A judge on Tuesday was mostly dismissive of arguments by a lawyer for Britain’s Prince Andrew, who wants to win fast rejection of a lawsuit filed by a woman who says she was sexually trafficked to the royal by millionaire Jeffrey Epstein when she was 17.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan did not immediately rule at the end of a videoconference, but he made clear that he was not leaning Andrew’s way as he rejected much of the reasoning offered by the prince’s attorney, Andrew Brettler, who said the case “should absolutely be dismissed.”
Kaplan repeatedly shot down Brettler’s arguments or disputed them with other reasoning.
Photo: AFP
“So what?” Kaplan responded to one argument.
To another, he said: “I understand you are asserting that, but it doesn’t mean it’s correct.”
And to another: “Mr Brettler, I understand your point. It just isn’t the law.”
When the hearing concluded, Kaplan promised a ruling soon and said he appreciated the “arguments and the passion.”
The judge directed that the exchange of potential evidence in the case was to proceed as scheduled.
Virginia Giuffre sued the prince in August, saying she was coerced into sexual encounters with the prince in 2001 by Epstein and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Attorney David Boies, representing Giuffre, argued against dismissal of the lawsuit.
Epstein, 66, died in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting a sex trafficking trial, while Maxwell, 60, was convicted last week of sex trafficking and conspiracy charges in federal court in New York.
Giuffre’s allegations against Andrew were not a part of either criminal case.
The prince has strenuously denied Giuffre’s allegations.
During Tuesday’s arguments, Kaplan rejected Brettler’s assertion that Giuffre’s claims were too vague and that she failed to “articulate what happened to her at the hands of Prince Andrew.”
The judge read aloud a portion of the lawsuit in which Giuffre alleged “involuntary sexual intercourse.”
“There isn’t any doubt what that means,” Kaplan said.
When Brettler continued his claim that the lawsuit lacked sufficient facts to be allowed to proceed toward trial, Kaplan told him that a judge is required to accept the assertions in a lawsuit as true at this stage of the case.
During much of the hearing, which lasted more than an hour, Brettler argued that the prince is protected from being sued by a 2009 settlement agreement between Epstein and Giuffre.
The agreement, under which Epstein paid Giuffre US$500,000, was unsealed and became publicly available on Monday.
Under that deal, Giuffre agreed to release her claims against “potential defendants,” but the judge repeatedly disagreed with Brettler’s argument that the wording prevented her from suing the prince.
Kaplan said that there could be many interpretations of what constituted a potential defendant, and that the only parties who would know exactly what was intended were Giuffre and Epstein.
“This is an example where the word ‘potential’ is the use of a word to which you or I cannot find any meaning at all,” the judge said.
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