Palm Beach Post by Jane Musgrave
December 6, 2019
WEST PALM BEACH — The public has no legal right to learn what happened when a grand jury allowed Jeffrey Epstein to escape child molestation charges in connection with allegations that he sexually abused dozens of teens at his Palm Beach mansion, the county’s top prosecutor said in court papers filed Friday.
Seeking to derail a lawsuit The Palm Beach Post filed against him last month, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said Florida law doesn’t allow grand jury proceedings to be made public.
In its lawsuit, the newspaper argues that the release of the transcript of a 2006 grand jury hearing called by then-State Attorney Barry Krischer would further the interest of justice. It would reveal why jurors ignored the findings of a damning Palm Beach police investigation and charged the politically connected financier only with solicitation of prostitution even though Epstein’s accusers were young teens.
Claiming the suit should be thrown out, Aronberg argues that Florida law is very specific about when the secrecy of a grand jury can be pierced.
