Britney Spears won’t have to face legal battle with her father, judge says

A Los Angeles judge sided with Britney Spears on Wednesday, denying her father’s request for her to make a statement.

At a Wednesday hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court, Judge Brenda Penny reversed her earlier provisional decision to deny a request by Jamie Spears’ lawyers that her daughter be removed for alleged misconduct during her controversial 13-year legal career. .

Britney’s attorney Matthew Rosengart argued that there was no reason for the pop star to testify in the case, calling it an act of revenge against her father and his lawyers. “Whether you believe it or accept it, what happened under him [was traumatic]. What would a decent parent do? He said, ‘This is my daughter, I love my daughter,'” Rosengart said during the hearing. “There is still hope that he will sit down with his lawyer and talk about doing the right thing.” Britney Spears’ statement will traumatize her all over again.”

Meanwhile, Jamie’s lawyers said they would likely appeal and said they were entitled to more information to protect their client. “Like most things [Rosengart’s] The arguments are directed at the media, not the court,” Alex Weingarten said. “Aton. Spears did the right thing with her daughter. Mr. Spears did a great job protecting her from the Rasputins and Svengali for 13 years and the years before. . [entering the conservatorship]. Evidence, not speech, will reveal the truth. There is no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Spears and he will be acquitted.

Rosengart objected to this, saying, “Mr. Spears’ reputation was ruined by him even before my firm got involved. If you want to go on TV or write a book to justify yourself, good luck.”

While he announced Britney’s request, Judge Penny was silent on another key issue before him: whether executives at the pop star’s former management company, Tri Star Sports & Entertainment Group, should accept an order and release more documents. Britney’s Legal Team.

Rosengart, a former federal prosecutor, has vowed to investigate allegations of serious wrongdoing by Jamie, including the theft of millions of dollars and illegal spying on Britney. Earlier this month, he won a ruling requiring Jamie to turn over more documents and testify.

Rosengart says Tri Star, Britney’s longtime business managers, have key information about the investigation and were potentially complicit in some of the wrongdoings, but chose to “obstruct and obfuscate” rather than cooperate.

In October, he sued Tri Star and executives Lou Taylor and Robin Greenhill over allegations made at Blockbuster. New York Times The documentary claimed that Greenhill and others at Tri Star were involved in creating an “intense surveillance device” to help spy on James Britney. This allegedly involved “hacking” the iCloud account used on their phones, allowing them to monitor it in real-time.

Rosengarth also alleges that Tri Star played a key role in creating the conservatory in 2008 and later “virtually earned” $18 million. He pointed to emails in which Taylor allegedly discussed choosing a judge to oversee the conservatorship.

In November, Tri Star asked Judge Penny to dismiss Rosengart’s subpoena, arguing that he had already shared “his entire set of books and records” and had no role in any of the alleged crimes: “Tri Star had no role in the motion Creation of a conservatory. [and] “No one at Tri Star has suggested monitoring Ms. Spears’ electronic communications.”

But at Wednesday’s hearing, after arguments from both sides, Judge Penny left the matter undecided, awaiting a final decision next month. In an interim ruling, he said he would likely grant Rosengart’s subpoena, but would limit the discovery to the last period of extended probation.

In a post-hearing statement, Tri Star attorney Scott Edelman said the judge’s possible ruling would be exactly what the company wanted.

“Judge Penn’s purported ruling was clear: the discovery is limited to measures and rates relevant to accounting number 12 as requested by Tri Star,” Edelman said, referring to the last injunction period. “In short, today was a great day for Tri Star, regardless of what Ms. Spears was doing on the courthouse steps. We look forward to testifying, taking this process forward, and finally sharing the whole truth.

This story first appeared on Billboard.com.