Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Donald Hafele (pronounced Haffle) on Monday denied the release of grand jury documents for a proceeding after which Jeffrey Epstein was charged only as a “John,” who had solicited a prostitute.
State Attorney Barry Krischer sunk his own case when only one victim — a 14-year-old — testified and he trotted out her MySpace pages, which depicted her drinking with boys. The charge didn’t reflect her age.
Was the Jeffrey Epstein case intentional:Judge won’t release secret grand jury papers
VIDEO:Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell: Who are they and what did they do?
2019 Post investigation:Jeffrey Epstein case, the first failure: To the first prosecutors, Epstein’s victims were prostitutes
More:Why was Jeffrey Epstein charged only as a ‘john’? Post sues to find out
The Palm Beach Post sued to find out what kind of evidence prosecutors presented under a provision in the law that allows the release of the secret material in the interest of “furthering justice.”
Judge Donald Hafele knows his way around many Epstein court cases
1. Hafele, 64, is no stranger to Jeffrey Epstein cases. He presided over several cases involving Epstein in the 2000’s, including the civil cases brought by victims after Epstein agreed to the “deal of the century.” He also presided over Epstein’s defamation case against Scott Rothstein, of the $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme fame, and Brad Edwards, one of the victims’ chief attorneys.
