Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Ghislaine Maxwell Motion For 37 B And C Sanctions Against Virginia Roberts (Part 3) (9/21/26)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles.
- 0:04Speaker 1: In this episode we're going to continue on with the
- 0:06Speaker 1: Glenn Maxwell Rule 37 motion and pick up where we
- 0:10Speaker 1: left off. Number 3. Plaintiff has been non-compliant since the
- 0:15Speaker 1: outset of discovery. From the initiation of discovery, plaintiff has
- 0:20Speaker 1: played hide the ball. Starting with the service of Rule
- 0:23Speaker 1: 26a disclosures, plaintiff has simply refused to turn over required
- 0:28Speaker 1: and necessary information In her initial Rule 26A disclosures in
- 0:32Speaker 1: November of 2015, plaintiff failed to provide any information on
- 0:37Speaker 1: the calculation of or supporting evidence for her damages claim.
- 0:41Speaker 1: When she supplemented her Rule 26A disclosures, she provided none
- 0:46Speaker 1: of the necessary information or an actual computation of damages
- 0:50Speaker 1: relying on other people's alleged earning potential and average damage
- 0:54Speaker 1: rewards in other cases with completely different claim types. see
- 0:58Speaker 1: Motion to Compel Rule 26A Disclosure at 5-6-DE-64. To date,
- 1:05Speaker 1: over six months after her Rule 26A disclosures were acquired
- 1:09Speaker 1: and less than 10 days left in discovery, plaintiff has
- 1:12Speaker 1: failed and refused to provide any supporting documentation for her
- 1:16Speaker 1: damages claims or an actual computation of her damages based
- 1:21Speaker 1: on her alleged injury as required by FedR-Civ P26A3. At
- 1:25Speaker 1: a minimum, Reliance on any calculation, information, or evidence that
- 1:31Speaker 1: has not been provided as of this filing of this
- 1:34Speaker 1: motion must be precluded. Plaintiffs Rule 26 failures do not
- 1:39Speaker 1: end with the damages calculations. It has now become clear
- 1:43Speaker 1: that plaintiff failed to disclose witnesses with relevant information based
- 1:47Speaker 1: on the subpoenas she has served in this matter. plaintiff
- 1:51Speaker 1: repeatedly has issued subpoenas to witnesses for depositions and document
- 1:55Speaker 1: production before including them on her Rule 26 disclosures to Witt,
- 2:01Speaker 1: Allison Chambers, Aviation Insurance, Redacted, Joe Ricari, Michael Ryder, and
- 2:07Speaker 1: Shopper's Paradise. How many other witnesses are there with relevant
- 2:11Speaker 1: information that plaintiff has hidden? Plaintiff has been equally evasive
- 2:16Speaker 1: in responding to written discovery. Until Ms. Maxwell was forced
- 2:20Speaker 1: to file a motion to compel, plaintiff failed to give
- 2:23Speaker 1: even the most basic relevant and fully discoverable information, including
- 2:27Speaker 1: the identities of plaintiff's physicians, information on her work and
- 2:31Speaker 1: education history, and even the identity of her counsel and
- 2:35Speaker 1: the matters on which they represented her. After being ordered
- 2:39Speaker 1: to provide this information, plaintiff continued her strategy of providing
- 2:43Speaker 1: made-up or false information or simply refusing to provide the
- 2:47Speaker 1: ordered information. First, despite being ordered to produce all documents
- 2:51Speaker 1: relating to alleged law enforcement inquiries other than plaintiff's own statements,
- 2:56Speaker 1: which would be provided for in-camera review, she simply provided
- 3:00Speaker 1: all documents relating to alleged law enforcement inquiries for an
- 3:04Speaker 1: in-camera review, attempting to re-litigate the issue instead of complying
- 3:08Speaker 1: with the court's order. See DE 139. Second, she and
- 3:13Speaker 1: her attorneys have fabricated and backdated a string of engagement
- 3:16Speaker 1: letters attempting to substantiate their privileged claims as fully detailed
- 3:21Speaker 1: in Ms. Maxwell's reply in support of motion to compel
- 3:25Speaker 1: non-privileged documents. C.D.E. 191. P. 9. As shown above, plaintiff
- 3:31Speaker 1: only selectively and belatedly turned over medical records and the
- 3:35Speaker 1: identity of her medical providers and only after Ms. Maxwell
- 3:39Speaker 1: uncovered their existence. Similarly, plaintiff was specifically asked for photographs
- 3:44Speaker 1: of plaintiff with certain individuals, including Prince Andrew, and production
- 3:48Speaker 1: of those photographs in native format. Plaintiff claimed she produced
- 3:53Speaker 1: documents she had but did not possess any native format pictures.
- 3:58Speaker 1: Meninger Declaration Example E at 26 and 27 In plaintiff's deposition,
- 4:04Speaker 1: she revealed that she had a box of documents that
- 4:06Speaker 1: included pictures, including perhaps a photograph of herself and Prince Andrew,
- 4:11Speaker 1: but that she did not look through the box or
- 4:13Speaker 1: provide any of its contents. Manager Declaration Example G at
- 4:18Speaker 1: 208 through 213. Shortly thereafter, plaintiff counsel produced 60 pages
- 4:23Speaker 1: of pictures previously withheld. Manager Declaration Example M. plaintiff still
- 4:29Speaker 1: has not provided the native versions of these photographs. This
- 4:32Speaker 1: pattern was repeated again in just the past few days
- 4:36Speaker 1: when plaintiff turned over additional relevant documents from plaintiff's iCloud account,
- 4:41Speaker 1: but only did so after Ms. Maxwell's counsel ferreted out
- 4:45Speaker 1: that account through detailed review of documents produced showing that
- 4:49Speaker 1: the account was used by plaintiff, including in her correspondence
- 4:53Speaker 1: with her counsel. plaintiff failed to disclose the account, the
- 4:56Speaker 1: identity of which was requested, discovery. Compare manager declaration, example F,
- 5:02Speaker 1: with 8 and 9 with manager declaration, example G, at 277.
- 5:07Speaker 1: Manager declaration, example N, letter, iCloud account. While Ms. Maxwell
- 5:13Speaker 1: has been unable to unearth some of the information plaintiff
- 5:16Speaker 1: has purposely withheld, there is simply no telling what else
- 5:20Speaker 1: she is still hiding. The sanctions imposed by Rule 37
- 5:23Speaker 1: for obstruction or failing to comply with discovery procedures would
- 5:28Speaker 1: be hollow indeed if they could be imposed only on
- 5:31Speaker 1: those whose efforts at concealment proved to be successful. Plaintiff
- 5:35Speaker 1: may not properly escape the consequences of plaintiff's own wrongful
- 5:39Speaker 1: conduct because the defendants were diligent and persistent enough to
- 5:43Speaker 1: overcome the obstacles which plaintiff placed in their path. Natolo v. Brand,
- 5:48Speaker 1: 96 FRD 672, SDNY 1983. 4. Plaintiff and her counsel
- 5:56Speaker 1: are fully aware of sanctions for noncompliance with court orders.
- 6:00Speaker 1: Although formal warnings often precede the imposition of serious sanctions,
- 6:05Speaker 1: this court has never considered warning an absolute condition precedent.
- 6:09Speaker 1: Davidson v. Dean, 204 FRD 251-257, SDNY 2001. plaintiff is
- 6:17Speaker 1: represented by no less than four law firms and has
- 6:21Speaker 1: seven attorneys of record in this case. Each should be
- 6:24Speaker 1: fully aware, without need for warning, that the failure to
- 6:27Speaker 1: comply with this court's orders can result in Rule 37 sanctions.
- 6:32Speaker 1: It is elementary fact that the expectation of legal practice
- 6:36Speaker 1: that an attorney who fails to abide by a court
- 6:38Speaker 1: rule or order may be subject to sanctions or other
- 6:42Speaker 1: adverse consequences. Payne, 707, F. 3D, 195, 206, 2nd Circuit, 2013,
- 6:50Speaker 1: also see Gervie vs. Cowan, Leibowitz and Latham, PC, number 06, SIV, 1202, LGS, HBP, 2014, WL, 715,
- 6:57Speaker 1: 612 at 6, SDNY, February 25, 2014. Although the offending
- 7:10Speaker 1: party was not expressly warned of the consequences of disobeying
- 7:14Speaker 1: my orders, she is an attorney and is chargeable with
- 7:17Speaker 1: knowing the consequences of violating a court order. b. Additional
- 7:22Speaker 1: Rule 37 factors for failure to comply with initial disclosure requirements.
- 7:28Speaker 1: The factors considered under Rule 37b and c largely overlap,
- 7:33Speaker 1: and the issues of willfulness and prejudice are addressed above.
- 7:37Speaker 1: The two additional factors considered in imposing the sanctions for
- 7:40Speaker 1: failure to provide required Rule 26A damages, calculations and documents,
- 7:46Speaker 1: the importance of the information, withheld, and possibility of continuance,
- 7:50Speaker 1: also warn imposition of striking the claims for physical and
- 7:54Speaker 1: emotional distress damages. 1. Information withheld is critically important. As
- 8:00Speaker 1: fully explained in the motion to compel Rule 26A disclosures,
- 8:04Speaker 1: To date, plaintiff still has not provided an actual computation
- 8:08Speaker 1: of the physical and emotional distress damages she claims. Despite
- 8:12Speaker 1: specific discovery requests, plaintiff failed to provide the information about
- 8:16Speaker 1: her most current physical and mental health treatment providers, those
- 8:20Speaker 1: people whom she saw after the alleged defamation. This information
- 8:25Speaker 1: is critical to the defense against plaintiff's damage claims. The
- 8:29Speaker 1: undisclosed records demonstrate that plaintiff did not seek any treatment
- 8:33Speaker 1: immediately following the alleged defamatory statement on January 2, 2015.
- 8:37Speaker 1: The first treatment she sought thereafter was on March 5, 2015,
- 8:43Speaker 1: was unrelated to any physical or emotional distress caused by
- 8:47Speaker 1: the alleged defamatory statement. Instead, she was treated at a
- 8:51Speaker 1: hospital for a domestic violence incident in which her husband
- 8:54Speaker 1: strangled and punched her. This is highly redacted. Yet Plaintiff
- 9:00Speaker 1: did not report this treatment or identify these healthcare providers
- 9:04Speaker 1: in her initial disclosures or interrogatory responses. She also purposefully
- 9:09Speaker 1: left this information out of her testimony relating to doctors
- 9:12Speaker 1: she has seen after January 2, 2015. Plaintiff is obviously
- 9:18Speaker 1: trying to hide this, very serious, other intervening cause of
- 9:21Speaker 1: her damages, and she almost got away with it. Dr.
- 9:25Speaker 1: Lightfoot is perhaps the most prevalent healthcare provider, yet her
- 9:29Speaker 1: name appears nowhere in the disclosures or in the interrogatory responses.
- 9:33Speaker 1: Plaintiff still has not produced a single record from Dr.
- 9:37Speaker 1: Lightfoot for any treatment after the alleged defamatory statement. A
- 9:42Speaker 1: third doctor, Dr. Donahue, may have been named, but the
- 9:45Speaker 1: nature and dates of the treatment he provided were never disclosed. Redacted, redacted,
- 9:51Speaker 1: no records have been produced, redacted. There is a clear
- 9:55Speaker 1: need to depose Dr. Donahue regarding this failure to mitigate damages. Yet,
- 10:01Speaker 1: his records have not been produced and his role in
- 10:03Speaker 1: plaintiff's treatment was not disclosed until after plaintiff's deposition. One
- 10:08Speaker 1: can only assume that Dr. Carol Hayek has relevant information.
- 10:12Speaker 1: She was actually included in plaintiff's second supplemental response and objections.
- 10:17Speaker 1: plaintiff nevertheless fails to identify the nature of Dr. Hayek's
- 10:20Speaker 1: treatment of her and no records have been produced, plaintiff
- 10:25Speaker 1: cannot be permitted to identify people with relevant information that
- 10:29Speaker 1: she plans on relying on and yet refused to inform
- 10:32Speaker 1: the defense the content of the information. The information that
- 10:37Speaker 1: was withheld and only produced after Ms. Maxwell's counsel discovered
- 10:40Speaker 1: it existed is paramount importance to the damage claims. It
- 10:45Speaker 1: is likely that still undisclosed evidence is equally compelling. 2. Ms.
- 10:51Speaker 1: Maxwell would require an extension of the discovery period. Ms.
- 10:56Speaker 1: Maxwell does not wish to extend the discovery deadlines in
- 10:59Speaker 1: this matter and has diligently worked to meet all deadlines
- 11:03Speaker 1: so that this case can proceed on the schedule set
- 11:05Speaker 1: out in the scheduling order. Ms. Maxwell obtained the deposition
- 11:09Speaker 1: testimony of the one treatment provider plaintiff did initially identify, Dr. Olson,
- 11:15Speaker 1: who has provided valuable information that disproves any physical or
- 11:19Speaker 1: emotional distress damages caused by the alleged defamation. Now, on
- 11:24Speaker 1: the eve of discovery, closing, Ms. Maxwell has learned of
- 11:27Speaker 1: at least five other medical treatment providers in the most
- 11:31Speaker 1: relevant time frame, People providing medical and mental health services
- 11:35Speaker 1: post the alleged defamatory statement in January of 2015. Plaintiff
- 11:40Speaker 1: discovery failures in hiding relevant treating physician information have prevented Ms.
- 11:45Speaker 1: Maxwell from obtaining what now appears to be critical information.
- 11:49Speaker 1: Two of these providers, Dr. Lightfoot and Donahue, are located
- 11:53Speaker 1: in Australia, requiring significant travel to obtain their deposition and
- 11:58Speaker 1: potentially requiring service of process through other means. Four other
- 12:03Speaker 1: treatment providers, Dr. Geiger, Dr. Haney, Donna Oliver, PA, and Dr.
- 12:09Speaker 1: Streeter reside in Colorado. Because they are outside of the jurisdiction,
- 12:13Speaker 1: they are not subject to be compelled to appear at
- 12:15Speaker 1: trial requiring that their depositions be taken to present their testimony. Ms.
- 12:20Speaker 1: Maxwell does not wish to drag this case out and
- 12:23Speaker 1: should not be forced to incur the time and expense
- 12:26Speaker 1: that would be required to obtain discovery from these hidden
- 12:29Speaker 1: health care providers, especially at this late stage. 2. Striking
- 12:33Speaker 1: claims for medical and emotional distress damages is consistent with
- 12:37Speaker 1: the purpose of Rule 37, commensurate with information withheld and
- 12:42Speaker 1: less harsh than the available dismissal sanction. Under Rule 37, Ms.
- 12:47Speaker 1: Maxwell could certainly request the more severe sanction of dismissal
- 12:51Speaker 1: of the case. The most severe sanction would be appropriate
- 12:54Speaker 1: in this circumstance. Dismissal is consistent with the sanctions imposed
- 12:59Speaker 1: by many courts in the district and throughout New York,
- 13:02Speaker 1: in similar situations where medical records have been withheld despite
- 13:07Speaker 1: a court order to produce. And those medical records are
- 13:10Speaker 1: central to the issue in the case. See Natolo v. Brand,
- 13:14Speaker 1: 96 FRD 672, SDNY 1983. Dismissing plaintiff's claim under Rule
- 13:21Speaker 1: 37 for providing false and evasive answers concerning material facts,
- 13:26Speaker 1: including medical history. Skywork v. Isaacson, No. 96 Civ, 2815
- 13:31Speaker 1: JFK 1999 WL 1489038 at 1 SDNY October 14th, 1999.
- 13:32Speaker 1: Number 96, SIV, 2815 JFK 2000 WL 145465 SDNY February 9th, 2000.
- 13:34Speaker 1: Dismissal of plaintiff's claims for failure to turn over medical
- 13:36Speaker 1: records relevant to claims and withholding court-ordered information until uncovered
- 13:41Speaker 1: by the defendant. Reply to Consul RNC Cases No. 127-2009-WL-130178
- 14:09Speaker 1: at 13, SDNY, January 8, 2009. Dismissal of Emotional Distress
- 14:15Speaker 1: Claims Under Rule 37 for Failure to Turn Over Relevant
- 14:19Speaker 1: Medical Records Despite a Court Order With Arana v. Dorsey No.
- 14:23Speaker 1: 13 CV 3102 ENV MDG 2015 WL 451 0273 at 5.
- 14:35Speaker 1: EDNY July 24, 2015 Dismissal of claims under Rule 37
- 14:40Speaker 1: for failure to provide court-ordered medical release relevant to claims.
- 14:45Speaker 1: Here Ms. Maxwell seeks the lesser sanction for striking the
- 14:48Speaker 1: claim or precluding evidence only on the damages that relate
- 14:52Speaker 1: to the withheld documents and information. The information being withheld,
- 14:57Speaker 1: medical and psychological providers and their records related directly to
- 15:01Speaker 1: the claims for physical, psychological, and emotional distress damages. The
- 15:06Speaker 1: sanction sought is directly related to plaintiff's violation of the
- 15:10Speaker 1: court's order. Given the 10 days left in discovery, Ms.
- 15:13Speaker 1: Maxwell cannot adequately get discovery on this newly discovered evidence.
- 15:17Speaker 1: In light of plaintiff's continuing and persistent discovery misconduct, the
- 15:22Speaker 1: punishment fits. Conclusion Wherefore, Ms. Maxwell requests that this court
- 15:27Speaker 1: enter in order 1. Striking plaintiff's damages claims for psychological
- 15:31Speaker 1: pain and suffering, mental anguish, and emotional distress, physical, psychological,
- 15:36Speaker 1: and psychiatric injuries, and resulting medical expenses, Rule 26a, Disclosure,
- 15:42Speaker 1: Paragraph C1, and past, present, and future pain and suffering,
- 15:46Speaker 1: mental anguish, humiliation, and emotional distress. embarrassment, loss of self-esteem,
- 15:50Speaker 1: loss of standing in the community, loss of dignity, and
- 15:53Speaker 1: invasion of privacy in her public and private life. Rule
- 15:57Speaker 1: 26a Disclosures, Paragraph C1. 2. For attorney fees and costs
- 16:02Speaker 1: incurred in filing this motion, and 3. Warning plaintiff that
- 16:06Speaker 1: further violation of this court order or the discovery rules
- 16:09Speaker 1: may result in sanction of dismissal of her claims. This
- 16:14Speaker 1: was dated June 20th of 2016 and it was signed
- 16:18Speaker 1: by Laura Menninger. Alright folks, that's going to do it
- 16:21Speaker 1: for this one and for this document as a whole.
- 16:24Speaker 1: So we'll keep it moving and we'll get the next
- 16:26Speaker 1: document queued up and ready to go. But until then,
- 16:30Speaker 1: you can find all of the information that goes with
- 16:32Speaker 1: this episode in the description box.