Paul Kane — Direct/Cross/Redirect
196 linesDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. ROHRBACH:
JUDGE NATHAN: Please and spell your name for the record.
PAUL KANE: Hello. My name is Paul Kane. P-A-U-L; K-A-N-E.
JUDGE NATHAN: Thank you, Mr. Kane. Mr. Rohrbach, you may proceed.
BY MR. ROHRBACH:
MR. ROHRBACH: Good morning, Mr. Kane.
PAUL KANE: Good morning.
MR. ROHRBACH: Mr. Kane, where do you work?
PAUL KANE: I work at the Professional Children's School.
MR. ROHRBACH: What is the Professional Children's School?
PAUL KANE: Yes. The Professional Children's School is an independent school here in New York City that educates students between the grades 6 through 12. The school was founded in 1910, primarily to educate students who worked in professional fields, whether that be dance, theater, later on movie and television industry, athletics and modeling, other professions. So it allows the students who are working to have a place where they can have an academic environment to learn.
MR. ROHRBACH: What is your title at the Professional Children's School?
PAUL KANE: I am the director of finance.
MR. ROHRBACH: In that capacity, are you familiar with the normal business practices of the school?
PAUL KANE: Yes, I am.
MR. ROHRBACH: Are you familiar with the school's practices regarding students' permanent files?
PAUL KANE: Yes, I am.
MR. ROHRBACH: What are student permanent files?
PAUL KANE: So, students when they apply, we begin a file for them. When they apply to the school the admissions department will keep their application, and then if they apply for financial aid, that will go into that file. From there, their transcripts, their grades will go into the file, and eventually their application to college and any recommendations from the school.
MR. ROHRBACH: And those records you just mentioned, are they put into the file at the time they're created?
PAUL KANE: Yes, they are.
MR. ROHRBACH: Does the Professional Children's School regularly maintain those student files?
PAUL KANE: Yes, we do.
MR. ROHRBACH: How are those records maintained?
PAUL KANE: They are maintained electronically now so that they're in an archive of which I oversee, and they are filed according to the student's name and the year of graduation or the year that they retired or left the school.
MR. ROHRBACH: How did the maintenance of those records work in the 1990s?
PAUL KANE: So they were kept in a hard file until about ten years ago, so the admissions person would have begun the file, eventually would have added to that file. Some things would have been removed from the file at some point because we have as the archives -- they clean out things that aren't necessarily needed, but eventually the files were kept in the school, and then were, as I said, digitized about ten years ago.
MR. ROHRBACH: How long are student records kept?
PAUL KANE: Well, in the permanent file, meaning that we must keep forever, would include student's transcript and any recommendation letters that were made to colleges. Other items are generally removed after six to seven years, depending on best practices.
MR. ROHRBACH: Are those records kept in the ordinary course of business?
PAUL KANE: Yes.
MR. ROHRBACH: You mentioned that some records are kept permanently and some are not. What happens at the end of the period of time for the records that are not kept permanently?
PAUL KANE: I'm sorry, ask the question again.
MR. ROHRBACH: You mentioned that some records are not kept permanently. What happens for the records that are not kept permanently?
PAUL KANE: Yes. So, what should happen is someone would go through the file, pull those things that do not need to be kept permanently, and they would have been shredded.
MR. ROHRBACH: Are they always purged from the file at that time?
PAUL KANE: No. There are older files in which it's a complete file that was kept and digitized.
MR. ROHRBACH: Will you turn in the binder next to you to what's been marked for identification as Government Exhibit 761?
PAUL KANE: Yes.
MR. ROHRBACH: Do you recognize this document?
PAUL KANE: Yes, I do.
MR. ROHRBACH: Without saying any names, what is it?
PAUL KANE: This is an enrollment application for a student at the Professional Children's School.
MR. ROHRBACH: Have you reviewed it prior to today?
PAUL KANE: Yes, I have.
MR. ROHRBACH: Did you compare it with the records from the Professional Children's School's database?
PAUL KANE: Yes, I have.
MR. ROHRBACH: Is it a true and accurate copy of the document at the Professional Children's School?
PAUL KANE: Yes, it is.
MR. ROHRBACH: Your Honor, the government offers Government Exhibit 761.
MS. MENNINGER: Objection. Hearsay.
MR. ROHRBACH: Your Honor, it's business record.
JUDGE NATHAN: Overruled.
MS. MENNINGER: Your Honor, may I make a record or voir dire?
JUDGE NATHAN: You may voir dire. VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION
BY MS. MENNINGER:
MR. ROHRBACH: Good morning, Mr. Kane.
PAUL KANE: Good morning.
MR. ROHRBACH: The Professional Children's School prepares a form that looks like this form, correct?
PAUL KANE: I'm not sure I understand the question.
MR. ROHRBACH: The typed information on Government Exhibit 761 is the portion that the Professional Children's School actually creates, correct?
PAUL KANE: Yes, that is correct.
MR. ROHRBACH: The handwriting on the form is from a third-party outside of the Professional Children's School, correct?
PAUL KANE: Correct.
MR. ROHRBACH: You don't know whose handwriting that is, correct?
PAUL KANE: I do not.
MR. ROHRBACH: You do not know whether the person whose handwriting it is had accurate or complete information, correct?
PAUL KANE: I do not.
MR. ROHRBACH: The Professional Children's School doesn't verify the accuracy of the handwritten information on this form, correct?
PAUL KANE: Well, the admissions director would be in contact with this family once this application came in. So that person would have, in my knowledge, and still does, would confirm this information on this form.
MR. ROHRBACH: Every piece of information on this form?
PAUL KANE: That I do not know.
MR. ROHRBACH: What you told the government when you interviewed with them is that your school traditionally may verify things like the contact information or the student's name, correct?
PAUL KANE: That is correct.
MR. ROHRBACH: You don't know whether other information contained on the form is accurate, correct?
PAUL KANE: I do not.
MR. ROHRBACH: And no one at your school knows whether or not, for example, the person who is represented to refer the student to the school was an accurate representation of the referral, correct?
PAUL KANE: I do not have that knowledge.
MR. ROHRBACH: You do not know whether the financial responsibility information the person listed there is accurate, correct?
PAUL KANE: I do not have that knowledge.
MR. ROHRBACH: The school doesn't maintain records as of today about who actually paid for the student to go to the school, correct?
PAUL KANE: No, we do not.
MR. ROHRBACH: So you don't even have a way to verify some of the information contained in this form as you sit here today, correct?
PAUL KANE: That is correct.
MS. MENNINGER: Your Honor, with that record, the information contained in handwritten form --
MR. ROHRBACH: May I?
JUDGE NATHAN: You may.
MR. ROHRBACH: Thank you.
BY MR. ROHRBACH:
MR. ROHRBACH: Mr. Kane, when an application is received by a Professional Children's School, what happens?
PAUL KANE: As I mentioned, the admissions director would review the information, contact the family, would bring them into the school if it looks to be a good fit for the school and would begin to interview them. So the family is first contacted by phone, and then the family would be brought in to tour the school and to have a conversation with the admissions director.
MR. ROHRBACH: Does the Professional Children's School rely on the information in these records when it makes its admissions decision?
PAUL KANE: Yes, they do.
MR. ROHRBACH: Does the Professional Children's School make admission decisions in the ordinary course of its business?
PAUL KANE: Yes.
MR. ROHRBACH: And after the Professional Children's School makes admission decisions, does it retain the applications?
PAUL KANE: Yes.
MR. ROHRBACH: Your Honor, based on that record, the government offers again this exhibit.
MS. MENNINGER: Your Honor --
JUDGE NATHAN: And you object.
MS. MENNINGER: Yes, your Honor, with respect to 803(6).
JUDGE NATHAN: If you want to make an argument, we'll do it at sidebar, but I understand your objection. Do you want to make a record beyond that?
MS. MENNINGER: I do, your Honor, but may I approach?
(Continued on next page)
(At sidebar)
JUDGE NATHAN: State your objection.
MS. MENNINGER: Your Honor, this is very similar to a police report in which a third party is transmitting information to a business. Yes, they rely on certain pieces of information contained in that report to do their job; but as the case law holds, that doesn't make the entire police report admissible under the business records exception. When information is reported by a third party, the information has to have its own sources of reliability in order for it to be useful to the business. While they may make a decision, for example, to file charges, there may be inaccurate information, and that's why police records are traditionally excluded because they are reflections of third-party information that only portions may be reliable. In this case, certainly I understand the school did contact her and follow up with her and she became admitted. But there are other pieces of information that are being offered for the truth of the matter asserted therein. In particular, I imagine that Mr. Epstein ultimately became financially responsible because that's what's listed in the form. However, what this record would tend to show is that someone -- we don't even know if it was the Jane or her mother -- filled out the form, had an expectation or wrote that name down on the form at the time without any subsequent follow-up. Yesterday we heard from Jane. She disputed the accuracy of some of the applications that came in in terms of the summer camp. She said that I recognize my mother's handwriting, and she talked about her mother not being reliable about other things. The government could have put on this document through her if this information was reliable. They chose not to. I don't think that there's a sufficient record to put this on through 803(6).
MR. ROHRBACH: Your Honor, I'm quite surprised defense counsel is making this argument. There are several admissions applications that are already in the record, including ones offered by defense counsel. This particular document was used in cross-examination of Jane yesterday and portions were read into the record; so the rest of the document is something that's fair game to come into the record. Specifically about the business records exception, police reports are accepted from the police records doctrine. And this document otherwise needs to go in for comments of the business record, both in the traditional classical sense of a business record, but also, as the additional voir dire showed, it's been integrated into the files of the school; the school had relied on it in its business practices, which, at a minimum, makes it an adoptive business record of the school.
JUDGE NATHAN: Overruled.
(In open court)
JUDGE NATHAN: Government Exhibit 761 is admitted.
MR. ROHRBACH: Your Honor, the government offers this exhibit under seal pursuant to the Court's order, protecting the identity of witnesses.
JUDGE NATHAN: Admitted under seal, consistent with my ruling allowing the individual name to testify under a pseudonym.
(Government's Exhibit 761 received in evidence)
MR. ROHRBACH: With the Court's permission, I would ask that the jurors pull out their larger binder and turn to Government Exhibit 761.
JUDGE NATHAN: Without objection?
MS. MENNINGER: Yes, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay. You may pull the larger binder, please, and open to GX-761.
BY MR. ROHRBACH:
MR. ROHRBACH: Mr. Kane, directing your attention to page 1 of the exhibit. Without saying the student's name, what grade is the student applying for?
PAUL KANE: The student is applying for 12th grade.
MR. ROHRBACH: And turning your attention to section B, what did the student list as her present school?
PAUL KANE: Her present school was the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts.
MR. ROHRBACH: What reason did the student give for leaving that school?
PAUL KANE: Moved to New York.
MR. ROHRBACH: And turning to page 2 of this document, section E, who did the student list as the person with financial responsibility for her attendance at the school?
PAUL KANE: Mr. Jeffrey Epstein.
MR. ROHRBACH: Thank you, your Honor. No further questions.
JUDGE NATHAN: All right. Ms. Menninger?
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. MENNINGER:
MS. MENNINGER: You are the director of finance?
PAUL KANE: That's correct, yes.
MS. MENNINGER: And you have no idea whether Mr. Epstein actually paid for the student's attendance at the school; correct?
PAUL KANE: I do not.
MS. MENNINGER: You looked for those records?
PAUL KANE: Yes, I did.
MS. MENNINGER: You found none?
PAUL KANE: That is correct.
MS. MENNINGER: You don't have personal knowledge about where this student lived?
PAUL KANE: I do not, no.
MS. MENNINGER: I would ask you to turn to the second page. That indicates a name for the student's mother; correct?
PAUL KANE: Yes.
MS. MENNINGER: Does it say unemployed?
PAUL KANE: It says self-employed.
MS. MENNINGER: Does it give an occupation?
PAUL KANE: Yes, interior decorator.
MS. MENNINGER: Okay. On the last page it indicates that the student was represented by an agent; is that correct?
PAUL KANE: That is correct, yes.
MS. MENNINGER: What's the name of that agent?
MR. ROHRBACH: Objection, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: Just a moment. Where are you directing?
MS. MENNINGER: The top of page 4, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: Thank you.
MS. MENNINGER: And the middle of the page as well.
MR. ROHRBACH: Your Honor, we object to reading this name out loud. There's no particular relevance for it.
JUDGE NATHAN: Okay. If you want to just focus the jury so they can look at it themselves, Ms. Menninger.
MS. MENNINGER: Certainly, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: Thank you.
BY MS. MENNINGER:
MS. MENNINGER: So in the middle of the page, the upper right-hand corner of the page, a name of an agent is represented; correct? You don't have to read the name into the record, but do you see the name of the agent?
PAUL KANE: I see the name of an instructor, and then --
MS. MENNINGER: Okay.
PAUL KANE: Is that what you're referencing?
MS. MENNINGER: Well, maybe the clearer place is the middle of the page where it says name of agent, manager, or agency.
PAUL KANE: Correct. That's the same name.
MS. MENNINGER: Okay. And also it gives in there a number of other professional instructors and schools; correct?
PAUL KANE: Yes.
MS. MENNINGER: There's a name of a voice teacher, for example?
PAUL KANE: That is correct.
MS. MENNINGER: And so at least the form indicates that that voice teacher had helped this student in the year prior to the application?
PAUL KANE: Yes, that's understood, yes.
MS. MENNINGER: All right.
MS. MENNINGER: No further questions. Thank you, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: Thank you.
MR. ROHRBACH: Just one question, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: Go ahead.
MS. MENNINGER: I apologize. Can I ask one more question?
JUDGE NATHAN: You may.
BY MS. MENNINGER:
MS. MENNINGER: On the first page there is the name of a counsellor or principal for the student's prior high school. Do you see that name?
PAUL KANE: Yes, I do.
MS. MENNINGER: And while you don't need to read it out, do you have any reason to doubt that that was, in fact, the student's prior principal?
PAUL KANE: I have no reason to doubt.
MS. MENNINGER: All right. Thank you.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. ROHRBACH:
MR. ROHRBACH: Mr. Kane, on cross-examination you were asked about payment records for the student in this application. Did you find any payment records reflecting who paid for that student's education?
PAUL KANE: No. Financial records are kept separately from the student file.
MR. ROHRBACH: Thank you. No further questions.
MS. MENNINGER: No, thank you, your Honor.
JUDGE NATHAN: All right. Thank you, Mr. Kane. You may step down. You are excused. Thank you.
(Witness excused)
JUDGE NATHAN: The government may call its next witness.
MS. POMERANTZ: Your Honor, the government calls Dr. Lisa Rocchio.
JUDGE NATHAN: Dr. Rocchio may come forward. LISA ROCCHIO, called as a witness by the Government, having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
JUDGE NATHAN: Thank you. You may proceed.
MS. POMERANTZ: Thank you, your Honor.