Legal Expert Explains How Prince Andrew's Demand For A Jury Trial Could Complicate His Situation - Exclusive
Prince Andrew's legal drama is charging on as his sexual assault case involving accuser Virginia Giuffre continues to hit the headlines. Giuffre has accused the royal, who is the son of Queen Elizabeth II, of sexual assault and filed a civil lawsuit against him in August 2021.
The lawsuit was filed in the US, with Giuffre alleging in legal documents that, at the age of 17, she was purportedly taken to the U.K. with the intention of meeting with Andrew, Duke of York, per BBC. She also alleged that she was assaulted by Andrew in both London and New York in a link to the infamous sexual abuse case against the disgraced late Jeffery Epstein.
Andrew has repeatedly and vehemently denied the allegations made against him, and made a big decision regarding the high-profile legal case in January. Andrew, who's the brother of Prince Charles, demanded a jury trial for when the case hits the courtroom in an 11-page filing, in which he again denied the allegations via his lawyers, per CNN. "Prince Andrew denies that he was a co-conspirator of Epstein or that Epstein trafficked girls to him," his attorneys claimed in the document.
Now though, we're learning more about why the prince's request for a jury could actually complicate his situation somewhat...
Why did Prince Andrew request a jury trial?
Nicki Swift spoke to Beverly Hills entertainment attorney Mitra Ahouraian about Prince Andrew's Virginia Giuffre case, with Ahouraian explaining that because Andrew is in the public eye, "he's in a position where he should want this to go away as quickly as possible" though that's "competing with the fact that he wants this to go away by establishing that he didn't do it." Ahouraian continued, "If he wants to actually clear his name, this could be going on for a year or more and this request for a jury trial just prolongs the process."
It's not explicitly clear why Andrew opted for a jury case, though Ahouraian speculated the decision could be because he and his legal team "have some confidence that they could sway jurors over to their side." Andrew's team "could be looking to play on any goodwill the prince might have generated with certain members of the public over the years and hope to get jurors with favorable views about him on the panel," she added.
The entertainment attorney also claimed Andrew's case seemingly relies heavily on "the argument that Giuffre released Andrew from liability in an agreement with Jeffrey Epstein," though, if Ahouraian were leading the high-profile case, she "wouldn't be leaning on that argument as much, especially if the goal would be to clear his name."
The prince's filing came a few days after a New York federal judge turned down Andrew's request to dismiss the lawsuit.