The sexual abuse case against Prince Andrew has taken yet another unexpected turn, as the US judge has finally given his legal team permission to view the settlement that took place between Virginia Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein in 2009.
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Giuffre, Epstein and the Prince
Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in 2019, was also accused of sexual assault by Giuffre who claims that he trafficked her when she was underage to have sex with Prince Andrew. Furthermore, the now 38-year-old says that the Prince assaulted her in three different locations.
The British royal and his legal team have been adamantly denying all the allegations, and are now looking for a way to dissolve the case altogether. They believe that having access to the agreement will allow them to do just that.
Confidential files
According to the BBC, his lawyers said that in the settlement Giuffre agreed that she would not go after any of Epstein’s contacts who were linked to the case. His lawyer, Andrew B Brettler, said during the pre-trial hearing last month:
There has been a settlement agreement that the plaintiff has entered into in a prior action that releases the duke and others from any and all potential liability.
Although Giuffre's team have been ordered to share the files, they do not believe it will help their case in any way. David Boies, the accuser's lawyer, said:
Although we believe that the release is irrelevant to the case against Prince Andrew, now that service has been accepted and the case is proceeding to a determination on the merits, we believe that counsel for Prince Andrew have a right to review the release and to make whatever arguments they believe appropriate based on it.
