Though the news media may not work to further justice, he said, it does serve the public interest: The new bill amends the furthering justice requirement to include the public interest. He wrote that the release of the grand jury records to the Palm Beach Post could not occur under current law because it would not “further justice,” such as through aiding a police investigation. But at the end of his ruling, the judge left the door open for release of the records once the bill goes into effect. The initial part of Delgado’s ruling in the case appeared to run counter to the signing of the bill, denying the release of the records. The state attorney was dropped from the suit in 2020, since the records were not controlled by or in the possession of that office. Many were hoping Judge Luis Delgado would release the transcripts sooner as part of a lawsuit filed by the Palm Beach Post, which had sued the Palm Beach County state attorney and the court clerk in 2019 to obtain a court order to unseal the grand jury proceedings and reveal why the grand jury returned only minimal charges. I agree there needs to be a mechanism in these rare circumstances where people should be able to get the truth so we can pursue justice.” “The reality is the investigation was stymied because you didn’t have access of the grand jury materials. “There were a lot of questions about what happened where you had a sweetheart deal,” DeSantis said Thursday at a news conference for the bill signing at the Palm Beach Police headquarters. He received only one charge: soliciting a prostitute. A Palm Beach Post investigation alleged that prosecutors had sabotaged their own case back in 2006, influenced by Epstein’s own lawyers. Grand jury proceedings are usually shrouded in secrecy, but the intense public interest escalated when Epstein was exposed as a serial sexual predator and his prosecution in Palm Beach County came under scrutiny. Minutes after the bill was signed, the Palm Beach County judge overseeing the records’ release ruled against releasing them now - but strongly hinted he would reconsider after the law goes into effect on July 1. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday paving the way for the release of the grand jury testimony in Jeffrey Epstein’s 2006 sexual abuse case, likely sometime this coming summer.
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