Judge Mark H. Epstein Admitted Inability To Admit Investigators’ Evidence Due To Legal Technicality
Today, Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter’s legal team announced its intention to appeal a ruling in its defamation lawsuit against Tony Buzbee in the Superior Court of the State of California, after the judge acknowledged his decision would’ve “change[d] dramatically” if he admitted the investigators’ declarations as to the conversation with Jane Doe into evidence.
Carter’s attorney Alex Spiro released the following statement after Judge Mark H. Epstein issued his ruling on Monday evening.
“We are surprised and disappointed by this ruling which turns on the misapplication of California law on the admissibility of the investigators’ statements,” Spiro said. “Notably, the Judge expressly states that his decision would have “change[d] dramatically” if he had admitted the statements into evidence as they would have shown “not only that Carter had nothing to do with any sexual assault on Doe, but that Buzbee knew it…” and thus “the court would come out the other way on this motion.”
“What does it say about our justice system if someone can knowingly bring about completely false claims of the most heinous nature imaginable against an innocent individual and get away with it on a technicality? We plan to appeal this case immediately.”
Back in March 2025, Carter’s legal team submitted sworn declarations from two investigators that personally met with Doe in Alabama in February 2025 and recounted the wide array of information that she voluntarily shared with them.
During the conversation with investigators, Doe admitted that Carter never sexually assaulted her, that Buzbee pushed her to make the false claim against Carter, that Buzbee’s firm told her she would receive a cash payout and that Buzbee encouraged her to drop the case against Carter because “he had threatened to kill her.”
Furthermore, Doe explained that Buzbee met her for the first time in Houston, Texas on Dec. 9, 2024 to arrange an interview for her with NBC News. That timeline reaffirmed that Buzbee illegally sent a demand letter to Mr. Carter on Nov. 5, 2024, without Doe’s knowledge or consent and five weeks before formally meeting with Doe in December.
https://c212.net/c/img/favicon.png?sn=NY22210&sd=2025-07-01
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/judge-in-shawn-jay-z-carters-case-acknowledges-carter-had-nothing-to-do-with-any-sexual-assault–tony-buzbee-kept-pressing-for-jane-doe-to-implicate-him-302495752.html
SOURCE Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter
https://rt.newswire.ca/rt.gif?NewsItemId=NY22210&Transmission_Id=202507011000PR_NEWS_USPR_____NY22210&DateId=20250701
COMTEX_466844183/1005/2025-07-01T10:00:58