Taylor Swift Awarded Symbolic $1 In Denver Groping Trial
DENVER (CBSNewYork/CBS Denver/AP) -- Taylor Swift was awarded $1 in the groping trial involving a DJ from Denver Monday.
The jury reached a verdict on Monday afternoon, finding that former DJ David Mueller assaulted, battered the pop star during a photo op.
Swift released the following statement in response to the verdict:
"I want to thank Judge William J. Martinez and the jury for their careful consideration, my attorneys Doug Baldridge, Danielle Foley, Jay Schaudies and Katie Wright for fighting for me and anyone who feels silenced by a sexual assault, and especially anyone who offered their support throughout this four-year ordeal and two-year long trial process.
"I acknowledge the privilege that I benefit from in life, in society and in my ability to shoulder the enormous cost of defending myself in a trial like this. My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard. Therefore, I will be making donations in the near future to multiple organizations that help sexual assault victims defend themselves."
A jury on Monday started considering Swift's allegation that the former radio host groped her during a meet-and-greet before a concert and whether the singer's mother and her radio liaison later set out to destroy his career.
Attorney Gabriel McFarland, representing Mueller, said, "My only statement at this point is that I'm disappointed for Mr. Mueller, but respect the jury's decision."
The jury also found that radio liaison Frank Bell and Andrea Swift – Taylor Swift's mother, did not intentionally interfere with David Mueller's contract.
In the dueling lawsuits from Swift and Mueller, U.S. District Judge William Martinez ruled Friday that Mueller failed to prove that the pop star personally set out to have him fired after the 2013 photo op.
The singer-songwriter said in her countersuit that she wanted the symbolic $1 and the chance to stand up for other women.
Swift spent an hour on the witness stand Thursday defiantly recounting what she called a "despicable and horrifying and shocking" encounter before a concert.
"He stayed attached to my bare ass-cheek as I lurched away from him," Swift testified.
"It was a definite grab. A very long grab," she added in her testimony.
Swift's testy exchange with Mueller's attorney occasionally elicited chuckles — even from the six-woman, two-man jury. She got a laugh when she said her security guard saw Mueller "lift my skirt" but someone would have had to have been underneath her to see the actual groping — "and we didn't have anyone positioned there."
Swift testified that after the photo was taken, she tried to get as far away Mueller as she could. She said she told him and his girlfriend, who was also in the photo, "thank you for coming" in a monotone voice before they left.
She also said she was stunned and did not say anything to Mueller or halt the event after he left because she did not want to disappoint several dozen people waiting in line for photos with her.
In the image, shown to jurors during opening statements but not publicly released, Mueller's hand is behind Swift, just below her waist. Mueller's then-girlfriend, Shannon Melcher, is on the other side of Swift. All three are smiling.
Melcher testified Friday that she saw nothing happen during the brief encounter and that she and Mueller were rudely confronted and escorted out of the arena that evening. Melcher said Mueller was devastated by the accusation.
She said she and Mueller started out as co-workers at country station KYGO-FM and became romantically involved in February 2013, a few months before the concert. They drifted apart late in 2013, but Melcher says they remained friends.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
