New Straits Times

SWIFT WINS DEEJAY GROPING SUIT

Court throws out his claim that singer got him fired

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DENVER legal team and family members with bear hugs in the courtroom.

Mueller sat alone at the plaintiff’s table, appearing sombre as he sipped a glass of water.

Friday’s decision capped the fifth day of a trial highlighte­d by vivid testimony from Swift charging that Mueller clutched her bare buttocks during a pre-concert fan reception in 2013 against Mueller’s assertion under oath that he did no such thing.

The judge had tossed out Mueller’s defamation-of-character claim against Swift before the trial, ruling that the former Denver deejay had waited too long to file suit under the statute of limitation­s.

On Friday, Swift’s former bodyguard corroborat­ed her account of being groped by Mueller, testifying that he saw the radio personalit­y slip his hand under the singer’s skirt as they posed together for a photo with Mueller’s then-girlfriend.

Lawyers for both sides rested their respective cases after the ex-girlfriend, Shannon Melcher, took the stand as the final witness to deny seeing Mueller inappropri­ately touch Swift during the picture-taking session. But she added: “I don’t have eyes in the back of my head.”

After jurors were excused for the day, Swift’s lawyer, J. Douglas Baldridge, asked the judge to throw out Mueller’s two remaining legal claims — disruption of his US$150,000-a-year employment contract and interferen­ce with his future earnings.

Swift has said her representa­tives lodged a complaint with KYGO management about the alleged groping, but insisted she never demanded Mueller be fired.

Although Martinez agreed to dismiss both claims as they related to Swift, he kept the contract claim intact for Swift’s two co-defendants — her mother, Andrea and her radio station liaison Frank Bell.

The eight-member jury also will be left to decide whether Mueller is liable for assault and battery, for which Swift is seeking a symbolic US$1 in damages.

Swift, known for baring her soul and her grudges in her music, by all accounts was the undisputed star witness of her own trial, giving Performers preparing to dedicate their dance to a temple before the Awa Odori festival in Tokushima, Japan, yesterday. The four-day dance festival attracts more than 1.2 million people annually. an unflinchin­g account of the incident in question on Thursday.

In unvarnishe­d language that occasional­ly drew titters in the courtroom, even from some jurors, Swift testified that she was the victim of a “devious and sneaky act”.

Greg Dent, Swift’s bodyguard and a former police officer bolstered her narrative when he took the stand on Friday.

“I was definitely sure that he had been drinking. I don’t know what level. He wasn’t staggering or falling down.”

The photo, repeatedly displayed in court, shows Swift flanked by Mueller and Melcher, all three smiling for the camera. Mueller has his right hand concealed behind Swift’s backside, and she appears to have shifted her hip away from him.

Following Dent to the stand was Mueller’s longtime friend and former co-host at KYGO-FM, Ryan Kliesch. He repeatedly answered “no” when asked by McFarland if he had ever seen Mueller disrespect, demean, condescend or act inappropri­ately toward women.

The jury was due to return tomorrow for closing arguments in the case. Reuters

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 ?? DM PIC ?? The photo, repeatedly displayed in court, showing Taylor Swift flanked by David Mueller and Shannon Melcher. Mueller has his right hand concealed behind Swift’s back, and she appears to have shifted her hip away from him.
DM PIC The photo, repeatedly displayed in court, showing Taylor Swift flanked by David Mueller and Shannon Melcher. Mueller has his right hand concealed behind Swift’s back, and she appears to have shifted her hip away from him.

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