The judge presiding over a case involving billionaire and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein has thrown out accusations against lawyer Alan M. Dershowitz, who once represented Epstein but was not named in the lawsuit brought by Bradley Edwards and Paul Cassell on behalf of “Jane Doe #3.” The judge cited Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(f), which allows a court, on its own volition, to strike portions of pleadings that are “redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous.”
The judge, Kenneth A. Marra, did not sanction the attorneys, but warned them that they had to show evidence for their factual contentions, which they had not in this case. Dershowitz, fighting against a claim in the pleadings that he had raped an underage girl, has sought to have the lawyers disbarred. They have responded to his claims in the media about their conduct with a defamation lawsuit, which he has welcomed as a chance to submit them to formal legal depositions.
Dershowitz also sought to intervene in the lawsuit against Epstein so that he might have a chance to clear his name. The judge denied that motion as moot, effectively clearing him but without offering him redress for the past injury of the claim.
In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in January, Dershowitz vowed to lobby for new legislation to close “a gaping hole in our legal system that allows lawyers to bring irrelevant accusations against innocent nonparties in court papers.”
The judge’s ruling also strikes Jane Doe #3’s accusations against others, including Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton.
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