Taylor Swift Will Come Before A Jury In Colorado In August 2017

Taylor Swift will go before a jury and must be there for the entire jury trial that begins on August 7, 2017. Swift recently accused radio host, David Mueller of KYGO, of groping her when they had a meet-and-greet backstage.

Mueller met Taylor Swift backstage on June 2, 2013 before her concert at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Mueller was with his girlfriend, Shannon Melcher, who also worked at KYGO. They posed for a picture with Taylor Swift and it was then that Taylor said he “groped her buttocks.” Taylor told her mother and the security team and Mueller and his girlfriend were removed from the concert.

Taylor Swift said that she is positive that it was intentional. She testified to this in a recent deposition. Mueller denied that there was any assault and battery at all. He claims that Taylor Swift was out to get him fired for no reason at all.

Hollywood Reporter says that the jury will hear both sides of the story in a trial starting on August 7, 2017. A federal judge in Colorado has already reject Taylor Swift’s bid to defeat Mueller’s claims, at least in part. Mueller will not be allowed to continue with slander charges but he is allowed to “make a case for tortious interference.”

U.S. District Court Judge William Martinez said that after reviewing the materials, he has concluded that the “central and genuine dispute remains.” He found that testimony by witnesses corroborated with Taylor Swift’s version of what happened. Mueller has pointed out that there are inconsistencies in Taylor’s story though.

The jury will have to accept one version of the facts. In this case, that means that they will have to accept Mueller’s story or Swift’s story. Only one of them can be found correct.

Martinez said that there are several possibilities regarding the outcome of the case. One of the possibilities could be that the jury may find that Swift and her team (this includes Taylor’s radio promotions director, Frank Bell and her mother, Andrea) could have known that Mueller had an employment contract. They may have been aware of this because they were familiar with KYGO and their employment policies.

If the communications that took place between KYGO and Swift and her team leads the judge to the conclusion that their intent was to get Mueller fired, that would mean that they were choosing to believe that Mueller’s version of the story was true. If this does happen, the jury may decide that Swift’s team acted “with reckless disregard for the veracity of their accusations, or based on a grossly inadequate investigation,” said Martinez.

The judge continued to say that there was nothing “improper” about anyone, including Swift, making a report that was honest about the employee of a business that she has contact with if that employee harassed or assaulted her in any way. However, the law as it stands states that the Court must treat Mueller’s version as fact at this point.

The one good thing for Taylor Swift is that the judge has decided to throw out Mueller’s claim of slander. As the Hollywood Reporter states, “The problem for him is that there was a one-year statute of limitations on slander claims. The judge refused to treat Mueller’s claims against Taylor Swift of slander as counter-claims because it would set a bad precedent. It would give lawyers permission to by-pass limitation periods, which are there for a reason.

The judge has said that both parties must be there for the complete jury trial and this includes Taylor Swift. So, it looks like Taylor will be missing out on some summer activities while she is in court before a jury for nine days.

What do you think of this? Do you think that David Mueller has any case at all against Taylor Swift or will Swift win this battle in the courts?

[Featured Image by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images]