“The day of reckoning for Mr. Spears has come,” Britney Spears’ lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, told reporters after the hearing
Britney Spears’ father must be deposed as part of an investigation into his role as conservator of her estate, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Speaking at a hearing at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles attended by PEOPLE, Judge Brenda Penny ruled that Jamie Spears must sit for deposition in the California county by Aug. 12.
In a statement regarding a counter-claim that the “Toxic” singer also be deposed, Judge Penny added that she needed more time to consider the arguments from both legal teams and delayed her decision until July 27. She also asked both parties to supply additional briefings on the matter by July 22.
“[It was] a very good day in court for Britney Spears, and it was a very good day for justice generally,” Britney’s lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, told reporters after the hearing.
“The day of reckoning for Mr. Spears has come, at least at this stage, in terms of the court ordering him to appear for his deposition,” he added.
“The court has also ordered him to produce all of the documents that we’ve requested, all of the documents that we’ve requested which he’s also failed to do. We’ve seen nothing but obstruction… from him,” Rosengart continued.
Britney’s lawyer then said the musician was “finally free” and “happy,” explaining that she now “wants to move on.”
“Whether or not he is sued… will be up to one person — Britney Spears,” Rosengart added.
“In the meantime, Mr. Spears, if he loves his daughter, as he professes he does, should leave her alone. He should get on with his life instead of continuing to litigate against his own daughter,” he concluded.
Wednesday’s hearing is the latest stage in the court’s attempt to resolve the outstanding issues left over after the November 2021 termination of Britney’s 13-year conservatorship.
Earlier this month, Jamie, 70, denied a claim that he bugged his daughter’s bedroom while serving as her conservator in a sworn declaration submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court that was obtained by PEOPLE.
In it, Jamie addresses the accusation — which was made in the Hulu and FX documentary The New York Times Presents: Controlling Britney Spears — stating, “I am informed of the allegation by Britney’s counsel that a listening device or ‘bug’ was placed [in] her bedroom as surveillance during the conservatorship. This allegation is false.”
He added, “I never conducted or authorized any surveillance of Britney’s bedroom at any time, including during the conservatorship. I am not aware of any such surveillance having occurred.”
At the start of Wednesday’s hearing, Jamie’s lawyer, Alex Weingarten, argued that he had no issue with his client being deposed, so long as he be granted access to findings from Britney’s team in an effort to not be “ambushed.” He then requested that Britney, 40, also be deposed.
Rosengart argued against this, however, on the grounds that the idea of her sitting for a deposition was “not reasonable and simply not the law.”
He added that the request amounted to a “revenge deposition” designed to “suck her back in.”
“It’s also immoral [to depose Britney],” he added. “You don’t sit down a victim to be deposed by a victimizer.”
Britney’s attorney later stated that should Jamie’s side need information, they should seek it through written discovery and exhaust all other possible methods.
After these submissions, Judge Penny granted the motion for Jamie to be deposed, and moved on to a motion for Jamie to release all related documents ahead of the sit-down.
Though Weingarten argued that he’d already provided everything available, Rosengart countered that the documents provided to him were misleading, strategic and “virtually unsearchable” because the metadata had been removed.
The motion was tentatively granted by Judge Penny.
In answer to a further motion from Weingarten that Britney be compelled to be deposed by a subpoena, Penny again postponed her decision on the grounds that she had not made her decision about whether the singer be deposed or not.
The hearing then moved on to a request for Britney to release all discovery and documents, which Judge Penny tentatively denied despite Weingarten making the statement that he was “profoundly concerned for my client to have a fair trial.”
“Everybody gets treated fairly in my court. It does not matter how well-liked you are by the public,” Penny stated at the end of the hearing. A number of remaining issues in the case will be discussed on July 27, she added.
[via]
