By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 6 – To withhold documents about the death of Jeffrey Epstein in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan, the U.S. Department of Justice cited the then-pending trials of Corrections Officer Tova Noel and the still-pending death penalty trial Michael Thomas and former Briarcliff Manor Officer Nicholas Tartaglione.
But how much of it was a cover-up? Inner City Press, which pushed for full access to the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, live tweeted it, here and below.
On August 26, 2022 DOJ filed a lengthy, partially redacted opposition to Tartaglione's motions to strke the death penalty. It wrote, "the Death Penalty Notices alleges that Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna and Hector Gutierrez were "kidnapped and killed to prevent them from providing information to law enforcement regarding the kidnapping and murder of Martin Luna."
DOJ's August 26 brief argues that "The Death Penalty is Constitutional" - then 10 pages of redacted responses on "as-applied Constitutional challenges." Inner City Press believed and believes that it should all be unsealed...
On April 6, 2023, Tartaglione was convicted of the quadruple murder, all counts, and SDNY said, "Today, a jury has found Tartaglione guilty of these heinous acts, sending a message that no one is above the law. We commend the career prosecutors and investigators for their relentless pursuit of justice in this case over the past seven years, and for ensuring that Nicholas Tartaglione faces a lifetime in federal prison for his unconscionable murder of four men."
Then docketed: "LETTER by USA as to Joseph Biggs addressed to Judge Kenneth M. Karas from AUSAs Maurene Comey, Jason Swergold, and Jacob Fiddelman dated April 6, 2023 re: Sentencing and Unsealing Document filed by USA. (Comey, Maurene)." We'll have more on this.
On February 27, 2023, Judge Karas ruled: "OPINION & ORDER as to Nicholas Tartaglione. The Court grants Defendant's Motion To Suppress his non-spontaneous statements made after entering the Investigators' car on the morning of December 19, 2016 because those statements were procured in violation of the Fifth Amendment."
On March 29, the US filed a motion that it "should be permitted to cross-examine the defendant about statements he made to law enforcement on December 19, 2016 to the extent those statements impeach the defendant’s credibility—because they either contradict his trial testimony or otherwise undermine his credibility (e.g., they constitute demonstrably false statements to law enforcement). To the extent a proper foundation is laid, the Government may also seek to directly introduce any such impeachment evidence. In both cases, the Government consents to a limiting instruction that the defendant’s December 19, 2016 statements are being admitted solely for impeachment purposes and not for their truth (except as to the two spontaneous statements falling outside the ambit of the Court’s suppression ruling)."
The case is US v. Tartaglione, 16-cr-832 (Karas)
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