ANDREW’S 11TH-HR BID TO DODGE SEX CASE COURT FIGHT
Team to try ‘non-residents’ ploy
DESPERATE Prince Andrew was last night plotting a last-ditch bid to have the civil rape case against him thrown out as it was claimed his accuser will refuse any offer of an out of court settlement.
Virginia Giuffre, who alleges she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17, is said to want a trial to send a message that anyone “with power and privilege” accused of abusing young girls will face justice.
New York judge Lewis Kaplan’s decision on whether the Duke will face a full civil trial is expected soon.
He has already decided there is no case to answer on the “domicile argument” over Ms Giuffre’s residency in Australia but a source has told the Mirror that Andrew’s legal team “are not taking this lying down”.
TRIAL
His lawyers believe they have found a new angle to stop Ms Giuffre’s case, as federal law explicitly bans two parties who are not US residents facing each other in court.
The source said: “They believe they have a genuine argument to get this thrown out. If they can prove under federal law where Ms Giuffre has filed her case, that there is precedent not to bring a case where both parties are not US residents, then it should be halted immediately.”
Ms Giuffre, who claims she was trafficked by billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell, and forced to have sex with the Duke on three occasions in 2001, has lived in Australia since 2002.
Our source said: “Even if the judge rules that there is a case for a full trial, there is a long way to go.”
The Duke’s attorney, Andrew Brettler, said
Ms Giuffre was living in a £1million home in Perth, Australia, when she filed her lawsuit and had spent less than two years in the US since moving to Australia in 2002.
The claimant’s team has a deadline of January 14 to prove 38-year-old Ms Giuffre’s residency status.
Prince Andrew’s former wife Sarah,
They believe they have a genuine argument to get this case thrown out
62, yesterday declared it was “onwards and upwards” as she returned from a skiing holiday in Verbier, Switzerland, at the £17million chalet the Duke is having to sell to pay his legal bills, which have topped £2million.
The Duke has always “absolutely and categorically” denied the allegations against him. But the Queen will not pay her son’s costs and “would not assist” him in paying a financial settlement to Ms Giuffre.
It has been claimed a $5million – £3.7million – out of court settlement would be turned down by Ms Giuffre, leaving the Duke at risk of a far higher payout if her case goes ahead in the autumn and is settled by a jury.
Previously, Spencer Kuvin, a lawyer for some of Epstein’s victims, told the
Mirror if Andrew is found guilty the damages could “easily” top £14million.
He said: “A jury is not limited by anything. To punish somebody worth a billion dollars, you have got to hit them in their pockets and punish them accordingly.”
If Judge Kaplan does decide that the case should go to trial, insiders have said the option to settle out of court “remains on the table”. One source
said: “No discussions have been had regarding a financial settlement – the Duke wants to clear his name.
“This is a US civil litigation, being fought in a US court with US lawyers – and given that the vast majority of US civil litigation is settled out of court, it would always remain an option on the table.”
SOURCE ON BATTLE BY PRINCE’S LEGAL TEAM