JEFFREY EPSTEIN CASE'Victims say they were kept out or toup ATTORNEYS FIGHT TO KEEP PLEA DISCUSSIONS PRIVATE PALM SEACkl POST Miami attorney Roy Black and two other lawyers who represented sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have filed a motion to intercede in a lawsuit seeking to nix the one. time Palm Beach billionaire's nonprosecution agree- ment WM the federal government rok:enPaces% Daft. Ti wee attorneys who mpresented sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have Med a motion to intercede in a lawsuit seeking to nix the one-time Palm Beach billionaire's nonprosecution agreement with the federal government. Epstein, who served a 13-month sentence after agreeing to plead to a state charge of soliciting sex with a minor, was accused of molesting dozens of tuideragegirls from 2001 to 2007. The new pleading seeks a protective order to keep e-mails and other correspondence between Epstein's attorneys and the U.S, attorney's office out of the hands of two alleged vic- tims who brought the suit. His attorneys object to turtling anything over. They say the sanctity otptea negotiations is critical to the eximinaljustice system, and they need to be assured plea talks with prosecu- tors do not end up as evidence in civil lawsuits. SEE STORY, PAGE AS ReadRea feieaa6onSectby ieffityfvite* attpai ;cm lek tin ilyeusinielit EFTA01086550 I JEFFREY EPSTEIN CASE Victims say they were kept out of loop ATTORNEYS FIGHTTO KEEP PLEA DISCOURSE PRIVATE Miami attorney Roy Black and two other high-profile attorneys who represented billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have asked a federal judge to prohibit two alleged vic- tims from obtaining cor- ' respondence between the defense team and federal - prosecutors who ham- mered out a nonprosecu- tion agreement. The two women identi- fied in court papers only as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 say the agreement should be invalidated be- cause they were not ad- equately informed of the plan not to file federal charges against Epstein. Tice defense attor- neys' motion to intervene states the sanctity of plea talks would be under- mined If U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra in West Palm Beach allows the correspondence to be used in the third-party civil action brought by the Miami attom-y Roy Black and alleged victims. release of the plea discussions New York litigator Jay effect" on future talks with the Lefkowitz and Boston criminal defense attorney Martin a Weinberg joined Black in the motion filed April 7. The fight over the records comes amid claims that the defense strong-armed prosecutors into a cushy deal for Epstein. 'The release of these letters and the precedent it would establish would have a severe chilling effect on the lawyers' ability to engage in candid settlement discussions with the government in future cases," the 13-page motion reads. "Indeed, to the extent such written correspondence is deemed discoverable by third parties. criminal defense attorneys and the gov- ernment's lawyers alike would lose the ability to no-foliate such agreements. - The alleged victims maintain evidence shows Epstein molested more than 30 lads from 2001 to 2007, luring them to his Palm Beach mansion on the pretext of giving him a massage. As part of the nonprosecution agreement, he pleaded guilty to a state charge of soliciting sex with a minor and served 13 months of an 18-month sentence. lie resurfaced recently in New York and has become the subject of news reports about social- izing with Britain's Prince Andrew. PERSONAL INQUIRY The women say the nonprosecution agree-ment should be scuttled and Epstein should be open to federal charges because they were not ad- equately consulted as re- quired under the Crimps Victims Rights Act. They seek disclosure of all cor- respondence between Epstein's attorneys and Poot PI4°11D the government, claiming two other attorneys said the it would show prosecutors would have a "severe chilling failed to meet their obb-goverement. gation to keep them and other victims informed. The U.S. attorney's office argued in a 54-page re-sponse April 8 to the women's lawsuit that the law does not apply because no federal charges were filed against the financier, only a state charge. The women were denied access to the loners in their civil lawsuit against Epstein, which was settled. The motion by Black, Lefkowitz and Weinberg said there is "no doubt" the women aim to disseminate the material to news outlets. They urge Marra to "decline the invitation to fuel the media campaign against Mr. Epstein." SEE EPSTEIN, PAGE AI Cl A;fj S Are China-grown vegetables organic? : EFTA01086551