As part of her sex attack lawsuit against Prince Andrew, lawyers for Prince Andrew’s accuser will request a deposition from the accused. Hearing heard today.
Attorneys for Virginia Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre, will request for the Duke of York to give testimony under oath and could do so ‘relatively promptly’.
David Boies, Mrs Giuffre’s lawyer, stated that he would like to depose between 8 and 12 people, while the Duke’s lawyers wanted to ask a similar number.
In a 10-minute hearing before a New York federal court, Mr Boies stated that the case was moving along despite delays caused by the refusal of the Duke to sign the legal paperwork.
The judge gave a tentative trial date of next October or September. This will put a shadow over The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee which will take place in June 2022 to mark 70 years since she was elected to the British throne.
Prince Andrew is pictured at Windsor’s Royal Chapel of All Saints on April 11, 2018.
Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts (17 years old), and Ghislaine Maxiwell are pictured in London in 2001
The hearing was held days after Andrew had filed his reply to Mrs Giuffre’s lawsuit alleging that he was accused of taking ‘another paycheck at his expense’.
Andrew claimed that Mrs Giuffre had ‘profited for years’ by selling stories about her claim that were ‘threadbares’ and ‘cobbled together.
Mrs Giuffre filed the lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein in August. She claims that Andrew forced her to have sex with her three times. This was in 2001, when she turned 17.
The civil case is being brought in New York by a federal court.
Andrew has always denied Virginia Giuffre’s claim that Andrew was trafficked to have sex three times with Jeffrey Epstein when she was 17.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew are seen on the Buckingham Palace balcony, June 2019,
Boies claimed that his list of 8-12 witnesses contained people he ‘cannot identify right now because we are not sure who will be able get, and that that investigation is ongoing’.
Virginia Giuffre is pictured following a hearing in New York’s Jeffrey Epstein case.
He stated, “We’d be willing to start some depositions relatively quickly, some (targets), won’t be identified for two months or more.”
Andrew Brettler, the Duke’s lawyer, said that he would request a similar amount of depositions.
Judge Lewis Kaplan inquired if either side expected to need letters rogatory or a formal request by him to the British legal authorities for someone to sit for depositions.
Mr Boies stated that there are two people in the United Kingdom who might need to be rogatory letters. They may be willing to appear. In the next 2 to 3 weeks, we should be able to find out.
Mr Brettler stated that he was not ruling out the possibility of making a similar request to the judge.
Sigrid McCawley was another lawyer for Mrs Giuffre and suggested that Andrew’s exwife Sarah Ferguson could be questioned for a deposition.
Judge Kaplan stated that he was “looking at the possibility” of September, in any event October to December, for the trial, but he could not set a date.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s alleged madam (pictured together) and former close friend of Andrew, is accused of procuring and trafficking underage girls to Epstein – which she denies
The hearing did not address the challenges made by the Duke to Mrs Giuffre’s claims, including a 2009 settlement she reached with Epstein that may have given Andrew legal immunity.
The judge also did not address any of the Duke’s claims in his answer, including an article from New York Daily News dated 2015 in which friends of Mrs Giuffre said she was ‘not the sex slave, but the money-hungry sexual kitten’.
The hearing took place two week before the trial of GhislaineMaxwell, Epstein’s alleged madam. This trial, which was a former close friend, is scheduled to begin.
Maxwell, 59 is accused of trafficking underage girls into Epstein with the knowledge that they would be abused. She denies all allegations.