NXIVM's Keith Raniere was back in court today to appeal his convictions on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, wire fraud, conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking
Another focus of Tully’s argument was that the judge overseeing the original trial, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis, supposedly misled the jury with his definition of a commercial sex act. Tully seemed to suggest that Garaufis had too broadly defined the term when he defined it as, “Any sex act of which value is given to, or received, by any person because of such sex act.
There was one area, however, where Tully seemed to score a bit more purchase with at least one judge — though it wasn’t one Tully brought up himself. Early on, Judge Guido Calabresi asked Tully to address what he called the “clearly prejudicial” admission of evidence regarding, who’d become pregnant by Raniere.
Along with Raniere’s appeal, a lawyer for another marquee NXIVM supporter, the Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman, appeared in court to argue that thefor her involvement was unreasonable. Bronfman pleaded guilty to several charges, including identity theft and immigration fraud, and was ultimately sentenced to six years and nine months in prison.
But Bronfman has claimed that her sentence is too severe because, she argues, she was not involved in the intra-NXIVM group, DOS, that Raniere was accused of running. While Judge Garaufis, who also oversaw Bronfman’s case, acknowledged during her sentencing that she’d not been in DOS, he stated that she’d been “willfully blind” to the group.
The three judge panel will rule on Raniere and Bronfman’s appeals at a later date, though no exact date was given for when their rulings will be announced.
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