NXIVM: Keith Raniere poses no threat, his lawyer says, so witnesses should be named fully

Nxivm leader Keith Raniere, through his attorney Marc Agnifilo, struck back at a motion in limine by prosecutors that sought to set some last-minute ground rules for Raniere’s trial, which is scheduled to begin on May 7.

Raniere does not want witnesses to go by first names only or by nicknames, as the government had proposed to allay fears by witnesses of media hounding or retaliation by Raniere.

“First, allowing this highly unusual and dubious practice would violate Mr. Raniere’s Sixth Amendment right to confrontation and would moreover unfairly signal to the jury that, in the Court’s view, the witness is a victim of a sex crime who is in danger,” Agnifilo’s response reads.

Not only is it important to give the impression that Raniere is harmless, it’s also true in fact, he goes on to say.

There has been NO evidence in this case whatsoever that Keith Raniere has posed a danger to any witness. In March 2018, he was arrested and put in prison. He has served over thirteen months as a model prisoner and citizen. He has done nothing untoward to anyone and he does not deserve the draconian and constitutionally-dubious remedy of having witnesses against him in a case where a life sentence is a real possibility to testify under false or partial identities….

https://tonyortega.org/2019/04/29/nxivm-keith-raniere-poses-no-threat-his-lawyer-says-so-witnesses-should-be-named-fully/

Nxivm Doc 595: Response to Motion in Limine

Court Docs Filed 4/27/19

https://www.scribd.com/document/408040688/Nxivm-Doc-595-Response-to-Motion-in-Limine#from_embed