EFTA00230786

EFTA00231346

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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 
FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT 
2 
IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA 
CRIMINAL DIVISION 
3 
STATE OF FLORIDA 
) 
4 
) 
vs. 
) CASE No. 2008CF009381AXX 
5 
) 
JEFFREY EPSTEIN, 
) 
6 
) 
CERTIFIED COPY 
Defendant. 
) 
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) 
8 
PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COURT 
9 
PRESIDING: HONORABLE JEFFREY COLBATH 
10 
APPEARANCES: 
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ON BEHALF OF THE STATE: 
12 
BARRY E. KRISCHER, ESQUIRE 
State Attorney 
13 
401 North Dixie Highway 
West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 
14 
By: 
BARBARA BURNS, ESQUIRE 
Assistant State Attorney 
15 
ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT: 
16 
JACK GOLDBERGER, ESQUIRE 
250 S Australian Ave Ste 1400 
17 
West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 
And 
18 
ROBERT CRITTON, ESQUIRE 
515 N Flagler Dr Ste 400 
19 
West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 
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ON BEHALF OF THE PALM BEACH POST: 
DEANNA SHULLMAN, ESQUIRE 
21 
Thomas, LoCicero & Bralow 
101 N.E. 3rd Avenue - Ste 1500 
22 
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 
23 
ON BEHALF OF EW, THE INTERVENER: 
WILLIAM J. BERGER, ESQUIRE 
24 
BRAD EDWARDS, ESQUIRE 
225 NE Mizner Blvd Ste 675 
25 
Boca Raton, Florida 33432 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
EFTA00231347

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ON BEHALF OF EB, 
MOTION INTERVENER'S PLEADING: 
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SPENCER KUVIN, ESQUIRE 
2925 PGA Blvd Ste 200 
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Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410 
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June 25, 2009 
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Palm Beach County Courthouse 
West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 
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Beginning at 1:50 o'clock, p.m. 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
EFTA00231348

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BE IT REMEMBERED that the following 
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proceedings were had in the above-entitled cause 
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before the HONORABLE JEFFREY COLBATH, one of the 
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judges of the aforesaid court, at the Palm Beach 
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County Courthouse, located in the City of West 
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Palm Beach, State of Florida on June 25, 2009 
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beginning at 1:50 o'clock, p.m. with appearances 
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as hereinbefore noted, to wit: 
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THEREUPON: 
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THE COURT: Let me call up the case 
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of the state of Florida versus Jeffrey 
12 
Epstein. Let me have counsel announce 
13 
their appearances for the record. 
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MS. SHULLMAN: Deanna Shullman of 
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Thomas, LoCicero & Bralow on behalf of the 
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Palm Beach Post. 
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THE COURT: Ms. Shullman, nice to see 
18 
you again, good morning. 
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MS. SHULLMAN: You too. 
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MR. GERBER: William J. Berger for 
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EW, the intervener. 
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MR. EDWARDS: Brad Edwards also on 
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behalf of the EW. 
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MR. KUVIN: Spencer Kuvin on behalf 
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of EB, motion intervener's pleading. 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
EFTA00231349

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MR. GOLDBERGER: Good afternoon, 
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Judge, Jack Goldberger and Robert Critton 
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on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein. 
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THE COURT: And I'm guessing that, 
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Mr. Kuvin, if I grant the motion to unseal 
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that which has been sealed, your motion to 
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intervene will be moot. 
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MR. KUVIN: Will be. 
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THE COURT: I thought II. This is 
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what I'm thinking and -- oh, we've got 
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more. 
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MS. BURNS: One more appearance, 
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excuse me, Judge, Barbara Burns on behalf 
14 
of the state of Florida, the state 
15 
attorney's office of the 15th Judicial 
16 
Circuit. 
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THE COURT: All right. Procedurally, 
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I think the way that this came to us is 
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that at the conclusion or at some point 
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during a plea conference between the state 
21 
of Florida and Mr. Epstein, the state and 
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the defense hand an agreed order to 
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Judge Puccillo. 
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MS. BURNS: Puccillo. 
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THE COURT: And asked her to sign an 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
EFTA00231350

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agreement to seal some portion of some 
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documents, which she signed off on and now 
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it is the intervener's and the Post's 
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motion to unseal those documents; is that 
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kind of procedurally where we are? 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: Procedurally not 
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exactly correct, I don't know if you want 
8 
me to clarify that. 
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THE COURT: Please do. 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: Your Honor, this 
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started during the course of a plea 
12 
colloquy in Mr. Epstein's state proceeding 
13 
before Judge Puccillo, who is a retired 
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senior judge who was filling in for 
15 
Judge McSorley on that day, who was the 
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judge assigned to this division. It was a 
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plea agreement with the state attorney's 
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office and it is normal and consistent with 
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any plea colloquy Judge Puccillo asked the 
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defense whether there were any other 
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promises or inducements for Mr. Epstein to 
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enter into his plea agreement other than 
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what was contained in the state standard 
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plea agreement that we had. I felt 
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obligated under the circumstances to alert 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
EFTA00231351

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to the Court that there was a confidential 
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agreement between Mr. Epstein's --
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Mr. Epstein's attorneys and the United 
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States attorney's office for the Southern 
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District of Florida which would have been 
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triggered upon the successful taking of the 
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plea by Judge Puccillo. 
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In other words, if the plea was 
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accepted by Judge Puccillo, there's a 
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confidential agreement between U.S. 
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attorney's office and the defense that 
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would be triggered and they would agree not 
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to take some actions against Mr. Epstein. 
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I advised Judge Puccillo of that, and at 
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that time she said she would like to see 
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the matter sealed in the court file. I 
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said fine, and then we later -- I then 
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filed that document, and the clerk's office 
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notified me and said we need an order 
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sealing this, and we submitted an order to 
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seal the document. 
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THE COURT: All right. Is there 
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anybody here from the U.S. attorney's 
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office? Has anybody notified them, or is 
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there a dog in this fight or do they care? 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
EFTA00231352

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If they're a party to this confidential 
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thing, wouldn't you think that they might 
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be. 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: Your Honor, they 
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have been noticed. They have taken a 
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position in parallel proceedings that this 
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matter should remain confidential, and they 
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have done that in federal court, and I 
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believe that is their position still. 
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MR. EDWARDS: Your Honor, I have been 
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in communication with the U.S. attorney's 
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office, and they are not taking a position 
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on this issue, which is why they're not in 
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court right now. 
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THE COURT: What's going on in 
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federal court? 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: There are a number 
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of civil cases that are pending right now. 
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THE COURT: And they're talking about 
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the same documents that are under seal here 
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in our court? 
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MR. EDWARDS: Yes. 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: Yes, your Honor, and 
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I will address that at the appropriate time 
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what's going on here. 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
EFTA00231353

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THE COURT: All right. 
thank you, 
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Mr. Goldberger for getting that 
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straightened out. 
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MR. GERBER: Judge, just to clarify 
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one other point. 
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THE COURT: Sure. 
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MR. GERBER: I think actually there's 
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an additional step because Mr. Goldberger 
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on behalf of Mr. Epstein or Mr. Critton I 
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believe filed motion, and I think that that 
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will tell us who goes first today and who 
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has the burden today. 
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THE COURT: This is -- and I'm 
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thinking outloud that my take on that is 
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that my review of the file shows that the 
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appropriate steps to seal these documents 
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wasn't followed initially. I'm looking at 
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it as it would be whoever's moving to have 
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them sealed, it's their burden to prove the 
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steps that you have to prove to get things 
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sealed by the Court, and II that's -- I 
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hinted last meeting that we all had 
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together but that's where I'd go, 
I'd 
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shift the burden over to the federal 
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government and to Mr. Epstein, that's what 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
EFTA00231354

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I'm thinking. Let me ask first go over to 
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the Post, Ms. Shullman, what are your 
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thoughts on that procedure? 
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MS. SHULLMAN: Your Honor, I think 
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that's the correct procedure here. I think 
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Mr. Epstein's motion to make court records 
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confidential tacitly admits what we 
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suspected last time, which was that the 
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initial closure of the documents was not 
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done pursuant to the acceptable procedures. 
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THE COURT: All right. Mr. Berger, 
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Mr. Edwards, that's all right with you? 
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MR. EDWARDS: We agree. 
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MR. GERBER: That's what my point 
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was, yes, your Honor, thank you. 
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THE COURT: Mr. Goldberger, what do 
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you think? 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: That's fine, your 
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Honor, with the -- I'll wait until after 
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the proceeding. 
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THE COURT: All right. You may 
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proceed. 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: Judge, as I said to 
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clarify the record, this matter started 
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during the course of Mr. Epstein's plea 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
EFTA00231355

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colloquy in state court and just II that 
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the record was clear that all inducements 
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for Mr. Epstein's plea was on the record 
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when Judge Puccillo asked me if there had 
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been any promises made to Mr. Epstein, I 
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think properly and ethically we told the 
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Court that there was an agreed --
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confidential agreement with the federal 
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government that was in place that basically 
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said we will not prosecute Mr. Epstein for 
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federal offenses if the state plea 
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agreen4nt is accepted by the Court and 
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Mr. Epstein's sentence is imposed. 
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The state proceeding was over at the 
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time that I advised Judge Puccillo that, in 
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other words, we had gone through the plea 
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colloquy and I simply was advising her of 
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this other agreement. It was 
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Judge Puccillo who then asked us to 
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approach, and the Court has a copy of that 
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transcript, I believe. It was 
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Judge Puccillo that said I'd like to have 
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that document sealed in the court file, and 
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I acquiesced to that, I said that's fine. 
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■, first, as a preliminary matter, 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
EFTA00231356

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it wasn't like we were coming into court on 
that day and asking to seal something, ■ 
it would have been presumptuous of me to 
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file something to request to have something 
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sealed when it came up during the course of 
the proceeding, and, in fact, the committee 
notes on the rule of judicial 
administration talk about that and say 
matters come up all the time during the 
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course of hearings and the fact that 
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something is not filed in advance does not 
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necessarily taint the entire process, II we 
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agreed to come forward and file our motion 
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to seal after the fact, because we didn't 
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know this matter would be coming up. 
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But having said that, Judge, this 
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confidential agreement was not part of any 
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state plea agreement, it's not part of the 
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proceedings, it was ancillary to the state 
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proceedings and it had nothing to do with 
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the state proceedings. As an accommodation 
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to Judge Puccillo, we filed it in the court 
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file. Quite frankly, it's unnecessary, it 
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doesn't need to be there, and the simplest 
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approach would be to simply remove it from 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
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the court file at this point. We didn't 
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have for it to be there. It's not part of 
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the plea, it's not part of the state 
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resolution of the case, and that would be 
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the simple logical approach to that. 
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If the Court is inclined not do that 
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or if the parties object to that, then I 
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think we move onto some other very, very 
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important issues in this case and for both 
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the intervenors in this case as well as the 
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Palm Beach Post motion for access to this 
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proceeding for really two very, very 
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significant reasons, they are in the wrong 
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place and they're attempting to march up 
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the wrong hill here, your Honor. 
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This matter needs to -- has to be 
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litigated in federal court before 
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Judge Marra who has already heard hearings 
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on this matter. Now, at our last 
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abbreviated hearing two weeks ago, I told 
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you for the first time that there have been 
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two hearings in front of Judge Marra on 
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this very issue, whether this 
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nonprosecution agreement and that's the 
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matter that is sealed in your court file, 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
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whether this nonprosecution agreement 
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should be released to the plaintiffs for 
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their use. 
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Judge Marra heard two hearings on 
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this matter and the court has those orders. 
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And in the first hearing Judge Marra very, 
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very, carefully balanced the 
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confidentiality issues of the 
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nonprosecution agreement, the intent of the 
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parties as well of the rules of criminal 
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procedure that I will talk about in a 
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moment, with the plaintiff's right to know 
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what's going on and to have access to this 
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agreement. And Judge Marra crafted an 
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order and in the nature of a protective 
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order and said, plaintiffs, you can have 
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this nonprosecution agreement, you can use 
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it, you can review it, you cannot give it 
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to anyone else other than your clients, and 
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if you want to use it or you want to give 
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it to your clients, you need to tell them 
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about this order that is not to be 
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disclosed to anybody else. And these 
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plaintiffs that are sitting here will tell 
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you that from day one they have had this 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
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nonprosecution agreement, they have it for 
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their use, they know every clause that's in 
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that nonprosecution agreement, and I 
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suggest to the Court as to their motions 
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why are we here; they have an agreement 
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already. 
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They went back to Judge Marra 
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sometime thereafter and asked the Court to 
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expand their use of the nonprosecution 
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agreement, and they said, Judge Marra, we 
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have the nonprosecution agreement but we 
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would like to be able to disclose that 
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agreement to other sides, and Judge Marra 
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in another carefully crafted order said, 
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nuh-uh, no, you have not satisfied your 
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burden, you cannot disseminate this to 
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anyone else, and the order that I have 
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entered remains in place, but most 
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significantly he said, you know what, this 
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is without prejudice. 
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If you have some basis, you have some 
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need that you have not briefed, you have 
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not litigated with me yet concerning 
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dissemination of nonprosecution agreement, 
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come back to me and I'll review it for you. 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
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And they have every right to do II, and 
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they have not done II, and it is this 
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motion to intervene that they filed in this 
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court is simply an effort to skirt and to 
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avoid and to go behind the order of 
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Judge Marra that dealt with this issue 
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already. 
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And I think just for the purpose of 
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our hearing, we need to have the two orders 
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of Judge Marra entered into the record of 
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this proceeding. I know I gave copies to 
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the Court, but I have additional copies. 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: Your Honor, I 
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believe there is no objection from either 
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of the parties. 
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THE COURT: Thank you 
much. Let's 
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go ahead and mark these as Defendant's 
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Exhibits No. 1 and 2 for identification 
19 
purposes. Anybody object to me taking 
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judicial notice of Judge Marra's order? By 
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hearing no objection, I'll go ahead and 
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take judicial notice of it. 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: ■, your Honor, 
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Judge Marra has dealt with this issue 
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squarely, there's a procedure in place and 
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these matters should be litigated in front 
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of the district court judge that has 
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already heard these matters. 
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THE COURT: Well, let's say that may 
5 
be true as it relates to these individual 
6 
plaintiffs in the federal litigation, what 
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about the Post's and the press's -- the 
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media's right to take a look at these 
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things? 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: Your Honor, and this 
11 
is the second reason why not only the 
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plaintiffs but the Post appear to be 
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marching up the wrong hill here. The Palm 
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Beach Post has filed a motion for access to 
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these documents and they certainly do have 
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first amendment rights and no one would 
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dispute that they have first amendment 
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rights to access to public records, 
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however, most significantly in this case is 
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that the nonprosecution agreement which we 
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gave the court permission to review two 
22 
weeks ago and presumably the Court has had 
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an opportunity to take a look at it, the 
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nonprosecution agreement talks about and 
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relates to a grand jury matter that is 
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absolutely 100 percent protected from 
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disclosure by Federal Rule of Criminal 
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Procedure Six. I have a copy of that rule 
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for the Court. 
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THE COURT: Let me take a look of 
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that, please. 
7 
MR. GOLDBERGER: Give us one moment, 
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your Honor, we have it here somewhere. 
9 
MR. KUVIN: Your Honor, just briefly 
10 
while they're looking on behalf of the 
11 
plaintiff EB, I just wanted to point out on 
12 
my client motion to intervene, we are not 
13 
party to the federal action. She only has 
14 
a state court claim. She's not bound by 
15 
any federal court order, she is not with 
16 
the federal court on their claim, ■ 
as to 
17 
that issue, my client stands here 
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synonymous with the Post. 
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THE COURT: Thank you for pointing 
20 
that out to me. 
21 
MR. GOLDBERGER: We'll have it for 
22 
you in one moment, your Honor. 
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Your Honor, Federal Rule of Criminal 
24 
Procedure Six is a rule that deals with 
25 
grand jury proceedings, and it confers in 
SUSAN WIGGINS, R.P.R. AND OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 
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the federal system secrecy of all grand 
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jury matters and it's pretty clear in this 
3 
case that the nonprosecution agreement 
4 
specifically talks about a grand jury 
5 
investigation of Mr. Epstein, there's 
6 
specific reference to a grand jury 
7 
investigation in the nonprosecution 
8 
agreement. 
9 
The rule does not prevent us from 
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telling the Court that there was a grand 
11 
jury investigation of Mr. Epstein, but what 
12 
it prevents us from doing, what it prevents 
13 
this Court from doing, I believe, is 
14 
disclosing the content of the grand jury 
15 
investigation, and the agreement itself is 
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very specific as to the grand jury 
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investigation of Mr. Epstein. 
18 
However, all is not lost for the Palm 
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Beach Post and the intervenors, for that 
20 
matter. The rule has a specific procedure 
21 
that allows you to go to the district court 
22 
where the grand jury is convened, in this 
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case it would be in the Southern District 
24 
of Florida before Judge Marra and that is 
25 
under Rule 6E, your Honor, I think it's 6E 
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3E actually. It says: In limited 
2 
circumstances the Court may authorize 
3 
disclosure of grand jury matters under 
4 
request made in connection with the 
5 
judicial proceeding, II -- and the rule 
6 
goes onto clearly say, that request must be 
7 
filed in the district where the grand jury 
8 
is proceeding. 
9 
■ 
the first -- you know the Palm 
10 
Beach Post may have first amendment rights 
11 
to access but those first amendment rights 
12 
cannot circumvent the federally protected 
13 
secrecy of grand jury proceedings and 
14 
that's what the Post is doing by making 
15 
this request before this Court. 
16 
This matter has been sealed for 
17 
almost a year now, 11 months and some days 
18 
and the Palm Beach Post has not filed 
19 
anything in this matter until most 
20 
recently, and their remedy is to go into 
21 
the federal court and invoke the process of 
22 
Rule Six and asked Judge Marra to make a 
23 
limited disclosure of the nonprosecution 
24 
agreement and the grand jury matters that 
25 
are contained therein. 
Who knows whether 
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EFTA00231365