COCONUT GROVE fLORlOA I I Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of I Section Applies Even After a Plaintiff Turns The parallel stay provision in discussed supra at mandates without exception that any civil action brought under that section for violation of prohibiting transportation of minors for prostitution shall be stayed during the pendency of any criminal action arising out of the same occurrence in which the claimant is the victim U.S.C Whether the plaintiff has turned does not vitiate the efficacy of this mandatory stay An example illustrates why the stay provided in has the same broad scope as the stay provided in I As discussed above stays any civil suit for injury to a minor arising out of the same occurrence as a pending criminal action One type of civil suit falling within ambit is a suit seeking redress for a violation of U.S.C a Section a just like prohibits transportation of minors for prostitution The elements of both statutes are identical There would simply be no legitimate basis for Congress to differentiate between the consequences attached to violating these two sections Thus just as Congress mandated under that civil discovery shall be stayed when there is an ongoing federal investigation under even after the victim turns the identical treatment should apply under to civil actions brought for the identical violation of a Lewis Teinr I ft I I GRAND AVENUE SUITE COCONIJTGROVE FLORIDA a a I a a a I Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of Logic compels a rule requiring continued application of the stay to a putative victim who has since turned Consider again the example of a Assume that the USAO is investigating a a violator with two alleged victims one who is now and one who has turned Assume further that both decide to sue the alleged offender while the USAO is still in the process of conducting its criminal investigation Why would Congress enact to prohibit the defendant from conducting civil discovery in the 17-year-olds lawsuit but permit him to conduct full discovery in the 19-year-olds lawsuit including taking the depositions of both the and the 17-year-old the federal investigating agents and all the grand-jury witnesses This could not have been Congress intent The legislative history to a statute resembling is also instructive When Congress enacted U.S.C it provided a civil remedy to any minor victim of enumerated federal sex offenses See Child Abuse Victims Rights Act of Pub No Stat In Congress amended the statute to clarify that the civil cause of action was available not just while the victim was a minor but even after she or he turned See Pub Stat A amending to permit suit by adults who were victims of enumerated federal offenses when they were minors by deleting Any minor who is a victim and adding Any person who while a Lewis Tein I I II GRAND AVENUE SUITE COCONUT GROVE FLORIDA a a I a a i Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of completion of a criminal action See also USC H.R Rep Cong 1st Sess reprinted at WL at I agency view by the Department of Justice on bill later codified at U.S.C The Department specifically argued to Congress in the clearest terms We believe that prosecutions should take priority over civil redress and that prosecutions should he complete prior to going forward with civil suits Id at emphasis added Nowhere did the Department suggest that pending prosecutions warrant less protection i.e should be hinder ed simply because a particular civil plaintiff happens to reach his or her 18th birthday IV A Stay is Mandatory Despite Resulting Delay to Civil Lawsuits Inherent in any stay is delay to the progress discovery trial appeal of all related civil lawsuits Congress recognized this in enacting the stay provision which necessarily prioritized the interests of completing a criminal investigation and prosecution over the interests of a particular plaintiff in seeking personal pecuniary damages Based on this reasoning the Francis II court specificaJJy refused to provide any relief to plaintiffs simply because the state criminal matter is not progressing as fast as they would hope The court made this determination despite the plaintiffs complaints about the frustrating delay and that the state criminal case has languished for almost two years with no end Le.wi.s T.ein lL I tl-1 II GRAND AVENUE SUITE COCDNUTGROVE FLORIDA Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of a I a in sight finding that this is a matter to be addressed in state criminal court Id Accordingly the anticipated delay in this case attendant to the term of the deferred-prosecution agreement does not change the clear command of According to her own pleadings the plaintiff waited seven years before filing this lawsuit Compl and so cannot rightfully claim prejudice from additional temporary delay Section Aside a Discretionary Stay is Warranted Even arguendo were this Court not to apply the mandate of a discretionary stay should still be entered during the pendency of the Federal Criminal Action SEC Hea/thsouth Corp Supp 2d N.D Ala No question exists that this court has the power to stay a civil proceeding due to an active parallel criminal investigation Other federal statutes support such a stay particularly when the criminal action may be adversely affected by the civil litigation For example under I U.S.C the court shall stay any action commenced against the United States if the court determines that civil discovery will adversely affect the ability of the Government to conduct a related investigation or prosecution of a related criminal case Allowing this lawsuit to progress while Epstein remains subject to the Federal Criminal Action will prejudice him irrevocably and irreparably As GRANO AVD UE SUITE COCONUT GROVE a a Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of provided below there are several adverse effects to allowing this case to proceed while the Federal Criminal Action remains pending In this lawsuit Epstein has a right to defend himself In the Federal Criminal Action Epstein has a right against self-incrimination Without a stay Epstein will be immediately forced to abandon one of these rights Should he choose his Fifth Amendment rights he will expose himself to an adverse inference at the summary-judgment stage and at trial See generally Wehling Columbia Broad Sys F.2d 5th Cir observing that invocation of the privilege would be subject to the drawing of an adverse inference by the trier of fact On the other hand should Epstein choose his right to defend himself in this lawsuit the USAO will be able to use his responses at every stage of the discovery and trial process e.g his Answer responses to document requests responses to requests for admissions sworn answers to interrogatories answers to deposition questions and trial testimony to his detriment in the Federal Criminal Action The privilege applies in instances where the witness has reasonable cause to apprehend danger of criminal liability Hoffman United States U.S This could give the USAO a tremendous advantage in prosecuting Epstein in the Federal Criminal Action See Comment Using Equitable Powers to Coordinate Parallel Civil and Criminal Actions Harv Rev observing that the prosecutor may have access to detailed civil depositions of the accused witnesses while the rules of criminal procedure bar the accused from deposing the prosecutors witnesses GRAND AVENUE SUITE COCONUT GROVE FLORIDA a I a I Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of In this lawsuit even before civil discovery begins under the Initial Disclosures required by Fed Civ and S.D Fla Local Rule Epstein must disclose the identities of all the witnesses he would call in his defense to the Federal Criminal Action Rule a A i copies of all documents he may use to support his defenses Rule a I A ii as well as the identity of any expert witness he may use at trial along with mandatory disclosure of a written report containing a complete statement of all opinions the expert will express and the basis and reasons for them Rule a A and i In contrast in the pending Federal Criminal Action which is governed exclusively by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure the USAO would not be entitled to compel pre-trial production of any of this information See Fed Cr A and United States Argomaniz F.2d I Ith Cir explaining act-of-production privilege Thus absent a stay of this civil action the USAO would receive fundamentally unfair access to defense information and highly prejudicial advance insight into criminal defense strategy See Comment Harv Rev at To the extent that a prosecutor acquires evidence that was elicited from the accused in a parallel civil proceeding the criminal process becomes less adversarial GRAND AVENUE SUITE COCONUT GROVE FLORIDA a a Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of Without a stay in place discovery will proceed including against third parties Mr Epstein will have no alternative but to issue subpoenas seeking evidence from state and federal law-enforcement officers For example Epstein is clearly entitled to discover evidence of prior statements including inconsistent statements given by witnesses whom law-enforcement has previously interviewed See e.g Cox Treadway F.3d 6th Cir holding that district court properly admitted testimony of prosecutor about prior inconsistent statements that witness made to the prosecutor Likewise Epstein may be entitled to discovery of relevant evidence that is in the present possession of the grand jury or other law enforcement agencies See e.g Simpson Hines Supp E.D Tex The grand jury has concluded its deliberations The need for secrecy of these specific tapes no longer outweighs other concerns Golden Quality Ice Cream Co Inc Deerfield Specialty Papers Inc F.R.D E.D Pa Where as here the grand jury has completed its work and all that is sought are those documents turned over to the grand jury by the corporations which are defendants in the civil case the considerations militating against disclosure are beside the point citing Douglas Oil Co of Calif Petrol Stops Nw U.S In response to such third-party subpoenas to law-enforcement witnesses we anticipate that it wi11 be the government not Mr Epstein who will object to T.ein PL GRAND AVENUE SUITE COCONIJT GROVE FLORIDA __ __ Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of a a I a a I discovery in this civil case until the final conclusion of the Federal Criminal Action Conclusion Because this lawsuit arises from the same allegations as the Federal Criminal Action this Court should stay this lawsuit until that action is no longer pending By Respectfully submitted LEWIS TEIN P.L Grand Avenue Suite Coconut Grove Florida Tel IS Fla Bar No lewis lewistein.com MICHAEL TEIN Fla Bar No tein lewistein.com A ITERBURY GOLDBERGER WEISS P.A Australian A venue South Suite West Palm Beach Florida Tel Fax By Jack A Goldberger Fla Bar No jgoldberger agwpa.com Attorneys for Defendant Jeffrey Epstein Lewis Tein ll I GRAND AVENUE SUITT COCONUT GROVE FLORIDA a a a a a i Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of EXHIBIT A a I a a Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of UNITED ST ATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA Case No 08-80736-Civ-Marra/Johnson FILED by D.C IN RE JANE DOE Petitioner __ DECLARATION OF A MARIE VILLAFANA IN SUPPORT OF UNITED STATES RESPONSE JUL STEVEN lARIMOA CL U.S o,n Cl S.D Of FLA TO VICTIMS EMERGENCY I a I a Case Case Document Document Entered on FLSD Entered on FLSD Docket Page of Page of I am the Assistant United States Attorney assigned to the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI The federal investigation was initiated in at the request of the Palm Beach Police Department PBPD into allegations that Jeffrey Epstein and his personal assistants had used facilities of interstate commerce to induce young girls between the ages of thirteen and seventeen to engage in prostitution amongst other offenses Throughout the investigation when a victim was identified victim notification letters were provided to her both from your Affiant and from the FBJs Victim-Witness Specialist Attached hereto are copies of the letters provided to Bradley Edwards three clients,1.1 and Your Affiants letter to was provided by the FBI Ex I Your Affiants letter to was hand-delivered by myself to Ill at the time that she was interviewed Ex Both and also received letters from the FBls Victim Witness Specialist which were sent on January Exs was identified via the FBls investigation in but she initiaJJy refused to speak with investigators status as a victim of a federal offense was con finned when she was interviewed by Attorney Edwards filed his Motion on behalf ofJane Doe without identifying which of his clients is the purported victim Accordingly I wilJ address facts related and All three of those clients were victims of Jeffrey Epsteins while they were minors beginning when they were fifteen years old Please notti that the dates on the U.S Attorneys Office letters to and are not the dates that the letters were actually delivered Letters to all known victims were prepared early in the investigation and delivered as each victim was contacted a a I a I Case Document Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of Entered on FLSD Docket Page of federal agents on May The FBIs Victim-Witness Specialist sent a letter to on May Ex Throughout the investigation the FBI agents the FBls Victim-Witness Specialist and your Affiant had contact with andlAttomey Edwards other client was represented by counsel and accordingly all contact wit-was made through that attorney That attorney was James Eisenberg and his fees were paid by Jeffrey Epstein the target of the investigation In the summer of Mr Epstein and the U.S Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Florida the Office entered into negotiations to resolve the investigation At that time Mr Epstein had been charged by the State of Florida with solicitation of prostitution in violation ofFlorida Statutes Mr Epsteins attorneys sought a global resolution of the matter The United States subsequently agreed to defer federal prosecution in favor of prosecution by the State of Florida so long as certain basic preconditions were met One of the key objectives for the Government was to preserve a federal remedy for the young girls whom Epslein had sexuaJJy exploited Thus one condition of that agreement notice of which was provided to the victims on July is lhe following Any person who while a minor was a victim of a violation of an offense enumerated in Title United States Code Section will have the same rights to proceed under Section as she would have had if Mr Epstein The undersigned does not know when Mr Edwards began representing or whether ever fonnally tenninated Mr Eisenbergs representation a Case Document Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of Entered on FLSD Docket Page of had been tried federally and convicted of an enumerated offense For purposes of implementing this paragraph the United States shall provide Mr Epsteins attorneys with a list of individuals whom it was prepared to name in an Indictment as victims of an enumerated offense by Mr Epstein Any judicial authorily interpreting this provision including any authority determining which evidentiary burdens if any a plaintiff must meet shall consider that it is the intent of the parties to place these identified victims in the same position as they would have been had Mr Epstein been convicted at trial No more no less An agreement was reached in September The Agreement contained an express confidentiality provision Although individual victims were not consulted regarding the agreement several had expressed concerns regarding the exposure of their identities at trial and they desired a prompt resolution of the matter At the time the agreement was signed in September was openly hostile to the prosecution of Epstein The FBI attempted to interview-in October at which time she refused to provide any information regarding Jeffrey Epstein None of Attorney Edwards clients had expressed a desire to be consulted prior to the resolution of the federal investigation As explained above one of the terms of the agreement deferring prosecution to the State of Florida was securing a federal remedy for the victims In October shortly after the agreement was signed four victims were contacted and these provisions were discussed One of those victims was who at the time was not represented and she was given notice of the agreement Notice was also provided of an expected change ofp_lea in October When Epsteins attorneys learned that some of the victims had been a a a a a a a I Case Case Document Document Entered on FLSD Entered on FLSD Docket Page of Page of notified they complained that the victims were receiving an incentive to overstate their involvement with Mr Epstein in order to increase their damages claims While your Affiant knew that the victims statements had been taken and corroborated with independent evidence well before they were infonncd of the potential for damages the agents and I concluded that infonning additional victims could compromise the witnesses crcdibilit at trial if Epstein reneged on the agreement Afterl had been notified of the terms of the agreement but before Epstein perfonned his obligationsl contacted the FBI because Epsteins counsel was attempting to take her deposition and private investigators were harassing her Your Affiant secured pro bono counsel to rcpresen-and several other identified victims Pro bono counsel was able to assist in avoiding the improper deposition That pro bono counsel did not express to your Affiant tha was dissatisfied with the resolution of the matter In mid-June Attorney Edwards contacted your Affiant to inform me that he represented and and asked to meet to_ provide me with information regarding Epstein I invited Attorney Edwards to send to me any infonnation that he wanted me to consider Nothing was provided I also advised Attorney Edwards that he should consider contacting the State Attorneys Office ifhe so wished I understand that no contact with that office was made Attorney Edwards had alluded tol so advised him that to my knowledge was still represented by Attorney James Eisenberg a a a a a I a a I Case Document Case Document Entered on FLSD Page of41 Entered on FLSD Docket Page of On Friday June al approximate p.m your Affiant received a copy of the proposed state plea agreement and learned that the plea was scheduled for a.m Monday June Your Affiant and the Palm Beach Police Department attempted to provide notification to victims the short time that Epsteins counsel had gi en us Although all known victims were not notified your Atliant specifically calJed attorney Edwards to provide notice to his clients regarding the hearing Your Affiant believes that it was during this conversation that Attorney Edwards notified me that he represented and I assumed that he would pass on the notice to her as well Attorney Edwards infonned your A ffiant that he could not attend but that someone would be present at the hearing Your Affiant anended 1he hearing but none of Attorney Edwards clients was present On todays date your Affiant provided the attached victim notifications to and-via their attorney Bradley Edwards Exs Anotification was not provided tol because the U.S Attorneys modification limited Epsteins liability to victims whom the United States was prepared to name in an indictment In light prior statements to Jaw enforcement your Affiant could not in good faith include as a victim in an indictment and accordingly could not include her in the list provided to Epsteins counsel Furthermore with respect to the Certification ofEmergency Attorney Edwards did not ever contact me.prior to the filing of that Certification to demand the relief that he requests in his Emergency Petition On the afternoon of July after your Alliant had Case Document Entered on FLSD Entered on FLSD Docket Page of Page of a a a a a I Case Document already received the Certification of Emergency and Emergency Petition I received a letter from Attorney Edwards that had been sent via Certified Mail on July While that letter urges the Attorney General and the United States Attorney to consider vigorous enforcement of federal laws with respect to Jeffrey Epstein it contains no demand for the relief requested in the Emergency Petition I declare under penalty of perjury pursuant to U.S.C that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief Executed this day of July I I Case Document Case Document DELIVERY BY HAND Mi Entered on FLSD Entered on FLSD Docket U.S Department of Justice United States Attorney Southern District of Florida South Australian Avr Suir West Palm Bench FL JJ40 j6 Facsimile June Re Crime Viclims anrl Witncs cs Rights Dear Miss Pursuant the Justice for All Act of as a victim and/or witness of a fodcral offense you have a number of rights Those nghts arc I The right ro be reasonably protected from the accused The right to reasonable accurate and timely notice of any public court proceeding involving lhe crime or of any release or escape of the accused The right not to be excluded from any public court proceeding unless the court dcternncs that your teslimony may be materially altered if you are present for other portions of a proceeding The right to be reasonably heard at any public proceeding in the district court involving release plea or sentencing The reasonable right to confer with the attorney for the United States in the case The right lo full and timely restitution as provided in law The right lo proceedings free from unreasonable delay The right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victims dignity and privacy Members of U.S Department of Justice and other federal investigative agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation must use their best efforts lo make sure that these rights arc protected If you have any concerns in this regard please feel free to contact me at or Special Agent Nesbitt Kuyrkcndall from 267the Federal Bureau of lJlvestigation ar I You also can contact the Justice Departments Office for Victims of Crime in Washington D.C al Thal Office has a website al w.ovc.gov You can seek rhe advice of an attorney with respect to lhe righi listed above and if you believe thal the 1iihts e1 forth above are being violated you have the right lo petition the Court for relief Page of Case Document Entered on FLSD Page of a a a I a a a a Case Document MISS JIJNE P"GF Entered on FLSD Docket Page In addilion lo these rights you an entitled lo counseling and medical services and protection from intimidation and harassment If the Court determines rhal you arc a victim you also may be entitled restitution from the perpelrator A list of counseling and medical service providers can be provided you if you so desire If or your family is subjected lo any intimidation or harassment please contact Special Agent Kuyrkendall or myself immediately It is possihle that someone working on behalf of lhe largets of the investigation may contact you Such contact does nol v1olaldlc law However if you are contacted you have the choice of speaking to that person or refusing 1o io If you refuse and feel that you are being threatened or harassed then please contact Special Agent Kuyrkcndall or myself You also are entitled to notification of upcoming case events At this time your case is under inves11ga11on.l If anyone is charged in connection with the investigation you will be notified By cc Special Agent Nesbitt Kuyrkendall F.B.I Sincerely Alexander Acosta Uniled States Attorney 274Q/Lfl A Marie Villafana Assistant United States Attorney a a a a a a a Case lument33 Entered on FLSD Entered on FLSD Docket Case Document U.S Department of Juslice United St11tes Allorney Sou1he.rn District of Floruln South A11.s1ral1u,r West Palm Beach fl JUUi Fnt 267sim1le August Re Crime Victims and Witnesses lli Dear Miss Pursuanl lo the Justice for Alf Act of as a victim and/or wi1ncss of a federal offense you have a number of nghts Those righls are I The righl to be reasonably prolectcd from the accused The right to reasonable accurate and limely nolice of any public court proceeding involvi.lB the crime or of any release or scape of the accused The right not to be excluded from any public court proceeding unless the court detenn nes that your testimony may be materially altered if you are present for other portions of a proceeding The light to be reasonably heard at any public proceeding in lhe districl court involving release plea sentencing The re,.sonable right to confer with the anomey for the United States in the case The righl to full and timely restitution as provided law The right to proceedings free from unreasonable delay The right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victims dignity and pnvacy Members of the U.S Department of Justice and other federal investigative agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation must use their best effons lo make sure that these rights are protected If you have any concerns in this regard please feel free to contact me at or Special Agent Nesbit Kuyrkendall fro t_he Fedc,al Bureau oflnvestigation at You also can contact the Juslice Departments Office fm Victims of Crime in Washington D.C at That Office has a website at w.ovc.gov You can seek the advice of an allomey with respect to the righls listed above and if you believe that the rights et forth above are being violated you have the right to petition the Court for relief Page of I a I a a a Case Case MISS All iUST PAGE2 o!ment33 Document Entered on FLSD Entered on FLSD Docket In addition to these rights you are entitled to counseling and medical services and from inlimidarion and harassment Jf the Court determines thal you are a victim you I entilled to restitution from the perpetrator A list of counseling ilnd medical service be provided to you 1f you so desire If you or your family is subjected to any inti harassment please conact Special Agent Kuyrkendatl or myself immediately It is someone working on behalf of the targets of the investigation may contact you Such not violate the law However if you are contacted you have lhe choice of speaking i1 or refusing to do so lfyou refuse and feel that you are being threatened or harai;scd contact Special Agcnl Kuyrkendall or myself You also are entitled to notification ofupcomingcasecvc:nls At this lime your investigation If anyone is charged in connection with the investigation you will he By cc Special Agent Nesbitt Kuyrkendall F.B.I Sincerely Alexander Acosta United Slates Attorney Assistant United Stales Attorney Page of Page of a a I I Case ument33 Entered on FLSD Page of Case KAM Document Entered on FLSD Docket Pa January Re Case Number Fedef81 of lnvesligellon FBI Weal Palm Beach Suite South Flegler Drive West elm Beac:h FL Phone Feic This caae la curranlly under lnveSllga11on Thia can be lengthy prOCHs and we raqueat your contlnuad pa ienQt while we conduct I thorough lnveetigatlon A8 a crime vtcdm you hive the followlng rtghts under Unl18d Stalles Code The fi11ht ID be ruaonabty protected from the accu1ed Th right lo reaaonable aocurafe and flrllety noUce of any publlo coutl proceeding or any parole praceedlng tnvoMng the crime or of any Allease or ncape of 1he aQ;USed 3t The rtght not to be tJCduded from 1ny auoh public GOurl proceeding i,if_ Die court after 11tc:eiving i;leu and catWlnclng evidence determlnN 1hl testimony by he Yldlm would be matartelly lltered If the llietim heard olher testimony at thet proceeding The right to be h9n at any put,f proceeding In lhe dtslrict ciour1 tnvolvln!I plea sentenc:tng or any perole proceeding The reuonal;,le right conf81 wlU1 tt11 attorney fOf the Govemment In lh9 cme ni rtgf1t t.o full end timely restitution as provided In law 7l The to proceedings frN from urnaoneble delay I The right to be treated wlln fairness end with respeca for the vtoams dignity and privaGY We will make our bes1 effort to en1Ut9 you ICC0Rled the rtgta descrtbed Moat of these rights par1aln to IMll ls occurring ef er lh anaa1 or indlclment of 1n lncllvfdual far the c:rtme ana ll wil bKOIM the responsl,iltt of the p1011ecuttn9 United S1atea Attamey1 Office IO er,n you IICCl0rded those You m1y alSO seek the ecMc;11 of a prfvate attomey wlltl reepect ID these The Victim Nottlicallon Sytlam VNS ia designed to PfQYlde you with lrdonnetlon ragardlng the caa ii proceeds lhrough the crllnlnal juatl1:11 Siem You mey current Information about this metier on the Internet et W.Nollfy.USDOJ.GOV or flOffl lht VN8 Call Centlr at TDD/TTY lnwmationll In addldon you may use Che Call Ca,t.er or lnt.rnet to ate your oontact intonnation andlar change your dedsian participation In 1he notif,catlan program If you update your WDnndon to lncfud a ounwnt email ad VNS WIii sane information to that add You wll nNCI t,e followlng Vldlm ldenllflclUon Num VIN Ind onal ldenloallon Number you c:ontac:e lhe C8II Centw and lie rst OU log on ID VNS on lhe lntelTl9l In addition the ltnt 1lme you acx:ea the VNS lntllmet Illa you will be prompted to enter your la51 name or buainen 11an aa curren!ly contained In VNS The name YotJ at1CMd enter a a a a I Case lument33 Case Document Entered on FLSD Docl Page of Entered on FLSD Docket Page Bf If you have addltianal quea1ions which lnvolvl this matter please contact the office listed above Whan you cal pteue p,ovlde the number located at the top of letter rlffl8fflber y0ur par1icipallon in the nollflcation part of thia pn,gram ii vol1M1twy In order to ccntlnue to rac:etve nollflcalion it I your responslbllfty to keep your contact infonnatlon ourrent Sincerely TwHer Smith Victim Specialist a I I Case ument33 Entered on FLSD Page of Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket om Page rof January Jarnes Eisenberg One Cleartake Center Sta AustreHan South West Palm Beach FL Dear James Etsanberg U.S DepartrNnt of Justice Faderal BurNU of Investigation FBI West Pallft Beach Suite SOS South Flagler Drive Weal Palm Beed FL Phone fax You have reQutsted to lIQelVe notmcatlona for Thi ca,e la currently under Investigation This can be a lengthy Pnx:HS and we request your continued patience while we condud a lhorough c;t11TM1 victim you tave the folbwlng rights under us United Statea Cade ln1 The right to be reasonably protected from the acc:uMd The right to ranable accurate and timely notice of any public c;ourt proceedkl or any parole proceeding lnvoMng me or of any releeae or Heape of the accused The right not be excludad from any 1uGh pubHc court proc;eedlng unless the court attar receiving clear and convincing evidence determln hit te1 lmony by the Victim would be materially alterad If ttie victim heanl other teslimany et at proceeding The rlghl to be reascnably heard at any public proceeding In lhe distnc:t court Involving releAe plea senCendng or any parole proceeding The reqonable righl to confer with 1he etlamey for the Government in the case I The right to full and timely rNtitutlon pnwlded In law The right lo pmc:Ndlnga fr from unreasonable d.tay The rtght to be treated with fairness and wflh rNpecl for the vidtmt dignity and privacy We wta make our best 8ffarta to ensure you are accorded the rlgta desaibed Most of these rights pertain to events occumn after Iha a11e1t or lndk:lment of an lndMdual for the c:rime and It wtn become the reaponaibUity of tha prosecuting United Office to ensure you accorded those rights You may allo eek ttie advice of a private attomey with re,pect to the rights The V1dlm Notllic:IOn Syetem VNS i1 duignad to provide you with direct Information regarding tha case as It proceeda thrOugh the crlmlnal julce aystem You may obialn c:unent lnfonnlltlon about this matter on the Internet at W.Notlfy.USOOJ.GOVor from the VNS Call Canter at TOD/TTY Ontematlonal In addition you may uae the Cel Center or Internet lo update your Gontad information and/or change your decision about participation in the notificellan program If you update your ilformlltlon to Include a Gumml emel addrnl vr1iS WIii send nformatlon to that addreA You wll need th folloWlng Victim ldentlficatlon Numb and Personal ldenlfflc:81lon Numb PIN anytime you contact Iha Call Cenlaf and the rnt lime you log on to VNS on the lntamel In addltiol he time you aeons the VNS Internet 1ita you wtn be prompted to enter your lat name or busineu name currently contained in VNS The name you should enter ls Eisenberg a a a a a a a Case lcument Entered on FLSD Docket Page of Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page If you haVe 1ddlcnal queations whlcf Involve this mattar please oontad lhe office ilted above When you RII pkMI prcrvlde the flle number locawd Ill the lop of this letter Pleeae remember your p9rtldpation in the notlricallon part of ltll program ii voluntary In order to continue to receive notifications It is your rnponslblty to keep your Information current Sincerely wiler Smith Victim Specialist a a a a a I a I Case ument33 Case cv-80I36-KAM Document May Re Entered on FLSD Doc Entered on FLSD Docket U.S Department of JusUce Federal Bureau of Investigation West Palm Beach Suite South Flagler Drive West Palm Beach FL Phone Fu Your name was referred to the FBls Victim Assistance Program II being a possible victim of a federal crime We appreciate your assistance and cooperation whHe we ere lnv tigaling this case We would lil to maka you aware of the victim servfc.s that may be available to you and to answer any questions you may have r911a1ding the criminal justico proce11 throughout the Investigation Our program ii part of the FBls effort tD ensure the vic:tims are treated wilh respect and are provided information about their r1ghll under feaeral law These rtgh11 Include notification of the stalUI or the case The encloaed brochures provide Information about the FBla Victim Assistance Program 19sourcas and instructions for accessing the Victim Notification System VNS VNS ia designed to provide you with information regarding the status of your case This case Is currently under lnvaltigation Thia oan be a lengthy procest and we reque1t your continued patience whlle we conduct thorough investigation A1 a cnme victim you have the lotlowlng rights under United States Code The right to be rea 0niibly protected from the a1;N od The right to reascnable lcaJrate and tlmely notice of any public court proceeding or any parole proceeding involving the crime or or any relNH or escape of the accused Tne right not ID be exeiudec:1 lrom any su..h public coun proceeding unless lhe court after receiving clear and comincinq evidence detennines that testimony by the victim would be materially altered the victim haard other leatimony at lhlt proceeding The nghl to be reasonably heard at any public proceeding in lhe diStrict c;ourt Involving release plea sentencing or any parole ing The reasonable right lo confer with the attorney the Govemment in lhe case I The right to full and timely restitution as provided law The tight to proc.edings free from 1.1reesonable delay II The right to be treated with falmes:i end wilh rapeCC for lhe Yietlmt dignity end privacy we wat make bnt effor1a to ensure you era aa:ordad Iha rights dncribed Moat of ttiese rights pertain to events occurring after the arraal or indictment of an ndlvidual IOI tilt c.rime and it will become lhe responslbillty of the prosecuting Unltad Slates Aftomeys Office to ensure you are accorded those rights You may also seek the advice of private attomey with respect to theM righta The Victim NOllficatlon Syatam VNS dealgned to provide you with direct infOJmation regarding the case as it proceeds through tlle criminal justice system You may obtain c:urrent information about ttils matter on he Internet at W.Nodfy.USOOJ.GOV or fn the VNS Cell Center TOO/TTY International In addition you may use the Can Center or lnlemal to update your c:oract lnfonnatlon end/or change your decision allOut partlclpetlon in he nolificalion program 1r you update your lnfonnetiofI to include CUtTent email addran VNS will and infonnalion to thal address You win need the following Vic:tim ldentlfic.ltlon Number Pi,r 0na1 tdantiflc:atlon Number PIN anytime you contact the catl Center anct the ffrst nme you tog or to VNS on the lntemel In a dnion the first time you access Iha VNS Internet site you will be prompted to enter tour last name or buainess name as c:urrently contained in VNS The name you should enter Page of a a a a I a a I Case cument Entered on FLSD Do Page of Document Caseu9 Entered on FLSD Docket Page If you have addltlonal questions Which lnvolVe this matter please conlacl the office lsted above When you c:aU plea provide the n1e number located at lhe top of this letter Please remember your participation in the notmeation part of lhis pr09r11m voluntary In order to conllnue to receive notfflcallons Is vour responsiblf to keep your contac:t infonnalion curren Slncen,ly Twher Smilti Victim Specialist TOTFl a a a I a a I Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Paqe of l.S Department of Justice VIA FACSIMILE Brad Edwards Esq United State Attorney Southern District of Florida South Australian Ave Suite West Palm Beach Fl Facsimile July The Law Offices of Brad Edwards Associates LLC Harrison Street Suite Hollywood Florida Re Je,._,ff NOT FICAON OF IDENTIFIED VICTIM Dear Mr Edwards GOVERNMENT 80736-CV-MARRA EXHIBIT NO By virtue of this letter the United States Auorneys Office for the Southern District of Florida asks that you provide the following notice to your client On June Jeffrey Epstein hereinafter referred to as Epstein entered a plea of guilty to violations offlorida Statutes Sections felony solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors to engage in prostitution in the I 5th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County Case Nos and and was sentenced to a tenn of twelve months imprisonment to be followed by an additional six months imprisonment followed by twelve months of Community Control with conditions of community confinement imposed by the Court In light of the entry of the guilty plea and sentence the United States has agreed to defer federal prosecution in favor of this state plea and sentence subject to certain conditions One such condition to which Epstein has agreed is the following Any person who while a minor was a victim of a violation of an offense enumerated in Title I United States Code Section will have the same rights to proceed under Section as she would have had if Mr Epstein a a a a a a a a I Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of Case Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of BRAD EDWARDS ESQ NOTIHC1 TION Of IDENTIFIED VICTIM JtJI.Y PAGE or had been tried federally and convicted of an enumerated offense For purposes of implementing this paragraph the United States shall provide Mr Epsteins attorneys with a list of individuals whom it was prepared to name in an Indictment as victims of an enumerated offense by Mr Epstein Any judicial authority interpreting this provision including any authority determining which evidentiary burdens if any a plaintiff must meet shall consider that it is the intent of the parties to place these identified victims in the same position as they would have been had Mr Epstein been convicted al lrial No more no less Through this lener this Office hereby provides Notice that your client is an individual whom the United States was prepared lo name as a victim offense Should your client decide to tile a claim against Jeffrey Epstein his attorney Jack Goldberger asks that you contact him at Atterbury Goldberger and Weiss Australian Avenue South Suite West Palm Beach FL Please understand that neither the U.S Attorneys Office nor the Federal Bureau of Investigation can take part in or otherwise assist in civil litigation tiowev i you do file a claim under U.S.C and Mr Epstein denies that your client is a victim of an enumerated offense please provide notice of that denial to the undersigned Please thank your client for all of her assistance during the course of this examination and express the heartfelt regards of myself and Special Agents Kuyrkendall and Richards for the health and well-being cc Jack Goldberger Esq ALEXANDER ACOSTA UNITED STATES ATTORNEY By rnn.J_ A MARIE VIL ASSISTANT U.S A ITORNEY a a a a a a I a a a I Case lcument Case Document Entered on FLSD Doi Entered on FLSD Docket Page of Page of ll.S Department of Justice GOVERNMENT EXHIBIT United States Attorney Southern District of Florida 500So11thAustralianAve Suite West Palm Beach Fl JJ40I J6 I Facsimile July VIA FACSIMILE Brad Edwards Esq The Law Offices of Brad Edwards Associates LLC Harrison Street Suite Hollywood Florida Re Jeffrey Epstein IDENTIFIED VICTIM Dear Mr Edwards NOTIFICATION OF CASE 225-CV-MARRA ECHl8IT NO By virtue of this letter the United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Florida asks that you provide the following notice to your client On June Jeffrey Epstein hereinafter referred to as 225Epstein entered a plea of guilty to violations of Florida Statutes Sections felony solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors to engage in prostitution in the 15th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County Case Nos and and was sentenced lo a tenn of twelve months imprisonment to be followed by an additional six months imprisonment followed by twelve months of Community Control I with conditions of community confinement imposed by the Court In light of the entry of the guilty plea and sentence the United States has agreed to defer federal prosecution in favor of this state plea and sentence subject to certain conditions One such condition to which Epstein has agreed is the following Any person who while a minor was a victim of a violation of an offense enumerated in Title United States Code Section will have the same rights to proceed under Section as she would have had if Mr Epstein a a a I I a a I Case Case lument33 Document Entered on FLSD Docket Page of Entered on FLSD Docket Page of BRAD EDWARDS ESQ NOTIFICATION OF IDENTIFIED v,cn PAGE20F had been trit:d federally and convicted of an enumerated offense For purposes of implementing this paragraph the United States shall provide Mr Epsteins attorneys with a list of individuals whom it was prepared to name in an Indictment as victim of an enumerated offense by Mr Epstein Any judicial authority interpreting this provision including any authority determining which cvidentiary burdens if any a plaintiff must meet shalt consider that it is the intent of the parties to place these identified victims in the same position as they would have been had Mr Epstein been convicted at trial No more no less Through this letter this Office hereby provides Notice that your client an individual whom the United Stales was prepared to name as a victim of an enumerated offense Should your client decide to file a claim against Jeffrey Epstein his attorney Jack Goldberger asks that you contact him at Atterbury Goldberger and Weiss Australian Avenue South Suite West Palm Beach FL Please understand that neither the U.S Attorneys Office nor the Federal Bureau of Investigation can take part in or otherwise assist in civil litigation however if you do file a claim under U.S.C and Mr Epstein denies that your client is a victim of an enumerated offense please provide notice of that denial to the undersigned Please thank your client for all of her assistance during the course of this examination and express the heartfelt regards of myself and Special Agents Kuyrkendall and Richards for the health and wellMbeing By cc Jack Goldberger Esq ALEXANDER ACOSTA UNITED STA TES ATTORNEY A MARIE VILLAFANA ASSISTANT U.S ATTORNEY t:J I a:s c:a C:J c:I I a I I a a IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SECOND JUDICIAL IN AND FOR LEON COUNTY FLORIDA FLORIDA SUGAR CANE LEAGUE INC UR1517ft0SS Plaintiff case Number vs FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION Defendant ORDER This cause is before the court on the Complaint of the Florida sugar Cane League Inc League The League seeks an order requiring a state agency the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation DER to release certain documents under its custody and control pursuant to the Florida PUblic Records Act Chapter Florida Statutes The facts in this case are as follows DER is a Defendant in the case styled United states South Florida Water Management District et al Case No Hoevel er United States District Court southern District of Florida U.S SFWMD DER as a Defendant in that case entered into settlement negotiations with the plaintiff as represented by the United States Department of Justice DOJ During the negotiations drafts of proposed settlement agreements and other information relating to the settlement proposal were made sent or received by DER to and from federal agencies and representatives including DOJ DER also entered into an agreement with DOJ to keep all documents it received during the settlement egotiations confidential I I a UR1S17rt05 On May the League made a public records request for a draft of the settlement Agreement which the Secretary of DER had publicly stated as having been received by DER _On May DER responded to the Leagues request by refusing to di close the requested document claiming the document was privileged and immune to discovery on May the League filed this action pursuant to Chapter Florida Statutes A hearing was originally scheduled before this Court for June but DER removed the case to federal district court where it was ultimately transferred to the Southern District of Florida The League filed a Motion to Quash DERs Notice of Removal which motion was argued before Judge William Hoeveler on July and was granted on September The federal court held that there was no federal jurisdiction over the matter as the Leagues claim arises purely under state law and Judge Hoeveler remanded the case back to this court A hearing was held before this court on September Attorneys for the parties appeared and argued their respective positions DOJ also appeared pursuant to title United States Codes section to argue in support of DER and to advise the Court of the United States asserted interest in keeping the documents from public disclosure DER asserts that Floridas Public Records Act is 267not applicable in this matter because it has been preempted by federal immunities and privileges DER further claims that it has contractually vowed to the United States to withhold requested documents under the confidentiality agreement 2GG a I I I into which it entered with DOJ and that DER is acting as DOJs agent in withholding the documents from public disclosure This Court rejects these arguments Florida public records law is sweeping in its breadth and requires virtually nfettered public access to records in the custody of state agencies Unless a statutorily provided exemption permits nondisclosure of.pUblic records Florida law requires that all such records in the custody of state agencies be open and available for public inspection The parties agreed that there is no statutory exemption in the Florida Public Records Act which would prevent disclosure of public records received by state agencies during settlement negotiations in SFWMD including the records sought by the League in this case DER has cited no applicable statutory exemption in the Florida Public Records Act and the judiciary is without any authority to expand or create an exemption to Floridas public records law Wait Florida Power Light Co So 2d Fla Times Publishing Co city of St Petersburg So 2d Fla 2d DCA Principles of federal preemption under the supremacy Clause may in limited circumstances act to prevent application of Floridas public records law where there is a clear conflict with an express requirement of confidentiality provided in a federal statute See Cummer Pace So 2d Fla see generally pp Floridas Government-in-the-Sunshine Manual Office of the Attorney General In this case although DER claims preemption under federal law of privileges and 2G a a I a I a a Ls17rross7 immunities it has cited no specific federal statute which clearly requires that the documents in question be kept confidential DER also relies on DOJs assertion that the documents would not be discoverable from DOJ in the pending case and that documents are exempt from disclosure by DOJ under FOIA Even assuming that were true it is 267irrelevant to the application of Floridas public records law to documents in the custody of Floridas state agencies As stated by Judge Hoeveler in remanding this action Thus while FOIA may provide an independent cause of action insofar as the document in dispute is also in the custody of a federal agency i.e the Department of Justice it cannot be said to displace and supplant a state statute directed at state agencies and state records Hoeveler Order at DERs reliance on its confidentiality agreement with DOJ is equally misplaced A state agency cannot bargain away its Public Records Act duties or create a self-exemption with a promise to third parties to keep records from disclosure to the public Tribune Co Hardee Memorial Hospital Case No Tenth Judicial Circuit in and for Hardee county Florida Browning Walton So 2d Fla 4th DCA THEREFORE it is hereby ORDERED and ADJUDGED that See also Settlement agreements made or received at any time by DER in connection with U.S SFWMD are hereby declared to be public records subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act Chapter Florida Statutes The Federal Freedom of Information Act title United States Code section does not preempt Chapter Florida I a statutes to exempt from public disclosure public records in the custody of Florida state agencies including DER DER shall provide access to the League within forty eight hours of rendition of this Order to inspect and examine any and all draft settlement agreements DER has withheld from public disclosure based on a claim of federal preemption If DER desires to appeal this Order DER shall prepare and deliver to the clerk of this court for inclusion in the record un er seal at the time it files its notice of appeal all draft settlement agreements exchanged with the DOJ relating to U.S SFWMD which it asserts are exempt from Floridas public records law based on a claim of federal preemption Such documents shall be heid under seal pending final disposition of the appeal and As the parties have not yet agreed to a stipulation as to an appropriate award of attorneys fees the Court retains jurisdiction to determine the award of attorneys fees pursuant to section Florida Statutes DONE and ORDERED in Chambers at Tallahassee Leon County Florida this day of September Copies furnished to counsel of record Kevin Davey Circuit Court Jud I I I a I a a a So.2d Fla Weekly Cite as So.2d FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION Appellant FLORIDA SUGAR CANE LEAGUE INC Appellee No District Court of Appeal of Florida First District Oct An appeal from the Leon County Circuit Court 267Kevin Davey Judge Robert Gough Asst Gen Counsel Florida Dept of Environmental Regulation Tallahassee for appellant Judith Kavanaugh William Hyde and Richard A Russell of Peeples Earl Blank P.A Miami for appellee Barry Hartman Acting Asst Atty Gen Dexter Lehtinen U.S Atty and Susan Hill Ponzoli Asst U.S Atty Miami Keith Saxe David Shilton and Ellen Durkee Dept of Justice Washington D.C for amicus U.S PERCURIAM AFFIRMED Wait Florida Power Light Co So.2d MINER ALLEN and KAHN JJ concur END OF DOCUMENT Copr West No claim to orig U.S govt works Page WESTLAW
