MIAMI — Defense attorneys for the jet-setting Alexander twins and a friend charged with a trio of sex crimes on Miami Beach say text messages of the principal accusers show that at least one of the criminal investigations began with the help of a personal injury attorney for a woman who was looking to make money.

Joel Denaro, the twins’ Miami attorney, said a September 2024 text between New York personal injury lawyer Evan Torgan and lead state prosecutor Natalie Snyder in which they’re referencing one of the Miami Beach rape cases, shows how instrumental Torgan was in the arrests of Oren and Alon Alexander and their friend Ohad Fisherman.

In the text, Torgan tells Snyder, “I believe I have someone else for you. Raped by Oren and Alon held down by their cousin, who I believe raped her too.” Snyder, who responds she’s tied up, says she’ll get back to Torgan the next day for details. A few days earlier, Torgan had texted Snyder saying he was surprised he wasn’t present during an earlier statement to law enforcement.

Torgan, a New York personal injury attorney who represents several women who have filed civil lawsuits against the Alexander brothers claiming rape and sexual assault, doesn’t deny sending the text. But he said he doesn’t represent any of the three Miami Beach women who say they’re victims.

“These guys are finally being held accountable in a court of law. And blaming the victims or lawyers isn’t going to help that,” Torgan said. “The defense is claiming the criminal cases are being used to help the civil side. But they don’t. They slow everything down.”

After the brothers and Fisherman were arrested on Dec. 11, Torgan reached out to Snyder by text congratulating her and asking if she could forward the indictment. Snyder’s response: “Do you want a copy of the felony information? Or the arrest warrants?”

Torgan says he was initially contacted by a Morgan & Morgan attorney who is representing one of the Miami Beach rape victims in a civil case. He also said someone from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office reached out to him in June before his texts with Snyder.

During an often contentious hearing Tuesday before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Lody Jean, defense attorneys said the texts show how federal law enforcement and Miami-Dade state prosecutors coordinated the December arrests of the trio. That’s important, they say, because if there were a joint investigation, the state would have access to search warrants and electronic technology that could exonerate the brothers and their friend.

Snyder, though, held firm. She said the feds still refuse to release potential evidence like cellphone data, to state prosecutors who are handling the three Miami Beach rape cases. Snyder also said the recently released texts don’t tell the entire story. She said if the court allows detectives who made the arrests to testify, it would become clear that the state and federal investigations were done independently and that the state has no right to the data.

Name-calling in the courtroom

Acrimony between opposing lawyers, which had been building the past few weeks, boiled over Tuesday in what was supposed to be a hearing for Jean to determine if the defense team could depose a civil attorney and if she would address a complaint about the state withholding evidence.

At times it devolved into veiled threats and name-calling.

When attorney David Luck representing the firm Morgan & Morgan said the defense should be grateful they never have to call the personal injury firm for an injured family member, Fisherman’s attorney Jeffrey Sloman called Luck a “doofus.”

So, Luck complained to the judge.

Which prompted this from Jean: “Counsel, hold on. Stop. We’re not going to make it personal. Just talk to me. Hold on. Shush shush. We are all members of the bar, Mr. Luck.”

Jean ultimately told Snyder she’d let detectives testify. The judge also said she’ll hear arguments for and against charging the state with criminal contempt for withholding evidence on April 17. And she said she’d rule on whether Morgan & Morgan attorney Carissa Peebles — who is representing one of the Miami Beach accusers in separate civil suit — can be deposed by defense attorneys by April 21.

Trial date set

A tentative trial date for the Alexander twins, 37, and Fisherman, 39, has been set for May 12. The twins are now in a Brooklyn, New York, jail awaiting trial on federal rape and sex trafficking charges. It’s not clear if the feds will release them for their South Florida trial. Fisherman, who has only been charged in the state case, is out on bond.

The Alexander twins and older brother Tal, 38, were arrested in their Miami Beach homes on Dec. 11. Oren and Alon are charged with rape and sexual assault in three cases on Miami Beach, one dating back eight years.

Fisherman is accused of taking part in that rape. He was in Japan on Dec. 11 celebrating his wedding, but returned a week later to face the charges. State prosecutors say he held down the woman’s arms in a bedroom in a Miami Beach apartment as the twins took turns raping her.

State, federal investigations coordinated: defense

It was the communication between agencies that the defense team harped on during Tuesday’s hearing — whether it was lead Miami Beach Detective David Alvarez expressing how he was trying to communicate with federal law enforcement in New York, or Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle trying to coordinate with her counterpart in the Big Apple.

All of it, defense attorneys Denaro and co-counsel Eddie O’Donnell IV said, went to a “joint” investigation between state prosecutors and New York law enforcement.

In a text Alvarez sent to Snyder on Oct. 2, the lead detective explains how he reached out to the TFO (Task Force Officer) from New York who is overseeing the Alexander investigations.

“He provided information and apparently he’s interviewed several victims already. He is coming down shortly to meet with the victims and asked for your number to better coordinate the steps to follow on this investigation,” Alvarez said in his text.

The defense attorneys also received through a public records request a Dec. 7 email sent by Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle to Assistant U.S. Attorney in New York Edward Kim. The email, in which the state attorney says it was good speaking about “mutual goals and respective cases,” is also addressed to New York U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.

“I remain confident in our abilities to collaborate in a meaningful way for our respective victims, communities and other potential victims,” said Fernandez Rundle.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Fisherman attorney Sloman told Jean state prosecutors were purposely delaying the sharing of what could be vital evidence. He specifically cited the text exchanges, which he said were received late Friday night, close to Tuesday’s hearing and only a month prior to the scheduled trial of his client and the Alexander brothers.

“They’ve (state prosecutors) made a half-hearted effort to get evidence,” said Sloman. “These are the Alexander brothers’ phones. These aren’t some random notes.”

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