A legal document the Duke of York’s lawyer believes will stop the civil sex lawsuit against the royal has been released.
Mark Watts tweeted: “JUST OUT: Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s previously sealed settlement agreement with Jeffrey Epstein.
She undertook not to sue “any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant.”
“Prince Andrew says that he is such a person.”
$500,000 payout
The 2009 settlement agreement was reached between Virginia Giuffre, also known as Virginia Roberts, and Andrew’s former friend and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The 12-page document which was unsealed and made public by a New York court on Monday afternoon revealed the terms of a 500,000 US dollars (£370,000) payout from Epstein to Ms Giuffre.
The document details Ms Giuffre agreed to “release, acquit, satisfy, and forever discharge” Epstein and “any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant”.
The document continues: “It is further agreed that this Settlement Agreement represents a final resolution of a disputed claim and is intended to avoid litigation.
“This settlement agreement shall not be construed to be an admission of liability or fault by any party.
“The parties further confirm and acknowledge that this Settlement Agreement is being entered into without any duress or undue influence, and that they have had a full and complete opportunity to discuss the terms of the Settlement Agreement with their own attorneys.”
Andrew B Brettler, who represents Andrew, has argued that Ms Giuffre, who is suing the Queen’s son for alleged sexual assault, had entered into a “settlement agreement” that would end her lawsuit.
New York
He previously told a 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.
Reactions
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The Mirror’s Kevin Maguire tweeted: “Prince Andrew called himself “honourable”. He’s using a legal process initiated by his old friend Jeffrey Epstein to defend him rather than addressing the substance of the allegations.”
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Nazir Afzal tweeted: “With release of “settlement” between Epstein & Prince Andrew’s accuser, we see he is relying on “potential defendants” as his get out clause Well he never met her, he was in Pizza Express, so it’s difficult for him to argue he was a “potential deft” You can’t have your cake….”
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Simon Patterson tweeted: “There’s a point when you have to wonder why an accused paedophile is trying to use loopholes rather than just trying to defend himself. Especially when it’s all taxpayer funded.”
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Related: Andrew can’t halt lawsuit with last-ditch claim as legal document in civil sex case be made public