Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / The Order Remanding Jeffrey Epstein To The Care Of The State (Part 2) (5/20/26)

Transcript

The Order Remanding Jeffrey Epstein To The Care Of The State (Part 2) (5/20/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Epstein Chronicles. In this episode, we're picking up where we
• 0:06
  left off, with Judge Berman's opinion and order denying Jeffrey
• 0:11
  Epstein's request for bell. See Indictment O Grand Jerry voted
• 0:17
  to indict mister Epstein on or about July second, twenty nineteen.
• 0:22
  The indictment charges mister Epstein with two felonies involving minor girls,
• 0:26
  some as young as fourteen. Count one includes conspiracy to
• 0:29
  commit sex trafficking of minor girls in violation of US
• 0:33
  Code eighteen, section three seventy one, and Count two includes
• 0:37
  sex trafficking of minor girls in violation of US Code eighteen,
• 0:41
  Section fifteen ninety one. It states, from at least in
• 0:44
  or about two thousand and two up to and including
• 0:48
  at least in or about two thousand and five, Jeffrey
• 0:51
  Epstein entysed and recruited and caused to be enticed and
• 0:54
  recruited minor girls to visit his mansion in Manhattan, New York,
• 0:58
  and to the state in pom Beach, Florida, to engage
• 1:00
  in sex acts with them, after which he would give
• 1:03
  the victims hundreds of dollars in cash indictment dated July second,
• 1:07
  twenty nineteen. Moreover, and in order to maintain an increase
• 1:12
  his supply of victims, Epstein also paid certain of his
• 1:15
  victims to recruit additional girls to be similarly abused by Epstein.
• 1:20
  In this way, Epstein created a vast network of underage
• 1:23
  victims for him to sexually exploit in locations including New
• 1:27
  York and Palm Beach. The indictment also charges the victims
• 1:32
  where as young as fourteen years old at the time
• 1:34
  they were abused by mister Epstein, and were for various reasons,
• 1:38
  often particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Mister Epstein intentionally sought out miners.
• 1:45
  He knew that many of his victims were, in fact
• 1:47
  under the age of eighteen, because in some instances minor
• 1:50
  victims expressly told them their age. Following his arrest on Monday,
• 1:56
  July eighth, twenty nineteen, mister Epstein was arraigned and present
• 2:00
  entered with the indictment by Magistrate Judge Henry Pittman. Legal
• 2:05
  principles governing release versus remand under the Bell Reform Act
• 2:09
  US Code eighteen, Section thirty one forty two, a court
• 2:13
  can order a defendant's detention if it determines that the
• 2:16
  defendant is either one a danger to the community or
• 2:19
  two a risk of flight US Code eighteen, Section thirty
• 2:23
  one forty two E. A court does not need to
• 2:26
  find both bases are proven to order a defendant's detention.
• 2:29
  United States versus Blanco, Second Circuit, twenty fourteen. Dangerousness means
• 2:35
  that the defendant is a danger to the safety of
• 2:38
  any other person or the community. US Code Section thirty
• 2:42
  one forty two. A finding of dangerousness must be supported
• 2:46
  by clear and convincing evidence see United States versus Ferranti,
• 2:50
  Second Circuit, nineteen ninety five. Where there's a strong probability
• 2:54
  that a person will commit additional crimes if released, the
• 2:58
  need to protect the community because I'm sufficiently compelling that
• 3:01
  detention is on balance appropriate US first Chimachrenga, Second Circuit,
• 3:09
  nineteen eighty five. Even a single indictment of witness tampering
• 3:13
  may be sufficient to revoke Belle Lafontaine at one thirty four.
• 3:17
  To order detention based upon risk of flight, the court
• 3:20
  must find, by a preponderance of the evidence that no
• 3:23
  conditions could reasonably assure the defendant's presence at trial. See
• 3:28
  United States versus Jackson, second Circuit. Nineteen eighty seven. US
• 3:33
  Code eighteen, Section thirty one, forty two. The constitutional limits
• 3:37
  on a detention period based on dangerousness to the community
• 3:41
  may be looser than the limits on detention period based
• 3:44
  solely on the risk of flight. In the former case,
• 3:47
  release risks injury to others, while the latter case, released
• 3:51
  risks only the loss of a conviction. US versus Milan,
• 3:55
  second Circuit, nineteen ninety three, quoting the United States Versorena,
• 3:59
  nineteen eighty six, second Circuit, A Bell package that may
• 4:03
  reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant at trial will
• 4:06
  not necessarily assure the safety of the community. United States
• 4:11
  versus Rodriguez, second Circuit, nineteen ninety one. The Bell reformac
• 4:15
  sets forth the following four factors to be considered in
• 4:18
  the release romand analysis. One the nature and circumstances of
• 4:23
  the crimes charged. Two the weight of the evidence against
• 4:26
  the person. Three the history and characteristics of the defendant,
• 4:30
  including the person's character and financial resources. And four the
• 4:35
  seriousness of the danger posed by the defendant's release. US
• 4:39
  Code eighteen, Section thirty one forty two G. The weight
• 4:43
  afford it to each factor under section thirty one forty
• 4:46
  two G is within the special province of the district court.
• 4:50
  United States verus Pallino, three thirty five SDNY twenty eighteen.
• 4:56
  The rules concerning admissibility of evidence in criminal trials do
• 5:00
  not apply to the presentation and consideration of information at
• 5:04
  the release remand hearing US Code eighteen, Section thirty one
• 5:08
  forty two F two. For example, the government is entitled
• 5:11
  to present evidence supporting remand by way of proffer, among
• 5:15
  other means. US Code eighteen, Section thirty one forty two
• 5:18
  F two. See also US First La Fontaine, Second Circuit,
• 5:22
  two thousand Bail hearings are typically informal affairs, not substitutes
• 5:27
  for trial or even for discovery. US Code Section thirty
• 5:31
  one forty two F two b expressly states that the
• 5:34
  federal rules of evidence do not apply at bel hearings. Thus,
• 5:38
  courts often based attention decisions on hearsay evidence. United States
• 5:43
  versus Abuhama three ZHO nine, Second Circuit, two thousand and four.
• 5:48
  District courts are afforded wide discretion regarding the scope of
• 5:51
  such hearings. US versus Bartalk Second Circuit twenty twelve E.
• 5:57
  The presumption of remand in US Code ode section fifteen
• 6:00
  ninety one cases. A US Code eighteen, Section fifteen ninety
• 6:05
  one case involving sexual victimization of a minor is unusual
• 6:09
  in that it includes a presumption in favor of pretrial detention,
• 6:14
  reflecting the significant harm caused by such a crime. The
• 6:17
  presumption is that no condition or combination of conditions will
• 6:21
  reasonably assure against flight or danger to the community. United
• 6:25
  States Verse English, Second Circuit twenty eleven, quoting US Code eighteen,
• 6:31
  section thirty one forty two E three E. Mister Epstein
• 6:36
  may rebuct presumption by coming forward with evidence that he
• 6:39
  does not pose a danger to the community or a
• 6:42
  flight risk. US Verst mercedes the government retains the ultimate
• 6:46
  burden of persuasion that mister Epstein presents a danger to
• 6:50
  the community by clear and convincing evidence. Even if rebuttal
• 6:54
  evidence is presented. The presumption favoring detention does not disappear
• 6:59
  entirely idea at four thirty six. It remains a factor
• 7:03
  to be considered among those weighed by the district court.
• 7:07
  If mister Epstein poses a danger to others, and to
• 7:10
  the community. The court begins with dangerousness because that concept
• 7:16
  is at the heart of the case. It finds that
• 7:18
  the government is shown by clear and convincing evidence that
• 7:21
  mister Epstein threatens the safety of another person and or
• 7:25
  the community, as follows on pages ten through twenty one,
• 7:30
  victims had advised the court that they would fear for
• 7:32
  their safety if mister Epstein was released. Victims have specifically
• 7:37
  conveyed to the government that any former release by the defendant,
• 7:41
  including home detention with full time private guards, could result
• 7:45
  in their harassment and abuse. At a bail hearing on
• 7:49
  July fifteenth, twenty nineteen, two victims movingly testified about their
• 7:53
  past sexual encounters with mister Epstein when they were reminders
• 7:57
  age fourteen and sixteen, respectively. In enacting the CVRA, Congress
• 8:03
  stated that victims deserve the right to be heard at
• 8:07
  specific points in a criminal justice process, including bell hearings.
• 8:12
  Giving victims a voice not only improve the quality of
• 8:15
  the process, but can also be expected to often provide
• 8:18
  important benefits to the victims. Miss Annie Farmer was introduced
• 8:22
  by her counsel, David Boyce, and stated that she was
• 8:25
  sixteen years old when she had the misfortune of meeting
• 8:29
  Jeffrey Epstein in New York. Miss Farmer said that mister
• 8:33
  Epstein flew her to New Mexico and was inappropriate with her.
• 8:37
  She was reluctant to go into details about her experience
• 8:40
  with mister Epstein. Miss Farmer opposes mister Epstein's pre trial
• 8:44
  release because she believes other Epstein victims would continue to
• 8:48
  be victimized and that mister Epstein's wealth and privilege and
• 8:52
  notoriety would make it difficult for other victims to come forward.
• 8:57
  Miss Courtney Wilde, introduced by her counsel Brad Edwards, and
• 9:02
  said she was sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein starting at
• 9:05
  the age of fourteen. She asked the court to keep
• 9:07
  mister Epstein in detention for the safety of any other
• 9:10
  girls out there that are going through what she was
• 9:13
  going through. Miss Wilde said that mister Epstein is a
• 9:17
  scary person to have walking the streets. Mister Epstein poses
• 9:21
  a threat to additional young girls if he's released. At
• 9:26
  the remand release hearing on Monday, July fifteenth, twenty nineteen,
• 9:29
  as noted, the court heard poignant testimony from two of
• 9:33
  mister Epstein's alleged victims about their fears and anxiety over
• 9:37
  his potential release, even if under strict conditions of home confinement.
• 9:42
  The court is also concerned for new victims. Mister Epstein's
• 9:47
  alleged excessive attraction to sexual conduct with or in the
• 9:51
  presence of minor girls, which is said to include his
• 9:54
  soliciting and receiving massages from young girls and young women,
• 9:58
  perhaps as many as forty times a day, appears likely
• 10:01
  to be uncontrollable. Defendants alleged sex crimes where of an
• 10:07
  addictive sexual nature that cannot be suppressed simply by a
• 10:10
  restrictive set of bell conditions. Accordingly, mister Epstein's past sexual
• 10:15
  conduct is not likely to have abated or been successfully
• 10:18
  suppressed by fierce determination, as his defense counsel suggests. Defense
• 10:24
  counsel contends that he wasn't a predator that couldn't control
• 10:28
  his conduct. He disciplined himself. Defense counsel also argues that
• 10:33
  appreciating the gravity of these charges, putting aside the age
• 10:36
  of these witnesses, and putting the consent issue aside, it's
• 10:40
  not like Epstein's and out of control rapist. It seems
• 10:43
  fair to say that mister Epstein's future behavior will be
• 10:47
  consistent with past behavior, including a trove of lewed photographs
• 10:51
  of young looking women and girls which were recently uncovered
• 10:54
  during the July twenty nineteen search of mister Epstein's seventy
• 10:58
  first Street mentioned. The search results suggests that possibly the
• 11:02
  defendant could target another vulnerable victim c United States First
• 11:08
  Baker three forty nine f Dot supp where the defendant
• 11:12
  was alleged to specifically target vulnerable women and where he
• 11:16
  attempted to contact an alleged victim. The court was persuaded
• 11:19
  that the defendant would be a danger to society if released.
• 11:24
  Despite having been convicted of the above mentioned to Florida
• 11:27
  sex crimes in two thousand and eight involving an underage girl,
• 11:31
  mister Epstein, as noted, maintained his New York residence of
• 11:35
  vast trove of sexually suggestive photographs of nude underage and
• 11:39
  adult girls doc at eleven example one at nine. That is,
• 11:43
  during July six and seventh, twenty nineteen, the authorized search
• 11:48
  of mister Epstein's NYC residents, the FBI found a substantial
• 11:52
  collection of photographic trophies of his victims and other young females.
• 11:57
  This evidence includes compact discs labeled young, redacted names, miscellaneous nudes,
• 12:03
  one girl picked nudes, and the government contends that this
• 12:06
  evidence includes hundreds or perhaps thousands of sexually suggestive photographs
• 12:11
  of nude underage girls and women, and that it's corroberative
• 12:15
  in nature and it's consistent with the victim recollections of
• 12:19
  inside mister Epstein's residence. This newly discovered evidence also suggests
• 12:24
  that mister Epstein poses an ongoing and forward looking danger
• 12:28
  see doc at eleven at ten. See also Baker Us
• 12:32
  First good Win two fifteen WL six three eight six
• 12:37
  five six eight at three, Kentucky, October twenty first, twenty fifteen.
• 12:43
  All Right, we're gonna wrap up right here, and in
• 12:45
  the next episode, we're gonna pick up where we left off.
• 12:48
  And that's with the section fifteen ninety one presumption of
• 12:52
  pre trial remand reflects the seriousness of mister Epstein's alleged crimes.
• 12:58
  All of the information that goes with this episode can
• 13:01
  be found in the description box.