Britney Spears‘ father is required to be deposed as part of an investigation into his role as conservator of her estate, a judge ruled Wednesday.
While at a hearing at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles, Judge Brenda Penny ordered Jamie Spears to sit for deposition in the California county by Aug. 12.
Judge Orders Britney Spears’ Father Jamie Spears To Sit For Deposition In California
In a statement regarding a counter-claim that the 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 requested both parties to supply additional briefings on the matter by July 22.
“This was another major victory for Britney Spears. After her father has run and hid for nine months, he has now been ordered to be deposed shortly and to produce all documents, as required by law,” Britney’s lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, said in a statement following the hearing.
“It was a very good day for justice generally,” he added to reporters outside court. “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.”
“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 how the singer was “finally free” and “happy,” revealing 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.”
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.
This past month, Jamie, 70, denied a claim that he bugged his daughter’s bedroom while serving as conservator of her estate in a sworn declaration submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court.
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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.”
Jamie’s lawyer, Alex Weingarten, argued during the hearing 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, stating how 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 pursue it through written discovery and exhaust all other possible methods.
Judge Penny then proceeded to grant 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.
And while 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.
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Penny also postponed 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 at the next hearing on July 27.
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