1425.pdf
ia-court-epstein-v-rothstein-no-50-2009-ca-040800-xxxx-mb-(fla-15 Court Filing 341.4 KB • Feb 13, 2026
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Filing# 80808824 E-Filed 11/14/2018 04:22:48 PM
JEFFREY EPSTEIN,
Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant,
V.
SCOTT ROTHSTEIN, individually, and
BRADLEY
J. EDWARDS, individually,
Defendants/Counter-Plaintiff.
________________ ./
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE
FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND
FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA
Case No. 50-2009CA040800:XXXXMBAG
COUNTER-DEFENDANT JEFFREY EPSTEIN'S
RESPONSE IN OPPOSITION TO EDWARDS' MOTION TO STRIKE
EPSTEIN'S MOTION FOR
IN CAMERA INSPECTION OF 30 E-MAILS
Counter-Defendant Jeffrey Epstein ("Epstein") responds in opposition to Counter-Plaintiff
Bradley
J. Edwards' ("Edwards") November 13, 2018, Motion to Strike Epstein's Motion for In
Camera Inspection
of30 E-Mails and states:
INTRODUCTION
Edwards knows only one path: hide and deflect from the truth. Pursuant to long-
established Florida Supreme Court precedent, Epstein is required to articulate his "specific legal
argument" in order to properly preserve it for appeal to the Fourth District Court
of Appeal. This
preservation is particularly necessary in light
of this Court's recent ruling striking 126 of Epstein's
trial exhibits, many
of which were public records or already in Edwards' possession and which
Epstein specifically identified and provided to Edwards more than eight months ago. With regard
to the 30 e-mails for in camera review and this Court's ruling on procedure at the November 2,
2018 hearing, Epstein fully complied with this Court's oral ruling and written
order-in both the
FILED: PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL, SHARON R. BOCK, CLERK, 11/14/2018 04:22:48 PM
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spirit and letter of the law - by filing a motion for in camera inspection of a "generic quality" and
leaving the "substantive discussion
of those e-mails ... under seal by way of memorandum." This
is precisely what was accomplished by Epstein. Disappointingly, Edwards prefers that Epstein be
silenced from making any appellate
record-which simply is not the law. Edwards' unmeritorious
Motion to Strike must be denied.
EPSTEIN'S COMPLIANCE WITH THE COURT'S NOVEMBER 2, 2018, HEARING
After ruling that Epstein would not be allowed to use certain exhibits identified since
March 2018 on his Clerk's Trial Exhibit List under a
Binger
1
analysis, this Court raised the
pending issue
of the 47 e-mails that Edwards claims are privileged and Epstein's pending request
for an
in camera review. As to those documents, the Court found:
. . . I think that they
do have a bit of a different connotation and
import
as it relates to whether or not late-filed, because if they were
contained in the 2010 [sic-2011] privilege log,
it's very difficult to
suggest that there would be prejudice
as to knowledge on the part of
those documents being potentially utilized.
(11/2/18 Hearing Tr., 115:5-12.)
2
The Court then instructed the parties to submit briefing on the issue:
So what I will need is the emails sent to my office under seal. I will
be the only one to review those emails. What I then would need from
you is the motion that's filed, and I don't know how there can be a
viable discussion without discussing the contents
of the emails in a
setting that the memoranda is sent under seal, and for attorneys' eyes
only.
***
I think the best approach would be for a motion to be filed
of a generic
quality that does not mention any contents
of these emails, but simply
tees it up, so to speak, with the understanding on this record today
that any substantive discussion
of those emails will be done under
seal by way
of memorandum, and that will be done under seal and
1
Bingerv. King Pest Control, 401 So. 2d 1310 (Fla. 1981).
2
Excerpts of the November 2, 2018, Hearing Transcript are attached as Exhibit A.
2
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will continue to be under seal, and will be filed under seal in case of
a need for appellate review. So that is going to be the direction of the
Court, that the motion be filed, but that the memorandum be sent
under seal to this Court, hand-delivered to me, sealed. And the same
response memorandum be sent to be under seal by
Mr. Edwards'
counsel a week later.
(11/2/18 Hearing Tr., 120:17-25; 122:22-123:14.)
This Court only limited Epstein to a motion "generic in nature" to the extent that the motion
could not specifically quote any
of the e-mails or specifically discuss their contents, which the
motion most certainly did not
do. However, this Court also recognized the need for Epstein's
motion to "tee up" the argument and then provide the specific references to the e-mails in the
sealed memorandum. The Court's oral ruling was reduced to a proposed written Order by
Epstein's counsel, with one minor change by Edwards' counsel, and remained consistent with the
oral ruling that any "specific" citations and references to the e-mails would be in the memorandum
filed under seal. There can be no legitimate dispute - Epstein complied with the sealing
of the
memorandum that specifically cited to and quoted the e-mails.
Edwards seems to take issue with the fact that Epstein fully (20 pages) and specifically (as
required by the law) raised his legal arguments in the motion. Edwards' flawed argument avoids
the obvious - Epstein never once cited or quoted a specific e-mail, despite how compelling a public
argument each e-mail presents for relevance, and for no privilege or protection in light
of Edwards'
defective and misleading privilege log and Edwards' sworn testimony in this lawsuit. Rather,
Epstein complied with Florida law by articulating his specific legal arguments
as to why the e-
mails are relevant, never had any attorney-client privilege, no longer have protection of work-
product given Edwards' noncompliance with Florida Rules
of Civil Procedure and a defective, if
not worse, privilege log, as well as producing all of the 27,542 e-mails to an adversary, issue
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injection (Edwards' sworn testimony) and the crime fraud exception found in the Florida Evidence
Code.
FLORIDA SUPREME COURT REQUIRES SPECIFIC LEGAL
ARGUMENT FOR APPELLATE PRESERVATION
Edwards' trial counsel knows the law, having been involved in at least one appeal
addressing this legal tenet. See Eagleman
v. Korzeniowski, 924 So. 2d 855, 860 (Fla. 4
th
DCA
2006)("In order to be preserved for appellate review, the
specific argument made on appeal must
have been raised when the party objected in the trial court.") In fact, the Fourth District Court
of
Appeal concluded that, "[i]t defies logic for a party to expect to be able to take no position on an
issue in the trial court and then take whatever position is most advantageous to it on appeal; a party
must take some position below in order for this court to review how the trial court ruled on that
position."
Id. at 859. In Edwards' view of the law, Epstein should be damed ifhe does, damed if
he does not. Had Epstein not articulated the specific legal bases in his motion, Edwards would
have claimed "lack
of preservation" on appeal! See Diaz v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 189 So. 3d
279, 282 (Fla. 5
th
DCA 2016)("To preserve an issue for appellate review, "the specific legal ground
upon which a claim is based must be raised at trial..
.. ") citing Aills v. Boemi, 29 So. 3d 1105, 1109
(Fla. 2010); Cadavieco
v. Castle Key Ins. Co., 246 So. 3d 501 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018)(affirmed citing
civil cases holding that in order to be preserved for appellate review, issue must be presented to
lower court and the specific legal argument raised).
Accordingly, Epstein complied with this Court's
Order-and Florida law-by making his
specific legal argument and being "generic" in his reference to the e-mails. Not once did Epstein
quote or specifically reference an e-mail in his motion. In addition, Epstein did not say anything
in his motion that has not already been said multiple times before in public filings.
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