A CNN panel discussion took up the case of multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein on Tuesday morning to break down why the multi-millionaire, who previously accepted a plea bargain on sex charges, will likely be unable to use double jeopardy protections to void the new charges filed against him.
Speaking with host Alisyn Camerota, CNN legal analyst Laura Coates began, “In order to have double jeopardy, you have to a complete overlap of crimes alleged.”
“You have information perhaps about new crimes since the other case was actually brought forward,” she continued. “There may have been information about having brought young girls across state lines into New York, there’s information he may have been engaged in recent activity. If all of that is true, it’s not double jeopardy. You’re talking about New York versus Florida and New York is not beholden to what happens in Florida.”
Asked to chime in, former SDNY prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers added, “They would be able to charge because double jeopardy only applies if it’s federal, and federal you can’t charge another federal case. This was a state case, actually.”
“The federal deal was a non-prosecution agreement, it was never charged in the first place,” she elaborated. “We don’t know whether new victims are coming forward, but they did make a call for new victims at the press conference. It will be interesting to see if they get new conduct. Remember, that the non-prosecution agreement in Florida was about was Florida-based conduct. What the new charges are is a conspiracy that encompasses both things that happened in New York and happened in Florida, so substantively, it’s different conduct as well.”
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