Susan Necheles – one of Clare Bronfman’s lawyers – has argued eloquently to the court against Clare being under House Arrest.
She wrote in part:
“[T]he other defendants in this case who, like Ms. Bronfman, were not charged with sex trafficking or forced labor, were not subjected to home [arrest]. Ms. Bronfman should not be treated differently due to her wealth. … And, in fact, criminal defendants with similarly large net worth’s (and facing more serious charges) have been released without home incarceration. …
“Ms. Bronfman is not accused of any violence or tampering with witnesses. And, as discussed above, she is not a flight risk. As such, home detention would not be tailored to the minimal risk she poses. … Finally, while electronic monitoring exists that could track Ms. Bronfman without subjecting her to home confinement, we do not believe, for the reasons discussed above, that it is necessary in this case to prevent her from fleeing…. Wherefore, this Court should release Ms. Bronfman under the proposed bail conditions. “
Once the bail package is completed with appropriate liens etc., the judge will decide whether to grant Clare the ability to leave her home freely and be able to speak with NXIVM members.
Necheles made more points for Clare to be unencumbered:
“Ms. Bronfman poses no danger to ‘any other person or the community.’ She has no prior convictions and has never been accused of any sort of violence. Nor is she alleged to have played any role in the entity DOS. The only ‘harassment’ the government alleges Ms. Bronfman ever participated in was allegedly using ‘abusive litigation’ to ‘intimidate and attack perceived enemies and critics of Raniere.’ But litigation tactics, regardless of how aggressive they may be, are surely not the type of danger the Bail Reform Act is intended to prevent against….
“[A]t … the time of the arrest of Keith Raniere, Ms. Bronfman has known that she is under investigation and facing arrest. For example, at the bail hearing for Raniere, the prosecution said that Ms. Bronfman ‘is a person who the government does believe has acted as a co-conspirator in criminal activity with [Raniere].’ … Nevertheless, Ms. Bronfman voluntarily returned to the United States from Mexico after Raniere was arrested. Moreover, during the period between Raniere’s arrest and today, she has twice travelled to Europe (after informing the U.S. Attorney’s Office of her travel plans) and then returned to the United States. In addition, Ms. Bronfman, understanding that she was likely to be indicted, rented an apartment in Manhattan, so that she could live in this area—close to her attorneys—while she prepared for trial. Relatedly, Ms. Bronfman’s attorneys had asked the government, prior to her arrest, that she be given the opportunity to voluntarily surrender. On the day of her arrest, the prosecutor emailed undersigned counsel and asked that they contact the prosecutor immediately. We did so before 7 a.m. and were told that Ms. Bronfman had been indicted and should surrender that day. Ms. Bronfman, voluntarily, did so. Simply put, Ms. Bronfman ‘has not seized upon previous opportunities to flee to avoid prosecution or incarceration, and the opportunities have been many.’ ….. This is a powerful factor, we submit, showing that Ms. Bronfman has no intention of fleeing in this case.”
Necheles also discussed that Bornfman’;s foreign assets and ties to other countries there could be no incentive for her to flee to those countries.
“[W]hile Ms. Bronfman does have significant foreign ties, including family members in England and France and property in Fiji, there is no realistic possibility that she would manage to flee to any of these countries. The only country where she is a citizen is the United States. And she has already surrendered her passport to the Probation Department. Moreover, each of the three foreign countries to which she has ties have extradition treaties with the United States. Even if she were to flee to any of them, therefore, she would be extradited back to the United States. Courts have recognized that the existence of extradition treaties is a significant factor in determining whether the proposed bail conditions will reasonably assure a defendant’s appearance.”
On August 21, or soon thereafter, we will learn if Clare Bronfman will continue to be under house arrest and wear an ankle monitor.