Prince Andrew hopes to avoid public trial as court set to unseal Epstein-Giuffre deal

A crucial week in Prince Andrew's efforts to avoid a public trial in the sexual assault case begins on Monday (Jan. 3) when a New York court will be unsealing a 2009 deal between the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Giuffre, the alleged victim. The Duke of York's lawyers believe Giuffre's agreement with Epstein will shield the Prince from a civil complaint she filed in 2001 accusing him of sexual abuse, The Guardian reported. A lawsuit has been filed by Giuffre alleging Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17 years old.

The Prince has been charged with "first-degree rape" after allegations that he forced Giuffre to get intimate with him in 2001 when she was being trafficked across the world by the royal's late pedophile associate Epstein. However, Andrew's attorneys have repeatedly stated that the Prince "unequivocally" dismisses Giuffre's "false" charges. Following the unsealing of the agreement, the Prince's attorneys are expected to argue in the US district court that the deal between Giuffre and Epstein prevents her from taking action against their client, the British news outlet reported. 

Epstein, a former friend of the Prince, was convicted of sex offences in 2008 and committed in 2019 while awaiting a sex-trafficking prosecution. Meanwhile, Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's alleged 'partner' and a close associate of the Due of York, was also convicted of sex trafficking by the federal court in New York last week and faces up to 65 years in jail. Earlier in October, the Prince's lawyers also urged the court to dismiss the case claiming Giuffre has filed this frivolous lawsuit in order to get a "payday" at the Duke's expense and those closest to him. 

Prince's lawyers challenge Giuffre's residency status 

Meanwhile, in the latest attempt to get the case dismissed, Prince's lawyers argued over Giuffre's residency status. In a court filing on December 28, they stated that a lawsuit filed by her may have to be dismissed as she no longer lives in the United States. According to attorneys Andrew Brettler and Melissa Lerner, complainant Giuffre has been residing in Australia for the last two years, and hence cannot claim to be a resident of Colorado, US, where she has not lived since 2019, reported the Associated Press (AP). However, the judge denied the plea to dismiss the lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds.