gov.uscourts.nysd.447706.1334.1.pdf
📄 Extracted Text (8,365 words)
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1332-7
1334-1 Filed 01/08/24 Page 1 of 29
United States District Court
Southern District of New York
Virginia L. Giuffre,
Plaintiff, Case No.: 15-cv-07433-RWS
v.
Ghislaine Maxwell,
Defendant.
________________________________/
REPLY IN SUPPORT OF NON-PARTY’S MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER AND
OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT’S COMBINED MOTION TO COMPEL NON-PARTY
WITNESS TO PRODUCE DOCUMENTS AND RESPOND TO DEPOSITION
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1332-7
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .......................................................................................................... ii
BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................ 1
ARGUMENT................................................................................................................................ 12
I. NON-PARTY RANSOME HAS PRODUCED DOCUMENTS OF AND DOES NOT
HAVE DOCUMENTS FOR A NUMBER OF REQUESTS. ...........................................15
II. DEFENDANT’S SUBPOENA SEEKS DOCUMENTS SOLELY FOR THE
PURPOSE OF INTIMIDATING AND HARASSING THIS NON-PARTY
WITNESS REQUEST 10 (CURRENT PASSPORT/CURRENT VISAS):......................17
III. DEFENDANT SHOULD BE PRECLUDED FROM ASKING ANY ADDITIONAL
DEPOSITION QUESTIONS THAT ARE SOLELY MEANT TO EMBARRASS,
INTIMIDATE AND HARASS THIS NON-PARTY........................................................18
IV. NON-PARTY MS. RANSOME SHOULD NOT BE FORCED TO INCUR THE
BURDEN AND EXPENSE OF PRODUCING A PRIVILEGE LOG..............................20
V. NON-PARTY MS. RANSOME HAS PRODUCED DOCUMENTS RELEVANT TO
JANE DOE 43. ...................................................................................................................22
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................. 23
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE ..................................................................................................... 24
i
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1332-7
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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Page
Cases
Amini Innovation Corp. v. McFerran Home Furnishings, Inc.,
300 F.R.D. 406 (C.D. Cal. 2014) .............................................................................................. 12
Blodgett v. Siemens Industry, Inc.,
2016 WL 4203490 (E.D.N.Y. 2016)......................................................................................... 12
Buck v. Indian Mountain Sch.,
2017 WL 421648 (D. Conn. Jan. 31, 2017).............................................................................. 22
City of Pontiac Gen. Employee’s Ret. Sys. v. Lockheed Martin Corp.,
2012 WL 4202657 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 18, 2012).......................................................................... 22
DaCosta v. City of Danbury,
298 F.R.D. 37 (D. Conn. 2014)........................................................................................... 13, 18
Dart Industries Co., Inc. v. Westwood Chemical Co.,
649 F.2d 646 (9th Cir. 1980) .................................................................................................... 12
Gerber v. Down E. Cmty. Hosp.,
266 F.R.D. 29 (D. Me. 2010).................................................................................................... 22
Hickman v. Taylor,
329 U.S. 495, 67 S. Ct. 385, 91 L.Ed. 451 (1947).................................................................... 22
Katz v. Batavia Marine & Sporting Supplies, Inc.,
984 F.2d 422 (Fed.Cir.1993)..................................................................................................... 12
Liz Claiborne, Inc., v. Mademoiselle Knitwear, Inc.,
No. 96 CIV 2064 (RWS), 1997 WL 53184 .............................................................................. 22
Medical Components, Inc. v. Classic Medical, Inc.,
210 F.R.D. 175 (M.D.N.C. 2002) ............................................................................................. 21
Night Hawk Limited v. Briarpatch Limited,
No. 03 CIV. 1382 (RWS), 2003 WL 23018833 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 23, 2003) ............................. 23
S.E.C. v. NIR Grp., LLC,
283 F.R.D. 127 (E.D.N.Y. 2012) .............................................................................................. 22
Smartix International LLC v. Garrubbo, Romankow & Capese,
No. 06 CIV 1501 (JGK), 2007 WL 41666035 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 20, 2007) ............................... 12
ii
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1332-7
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Solarex Corp. v. Arco Solar, Inc.,
121 F.R.D. 163 (E.D.N.Y. 1988) .............................................................................................. 21
Tucker v. Am. Int’l Grp., Inc.,
281 F.R.D. 85 (D. Conn. 2012)........................................................................................... 20, 21
United States v. Jacques Dessange, Inc.,
2000 WL 310345 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 27, 2000) ............................................................................ 22
Upjohn Co. v. United States,
449 U.S. 383 (1981).................................................................................................................. 22
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Konover,
2009 WL 585434 (D. Conn. Mar. 4, 2009) .............................................................................. 20
William A. Gross Const., Assoc., Inc. v. Am. Mfrs. Mut. Ins. Co.,
262 F.R.D. 354 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) .............................................................................................. 21
Rules
----
Fed. R. Civ. P. 37.......................................................................................................................... 12
iii
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1332-7
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Non-party, Sarah Ransome, by and through her undersigned counsel, hereby files this Reply
in Suppo1t of Her Motion for Protective Order (DE 640) and Opposition to Defendant's Combined
Motion to Compel Non-Paity Witness to Produce Documents and Respond to Deposition (DE 655).
BACKGROUND
Non-paity Sarah Ransome has already provided significant discove1y in this case. She
previously flew from Bai·celona to New York, sat for a ten-hour deposition, and produced many
relevant documents. Indeed, witness Ms. Ransome has provided more significant evidence, including
photographic evidence and electronic communications, than Defendant has produced in the two years
she has been litigating this matter. Defendant has not produced a single document prior to 2009 and
not a single photograph, despite testimony that she was an avid photographer of the young girls at
Epstein's mansions, including talcing nude photographs.
Specifically, and by way of example, non-paity Ms. Ransome produced the following types
of highly relevant infonnation about Defendant's involvement in the sex trafficking and abuse:
Ransome_00069 Ransome_000128
Jeffrey Epstein in 2006 on Little Various females on Island in 2006 including Nadia.
St. James Island Marcinkova
1
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1332-7
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Ransome_000131 Ransome_000135
Various females on Island in 2006 including Various females on Island in 2006 including
Nadia Marcinkova Nadia Marcinkova
Ransome 000138 Ransome 000141
Defendant on Little St. James Island in 2006 Defendant on Little St. James Island in 2006
2
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Ransome 000142 Ransome 000148
Defendant on Little St. James Island in 2006 Defendant with Jean Luc Bronel in 2006
Ransome 000152 Ransome 000154
Various females on Little St. James in 2006 Jeffrey Epstein and male.friend in 2006 on Island
3
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1332-7
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CONFIDENTIAL
Ransome_000218
Non-Party Sarah Ransome in 2006 on Little St. James Island
4
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1332-7
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5
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1334-1
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Moreover, Ms. Ransome sat for ten hours of deposition and gave critical testimony showing
Defendant's direct involvement in Epstein's sex abuse and sex trafficking conspiracy:
Key Testimony Transcript Citation
Maxwell provided Ransome Dep. Tr. at 331 (Q. What did Ghislaine say to you? A. I can't
Ms. Ransome with remember the specific conversation. But the fact that she helped me refine
massaging training. my massage skills to satisfy Jeffrey, I think it's prettv self-explanatory.)
Ransome Dep. Tr. at 330 (Q. Does that have something to do with body
massages? A. Can you repeat -- let me read the question again. So I
would just like to clarify, body massages meant sex, okay? That's like a
Massage was a key
key word for sex. So as soon as you stop having sex with Jeffrey and his
word for sex.
friends and his girls, you're out, because othe1wise there's no reason for
you to be associated with Jeffrey, because you 're just there to have sex
with him, so ... )
The girls were on
Ransome Dep. Tr. at 152 (Q. Did you see Natalya having any type of
rotation for the
sexual relations with Jeffrey during the trip? A. Yes, I did. Q. When did
pmpose of giving
you see that? A. I didn't see it in the bedroom, but we were called on, like,
Epstein sexual
a rotation visit for Jeffrey throughout the day and evening.)
massages each day.
Ransome Dep. Tr. at 290-292 (Q. So we have Sarah Kellen having a
discussion with Ghislaine about girls. *** There was a constant influx of
girls. There were so many girls. There were girls in Miami. There were
guests coming. There were -- It's like, I'm sure if you go into a hooker 's
brothel and see how they nm their business, I mean, it's just general
conversation about who's going to have sex with who and, you know --
what do you talk about when all do you is have sex eve1y day on
rotation? I mean, what is there to talk about? *** Q. Apart from general
Maxwell was
conversation, do you recall any specifics of any female reporting to
Epstein's main
Ghislaine? A. Yes, I saw. And with my own eyes, I saw how Ghislaine
right-hand woman
and Lesley Groff and the other girls reported to them. *** And we were
in 2006-2007;
told by Jeffrey Epstein to listen to Ghislaine. So Ghislaine was the main
Maxwell ran the
right-hand woman of Jeffrey Epstein. \Ve were told by Jeffrey Epstein to
house like a brothel
listen to Ghislaine.)
with girls on
***
rotation for the Ransome Dep. Tr. at 311-312 (Q. And when you say you were on
pmpose of giving
rotation, you mean you were having sex with Jeffrey multiple times per
Epstein sexual
day? A. No. As in when I was finished, another girl was called by
massages each day. Ghislaine. And when they had finished, another girl was called. Q. How
do you know that another girl was called by Ghislaine? A. Because I was
there, and I saw it and heard it with all my senses. I saw Ghislaine call
another girl, and she called me herself, to go give Jeffrey Epstein a sexual
massage. Q. What do you mean by call? I guess I'm thinking like
telephone. That may be my -- A. No. As in going up to the person and
going, Jeffrey wants to see you in his bedroom, which meant it's your tum
to be abused. That kind of thing. Q. And this is on the island? A. This is
6
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1334-1
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Key Testimony Transcript Citation
on the island. Q. You heard -- as soon as you were done with Jeffrey, you
heard Ghislaine go up to another girl and say, it's your tum with Jeffrey?
A. So eve1y single day *** So, I mean, our rotation changed every day
that specific trip we had in December. So, for example, I would be called.
Maybe a couple hours when Jeffrey had a little, you know, break, another
girl was called, - · Then another girl was called. Eve1y single day.
We tried to hide on different -- like, so we wouldn't have to get called.
We'd generally have to sit in the main area. There was like a big pool, the
main seating area. There was a big table. We 'd sit there and do kind of art
on the table, and we always had to be around. We weren't allowed to go
ve1y far on the island. We always had to report to Ghislaine and Jeffrey
and tell them if we were going down to the beach to swim because they
had an inflatable trampoline. So they -- I mean, we always had to tell
Ghislaine and Jeffrey where we were at all times.
Kellen repo1ied to Ransome Dep. Tr. at 289 (A. eve1yone was afrai d of Ghislaine. All the
Maxwell. girls were afraid of her, so eve1yone -- Sarah Kellen reported to her.)
Ransome Dep. Tr. at 288-290 (Q. You said that the girls reported to
Ghislaine. What did you see or hear that caused you to say that? A. Well,
it's pretty obvious. I mean, Ghislaine called the shots. *** So, for
All the girls example, there was one occasion where Jeffrey didn't like my hair and
providing sexual Ghislaine told me to change it. So there was -- eve1yone was afraid of
massages to Epstein Ghislaine. All the girls were afraid of her, so eve1yone -- Sarah Kellen
repo1ied to reported to her. Lesley Groff repo1ied to her. I don't know how to tell you.
Maxwell; Maxwell So when I say repo1iing, I witnessed with my own two eyes Sarah Kellen
"called the shots." repo1iing to Ghislaine in front of me, but I can 't remember specifics. They
were talking about girls. I can't remember the specific conversation. But
eve1y single person 100 percent, 200 percent reported to Ghislaine. 100
percent.)
Ransome Dep. Tr. at 387 (Q. Apart from what Ms. Malyshev told you, do
you have any other basis for knowing that Malyshev repo1ied to Kellen,
Girls were paid to Groff and Maxwell and was paid for her recmitment of young females,
recmit other girls; including you? A. What she told me. Q. Apart from what she told you, do
Maxwell was the you have any other basis for that? A. Well, I saw it with my own eyes. I
main lady. was a witness. Q. What did you witness? A. I witnessed the same thing
all the other girls did, the same thing I had to do, was go and repo1i to
Sarah Kellen, Lesley Groff and Ghislaine. Ghislaine was the main lady ... )
Ransome Dep. Tr. at 287-288 (Q. You said, "Watching her interact with
the other girls on the island, it became clear to me that she recmited all or
many of them to the island." What do you mean that? A. That she
Maxwell recmited
recmited a lot of the girls. Q. What did you see? A. I saw how she
girls to the island;
interacted with all the girls. You know, if you walk into any -- I mean,
Maxwell was the
colllll1on sense wise, if you walk into a fom, you kind of know who the
"mamma bear."
boss is. You know, all the girls kind of repo1ied to Ghislaine. Ghislaine
was like the mama bear, if you know what I mean. She called the shots;
we had to listen to Ghislaine. And Ghislaine was Jeffrey's right-hand
7
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Key Testimony Transcript Citation
woman, so, you know, whatever Jeffrey wanted went through Ghislaine
and then filtered through.)
Ransome Dep. Tr. at 121-123 (Q. Describe for me what happened on the
plane ride? A. Nadia walked in, sat down in front of me, Nataly. We all
buckled up, we took off. The rest of the passengers in the -- I think it's
Ms. Ransome towards the front of the plane where all the seats are -- we all -- all the
witnessed Epstein guests were -- fell asleep. I pretended to be asleep. Jeffrey then went --
having sex with Jeffrey went to his -- was in his bed on the plane, having open sex with
Marcinkova on his Nadia for eve1yone to see, on display. ***Q. What types of sexual
plane in plain view. relationship did Jeffrey and Nadia have on the plane in your presence? A.
Well, Nadia was straddling Jeffrey for quite some time. I watched them
both ejaculate with each other. They were having quite a good time
together.)
Ransome Dep. Tr. at 234-235 (Q. Did you apply for any financial aid for
FIT? A. No. Jeffrey was covering FIT. Q. That's what Jeffrey told
Maxwell and
you? A. Multiple, multiple times. Q. Did Ghislaine Maxwell say anything
Epstein used
to you with regards to FIT? A. It was various conversations. It was
promises to assist
known among eve1yone that I was going to FIT, and Jeffrey -- eve1yone
Ms. Ransome in
knew he was helping me to get into FIT. It was common knowledge. Q.
getting into FIT and
You described earlier that Ghislaine was helping review your application
paying for her in
and your essay. Was there something else that she was doing to help
return for being
you? A. Well, she said she would, but whether she did, I have no idea.
Epstein's sex slave.
She said she would. Whether she made calls, I doubt, because I didn't end
up at FIT. So ... )
Ransome Dep. Tr. at 332 (A. Well, the fact that she used to personally call
me herself to give Jeffrey sexual massages. Not body massages; sexual
massages. It should be rephrased. I mean, it was pretty obvious. I mean,
the whole weight thing. I tried to swim off the island. I tried to escape
from an island during the evening to t1y and escape from her because if I
didn't lose weight, they would cut me out of their -- financially off. I
would lose the place that I was staying at. I would lose my education. You
name it. They bullied me with eve1ything, just like they did with the other
Maxwell bullied the girls.)
girls if they didn't
Ransome Dep. Tr. at 333-334 (Q .... What was the threat that was made to
comply with
Epstein's sexual you by Maxwell? A. The fact that I would lose eve1ything that they
promised me. They -- they were really naughty. You know, they took girls
demands.
from ve1y unde1privileged families. They gave them accommodation, they
gave them food, gave them money for transportation, you know, private
planes, etcetera, etcetera. So if I didn't have sex with Jeffrey, I would be
homeless and starving in New York, so -- and my dream of getting a full-
time education at one of the top fashion institutes in the world would be
diminished. And that's what he held over my head, exactly like he did
with - and the other girls. He was paying for all of their educations.
Q. How do you know that? A. Because they were telling me. It was
common knowledge amongst all the girls. No other girl would be there
8
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1334-1
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Key Testimony Transcript Citation
willingly just to have sex with Jeffrey.)
Victoria Secret
Ransome Dep. Tr. at 350 (Q. They were supplied to you? A. Yes. All of
outfits were
the outfits -- there were clothes that were provided on the island by Jeffrey
provided to the girls
Epstein, which were all Victoria's Secret clothing: bikinis, nightwear. )
on the Island.
Ransome Dep. Tr. at 40 (There were two people following me aBer I
Ms. Ransome
came fo1wai-d to Maureen Callahan. I went to - I walked downstairs. I
testified that she is
walked around -- I have a usual routine that I do. In the morning I went
fearful for her life
out, I saw the same two people. Later on that afternoon, I saw the same
after coming
two people again. I was frightened. I'm frightened for my life, absolutely
fo1ward.
frightened. So there you go.)
Ms. Ransome provided clear testimony as a non-paiiy victim of sex trafficking that her
motivating factor for testifying is to hold her traffickers accotmtable:
Q. I'm just asking your understanding.
A. Nothing's been proinised to me about money.
Q. Were you seeking money when you authorized this complaint to be filed on
your behalf?
A. No. I just wanted a pedophile behind bars, really, and for him to stop abusing
young girls. Seeing as I'm going to be a parent myself, I can't really live with
myself, knowing that there 's a pedophile with my kids on the planet. So as a
responsible human being, I thought that I would come fo1ward.
See Pottinger Dec. at Exhibit 1, Ransome Dep. Tr. at 324: 10 - 325:21.
Non-paiiy Ms. Ransome fuiiher testified during her deposition about her motivation in
coming fo1wai·d and speaking openly: "I wanted to tell my sto1y, and I want to nm a campaign in
which all the girls that have been abused by Ghislaine and Jeffrey can come fo1w ai·d. And I
wanted to nm a campaign with the New York Post to get these girls to have the courage to come
fo1w ai·d, because I know a lot of them are frightened like myself." See Pottinger Dec. at Exhibit 1,
Ransome Dep. Tr. at 39: 19 to 40:22.
Despite this straightfo1w ai·d and coll1Illonsense explanation, Defendant uses her briefing to
repeatedly suggest that non-party Ms. Ransome is motivated by "money'' and that she "fabricated"
9
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her st01y. From this dubious premise, Defendant then argues that Ms. Ransome should therefore be
punished by having to make burdensome and invasive disclosures of such things as her boyfriend's
cell phone number and ;njonnation from her current bank account. Unwilling to confine her attacks
to Ms. Ransome, Defendant then levels attacks on the professionalism of Ms. Giuffre's legal counsel,
stating in her brief: "One can hardly imagine a better motive to fabricate testimony that the type of
lotte1y win. To make it even better, there is no purchase price for the ticket, because the people who
want the testimony are willing to front the cost of the litigation either on a contingency or pro-bono
basis." Defendant's Combined Motion at 7. Any suggestion of "fab1ication" is directly refoted by
the multiple pictures and e-mails non-party Ms. Ransome produced - documentaiy evidence that
Defendant fails to discuss in her b1ief. Moreover, non-party Ms. Ransome is identified as a passenger
on Epstein's own flight logs:
Non-paity Ms. Ransome's fitlsome production included items such as m1tltiple e-mails with
Sarah Kellen, a known key conspirator and recmiter of females, and Leslie Groff, Defendant's other
co-conspirator who was also named in the non-prosecution agreement. These e-mails are direct
evidence of the trafficking of females for the pmpose of sex, and the use of fraud and manipulation to
accomplish that pmpose. Ms. Ransome also produced numerous photographs of her travels to
Epstein's Little Saint James Island, which unequivocally establish Defendant's presence dming the
years that she swore under oath that she was hardly around. Ms. Ransome's testimony proves that
what little Defendant did say dming her deposition was far from the truth.
Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1332-7
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These documents do not lie, and moreover make it abundantly clear that Defendant was far
from truthful during her deposition when she denied being a part of Epstein’s sexual abuse
conspiracy. Rather than engage Ms. Ransome’s allegations on the merits, Defendant responds with
technicalities. For example, Defendant attempts to suggest that Ms. Giuffre’s counsel was not diligent
in disclosing Ms. Ransome. Yet if there was any failure of disclosure here, it was entirely
Defendant’s failure. Clearly, witness Ms. Ransome is someone who has relevant evidence in this
case, as her many photographs, e-mails, and other documents undoubtedly establish. And yet
Defendant failed to disclose Ms. Ransome’s existence not only in her Rule 26 disclosures, but also
through (to put it mildly) her inaccurate testimony during her deposition. As a result, Ms. Giuffre’s
legal counsel did not learn of Ms. Ransome’s existence and whereabouts until November.
Furthermore, as Ms. Giuffre’s counsel informed the Court, it was not until the first week in January
that non-party Ms. Ransome was able to meet with counsel in person in Barcelona. Ms. Giuffre’s
counsel was not going to petition to bring a new witness before this Court without conducting
complete due diligence to assure that her testimony was credible. As soon as that in-person meeting
was accomplished in early January, Ms. Giuffre filed the appropriate papers with this Court and
immediately offered to make Ms. Ransome available to Defendant for a deposition. After first
delaying in taking that deposition, Defendant then made this victim of sex trafficking, who had flown
to the United States from Barcelona, sit for ten hours at a deposition and be subject to harassing
-
questions.
11
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ARGUMENT
In light of non-party Ms. Ransome’s diligent efforts to satisfy Defendant’s needs for
discovery, the Court should enter a protective order against further discovery (DE 640) and deny
Defendant’s Combined Motion to Compel1 (DE 655).
As explained in Non-Party Ransome’s Motion for Protective Order, Defendant should not
be allowed to use the discovery process as a means of intimidating and harassing a non-party.
Counsel is not permitted to intentionally harass or embarrass a non-party witness during a
deposition. See Smartix International LLC v. Garrubbo, Romankow & Capese, No. 06 CIV 1501
(JGK), 2007 WL 41666035 at *2 (S.D.N.Y Nov. 20, 2007) (court protecting deponent from
annoyance, embarrassment and harassment by denying party’s attempt to obtain personnel
records relating to non-party).
Courts are more vigilant with these protections when the discovery is being sought from a
non-party. “[T]he fact of non-party status may be considered by the Court in weighing the
burdens imposed in the circumstances.” Katz v. Batavia Marine & Sporting Supplies, Inc., 984
F.2d 422, 424 (Fed.Cir.1993); accord Amini Innovation Corp. v. McFerran Home Furnishings,
Inc., 300 F.R.D. 406, 409 (C.D. Cal. 2014); see also Dart Industries Co., Inc. v. Westwood
1
In her Motion to Compel, Defendant failed to comply with Local Rule 37.1 and only inserted
selected text from certain objections. Rule 37.1 requires: “upon any motion or application
involving discovery or disclosure requests or responses under Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, the moving
party shall specify and quote or set forth verbatim in the motion papers each discovery request
and response to which the motion or application is addressed.” For all of the discovery items
upon which Defendant moves, Defendant has wholly failed to do this. Upon a motion to compel,
a court is called upon to evaluate the discovery requests as well as the responses and objections.
Local Rule 37.1 is designed to protect against the exact type of self-serving omission of the
responding party’s objections that Defendant has done in her brief. Accordingly, the Court
should deny Defendant’s motion in its entirety for failure to comply with Local Rule 37.1. See
Blodgett v. Siemens Industry, Inc., 2016 WL 4203490, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. 2016) (denying motion
without prejudice for failure to comply with Local Rule 37.1 (which is the same rule in the
Eastern District of New York)); see also Pottinger Dec. at Exhibit 2, Non-Party Sarah Ransome’s
Responses and Objections to Defendant’s Subpoena Requests.
12
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Chemical Co., 649 F.2d 646 (9th Cir. 1980) ("While discove1y is a valuable right and should not
be unnecessarily restricted, the 'necessaiy' restriction may be broader when a non-paiiy is the
target of discove1y.") .
Comis have routinely denied the discove1y of non-pa1i ies when it is cleai· that the purpose
is to obtain personal inf01mation for intimidating or harassing the witness. See Dacosta v. City
of Danbury, 298 F.R.D. 37 (D. Conn. 2014) (protective order granted with respect to personal
info1mation of nonpa1iies, including home addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of
bi1i h, children's names, financial account numbers, and social secmity numbers).
Despite Ms. Ransome's robust production, Defendant comes before this Comi to seek
additional inf01mation solely for the purpose of harassing and intimidating this witness.
Defendant's onerous subpoena contained thniy (30) sepai·ate categories of requests.
Nevertheless, Ms. Ransome produced the documents she had and sat in a deposition for over ten
homs with Defendant's counsel. In fact, Ms. Ransome testified that she had produced all of the
photographs and documents that she has that relate to Defendant and Epstein.
Ransome 02/17/17 Dep. Tr. at 364: 17 to 367:6
Q. Okay. If I could have you rum to A.Mm-hmm.
the last three pages, where it says
"Documents to be Produced."
Q . Have you seen that list before? A. Yes, I have.
Q. Did you conduct a search of A. Yes, I believe that I produced eve1y single document
your records to produce documents? I can.
Q. After looking at this list, did you go A. As I said, I looked at eve1ything I had during that
back and look through your time frame and I produced eve1ything I can during that
photo1n-aphs in Ba1·celona? tiine frame that I was with Jeffrey.
Q. Just tell me what you did in A. Okay. So I went through a box of about over 5,000
order to make sure you had produced photos that I had, and I went through eve1y single photo,
eve1ything that was called for in this eve1y single disk, eve1ything that I had. I went through
list. all my emails. I tried to look for the BlackBeny sim
card, which I had hoped that I had kept, which had all
Ghislaine' s messages on and Jeffrey's and Lesley's,
and stupidly I misplaced that, which is really annoying.
But I myself, you know, considering my objective is to
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get these people and get justice for the abuse that
Ghislaine caused me - and Jeffrey -- I have given as
sufficient evidence that I have.
Q. Did you look for all photographs A. Yes.
taken by you or containing any image
of you at or near any home, business,
private vehicle or any other property
owned or controlled by Jeffrey
Epstein, as indicated in paragraph 7?
Q. Likewise in paragraph 8, did you A. Yes.
look for any photographs that depict
any home, business, private
vehicle or any other property owned or
controlled by Jeffrey Epstein?
Q. And you did that after reviewing A. Yeah, I mean, I received the list and I've complied
this list of documents? with everything. I have given absolutely everything
that I can to you 2:uvs.
Ransome 02/17/17 Dep. Tr. at 370:16 to 370:18
Q. Where are these photographs? A. I have given all the photographs to my lawyers.
Ransome 02/17/17 Dep. Tr. at 371:9 to 371:13
Q. Were there photographs of other A. I have given all the photos that I have.
people taken around the same time that
you have?
Ransome 02/17/17 Dep. Tr. at 371:14 to 371:19.
Q. hi other words, if you were A. I provided every single photograph that I have.
messing around with Simona at this
time and there's a photo of Simona
that you have, did you provide that?
Ransome 02/17/17 Dep. Tr. at 379: 9 to 380:13.
Q. Okay. So you believed that
you produced six emails of
***
conversation between yourself and
Natalya Malyshev?
A. Yeah, I collected all -- all -- everything I had, I gave
*** to my lawyers.
Q. Okay. So you believe you gave six A. Yes, I gave all my evidence.
emails between yourself and
Natalya Malyshev to your attorneys?
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Ransome 02/17/17 Dep. Tr. at 382:14 to 386: 16.
Q. So did you produce the A. I've given all my email coITespondence to my
Februaiy ' 04, '07, 4:01 p.m. email lawyers.
from yourself to Nataly Malyshev to
your attorneys?
Q. Did you give that email to your A. I've given all my emails to my lawyers.
lawyer?
Q. Okay. The next email down A. Mm-hmm.
says "Sarah Ransome, Febmaiy 5,
2007, at 10:09 p.m." - Can you read
the text of that email on this
document?
Q. What does the 10: 09 p.m. email A. As I've specified before, this is a screenshof, okay,
say? of the actual Yahoo email. This is a screenshot. So
technically I can 't read that anyways, seeing as it's a
screen shot.
***
Q. Did you search your fubox for A. I did. I wanted to be thorough with my research, so I,
documents responsive to the during that time frame, went through eve1y single email.
subpoena that I showed you a little
while ago?
Q. You went through each one? A. I went through all of my emails to make sure I gave
all my evidence to my lawvers.
Q. Did you seai-ch for keywords or did A. I read each email.
you just read each email?
Q. And did you print out each email? A. I didn't print out. I saved them to a USB stick.
Q. All of them or just the ones that you A. Just the ones that were for -- just anything related to
thought were needed? Jeffrey, I sent over.
I. NON-PARTY RANSOME HAS PRODUCED DOCUMENTS OF AND DOES NOT
HAVE DOCUMENTS FOR A NUMBER OF REQUESTS.
Defendant's Motion to Compei3 is misleading because it suggests that non-pai1y Ms. Ransome
refused to produce documents in response to all thiI1y categories in the subpoena . That is
2
Ms. Ransome produced both screen shots and the associated emails. Defendant asked about the
screenshots during the deposition, rather than about the supplemental production of the actual
emails. Defendant also requested additional pieces of the email chains which non-pa11y Ransome
has provided the Defendant the additional pieces of the email chains to the extent they were
responsive to the Defendant's subpoena .
3
Defendant also requested a copy of the CD of photographs that non-pai1y Ms. Ransome aheady
produced in hard copy. A copy of said CD has been made and sent to Defendant.
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incorrect. To be clear, Ms. Ransome produced documents, or responded that no documents exist,
to Requests 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 20, 23. Request 24 was withdrawn by Defendant
and non-party Ransome does not have any documents responsive to Request 26. As to the
remaining requests:
! Request 12 – Ms. Ransome testified that she does not have any credit card receipts,
cancelled checks, or documents reflecting travel from 2006-2007, other than what she has
already produced. See Pottinger Dec. at Exhibit 1, Ransome Tr. at 367, 402-403.
! Request 15 - She testified that she does not have any documents reflecting the money
paid to her by Jeffrey Epstein (she was paid in cash). See Pottinger Dec. at Exhibit 1,
Ransome Tr. at 151-152, 415.
! Request 16 - She testified that she was given cash by Epstein during the years 2006-2007
while she was being trafficked by Defendant and Epstein. See Pottinger Dec. at Exhibit 1,
Ransome Tr. at 415-416.
! Request 17 - She testified that she lived in Epstein’s apartment and thereafter lived with a
male friend, but she does not have any leases, deeds, or rental agreements for 2006-2007..
See Pottinger Dec. at Exhibit 1, Ransome Tr. at 76-78, 228-229.
! Request 19 – Ms. Ransome produced a copy of her FIT essay but testified that she does
not believe she has the application but Jeffrey Epstein or the Defendant likely have a
copy because they claimed to be assisting her with the application and submission
process for FIT). See Pottinger Dec. at Exhibit 1, Ransome Tr. at 171-172, 179-180.
! Request 21 – Ms. Ransome testified she did very little modeling because she wasn’t
successful at it and has no documents relating to her modeling) See Pottinger Dec. at
Exhibit 1, Ransome Tr. at 82, 85, 112-113, 216, 415.
! Request 25 - She testified she has not had any communication with law enforcement. See
Pottinger Dec. at Exhibit 1, Ransome Tr. at 183-184, 189.
! Request 27 - She testified that she has never written a book or any similar writings about
her time with Defendant. See Pottinger Dec. at Exhibit 1, Ransome Tr. at 9, 12-13, 35-38.
! Request 28 - Defendant already has her civil complaint in Jane Doe 43, and Ms.
Ransome already testified that she is involved in that litigation.
! Request 30 – Ms. Ransome testified that she does not have a current account on Twitter
or any other social media platform, and does not have the information for any for the
years 2006-2007. See Pottinger Dec. at Exhibit 1, Ransome Tr. at 61.
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II. DEFENDANT’S SUBPOENA SEEKS DOCUMENTS SOLELY FOR THE
PURPOSE OF INTIMIDATING AND HARASSING THIS NON-PARTY
WITNESS
Request 10 (Current Passport/Current Visas):
As to Request 10, Ms. Ransome produced her passport during the time that she was being
trafficked by Defendant and Epstein. She does not have Visas from that time period, as she
testified. Non-party Ms. Ransome should not have to produce her current passport, and
Defendant has given no good faith reason for why she should have to.
The remainder of Request 10 is overly broad, seeking “all communications regarding any
of Your passports, visas, visa applications or to her permissions to live, work or study in a
foreign country for the years 2005 – present.” What is responsive and relevant to this case - the
passport she held during the years 2006 and 2007 - has been produced. The reminder is simply
being sought in order to learn the patterns of Ms. Ransome’s travel for purposes of harassing and
intimidating her.
Request 18 (Current Driver’s License):
Despite non-party Ransome having produced her passport showing her travel during the
period she was being trafficked by Defendant and Epstein, Defendant seeks a “copy of her
current driver’s license.” Non-party Ransome is already fearful for her life and has been
followed at least once since she disclosed the abuse she endured at the hands of Defendant and
Epstein. Obtaining a copy of this non-party’s current driver’s license is solely for the purpose of
harassing and intimidating her and should not be permitted. The evidence that is relevant to the
claims from 2006-2007 has already been produced, including the copy of her passport.
Request 29 (Current Bank Statement, Paycheck, Credit Card Statements):
Non-party Ransome testified that she is presently unemployed and is living with her
boyfriend. Nevertheless, Defendant insists on moving to compel highly personal financial
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information from this non-party as set forth in Request 29: “A copy of your most recent
paycheck, paycheck stub, earnings statement and any bank statement, credit card statement and
any document reflecting any money owed by you to anyone.” This type of current financial
information is only being sought for the improper purpose of embarrassing, intimidating, and
harassing this non-party. See DaCosta v. City of Danbury, 298 F.R.D. 37 (D. Conn. 2014)
(protective order granted with respect to personal information of nonparties, including home
addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, children’s names, financial account
numbers, and social security numbers).
Request 22 (All Modeling Contracts Signed or Entered into By You):
Non-party Ransome provided testimony that she did very little modeling while in New
York because she was not successful at it, and she also testified that it was mostly freelance
modeling. See Pottinger Dec. at Exhibit 1, Ransome Tr. at 82, 85, 112-113, 216, 415. Despite
receiving this testimony, Defendant is now insisting that she conduct a search for any modeling
contract that Ms. Ransome has signed and produce them. This search is solely for the improper
purpose of embarrassing, harassing, and intimidating this non-party witness, and should be
-
precluded.
Accordingly, non-party Ransome objects to these Requests which are only being sought
for the purpose of harassing and intimidating this non-party witness, and requests that the Court
protect her from this clearly, highly personal and harassing discovery.
III. DEFENDANT SHOULD BE PRECLUDED FROM ASKING ANY ADDITIONAL
DEPOSITION QUESTIONS THAT ARE SOLELY MEANT TO EMBARRASS,
INTIMIDATE AND HARASS THIS NON-PARTY.
Defendant had Ms. Ransome present for a deposition for over ten hours with breaks,
ensuring that Defendant got a full seven (7) hours of tape time as provided by the Rules. Despite
this, Defendant seeks to compel Ms. Ransome to sit for additional questions. The following are
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the categories of deposition testimony that Defendant seeks for which non-party Ms. Ransome
contends are sought only for the purpose of harassment and intimidation:
! Current paycheck records and other banking records. Defendant has now added to
this that she wants her boyfriend’s current income and financial position since non-
party Ms. Ransome testified that she is living with her boyfriend. See Pottinger Dec at
Exhibit 1, Ransome Dep. Tr. at 8-9, 13-14.
! Boyfriend’s cell phone number. See Pottinger Dec at Exhibit 1, Ransome Dep. Tr. at
27-28.
! Her parent’s current address information. See Pottinger Dec at Exhibit 1, Ransome
Dep. Tr. at 14.
! Communications that non-party Ms. Ransome testified she recalls having with a
reporter in the fall of 2016. See Pottinger Dec at Exhibit 1, Ransome Dep. Tr. at 37-
43, 386-388.
! Privileged communications with Alan Dershowitz when he was meeting with Ms.
Ransome about a legal matter. See Pottinger Dec at Exhibit 1, Ransome Dep. Tr. at
182-186.
! Her partner’s occupation. See Pottinger Dec at Exhibit 1, Ransome Dep. Tr. at 13-14.
! What hotel Ms. Ransome was staying at in New York for her deposition. See
Pottinger Dec at Exhibit 1, Ransome Dep. Tr. at 30-34.
! Whether Alan Dershowitz contacted anyone on Ms. Ransome’s behalf. See Pottinger
Dec at Exhibit 1, Ransome
ℹ️ Document Details
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6362a152fb3334b512d177970074d4db03efe2cafd6ff90a144c54d945c150c4
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Dataset
giuffre-maxwell
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