2019年7月8日，纽约市，一个名为“热混乱”的抗议团体在联邦法院门前举着杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的标语。
联邦检察官周二采取了最后一步，结束了针对杰弗里·爱泼斯坦(Jeffrey E. Epstein)的庞大刑事案件。杰弗里·爱泼斯坦是曼哈顿金融家和所谓的性交易商，本月早些时候明显自杀身亡。
然而，爱泼斯坦的辩护律师试图延长该案的剩余诉讼程序，要求美国地方法官理查德·伯曼利用法院的“固有权力”调查其前当事人的死亡。
辩护方还对爱泼斯坦英年早逝引发了广泛的怀疑，进一步加剧了不确定性。他们声称，他们有证据表明，与自杀相比，这起事件“与袭击事件更加一致”。
他们告诉法官，他们可以向法院提供这一证据来支持他们的主张。
爱泼斯坦被认为于8月10日在他位于大都会惩教中心特别住房单元的牢房中自杀。
“我们没有看到绝望、沮丧、有自杀倾向的人，”一名辩护律师周二在曼哈顿下城拥挤的法庭上宣布，并补充说，他对记录爱泼斯坦牢房周围环境的监控摄像头“要么损坏要么不起作用”的报道感到不安
辩护律师进一步声称，断定自杀是最终死因的法医只从一台安全摄像机上看到了9分钟的录像来帮助做出这一决定。
代表政府的律师要求法官终止诉讼程序，称目前的法律环境几乎没有给他们留下余地，在一名被指控的个人审前死亡后继续审理案件。爱泼斯坦的律师要求伯曼正式调查爱泼斯坦明显的自杀行为，尽管司法部和联邦调查局已经宣布对此事进行多次调查。
受害者的律师同样告诉法官，独立的司法调查将为他们的委托人提供某种程度的自信结果是。
有一次，辩护律师邀请伯曼亲自参观大都会惩教中心。
“有很多阴谋论，”一名律师说。"如果磁带只是在他被杀或死亡的那天坏了怎么办？"
一名辩护律师引用一名“知情人士”的话说，在惩教中心等待审判的被告被关押在比关押在关塔那摩湾的恐怖嫌疑分子更“可怕”的条件下。
第二名辩护律师宣布，“我们对法医的结论有一个深刻的问题。”他解释说，死亡发生在爱泼斯坦的律师准备就审判前的一些初步决定提起上诉的时候。他们认为他们有很大的成功机会，因为正如他的辩护律师同事所说，参与2008年最初不起诉协议的律师们说这是“全球性的”，也就是说纽约的检察官不被允许继续调查此案。
律师援引2008年协议中涉及的律师的话告诉伯曼，“这些律师中的每一个都相信”纽约的案子不应该被允许继续进行。他们声称，鉴于他们对这一论点的可信度，爱泼斯坦自杀的决定有些令人费解。
法官也花了很多开场白来嘲笑《纽约法律杂志》昨天发表的一篇文章，这篇文章认为周二的听证会不应该变成受害者证词的法庭“戏剧”。法官指责这篇文章的作者没有引用任何法律权威，出乎意料的是，他对这篇文章发表的个人和爱泼斯坦之间的明显联系表示不满，而《华尔街日报》没有披露这一点。
“我恭敬地说，这在法律上是不正确的，”法官谈到法律评论文章中关于排除受害者证词的建议。
伯曼承认最近几周发生的“令人震惊的事态转变”，并表示周二的听证会是“[解决此案的首选途径”，该案包含仅涉及三名受害者和三名涉嫌雇员同谋的贩运指控。但起诉书和公开报道暗示了一个更广泛的网络，其中包括数十名年轻女性和女孩，他们指控爱泼斯坦及其所谓的合作者吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦(Ghislaine Maxwell)犯下了虐待和贩卖未成年女孩的巨大阴谋。
伯曼在他的讲话中总结说:“我认为，受害者得到公平和有尊严的对待是法院的责任，显然是在法院的权限之内。”。
伯曼没有宣布对政府驳回指控的动议的最终决定，尽管驳回预计即将到来。政府重申其立场，即他们更广泛的调查仍在进行，并将继续追查任何潜在的同谋。
“这一解雇绝不会削弱政府在此案中为受害者挺身而出的决心，”美国检察官办公室的一名代表表示，并补充称，对其他指控的调查“一直在进行，并将继续进行。”
政府律师表示，“大陪审团有权调查犯罪”，大陪审团正在调查爱泼斯坦的死因。
EPSTEIN LAWYERS SAY EVIDENCE 'FAR MORE CONSISTENT' WITH MURDER THAN SUICIDE
A protest group called "Hot Mess" hold up signs of Jeffrey Epstein in front of the Federal courthouse on July 8, 2019 in New York City.
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday took one of their final steps in winding down the sprawling criminal case against Jeffrey E. Epstein, the Manhattan financier and alleged sex trafficker who died by apparent suicide earlier this month.
Epstein's defense attorneys, however, sought to prolong the case's remaining proceedings, asking U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman to use the court's "inherent authority" to probe the death of their former client.
The defense also threw already rampant suspicion surrounding Epstein's untimely death into further uncertainty when they alleged that they have evidence suggestive of an incident "far more consistent with assault" than suicide.
They told the judge they could provide the court with this evidence to support their assertion.
Epstein is believed to have killed himself in his jail cell in the Special Housing Unit of the Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10.
"We did not see a despairing, despondent, suicidal person," one of the defense attorneys announced to a packed courtroom in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, adding that he was troubled by reports that surveillance cameras recording the surroundings of Epstein's cell "were either corrupted or not functioning."
Defense counsel further alleged that the medical examiner who concluded that suicide was the final cause of death only saw nine minutes of footage from one security camera to help arrive at that determination.
Attorneys representing the government asked the judge to terminate the proceedings, saying that the current legal landscape leaves them little if any room to continue a case after the pre-trial death of a charged individual. Attorneys for Epstein asked Berman to formally investigate Epstein's apparent suicide, though there are already several announced probes into the matter originating from the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Victims' attorneys likewise told the judge that an independent judicial probe would provide their clients with some measure of confidence in the outcome.
At one point, defense counsel invited Berman to tour the Metropolitan Correctional Center himself.
"There are conspiracy theories galore," one of the attorneys said. "What if the tapes only broke down on the day he was killed or he died?"
A defense attorney also suggested, citing a "person with knowledge," that defendants awaiting trial at the correctional center are kept in more "dreadful" conditions than suspected terrorists who are harbored at Guantanamo Bay.
A second defense counsel announced that "we have a profound problem with the conclusions of the medical examiner." He explained that the death occurred just around the time Epstein's lawyers were going to pursue an appeal regarding some of the preliminary decisions made before trial. They thought they had a high chance of success because, as his defense counsel colleague put it, lawyers involved in the original 2008 non-prosecution agreement that largely let Epstein off the hook for the full measure of the allegations levied against him said it was "global," meaning that New York prosecutors would not be allowed to pursue this case.
Citing lawyers involved in the 2008 agreement, the attorney told Berman that "every one of those lawyers believes" that the New York case should not have been allowed to proceed. Given their faith in the strength of this argument, they allege, Epstein's decision to take his own life was somewhat inexplicable.
The judge also spent much of his prefatory remarks scorning a New York Law Journal article released yesterday which argued that Tuesday's hearings should not turn into a courtroom "drama" for victim testimony. The judge rebuked the authors of the article for citing no legal authorities and, in an unexpected turn, frowned upon the apparent connection between an individual involved in the article's publication and Epstein, which the journal did not disclose.
"I would respectfully say it's incorrect as a matter of law," the judge said about the law review article's recommendations to exclude victim testimony.
Berman acknowledged the "stunning turn of events" that took place over recent weeks and said that Tuesday's hearing is "the preferred vehicle for [the] resolution" of the case, which contained trafficking allegations involving just three victims and three alleged employee-conspirators. But the indictment and public reporting is suggestive of a broader network encompassing dozens of young women and girls who have accused Epstein and his alleged collaborator Ghislaine Maxwell of perpetrating a vast conspiracy to abuse and traffic underage girls.
"I believe it is the court's responsibility and manifestly within its purview that the victims are treated fairly and with dignity," Berman concluded in his remarks.
Berman did not announce a final decision regarding the government's motion to dismiss the charges, though a dismissal is expected to be forthcoming. The government reiterated its position that their broader investigation remains open and will continue to pursue any potential conspirators.
"This dismissal in no way lessens the government's resolve to stand up for victims in this case," a representative of the U.S. Attorney's Office said, adding that inquiries into other allegations "have been ongoing, remain ongoing and will continue."
The government lawyer said that it is the "purview of a Grand Jury to investigate crimes" and that there is an "ongoing" Grand Jury investigation into Epstein's death.
