Jermaine Jackson is asking a judge to set aside a $6.5 million default judgment on behalf of a woman who alleged the singer sexually assaulted the plaintiff at her home in 1988, but in new court papers the plaintiff says the judgment should stand.
Rita Butler Barrett’s Van Nuys Superior Court lawsuit alleged sexual battery and assault and negligence. On May 14, Judge Elaine Mandel granted the woman’s request for judgment against Jackson for failing to take part in the case. But recently Jackson — who says he has legally changed his name to Jermaine LaJuane Jacksun — filed court papers asking that the default judgment be canceled because he has been living abroad and was never served with the lawsuit or a summons.
Barrett’s attorneys responded to Jackson’s motion with new court papers of their own on Tuesday.
“The matter presently before the court raises a fundamental question: How far must a survivor of sexual assault go to obtain justice against her abuser, particularly when that abuser possesses substantial wealth, influence and resources that enable him to evade accountability?” Barrett’s attorneys ask in their pleadings.
To revisit and reverse the prior determinations now, solely because Jackson has appeared and seeks to reopen matters that have been resolved, would undermine the finality of the court’s prior rulings and fail to serve the interests of justice, Barrett’s lawyers further contend, while adding that every reasonable avenue available was taken by Barrett to accomplish service on Jackson.
“Requiring plaintiff to return to the beginning of the litigation at this late stage would not promote fairness or equity; rather, it would constitute a profound miscarriage of justice and reward defendant’s prolonged and strategic absence from these proceedings,” Barrett’s attorneys further write in their court papers.
Jackson stated in a sworn declaration that he never abused Barrett.
“I did not rape plaintiff,” Jackson says. “I did not sexually assault plaintiff. I deny the material allegations of the complaint, deny liability and dispute damages. I request the opportunity to defend this case on the merits.”
Jackson further says he has not lived at his mother’s Encino home, where one set of documents was served, since he was a boy and that he does not live at or have a business at the second service address in Westlake Village. Instead, he has been living in Bahrain and knew nothing about the woman’s lawsuit, he says.
“I did not avoid service of process,” Jackson says. “I did not conceal myself to avoid this lawsuit. I did not know this lawsuit was pending in time to respond.”
A hearing on Jackson’s motion is scheduled for June 30. Court records show Jackson’s name-change decree was granted in February 2013.
In June 2025, the former judge in the case, Huey Cotton, granted a motion by Barrett’s attorney, Michael Reck, to perform service by publication rather than present the summons and complaint to Jackson in person.
In his court papers, Reck stated that the 71-year-old sibling of the late Michael Jackson could not be found at the Jackson family compound in Encino or at a Westlake Village home that was considered his possible residence. Reck further said his office also hired private investigator Maureen O’Connell and her company to help with the search.
O’Connell said in a sworn statement that messages were left with an ex-wife and a daughter of Jackson.
“Despite these good-faith efforts, we have not received any responses or leads which would assist in identifying the current whereabouts of Jermaine Jackson,” O’Connell said.
In her lawsuit, Barrett said she met Jackson when she worked as a musician’s contractor and as a member of the Musician’s Union. Jackson allegedly went to Barrett’s home in the spring of 1988 without notice, entered and sexually assaulted her with “force and violence,” the suit filed in December 2023 stated.