A U.S. judge on Tuesday appeared skeptical of a bid by Britain's Prince Andrew to dismiss Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing her when she was 17 and being trafficked by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
During a hearing in Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan heard arguments on the prince's contention that terms contained in a 2009 settlement between Epstein and Giuffre that paid her $500,000 to resolve a lawsuit she had filed against the financier prevented her from pursuing litigation against Andrew.
A provision in that settlement blocked Giuffre from suing certain third parties in the future, with language to "forever discharge" various people who "could have been included as a potential defendant" in her resolved lawsuit against Epstein.