EFTA00723196.pdf

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA CASE NO. 502008ca028051XXXXMB AB Plaintiff, -vs- JEFFREY EPSTEIN, Defendant. HEARING BEFORE THE HONORABLE DONALD HAFELE Thursday, November 19, 2009 8:54 a.m. - 9:12 p.m. Palm Beach County Courthouse West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 Reported By: Pamela J. Sullivan, RPR, FPR, CLR Prose Court Reporting Agency, Inc. (561) 832-7500 PROSE COURT REPORTING AGENCY, INC. (561) 832-7506 Electronically signed by Pamela Sullivan (501.333.772-1552) 9dc762.9-7266452b4e18-d64aff543d4b EFTA00723196 Page 2 Page 4 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1.9 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 APPEARANCES: 2 On be of Mr. Edwards: 3 G. MICHAEL ICEENAN, ESQUIRE G. MICHAEL KEENAN, P.A. 4 1532 Old Okeechobee Road Suite 103 5 West Palm Beach, Rent 33401 561.6840601 6 7 8 On behalf of the Defendant: 9 ROBERT D. CRAYON, JR., ESQUIRE MICHAEL J. PIKE, ESQUIRE 10 BURMAN, CRITTON, rirrnER & COLEMAN, LLP, ESQUIRE 303 Banyan Boulevard 11 Suite 400 West Palm Bach, Florida 33401 561 842 2820 1 firm imploded about two weeks ago this past 2 Monday -- or a week ago this pest Monday. Three of 3 the cases, of the Epstein cases resided within that 4 firm, at least that are filed cases. And 5 Mr. Edwards, Mr. Berger and Mr. Adler have shown 6 on their behalf, on behalf of the Plaintiffs in 7 those particular cases. 8 The news media has reported it as well, and 9 it's been confirmed through Herb Stettin, who is 10 the chief restructuring officer, former judge down 11 in Miami, that the FBI and the Feds took, through 12 search warrants, approximately 40 boxes. Thirteen 13 of them were boxes that related to, quote, 14 Epstein-related matters. 15 There are a number of issues. Apparently, 16 the Epstein cases were showcased by Mr. Rothstein, 17 and whomever else, who we don't know at this point 18 in time, to either sell the case, sell a potential 19 case, sell a structured settlement, whatever. We 20 don% know whether — who the lawyers were that 21 were involved, if any, other than Mr. Rothstein. 22 We don't know what the firm attempted to sell; 23 although, we have seen now documents that have been 24 posted on blogs that said that the firm was giving 25 guarantees, that the firm had these crack former 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 3 PROCEEDINGS THE COURT: The motion I have before me now is Epstein's motion for protective order to prohibit inappropriate deposition questions. MR. CRITTON: None of the other materials got to you, Your Honor? THE COURT: No. MR. KEENAN: Judge, Michael Keenan, on behalf of Mr. Edwards. We did file a motion for protective order and a motion for stay in this case on behalf of Mr. Edwards. And I have a copy of that, if I may approach, Your Honor. MR. CRITTON: I think you have it in front of you, Your Honor. THE COURT: I see it. MR. CRITTON: Judge, if I can give you just a little background. There's a motion for preservation. I think that the least important motion, at least for purposes of today, is the inappropriate deposition. And I know we've got a bunch of people here. So as the Court probably has read in the media, the Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, PA, law Page 5 1 police officers and sheriffs officers to go out 2 and to investigate and get, so to speak, the dirt. 3 We know that they — that he did wiretapping. 4 And we also know that he forged an order by 5 Judge Marra in Federal Court, among other items. 6 What we do know is that they, more likely than not, 7 sold an interest either in settled or nonsettled 8 cases. Of course, I will now represent to the 9 Court there are no settled cases, so therefore 10 that's not something they could have sold. 11 They may have reached an agreement to share 12 either attorney's fees or proceeds that the 13 Plaintiffs may receive in the cases. The 14 Plaintiffs may have assigned causes of action, 15 which the Court may be aware of is inappropriate. 16 You can't assign a personal injury cause of action, 17 et cetera. 18 THE COURT: Well, why does that concern me 19 and not the Florida Bar and the Federal and State 20 authorities? 21 MR. CRITTON: Because if LM or EW, for 22 purposes of this case, assigned a portion — all or 23 a portion of their causes of action, then under 24 Florida law, you can't assign a personal injury 25 action; therefore, their cases would be dismissed. 2 (Pages 2 to 5) (561) 832-7500 PROSE COURT REPORTING AGENCY, INC. (561) 832-7506 Electronically signed by Pamela Sullivan (501.333.772.1552) 9cle702a94266452b-5•18403401543d4b EFTA00723197 Page 6 THE COURT: Well, are there any such 2 allegations even remotely made by anybody relative 3 to the individual Plaintiffs, as opposed to 4 Mr. Rothstein, individually? Likewise, are there any such allegations against any other members of 6 the fimi at this point? 7 MR. CRITTON: Well, no. But nobody knows, 8 because nobody has seen those documents. And, in 9 fact, what I also provided to the Court is we filed 1.0 an emergency motion for preservation of evidence in Federal Court, which has been granted by the 12 Federal Court. They considered it both an 3 emergency and that it was appropriate to preserve 14 evidence. 15 And conversations I had with Mr. Keenan, who 16 represents Mr. Edwards here, is — and with 17 Mr. Edwards, is to the extent that he has any 18 files, !would say that the Federal Court order 19 would be applicable. And the chief restructuring 20 Officer, who has control apparently of all 21 financial matters and all files, is agreeable to 22 preserving evidence. You know, he's -- 23 THE COURT: Who is Jay Howell, and what is 24 his relationship with this case, Mr. Edwards? 25 MR. EDWARDS: He's a referring attorney on 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 8 the records. Mr. Edwards - and I'll let him speak and/or Mr. Keenan. To the extent that Mr. Edwards acquires any documents with regard to his two clients, at least for State Court purposes, all we would ask is the Court enter a p CbC,t ration order. And I think we can work out language that's appropriate. Not that we're entitled to the documents, not that they don't have any objection, but merely that they preserve the evidence. Bairr it's going to take us some time to unravel whether, in fact — whether and if there was inappropriate conduct, who did it, what the effects may be, whether there may be, not only conflict issues, but that the Plaintiffs may have assigned causes of action because they sold a portion of their settlement so that they could get money up front and therefore not settle. And we would ask that that also be done. I had Mr. Edwards set for a deposition today. There was a protective order that was filed by Mr. Keenan. I think we've pretty much — Fm agreeable to not doing his deposition today. And Mr. Keenan has filed, and fillet him speak for Page 7 1 the case, but he has no -- he's in Jacksonville and 2 he has no knowledge. 3 THE COURT: When you say referring attorney, 4 though, I mean, if I may go into this briefly, was 5 he the one who actually signed the clients up, or 6 was it your fine that took care of all the 7 contractual relationships with the clients? o MR. EDWARDS: It was actually my thin, prior 9 to my becoming an employee of RRA. So it was the 0 law office and Brad Edwards that signed the clients 1 up, and the clients were referred by a Jacksonville :2 attorney, Jay Howell. .3 THE COURT: Okay. I don't want to get into 1 4 anything further that you may be uncomfortable 5 with, but certainly to the extent that any veteran 16 lawyer/judge sees the situation as I do, I 7 certainly empathize with the situation. And we'll 18 leave it at that 19 MR. CRITTON: Judge, I think, from a 20 practical standpoint, with regard to the 21 preservation of evidence, the Federal Court order 22 takes care of the Federal Court did not deal 23 with Mr. Edwards at all; although, he was agreeable 24 to entering into a preservation order, because they 25 said it appears that Mr. Stettin was in control of Page 9 1 himself — 2 MR. KEENAN: He's doing great, Judge. 3 MR. CRITTON: But pretty much we've agreed 4 to and depending on the Court — we're agreeable 5 to a 30-day stay with regard to the EW and the LM 6 cases, because apparently Mr. Edwards has no access 7 to those files. We're not waiving our right to depose Mr. Edwards. But similar to what the Court 9 order is in the Federal Court, if we can work that 10 out, is Mr. Stettin asked for 45 days. Now, the 11 Court said if Mr. Edwards and I can work out the 12 Federal Court scheduling deadline, that they'll 13 give Mr. Stettin 45 days, or certainly more than 14 that. 15 If we agree to a stay, then the Court 16 presently has EW and LM set for trial, I think, on 17 the March or the April docket. And we would also 18 ask them — and I think Mr. Edwards can speak to 19 that issue — said that if you could move us back 20 one docket or 30 days or 45 days, whatever that 21 timeframe is, if in fact the Court is inclined to 22 enter a stay with regard to these two cases. 23 So I apologize for stealing Mr. Keenan's 24 thunder. But I thought it was substantial that 25 there was agreement at least on those issues. But (561) 832-7500 AMV,..•• ••••Aga OVay.4.44.1 .44.44.•• •••••.Yy •frAp.eee.ni rsket, 3 (Pages 6 to 9) PROSE COURT REPORTING AGENCY, INC. (561) 832-7506 Electronically signed by Pamela Sullivan (601433.7724682) 9de702a9-7266452b-Be18.d64at1543d4b EFTA00723198 Page 10 1 I also don't want to waive disposition on a 2 deposition question. That's one issue I'd like to 3 get resolved, too. But I know you've got a million 4 people here. 5 THE COURT: Yes. 6 MR. KEENAN: Judge, on behalf of Mr. Edwards 7 who is here, Mr. Edwards and Mr. Critton can try to 8 work out the language on an order for the 9 preservation of evidence. I think that's where 10 we're at right now. 1 Mr. Edwards, his access to the files, of 12 course, is restricted, because the files are either 13 with Mr. Stettin, with the bankruptcy trustee, or 14 with the Federal officers. So we can work that out 15 with Mr. Critton, I think. And I think that was 16 his suggestion, and that would be fine. 17 In terms of the stay, I think we have an 18 agreement in the protective order that — to enter 19 an order with respect to the deposition of 20 Mr. Edwards today, and to stay the case for 30 21 days. 22 And Mr. Critton is correct that we would -- 2 3 it would only be fair that we have everything 24 pushed back 30 days. And that really would be 25 practical, because, again, Mr. Edwards doesn't have 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 12 the current situation, I do not have a secretary, staff, computers, printers -- THE COURT: Well, that's all right considering -- MR. EDWARDS: -- or the ability to respond to anything. THE COURT: My personal empathy — I mean, once we see how this all turns out, I don't know. But, again, I certainly can understand the circumstances to a degree, and I know it's very difficult to deal with it on a personal level, MR. EDWARDS: Thank you. THE COURT: And I'm sure Mr. Critton feels the same way, although he may not be able to say it publicly. In any event, it seems like, at least from what I'm hearing, is that the parties have agreed to the basics of this. The only thing that Fm hesitant about doing is if I enter a stay, is to, at the same time, reset it on a trial docket. My 2010 calendar is not coming up. They changed out my laptop for some reason, and I don't have my 2010 calendar here in front of me. I think that you said that the case is currently on the Page 11 1 possession of the files, and, hopefully, his office 2 will be up and running within -- 3 MR. EDWARDS: Two weeks. 4 MR. AN: -- within two weeks, and he'll 5 be able to get back into the case and have a 6 secretary and the support staff you need to be able 7 to actually represent a client. So I think we're 8 in agreement on those issues. 9 MR. EDWARDS: And, Your Honor, just to 10 clarify, certain portions of the physical paper 11 file I do have stored in a warehouse facility, 12 ready to move into the new law firm, once the new 13 law firm is up and running, and, certainly, to the 14 extent that -- Pm willing to preserve the portions 15 of the file I have access to. 16 Now, KRA ran in a paperless world, and 17 there's a digital aspect of the file that l do not 18 have access to. And, apparently, based on 19 Mr. Critton's assertions, the FBI and/or 2 0 US Attorney's office which may be in possession of 21 a portion of various files, including this one. I 22 don't 'mow that to be true. 23 Soto the extent that I have access to any 24 portion of any documents, I will be willing to 25 preserve it. And just so Your Honor is apprized of Page 13 1. docket call for -- what? 2 MR. PIKE: March or April. 3 MR. CRITTON: March or April. 4 THE COURT: April. Okay. 5 MR. CRITTON: Both — and this would be 6 applicable to EW and I-M. 7 THE COURT: Yeah. And I just -- I don't a think we — I think that is the last docket that wo 9 set cases on at this time. So, usually, I'll have 10 those days in my head as to what the docket dates 11 are. 12 But I suspect the next docket, I think, if 13 I'm not mistaken, the next docket call is — I 14 don't want to say it because I'm not really sure. 15 I think it's in March — the end of March docket 16 call or something along those lines, or the 17 beginning of April. I just don't have it - 18 MR. CRITTON: That's us, unfortunately. 19 That's where we are. 20 THE COURT: All right. So it would probably 21 be the next time the case would be set would likely 22 be during the June docket. But what I would like 23 to do is wait until at least the 30-day time period 24 runs before we do anything to put it on a docket. 25 I can tell you right now that it's nicely 4 (Pages 10 to 13) (561) 832-7500 PROSE COURT REPORTING AGENCY, INC. (561) 832-7506 Electronically signed by Pamela Sullivan (501.333.772-1552) 9dc762a94256.452b43e18-d6Ordl543d4b EFTA00723199 Page 14 1 that it won't matter, meaning that whether we do it 2 today or in 30 days, when Fm more comfortable 3 after the expiration of the stay, that you'll still 4 be on that same docket. And if not, you know, I'll 5 adjust it in one or two combinations. 6 MR. CRITTON: The only comment I'd nuke is 7 LM, who was supposed to show up for her medical 8 exam, didn't show up last week. She was supposed 9 to give a deposition on Wednesday. She didn't show 10 up, and I don't know whether Mr. Edwards couldn't 11 get ahold of her or whether they didn't send her 12 notification. But Pm behind the eight ball with 13 those - 14 TIM COURT: Like I said, Ill take that all 15 into consideration, you know, when the time comes. 16 What you will do is you'll move to set the case for 17 trial with the Court and have a hearing on it, in 18 lieu of just sending a renotico, so that I can, you 19 know, hear any objections that there may be to the 20 setting of the case on the trial docket, in light 21 of all of this rather unusual matter that's going 22 on here. 23 MR. CRITTON: So its off the docket, he'll 24 file a motion again to reset it, and then we'll 25 come in front of the Court? 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21. 22 23 24 25 Page 16 heard -- MR. CRITTON: I understand. THE COURT: — relative to any of the other cases that are outstanding that are not being litigated by Mr. Edwards, then that's up to you. MR. CRITTON: We'll put a couple of orders together and provide those to the Court. Is that acceptable? THE COURT: Yes. You've got those here, and these envelopes here. So I'll defer on that, pending the expiration of the stay as to LM and EW. MR. EDWARDS: Thank you, Your Honor. THE COURT: All right. Take it easy. Nice to see you. (Whereupon, the hearing was concluded at 9:12 am.) Page 15 1 THE COURT: Right. 2 MR. CRITTON: All right. 3 THE COURT: And 1presume we'll deal with 4 this case and these cases in the sante fashion, at 5 least in principle, as the Federal Court has 6 already decided. I don't think that there's a need 7 to upset the apple cart or do anything that would 8 be inconsistent with the Federal Court's 9 determination that's already been made. 10 All right. So the issue relative to the 11 deposition questions can also wait, because I do 12 have other matters that I need to get to. Because 13 if we're going to do the stay, then there's not 14 going to be any depositions taken, at least 15 probably until the beginning of next year, in light 16 of the Christmas holidays, I would suspect 17 MR. CRITTON: The only place it will come up, 18 and Ell file it, because Pin getting the same 19 issues, with the other state court. 20 THE COURT: Right. But I'm not here for 21 that. 22 MR. CRITTON: I understand. 23 THE COURT: You only moved under these two 24 cases, and not under any of the other cases. If 25 you want to file a similar motion and have it 1 2 3 4 5 THE MATE OF FLORIDA COUNTY OF PALM BEACH. 6 7 8 9 Page 17 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CERTIFICATE I, PAMELA J. SULLIVAN, Registered Professional Reporter, State of Florida at large, certify that I was authorized to and did stenographically report the foregoing proceedings and that the transcript is a true and complete record of my stenographic notes. Dated this 30th day of November, 2009. PAMELA J. SULLIVAN; R, CLR 5 (Pages 14 to 17) (561) 832 -7500 PROSE COURT REPORTING AGENCY, INC. (561) 832-7506 Electronically signed by Pamela Sullivan (5014327724552) 9dc782.9-7268452b-8•18484401543d4b EFTA00723200