#Judge denies Nxivm leader Keith Raniere’s request for new trial

Nxivm leader Keith Raniere lost his bid for a new trial, a judge recently ruled in refusing to buy his argument that two witnesses lied during testimony.

The sex cult leader asked Brooklyn federal court Judge Nicholas Garaufis in March to grant him a new trial claiming that two women who testified against him, Daniela and Nicole, perjured themselves when they told a jury they weren’t going to sue him and Nxivm.

The two victims, in fact, ended up joining the 80-plus plaintiff lawsuit from January which alleged that Raniere and the cult swindled followers out of their life savings and forced them into sexual slavery.

Raniere’s lawyers said that if the jury had known about the alleged lie and bias of the two women, their credibility would have been undermined in jurors’ eyes.

But Garaufis said the women gave their testimony six months prior to the lawsuit — and most likely had a change of heart.

“The fact that they affirmatively disclaimed a present intent to sue Defendant months before joining a suit against him is, on its face, persuasive evidence of little more than the fact that they changed their minds at some point between testifying at trial and filing the complaint in the Civil Action,” Garaufis wrote in his decision Thursday.

Even if the women had lied about not joining the lawsuit, Garaufis said he didn’t believe it would have changed the jury’s guilty verdict.

“Having observed both Daniela and Nicole’s testimony, the court sees no reason to disturb the jury’s determination that they were anything but credible witnesses who offered powerful evidence of Defendant’s guilt,” the ruling continued.

In May 2019, Daniela testified at trial about how controlling and jealous Raniere allegedly was and how he was so obsessed with keeping his “slaves” skinny that he installed a camera to monitor the refrigerator at the Halfmoon, NY home were he stayed with her and others.

Nicole told jurors about how Raniere’s second-in-command “Smallville” actress Allison Mack recruited her at an acting class. Nicole also testified about how she was once strapped to a table and forcibly given oral sex by another woman as she was blindfolded.

In June 2019, Raniere was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking charges and tossed behind bars. He faces up to life in prison at his sentencing — which has been indefinitely postponed until coronavirus measures allow for an in court appearance.

Raniere’s lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Brooklyn US Attorney’s office also did not immediately return a request for comment.