vision-joined/ds9-unparsed-02/0112ae9472be7a9d98ad8049ccac77dcd83e4ba6aeec03ec46c708a94ae8582d.md

From: "l
To: "
(USANYS)" ≤
(USANYS)" {
Subject: RE: UMR
Date: Wed, 08 Jan 2020 22:33:02 +0000
thanks
From:
(USANYS) |
Sent: Wednesday, January 8, 2020 5:29 PM
To:|
I (USANYS) <|
Cc: Berman, Geoffrey (USANYS) <
Subject: RE: UMR
Done. Urgent report filed 2020-01-49427
From: /
| (USANYS) <
Sent: Wednesday, January 8, 2020 5:21 PM
To:
| (USANYS) <
Cc: Berman, Geoffrey (USANYS) <
Subject: UMR
Please file this UMR and copy this group when the filing is completed.
Thanks
FROM:
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
PHONE: 212-637-2200
DISTRICT POC: Geoffrey S. Berman, U.S. Attorney
Phone:
SYNOPSIS:
The USAO-SDNY will be filing a letter this week in United States v. Tartaglione, S4 16 Cr. 832 (KMK),
informing the Court that as a result of errors in the Metropolitan Correctional Center's ("MCC") computer
system, the MCC failed to preserve video outside of the cell shared by Tartaglione and Jeffrey Epstein on July
23, 2019, the night that Epstein attempted unsuccessfully to commit suicide. The letter will correct earlier
statements made to the Court, in which USAO-SDNY represented, based on its conversations with MCC, that
the requested video had in fact been preserved. The defense in Tartaglione has sought this video in order to
argue during the penalty phase that Tartaglione alerted guards to Epstein's suicide attempt, and that this fact
weighs against imposing the death penalty. We expect the letter will generate significant press attention, even
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though it is ultimately irrelevant to the merits of the case in Tartaglione, and USAO-SDNY does not intend
during the penalty phase to contest that Tartaglione called for help and was not responsible for any injury to
Epstein.
DESCRIPTION:
Nicholas Tartaglione is currently awaiting trial in this District in connection with the kidnapping and quadruple
murder of four men in April 2016. The Attorney General has authorized USAO-SDNY to seek the death penalty
against Tartaglione. In preparation for a possible penalty phase, Tartaglione's counsel requested video from
outside Tartaglione and Epstein's cell from July 23, 2019, the date that Epstein attempted suicide. USAO-SDNY
initially advised the Court that the video did not exist, but later advised the Court that MCC had confirmed that
the video was preserved.
On January 3, 2020, USAO-SDNY obtained a copy of the requested video and found that it did not show the tier
outside of Tartaglione and Epstein's cell. Earlier today, the Government was informed by the MCC that it had
preserved video from the wrong tier inside the facility. The failure to preserve the correct video was the result of
an error in MCC's computer systems, which incorrectly identified Tartaglione's cell as being on a different tier
from the one where the attempted suicide occurred. USAO-SDNY will also advise the Court that no other copies
of the correct video exists, because in connection with USAO-SDNY's ongoing investigation into Epstein's
suicide, USAO-SDNY learned that the video system that would have contained the correct video suffered a
system failure approximately six days after the attempted suicide, and therefore, the video is not recoverable.
Tartaglione's counsel has sought the video in order to show guards rushing to Epstein's cell, which would
corroborate Tartaglione's account that he called for help upon discovering Epstein on the floor with a noose
around his neck. USAO-SDNY does not intend to dispute those facts were they presented at a penalty phase in
Tartaglione. Nevertheless, Tartaglione's case has received significant media attention, especially following the
Epstein suicide attempt, and we expect the letter to the Court will be widely reported in a potentially negative
light.
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