Duke of York
‘willing to talk’
as FBI hunts for
links to Epstein
By Nick Allen and Victoria Ward
ONLINE correspondence between the
Duke of York and Jeffrey Epstein is
likely to be examined by the FBI as they
explore the late financier’s alleged sex
trafficking ring.
A “forensic” sweep of emails will tell
agents which of Epstein’s friends knew
anything incriminating about him, a
source said.
Two desktop computers and an Ap-
ple device from Epstein’s private island
in the US Virgin Islands have already
been seized and they are understood to
be a significant line in the ongoing in-
vestigation.
If there were any “interesting”
emails to or from the Duke, who was
photographed visiting Epstein in New
York in 2010, he could be asked to hand
over his own communications or com-
puters.
The New York visit came two years
after Epstein, who killed himself in jail
this month, was convicted of procuring
an under-age girl for prostitution.
Lawyers for Virginia Giuffre, Ep-
stein’s alleged teenage “sex slave”, wel-
comed reports that the Duke was
willing to cooperate with authorities
on both sides of the Atlantic.
Buckingham Palace aides are said to
have made it clear that he will assist if
approached.
Ms Giuffre, 36, claims to have had
sex with the Duke in Florida when she
was 17, which is under-age in the state.
The 59-year-old Duke has vehe-
mently denied the allegations. They
were struck from the court record in
2015 and described as “immaterial and
impertinent” by a judge.
Brad Edwards, Ms Giuffre’s lawyer,
told The Daily Telegraph he hoped the
Duke would now sit for a formal depo-
sition under oath.
He said: “We have, for years, been
asking for his assistance. I have noticed
in his last few statements he seems
more willing to help than he has in the
past. For that, we are truly thankful.
While I wish his full cooperation had
come sooner, as many things could
have turned out differently, it is always
better late than never.”
Mr Edwards added: “I presume his
commitment extends not only to au-
thorities, but also for those represent-
ing the many victims as well.”
In New York, prosecutors are still
pursuing a criminal investigation into
Epstein and “any co-conspirators” for
alleged under-age sex trafficking.
Adam Citron, a former New York
prosecutor, said they would “abso-
lutely” want to speak to the Duke.
He said it was highly probable there
was already a private “back channel”
between New York prosecutors and
the Duke’s lawyers.
He said: “It’s always good to have aline of communication. I don’t see
Prince Andrew flying to the US and go-
ing to the prosecutors’ office. It would
be a fiasco. They’ll talk to him on Skype,
or set up a secure line, or they’ll send
an investigator to London. You won’t
know about it publicly.
“Absolutely they’re going to want to
talk to him as a witness. They’ll have
questions about his friendship with
Epstein, times they were together, who
else was there, information on other
people. If there are communications
the FBI is interested in, it can subpoena
records from internet companies or get
warrants for individuals’ computers.
“It depends what they find on Ep-
stein’s computer. If they do find some-
thing, they’re going to want Andrew’s
computers. It sounds like he’s cooper-
ating so I’m sure he would just hand
them over.”
Meanwhile, French prosecutors de-
clined to comment on whether they
would seek to question the Duke during
their own investigation into sexual
abuse and rape by Epstein while in Paris.Feature: Page 17Euthanasia doctor charged with
murder will face no punishment
By Senay Boztas in Amsterdam
A DUTCH doctor who carried out eu-
thanasia on a 74-year-old woman with
Alzheimer’s has been accused of mur-
der, in the first court case since the
Netherlands legalised the procedure.
The 68-year-old retired nursing
home doctor, named as Catharina A,
was yesterday charged with murder for
carrying out euthanasia in April 2016.
However, the public prosecution is
not asking for a punishment.
The doctor had given a sedative to
the patient in her coffee and asked
family members to hold her down
when she appeared to struggle against
a drip to administer the fatal medicine.
The controversial case comes amid a
period of concern about euthanasia in-
volving people with psychiatric prob-
lems and dementia in the Netherlands
- although these represented just 3.
per cent of 6,126 procedures last year.
A court in The Hague heard that the
patient had an advance directive saying
she wanted euthanasia if her dementia
became so severe that she needed
nursing home care.
But once she was in a home, she was
not capable of expressing clear
thought, sometimes saying 20 times a
day that she wanted to die, but also
expressing a wish to live.
The public prosecutor said the
doctor – although with good intentions- had not done enough to establish if
the patient really wanted to die.
Prosecutors said they brought the
case to court to “contribute to more
clarity about euthanasia” for people
who are incapacitated, stressing that
“their lives still deserve protection”.
But, in a statement, the woman’s
daughter said that she supported the
doctor’s actions. “Nobody can be de-
nied the right to escape this torment-
ing disease,” she said. “She released my
mother’s spirit from a prison where she
absolutely did not want to be.”
The doctor asked the court to ex-
empt her from further proceedings,
saying that doctors are becoming fear-
ful of euthanasia and are instead resort-
ing to palliative sedation.
Jaap Schuurmans, a GP and
researcher, was one of 450 doctors to
sign a petition saying they would not
perform euthanasia for an incapaci-
tated patient. He told The Daily
Telegraph: “There is an urgent need for
this case. Doctors are being put under
moral and time pressure from families,
and this is a real worry.”
Agnes Wolbert, chairman of the
NVVE pro-euthanasia organisation,
argued that the case should never have
come to court. “The woman was clearly
suffering, and the doctor had already
been lightly censured by the medical
ethics board. That is where it should
have stopped.”
The Netherlands has since 2002 al-
lowed citizens to request euthanasia if
they are experiencing unbearable suf-
fering with no prospect of improve-
ment, and their doctor fulfils statutory
due care criteria.Australia to take
action on ‘terrorist
content’ online
By Our Foreign StaffAUSTRALIA plans to block extreme
content on websites during “crisis
events”, Scott Morrison, the prime
minister, has said.
He added that the measures are in re-
sponse to the terror attack on two New
Zealand mosques in March.
The live-streamed murder of 51 wor-
shippers “demonstrated how digital
platforms and websites can be ex-
ploited to host extreme violent and ter-
rorist content,” he said in a statement.
“We are doing everything we can to
deny terrorists the opportunity to glo-
rify their crimes.”
Under the plan, Australia’s eSafety
Commissioner would work with com-
panies to restrict access to domains
promoting terrorist material. A crisis
coordination centre would monitor
terror-related incidents and violent
events for censorship.
After the New Zealand attack, Aus-
tralia set up a task force with the likes
of Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, Mi-
crosoft and Twitter to address extrem-
ist material online. Mr Morrison has
suggested that legislation may come if
technology firms do not co-operate.Johnson & Johnson fined
$570m over US opioid crisis
By Nick Allen in Washington
JOHNSON & Johnson, the US pharma-
ceutical giant, has been ordered to pay
$572 million (£468 million) to the state
of Oklahoma in the first court case to
find a drug company responsible for
fuelling America’s opioid epidemic.
The company was sued by Oklahoma
and, in a landmark ruling, a judge said
it had contributed to a “public nui-
sance” through deceptive promotion of
highly addictive prescription painkill-
ers.
Following the seven-week court
case, in Oklahoma, Judge Thad Balk-
man said: “Those actions compromised
the health and safety of thousands of
Oklahomans. The opioid crisis is an im-
minent danger and menace to Oklaho-
mans. It has ravaged the state of
Oklahoma. It must be abated immedi-
ately.”
It was the first case to reach court
among thousands being brought
against pharmaceutical companies by
state and local governments.
Around 2,000 such civil actions have
been consolidated and are due to go be-
fore a judge in Ohio in October. John-
son & Johnson said it would appeal the
Oklahoma decision. Before the case be-
gan the state of Oklahoma had already
reached a $270 million (£221 million)
settlement with Purdue Pharma, the
maker of OxyContin, and an $85 mil-
lion (£70 million settlement with Is-
raeli-owned Teva Pharmaceutical
Industries.
During the trial the state argued that
Johnson & Johnson had carried out a
long marketing campaign understating
the risks of addiction to its painkillers,
and overstating their effects on chronic
pain. The state’s lawyers called the
company an opioid “kingpin” moti-
vated by greed.
A total of 4,653 people died from opi-
oid overdoses in Oklahoma from 2007
to 2017, according to the state govern-
ment.
Lawyers for Johnson & Johnson had
denied wrongdoing, arguing that the
company’s marketing claims had scien-
tific support and that its painkillers,
Duragesic and Nucynta, accounted for
only a tiny fraction of the opioids pre-
scribed by doctors in Oklahoma.
They also said Johnson & Johnson
had been heavily regulated by the US
Drug Enforcement Agency, and the US
Food and Drug Administration.World news
Harvey Weinstein arrives with his legal team at the New York Supreme Court for his arraignment, where he pleaded not guilty to two revised charges of predatory sexual assaultPrince agrees to cooperate
with authorities as late
financier’s computers are
seized by federal agents
Weinstein pleads not guilty to predatory assault charges
By Nick Allen in WashingtonHARVEY WEINSTEIN pleaded not
guilty to two revised charges of preda-
tory sexual assault yesterday as a judge
postponed his trial until next year.
The hearing and amended charges
were a legal manoeuvre by prosecutors
designed to allow Annabella Sciorra, an
actress who starred in The Sopranos, to
give evidence at the trial. She has
publicly accused the former Hollywood
mogul of raping her in 1993.
Prosecutors are unable to charge
Weinstein with Sciorra’s allegations be-
cause, under state law, the date of the
alleged attack is too old. However,
under the revised charges, they wouldbe able to use the actress’s evidence in
the trial to prove that Weinstein had a
pattern of assaulting women.
The charges Weinstein faces relate
to two other alleged victims.
One claims Weinstein raped her in
2013, the other that he forcibly
performed a sex act in 2006.
The trial had been due to start next
month but Judge James Burke post-
poned it until Jan 6 to give Weinstein’s
lawyers more time to prepare.
Asked by the judge if he was ready
for the trial, Weinstein laughed and
said “not really”.
During the hearing the judge also
scolded Weinstein for taking out his
mobile phone. The judge said: “I’vebeen informed you have taken your
cell phone out. Please refrain from
doing that.”
As Weinstein attempted to respond,
the judge said: “It’s a court order. Don’t
talk to me.”
Once one of the most powerful men
in Hollywood, the film producer has
been publicly accused of harassment
and assault by more than 80 women,
including movie stars Angelina Jolie
and Ashley Judd.
The original accusations against
him were a catalyst for the MeToo
movement.
Weinstein has always insisted all his
sexual relationships were consensual.
He is on bail of $1 million (£818,000).In court documents his lawyers
called the latest development an “11th-
hour manoeuvre” that “raises
significant legal issues”.
After the hearing, they said they
would ask the judge to dismiss the
latest revised charges, calling them a
“desperate” attempt to salvage the
prosecution case.
Donna Rotunno, one of Weinstein’s
lawyers, said: “I think the case itself
is weak.”
Separately, defence lawyers have
asked an appeal court to move the trial
out of New York to avoid a “circus-like
atmosphere”.
It was unclear when the appeal court
would consider the request.‘They’ll have questions about
his friendship with Epstein,times they were together
and who else was there...’REUTERS/JEENAH MOONThe Daily Telegraph Tuesday 27 August 2019 ** 11
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