The judge overseeing Prince Andrew’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit from Virginia Giuffre promised to hand down a ruling “very soon” after a heated hearing on Tuesday.
At the heart of the hearing was the confidential settlement Ms Giuffre signed in 2009 with Jeffrey Epstein, whom she accused of sex trafficking her as a teenager and forcing her to have sex with Prince Andrew.
The settlement was unsealed on Monday, revealing Ms Giuffre was paid 2009 and agreed to release Epstein and other “potential defendants” from liability in her claims.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Prince Andrew’s lawyers argued the agreement protects the Duke of York and should be grounds for dismissing her current suit against him.
Judge Lewis Kaplan pushed back hard at that assertion, saying there are multiple possible meanings under the settlement’s vague wording.
He also appeared to hand Ms Giuffre’s lawyers a key argument by noting the settlement bars “any other person” from using the deal in any other case - meaning that Prince Andrew may not be allowed to invoke it in his bid for dismissal.
At the end of the hearing, Judge Kaplan said he will decide if the case can move forward “very soon”.
