Dwelling
Day by day Information
Epstein lawyer Roy Black, ‘GOAT of prison…
Obituaries
Epstein lawyer Roy Black, ‘GOAT of prison protection legal professionals,’ dies at 80
By Debra Cassens Weiss
July 24, 2025, 9:33 am CDT
Roy Black attends a e-book signing for his his spouse, Lea Black, on April 21, 2015, in Coral Gables, Florida. (Picture by Johnny Louis/FilmMagic through Getty Pictures)
Felony protection lawyer Roy Black, recognized for illustration of defendants who included multimillionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein and doctor William Kennedy Smith, a member of the Kennedy household, died Monday at age 80.
One in all Black’s regulation companions, Howard Srebnick of Black Srebnick in Miami, informed Legislation.com and the Miami Herald that his colleague “was the best prison lawyer of our era, maybe in American historical past.”
Black received acquittals “in among the most difficult and infamous instances of all time,” Srebnick mentioned.
“He actually was the GOAT of prison protection legal professionals,” wrote prison protection trial and appellate lawyer David Oscar Markus on the Southern District of Florida Weblog. Markus informed the Related Press in an electronic mail that Black “labored tougher than any lawyer I do know. And he outlawyered each prosecutor who he ever went up in opposition to.”
Different high-profile shoppers moreover Epstein and Smith included singer Justin Bieber, conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh, race automobile driver Helio Castroneves and Columbian drug lord Fabio Ochoa.
Black represented Smith, the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, when he was acquitted on a rape cost in 1991.
He was amongst a number of legal professionals who represented Epstein, serving to safe a plea deal in 2008, in line with the Impartial. Within the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop federal fees in opposition to Epstein if he pleaded responsible to state fees. The responsible plea resulted in a 13-month sentence.
Black was additionally “a fixture” on NBC’s As we speak present and Larry King Stay, in line with the Miami Herald.
Black is survived by two youngsters and his spouse, Lea Black. She was a juror within the Smith trial, and she or he additionally appeared on The Actual Housewives of Miami.
Write a letter to the editor, share a narrative tip or replace, or report an error.