Legal document in Andrew civil sex case due to be made public
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A legal document the Duke of York’s lawyer believes will stop the civil sex lawsuit against the royal is expected to be unsealed and made public.
Andrew B Brettler, who represents the duke, had argued at a previous hearing that Virginia Giuffre, who is suing the Queen’s son for alleged sexual assault, had entered into a “settlement agreement” that would end her lawsuit.
The 2009 settlement agreement was reached between Ms Giuffre, also known as Virginia Roberts, and Andrew’s former friend and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr Brettler had previously told the New York hearing the agreement “releases Prince Andrew and others from any purported liability arising from the claims Ms Giuffre asserted against Prince Andrew here”.
US District Judge Lewis A Kaplan, who is presiding over the civil case, is due to hold a video teleconference on Tuesday when a request by the duke’s legal team to dismiss the case will be heard.
Ms Giuffre is suing the Queen’s son for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.
She is seeking unspecified damages, but there is speculation the sum could be in the millions of dollars.
She claims she was trafficked by disgraced financier Epstein to have sex with Andrew when she was aged 17 and a minor under US law.
Andrew has denied all the allegations.
Judge Kaplan last week denied a motion from Andrew’s lawyers to halt the civil proceedings while the issue of where Ms Giuffre lives is dealt with.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and Andrew’s friend, faces the rest of her life in jail after she was convicted last week of helping to procure teenage girls for the disgraced financier to sexually abuse.
