Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / The Order Denying The Joinder Motion Of Jane Doe #3 And Jane Doe #4 (8/29/26)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the Epstein Chronicles.
- 0:04Speaker 1: In this episode, we're diving right back in to those
- 0:06Speaker 1: core documents, and this time we're taking a look at
- 0:09Speaker 1: the order denying petitioner's motion to join under Rule twenty
- 0:13Speaker 1: one and motion to amend under Rule fifteen. Case number
- 0:19Speaker 1: zero eight Dash CV Dash eight zero seven three six
- 0:23Speaker 1: dash Ka M. Jaine Do number one and Jane Do
- 0:27Speaker 1: number two versus the United States of America, the order
- 0:31Speaker 1: denying petitioner's motion to join under Rule twenty one and
- 0:35Speaker 1: motion to amend under Rule fifteen. This cause is before
- 0:39Speaker 1: the Court on Jane Doe three and Jane Doe four's
- 0:42Speaker 1: corrected motion pursuing to Rule twenty one for a joinder
- 0:45Speaker 1: in action Rule twenty one motion d E two eighty,
- 0:49Speaker 1: and Jane Do number one and Jaine Do number two's
- 0:52Speaker 1: protective motion pursuing to Rule fifteen to amend their pleadings
- 0:56Speaker 1: to conform to existing evidence, and to add Jine Do
- 0:59Speaker 1: number three and Jane Do number four as petitioners Rule
- 1:03Speaker 1: fifteen motion d E three eleven. Both motions are ripe
- 1:06Speaker 1: for review for the following reasons. The Court concludes that
- 1:10Speaker 1: they should be denied background. This is an action taken
- 1:15Speaker 1: by two unnamed petitioners, Jane DO one and Jane DO two,
- 1:19Speaker 1: seeking to prosecute a claim under the Crime Victim Rights
- 1:22Speaker 1: Act US Code eighteen, Section thirty seven seventy one d
- 1:27Speaker 1: E one. Generally, they allege that the respondent government violated
- 1:31Speaker 1: their rights under the CVRA by failing to consult them
- 1:35Speaker 1: before negotiating a non prosecution agreement with Jeffrey Epstein, who
- 1:39Speaker 1: subjected them to various sexual crimes while they were miners.
- 1:43Speaker 1: Petitioners initiated this action in July of two thousand and eight.
- 1:47Speaker 1: On December thirtieth, twenty fourteen, to other unnamed victims, Jane
- 1:51Speaker 1: Do number three and Jane Do number four moved to
- 1:54Speaker 1: joint petitioners in this action pursuant a federal Rule of
- 1:58Speaker 1: Civil Procedure number twenty one d E two eighty. Petitioners
- 2:02Speaker 1: Jane DO one and Jane Do two support the rule
- 2:05Speaker 1: twenty one motion. Jane Do three and Jane DO four
- 2:08Speaker 1: argue that they have suffered the same violations of their
- 2:11Speaker 1: rights under the CVRA as the petitioners, and may desire
- 2:16Speaker 1: to join in this action to vindicate their rights as well.
- 2:19Speaker 1: Id at one. The Government opposes joined or under Rule
- 2:23Speaker 1: twenty one d E two ninety. The Government argues that
- 2:26Speaker 1: Rule fifteen is the proper procedural device for adding parties
- 2:30Speaker 1: to an action, not Rule twenty one. Out of an
- 2:33Speaker 1: abundance of caution, petitioners filed a motion to amend their
- 2:36Speaker 1: petition under Rule fifteen, conforming the petition to the evidence
- 2:41Speaker 1: and adding Jane Do three and Jane Do four as petitioners.
- 2:45Speaker 1: D three eleven, at two. The Government opposes the rule
- 2:48Speaker 1: fifteen motion as well, d E three fourteen. Among other things,
- 2:52Speaker 1: the government argues that amending the petition to include Jane
- 2:55Speaker 1: Do three and Jane Do four should be denied because
- 2:58Speaker 1: of their undue delay in seeking to join the proceedings
- 3:02Speaker 1: and the undue prejudice that amendment will cause. After considering
- 3:06Speaker 1: the party's submissions and proposed amended petition, the Court finds
- 3:10Speaker 1: that justice does not require amendment in this instance and
- 3:14Speaker 1: exercises its discretion to deny the amendment. Part two. The
- 3:19Speaker 1: discussion the decision whether to grant leave to amend a
- 3:22Speaker 1: complaint is within the sole discretion of the District Court
- 3:26Speaker 1: Lori versus Alabama Court Criminal Appeals two fifty six f
- 3:30Speaker 1: Dot three d. Twelve sixty six, twelve seventy four, Eleventh Circuit,
- 3:34Speaker 1: two thousand and one. The Court should freely give leave
- 3:37Speaker 1: when Justice so requires fed Dot r Dot Siev Dot p.
- 3:42Speaker 1: Fifteen a and two. Justice does not require amendment in
- 3:46Speaker 1: several instances, including undue delay, bad faith, dilatory motive on
- 3:52Speaker 1: the part of the movement, undue prejudice to the opposing
- 3:55Speaker 1: party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, and futility
- 3:59Speaker 1: of US Amendment Lori two fifty six f Dot three
- 4:03Speaker 1: d At twelve seventy four, quoting Foeman vers Davis, three
- 4:06Speaker 1: seventy one US one seventy eight one eighty two, nineteen
- 4:10Speaker 1: sixty two. In addition to considering the effect of amendment
- 4:14Speaker 1: on the parties, the Court must consider the importance of
- 4:17Speaker 1: the amendment on the proper determination of the merits of
- 4:21Speaker 1: a dispute. Six Wright Miller Federal Practice and Federal p.
- 4:27Speaker 1: Section fourteen eighty eight, page eight fourteen, third Edition, twenty ten.
- 4:31Speaker 1: Justice does not require amendment where the addition of parties
- 4:35Speaker 1: with duplicate claims will not materially advance the resolution of
- 4:39Speaker 1: the litigation. On the merits. See Herring versus. Delta Airlines Incorporated.
- 4:44Speaker 1: Eight ninety four F Dot two D ten twenty ten,
- 4:47Speaker 1: twenty four ninth Circuit nineteen eighty nine. A Rule twenty
- 4:52Speaker 1: one motion Jane DO three and Jane Do four's first
- 4:54Speaker 1: attempt to join in this proceeding was brought under Rule
- 4:58Speaker 1: twenty one d e two eighty. If parties seek to
- 5:01Speaker 1: add a party under Rule twenty one, courts generally use
- 5:04Speaker 1: the standard of Rule fifteen governing amendments to pleadings to
- 5:08Speaker 1: determine whether to allow the addition twelve Wright Miller, Federal
- 5:12Speaker 1: Practice and Federal p Page four thirty two, third Edition,
- 5:15Speaker 1: twenty thirteen. See also Galustian versus. Peter, five ninety one
- 5:20Speaker 1: f Dot three d seven twenty four, seven twenty nine,
- 5:24Speaker 1: and thirty four Circuit twenty ten, collecting cases in noting
- 5:28Speaker 1: that Rule fifteen A applies to amendments seeking to add parties.
- 5:32Speaker 1: Frank versus us West Incorporated. Three F Dot three d
- 5:36Speaker 1: thirteen fifty seven thirteen sixty five ten Circuit nineteen ninety three.
- 5:41Speaker 1: A motion to add a party is governed by fed
- 5:44Speaker 1: dot R dot SIEV Page fifteen A. Rule twenty one
- 5:48Speaker 1: misjoinder and non joinder parties provides the court with a
- 5:52Speaker 1: tool for correcting the misjoinder of parties that would otherwise
- 5:55Speaker 1: result in dismissal fed Dot r Dot siv Dot p.
- 5:59Speaker 1: Twenty one one. In so far as Rule twenty one
- 6:02Speaker 1: relates to the addition of parties, it is intended to
- 6:04Speaker 1: permit the bringing in of a person who threw inadvertence, mistake,
- 6:09Speaker 1: or for some other reason, had not been made a party,
- 6:12Speaker 1: and whose presence as a party is later found necessary
- 6:16Speaker 1: or desirable. United States versus Combank of North America thirty
- 6:21Speaker 1: one FRD one thirty three one thirty five SDNY nineteen
- 6:26Speaker 1: sixty two. In their Rule twenty one motion, Jane DO
- 6:29Speaker 1: three and Jane Do four do not claim that they
- 6:32Speaker 1: were omitted from this proceeding due to any inadvertence or
- 6:36Speaker 1: mistake by petitioners. Rather, they seek to join this proceeding
- 6:39Speaker 1: as parties that could have been permissively joined in the
- 6:43Speaker 1: original petition under Rule twenty permissive joinder of parties. As
- 6:48Speaker 1: courts generally use the standards of Rule fifteen to evaluate
- 6:51Speaker 1: such circumstances, the court will consider the joinder issue as
- 6:56Speaker 1: presented in the rule fifteen motion. The Court will consider
- 6:59Speaker 1: the argument presented in Rule twenty one motion as if
- 7:02Speaker 1: they are set forth in Rule fifteen's motion as well.
- 7:06Speaker 1: Because the arguments are presented in the Rule fifteen motion,
- 7:09Speaker 1: and because the Court is denying the Rule fifteen motion
- 7:12Speaker 1: on its merits as discussed below, the Rule twenty one
- 7:15Speaker 1: motion will be denied. The Court also concludes that portions
- 7:19Speaker 1: of Rule twenty one motion and related findings should be
- 7:22Speaker 1: stricken from the record. Pending for this court's consideration is
- 7:26Speaker 1: a motion for limited intervention filed by Alan M. Dershowitz,
- 7:31Speaker 1: who seeks to intervene to strike the outrageous and impertinent
- 7:34Speaker 1: allegations made against them, and to request to show cause
- 7:38Speaker 1: order to the attorneys that have made them D to
- 7:41Speaker 1: eighty two at one. The Court has considered mister Dershowitz's arguments,
- 7:45Speaker 1: but finds that his intervention is unnecessary as Federal Rule
- 7:49Speaker 1: of Civil Procedure twelve f empowers the Court on its
- 7:52Speaker 1: own to strike from completing an insufficient defense or any redundant, immaterial, impertinent,
- 7:59Speaker 1: or scandalous mens Fedar siv Dot p. Twelve f. Petitioner's
- 8:04Speaker 1: Rule twenty one motion consists of relatively little argumentation regarding
- 8:09Speaker 1: why the Court should permit them to join in this action.
- 8:12Speaker 1: They argue that one they were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein,
- 8:16Speaker 1: and two the government violated their CVRA rights by concealing
- 8:20Speaker 1: the non prosecution agreement with them d e. Two eighty
- 8:23Speaker 1: at three See id at seven and eight. However, the
- 8:27Speaker 1: bulk of the Rule twenty one motion consists of copious
- 8:30Speaker 1: factual details that Jane Do three and Jane Do four
- 8:33Speaker 1: would prove if allowed to join this action Idea three
- 8:36Speaker 1: and seven. Specifically, Jane Do three proffers that she could
- 8:40Speaker 1: prove the circumstances under which a non party introducder to
- 8:44Speaker 1: Epstein and now mister Epstein sexually trafficked her to several
- 8:48Speaker 1: high profile non party individuals, including numerous prominent American politicians,
- 8:53Speaker 1: powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well known prime minister,
- 8:58Speaker 1: and other world leaders. Idea three, three and six. She
- 9:01Speaker 1: names several individuals, and she offers details about the type
- 9:04Speaker 1: of sex act performed and where they took place see
- 9:07Speaker 1: id at five. At this juncture in the proceedings, these
- 9:11Speaker 1: lurid details are unnecessary to the determination of whether Jane
- 9:15Speaker 1: Do three and Jane Do four should be permitted to
- 9:18Speaker 1: joint petitioners claim that the government violated their rights under
- 9:22Speaker 1: the CVRA. The factual details regarding with whom and where
- 9:26Speaker 1: the Jane Does engaged in sexual activities are immaterial and
- 9:30Speaker 1: impertinent to this central claim, i e. They were known
- 9:34Speaker 1: victims of mister Epstein and the government owed them CVRA duties,
- 9:38Speaker 1: especially considering that these details involved non parties who are
- 9:42Speaker 1: not related to the respondent government. These unnecessary details shall
- 9:47Speaker 1: be stricken. The original rule twenty one Motion D two
- 9:50Speaker 1: seventy nine shall be stricken in its entirety, as it's
- 9:54Speaker 1: wholly superseded by the corrected version of Rule twenty one
- 9:57Speaker 1: motion d E two eighty from the directed rule twenty
- 10:00Speaker 1: one motion. The Court shall strike all factual details regarding
- 10:04Speaker 1: Jane Doe three Between the following sentences. The government then
- 10:08Speaker 1: concealed from Jane Doe three the existence of its NPA
- 10:12Speaker 1: from Jane Doe three, in violation of her rights under
- 10:15Speaker 1: the CVRA. And the government was well aware of Jane
- 10:18Speaker 1: Doe three when it's negotiating the NPA, as it listed
- 10:22Speaker 1: her as a victim in the attachment to the NPA,
- 10:25Speaker 1: as none of Jane Doe four's factual details relate to
- 10:28Speaker 1: non parties. The Court finds it unnecessary to strike the
- 10:31Speaker 1: portion of the Rule twenty one motion related to her
- 10:34Speaker 1: circumstances regarding the declaration and support of petitioner's response to
- 10:39Speaker 1: mister Dershowitz's motion to intervene D two ninety one, Dash one,
- 10:43Speaker 1: the Court shall strike paragraphs four, five, seven, eleven, thirteen, fifteen,
- 10:47Speaker 1: nineteen through fifty three, and fifty nine as they contain
- 10:51Speaker 1: in pertinent details regarding non parties. Regarding the declaration of
- 10:55Speaker 1: Jane Doe three in support a Rule twenty one motion
- 10:58Speaker 1: D three ten one, the Court shill strike paragraphs seven
- 11:02Speaker 1: through twelve, sixteen, thirty nine, and forty nine as they
- 11:06Speaker 1: contain impertinent details regarding non parties. Chane three is free
- 11:11Speaker 1: to reassert these factual details through proper evidentiary proof, should
- 11:16Speaker 1: petitioners demonstrate a good faith basis for believing that such
- 11:19Speaker 1: details are pertinent to a matter presented for the Court's consideration.
- 11:24Speaker 1: As mentioned, mister Dershowitz moves to intervene for the limited
- 11:27Speaker 1: purposes of moving to strike the outrageous and impertinent allegations
- 11:32Speaker 1: made against them and requesting a show cause order to
- 11:35Speaker 1: our attorneys that have been made d E. Two eighty
- 11:37Speaker 1: two at one. As the Court has taken it upon
- 11:40Speaker 1: itself to strike the impertinent factual details from Rule twenty
- 11:44Speaker 1: one motion and related filings, the Court concludes that mister
- 11:47Speaker 1: dershowitz intervention in this case is unnecessary. Accordingly, this motion
- 11:53Speaker 1: to intervene will be denied as moot. Regarding whether a
- 11:57Speaker 1: show cause order should it be issued, the Court find
- 12:00Speaker 1: that its actions of striking the lurid details from petitioners
- 12:03Speaker 1: submissions is sanctioned enough. However, the Court cautions that all
- 12:08Speaker 1: council are subject to Rule eleven's mandate that all submissions
- 12:12Speaker 1: be presented for a proper purpose and factual contentions have
- 12:16Speaker 1: evidentiary support fed dot r dot siv p eleven b
- 12:20Speaker 1: one and three, and that the Court may on its
- 12:23Speaker 1: own strike from any pleading any redundant, immaterial, impertinent or
- 12:28Speaker 1: scandalous matter fed dot r Sieve Dot p. Twelve f B.
- 12:33Speaker 1: Rule fifteen motion. Between their two motions, the Rule twenty
- 12:36Speaker 1: one motion and the Rule fifteen motion, Jane Do three
- 12:39Speaker 1: and Jane Do four assert that they desire to join
- 12:42Speaker 1: this action to vindicate their rights under the CVRA as
- 12:46Speaker 1: well DA two eighty at one, although petitioners already seek
- 12:50Speaker 1: the invalidation of mister Epstein's non prosecution agreement on behalf
- 12:55Speaker 1: of all other similarly situated victims D one eighty nine
- 12:59Speaker 1: at one, d E three eleven at two, twelve, fifteen, eighteen,
- 13:03Speaker 1: and nineteen, Jane DO three and Jane Do four argue
- 13:07Speaker 1: that they should be fellow travelers in this pursuit lest
- 13:10Speaker 1: they be forced to file a separate suit raising their claims,
- 13:13Speaker 1: resulting in duplicative litigation. D e two eighty at eleven.
- 13:19Speaker 1: The Court finds that justice does not require adding new
- 13:22Speaker 1: parties this late in the proceedings, who will raise claims
- 13:26Speaker 1: that are admittedly duplicates of the claims already presented by petitioners.
- 13:31Speaker 1: The Dose submissions demonstrate that it is entirely unnecessary for
- 13:35Speaker 1: Jane DO three and Jane Do four to precede as
- 13:38Speaker 1: parties in this action, rather than his fact witnesses available
- 13:41Speaker 1: to offer relevant admissible and non cumulative testimony ceg d
- 13:47Speaker 1: E two eighty at two. Jane DO three and Jane
- 13:50Speaker 1: DO four are in many respects similarly situated to the
- 13:54Speaker 1: current victims. The new victims will establish a trial that
- 13:57Speaker 1: the government violated their CVR rights in the same way
- 14:01Speaker 1: as it violated the rights of the other victims. Ten.
- 14:05Speaker 1: Jane Do three and Jane Do four will simply join
- 14:07Speaker 1: in motions that the current victims were going to file.
- 14:10Speaker 1: In any event, eleven litigating Jane Do three and Jane
- 14:14Speaker 1: Do four's claims would be duplicates d E two ninety
- 14:18Speaker 1: eight at one and one. As promised, Jane Do three
- 14:21Speaker 1: and Jane Do four do not seek to expand the
- 14:24Speaker 1: number of pleadings filed in this case. If allowed to
- 14:26Speaker 1: join this action, they would simply support the pleadings already
- 14:30Speaker 1: being filed by Jane Do number one and Jane Do
- 14:32Speaker 1: number two. D E three eleven at five n three.
- 14:36Speaker 1: All four victims represented by the same legal council intend
- 14:40Speaker 1: to coordinate efforts to avoid duplicate pleadings. Fifteen. Jane Do
- 14:44Speaker 1: three and Jane Do four challenged the same secret agreement
- 14:48Speaker 1: ie the NPA that the government executed with Epstein and
- 14:52Speaker 1: then concealed from his victims. This is made clear by
- 14:56Speaker 1: the proposed amendment itself, in which all four victims simply
- 14:59Speaker 1: allege the same general facts as the Does argue at
- 15:02Speaker 1: length in their rule fifteen motion. Jane DO one's original
- 15:06Speaker 1: petition specifically alleges that the government was violating not only
- 15:10Speaker 1: her rights, but the rights of other similarly situated victims.
- 15:15Speaker 1: D e three at two. The Court fails to see
- 15:18Speaker 1: where the addition of other similarly situated victims is now
- 15:22Speaker 1: necessary to vindigate their rights as well. D E two
- 15:25Speaker 1: eighty at one. Of course, Jane DO three and Jane
- 15:29Speaker 1: DO four can participate in this litigated effort to vindicate
- 15:32Speaker 1: the rights of similarly situated victims. There is no requirement
- 15:37Speaker 1: that evidentiary proofs submitted in this case come only from
- 15:40Speaker 1: the name parties. Petitioners point out as much, noting that
- 15:44Speaker 1: regardless of whether this Court grants the rule fifteen motion,
- 15:47Speaker 1: they will call Jane DO three as a witness at
- 15:50Speaker 1: any trial d e three eleven at seventeen and seven.
- 15:54Speaker 1: The necessary participation of Jane DO three and Jane DO
- 15:58Speaker 1: four in this case can be satisfied by offering their
- 16:01Speaker 1: properly supported and relevant admissible testimony is needed, whether through
- 16:06Speaker 1: testimony at trial Cde two to eighty at nine or
- 16:09Speaker 1: affi David submitted to support the relevancy of discovery requests
- 16:14Speaker 1: see id A ten. Petitioners do not contend that Jane
- 16:18Speaker 1: Do three and Jane Do four's participation in this case
- 16:21Speaker 1: can only be achieved by listing them as parties. As
- 16:25Speaker 1: it stands under the original petition, the merits of this
- 16:28Speaker 1: case will be decided based on a determination of whether
- 16:31Speaker 1: the government violated the rights of Jane Do one, Jane
- 16:34Speaker 1: Do two, and all other similarly situated victims under the CVRA.
- 16:39Speaker 1: Jane Do three and Jane Do four may offer relevant,
- 16:42Speaker 1: admissible and nonccumulated evidence that advances that determination, but their
- 16:48Speaker 1: participation as listed parties is not necessary in that regard.
- 16:52Speaker 1: Ce Herring, eight ninety four f. Dot two d at
- 16:55Speaker 1: ten twenty four. District Court did not abuse its discretion
- 16:59Speaker 1: by denying amendment where addition of more plaintiffs would not
- 17:03Speaker 1: have affected the issues underlying the grant of some rejudgment. Cf.
- 17:08Speaker 1: Arthur ver Stearn, two thousand and eight w L. Two
- 17:11Speaker 1: sixty two zero one one six at seven SD. Texas,
- 17:15Speaker 1: two thousand and eight. Under Rule fifteen, courts have held
- 17:18Speaker 1: that leave to a mend to assert a claim already
- 17:21Speaker 1: at issue another lawsuit should not be granted if the
- 17:24Speaker 1: same parties are involved, the same substantiative claim is raised
- 17:29Speaker 1: and the same relief is sought. And as to Jane
- 17:31Speaker 1: Doe four, at least adding her as a party raises
- 17:35Speaker 1: unnecessary questions about whether she is proper party to this action.
- 17:40Speaker 1: Petitioner also admit that amending the petition to conform to
- 17:43Speaker 1: the evidence by including references to non party prosecution agreements
- 17:48Speaker 1: itself is unnecessary, as the existing petition is broad enough
- 17:52Speaker 1: to cover the developing evidence in this case De three
- 17:56Speaker 1: to eleven. The Court agrees, and it concludes that John
- 18:00Speaker 1: Justice does not require amending the petition this late in
- 18:02Speaker 1: the proceedings conclusion. Accordingly, it is hereby ordered and adjudged
- 18:08Speaker 1: as follows the rule. Twenty one motion d E two
- 18:11Speaker 1: eighty is denied. The rule fifteen motion d E three
- 18:14Speaker 1: eleven is denied. Intervener Dershowitzs motion for limited intervention d
- 18:19Speaker 1: E two eighty two and motion for leave to file
- 18:22Speaker 1: supplemental reply and support for Motion for limited Intervention d
- 18:26Speaker 1: E three seventeen are denied as moot. Petitioner's motion diceealed
- 18:31Speaker 1: d E two ninety two is denied as moot the
- 18:34Speaker 1: following materials, or hereby stricken from the record d E
- 18:38Speaker 1: two seventy nine in its entirety d E two eighty
- 18:41Speaker 1: all sentences between the following sentences. The Government then concealed
- 18:45Speaker 1: from Jane Doe number three the existence of its NPA
- 18:48Speaker 1: from Jane Doe three, in violation of her rights under
- 18:51Speaker 1: the CVRA d E two eighty three. And the Government
- 18:55Speaker 1: was well aware of Jane Doe three when it was
- 18:57Speaker 1: negotiating the NPA, as it listed her as a victim
- 19:00Speaker 1: in the attachment to the NPA D two eighty eight,
- 19:04Speaker 1: six d E two ninety one one, paragraphs four, five, seven, eleven, thirteen, fifteen,
- 19:11Speaker 1: nineteen through fifty three, n fifty nine, d E three
- 19:14Speaker 1: ten one, paragraphs seven through twelve, sixteen thirty nine, and
- 19:18Speaker 1: forty nine. D E two ninety three in its entirety,
- 19:22Speaker 1: Done and ordered in the Chambers at West Palm Beach,
- 19:25Speaker 1: Palm Beach County, Florida, this sixth day of April twenty fifteen.
- 19:30Speaker 1: And this order was signed by Kenneth Marra. All Right, folks,
- 19:34Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this one. All of
- 19:35Speaker 1: the information that goes with this episode can be found
- 19:39Speaker 1: in the description box.