Billionaire's lawyer tried to discredit teen girls, police say

Billionaire's lawyer tried to discredit teen girls, police say Page 1 of 3 crime blog PalmBeachPost.com Billionaire's lawyer tried to discredit teen girls, police say By Larry Keller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Saturday, July 29, 2006 Famed Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz met with the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office and provided damaging information about teenage girls who say they gave his client, Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, sexually charged massages, according to police reports. PRINT TH IS Browse Specials & Deals From Local Dealerships Autos PalmBeachPost.com The reports also state that another Epstein attorney agreed to a plea bargain that would have allowed Epstein to have no criminal record. His current attorney denies this happened. Jeffrey Epstein Billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein has been indicted for felony solicitation of prostitution by a grand jury following accusations by teen girls. • Past headlines More crime coverage Most recent headlines Fugitives I Sex offenders Post More local news And the documents also reveal that the father of at least one girl complained that private investigators aggressively followed his car, photographed his home and chased off visitors. Police also talked to somebody who said she was offered money if she refused to cooperate with the Palm Beach Police Department probe of Epstein. The state attorney's office said it presented the Epstein case to a county grand jury this month rather than directly charging Epstein because of concerns about the girls' credibility. The grand jury indicted Epstein, 53, on a single count of felony solicitation of prostitution, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Police believed there was probable cause to charge Epstein with the more serious http://palmbeachpost.printthis.clickability.corn/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Billionaire%27s+la... 1/2/2008 EFTA00067336 Billionaire's lawyer tried to discredit teen girls, police say Page 2 of 3 Latest breaking news, photos and all of today's Post stories. crimes of unlawful sex acts with a minor Share This Story and lewd and lascivious molestation. Police Chief Michael Reiter was so angry that he wrote State Attorney Barry Krischer a memo in May suggesting he disqualify himself from the case. The case originally was going to be presented to the grand jury in February, but was postponed after Dershowitz produced information gleaned from the Web site myspace.com showing some of the alleged victims commenting on alcohol and marijuana use, according to the police report prepared by Detective Joseph Recarey. also is profiled o the name " witness. who told police she recruited girls for Epstein, age includes photos of her and her friends, including one using who was not charged in the case, is a potential prosecution According to Recarey, prosecutor Lanna Belohlavek offered Epstein attorneys Dershowitz and Guy Fronstin a plea deal in April. Fronstin, after speaking with Epstein, accepted the deal, in which Epstein would plead guilty to one count of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony, be placed on five years' probation and have no criminal record. The deal also called for Epstein to submit to a psychiatric and sexual evaluation and have no unsupervised visits with minors, according to Recarey's report. The plea bargain was made in connection with only one of the five alleged victims, the report states. Fronstin — who declined to comment on the case — was subsequently fired and veteran defense attorney Jack Goldberger was hired. He denies there was any agreement by any of Epstein's attorneys to a plea deal. "We absolutely did not agree to a plea in this case," he said. Neither Belohlavek nor a state attorney's spokesman could be reached for comment. The parent or parents of alleged victims who complained of being harassed by private investigators provided license tag numbers of two of the men. Police found the vehicles were registered to a private eye in West Palm Beach and another in Jupiter, according to Recarey's report. "I have no knowledge of it," defense attorney Goldberger said. The report also says a woman connected to the Epstein case was contacted by somebody who was still in touch with Epstein. That person told her she would be compensated if she didn't cooperate with police, Recarey's report says. Those who did talk "will be dealt with," the woman said she was told. Phone records show the woman talked with the person who allegedly intimidated her around the time she said, Recarey reported. Phone records also show that the person said to have made the threat then placed a call to Epstein's personal assistant, who in turn called a New York corporation affiliated with Epstein, the report states. The issue in the Epstein case is not whether females came to his waterfront home, but whether he knew their ages. "He's never denied girls came to the house," Goldberger said. But when Epstein was given a polygraph test, "he passed on knowledge of age," the attorney said. http://palmbeachpost.printthis.clickability.corn/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title.Billionafre%27s+la... 1/2/2008 EFTA00067337 Billionaire's lawyer tried to discredit teen girls, police say Page 3 of 3 After the indictment against Epstein was unsealed this week, Police Chief Reiter referred the matter to the FBI. "We've received the referral, and we're reviewing it," said FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela in Miami. The chief himself has come under attack from Epstein's lawyers and friends in New York, where he has a home. The New York Post quoted Epstein's prominent New York lawyer, Gerald Lefcourt, as saying his client was indicted only "because of the craziness of the police chief." Reiter has declined to comment on the case. Prosecutors have not presented a sex-related case like Epstein's to a grand jury before, said Mike Edmondson, spokesman for the state attorney's office. "That's what you do with a case that falls into a gray area," he said. The state attorney's office did not recommend a particular criminal charge on which to indict Epstein, Edmondson said. The grand jury was presented with a list of charges from highest to lowest, then deliberated with the prosecutor out of the room, he said. "People are surprised at the grand jury proceeding," West Palm Beach defense attorney Richard Tendler said. "It's a way for the prosecutor's office to not take the full responsibility for not filing the (charge), and not doing what the Palm Beach Police Department wanted. I think something fell apart with those underage witnesses." Defense attorney Robert Gershman was a prosecutor for six years. "Those girls must have been incredible or untrustworthy, I don't know," he said. Other attorneys said Epstein's case raises the issue of whether wealthy, connected defendants like Epstein — whose friends include former President Clinton and Donald Trump — are treated differently from others. Once he knew he was the subject of a criminal probe, Epstein hired a phalanx of powerful attorneys such as Dershowitz and Lefcourt, who is a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Miami lawyer Roy Black — who became nationally known when he successfully defended William Kennedy Smith on a rape charge in Palm Beach — also was involved at one point. Said defense attorney Michelle Suskauer: "I think it's unfortunate the public may get the perception that with power, you may be treated differently than the average Joe." Find this article at: http://www.palmbeachpost.corntlocalnewsicontent/local_newstepaper/2006/07129/s 1 b_epstein_0729.html F Check the box to include the list of links referenced in the article. http://palmbeachpost.printthis.clickability.corn/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title.Billionake%27s+la... 1/2/2008 EFTA00067338