A state appeals court has ordered an 84-year-old woman who is suing Jermaine Jackson for sexual assault to file a response to his challenge to the service of the summons in her case against the musician, who has been living overseas.
On Wednesday, the three-justice panel of the Second District Court of Appeal said plaintiff Rita Butler Barrett must file her court papers by Oct. 9 and then Jackson shall file a reply by Nov. 9.
Barrett has filed a motion in advance of a Sept. 18 hearing asking Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Elaine W. Mandel to order Jackson to formally respond to her lawsuit so that the litigation can proceed. Mandel recently set aside a $6.5 million default judgment against Jackson, which she previously awarded on behalf of the plaintiff, Rita Butler Barrett. Barrett alleges the singer sexually assaulted the plaintiff at her home in 1988.
However, the judge denied Jackson’s motion to quash service, stating the singer had made an appearance and therefore submitted to the court proceedings by filing the motion challenging the default judgment. Jackson’s attorneys then sought relief from the appellate court, contending that Mandel was wrong to deny Jackson’s motion to quash.
According to Barrett’s attorneys’ court papers, the 71-year-old Jackson’s request for a stay in the appellate court over the denial of his motion to quash did not put a hold on the case.
“A request for a stay does not itself suspend enforcement of a trial court order,” Barrett’s attorneys stated in their previous court papers. “Defendant therefore remains obligated to comply with this court’s order.”
Until a stay is issued, Mandel’s orders remain “effective and enforceable,” the Barrett attorneys’ papers stated while also noting that the case, filed in December 2023, is almost three years old and is litigation “ripe” for trial given that the plaintiff is 84 years old.
“Three years have already elapsed and allowing defendant to continue to warrantlessly delay proceedings would be extremely prejudicial to Ms. Butler Barrett’s case,” Barrett’s attorneys further state in their pleadings.
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.
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.