| In Case Against Epstein
Estate Defense Tries To Blame Virgin Islands
As Legal Excess Urged Against
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Decrypt
- LightRead - Honduras
-
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 22 – After the death
of Jeffrey Epstein in the MCC
prison, Annie Farmer is
pursuing her civil lawsuit for
sex trafficking against his
"madame" Ghislaine Maxwell and
his estate.
On April
16 U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Lorna G. Schofield held
a conference on Ghislaine
Maxwell's letter responding
Farmer's complaint, including
that it involved "lumping" of
issues. See below.
Jeffrey Epstein's estate and
executors Indyke and Kahn are
being sued by Jane Doe 15 and
others. On May 22 U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Magistrate Judge Debra C.
Freeman held back to back
conferences at 10 am and 11
am. Inner City Press covered
both.
Epstein lawyer:
"The only reason the victims'
compensation program has not
started is that the Virgin
Islands Attorney General froze
out accounts... Now the estate
has reached an agreement with
the Attorney General, to be
finalized next week."
Judge Freeman
advised parties to reduce or
pause legal spending, says if
they later go forward, be
ready for virtual depositions.
She refers to a colleague
judge's model protocol for
virtual depositions,
emphasizing she is not
endorsing any provider. Inner
City Press will have more on
that. At 11 am Judge Freeman
heard other cases against
Jeffrey Epstein's estate and
executors, including by Annie
Farmer, Teresa Helm, Juliette
Bryant and "Jane Doe 1000."
She asked about
any possible settlement.
Plaintiff's lawyer says there
is no assurance the offered
program will be meaningful. So
they want to move
forward.
Plaintiffs'
lawyer: We are having to fight
to get discovery from Epstein
estate. I had hoped we
wouldn't have to fight this
way now they he [Jeffrey
Epstein] is no longer
asserting his 5th Amendment
privileges, now that he is no
longer with us. But here we
are. Epstein estate
lawyer says McCauley is on
email chain showing that most
victims are on board with the
program, and that the program
is no longer in limbo. Judge
Freeman: We discussed this
morning at 10, Ms McCauley was
not on unless she did not
announce herself.
McCauley: I wasn't aware of
any 10 am
proceeding.
Epstein estate
lawyer: Maria Farmer stayed
her action, to conserve
resources. Boies Schiller has
been the biggest culprit in
driving up the Estate's
costs. Plaintiff's
lawyer: We have not received
enough information to make
decisions. Discovery has moved
very slowly. That's my concern
with a hiatus. Defense
lawyer: For Juliette Bryant,
there were documents; for
other plaintiffs, not so many.
But the pandemic has made it
hard to collect documents.
Judge Freeman: How so,
exactly? Defense lawyer:
People don't want to travel.
Or can't.
Now
Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyer
Laura A. Menninger from
Colorado speaks, says Maxwell
is only charged with battery
in New Mexico in 1996. Says
the program would moot out
this whole lawsuit.
Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyer
does not refer to victims but
"accusers." Says "it has been
24 years since the allegation
supposed happened." McCauley:
We have no idea when the SDNY
investigation will be
complete. So discovery should
not be stayed.
Judge Freeman:
Because of COVID-19, there are
no grand juries meeting, so
there might not be indictments
for a while. The same has
arisen in the Joshua Schulte /
CIA leaks case, which Inner
City Press also covers. These
cases include
19-cv-10475-LGS-DCF Farmer v.
Indyke et al
19-cv-10653-PAE-DCF Jane Doe
15 v. Indyke et al and
20-cr-00147-VSB-1 USA v. De La
Cruz Rodriguez et al
Judge Schofield said she does
not see lumping in the
complaint, and that does not
think that the motion or
motions Ghislaine Maxwell was
suggesting she would make
would be worth the
time.
Maxwell's lawyer
Laura Menninger of Denver's
Haddon, Morgan and Foreman,
P.C. was urged to submitted a
letter or answer in a week's
time. Menninger
pushed forward, saying that
given the case's link to New
Mexico and that Farmer is not
a resident of New York, the
shorter of the statute of
limitation might apply.
Judge
Schofield repeated that the
defendants, also for executors
of Epstein's estate Darren K.
Indyke and Richard D. Khan,
should file in a week's time.
Inner City Press will continue
to follow and report on this
case. It is Farmer v. Indyke,
et al, 19-cv-10475
(Schofield).
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2020 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com for
|
,
