I have never seen such comedy in a courtroom ... even on TV.
The buffoonery that came out of defense attorney Bobbi Sternheim’s mouth … I don’t even know if she believed her own words. Let’s just say I was snorting with uncontrollable laughter along with the rest of the overflow room as we watched the face-off on the big screen during opening statements at the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse on November 29.
Prosecuting attorney Lara Elizabeth Pomerantz’s opening statement was gentle. Almost too gentle. She spoke slowly and a bit softly, sounding like a very young girl—perhaps a tactic—as she set up the scene of the Jane Does for jurors. “I want to tell you about a young girl named Jane … “ Pomerantz began as she went on to describe the experiences of the victims, using examples such as Epstein’s strategy to appeal to an aspiring 14-year-old singer at an arts camp by promising her help with her career (aka classic abuse line 101).
Response to this from the defense? “As we all know, Jeffrey Epstein was a patron of the arts.” Eruption of laughter. It was like a Friday night in a New York comedy club, except there was a woman on trial for sex trafficking. A patron of the arts alright … as images of his sick, twisted collection of paintings and sculptures flashed through my head. The way she glamorized this man and his character though … like a knight in shining armor from a Peter Cetera song. Horrifying.
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