Jay-Z's attorney claims expired deadlines should sink child rape lawsuit against rapper in new filing
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Jay-Z's attorney Alex Spiro said that the sexual assault case filed against the rapper earlier this month should be dismissed due to a number of issues linked to a combo of technicalities, expired deadlines, and the locations involved.
Spiro said that Tony Buzbee - who is representing the Alabama woman who says she was raped by Jay-Z, 55, and Sean 'Diddy' Combs, 55, when she was 13 - glossed over critical details that nullify the case, TMZ reported Monday after reviewing legal documents.
Jay-Z's accuser, who identifies herself as Jane Doe in court documents, said she was assaulted by the rapper and Combs at an MTV Music Awards afterparty in September of 2000.
Spiro told the court he intends to file a motion to dismiss, citing the timing of the events in question, as the legal statute the woman is suing under had not been implemented until three months later in December of 2000, the outlet reported.
Spiro said in legal documents that the statute 'can't be applied against the rapper retroactively, according to the outlet.
The woman said in her legal filing she was living in Rochester in 2000 when she made her way to New York City and befriended a limousine driver who drove her to the party in a trek that took about 20 minutes.
Jay-Z's attorney Alex Spiro said that the sexual assault case filed against the rapper earlier this month should be dismissed due to a number of issues linked to a combo of technicalities, expired deadlines, and the locations involved. The rapper, 55, was pictured in LA December 9
The alleged incident took place at an MTV VMAs afterparty in September of 2000, Jay-Z's accuser said. The rapper pictured months earlier during a July 4 bash in the Hamptons
Spiro told the court that the 20-minute travel time essentially ensures that the alleged incident did not occur in New York City, again invalidating the lawsuit, the outlet reported.
Spiro said in court documents that the lawsuit was filed outside the statute of limitations, as any legal claims about the alleged assault eclipsed an August 2021 deadline.
Buzbee told TMZ in a statement Monday, 'These are technical arguments being made and the law is clearly on our side and the side of alleged victims. The law is well settled that we are correct.'
He subsequently told Dailymail.com, 'Mr. Spiro likes to send a lot of letters. I don’t think any of them merit comment.'
Dailymail.com has also reached out to Spiro and reps for Jay-Z for comment on the latest in the developing story.
The latest attempt to have the case dropped comes less than a week after a judge ruled Thursday that Jay-Z's accuser can proceed anonymously, for now, in her lawsuit against the rap moguls.
In her written order, Judge Analisa Torres also chastised the lawyer representing Jay-Z for what she described as his combative motions and 'inflammatory language' against the plaintiff's lawyer, calling them inappropriate.
The Manhattan jurist said the woman can proceed anonymously at this early stage of the litigation, but she may be required to reveal her identity at a later date, if the case proceeds. That would allow defense lawyers to collect facts necessary to prepare for trial. Torres also cited 'substantial interest' from the public.
Jay-Z was supported by mother-in-law Tina Knowles, 70, wife Beyoncé, 43, and daughter Blue Ivy, 12, at the Mufasa: The Lion King premiere, a day after the suit was filed
Jay-Z's attorney Alex Spiro told the court he intends to file a motion to dismiss, citing the timing of the events in question. Pictured in July in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Jay-Z's latest filing took aim at attorney Tony Buzbee, who was pictured in Van Nuys, California earlier this year
Combs remains jailed in New York awaiting a criminal trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
He also faces a wave of sexual assault lawsuits, many of which were filed by the plaintiff's lawyer Buzbee, the Texas attorney who says his firm represents over 150 people, both men and women, who allege sexual abuse and exploitation by Combs.
The lawsuits allege many individuals were abused at parties in New York, California and Florida after receiving drug-laced drinks.
Combs' lawyers have dismissed Buzbee's lawsuits as 'shameless publicity stunts, designed to extract payments from celebrities who fear having lies spread about them, just as lies have been spread about Mr. Combs.'
Jay-Z has said in a statement that Buzbee is trying to blackmail him to settle the Alabama woman's allegations.
Spiro asked the judge to dismiss the entertainer from the woman's lawsuit and he requested a hearing on the case for the day after he made his requests in writing on December 18.
Citing an interview the plaintiff did on NBC-TV, Spiro wrote that the broadcast revealed 'glaring inconsistencies and outright impossibilities' in the plaintiff's story.
For one thing, the woman said she traveled for five hours from Rochester to watch the music awards show on a jumbotron outside the VMA even though permits and pictures show there was no jumbotron at the event.
Jay-Z's lawyers have cited a recent television interview with NBC News in which his accuser acknowledged inconsistencies in her story as a reason to toss the case
Spiro also noted that the woman's father has said he does not recall driving from Rochester to pick his daughter up in New York City, as she says he did. The woman has admitted inconsistencies in her story.
Torres wrote in her order Thursday that Spiro, who has been on the case less than three weeks, has submitted a 'litany of letters and motions attempting to impugn the character of Plaintiff's lawyer, many of them expounding on the purported "urgency" of this case.'
Referring to Jay-Z by his legal last name, the judge added: 'Carter's lawyer´s relentless filing of combative motions containing inflammatory language and ad hominem attacks is inappropriate, a waste of judicial resources, and a tactic unlikely to benefit his client. The Court will not fast-track the judicial process merely because counsel demands it.'
Jay-Z and Combs gained fame in the 2000s, emerging as wide-ranging entrepreneurs and two of the world's wealthiest rappers. Earlier this year, Forbes estimated Jay-Z's net worth to be $2.5 billion.
The artists have collaborated over the years, with Jay-Z featured on Combs' debut album, No Way Out and Combs appearing on Jay-Z´s sophomore album, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1.
