Uh-oh. How did this happen?
Jeffrey Epstein, the financier facing charges of sex trafficking involving dozens of underage girls, was found unconscious in a Manhattan jail cell with injuries to his neck, US media reported late on Wednesday, citing unidentified sources.
Epstein was found by guards sprawled on the floor of his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Wednesday, it was reported.
The billionaire financier was taken to hospital, according to the New York Post, but it was unclear where he was taken or what his condition was. It was not clear how he suffered his injuries.
That’s a lot of unclear stuff for a guy who has a lot of enemies, who is suspected of possibly blackmailing people, and has a lot of powerful people terrified about what he might say. At least one major bank, Deutsche Bank, is scrambling to cover up their connections to his money.
I want him to live because I want him to talk, some people might want him dead because they don’t want him to talk. Or maybe it’s sunk into Epstein’s mind that his lifestyle has met its end and he’ll never go back to raping schoolgirls.
I’d like Epstein get the full Manson treatment and spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole, but I doubt it’s going to happen. If convicted I’m certain he’s going to attempt suicide rather than serve hit sentence.
As a defense attorney I do not like people held without bail, because I really thought that jail/prison was there for people who were convicted of crimes not people who were only charged. It would have been easy enough to assure that he couldn’t run or commit crimes while out on bail. However, it is clear that he is currently being punished for the crimes he wasn’t punished enough for in Florida. Oh well, I guess that is one way to get around the difficulties of that silly double jeopardy rule.
#2 Ronald,
Double jeopardy and its connections to the Florida based deal is an interesting point. Which crimes by Epstein were covered by the deal? Only ones in Florida or all sex related crimes that Epstein committed? If I make a deal regarding the murder of one person, does that mean I can’t be charged with a second murder because of double jeopardy?
The Florida deal appears to have broken the law with respect to informing the victims of the details of the deal. Does this deal remain valid if it broke the law?
Another question, can the Federal government make a deal with a criminal to preclude prosecution by another state for other offenses? To my uneducated perspective this would appear to be an overreach. (for example: What would keep Trump from making a deal with Barr in order to protect him from NY state fraud charges regarding the use of Trump Foundation funds?)
Double jeopardy is far from a silly rule but with the alleged crimes of Epstein, it would appear that there are plenty of crimes not covered by the Florida deal even if it remains in effect.
Really? How? At a minimum, you’d have to have 24-hour surveillance with tight restrictions of where he’s allowed to go, and a SWAT team standing by to move in, the moment he steps out of bounds.
Seems a lot easier to just keep him locked up.
Given that Deutsche Bank seems to be little more than a money laundering operation for Russian organized crime (and the Russian government, but I repeat myself) and its connections to the president, I’m mildly amused that it’s trying to distance itself from Epstain.
I have one answer to that, but I only need one:
Julian Assange.
no, keep Epstein locked up and isolated.
He must not escape, and he must not die.
As a person concerned with protecting innocent people, I am in favor of discarding the bail system altogether. It is nothing else than legal privilege for rich people only. It is a de-facto classist and racist discrimination – poor people (predominantly POC) are held in prison for minor offenses in an attempt to squeeze some money out of them, while rich people can be free for major crimes by tossing money at the system.
After the fall of iron curtain, we have introduced this idiocy in CZ. It was just a matter of time before some rich asshole abuses it – and this year for example one such rich asshole in BMW killed two people while driving drunk through town at 180 km/h. After he has paid the bail set at 1 mil CZK, he has fled the country and thus will not face any real consequences for his actions.
The bail system is nonsense. Nobody needs to be jailed for investigation of a minor infraction, so no bail is needed. And for major infractions where people are injured and die it does not work.
An article I saw last night said some suspect Epstein tried to fake a suicide, so he’d get moved to a cushier jail cell.
He and his lawyers have been angling to get him out of prison, so he can slip out of reach of authorities, like Assange or Polanski, or any number of rich, well-connected men have. I wouldn’t be surprised if his “wounds” were self-inflicted or bought by Epstein to give him ammunition enough to get released.
I have no interest in making up some story to fit the meager information available regarding Epstein and his injuries. For all I know one of his co-conspirators reached out in an attempt at self-protection or some other inmate with a grudge or a guard who wants to punish.
I will be very much surprised if the whole story of Epstein will ever be revealed.
uncle frogy
Nos. 3, 4, and 6. You knew what I meant about double jeopardy, but it serves your purposes to pretend you don’t. It was sarcasm if I need to make it painfully clear. It is being assured that he is punished for his crime in Florida properly by punishing him for this crime which he may well be guilty of.(See O.J. Vegas for similar results).
As far as his being able to run. There is not a 100% chance he wouldn’t but it is so close to 100% that I am not particularly worried. Also he is different from Assange who is a political prisoner so I can’t figure out what country Epstein would run to that would protect him. You can always point to one person somewhere who is able to get away this one thing whatever this one thing is.
I worked in a correctional institution years ago.
Almost anything could have happened to Epstein but many of our inmates had children they loved.
Our inmates might have been just about any kind of criminal but they all hated child abusers.
Keeping a child abuser alive was a desperate job.
We already know that he had one fake passport ready (from Saudi-Arabia, IIRC). Is it so unlikely he’ll have another, or be able to get one? Plus he’s got a private jet, a private island and god knows how much money stashed who knows where.
Now, I’m sure there aren’t many countries who’d admit to harboring him, but that’s not the same as saying they wouldn’t do it, especially if he calls in a favor/reminds someone of the tape he still has.
@jrkrideau
I always assumed the hatred and vitriol towards child abusers in prisons was because the average violent criminal in prison was likely abused themself as a child. Deep down they know life failed them at that age and can’t stand seeing it happen to other children.
This of course excludes the true psychopaths. Psychopaths are probably just physically broken in the brain.
As for Epstein – yes he must stay alive, face his accusers, face his punishment and preferably act as witness against any co-conspirators. Oh, and it would be nice if his vast wealth could be distributed to his victims and women’s protection charities throughout the world. How can we make that happen?
Also-it’s a felony to have a false passport.
I think if that was the explanation, they would have made sure he was dead. I won’t speculate on the actual reason though.
He had a passport from the 1980s, which was expired, not “ready”. It was issued to him with a different name, from Austria, giving Saudi Arabia as his residence, with entry and exit stamps from various countries.
His lawyer claimed that the passport was given to him by a friend, with the exit and entry stamps already there.
Hm.
and the photograph, signature, and possibly biometrics of his friend, who by coincidence looked (and wrote his signature, etc.) just like Epstein! A friend indeed.
#11 Ronald,
My last lines regarding double jeopardy were in agreement with your obviously sarcastic original statement. I was not clear enough about that. I had hoped that you would have added some clarity regarding how double jeopardy applies to this situation given the apparently rampant and broad trafficking of minors that Epstein was involved which crossed into multiple jurisdictions. Not being a lawyer myself, I do not fully understand the limitations of double jeopardy. Are you saying that the latest charges were fully covered by the Florida deal?
@Owlmirror
Thanks for the corrections. I was going off memory, so I was a bit unsure of the details.
@ 14 nomadiq
I always assumed the hatred and vitriol towards child abusers in prisons was because the average violent criminal in prison was likely abused themselves as a child. Deep down they know life failed them at that age and can’t stand seeing it happen to other children.
I would not be terribly surprised but not ‘completely’ in my very limited experience. Still, abuse seems likely in many cases.
The thought of a threat to one’s child is not a good recommendation either, particularly if one was abused. One has to remember that a correctional institution is not the most pacific place.
It does not make keeping a child abuser alive easy. In either case the abuser is fair game.
The list of countries without extradition arrangments with the US is long: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extradition_law_in_the_United_States#International_extradition
Many of those countries could provide a very nice lifestyle for a billionaire who is adept at corruption.
This video summarises Epstein’s legal history: Jeffrey Epstein’s Multiple Prosecutions & The Fall of Alex Acosta (Real Law Review) // LegalEagle.
Informative.
Also, it may or may not be a factor, but surely if he drops dead, the whole thing can go away and the can’o’worms closed.
(Not like he had powerful friends, is it? Pragmatic ones, evidently)
@#24, John Morales:
They don’t need to kill him for that. Just conveniently “lose” the evidence and say that they’ve investigated the claims and found them baseless. It worked for Peter Hayman, after all.
Even Evil Has Standards.