Keith Raniere filed a rule 33 motion today. Joseph Tully, Raniere’s latest of a series of attorneys, filed it. The motion is now before Raniere’s trial judge, Nicholas G. Garaufis.
There may be a legal technicality here, since Raniere is also appealing his conviction before the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, and they have not yet rendered a decision on his appeal (The oral arguments in the appeal were held on Tuesday, May 3rd).
This may mean the Rule 33 motion will be on hold until Raniere’s appeal is decided. However, even if that is the case, Raniere was required to file the Ruel 33 motion no later than June 19, 2022 – the three-year anniversary of his conviction.
It is now on record and is a timely filing. But nothing may come of it for months, as the 2nd Circuit considers Raniere’s appeal.
The Rule 33 motion begins with a quote above the text from Dr. J. Richard Kiper.
Dr. J. Richard Kiper PhD.
“In my 20 years serving as an FBI agent, I have never observed or claimed that an FBI employee tampered with evidence, digital or otherwise. But in this case, I strongly believe the multiple, intentional alterations to the digital information I have discovered constitute evidence
manipulation. And when so many human-generated alterations happen to align with the government’s narrative, I believe any reasonable person would conclude that evidence tampering had taken place.”
From there on in, it is a peon of castigation.
Tully begins:
Keith Raniere’s attorney, Joseph M. Tully.
Tully: In its prosecution of Keith Raniere, the government manufactured child pornography and planted it on a computer hard drive to tie it to him. Additionally, the government falsified, fabricated, and manipulated all the key evidence it used to convict Mr. Raniere of the most heinous crimes he was charged with, that is, possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of a child – for purportedly taking twenty-two contraband photographs in 2005.
Such extensive government tampering renders the critical pieces of evidence used to convict him of these charges incompetent, unreliable, and invalid. The government’s conduct here not only shatters rights inherent in the concept of ordered liberty, but it also shocks the conscience.”
The 22 photos of Camila, which the government proved to a jury, were taken of her when she was 15. Camila did not testify. The government relied on FBI expert witnesses who testified on forensic evidence used to date the photographs to 2005, when Camila was 15.
Raniere’s Rule 33 relies, in turn, on three expert witnesses. Dr. J. Richard Kiper, Ph.D., a retired FBI Special Agent, is the top expert. Two other experts support him. Steven M. Abrams, JD, MS, and Wayne B. Norris, “accomplished forensic analysts in their own right,” agree with Dr. Kiper’s findings.
Kiper is quoted a second time: “My analysis demonstrates that some of these alterations definitely took place while the devices were in the
custody of the FBI. Therefore, in the absence of any other plausible explanation it is my expert opinion that the FBI must have been involved in this evidence tampering.”
Keith Raniere’s attorney, Joseph M. Tully.
Tully: All three experts agree that the electronic evidence in Mr. Raniere’s trial was extensively manipulated while in FBI custody and that it was falsified to fit the government’s narrative of criminal conduct. This newly discovered evidence of illegal tampering by the government is conclusive, indisputable, and shocking.
The experts’ key findings are:
1. During the execution of the search warrant at 8 Hale Drive, Halfmoon, New York, on March 27, 2018, FBI agents initially ignored several areas with evidentiary items in the downstairs of the residence, went upstairs, ignored several more areas, and then went straight to the study area, where the very first two evidentiary items they collected just happened to be the Canon digital camera with its compact flash card, hereafter “CF card” and a Western Digital hard disc drive, hereafter “WD HDD.”
Canon Camera
EOS 20D
Lexar camera card similar to the one seized at the executive library of Keith Raniere.
The actual hard drive seized by the FBI.
These two evidentiary items [the camera and camera card were seized as one item] also just happened to be the only two pieces of digital evidence used to prove the alleged contraband, which just happened to be discovered over ten (10) months later.
2. The backup folder on the WD HDD where the contraband photographs were placed has all the hallmarks of fraud. The names of subfolders within this backup folder were manually altered to look autogenerated in a manner that comported with the government’s narrative that the photos were taken in 2005. The government used this 2005 date to establish some of the photos as contraband.
Further, the photographs’ metadata within these subfolders were also manually altered to comport with the government’s 2005 narrative. Additionally, the backup itself was not done in a manner consistent with a user backup and is only plausibly explained by someone planting the alleged contraband photographs on the WD HDD inside a backup folder that they mistakenly backdated to 2003, rather than the photographs being there due to a legitimate automated backup.
3. Despite being the first items seized, the camera and CF card were not checked into the forensics lab until 332 days – ten months and 26 days later. During that time, two FBI Special Agents, hereafter “SA,” Maegan Rees, and Michael Lever, broke protocol and checked the camera and CF card out of Evidence Control twice for a total of 24 days, even though FBI policy strictly prohibits the agents from examining either of the devices before such devices are examined by a forensics examiner in a forensic lab.
The FBI’s Digital Evidence Policy Guide: content review of digital evidence, hereafter “DE” is authorized only after DE is processed by authorized personnel… Content review of original DE is prohibited by those not trained and authorized by the Operational Technology Division, hereafter “OTD.”
Special Agent Michael Lever checked the camera card out of evidence control on Sept. 19, 2018.
4. At least once, while the CF card was in SA Lever’s custody, it was accessed improperly, without authorization, and was altered. It was
undoubtedly tampered with, as the thumbnails of a brunette impossibly became thumbnails of a blonde.
5. All three experts, who have over 100 years of technical experience combined, conclude that the only reasonable explanation for the plethora of anomalies on the WD HDD and the CF card – which all support the government’s narrative – is that the government, acting with
malfeasance, tampered with the evidence – destroying, constructing, and altering it.
According to the Rule 33 motion, Steven M. Abrams, J.D., M.S is a licensed attorney, a retired State Constable in South Carolina, and an expert in digital forensics, which he has taught to police and military organizations around the world. He has used the forensic tool programs at issue in this case for nearly 20 years.
Wayne B. Norris has served as an expert witness in more than 100 technology-related cases in federal, state, and municipal courts. He currently specializes in digital forensics.
This newly discovered evidence of tampering and purposeful fabrication constitutes a due process violation necessitating, a new trial because the government obtained a tainted conviction of Mr. Raniere by using evidence that the government knew or should have known was false.
Keith Raniere in his library where the hard drive was found.
Parlato: The list of allegations of foul deeds and nefarious conduct by the government is almost as long as the government’s list of venal and heinous crimes alleged and proven against defendant Raniere.
Here are a few:
The government manufactured child pornography and planted it on a computer hard drive
The government falsified, fabricated, and manipulated all the key evidence
Extensive government tampering
The government’s conduct… shatters rights…
The government’s conduct… shocks the conscience.
Plain evidence of tampering
Illegal tampering by the government
Undoubtedly tampered with
Purposeful fabrication
Use of false evidence
Government criminal activity
Representations regarding the evidentiary chain of custody were false
False testimony
Government manipulation and fraud
The government engaged in perjury and criminal tampering against Mr. Raniere.
Knowingly false.
Tampering of the digital evidence to frame Mr. Raniere
Falsified evidence
Manual alteration of the digital photographic and file system evidence
An unsuccessful attempt to cover that manual alteration
We will dive into the Rule 33 motion in detail in subsequent posts. Read the Rule 33 motion in its entirety
Click to access rule-3-filed.pdf
Read the reports of Raniere’s expert witnesses. They were initially filed with the Second Circuit Court and now with the District Court.
Click to access Kiper_Exhibit_Motion_to_Stay.pdf
