An appeals court has reversed a judge’s decision that blocked The Palm Beach Post’s access to records of 2006 proceedings leading a grand jury to charge financier Jeffrey Epstein with just a single charge of soliciting a prostitute.
The decision released Wednesday, by the 4th District Court of Appeals, clears the way for a trial court judge to review the transcripts and determine if their release will further justice.
Attorneys for The Palm Beach Post argued in February that justice for the girls that police accused Epstein of victimizing 17 years ago demands the release of the records.
The outcome of the proceedings made it possible for the politically connected Palm Beacher, who police had accused of victimizing a series of young teenagers, to continue to molest and traffic girls for 13 more years, noted Nina Boyajian, representing the Post before the appeal court’s three-judge panel Feb. 28. Learning how the grand jury reached its decision is essential to knowing whether justice was sabotaged by prosecutors, she said.
A Palm Beach Post investigation found that out of multiple teenage girls who told police that they were recruited and paid to come to Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion where he sexually abused them, then-State Attorney Barry Krischer’s office called only one to testify before the grand jury, and undermined her testimony, displaying social media posts about boys and drinking.
Hellbound and Down 