Epstein Lawyers Ask for a Year to Review a Million Pages

(Bloomberg) -- Jeffrey Epstein’s lawyers say they need at least a year to review a blizzard of documents prosecutors have gathered against the fund manager as they prepare to defend him against charges of sex trafficking in minors and conspiracy.

Prosecutors asked a judge to schedule Epstein’s trial for next June, but defense attorney Martin Weinberg said his team wanted to wait until September 2020, because they haven’t yet begun to receive documents from the government.

“We need time to receive a million pages of discovery and prepare to defend a four- to six-week trial,” Weinberg said during a brief hearing in Manhattan on Wednesday. “We need time to assess events that occurred 14 to 17 years ago.”

The judge set a tentative trial date of June 8 and asked the parties to keep him updated on their progress.

Epstein, who didn’t speak in court, was arrested on July 6 after stepping off his private plane in New Jersey from a trip to Paris. He has pleaded not guilty and said he has fully complied with the law for more than 14 years.

Marks on Neck

Epstein is accused of molesting teenage girls from 2002 to 2005. He pleaded guilty in 2008 to Florida state charges of soliciting prostitution, after striking a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Federal prosecutors in New York say they are not bound by the deal as they now pursue their own charges.

In court Wednesday, there was no discussion of what happened to the 66-year-old Epstein last week at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he has been held since his arrest. People familiar with the matter said he was found injured and unresponsive in his cell, with marks on his neck. Authorities are investigating whether he was assaulted, possibly by another inmate, or whether the injuries were self-inflicted. Weinberg declined to respond to questions about the incident outside court.

Also in court was Gloria Allred, the activist lawyer who has represented women accusing Roy Moore, Bill Cosby and President Donald Trump of sexual assault. After the hearing, she said she was representing other Epstein accusers who “were not in the Florida case.” She said other women have approached her about their experiences with Epstein but were reluctant to discuss them for fear of retaliation.

The U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey Berman, has urged others who may be victims to come forward and cooperate with the government. Allred declined to say whether her clients have spoken to prosecutors.

The case is U.S. v. Epstein, 19-cr-490, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in Federal Court in Manhattan at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net;Bob Van Voris in federal court in Manhattan at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net;Patricia Hurtado in Federal Court in Manhattan at pathurtado@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter Jeffrey

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