Judge Garaufis Is In Denial

U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis, who presided over the relatively brief but gut-wrenching trial of Keith Alan Raniere, is apparently not in the mood to grant any requests on behalf of Raniere.

Perhaps the best example of this is his recent denial of what appeared to be a fairly benign request by Raniere’s attorneys, Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos (Interestingly enough, Raniere’s other two attorneys – Paul DerOhannesian II and Danielle R. Smith – were not even listed on the request).

In their two-sentence request dated July 5, 2019, Agnifilo and Geragos simply asked that the deadline for the submission of Raniere’s post-trial motions be pushed back from July 10th to July 30th – and that the deadline for the government’s response to those motions be pushed back from July 24th to August 13th.

They even noted that they were making the request “with the consent of the government”.

No big deal, right?

It’s summertime, no real need to make everyone work extra hard during the month of July.

Everybody just got done with a very emotional trial that ended with a jury deliberating less than 5 hours before finding Raniere guilty on all charges.

So, let’s take a few extra days to file these motions that no one expects to be granted anyway.

Ehh…not so fast.

On Monday, July 8th, Judge Garaufis issued an order flatly denying the request.

Which means that all of Raniere’s post-trial motions are due today.

It must have been a couple of fun days back at Brafman & Associates P.C. as they scrambled to get done in two days what they thought they had three more weeks to do.

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Another Denial For Nancy Salzman
Judge Garaufis also denied Nancy Salzman’s requests that she no longer have to wear an ankle monitoring device – and that she have no curfew.

As was noted in an earlier post, there was absolutely no reason for Judge Garaufis to grant either request unless Nancy is near death.

In fact, even Nancy’s attorneys couldn’t come up with any plausible reason for the requests.

Which is why they wrote this to the judge: “We make this request at this time because the trial in this matter has been completed and therefore many of the reasons justifying these conditions no longer exist”.

Labeling that a “weak argument” does not do justice to the word “weak”.

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Lauren Salzman Asks For Same Relief – May Get A Different Response
On the same day that Judge Garaufis was denying Nancy’s requests, Lauren Salzman’s attorneys submitted a request that she also be allowed to ditch her ankle monitoring device and have no curfew. They also wanted her to be able to travel to New Jersey whenever she wanted to do so.

The requests submitted by Lauren’s attorneys at least made a stab at providing a reason why they should be granted.

“This proposed modification to the Court Order setting release conditions is to afford Ms. Salzman a more fulsome opportunity to integrate into her community. Ms. Salman’s request to travel to the State of New Jersey is to allow her to continue to care for her elderly and ailing grandparents who depend on their immediate family for assistance”.

While “a more fulsome opportunity to integrate into her community” sounds eerily like Raniere word salad, I do not believe that he authored this request.

Nor do I think it will necessarily get turned down as Nancy’s did.

To begin with, Lauren entered into a cooperation agreement at the time she pleaded guilty. Nancy did not.

In addition, Lauren also appeared as a witness for the prosecution – and, according to many courtroom observers, was the most effective witness they called (Even Raniere reportedly holds her most accountable for the “Guilty” verdicts rendered by the jury in his case).

Lastly, the prosecution and her Pretrial Officer have no objection to Lauren’s request.

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Meanwhile, on an unrelated note, tensions continue to grow in the anti-NXIVM community as some individuals continue to exaggerate their role in NXIVM – and their involvement in the takedown of the cult.

One well-known member of that community recently commented “It’s a lot like those phony war heroes who go around wearing medals they never earned – and claiming responsibility for deeds they never did. Luckily for them, the Stolen Valor Act doesn’t cover this sort of situation”.

The Frank Report is continuing to gather information about people who are re-writing history in order to make themselves appear to be more important than they actually were – both in terms of the cult’s formation and its takedown. Depending on what else we learn, we may have a lot more to say about this situation at some point in the future.

J.J. O'Hara