lrbw041115

The British Weekly, Sat. April 11, 2015Royal relief as judge ordersAndrew sex allegationsstruck from court recordn Allegations a 17-year-old was forced to sleep withPrince Andrew erasedn Virginia Roberts had attempted to join lawsuitagainst the U.S. governmentAllegations that a17-year-old was forced tohave sex with PrinceAndrew, whichprompted a crisis atBuckingham Palaceearlier this year, havebeen removed from afederal court case by ajudge in the US.Judge Kenneth Marraordered Virginia Roberts’saccusations aboutAndrew, the Duke of York,to be struck from therecord and denied herattempt to join a lawsuitagainst Jeffrey Epstein, afriend of the prince and aconvicted sex offender.“At this juncture in theproceedings, these luriddetails are unnecessary,”Marra wrote in his order,issued at the US districtcourtinsouthern Florida onTuesday morning. “Theseunnecessary details shallbe stricken.”‘immaterial’Andrew andBuckingham Palacevehemently denyRoberts’s allegations.Marra made no rulingor statement about theveracity of Roberts’sallegations. He said the“factual details regardingwith whom and where”she had sex were“immaterial andimpertinent” to herargument that she shouldbe allowed to join thelawsuit.However, Marra notedthat Roberts may yetappear as a witness whenthe long-running casefinally goes to trial.Brad Edwards, anattorney for Roberts, saidin a statement that herlegal team “absolutelyrespect” the judge’sruling, which hadrecognised Roberts’s rightto take part in the case as awitness. Roberts said: “I’mhappy to get to participatein this important case.”A Buckingham Palaceofficial said the Duke hadbeen informed ofthe Florida court’s rulingand was spending thisweek in private, beforeresuming his schedule ofpublic engagements nextweek.intense pressureHis spokesmandeclined to commentfurther but referred backto repeated palace denialsof Roberts claims,including a 3 Januarystatement that “it isemphatically denied thatthe Duke of York had anyform of sexual contact orrelationship with VirginiaRoberts. Any claim to thecontrary is false andwithout foundation.”Five court filings in theFlorida case, including adocument filed onDecember 30 last year inwhich Andrew was firstaccused,wereimmediately sealed fromthe public.The filing at that timeplaced Andrew underintense pressure, forcinghim to return to his homeat Windsor from Verbier inSwitzerland where he wason a skiing holiday with aparty including hisdaughter PrincessBeatrice.The duke only resumedpublic engagements at theWorld Economic Forum inDavos in late Januarywhere he was pursued byreporters and used a shortspeech “to reiterate and toreaffirm” the existingemphatic BuckinghamPalace denials of whatcourtiers described as“lurid and deeplypersonal” claims.plea agreementBuckingham Palacebroke with convention todirectly address the sexclaims, and Andrewapproved a statementwhich vehemently denied“any form of sexualcontact or relationshipwith Virginia Roberts”. Itcontinued: “Theallegations made are falseand without anyfoundation.”Roberts, who is referredto in the case only as JaneDoe 3, and a fourthwoman were seeking tojoin two other allegedvictims of Epstein in suingthe US government over aplea deal that federalprosecutors struck withthe hedge fund tycoon in2008.Under the pleaagreement, Epsteinpleaded guilty tosoliciting prostitutionfrom an underage girl. Hereceived an 18-month jailsentence and served 13months before beingreleased. He remains aregistered sex offender inFlorida and the US VirginIslands, where he lives ona private island.The agreement wascriticised as beingextraordinarily lenient byattorneys for a series ofwomen who allege thatEpstein sexually abusedthem when they wereunder the age of consent.The FBI, which took overthe investigation intoEpstein, said it hadidentified dozens ofpotential victims.Roberts has for yearsalleged that she travelledaround the world withEpstein as his “sex slave”and was made to have sexwith some of hisinfluential associates,including prominentpoliticians and royalty.defamation lawsuitMiss Roberts now faceslegal action fordefamation by anotherhigh-profile target of herallegations.Alan Dershowitz, theprominent US lawyerwhose clients haveincluded Mike Tyson andOJ Simpson, has said thathe will pursue adefamation case againstRoberts and her legalteam.IMMIGRATION ATTORNEYSTEVEN R. LANDAAL• Green Cards Through Marriage and Family• Employment VisasMonthly Payments AvailableMember, American ImmigrationLawyers Association1351 Third Street, Ste. 301 • Santa MonicaTel: (310) 395-2828 • email: SRL@LANDAAL.NETPage 3News from BritainfeelINg The sTRaIN: Andrew vehemently denied “any form of sexualcontact or relationship with Virginia Roberts”.heavy pRICe: Virginia Roberts, pictured with theprince, is now facing a defamation suit fromhigh-powered attorney Alan DershowitzMr Dershowitz, whowas named in the samecourt filings, has said thathe will pursue adefamation suit andhoped that Ms Robertswould be jailed forperjury if she repeated theallegations under oath."I'm confident that atthe end I'll be vindicatedand everybody willunderstand this is acompletely made-upstory," he told the NewYork Daily News.