By Shivani
I don’t “judge” the actions of Judge Garaufis in ending Marc Agnifilo’s barrage of questions directed at Lauren Salzman. This had not been Salzman’s first and only moment of breakdown during Agnifilo’s cross-examination. She had been raw and vulnerable while testifying, had cried a lot and had been barely able to maintain any composure earlier in the day, too.
It is counter-productive for Judge Garaufis to allow any witness to be badgered into a state which endangers that testifier’s mental or emotional stability. The judge is obliged to maintain the atmosphere of the courtroom for its purpose. It would benefit no one for Salzman to lose balance to the point where it could require medical assistance or hospitalization. (It might pleasure Raniere, though.)
This can be seen as cumulative. After days of testimony with admissions of guilt on Salzman’s part, her breaking down could very well mean that she has started to be able to separate herself from Raniere’s domination. She could be reliving her 20 years of experience with Raniere from a perspective which is new to her, as maybe, (just maybe) she is in the process of removing her own blinders. Definitely getting free can come at great cost, with many, many breakdowns as one peels away the layers of conditioning, deception and its resultant hideous consequences.
After 20 years involvement, Salzman has had nothing else but this all-encompassing environment, which included her own mother and sister. So, if she is in the process of ending her dependency, of course it will be devastating, shattering. She has prison to anticipate. Her entire life must be questionable to her now.
She is already in the process of payinaW
ng for her mistakes by holding herself accountable for them, by facing herself. She could be not even halfway free of her destructive decisions, even as she is forced to testify as part of her plea agreement. She is publicly revealing that her allegiance to Raniere has been a long and terrible error. And yes, none but she can know how truthful she is being. This too is what Judge Garaufis has stated, that whether Salzman is truthful or not, he will not allow the courtroom to become a boxing arena – or anyone’s format for chaos.
Judge Garaufis ended Salzman’s moment on the stand firmly. But after the jury was sent out of the courtroom was when Garuafis expounded about it, not in the presence of the jury. It was only then that the judge told Agnifilo, “I thought it was extremely excruciating. I tried to cut off the line of questioning. You went right back. You were way over the line.”
Judge Garaufis also saw Raniere enthusiastically sending notes to Agnifilo on the spot, while Salzman’s testimony was being elicited by Agnifilo. Raniere was enjoying and encouraging and directing the line of Agnifilo’s questioning, and Raniere was quite animated about contributing to Salzman’s meltdown.
Agnifilo, looking like Raniere’s puppet, makes it difficult to respect Agnifilo’s conduct as a lawyer. He appears to be manipulated by his client.
As someone who was present in court said, Raniere left the courtroom smiling and even waving to people after Salzman was badgered enough to lose her self-control. This is Raniere’s second attempt at a mistrial. He still does not get it. He is not running this experience, not for himself or by manipulating anyone else. Fuck his executive success.
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
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Lauren’s tears are not of remorse but only because her many sins are becoming public.
Lauren could live a thousand years in penance yet it would never be enough for the harm she has done others.
Don’t just love these bad ass bitches-
Lol
Nothing but a bunch of slutty criminals.
Bless you, Shavani. That read was breathtaking and your behind-the-scenes take on KAR’s reaction, supreme.
From that breaking point you speak of — which I’d say is just beginning to crack in Lauren’s case — she could wind up either completely shattered or worse — the way Raniere and Lauren’s Mommy dearest herself intended, albeit with different motives, perhaps, and I don’t rule out pleasing KAR as one of them on Nancy’s part.
OR Lauren can GET THE PSYCHIATRIC HELP NOW — that she and her cohorts have been cruelly deprived of over the past year by whomever chose to go with a defense strategy that left the glaring need for such for all the slaves out of the picture.
“No worries, no mind fuckery going on here; just some girls gone wild with a cauterizing pen,” …may you all someday enjoy your own path of pain to enlightenment.
Frank knows how mad I’ve been about this since the day Allison’s requested bail conditions called for time away from home confinement for everything BUT any tell-tale, professional PTSD treatment — not even for Clare Bear Bronfman.
Such treatment may have also impressed the court as to the defendant’s remorse and self-willingness to recover far moreso than any “waterworks display” as Agnifilo cruelly calls Lauren’s “Luciferian” breakdown. IDK if Lauren had a past life persona assigned to her or not but were it “Adolf Hitler” that became “emotionally triggered” that persona might take hold of her psyche to save her from “taking the fall” into a Luciferian state.
I am not surprised Raniere took unabashed pride in prompting Lyin’ Lauren’s sinful fall — just too bad it was outside the eyes of the jury.
“It is counter-productive for Judge Garaufis to allow any witness to be badgered into a state which endangers that testifier’s mental or emotional stability. The judge is obliged to maintain the atmosphere of the courtroom for its purpose. It would benefit no one for Salzman to lose balance to the point where it could require medical assistance or hospitalization. (It might pleasure Raniere, though.)”
Well said. Totally agree.
Must be a different Scott than me, my mom died several years ago.
The judge should have stopped the proceedings in a different manner. When he saw her breaking down, he should have said, “Let’s call it a day and continue in the morning.” This would have kept the trial neutral and allowed Salzman to compose herself overnight. Big mistake. Big. Huge.
Scott, You’re right.
It looks like the Judge is taking sides.
That is a big mistake.
And a defendant has the Constitutional right to confront accusing witnesses.
Johnson is right on this one.
The judge should have called for a temporary recess….
Lauren Salzman must have had some breakdown for this particular judge to snap.
On a bright note:
Not many cases out of Judge Garaufis’s courtroom are successfully appealed compared to other Justices in New York State federal court……
NiceGuy,
As a suicide survivor yourself — you mentioned a family member, my condolences — you must realize what emotional peril some of these little ladies are in and may be in for some time to come.
Dianne Lipson noted KAR giving Lauren the “evil eye” — it’s a superstition held in many cultures — throughout her testimony.
Prior to that, the court heard some about slaves like Allison screaming in the night, suffering emotional breakdowns, etc. due to the well-honed skills of the madman at the defense table boring into Lauren.
Lauren further spent the last year visiting her SICK mommy dearest whom, I have no doubt, began working on mounting a defense strategy with Lauren and, certainly, their KAR colluded, Bronfman-paid counsel for at least the past year if not loooong prior.
As far as jeopardizing the case, yes, Gaurufis may have taken a risk but is any case worth risking a human life-
I think it wize and merciful for Hizzoner to have chosen a little egg on his face over blood on the court’s hands.
I don’t know what Raniere should’ve been smiling and waving about. He must’ve looked like a total asshole. I wasn’t there, but apparently, he was rapidly writing those notes to Agnifilo and then Agnifilo was reading them off to Lauren, and that was going on for a while. How awful that must’ve been for Lauren. And it was bad enough — appeared cruel enough–to make the judge intervene like he did. She knew all the questions were coming from Keith. And he knew just how to push her buttons. But why would he want to make her break down like that- It can’t make him look likable or even sane in front of that jury. It can’t help his cause. Unless he was foreseeing that effect on her, and in turn, the judge’s reaction and was trying to get a mistrial- Ok… but that didn’t work.
So he just comes off looking like the manipulative, creepy, arrogant person that everyone has been testifying that he is. And then he’s smiling and waving-! Does he think all of that was a good thing for him-! What a fool! He’s so arrogant and full of himself and thinks he’s such a genius (even though the world now knows that the genius he was claiming to have was a complete and total lie), that all he cares about in that courtroom, is not looking innocent, but looking smart! All eyes are going to be on him, and he just can’t resist getting involved, and trying to be such a clever genius by directing the line of questioning through his little sticky notes! But he’s totally digging his own grave!
Does anyone that knew him have any thoughts about this- Is it just vanity that’s making him be such an asshole in the courtroom- How could this behavior help his cause- Any ideas-
I believe he knows if he can’t induce a mistrial he’ll be going back in a cage. He’ll have no opportunity to dine on this succulent & easy pain. He’s saving up for the drought probably believing he can win an appeal.
They put food before the beast and watched him feed. He couldn’t hide his true nature.
If what your describing is true the Jury will end up hating Raniere.
Wasn’t Clare Bronfman who needed special medical attention for fake fainting in the courtroom and was seen later, caught on camera laughing with her attorney leaving the courthouse-
So you can send text / app messages or you can send sticky notes via your lawyer. Either way they are all delivered by third party carriers (in less than 60 seconds-) and all have the same message and effect.
Is it illegal to laugh after fainting-
Yes. That’s exactly what Anonymous was trying to say by asking that question. It’s illegal to laugh after fainting.
As an extreme narcissist he’s probably enjoying the attention he’s getting in court, but I doubt that he’s enjoying himself when he’s sitting in his cell. Being alone without an admirer is a living hell for a narcissist.