No Verdict Yet in Trial of Federal Kidnapping Trial of Lakewood Rabbi

By MaryAnn Spoto
NJ.com
April 16, 2015

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AbuseTracker/No%20verdict%20yet%20in%20trial%20of%20federal%20kidnapping%20trial%20of%20Lakewood%20rabbi

Jurors in the trial of a Lakewood rabbi accused of arranging the kidnapping and torture of husbands to extract religious divorces completed their first full day of deliberations without reaching a verdict on Thursday.

In deciding the fate of Rabbi Mendel Epstein and three others, jurors briefly interrupted their deliberations to ask two questions of U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson in Trenton, but ultimately did not come to a conclusion.

Epstein, a prominent rabbi who specializes in divorce proceedings, is on trial along with his son, David "Ari" Epstein, and two other rabbis, Binyamin Stimler and Jay Goldstein, on conspiracy and kidnapping charges that grew out of a federal undercover sting.

A couple hours into their deliberations, jurors sent a note asking whether knowledge of someone's confinement against his will constitutes kidnapping.

In a written reply, Wolfson told them it does not constitute kidnapping but that they should ask for clarification if they need to know how that relates to the other charges.