Raniere appeals convictions
Lawyer for Seagrams heiress argues sentence was too harsh
An attorney for NXIVM leader Keith Raniere asked a three-judge appellate panel in Manhattan on Tuesday to reverse the former Halfmoon man’s convictions for sex trafficking, conspiracy and racketeering because of the trial judge’s decision to prematurely halt the defense cross-examination of star prosecution witness Lauren Salzman.
“I don’t think here that the record establishes that the defense had a full and fair opportunity to confront and
cross-examine the witness,” California attorney Joseph Tully told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. “So, in terms as where the defense was going, the record is absolute proof that the defense did not get to ask all the questions that the defense wanted.”
Tully, who appeared virtually, was followed by attorney Ronald Sullivan, who said his client, Seagrams heiress Clare Bronfman, received an overly harsh sentence of 81 months for her guilty plea in April 2019 to conspiring to conceal and harbor undocumented immigrants for financial gain and identification fraud. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Bronfman faced 21 to 27 months, and prosecutors had asked for 60 months.
Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi and Circuit Judges Jose A. Cabranes and Richard J. Sullivan listened to the arguments on the 17th floor of the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse. The public was not allowed in the courtroom but could view the live arguments via a web link.
Raniere, 61, known in
NXIVM as “Vanguard,” is serving a 120-year sentence in a Tucson, Ariz., prison after his conviction in June 2019.
For two decades starting in 2018, Raniere led NXIVM, a purported personal growth organization that offered Executive Success Programs based in Colonie and in other locations including Canada, Mexico, Los Angeles and several others. At trial, federal prosecutors and witnesses described NXIVM as a dangerous cult-like organization commanded by Raniere, a master manipulator who used shame, cruelty, litigation and sexual abuse to safeguard his self-interests.
Tully, who appeared first, noted that at trial, Senior U.S. District Judge Garaufis “cut off crossexamination very abruptly” of Salzman after the judge said she could answer the questions by trial defense attorney Marc Agnifilo. Tully said it violated the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right for defendants to confront their accusers. Tully said his key point was that the judge then asked prosecutors if they wanted to ask Salzman additional questions.
When Garaufis cut off cross-examination of Salzman, who was shaking, he told Agnifilo he feared she would have a nervous breakdown. Salzman, the daughter of NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman, was NXIVM’S director of education and a high-ranking member of Dominus Obsequious Sororium, the “master/ slave” club at the heart of Raniere’s sex-trafficking convictions.
Salzman, who pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy in exchange for sentence of five years’ probation, testified about Raniere’s manipulation, shaming and abuse of women and how he ended longtime stated plans to father her child simply because she rough-housed with another man during a game of volleyball.
After ending the crossexamination, the judge told Agnifilo: “Excuse me, this is not DOS. This is a broken person, as far as I can tell, and whether she’s telling the truth, whether the jury believes her, I think it’s absolutely necessary that there be a certain level of consideration for someone’s condition.”
On Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Hajjar reminded the appellate judges that prosecutors never asked any additional questions to Salzman after her cross-examination was halted. She said Agnifilo had told the judge he was planning to wrap up his cross-examination of Salzman after 15 more minutes.
Hajjar said Tully “fails utterly” to identify what questions, if any, Agnifilo would have asked if allowed a chance to continue the cross-examination. She said at no point during trial did Agnifilo question Salzman’s credibility but used part of her testimony to illicit testimony to back his arguments on behalf of Raniere.
Tully also contends Garaufis prejudiced the jury against Raniere with incorrect instructions about the legal definition of a “commercial sex act,” leaving it so any any sex act could be viewed as one. Tully said Garaufis improperly told jurors a “thing of value” did not need to involve a financial component but any act performed with another person for sexual gratification. Tully argued that the judge ignored a federal sex trafficking law intended to address sexual exploitation for economic profit.
Hajjar said the argument was not legally preserved. She called it withthe out merit.
Calabresi asked Hajjar whether Garaufis allowed a prejudicial level of testimony about abortions of three sisters from Mexico, all of whom were involved sexually with Raniere. Hajjar said she believed the evidence was handled sensitively and could have included testimony of additional abortions.
In 2015, Raniere secretly created DOS, also known as “The Vow,” which included tiers of “slaves” — all female — who took lifetime vows of obedience to “masters,” none higher than Raniere. In DOS, Raniere directed eight “first-line masters.” including Salzman, to implement orders to lower ranking “slaves” to recruit new members to the supposed women’s empowerment group. To join, women needed to supply “collateral” — naked photos or damning claims about family members or themselves that were often untrue — that could be released if they ever turned on DOS.
DOS members were deprived of sleep, kept on 500-calorie daily diets and in many cases physically branded with Raniere’s initials on their pelvic regions. A number of women were given “assignments” to “seduce”
Raniere, the basis of the sex-trafficking case.
Bronfman’s attorneys have insisted that she knew nothing of DOS, but at her sentencing Garaufis noted that Bronfman used her wealth as a “sword” to inspire fear and silence within Raniere’s cult-like organization. Former DOS member Sarah Edmondson said Bronfman tried to get her arrested on bogus charges.
On Tuesday, Bronfman’s attorney said all four of Bronfman’s codefendants — both Salzmans, actress Allison Mack and bookkeeper Kathy Russell — received less stringent punishments than Bronfman did after pleading guilty. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Trowel told the panel that Bronfman’s sentence was fair.
One judge quickly reminded Sullivan that at least two of those defendants — Lauren Salzman and Mack — cooperated with the government. The judge also noted that unlike any of the co-defendants, only Bronfman maintained an allegiance to Raniere.
“How is Mack similarly situated as your client?” he asked.
A decision is expected in the next several months.