By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Video Photo
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 11 – Columbia University doctor Robert A. Hadden was hit on September 9, 2020 with a Federal indictment charging that "sexually abused dozens of female patients, including multiple minors, under the guise of conducting purported gynecological and obstetric examinations."
The case was assigned to U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Richard M. Berman, who handled the case of Jeffrey Epstein until he died in the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Epstein came up during the bail argument, which Hadden won. Inner City Press live tweeted it.
On January 9, 2023, the first day of the trial, a witness testified that Hadden, with a beard, licked her three or four times.
The Assistant US Attorney asked her if she said anything to Hadden?
She: No.
AUSA: Why not?
Hadden's lawyer: Objection!
Judge Berman: Overruled.
She: I was shocked.
It emerged she got divorced - again, objected to be Hadden -- and thereafter used only female OB/GYNs.
Represented by lawyer DiPietro, she has a money judgment coming. She has not yet received it, but the verdict in this case will not impact it, she said.
The only question on cross examination was whether she continued to live in New York.
Later on January 9, the US Attorney's Office wrote to Judge Berman, "in a surprising turns of events today, after much defense briefing about how the defendant's state guilty plea was allegedly coerced, the defendant has conceded that he pled guilty because he is in fact guilty of sexual assaulting and abusing not just two but many patients (Trial Tr. at 42).
But still the trial goes on...
On the business day before the January 9, 2023 trial started, there was opposition to one of Hadden's team's subpoenas: "any unspecified prior statements purportedly made by Mr. DiPietro to the government, the FBI and/or the press are all available from sources other than Mr. DiPietro. To the extent the Defendant has received discovery materials reflecting such statements, the Defendant may use those documents to impeach the victim-witnesses with any inconsistencies. However, as a matter of law, the Defendant cannot impeach the victim-witnesses with Mr. DiPietro’s characterization or interpretation of the victims’ prior oral statements. See, e.g., United States v. Seabrook, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175948, at *9 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 23, 2017) (“A witness’s prior statement may be offered to impeach that witness’s credibility. … The rule requires that the statement is the witness’s own; a third party’s characterization of a witness’s statement, on its own is insufficient. … Thus, Cooley’s notes, documents, and memoranda cannot be admissible as they consist of a characterization of Rechnitz’ [sic] statements and thus do not constitute impeachment material.”). Watch this site.
Back on July 14, 2021 Judge Berman docketed a letter the US had filed, with a full paragraph redacted, that it will seek a superseding indictment on another count of enticement, regarding an adult Victim-6. Letter on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud here.
On August 2, 2021 Hadden's publicly funded (for now) counsel filed a series of motions, with redactions, citing Evelyn Yang and request dismissal of the case. It mentioned Evelyn Yang's interview then redacts a two line sentence. Then, "Andrew Yang public a statement, this media attention led to outrage regarding the 'lenient' sentence Mr. Hadden had received in the DANY Prosecution." Yes.
On December 15, 2021, Judge Berman held a proceeding and Inner City Press live tweeted it here (podcast here)
Jump cut forward a year to December 14, 2022, the pre-trial conference before the January 4, 2023 (one day?) jury selection - Inner City Press was in the courtroom, threadette:
Hadden's lawyer says they commit that in front of the jury they will not question the motives of the prosecution.
Hadden plans to call a Dr Berg as his OB-GYN expert. Jury will not get the "speaking" portion of the indictment.
Asst US Attorney: We may want some victim to testify not under their full names [like in US v Ghislaine Maxwell trial a year ago]
On December 22, Judge Berman held another conference and ruled: "1- defense motion to preclude generalized expert testimony of Dr. Eddleman is denied; 2- defense motion to preclude testimony and evidence re: fibroid procedure Victim-1 is denied in part and granted in part; 3- defense motion to strike all surplusage from S2 Indictment is denied as moot; 4- defense motion to preclude impact evidence/testimony is denied; 5- defense motion to preclude introduction of prior consistent statements is denied; 6- defense motion to preclude the 911 call from 3rd party is denied; 7- defense motion to preclude patient witnesses from being referred to as victims, minor victims or survivors is denied in part and granted in part; The Court will schedule a conference for next week to address other outstanding motions."
On December 29, 2022 Judge Berman held a final final pre-trial conference, Inner City Press live tweeted here:
On January 1, 2023, the US filed: "The Government respectfully submits this letter seeking permission to file supplemental motions regarding the defendant’s proposed exhibits and witnesses, which the Government received from the defense on December 21, 2022, after the parties’ motions in limine had been submitted to the Court. The Government has conferred with the defense about its proposed witnesses and exhibits in an attempt to obviate or narrow any motion, and the defense has indicated it opposes the Government’s position on each of the motions the Government intends to file. The Government would like to advise the Court of its challenges to the defendant’s exhibits and witnesses in advance of the parties’ opening statements, so that jury addresses may proceed in an orderly fashion. By way of background, the defendant’s proposed exhibits include highly graphic videos and photographs of a non-testifying doctor performing vaginal, anal, and breast exams on an actual person, in addition to other unduly prejudicial, confusing, misleading, and irrelevant exhibits." Full letter on Patreon here.
On January 3, 2023, Hadden's Federal Defender filed seeking to exclude government expert witness Dr. Lisa Rocchio. In the docket, concerning Dr. Rocchio as witness, is Judge Lewis A. Kaplan's October 4, 2022 order permitting much of her testimony in the Rapp v. Spacey trial he presided over (and that Inner City Press covered, and published a booklet about).
Inner City Press will be similarly covering this Hadden trial. Watch this site.
Back on June 13, 2022, when Hadden was arraigned on a superseding indictment, in preparation of the September 12, 2022 trial. Inner City Press live tweeted it here
The case is US v. Hadden, 20-cr-468 (Berman).
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