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Extracted Text (OCR)
Case 1:20-cr-00330-AJN Document 146 Filed 02/04/21 Page 9 of 16
§ 2422(a) and § 2423(a) conspiracies to cause individuals to travel in interstate or foreign
commerce to engage in unlawful sexual activity. /d. §§ 11d, 17d.
ARGUMENT
IL. All References to Accuser-3 Should Be Stricken as Surplusage.
Under Fed. R. Crim. P. 7(d), “[u]pon the defendant’s motion, the court may strike
surplusage from the indictment or information.” “This rule introduces a means of protecting the
defendant against immaterial or irrelevant allegations in an indictment or information, which
may, however, be prejudicial.” Fed. R. Crim. P. 7(d) Advisory Committee’s Note. In the
Second Circuit, Fed. R. Crim. P. 7(d) motions may be granted “where the challenged allegations
are not relevant to the crime charged and are inflammatory and prejudicial.” United States v.
Scarpa, 913 F.2d 993, 1013 (2d Cir. 1990) (internal quotations omitted); see United States v.
Greebel, No. 15-cr-637 (KAM), 2017 WL 3610570, at *2 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 4, 2017) (striking
language stating that defendant “orchestrated four interrelated fraud schemes” where indictment
charged him in only two of those schemes).
The paragraphs of the indictment alleging that Ms. Maxwell was complicit in Epstein’s
“sexual abuse” of Accuser-3 are irrelevant, inflammatory, and unduly prejudicial. The
indictment is plainly insufficient to allege that Ms. Maxwell conspired to entice Accuser-3 to
travel, or to transport her in interstate or foreign commerce, let alone with the requisite intent.
Moreover, the allegations regarding Accuser-3 have nothing to do with whether Ms. Maxwell
conspired to violate § 2422(a) or § 2423(a) with respect to Accuser-1 or Accuser-2. Thus, the
only explanation for the inclusion of alleged 20-year-old allegations involving Accuser-3, and
the characterization of the alleged conduct as “sexual abuse,” is the likelihood that evidence
submitted in support of those allegations will have an unduly prejudicial effect and would not
survive a balancing analysis under Fed. R. Evid. 404(b).
DOJ-OGR-00002684
Extracted Information
Dates
Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00002684.jpg |
| File Size | 724.2 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.0% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,080 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 16:26:09.608786 |