Taylor Swift expected to testify in groping case
A few moments at a backstage photo session four years ago are about to be
relived, as lawyers for pop star Taylor Swift and a former disc jockey she
accuses of groping her begin picking jurors Monday in their dueling
lawsuits.
Radio host David Mueller sued the singer/songwriter, saying he was falsely
accused and that she should have called police instead of his bosses, who fired
him soon after the June 2013 encounter. He's seeking up to $3 million in
damages.
Swift countersued, claiming sexual assault, setting up the civil
trial where she is expected to testify amid tightened courthouse security.
Opening statements could begin Tuesday in the case that could last two weeks.
Court documents say it is unlikely that either side will settle.
Swift is seeking a verdict that awards her just $1, while holding Mueller
responsible and "serving as an example to other women who may resist publicly
reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts," her lawsuit says.
Mueller also is expected to testify, along with Mueller's former boss and
members of Swift's entourage.
Mueller, then 51, was a morning host at a country music station when he was
assigned to attend Swift's concert at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Mueller was
backstage with his girlfriend when they met with Swift, then 23, in a curtained
enclosure. They posed for a photo and left.
Later, Swift's bodyguard confronted Mueller with the allegation that he had
reached under the singer's dress and grabbed her buttocks.
Mueller denied the allegation and asked that they call the police. He and his
girlfriend were escorted out of the arena and a member of Swift's team called
his boss.
Swift never went to the police. She tried to keep the situation "discreet and
quiet and confidential" and was upset by Mueller's claim that "for some reason
she might have some incentive to actually fabricate this story," her attorney,
Douglas Baldridge, has argued in court.
Mueller's attorney, Gabriel McFarland, argues that Mueller may have been
misidentified after someone else touched Swift.
Swift's mother and a member of her team also are defendants in the lawsuit
filed by Mueller.
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