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be N Ww ws Oo OY ~] oO WO a oO = be N Ww = Hs Oo a OY a ~] a oO a Ke) 20 21 22 23 24 25 Case 1:20-cr-00330-AJN Document 741 Filed 08/10/22 Page 69 of 106 82 LBTVMAX3 Opening —- Ms. Sternheim the witnesses on the stand will not establish beyond a reasonable doubt any of those six charges. Now, age of consent is an important factor that you will focus on. And you will learn that in New York, the age of consent is 17 years old. You will learn that there are witnesses, the accusers, some that never traveled to New York and some that did that were above the age of consent. And you need to listen to their testimony as to where they claim they were and what age they were when they were there, because that is critically important to the charges in this indictment. And with regard to the trafficking charges, the age of consent is 18. But regardless of what Carolyn's age was at the time of those charges, the evidence will not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that those charges have been proven. Now, the government has pinned its entire case on the notion that Ghislaine enabled Epstein's bad behavior. The evidence will not support that. There will be no eyewitnesses, there may be some secondhand and thirdhand witnesses, there may be witnesses who said she told me this, she told me that. They are not eyewitnesses. They are only repeating what was told to them, and you have to evaluate the credibility of who told them what. What you will hear are stories that are based on words, and words alone. There will not be the kind of corroboration, if any corroboration, to support the charges. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 DOJ-OGR-00016179