Lawyers representing a woman who accused Prince Andrew of sexual abuse are demanding that she hand over documents explaining why she is not sweating.
Virginia Giuffre’s legal team requested a great deal of information from Andrew’s lawyers in response to her interview with BBC Newsnight in 2019 when she said she visited a Pizza Express on the day of the alleged sexual encounter.
Giuffre is suing the Queen’s son for allegedly sexually assaulting her as a teenager. She claims she was trafficked by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with the duke, and was photographed with the king and his friend Ghislaine Maxwell during the period in which the alleged sexual relationship is said to have taken place.
Andrew has denied all allegations.
In the Newsnight interview, Andrew claimed that he never broke a sweat on a dance floor with Giuffre in 2001, an argument used as evidence that he had never met her.
Giuffre’s lawyers said in court documents that they want Prince Andrew to give them information about his “alleged medical inability to sweat.”
“If Prince Andrew really has no documents regarding his communications with Maxwell or Epstein, his trip to Florida, New York or various places in London, his alleged medical inability to sweat, or anything to support the alibis he gave during his interview with the BBC. , then proceeding with the discovery will not be a burden on him at all, ”the documents state.
Andrew claimed that he did not sweat because he had an “adrenaline overdose in the Falklands war, when I was shot … it was almost impossible for me to sweat.”
In court documents, Giuffre’s lawyers also request information from royalty, including documents on “allegations of sexual abuse” or “extramarital sex” against the duke.
This week, Maxwell was found guilty on five out of six counts for her involvement in Epstein’s sexual abuse of teenage girls. Prosecutors said Maxwell “preyed on vulnerable girls, manipulated them and handed them over to be sexually abused.” He is expected to receive a significant prison sentence and is expected to appeal.
The documents presented by Giuffre’s attorneys include a list of what they want from Andrew during the discovery process, a pre-trial procedure whereby each party can obtain evidence from the other.
One of the requests is for “all documents related to your presumed medical condition of anhidrosis, hypohidrosis, or your inability to sweat.”
Andrew’s attorney, Andrew Brettler, has rejected this request on the grounds that it is “harassing and seeks confidential and private information and documents that are irrelevant, immaterial and not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.”
Giuffre’s lawyers also want information about Andrew’s schedules and meetings in 2001, when the alleged abuse occurred. Another request made is for “all documents related to the defendant’s travel to or from, or his presence in or on: a) Epstein’s aircraft; b) Florida; c) New York; d) New Mexico; e) the United States Virgin Islands; f) a Pizza Express located in Woking, England; or g) the Club Tramp nightclub, located in London, England ”.
Pizza Express is where the duke said he was the night Giuffre claims they had sex in London. Another request is for communications between Andrew and Epstein or Maxwell and their attorneys about “sexual abuse,” a request rejected by Andrew’s attorneys as “too broad, burdensome, and oppressive.”
Andrew’s legal team has rejected requests for the documents, citing various reasons, including that the information is protected from disclosure by privacy rights under the U.S. Constitution and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. . His attorneys also claim in documents filed with a New York court that some of the requested documents are already publicly available.
www.theguardian.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism