LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine): As part of his official response to Virginia Giuffre’s sexual assault complaint, Prince Andrew has requested a jury trial and disputed the claims against him.
He “demands a jury trial on all causes of action alleged in the complaint,” according to court filings filed in New York.
Ms Giuffre claims the Duke of York forced her to have sex at Ghislaine Maxwell’s London house. This happened more than 20 years ago.
In a civil case in the United States, Ms Giuffre who is 38 years old, known as Virginia Roberts, formerly, is suing the duke who is 61 years old.
He has, at every opportunity, vehemently denied the charges levelled against him.
Ms Giuffre accuses the duke of subjecting her to “sexual assault and battery” and that she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with Andrew when she was merely 17 of age.
Between the years 2000 and 2002, the alleged crimes were allegedly committed in Maxwell’s home, Jeffery Epstein’s mansion in New York, and his private island.
Andrew’s attorneys formally spelled out his answer to numerous claims in Wednesday’s filing, saying he denied all sexual assault alegations.
There are also 12 defences listed in the paper.
The suit should be rejected for a variety of reasons, including Ms Giuffre’s residency in Australia, the passage of time, “her own illegal conduct,” and the fact that she lost her rights after an agreement was signed by her with Epstein.
The document also attempts to disprove Ms Giuffre’s lawsuit’s Clause 38, which claims that a picture of Ms Giuffre as teenagers and Prince Andrews, with Ghislaine Maxwell, proves he knew her.
“The below photograph depicts Prince Andrew, Plaintiff, and Maxwell at Maxwell’s home prior to Prince Andrew sexually abusing Plaintiff.” according to Clause 38.
Prince Andrew has inadequate information to refute or admit the allegation included in paragraph 38 of the Complaint, Andrew’s lawyers said.
A date for trail has been set for September and December of this year.
Prince Andrew tried unsuccessfully earlier this month to have the case dismissed using the 2009 agreement.
Ms Giuffre lost all her rights to sue as soon as a $500,000 settlement was signed by her, his lawyers argued.
It includes an agreement for Epstein and “any other person or entity who could have been listed as a possible defendant” to be “released, acquitted, satisfied, and forever discharged.”
However, the duke’s request was rejected by the judge and he decided that the lawsuit may proceed.
