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Prosecutors Broke Law In Epstein Plea Deal, Fla. Judge Says
By Carolina Bolado
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Law360 (February 21, 2019, 5:58 PM EST) --
Prosecutors, including then-U.S. Attorney and current
Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, violated the
Crime Victims' Rights Act when they signed a non-
prosecution agreement with billionaire sex offender
Jeffrey Epstein without notifying his victims, a
Florida federal judge ruled Thursday.
Prosecutors failed to comply with their obligations to
inform the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, shown in 2004,
that they intended to enter into an agreement not to
prosecute him, a judge said Thursday. (Getty)
U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra granted
summary judgment to two Epstein victims who sued
the government over the deal and said federal
prosecutors failed to comply with their obligations
under the CVRA to inform Epstein's victims that they
intended to enter into an agreement not to prosecute
him.
The government's decision to hide its intentions and
to tell victims to just be patient with the investigation
was "particularly problematic," according to the
judge.
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"When the government gives information to victims,
it cannot be misleading," Judge Marra said. "While
the government spent untold hours negotiating the
terms and implications of the NPA with Epstein's
attorneys, scant information was shared with victims.
Instead, the victims were told to be 'patient' while the
investigation proceeded."
Judge Marra rejected the government's claim that the
CVRA requires victims to be notified only of a plea
bargain or a deferred prosecution agreement, both of
which are more common than a non-prosecution
agreement, according to the opinion. But that reading
of the law is "inconsistent with the goal of the
CVRA," the judge said.
"The expansive context of the CVRA lends itself to
only one interpretation; namely, that victims should
be notified of significant events resulting in
resolution of their case without a trial," Judge Marra
said.
The ruling is a big win for the two Epstein victims,
listed as Jane Does, who sued the government in
2008 alleging the U.S. Attorney's Office for the
Southern District of Florida violated the CVRA with
the Epstein deal.
The CVRA grants crime victims a number of rights,
including the right to be informed of public court
proceedings and not to be excluded from those
proceedings. The Miami Herald, in an investigative
report published late last year, printed emails
showing that the alleged victims were deliberately
excluded from the deal cut between Acosta, who was
then the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of
Florida, and Epstein's defense team.
Epstein's alleged victims — numbering in the dozens
— claim he lured teenage girls to his Palm Beach,
Florida, mansion to engage in sexual acts. They have
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not had the opportunity to testify in court in any
proceeding thus far, according to the Herald report.
Bradley Edwards, who represents the victims suing
the government, called Judge Marra's decision a
"clear victory and long-overdue vindication for all of
the victims."
"It is unfortunate that at no time during the past 10
years has the government acknowledged its clear
violation of the rights of dozens of crime victims,"
Edwards said. "Hopefully now they will stop
defending what was clearly an improper agreement,
apologize directly and unequivocally, and work to
make it right."
Judge Marra said the parties have 15 days to tell the
court how they wish to proceed to determine any
appropriate remedies. Edwards said the primary
remedy is the invalidation of the non-prosecution
agreement.
A U.S. Department of Labor spokeswoman said the
actions of the U.S. Attorney's Office in this case
"have been defended by the Department of Justice in
litigation across three administrations and several
attorneys general." She said any further comment
would have to come from the DOJ.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District
of Florida declined to comment.
The DOJ has opened an investigation into whether its
attorneys engaged in misconduct when negotiating
the controversial deal with Epstein, according to a
letter sent earlier this month to Sen. Ben Sasse, R-
Neb., who repeatedly pushed for such an
investigation. The letter said the DOJ's Office of
Professional Responsibility had opened an
investigation into the deal.
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It was after reading the investigative report by the
Herald that Sasse became concerned and sent two
letters to the DOJ urging the agency to investigate.
The Herald's three-part series, "Perversion of
Justice," showed how Acosta and other DOJ
attorneys worked closely with defense lawyers to
craft a lenient plea deal for Epstein in 2008.
The series was published just before Epstein was set
to go to trial in a civil dispute with Edwards, who had
filed a malicious prosecution claim against Epstein.
The trial was to have featured testimony from some
of his victims. But just before jury selection was set
to begin, an attorney for Edwards announced a
settlement, while Epstein's attorney read an apology
from his client to Edwards.
The victims are represented by Bradley Edwards
of Edwards Pottinger LLC, Jay C. Howell of Jay
Howell & Associates PA, John Scarola of Searcy
Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley PA and Paul G.
Cassell of the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney
College of Law.
The government is represented by Ann Marie C.
Villafana and Dexter Lee of the U.S. Attorney's
Office for the Southern District of Florida.
The case is Doe et al. v. U.S., case number 9:08-cv-
80736, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of Florida.
--Additional reporting by Lauren Berg. Editing by
Nicole Bleier.
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