1399.pdf

NOT A CERTIFIED COPY Filing# 79149682 E-Filed 10/10/2018 02:56:30 PM JEFFREY EPSTEIN, Plaintiff, vs. SCOTT ROTHSTEIN, individually, BRADLEY J. EDWARDS, individually, and L.M., individually, Defendants. I ---------------- IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH WDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA CASE NO.: 502009CA040800:XXXXMBAG MOTION TO STRIKE JEFFREY EPSTEIN'S EXHIBIT AND WITNESS LIST FILED OCTOBER 5, 2018 AND TO, ONCE AGAIN, CONFIRM EXISTING PRETRIAL DEADLINES Bradley J. Edwards ("Edwards"), through undersigned counsel, hereby files this Motion to Strike Jeffrey Epstein's Exhibit and Witness List Filed October 5, 2018 and to, Once Again, Confirm Existing Pre-Trial Deadlines, and as grounds therefor states as follows: 1. In issuing order after order, this Court has been crystal clear: discovery in this case is closed and the time to amend exhibit and/or witness lists has long since passed. 2. Specifically, on July 20, 2017, the Court entered an Order specially setting the case for trial in December 2017 and outlining the deadlines for all pre-trial preparations. 3. Pursuant to that Order, discovery closed on November 25, 2017. And, although Jeffrey Epstein has repeatedly sought to reopen discovery, the Court has ruled time and again that discovery in this decade-old case is closed. 4. In fact, after Epstein secured a last-minute continuance of the December 2017 trial date, and the case was reset for trial to March 2018, Epstein took the position that the pre-trial FILED: PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL, SHARON R. BOCK, CLERK, 10/10/2018 02:56:30 PM NOT A CERTIFIED COPY Edwards adv. Epstein Case No. 502009CA040800XXXXMBAG Motion to Strike Jeffrey Epstein's Exhibit and Witness List Filed October 5, 2018 and to, Once Again, Confirm Existing Pre-Trial Deadlines deadlines were extended, discovery could be reopened, and new witnesses and/or exhibits could be late-disclosed. The Court, however, disagreed and on November 27, 2017, entered its Order on Motion to Reconfirm Existing Pretrial Deadlines and Regarding Pretrial Stipulation, in which the Court granted Edwards' motion and confirmed all existing deadlines in the Court's July 20, 2017 order. 1 5. Undeterred, Epstein sought time and again to either reopen discovery, amend witness lists, or to piecemeal disclose individual exhibits in the weeks leading up to the March 2018 trial date that he contended were part of general, catch-all exhibit categories in his November 2017 Exhibit List ( despite the Court's order mandating that no such catch-all categories would be permitted). 6. For example, Epstein sought to late-disclose a purported expert witness, Skip Smith, Esq., in violation of the Court's July 20, 2017 and November 27, 2017 orders. 7. The Court, however, rejected that request and on January 17, 2018 entered its Order Denying Epstein's Motion for Leave to Disclose Expert Witness. 2 8. Thereafter, on February 6, 2018, Edwards was forced to file a General Objection to All Composite Exhibits due to Epstein's attempt to circumvent the Court's prohibition on general, catch-all exhibit categories through the piecemeal disclosure of exhibits in the weeks leading up to trial. 1 A copy of the Court's Order on Motion to Reconfirm Existing Pretrial Deadlines and Regarding Pretrial Stipulation is attached hereto as Exhibit 'A'. 2 A copy of the Court's Order Denying Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant's Motion for Leave to Disclose Expert Witness is attached hereto as Exhibit 'B'. 2 NOT A CERTIFIED COPY Edwards adv. Epstein Case No. 502009CA040800XXXXMBAG Motion to Strike Jeffrey Epstein's Exhibit and Witness List Filed October 5, 2018 and to, Once Again, Confirm Existing Pre-Trial Deadlines 9. And, finally, on the eve of trial, Epstein sought to disclose hundreds of new exhibits on his March 5, 2018 Clerk's Trial Exhibit List, including dozens that were Edwards' privileged materials and that Epstein had obtained in violation of a federal bankruptcy order. The Court struck all of these late-disclosed exhibits at the final pre-trial hearing before the March 2018 trial date. 10. However, Epstein was able to avoid that March 2018 trial date through a hyper- technical Rule 1.440 argument ( despite having previously represented that no additional continuances would be sought), which resulted in an emergency stay of these proceedings by order of the Fourth DCA. 11. After the appellate stay was lifted, Edwards immediately sought to have a new trial date set for this 2009 case. In the interim, Epstein asked the Court yet again to allow amendments to the parties' exhibit and witness list through the filing of his Motion to Allow Amendment of Exhibit List and Supplement to Motion to Allow Amendment to Exhibit List and his Renewed Motion to Disclose Expert Witness. Edwards filed Responses in Opposition to both motions, and the Court has yet to hear or rule upon those issues. 12. At an August hearing, the Court stated that it would set a trial date for some time at the end of the year 13. On August 3, 2018, the Court entered an order specially-setting this case, number 1, for a ten (10) day trial beginning on December 4, 2018. In doing so, the Court simply used its standard, form pre-trial order, which contains near identical language to the July 20, 2017 Order that the parties have been operating under for over a year ( and that the Court has expressly refused to vacate in the past). 3 3 A copy of the Court's August 3, 2018 Order is attached hereto as Exhibit 'C'. 3 NOT A CERTIFIED COPY Edwards adv. Epstein Case No. 502009CA040800XXXXMBAG Motion to Strike Jeffrey Epstein's Exhibit and Witness List Filed October 5, 2018 and to, Once Again, Confirm Existing Pre-Trial Deadlines 14. Edwards has understood this Court's repeated rulings over the past year to be clear: discovery is closed. Witness lists have been served. Exhibit Lists have been served. Objections have been filed. The time to reopen discovery, list new witnesses (such as Epstein's attempt to list Skip Smith as an expert despite the Court's January 17, 2018 order denying that very request), and further delay this case is over. Thus, Edwards did not, and does not, believe that the Court's August 3, 2018 order operates to vacate the repeated orders the Court previously entered confirming pre- trial deadlines and that discovery was closed. As a general rule, a court does not silently vacate past orders. Moreover, Epstein's renewed motions as to these issues remained pending. 15. Yet, on October 5, 2018, Epstein filed his Amended Exhibit List and Amended Witness List. 16. Epstein's Amended Exhibit List contains 222 new numbered exhibits4, including ten (10) general, catch-all categories, despite the Court having repeatedly ordered no such categories are permitted. See categories 544 through 533, labelled "General." It appears that a large portion of these exhibits have been publicly available for years. 17. Epstein's Amended Witness List also improperly lists Skip Smith, Esq. as a purported expert in this case, despite the Court having denied Epstein's prior attempt to late- disclose this witness. Notably, Smith apparently still has not reached any final opinions, even though it has been nearly a year since he was first retained. 4 Epstein's October 5, 2018 Amended Exhibit List contains 553 numbered exhibits, while Epstein's November 16, 2017 Exhibit List contains 331 numbered exhibits. 4 NOT A CERTIFIED COPY Edwards adv. Epstein Case No. 502009CA040800XXXXMBAG Motion to Strike Jeffrey Epstein's Exhibit and Witness List Filed October 5, 2018 and to, Once Again, Confirm Existing Pre-Trial Deadlines 18. Both Epstein and Edwards filed their Exhibit and Witness Lists in November/December 2017, and since that time the Court has made clear, time and again, that discovery is closed and that this decade-old case is ready for