Prince Andrew accuser's U.S. residency at issue in her sex abuse suit against him
New York — Lawyers for Virginia Giuffre filed their response to papers earlier this week in which Andrew's lawyers say she's really living in Australia, where she has resided for all but two of the last 19 years.
Lawyers for the prince said the lawsuit she filed in August in Manhattan federal court in which she claimed the prince sexually abused her on multiple occasions in 2001 shouldn't proceed until it's determined whether she's qualified by residency to file the U.S. lawsuit.
They've already asked a judge to toss out the lawsuit on multiple grounds, saying the prince never sexually assaulted Giuffre.
The prince's attorney, Andrew Brettler, has called the lawsuit "baseless."
But lawyers for Giuffre called the action by Andrew's attorneys to temporarily halt progression of the lawsuit toward trial a "transparent attempt to delay discovery into his own documents and testimony."
They said the prince has claimed he has no documents that would be responsive to the majority of requests by Giuffre's lawyers, including of any communications with British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell or the late financier Jeffrey Epstein or relating to his trips to Florida, New York or various locations in London.
And they said he's also denied having documents supporting a claim that he has a medical inability to sweat, an alibi he offered in a media interview.
But The Telegraph, a British newspaper, reports that they're asking Andrew to submit any medical reports about that claimed condition.
As for Giuffre's residence, her attorneys said her domicile is in Colorado, where her mother resides, and noted that she is registered to vote there. They said those facts and additional evidence establish her Colorado citizenship.
A message seeking comment was sent to attorneys for the prince.
Maxwell, 60, was convicted Wednesday of sex trafficking and conspiracy charges after a month-long trial. Her lawyers had argued that she was made a scapegoat by the U.S. government after Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan federal lockup in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell was arrested a year later.
In October, British police decided not to take any further action against Andrew after reviewing evidence presented to the New York court by Giuffre.
Mark Stephens, a British lawyer who has followed the case closely, says London police were aware that because it isn't illegal in the U.K. to have sex with a 17-year-old, they would have had to prove that Andrew knew Giuffre was trafficked in order to prosecute the royal. He said the Met's decision shows they apparently didn't believe there was enough evidence to prove that.
