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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Acosta's Sweetheart Deal Likely to Foreclose Epstein's SDNY Prosecution |
| 2019-07-14 |
| [Outline] Double-jeopardy rules almost certainly prohibit settling a federal case and then prosecuting it again in federal court. Alex Acosta did a bad job on the Jeffrey Epstein case. This column was nearly finished when news broke Friday that he would resign as labor secretary. I was going to argue that his lapses did not justify joining the nakedly political mau-mauing by Democrats who have no interest in exploring the behavior of Democrats who are neck-deep in a monstrous pedophile’s activities. My friend Jennifer Braceras has ably addressed that point in a Washington Examiner column. I was also going to add that I’d shed no tears if President Trump forced Acosta out ‐ easy for me to say, since I think (a) he should never have been nominated in the first place, and (b) his commitment to Trump’s deregulation agenda has never been sufficiently ardent. Under the circumstances, I’ll spare you a few hundred words of critique on Acosta’s indecorous performance. Instead, to cut to the chase, I do not believe we can yet total up the wages of the sweetheart deal he cut for Epstein while he was U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida (SD-Florida). The commentariat is glibly assuming the courts will give the feds a second bite at the apple by allowing the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) to prosecute the charges that Acosta forfeited. I don’t think so. Double Jeopardy On Monday, Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that his office has now charged Epstein. While the SDNY indictment may be new, Epstein’s crimes are not. They are the same offenses from which Acosta agreed to spare Epstein from federal prosecution if he pled guilty to state prostitution charges ‐ which Epstein proceeded to do, in reliance on Acosta’s commitment. There is thus a very good chance, based on the Constitution’s guarantee against double jeopardy, that the SDNY case against Epstein will be voided by the SD-Florida non-prosecution agreement (non-pros). To be sure, the SDNY has a counterargument, and it will be vigorously made. It has two components. First, there is language in the non-pros that appears to limit the agreement to SD-Florida, to wit: "prosecution in this District for these offenses shall be deferred in favor of prosecution by the State of Florida" (emphasis added). Here, "deferred" effectively means forfeited ‐ the same effect for double-jeopardy purposes as a conviction or acquittal ‐ because of Epstein’s compliance with the requirement that he plead guilty in the state case. Second, there is jurisprudence in the Second Circuit (which controls in the SDNY) holding that one federal district’s agreement does not bind another. Therefore, prosecutors will argue that the 2007 SD-Florida non-pros does not bar a 2019 SDNY indictment arising out of the same conduct and charging the same offenses. I’m skeptical . . . and I think the SDNY is, too, notwithstanding the brave face prosecutors put on this week. They have carefully drafted an indictment far narrower than the SD-Florida’s contemplated case. If prosecutors really believed that there was no double-jeopardy problem, they’d have no such hesitation: They’d throw everything the FBI ever had at this sociopath. They know they are on thin ice. I suspect it is too thin. There is a great deal in the non-pros that cuts against the suggestion that it was limited to the SD-Florida. Moreover, unlike Professor Jonathan Turley (among others), I believe the Supreme Court’s recent double-jeopardy ruling ‐ in the Gamble case (addressed in this column), which involved the "dual sovereignty" doctrine ‐ hurts, rather than helps, the SDNY’s position. Andrew C. McCarthy, July 13, 2019, National Review Lawfare is the using of the legal system to maintain a two-tier system of justice where the person with the most money and the best legal team can make the justice system seem unfair. An example of the use of lawfare is the O.J. Simpson case. Another example is the Epstein plea deal in the Southern District of Florida. The plea deal was designed to prevent another jurisdiction from prosecuting a case under double jeopardy argument. This article presents a pessimistic view for Epstein being prosecuted in New York for the crime of human trafficking of minor girls . |
| Posted by:JohnQC |
| #15 I saw somewhere that Acosta said he was told to make the Epstein deal because he was some kind of intel asset. J Edgar lives. |
| Posted by: Victor Emmanuel Flusose6897 2019-07-14 15:03 |
| #14 I saw somewhere that Acosta said he was told to make the Epstein deal because he was some kind of intel asset. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2019-07-14 14:38 |
| #13 Alex Acosta did a bad job on the Jeffrey Epstein case. At least that's what some might say. I think he did exactly as intended. AFAIAC, if he did it again after the deal, the feds get to go at him again. And I think the case will need to be overseen by a truly impartial independent prosecutor (or ten) while it's happening, if there is such a thing. |
| Posted by: gorb 2019-07-14 12:56 |
| #12 SDNY is part of the Clinton machine. That is why they are defusing this potential landmine and at 66 the plan is Ep will quietly fade away. |
| Posted by: Varmint Splat1454 2019-07-14 12:15 |
| #11 Agreed that the Clintons and their fetid "Foundation" are at the center of this vile episode. Show us the flight logs and the video footage. Billery are sure to feature prominently in both. |
| Posted by: Lex 2019-07-14 11:56 |
| #10 His money is dodgy. They should charge him with financial crimes: money laundering, securities law violations, tax evasion etc. The fact that they have not done so tells you all you need to know about the source of this monster's influence and power. |
| Posted by: Lex 2019-07-14 11:54 |
| #9 Ref #8: Epstein is a lowlife parasite who has wormed his way inside of the American oligarchy, and now the oligarchy is protecting this vile specimen. Not unlike the Clinton's and Soetoro. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2019-07-14 11:52 |
| #8 How ironic that both sides in America's current cold civil war so frequently demonize Russia as a corrupt, evil, oligarchy with no rule of law. Rule of law in America today is not so weak as in Russia, but it is weak nonetheless. And rule of law is weak and fraying here precisely because our government, like Russia's government, has effectively become an oligarchy. Epstein is a lowlife parasite who has wormed his way inside of the American oligarchy, and now the oligarchy is protecting this vile specimen. He's one of their own. They enabled him, and they now will ensure that his and their crimes go unpunished. |
| Posted by: Lex 2019-07-14 11:45 |
| #7 Epstein continued to pimp girls and produce photos and videos even after the deal with Acosta. Posted by Dron66046 Different victims, different case? BTW, a pox on Acosta, followed closely by an DoJ/IRS investigation. If he is found guilty of breaking the law, bribery, aiding & abetting human trafficking etc., perhaps his decision on Epstein can be tossed. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2019-07-14 11:39 |
| #6 But double-jeopardy can only apply if he's prosecuted for the same instances, right ? Epstein continued to pimp girls and produce photos and videos even after the deal with Acosta. |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2019-07-14 11:21 |
| #5 Double-jeopardy rules almost certainly prohibit settling a federal case and then prosecuting it again in federal court. A recent fiat by SCOTUS says however, you can be prosecuted in a state court for the same act you were prosecuted by the feds. Then again, it seems SCOTUS has no use for the Constitution as written, so why not try. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2019-07-14 11:06 |
| #4 All the animals are equal... |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-07-14 11:02 |
| #3 Hoover-esque |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2019-07-14 10:58 |
| #2 The double jeopardy off ramp allows a lot of virtue signaling and “if only we could “ comment but it avoids having his tape library see the light of day. The whole thing has a Hoover—Esau’s feel to it. We will wonder who had starring roles ....besides Billy Jeff |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2019-07-14 10:56 |
| #1 Nobody has any dirt on him after his plea deal? He's been squeaky clean since then? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2019-07-14 10:40 |