Prince Andrew made a “terrible mistake” by reaching a multimillion-dollar settlement with his sex accuser in a case he could have easily won at trial, a former lawyer for pedophile Jeffrey Epstein claimed on Tuesday.
Alan Dershowitz speculated that Andrew’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, had discouraged him from pursuing the case against his longtime accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
“I think [Andrew] make a huge mistake. I suspect he was pressured by his mother to make that mistake,” Dershowitz told Times Radio Tuesday.
“If he had fought the case, I believe he would have won,” said the one-time Harvard Law professor, who also previously accused Giuffre of having sex with him before saying he “may have made a mistake.”
“I believe the case would have been dismissed for a variety of reasons, but he didn’t want to sit through a deposition, or the people around him didn’t want him to sit through a deposition and so he settled the case.”
Dershowitz, 85, points out that “often you settle cases, not because you’re guilty of what you’re charged with, but because you don’t want to admit to something else you’ve done.”
The high-profile attorney has represented Epstein since 2008 and was instrumental in brokering a “non-prosecution agreement” on the underage sex charge that year. It led to a controversial plea deal in which Epstein was allowed to plead guilty to charges of soliciting minors for prostitution.
Prince Andrew could win a civil case against his accusers at trial, Jeffrey Epstein’s former lawyer has claimed. Getty Images Alan Dershowitz says Andrew made a “terrible mistake” by paying Virginia Roberts Giuffre a $12 million settlement. Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Dershowitz’s name appears more than 130 times in a batch of court records that began to be released last week.
Giuffre once accused Dershowitz of having sex with her when she was underage. But in November he agreed to drop a defamation lawsuit against her, admitting that he “may have made a mistake” in naming her as one of the public figures he forced to have sex with.
“The reason I’m ready to fight is because I live a completely clean life,” Dershowitz said in a Times Radio interview Tuesday. “Ask me anything you want about my sex life and the answer will always be the same: my wife, my wife, my wife.”
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Giuffre also claims in the civil suit that she was ordered to have sex with Andrew three separate times, starting when she was 17, after she was recruited by Epstein and his Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Duke of York reportedly wanted to have his day in court, but eventually he was pressured to pay Giuffre an estimated $12 million settlement in February 2022 to end the scandal – with some of the cash said to come from the Queen’s own coffers, the Telegraph reported.
Giuffre, pictured with Andrew’s hand on her waist, claimed she had sex with the royal three times. DOJ
Dershowitz said in an interview that he felt “sorry” for the prince, saying that his accusers may have been “over the age of consent” and not minors.
“He apparently bragged about it to his friends, and he raised millions and millions of dollars for it,” Dershowitz said. “Yes, I feel sorry for him.”
Carolyn Andriano, another of Epstein’s accusers, testified at Maxwell’s trial that in 2001, Giuffre texted her from London, saying “You’ll never guess who I’m with…” and then showed her a photo of Andrew with his arm around her waist .
Epstein died by suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
