The judge managing a lawsuit filed against Steven Tyler by a woman who alleges the singer had an illicit relationship with her when she was 16 years old and he was 25 has removed herself from the case.
In her lawsuit filed in December 2022, Tyler’s accuser alleges he convinced the plaintiff’s mother to grant him guardianship over her when she was 16 years old, allowing her to live with him and engage in a sexual relationship. She contends they were together for about three years beginning in 1973. Tyler formed Aerosmith in Boston in 1970.
On Tuesday, Torrance Superior Court Judge Patricia A. Young notified attorneys that she was recusing herself and that a reassignment hearing will be held Friday before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lawrence P. Riff. Young’s clerk’s minute order did not state why Young was stepping down from the case.
Young was assigned the case last fall after the previous bench officer, Inglewood Superior Court Judge Tamara Hall, disqualified herself a day before a scheduled hearing on Tyler’s motion to dismiss all or part of the plaintiff’s lawsuit.
In recent pretrial motions, Tyler’s attorneys filed court papers asking that the court disallow the trial testimony of Seth and Heath, two of the accuser’s sons.
“To the extent plaintiff intends on calling these individuals to testify about her character or her emotional distress damages, this is improper because plaintiff has not demonstrated that these individuals have personal knowledge or expertise to offer opinions,” Tyler’s attorneys state in their court papers. “Moreover, it is cumulative and prejudicial…”
The plaintiff’s sons were not present for the alleged sexual abuse because they were not yet born, according to Tyler’s lawyers’ court papers.
Moreover, in light of the opinions offered by plaintiff’s experts, testimony from Seth and Heath regarding their observations of the plaintiff’s mental state would be duplicative, according to Tyler’s attorneys’ pleadings.
Heath is a Boston attorney and Seth, who has the same birthday as his mother, works in grocery management.
According to the plaintiff’s suit, she became pregnant in 1975, causing Tyler to be simultaneously both the father of the plaintiff’s unborn child and her legal guardian. The suit further states the Catholic plaintiff later relented under Tyler’s pressure and had an abortion.
The plaintiff says she eventually “made a conscious decision to leave and escape the music and drug-addled world seeking to be free from the sexualized culture created by Tyler and the industry” and that she went on to have a family and become active in her faith.
The 78-year-old “Sweet Emotion” singer’s attorneys maintain that only one of the plaintiff’s claims have a California connection, while the others are connected to alleged conduct that occurred in Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington, where her causes of action would be time-barred.