New ruling says Prince Andrew can't halt abuse lawsuit

New York, New York – A judge has denied a motion from lawyers for Prince Andrew to halt proceedings in a civil lawsuit against the Queen's son while an issue of where his accuser lives is dealt with.

Prince Andrew is being sued for sexually assaulting a minor in connection with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Prince Andrew is being sued for sexually assaulting a minor in connection with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.  © Imago/I images

Earlier this week, Prince Andrew's lawyers had called for the US case against the British royal to be stopped because Virginia Giuffre is "actually domiciled in Australia."

Giuffre is suing Andrew for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.

But Judge Lewis Kaplan, in a ruling in New York dated on Friday, denied Andrew's lawyers' request, stating that Giuffre's legal team has previously received "at least one comprehensive request for documents relating to her domicile, to which responses are due, and have been promised, by January 14."

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The judge added that his ruling was being made "without determining the merit, or lack of merit" of an assertion by Giuffre's team that Andrew's lawyers' motion was "a transparent attempt to delay discovery into his own documents and testimony."

Giuffre claims she was trafficked by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with Andrew, and was pictured with the royal and his friend Ghislaine Maxwell during the period the alleged intercourse took place.

Oral arguments are scheduled for Monday

Jeffrey Epstein (l.) and Ghislaine Maxwell lounging in Queen’s log cabin at Balmoral after being "invited by Prince Andrew." According to reports, Prince Andrew hosted Epstein's entourage, though the prince vehemently denies any wrongdoing.
Jeffrey Epstein (l.) and Ghislaine Maxwell lounging in Queen’s log cabin at Balmoral after being "invited by Prince Andrew." According to reports, Prince Andrew hosted Epstein's entourage, though the prince vehemently denies any wrongdoing.  © imago/ZUMA Press

Giuffre has alleged in the past she had sex with Andrew in London and New York when she was aged 17, a minor, and again aged 18 on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein where an orgy took place.

Andrew has denied all the allegations.

Oral arguments via a video teleconference on the prince's request to dismiss the case are scheduled for Monday, the Associated Press reported.

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Prince Andrew's team has been asked to produce key documents to support an alibi that he did not have sex with Giuffre - including confirmation of a claim he did not sweat. Giuffre's legal team has requested a wealth of information as they probe his BBC Newsnight interview when he said he was visiting a Pizza Express on the day of the claimed sexual encounter.

His acquaintance Maxwell was convicted on Wednesday of helping to entice vulnerable teenagers to the properties of Epstein, her former boyfriend, for him to sexually abuse between 1994 and 2004.

She was labelled "dangerous" by the prosecution and faces the rest of her life in jail.

Her friendship with Andrew has seen renewed scrutiny of Giuffre's civil claim for damages against the duke.

Andrew was photographed, for the first time since Maxwell's conviction, driving himself in a Range Rover towards Windsor Castle at lunchtime on Friday.

Cover photo: Imago/I images

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