Attorney for real estate mogul Alexander brothers in sex trafficking trial opening: clients may be ‘a**holes,’ but not criminals

After almost two years of racking up rape and sex trafficking allegations from over 60 women, real estate brokers and brothers Alon, Oren and Tal Alexander are officially on trial for 12 counts of sex trafficking and sexual assault.

Attorneys for Oren and Tal Alexander used their first statements to the jury to argue the brothers were simply successful career men who liked women, enjoyed sex and used the opportunities presented to them to pursue that. While what the brothers did may have been immoral, attorneys argued, calling them womanizers, it wasn’t criminal.

“We’re not here for the a**hole awards,” said Tal Alexander’s attorney, Deanna Paul, in her opening statement. “If we were, we could lock them up and we could all go home. But that’s not what we’re here for.”

Paul and Teny Geragos, an attorney for Oren Alexander, both told the jury in separate statements that there is was no evidence the brothers gave things of value to women in exchange for sex — a requirement for a sex trafficking charge — and argued that the women who are accusing the brothers of rape and trafficking chose to be around the Alexanders, and were not forced.

In their statements to the jury, prosecutors told a very different story. Assistant U.S. Attorney Madison Smyser used her opening statement to detail specific instances in which the brothers worked together to drug and rape women after using their wealth and influence to entice, coerce and trick them to meet, go to parties and take luxury, paid-for vacations for over a decade.

“This is a case about three brothers who worked together to rape…woman after woman, girl after girl…they’re partners in crime,” Smyser said. “They enticed women together…and when that enticement was successful, they assaulted women together.”

“They had a playbook. The defendants plotted to lure in women and girls with parties [and] weekend trips,” Smyser continued. “When they got there, they raped them. They used whatever means necessary. They used drugs, alcohol, brute force to carry out their rapes. Some were underage, some said no, some were incoherent. None of that mattered to the brothers. They were going to have sex with these victims no matter what.”

She told a story of alleged rape from three different women, each connected to a different brother, pointing at each as she provided the jury with information.

Pointing at Oren Alexander, she referred to a woman who will testify under the name of Bella, who was allegedly given a spiked drink, passed out and awoke with Oren Alexander coming into the room, standing on top of her and raping her. Pointing at Tal Alexander, she referred to a woman who will testify under the name of Maya who, after allegedly being invited by Tal Alexander to the Hamptons, raped her from behind in a bathroom as she repeatedly told him “no.” Pointing to Alon Alexander, she referred to a woman testifying under the name of Katie, who, after allegedly being drugged by Alon Alexander, woke up naked in his bed and was subsequently raped.

Smyster said the government would also be showing the jury a video where the jury would see Oren Alexander lift the leg of and rape a 17 year-old girl, referred to as Amelia, who was “far from sober,” and give her a pill.

“You’ll learn that Amelia has no memory of what happened to her that night,” Smyster said. “I know that hearing and seeing all of this will be hard. But these are the facts of this case, this is what happened to these women and girls.”

Defense attorneys recharacterized those stories in their subsequent openings, referring to them as nights of choice, fun and partying, saying there were photos and videos of the women and girls enjoying themselves and having control over their bodies, and distancing the brothers’ connections to inviting the women to the events.

“You will see evidence of the hard party atmosphere in New York City in 2009,” Geragos said about the video depicting Amelia. “You will see someone talking, engaging, posing willingly for photos, moving around independently…Not behavior of someone secretly drugged.”

Paul also made a plea to the jury to separate the brothers from each other when hearing evidence and thinking about the case, specifically her client, Tal Alexander, who she argued is frequently not involved in allegations his brothers are cited in.

Attorneys Howard M. Srebnick and Jacqueline Perczek, who represent Alon Alexander, elected to reserve their opening statement for the start of the defense case.

Prior to the start of opening statements, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni of the Southern District of New York denied a request from the defense to cross examine witnesses on social media posts condemning and calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide. Srebnick argued the stance indicated bias against the Alexanders, who are Israeli and Jewish, but Caproni said it was irrelevant to the case.

“Being opposed to what the Israeli government did in Gaza is not equivalent to being antisemitic, or anti-Jewish or anti-Israel connections,” the judge said. “Lots of Israeli citizens disagree with the actions their government has taken in Gaza. A lot of Americans disagree with what their government is doing…We are not introducing that into this case.”