032.pdf

Type: pdf
Source set: house-oversight-doj
Pages: 33
Text status: Searchable text available
OCR confidence: 0.9377042352641746

Extracted text

Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 32 || USDC SDNY || DOCUMENT ELECTRONICALLY UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT OC #: A FILED SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK DOC #: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Government, : 19 CR. 490 (RMB) - against - ; DECISION & ORDER 5 REMANDING DEFENDANT JEFFREY EPSTEIN, : Defendant. : veneer eee eee eee eee eee x A. Background This ruling follows the Court’s bail hearing held on July 15, 2019. The issue before the Court is whether the Defendant should continue to be remanded (incarcerated) pending trial or whether he should be granted release while the case proceeds. No matter the answer to this question and no matter what has been said in Court in analyzing the matter, this is a criminal case and the Defendant, Jeffrey Epstein, is innocent of the Federal charges alleged against him now and until such time, if it comes, that a jury or the Court finds (after fair and thorough consideration of the facts and the law) that he is guilty. See Transcript, dated July 8, 2019 (“7/8/19 Tr.’’), at 2-3; Transcript, dated July 15, 2019 (7/15/19 Tr.”), at 40. It should also be borne in mind that the Court has not (yet) been presented with a motion to dismiss the Indictment. This is a federal as opposed to a state case. We proceed under federal law and federal rules. The key federal statute that applies here is 18 U.S.C. § 1591 which sets forth the crime of sex trafficking with which Mr. Epstein is charged. Mr. Epstein is also charged with conspiring with others to commit sex trafficking under 18 U.S.C. § 371. With respect to the issue of remand versus release, 18 U.S.C. § 3142 applies. It sets forth a presumption in favor of remand, an exception to the presumption in most cases which favors DOJ-OGR-00000472

Case 1:19-cr-00490-RMB Document 32 Filed 07/18/19 Page 2 of 33 pretrial release. § 3142 states that: “if there is probable cause to believe that the person committed ... an offense involving a minor victim under section .. . 1591,” then “it shall be presumed …

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