Harvard law professor embroiled in 'sex slave' scandal alongside Prince Andrew files defamation lawsuits over the claims - and urges the duke to do the same
- Alan Dershowitz has filed defamation suits in both London and the U.S.
- He has urged Prince Andrew to also file proceedings over the case
- Dershowitz has been named in a suit filed against the government for its handling of billionaire and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's case
- Virginia Roberts claims she was just 17 when she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew and law professor Dershowitz, among others
- Dershowitz, 76, claims the woman's lawyers knew her claims were false
- The royal and Dershowitz have both denied any wrongdoing
- On Monday, Dershowitz appeared on the Today show and said he did not even know who the woman is and had never met her
A
Harvard law professor who was named alongside Prince Andrew in his 'sex
slave' case is suing for defamation - and he's urged the royal to also
take legal action.
Alan
Dershowitz, who was part of O.J. Simpson's 'dream team', was named in
court documents by a woman who says she was forced to have sex with
friends of U.S. billionaire and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein,
including Prince Andrew.
The woman, identified as Virginia Roberts, was just 17 at the time, making her a minor.
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Anger: Alan Dershowitz, seen above
speaking on the Today show, is suing the two lawyers representing
Virginia Roberts for defamation claiming they knew her allegations were
false when they filed them
Dershowitz
is not currently a target of the latest proceedings but is seeking to
intervene in order to defend himself. Buckingham Palace officials have
denied the allegations against Prince Andrew.
Dershowitz,
76, has denied he ever had sex with Roberts and has vowed to seek the
disbarment of two lawyers representing her, Paul Casell and Bradley
Edwards. He claims the lawyers knew the charges were false when they
filed them.
The
professor yesterday filed defamation suits in both London and the U.S.
based on the lawyers' public statements about the case and he urged
Prince Andrew to do the same.
Dershowitz,
a Harvard University professor emeritus, represented Epstein against
sex crime charges, for which he served a 13-month sentence after
pleading guilty in 2008.
Dershowitz
plans to file complaints with Cassell's and Edwards' respective states'
disciplinary boards asking that they be disbarred.
The boards would then decide whether to open an investigation and whether to bring charges.
Edwards
and Cassell said in a joint statement that they had carefully
investigated all of the allegations in their pleadings before presenting
them.
They
also said they had tried to depose Dershowitz and that he had refused,
which Dershowitz called a 'total lie.' He said he received only one
deposition request from the two lawyers five years ago, asking about his
relationship with Epstein - and that it said nothing about any of the
new allegations.
Several
law professors specialising in legal ethics said that even if
Dershowitz could prove the allegations were false, that was unlikely to
get the two attorneys disbarred.
The
case could fail because attorneys are advocates for their clients, not
arbiters of fact, so they are entitled to believe their clients, experts
said.
Amy
Mashburn, a professor at the University of Florida's Levin College of
Law said: 'The statement by the victim that it happened, without a
strong reason to question it, would be sufficient.'
Stephen Gillers, a professor at NYU School of Law said: 'Being false alone is not enough.
'What
a disciplinary committee would have to show is that they either knew
the allegations were false, or they were reckless in making the charge.'
Mr
Gillers said there was no firm standard for what it meant to be
reckless. While attorneys have an obligation to investigate allegations
before making them, such an investigation need not be as thorough as the
fact-finding that later happens in court, he said.
Cassell
and Edwards would be more likely to face punishment if a disciplinary
board concluded that they knowingly lied. Ms Mashburn said that would be
a very serious fraud that would be a breach of several ethical rules.
Even then, she said, they might only face suspension.
One obstacle for Dershowitz, according to Ms Mashburn, is that lawyers are often disbarred for multiple offenses.
Support: Dershowitz's wife of 30
years, Carolyn, has said her husband 'is the least likely person in the
entire world that this would be true of'. They are pictured with their
daughter Ella, center
Cassell,
who served as a deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan,
has no record of public discipline since he was admitted to the bar in
1992, according to a spokeswoman for the Utah state bar. Edwards, who
was admitted to the Florida bar in 2002, also has no public disciplinary
history in the last 10 years. That's as far back as the Florida state
bar keeps such records.
In
2008, Edwards filed a petition in the Florida court on behalf of women
who say they were sexually abused by Epstein. The women say federal
prosecutors violated their rights when they entered into a plea
agreement with Epstein that allowed him to serve jail time on state
charges, but avoid federal prosecution.
Edwards asked Cassell to join him early in the litigation.
Cassell,
who left his post as federal judge in 2007, describes himself as an
advocate for crime victims. He has championed the death penalty - and
unsuccessfully pushed to overturn the 1966 Supreme Court decision
requiring police to read detainees their rights.
Speaking on the Today show
yesterday Dershowitz said the woman's claims against him are 'totally
false and made up' and he is 'completely and absolutely' innocent.
He
said: 'I don't even know who she is,' he said of the woman. 'I've never
seen her. I've never met her. I don't know who she is.'
Dershowitz
pointed out that the woman claims they had sex on Epstein's Caribbean
Island and at his New Mexico ranch, but Dershowitz said he had only ever
been there briefly with his wife and daughter and was 'never out of the
sight of my wife'.
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