Marc Agnifilo continues to slam the government in his memorandum of law filed with the court seeking the dismissal of sex trafficking charges against his client, Keith Alan Raniere AKA Vanguard.
And within it, we get a glimpse of Agnifilo’s rich sense of humor as he provides the Court [and Frank Report readers] with some comedy gold.
Agniflo explains to the Court that his understanding is that the government does not have a case where they can show that any “commercial sex acts” took place. All they can prove is that “sex acts” took place – and that’s never been illegal.
Indeed, as he points out, it’s not unique to the women of DOS. People have been committing sex acts since they first got together in the Garden of Eden. And, as in the case of Raniere with his DOS slave women, they were having sex for the very same reasons.
Agnifilo writes:
“The most glaring deficiency with this Indictment relates to its abject failure to factually allege a “commercial sex act.” …
“As to the sex trafficking charges, the statute uses terms such as ‘force, ‘threats of force,’ ‘fraud,’ and ‘coercion’ as well as ‘commercial sex act’ which are susceptible to a wide variety of interpretations and meanings and therefore requires particularization in the charging document.
“This is especially true as to the term ‘commercial sex act’ where, as here, the Government conflates social benefits allegedly related to a sex act such as ‘status,’ with economic benefits such as money or things of economic value.
“Most troubling, however, is the fact that the Government has sound, though unconstitutional, reasons for keeping this allegation as vague as possible.
“Plainly, there was no prostitution in this case, nor was there anything resembling sex for money, or sex for fame as an actress, or sex for the selling of photographs. The closest the Government gets to commercial sex is sex for love, sex for attention, sex for acceptance, sex for sex’s own sake—in short, sex for many of the reasons people have been having sex since the Garden of Eden.
“In sum, the Government is encouraging the Court to read the word ‘commercial’ out of the term ‘commercial sex act,’ leaving only ‘sex act.’
“At the end of the day, that is all the Government will ever prove: that people had knowing, consensual, non-commercial sex with Raniere. Acutely aware of its evidence, the Government seeks to transform a powerful, gravely punitive statute focused on appropriately punishing pimps and others who profit from the buying and selling of humans for sex into something that encompasses sex in general, without regard to the commercial nature that makes the conduct it proscribes vile and blameworthy.
“The sex trafficking counts and acts are plainly deficient and should not be part of this trial. ”
Clik here to view.
