EFTA00231917

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EFTA00232517

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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 
FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT 
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IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA 
CRIMINAL DIVISION 
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STATE OF FLORIDA 
) 
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) 
vs. 
) CASE No. 2008CF009381AXX 
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) 
JEFFREY EPSTEIN, 
) 
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) 
Defendant. 
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CERTIFIED COPY 
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) 
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PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COURT 
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PRESIDING: HONORABLE JEFFREY COLBATH 
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APPEARANCES: 
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ON BEHALF OF THE STATE: 
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BARRY E. KRISCHER, ESQUIRE 
State Attorney 
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401 North Dixie Highway 
West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 
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By: 
BARBARA BURNS, ESQUIRE 
Assistant State Attorney 
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ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT: 
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JACK GOLDBERGER, ESQUIRE 
250 S Australian Ave Ste 1400 
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West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 
And 
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ROBERT CRITTON, ESQUIRE 
515 N Flagler Dr Ste 400 
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West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 
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ON BEHALF OF THE PALM BEACH POST: 
DEANNA SHULLMAN, ESQUIRE 
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LoCicero & Bralow 
101 N.E. 3rd Avenue - Ste 1500 
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Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 
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ON BEHALF OF EW, THE INTERVENER: 
WILLIAM J. BERGER, ESQUIRE 
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BRAD EDWARDS, ESQUIRE 
225 NE Mizner Blvd Ste 675 
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Boca Raton, Florida 33432 
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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 26, 2009 
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Palm Beach County Courthouse 
West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 
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Beginning at 9:59 o'clock, a.m. 
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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 26, 2009, 
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beginning at 9:59 o'clock, a.m., with appearances 
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as hereinbefore noted, to wit: 
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THEREUPON: 
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THE COURT: Epstein. 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: Yes, your Honor. 
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THE COURT: Let me call up the State 
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of Florida versus Epstein. Let's have 
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everyone announce their appearance, please, 
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name on the record. 
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MR. CRITTON: Robert Critton and Jack 
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Goldberger on behalf of Mr. Epstein as well 
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as Barbara Compiani from the office of Jane 
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Walsh. 
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MS. SHULLMAN: Deanna Shullman of 
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LoCicero and Bralow on behalf of 
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the Palm Beach Post. 
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MR. KUVIN: Spencer Kuvin on behalf 
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of the intervener III 
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MS. BURNS: Barbara Burns on behalf 
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of the State of Florida. 
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THE COURT: That's it. 
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MR. CRITTON: That's it, it's a wrap. 
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THE COURT: Okay. Orders. Who's not 
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here that I have to mail it to? 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: Mr. Edwards is not 
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here, your Honor. 
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THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Berger, 
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Mr. Edwards. Did I give you enough copies 
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of the order? 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: I ran out. I have 
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just enough. Do you want me to get a copy 
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to Mr. Edwards? 
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THE COURT: Yes, if you'd mail a copy 
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to Mr. Edwards. I got spares if anybody's 
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interested. Anybody need a spare? 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: We're good, your 
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Honor. 
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THE COURT: All right. Motion to 
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Stay, Mr. Goldberger. 
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MR. GOLDBERGER: Thank you, your 
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Honor. 
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THE COURT: Mr. Critton. 
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MR. CRITTON: Good morning, Judge 
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Colbath, do you have a copy of our Motion 
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to Stay? 
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THE COURT: I do, the one that was 
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handed up to me yesterday? 
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MR. CRITTON: Yes, sir, and I have a 
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proposed order in the event the Court 
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chooses to grant; may I provide that to the 
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Court as well? 
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Your Honor, as you know, 
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Mr. Goldberger and I represent Mr. Epstein. 
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We have hired Ms. Walsh and Ms. Compiani as 
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appellate counsel to assist in the filing 
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of a writ of certiorari. I know that comes 
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as no surprise to the Court in that whoever 
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prevailed and lost yesterday, I think the 
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Court recognized we probably filed a writ 
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of certiorari. 
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THE COURT: Let me ask real Quick. 
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Anybody objecting to the defendant having 
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the ability to have my decision reviewed by 
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the appellate court before I release these 
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things? I mean, it seems pretty straight 
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forward. 
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MS. SHULLMAN: We have an objection, 
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your Honor, to some extent. The -- you 
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know, the procedure in place here is very 
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similar to that for which they would have 
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to obtain a preliminary injunction. 
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THE COURT: Right. 
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MS. SHULLMAN: So to demonstrate 
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likelihood of success and irreparable harm, 
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I don't think they can do that. I think 
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the plan that you put in -- proposed 
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yesterday is a good one, that is you redact 
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and you release on Monday and that gives 
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them today and Monday to get to the Fourth, 
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otherwise, we're stuck in a position where 
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we have a 30-day window to appeal, and we 
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are all delay, delay, delay. 
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THE COURT: What if I do that? I 
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don't know if it's a difference with that 
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or distinction, but, procedurally, I was 
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thinking I was leaning yesterday towards 
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issuing the order that I just issued. I 
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think that that's a fairly accurate 
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rendition of the written version of my oral 
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pronouncement yesterday, but I order that 
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nothing -- that the redacted orders not be 
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released until -- I'll make it, you know, 
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five of five Monday. That will give you 
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Monday to get down to the Fourth to get 
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them to stop this from being released; what 
do you think? 
MR. CRITTON: Here's what the problem 
is, Judge, is Ms. Compiani and Ms. Walsh 
spoke to them yesterday and today, we need 
a transcript from the hearing yesterday 
which has not yet been obtained. They need 
the underlying motions, they need some time 
to research. It's not a matter of simply 
filing a writ of petition and that stays 
the release of the order. There would have 
to be a separate motion that would be filed 
with the Appellate Court. The Motion to 
Stay that we file under 
9.310, subsection A, it 
party that seeks review 
Appellate Rule 
provides that the 
shall come to the 
lower tribal, which is the trial court, 
which is you, in this instance, and then 
it's within your discretion either to stay 
or not to stay under the circumstances, and 
we simply don't have the time within which 
to file the appeal under those 
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circumstances. 
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There are two criteria that have 
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to be met here, one is the likelihood of 
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harm where no stay is granted, and the 
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second criteria, not necessary mutually 
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exclusive; that is, you don't have to have 
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both of them, but you certainly have to 
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give an indicia of both of them. The 
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second one is the likelihood of success on 
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the merits. 
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We believe that based upon the 
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Court decision, respectfully, that the 
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Court, that the Appellate Court, will quash 
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your order, for the reasons Judge Puccillo 
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was the one who requested that the document 
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in this -- this was argued yesterday, so 
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I'm going to be very brief. She is the one 
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who requested post sentencing, that the 
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document be filed under seal. It was her 
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request that the defense seceded to that 
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under the circumstances. That certainly 
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was inadvertent, could have just as easily 
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remained under seal with Mr. Goldberger or 
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with the State Attorney under those 
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circumstances. 
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Secondly, that it relates to the 
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portions of it, specifically, within the 
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MPA to deal with the grand jury proceeding, 
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that would be a violation of Federal Rule 
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Six. I note you just handed us your order 
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about two minutes ago, Judge, so no one's 
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had an opportunity to review it, certainly 
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appellate counsel has not had an 
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opportunity to review it. I don't know if 
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you dealt with the appellate rule, but I do 
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note that within your written order, that 
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you, basically, said that in the second to 
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last page, you said this order is no way to 
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be interpreted as permission not to comply 
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with U.S. District Court Judge Marra's 
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previous orders. 
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We respectfully submit that it would 
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not comply with Judge Marra's previously 
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issued orders. We also believe that the 
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supremacy clause, as Mr. Goldberger argued 
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yesterday in conjunction with comity 
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principle, that we think that there's a 
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substantial likelihood on success of the 
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merits on this. 
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with regard to the likelihood of 
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harm, this is a paramount issue here. It's 
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undisputed that this was a confidential 
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agreement. It's a confidential contract 
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between Mr. Epstein and the United States. 
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United States vigorously defended 
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Mr. Edwards when he came into federal court 
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and filed an action to have the MPA 
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released, Judge Marra subsequently entered 
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an order. Another attempt that was made to 
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make the MPA public again. 
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All plaintiffs' counsel has it. 
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The only ones that don't have it is the 
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Post, under the circumstances, and public 
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under the circumstances, but all the 
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plaintiffs' lawyers of the alleged victims, 
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they either have the MPA and the addendum, 
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which I will refer to as the MPA, or they 
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have the ability to get that. That is very 
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clear from Judge Marra's order. 
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So there's certainly no harm to 
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the plaintiffs from under these 
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circumstances. And the harm in this 
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instance is only to Mr. Epstein under the 
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circumstances because as Judge Letz 
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(phonetic) once said, it's very much like 
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an attorney/client privilege or a privilege 
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document where once the proverbial horse is 
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out of the barn, you can't get him back in. 
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We cited a case called Mariner versus 
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Baker 3 -- So. 39, So.2d 608 First District 
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1989. In the Mariner case, this was not a 
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usual incident report and the Court, I know 
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your Honor previously did a great deal of 
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personal injury work and related work, 
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you're very familiar. In fact, you 
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commented yesterday and said, I don't see 
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how the MPA is going to be admissible in a 
10 
civil proceeding anyway. Again, you're not 
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ruling on that ultimately, the judges in 
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both the State and federal court cases will 
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do that. 
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In the Mariner case, the judge 
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ordered that the defendants object at the 
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direction of incident reports. The judge 
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said, sorry, you've got to produce those 
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incident reports. And the Court said, give 
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them to me under seal because, again, we 
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are talking about incident reports as 
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distinct from an agreement between two 
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parties which was deemed to be confidential 
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between the United States government and 
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Mr. Epstein. Only irreparable harm here as 
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to Mr. Epstein because if it's released, 
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you cannot remedy that harm on appeal. 
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And in the Mariner case, if the judge 
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said, if you put the documents under seal, 
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which is exactly the situation we have now 
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is, I will grant the stay and let the 
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appellate court determine whether or not 
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incident reports, which have a much lower 
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threshold for production or for discovery 
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reasons, and, again, there's no harm in an 
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instance like that, even in an incident 
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report came out in the Mariner cases, so 
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what. It won't be used, you can't use any 
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of the information you obtained. In this 
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particular instance, because it is 
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confidential, there is no way the Court can 
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remedy the harm. 
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With regard to the defendants in this 
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case, again, I think we've demonstrated 
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both irreparable harm, and we believe a 
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substantial likelihood on the success. 
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Again, how do you demonstrate a substantial 
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likelihood on the success? The fact that 
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we would -- if this Court thought that we 
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should prevail, my guess, you would not 
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have ruled as you did, but as the Court is 
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aware, oh, surprise to all of the lawyers 
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here. Sometimes judges get reversed. I 
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know that's a shock to most of the lawyers 
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in this room and most of the courts, but 
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that happens on occasion, and, therefore, 
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we believe we can show through the 
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supremacy clause, the grand jury reference 
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that we will prevail and that your order 
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will be quashed. 
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With regard to alleged harm by any 
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other party, the Post in this instance 
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reported at the sentencing of Mr. Epstein 
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on or about June 30th of 2008. They waited 
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until June 1st of '09. This was such a 
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pressing issue, the Post wanted to get this 
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desperately out to the public, they were so 
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anxious to do it, that they waited 11 
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months before they did anything. 
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Mr. Edwards, who is not here 
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today, filed a federal court action and 
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those issues were talked about and 
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discussed at some length with regard to 
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Judge Marra's two orders. 
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Judge Marra's rule, you can't get 
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them, if you want to get them, go to that 
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case, that would be Judge Hafele or two of 
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Mr. Edwards' cases are where is Mr. Kuvin's 
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case is or Judge Marra, where Mr. Edwards' 
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case is. Judge Marra can certainly control 
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whether or not they should be released, and 
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I've covered Mr. -- oh, and Mr. Edwards 
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because he could have gone back to Judge 
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Marra because he's got one federal court 
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case -- did he try for that form and get 
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it -- no, they came in here. He tried to 
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do it in a run around Judge Marra. 
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He didn't file his motion until 
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late May of '09. My guess is it was 
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Mr. Edwards who probably said to the Post, 
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gee, why don't you join in this, you 
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haven't been here for 11 months, why don't 
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you come in now, maybe intervene. And then 
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Mr. Kuvin, on behalf of his client, II 
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estate court case, came in on June 11th, 
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again, almost a year to the date after 
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Mr. Epstein's sentence. 
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It's no burning issue, there's no 
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fire here to put out, giving us 30 days, or 
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at least a reasonable period of time to 
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file petition for writ, and then if the 
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Court denies our stay at least asking the 
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appellate court for stay under the 
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circumstances. There's no harm to them. 
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The harm is only to Mr. Epstein, and we 
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think as a substantial likelihood, that we 
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would succeed. 
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Therefore, we would request the 
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Court grant a stay as I've suggested in my 
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proposed order for 30 days of giving 
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Ms. Walsh and Ms. Compiani an opportunity 
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to actually do their job under the 
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circumstances, so the court reporter 
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doesn't have to work over the weekend to 
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expedite transcripts for us, and secondly, 
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if we file within the 30 days, then let the 
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appellate court determine whether or not 
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the stay remains or not. 
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THE COURT: Thank you much. 
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Ms. Shullman, don't worry about 
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responding to the issue of motive or 
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seeking this relief or the timing of your 
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request or party's request. I don't think 
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that bears upon the merits of either 
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parties. 
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MS. SHULLMAN: The constitutional 
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right of access doesn't have a waiver 
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provision, your Honor. 
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THE COURT: Well, go ahead. Let me 
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hear -- I'm on board so far with 
5 
Mr. Critton's version of, Judge, if you let 
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it out, you let it out, so irreparable harm 
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is kind of easy. I think that it is a 
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two-prong test. I think he's got to jump 
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over both hurdles. I think he's got to 
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show some likelihood of success. If you 
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want to spend some energy arguing that 
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there's no irreparable harm, you may do so, 
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but if I hand it out today and everybody 
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gets to see it, you can't fix that 
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tomorrow. 
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MS. SHULLMAN: Sure. 
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THE COURT: So I think they've 
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established that. 
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MS. SHULLMAN: Let me address that 
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very briefly first, your Honor, to remind 
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you in meeting this burden that they failed 
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to meet yesterday, they identified four 
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interests which they liken now to the 
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motion to stay to the four harms. 
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One, of -- for the first three of 
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them, they mentioned they have no standing 
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to assert the compelling government 
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interest, the government didn't show up, 
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the imminent threat to the administration 
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of justice, again, that's the government's 
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issue. The innocent third party privacy 
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rights, they have no standing. The only 
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one is, he's not really articulated today 
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it's some sort of invasion of Mr. Epstein's 
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privacy rights. 
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Florida law is clear that those 
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who are participants in crimes do not have 
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privacy rights with respect to the facts 
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and circumstances surrounding those crimes. 
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So unless I'm going hear something outside 
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of the context of Mr. Epstein's criminal 
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prosecution, he has no privacy right in 
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this agreement. 
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THE COURT: Let me share with you 
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what I'm thinking about doing, even at the 
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conclusion of Mr. Critton's presentation, 
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and that is deny the motion to stay, but 
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delay the release of the records in 
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question until noon Friday. That will give 
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them a little bit of time to see if the 
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Fourth sees this case from a different 
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vantage point, a different light, and maybe 
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they'll look down and say, oh, Judge 
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Colbath, you missed it and, you know, stay 
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the matter. That will give them a 
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reasonable amount of time to get the 
7 
transcripts to go to the Fourth because I'm 
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a big fan of appellate review and making 
9 
case law. 
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MS. SHULLMAN: And I understand, your 
11 
Honor, if you are suggesting a week from 
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today, that's a little bit long. Remember 
13 
the status quo here, we are in sort of a 
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strange procedural posture because your 
15 
Honor decided that the initial closure was 
16 
improper, but the recent request for 
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closure was denied, so instead of a status 
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quo where we have a document that should be 
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released, it's under seal where it 
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shouldn't be, so any moment that it is kept 
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under seal is a serious deprivation of the 
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public and the press's  right to access, 
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which you have already determined they 
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have, we think you are correct, of course, 
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so I would ask that any stay --
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MR. CRITTON: She's pandering, your 
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Honor. 
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MS. SHULLMAN: I will say he 
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respectfully disagreed with you, so I think 
5 
a week is too long. I do this day in and 
6 
day out, I have spent many a weekend on 
7 
these matters in my career. If you want to 
8 
give them till Tuesday, I'll be kind, but 
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the Fourth will act quickly on this. 
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don't think that a week's delay is 
11 
necessary. I think, in fact, it under 
12 
minds the public purpose here. 
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THE COURT: All right. Any other 
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respondents want to go anything further? 
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MS. SHULLMAN: The State Attorney's 
16 
office also advises me that Friday is a 
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holiday and the courts are closed. 
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THE COURT: Thank you for telling me 
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that. Friday is a holiday. 
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MR. KUVIN: July 4th. 
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THE COURT: The day of the birth of 
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our constitution. 
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MR. KUVIN: Good morning, your Honor. 
24 
On behalf of intervenor III obviously, the 
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Court is inclined to delay the disclosure 
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