Prince Andrew will soon face trial as US judge rejects motion to dismiss his accuser’s lawsuit against him
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Prince Andrew will soon face trial as US judge rejects motion to dismiss his accuser’s lawsuit against him
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Prince Andrew's bid to dismiss Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing her whilst she was a minor.
The decision was made public on Wednesday after the American judge ruled out the Duke of York's appeal, allowing Giuffre to pursue her claims that the late financier Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her and that Prince Andrew intentionally caused her emotional distress by having sex with her on multiple occasions.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Prince Andrew's motion to dismiss Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing her whilst she was a minor. Credit: Getty Images.
Kaplan cited the possibility that the 61-year-old royal could "cast doubt" on Giuffre's claims during trials and that Andrew's move was too "premature" to consider.
The judge also said that it is too early to decide whether Giuffre and Epstein "clearly and unambiguously" intended to name high profile personalities — like Prince Andrew — through a 2009 settlement agreement resolving Giuffre's lawsuit against the late financier.
The decision allows Giuffre's case against the Duke of York to push through for a trial, which could begin late this year.
Additionally, Kaplan wrote in his 44-page decision that the "muddled" language in Giuffre's and Epstein's 2009 settlement agreement suggested that the investigations may have arrived at "something of a middle ground" on whether to protect Andrew or other parties involved from future lawsuits.
An excerpt from the statement read: "We do not know what, if anything, went through the parties' minds," Kaplan wrote.
"The parties have articulated at least two reasonable interpretations of the critical language. The agreement therefore is ambiguous."
It should be noted that settlement agreements restrict complainants from pursuing further legal action, including lawsuits against third parties.
Giuffre was awarded $688,805 in the 2009 settlement.
The judge also rejected the Duke of York's motion to prevent Giuffre from suing him as Andrew claimed that the move violated his due process rights under New York's constitution.
The judge said that Giuffre had sued Andrew in August, less than a week before the state law giving plaintiffs a two-year window to bring claims over alleged acts of child abuse occurring long ago expired.
The window was extended by a year due to the pandemic, with Kaplan saying: "[It] is a reasonable measure for remedying injustice to victims of child sex abuse."
The Duke of York has previously denied Giuffre's allegations, claiming that he has never even met her.
Prince Andrew denied Giuffre’s allegations, claiming he has never met her before. Credit: US District Court - Southern Dis/AFP/Getty Images.
Giuffre claims that the royal forced her to have sex with him on multiple occasions when she was underage — at Epstein's properties in Manhattan and the British Virgin Islands and at Ghislaine Maxwell's home in London.
Lawyers for Prince Andrew and Giuffre did not respond to requests for comment.
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