Part 1: Dani’s Cross Examination: Agnifilo Starts off With Fake ID Dani Made for Cami
Part 2: Dani’s Cross Examination: Agnifilo Queries Dani on Her Alleged Stealing
This is Part 4 of Dani’s cross-examination.
After Marc Agnifilo discussed Dani’s stealing once again [Part 3], he discussed her sexual encounters with Keith. It seems he was trying to suggest that Dani wanted Keith, wanted to be with him, and was jealous of her sister, Marianna – who he gets Dani to admit – that Keith treated better than herself.
He might be trying to set the stage for Dani being a scorned woman – which, of course, might be why she testified against Keith and perhaps not too truthfully.
Agnifilo is doing the questioning:
Q … I apologize for asking about this subject. On direct examination, you talked about the first time you and Keith Raniere had sexual contact. So I’m just going to ask you a few questions about that…
Q … you said that Keith performed oral sex on you about a week [after your 18th birthday]
A Yes.
***
Q When he was performing oral sex, he had his clothes on.
A That’s what I remember, yes.
Q Okay. And then at some point, he took his clothes off and you guys hugged?
A He — yes.
Q Okay. But there was no intercourse.
A I did not feel it. So I don’t think so, no.
Q Right. You weren’t drinking or anything; right? I mean, you remember these events.
A Yes.
Q Okay. You remember them clearly.
A Parts of them I remember clearly.
Q Okay. And the only reason you think that there might have been intercourse is because he said so after the fact; correct?
A Yes.
Q Okay. But in terms of what you experienced, you didn’t experience that.
A That’s right.
Q … it. There was no evidence that there had been intercourse; right?
A Right.
Q Okay. So — and I think what you said on direct examination is what you believe, and I think you even said ‘I’m sticking to my guns to this day,’ is that it was oral sex without intercourse; right?
A Yes.
Q Okay. But that day was your anniversary. The day that this happened, you guys, you decided it was going to be The Day of the Dead; right? It was going to be November 2nd?
A Yes.
***
Q Now, after that, Keith discussed his other romantic relationships with you; fair to say?
A At some point after, yes.
Q Okay. And am I right that after what happened at Rome Plaza, you and Keith did not have any other sexual contact for another six months?
[Dani explains that they did not have sexual intercourse until six months later but they did have sexual contact.].
Q Okay. Now, at some point you found out that your older sister Marianna was also having sex with Keith; correct?
A Yes.
Q And how did you find that out?
A I don’t remember exactly. I don’t know if she told me or I asked.
Q But you found out from her.
A I think so. Again, I don’t remember exactly.
Q … What was your relationship with Marianna … when she told you?
A … we had been best friends growing up. I would say we were very close still when she came to Albany with me. And then since she had started her friendship with Pam, we were almost like spending no time together. And that was like a period of months. So I would say we were best friends, but had been distanced for a little while…
Q At one point your older sister Marianna told you that she was in love with Keith; is that right?
A Yes.
Q And when she told you that she was in love with Keith, you told her that you wanted to be with Keith, also.
A Yes.
Q So, at this point in time, you had made a decision that even though Marianna was in love with Keith and was going to be with Keith, you, too, wanted to be with Keith, correct?
A Yes.
Q And you told Marianna that you thought Keith was a great man.
A Yes.
Q And so, you and Marianna had a conversation about what you were going to do about this situation, correct?
A Yes.
Q Because it was apparent to you that Marianna intended to continue to have a romantic relationship with Keith, correct?
A Yes.
Q And you knew that you intended to continue to have a romantic relationship with Keith, correct?
A Yes. We were working that out, yes.
Q And so, you and Marianna had a conversation about how you were going to handle this, right?
A Yes.
Q And you didn’t want to break up with Keith after finding out that Marianna was in love with him, right?
A No.
Q And you didn’t want to break up with him even after you knew that he and Marianna had been together romantically in the past, right?
A Right.
Q And you didn’t want to break up with him even though you knew Keith and Marianna intended to be together romantically in the future?
A Yes.
Q So, the two of you, you and Marianna, had a discussion about the ground rules that you and she would follow in both of you having a relationship with Keith, fair to say?
A No.
Q No? Did you have a meeting at some point on New Karner Road?
A Yes.
Q And what was the purpose of this meeting between you and Marianna?
A To sit and discuss those ground rules.
Q Okay. …. what did you want to accomplish from this conversation with Marianna about the ground rules of both of you having a relationship with Keith?
A I, I don’t know. We never got to it.
***
Mariana explains that before the sisters could discuss the ground rules for both sisters having a relationship with Keith, Keith showed up and it was interrupted. Agnifilo then asks a series of questions on where Dani and Mariana lived at the time.
Then he goes back to the woman scorned queries:
Q … Did you ever feel that Keith treated Marianna better than he treated you?
A He treated her differently, yes.
Q Okay. Differently in what way?
A I felt, I felt, well, he treated her, for example, in a more romantic sexual way. Sometimes, we would go to volleyball together, all in Pam’s car, and he would sit Marianna on his lap and put his hand in her pants, in front of me, with me in the car. And do sexual things to her. That was pretty, I mean, that was, that was, that was something. I always wondered why he did that. So, I was more upset at things like that. He would always be very sexual with her. I know they spent a lot of time together. I thought, I thought, I felt he loved her. That’s what I saw from the interactions. So, it was very different because I didn’t feel that was the case with me. There was also, you know, and I think I said something like this, but I’ll be specific. There was preferential treatment, which was in stark contrast for the teachings of ESP where, you know, everything’s supposed to be integrity, and cause and effect. And so, she would be treated in a different way than me when circumstances were similar. And that was, that was a topic of, of, of confusion for sure, yes.
***
[Agnifilo successfully elicited from Dani that she was upset with the way Keith preferred Marianna, or that he treated her better. He would turn next to show it was Dani’s idea to illegally enter the USA using fake ID and then he will go back to the sex theme of his cross-examination. Stay tuned for Part 5]