A US judge has ruled that legal papers relating to a sexual assault lawsuit can be served to Prince Andrew via his LA-based lawyers.
The Duke of York, 61, has been accused of “actively evading” formal efforts to serve him with a lawsuit on behalf of Virginia Giuffre, who launched legal proceedings against him last month.
She has accused Prince Andrew of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress over alleged misconduct from about two decades ago.
Ms Giuffre, 38, was underage at the time of the alleged abuse, which she said occurred around the time the financier Jeffrey Epstein was sexually abusing her.
Her legal team sought intervention from district judge Lewis Kaplan, with lawyers accusing the duke of dodging the papers, likening it to a “game of hide and seek behind palace walls”.
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Prince Andrew’s lawyers appear in NY court
In a blow to the duke – who denies all wrongdoing – Judge Kaplan said the plan to deliver the lawsuit to the prince’s Los Angeles-based lawyer was “reasonably calculated to bring the papers served to the defendant’s attention”, regardless of whether the prince “authorised” the lawyer to accept it.
Lawyers for Ms Giuffre have argued they already properly served Prince Andrew in England, when a copy of the lawsuit was left with a police officer guarding the duke’s home in Windsor.
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It comes a day after the High Court in London said it would arrange for Andrew to be served if the parties failed to work out their own arrangement.
“We are grateful that the court has granted alternative service on Prince Andrew. This moves the case forward,” Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for Ms Giuffre, said in an emailed statement.
Prince Andrew’s lawyer Andrew Brettler had no immediate comment.
Ms Giuffre alleges she was trafficked for sex by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell while she was 17 and that the duke had sex with her on three occasions – once at Maxwell’s London home, at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, and on a private island belonging to Epstein in the US Virgin Islands.
The civil lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
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Separately, a different US judge has ruled that Prince Andrew can seek the unsealing of a 2009 agreement his legal team claims shields him from the sexual assault lawsuit.
Loretta A Preska said in a written order that the duke can seek details of the settlement between Ms Giuffre and Epstein to which Andrew was not party.
Mr Brettler said he believes the settlement agreement “absolves our client from any and all liability”.
The prince stepped down from royal duties when details emerged about his relationship with 66-year-old Epstein, a registered sex offender who committed suicide while in prison in New York in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump have agreed to two head-to-head live televised debates in June and September.
After months of speculation about whether the traditional presidential debates would go ahead, the US broadcaster CNN has announced that a primetime debate will take place at its global headquarters in Atlanta on 27 June at 9pm.
ABC will host a second debate, scheduled for 10 September, just under two months before the election on 5 November.
For weeks, former President Trump has been using social media and rallies to goad President Biden into taking part in a debate.
“Anytime. Anywhere. Anyplace,” Mr Trump has repeatedly said.
Amid speculation over whether President Biden would be prepared to expose himself to the pressure and jeopardy of a live debate, the president used a radio interview in late April to confirm he would be “happy” to.
“I am happy to debate him,” he said. “I am, somewhere. I don’t know when,” he told SiriusFM radio host Howard Stern.
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That revelation prompted back-channel conversations between staff from the two campaigns to agree a format.
The debates will bypass the presidential debate commission that traditionally coordinates the process.
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Mr Biden’s team have insisted that the two debates do not include a live audience, a move the Trump team are understood to have agreed to.
An hour before CNN announced that it would host the first debate, President Biden released a clip on X confirming his willingness to take part.
“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate,” President Biden said.
“Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice. So let’s pick the dates, Donald.”
In a jibe at Mr Trump’s court case in New York, which doesn’t sit on Wednesdays, Mr Biden added: “I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.”
‘He can’t put two sentences together’
Donald Trump responded with a lengthy statement on his own social media platform, Truth Social.
“Crooked Joe Biden is the WORST debater I have ever faced – He can’t put two sentences together! Crooked is also the WORST President in the history of the United States, by far,” he said.
“It’s time for a debate so that he can explain to the American People his highly destructive Open Border Policy, new and ridiculous EV Mandates, the allowance of Crushing Inflation, High Taxes, and his really WEAK Foreign Policy which is allowing the World to ‘Catch on Fire.'”
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The former president continued: “I am Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September.
“I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds – That’s only because he doesn’t get them. Just tell me when, I’ll be there. ‘Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!'”
The summer and autumn clashes, to be moderated by as-yet unannounced star anchors, promise to be box office occasions with huge jeopardy for both candidates.
The weapons supervisor for the Western film Rust is appealing against her conviction for involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on set, according to court documents.
She was in charge of weapons during the production of the film in October 2021, when a Colt 45 revolver fired by actor and co-producer Alec Baldwin went off during a rehearsal.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died, while director Joel Souza was injured.
A defence lawyer for Gutierrez, who is serving an 18-month sentence at a prison for women in New Mexico, filed a shortly worded appeal notice on Monday.
Her legal team has 30 days to submit detailed arguments. They previously requested a new trial following the verdict.
Gutierrez’s trial was told she unwittingly brought live ammunition to the set, where it was expressly prohibited, and failed to follow basic gun safety protocols.
During her sentencing hearing, she told the court she had tried to do her best while working on the production, despite not having “proper time, resources and staffing”.
Baldwin, who was a producer for the film as well as its star, has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter.
He maintains he pulled back the gun’s hammer – but not the trigger – before it fired, and is set to face trial in July. He denies any wrongdoing.
The 66-year-old was originally charged in January 2023, more than a year after the shooting, but those charges were dropped a few months later. He was charged again in January this year.
His legal team has filed a motion calling for the charges to be dropped. Prosecutors responded with a 32-page documentclaiming that footage of the star on set shows he had “absolutely no control of his own emotions” and “no concern for how his conduct” affected those around him.
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Assistant director David Halls, who also faced charges, entered a plea bargain for negligent use of a deadly weapon last year, receiving a six-month suspended sentence.
A man who scooped a $1.35bn lottery win is said to be embroiled in a legal battle – with his own family.
The Mega Millions winner, who has not been named but is believed to hail from the US state of Maine, won the fourth-largest jackpot in US history last year (worth around £1.07bn).
But the story has only grown more complex since then, and the man is now involved in legal proceedings with two members of his family, US media outlet The Daily Beast reports.
He is said to have sued his daughter’s mother for allegedly revealing his newfound wealth to other members of his family in what he claimed was a violation of a non-disclosure agreement.
The lottery winner has also reportedly demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties, claiming that his child’s mother told his father, sister and stepmother about his big windfall.
But in recent court filings, the woman alleged that the man himself told his father and stepmother about the win, The Daily Beast reported.
Her lawyers said this “shatters the remaining shards” of the lawsuit.
The unnamed lottery winner’s father has also now apparently become involved in the legal proceedings, alleging that his son misled him about a number of things since the win.
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“I understand that my son has stated that he told me nothing about his money ‘other than the simple fact that I had won.’ That is not true,” he is quoted as saying in a declaration.
His dad adds that his son “told me a number of things he planned on doing with his money,” even though he never asked him for anything, The Daily Beast also reported.
These allegedly included building a new garage for his father as well as buying old cars to fix up.