A choose has — for now — refused to dismiss a lawsuit in opposition to Britain’s Prince Andrew by an American lady who says he sexually abused her when she was 17.
Stressing Wednesday that he wasn’t ruling on the reality of the allegations, U.S. District Choose Lewis A. Kaplan rejected an argument by Andrew’s attorneys that Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit needs to be thrown out at an early stage due to an previous authorized settlement she had reached with Jeffrey Epstein, the financier she claims arrange sexual encounters with the prince.
Kaplan stated the $500,000 settlement between Epstein and Giuffre didn’t contain the prince and didn’t bar a go well with in opposition to him now.
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Giuffre sued the prince in August, saying she was coerced into sexual encounters with Andrew in 2001 by Epstein and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Andrew’s attorneys had stated the lawsuit lacked specificity and was disqualified by the deal she reached in 2009 with attorneys for Epstein. In addition they attacked the credibility and motives of Giuffre, saying in October that the lawsuit was aimed toward attaining “one other payday at his expense and on the expense of these closest to him.”
The prince’s attorneys have stated that Andrew by no means sexually abused or assaulted Giuffre and that he “unequivocally denies Giuffre’s false allegations in opposition to him.”
The prince himself has strenuously denied Giuffre’s allegations. In late 2019, Prince Andrew instructed BBC Newsnight that intercourse with Giuffre “didn’t occur” and he has “no recollection” of ever assembly her.
The interview was extensively panned by critics who stated Andrew appeared insensitive to Epstein’s victims. Afterward, the prince stepped again from royal duties.
On Wednesday, his attorneys didn’t instantly reply to messages looking for remark. Buckingham Palace instructed The Related Press that it will not touch upon the “ongoing authorized matter.”
Kaplan famous that he was required by legislation, at this stage of the litigation, to proceed as if the allegations made by Giuffre are true.
“The legislation prohibits the Courtroom from contemplating at this stage of the proceedings defendant’s efforts to solid doubt on the reality of Ms. Giuffre’s allegations, although his efforts can be permissible at trial,” Kaplan stated.
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Giuffre’s settlement with Epstein was reached a decade earlier than the financier killed himself at a Manhattan lockup as he awaited a intercourse trafficking trial in 2019.
However Kaplan wrote that there have been substantial indications within the $500,000 settlement that Epstein and Giuffre didn’t clearly intend for language to “straight,” “primarily,” or “considerably” profit somebody such because the prince. He famous that the prince was not a celebration to the settlement.
He additionally stated the settlement was “removed from a mannequin of clear and exact drafting.”
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The choose’s findings mirrored feedback he made throughout oral arguments by each side when he was notably dismissive of the arguments made on the prince’s behalf.
Epstein, 66, killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 whereas awaiting a intercourse trafficking trial, whereas Maxwell, 60, was just lately convicted of intercourse trafficking and conspiracy expenses in federal courtroom in New York. Giuffre’s allegations in opposition to Andrew weren’t part of both prison case.
The AP doesn’t sometimes determine individuals who say they’re victims of sexual assault except they select to come back ahead publicly, as Giuffre has.
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AP reporter Danica Kirka contributed from London.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
