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Secret Epstein settlement with Prince Andrew accuser to be made public
Jeffrey Epstein’s confidential deal with Virginia Giuffre was unsealed by a New York court on Monday, revealing she was set to collect $500,000 from the financier in 2009.
Lawyers of Prince Andrew have said that the agreement protects the Duke of York from claims brought by Ms Giuffre and will be grounds for the sexual assault lawsuit’s dismissal.
The prince’s lawyers, led by Andrew B Brettler, made their case at a hearing overseen by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Tuesday morning.
Ms Giuffre, in the court documents, says that she was a victim of sex trafficking and abuse by Epstein from the age of 16. She has said that part of the abuse involved being lent out to other powerful men — including Prince Andrew.
She has accused him of sexually assaulting her on three occasions when she was under the age of 18, a claim the Duke has denied.
Judge Kaplan is to decide within days whether the secret settlement with Epstein shields Prince Andrew from liability.
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Show latest update 1641310234 Duke’s lawyers demand more specificity in lawsuit
Prince Andrew’s lawyer Mr Brettler is now calling for Virginia Giuffre to provide more details on her allegations in the lawsuit itself instead of waiting for trial.
He noted that her lawsuit does not provide a specific timeline for each of the three alleged sexual assaults, among other details.
Judge Kaplan, however, did not agree.
“She has no obligation to do that in the complaint,” the judge replied.
Megan Sheets 4 January 2022 15:30
1641309765 Prince Andrew’s lawyers and judge grapple over settlement wording
Prince Andrew’s legal team and Judge Lewis Kaplan are currently grappling over a single word in Virginia Giuffre’s 12-page settlement with Jeffrey Epstein.
The section at issue shows Ms Giuffre agreed to “release, acquit, satisfy, and forever discharge” Epstein and “any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant” in legal action brought by her.
The prince’s attorney Andrew B Brettler is arguing that his client is covered under the phrase “potential defendant” because Ms Giuffre alleged he was aware she was a victim of sex trafficking and furthered abuse against her.
Judge Kaplan, however, is questioning whether Prince Andrew counts as a “potential defendant” because she had accused him of abuse before the settlement was signed, meaning the word “potential” wouldn’t apply to him.
The judge said at the core of the dispute is how “potential” was defined at the time the settlement was signed.
Megan Sheets 4 January 2022 15:22
1641308210 Hearing to begin at 10am EST
The hearing where Prince Andrew’s lawyers will argue to have Virginia Giuffre’s case against him dismissed is set to begin in a few minutes at 10am EST.
It take place via teleconference with US District Judge Lewis Kaplan presiding.
Stay with The Independent for more updates.
Megan Sheets 4 January 2022 14:56
1641306162 When will we find out if the case will go forward?
The 2009 agreement included a general release that would "forever discharge" various people who "could have been included as a potential defendant" in a civil lawsuit that Giuffre had filed against Epstein in Florida, where the financier also had a home.
Judge Kaplan who is overseeing the case is unlikely to rule immediately during Tuesday’s oral arguments, which will be held remotely.
Prince Andrew has also accused Giuffre of seeking another “payday” in her campaign against Epstein and former associates like Maxwell, from whom she sought $50 million in a since-settled 2015 defamation lawsuit.
Ms Giuffre is represented by David Boies of Boies Schiller & Flexner. Mr Boies on Monday said Prince Andrew was not a “potential defendant” covered by Giuffre’s settlement because the prince could not have been sued in Florida and the case there did not concern him.
Thomas Kingsley 4 January 2022 14:22
1641304831 Could the lawsuit lead to criminal jeopardy for Andrew?
Prince Andrew has not been charged criminally, and no criminal charges could result from Ms Giuffre's lawsuit since it is a civil case.
Andrew repeatedly declined requests by federal prosecutors in the United States for an interview about their probe into Epstein's sex trafficking, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman said in June 2020.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office declined to comment on Monday. It was not clear if prosecutors still want to talk to Andrew.
Diplomats are often entitled to a certain degree of legal immunity in the countries in which they are posted. Heads of state - such as Prince Andrew‘s mother, Queen Elizabeth II - are entitled to a degree of immunity as well.
Andrew does not appear to fit either category, said Craig Barker, a law professor at London South Bank University.
“There’s nothing I can see in the law that would suggest that he would have any entitlement to immunity whatsoever, whether that be in civil or indeed in criminal matters,” Mr Barker said
Thomas Kingsley 4 January 2022 14:00
1641303411 What we know about Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit against Britain’s Prince Andrew
Giuffre, also known as Virginia Roberts, sued Andrew in New York in 2021 claiming that he sexually assaulted and battered her. Giuffre said Andrew forced her to have intercourse at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite and Epstein's longtime associate and at properties owned by Epstein.
Andrew's lawyers have called the lawsuit "baseless" and accused her seeking a payday. They have argued that Giuffre signed away her right to sue the prince in her 2009 settlement with Epstein.
The litigation is at an early stage. Any trial in the civil case would likely begin between September and December 2022 if Andrew and Giuffre do not reach a settlement before then.
The settlement agreement is important because it said "any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant from all, and all manner of, action and actions of Virginia Roberts" was released from liability.
David Boies, a lawyer for Giuffre, on Monday called the liability release in the 2009 settlement "irrelevant" to the case against Andrew.
Thomas Kingsley 4 January 2022 13:36
1641301231 Who is leading Prince Andrew’s legal team?
Prince Andrew has hired powerful Hollywood lawyer Andrew B Brettler to represent him in a civil lawsuit alleging he sexually assaulted a woman when she was 17 years old.
Mr Brettler is a senior partner with Lavely & Singer and has represented several celebrities accused of sexual assault, including Armie Hammer and Danny Masterson of That 70s Show.
Our reporter Bevan Hurley has the full story below:
Prince Andrew hires top Hollywood lawyer to help him fight Epstein victim lawsuit Prince Andrew has strengthened his legal team as he tries to have a civil lawsuit alleging he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old thrown out
Thomas Kingsley 4 January 2022 13:00
1641298767 ICYMI: Prince Andrew should go to prison, says Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s father
The father of a woman who claims Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her as a 17-year-old has said the royal should go to prison.
Sky Roberts said the Duke of York must be held accountable for his alleged crimes against Virginia Roberts Guiffre, whose lawyers claimed to have successfully served legal papers against him in her civil lawsuit.
“I would like to see him go to prison for at least a little while,” Mr Roberts told ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Monday.
“He needs to know what it’s like to be held accountable for his actions. This is not the times of William Wallace when royals can just do whatever they want.”
Our reporter, Tim Wyatt, has the full story below:
Prince Andrew should go to prison, says Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s father Duke of York no longer living in world when ‘royals can just do whatever they want’
Thomas Kingsley 4 January 2022 12:19
1641296547 Epstein settlement document ‘bizarre’ says top lawyer
American attorney Lisa Bloom has called the 2009 Epstein settlement document with Virginia Giuffre “bizarre” and contains language that should never be allowed in a settlement agreement.
“Contracts must be clear and specific. This is incomprehensibly vague,” Ms Bloom wrote on Twitter. She added: “Virginia can never sue any others who wronged her, because she settled with Epstein? This makes no sense, and flies in the face of NY law which grants sexual abuse survivors more time to sue.”
Thomas Kingsley 4 January 2022 11:42
1641294518 Voices | Powerful men who have escaped scrutiny may well be alarmed by the Maxwell verdict
for a legal case of some complexity, the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell was done and dusted with surprising dispatch.
After a trial lasting less than three weeks, the jury spent just 40 hours on its deliberations before returning five guilty verdicts and only one acquittal on the charges of grooming and sex-trafficking before it, writes Mary Dejevsky.
Read the full voices piece below:
Powerful men may well be alarmed by the Maxwell verdict | Mary Dejevsky Prosecutors and judges habitually brandish the spectre of draconian sentences in the hope that the defendant or, in this case, the guilty individual, will spill the beans on related cases, writes Mary Dejevsky
Thomas Kingsley 4 January 2022 11:08
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