16 Women Accuse Magician David Copperfield of Grooming, Sexual Assault

he's been called the greatest Illusionist of our time but will David Copperfield be able to escape from the latest allegations against him we're taking a closer look at new accusations of sexual misconduct against the world famous magician with former sex crimes prosecutor Serena Townson welcome to sidebar presented by law on crime I'm Jesse Weber David Copperfield is the latest celebrity to face a slew of sexual misconduct allegations the US division of the uk-based Guardian newspaper says 16 women have come forward to them with accusations against the 67-year-old some of these claims are from incidents they allege happened decades ago now more than half of those women claim that they were under the age of 18 when these things happen some of the women have told their stories before others are making claims for the first time right now there doesn't seem to be any legal action against David Copperfield in connection with these accusations and that's what they are right now accusations allegations but that is of course always a possibility it's something I want to explore right now with former sex crimes prosecutor Serena towns and Serena good to see you um shocking to see this I mean I think for me the last time I thought about David Copperfield was uh we to get to a minute he was mentioned briefly in the Epstein docs but um 2018 he had this lawsuit filed against him for one of his shows somebody had got injured he was actually found negligent but not financially responsible haven't thought about David Co field a while we see this headline from the guardian what's your impression my impression is when you have 16 people come forward who don't know each other and tell stories of sexual abuse um or even rape in some of the cases uh there is some credibility right out the gate to those stories it feels that way at least because these women don't know each other and like you said nobody has thought of David Copperfield that much recently so it doesn't feel like you know these women are coming forward because they sense that they could make a bit a dollar or two out of him it feels like the timing is such that you know maybe something did happen and now that these women are older they're looking back in hindsight and saying something was wrong here and I want to come out with my story and sometimes we see that we see uh papers do expose on people same thing happened with Harvey Weinstein with the New York Times sometimes comes out of nowhere um so here are some of the allegations that these women are making which Spann from the late 1980s to 2014 at least three women say they believe they were drugged by the magician then they were sexually assaulted by him the guardian reports that also heard stories about Copperfield groping women or making them touch him suggestively during live stage performances in front of an audience one of the women who had come forward previously was Britney Lewis in 2018 she spoke with the entertainment Outlet the rap the site also interviewed her family and friends who say that she told them decades ago about an alleged assault by David Copperfield uh in 1988 Lewis was a 17-year-old model competing in the look of the Year contest in Japan Copperfield was apparently one of the judges and when she returned back to the United States she says David Copperfield invited her to one of his shows in California her grandmother agreed to let her go she says that she was treated to a VIP experience she told the rap that she was with Copperfield at the hotel bar when she saw him allegedly putting something in her drink and she later blacked out she says that she has these hazy memories of Copperfield taking off her clothes being on top of her he sent her home to Utah the following day telling her nothing had happened because she was a minor but also insisting that she write a letter saying she was all right Lewis told the outlet that she doesn't plan to pursue any civil or criminal action against Copperfield but felt embold to speak out thanks to the me movement so the big question I have for you Serena and that's kind of a a sampling of it do you expect any kind of legal consequences either criminal or civil for David Copperfield after the release of this expose by the guardian you know it would require the cooperation of each of the women in order for a civil or criminal lawsuit to be pursued so if they are telling you know a tell all to a a magazine or a newspaper but they're not pursuing charges then it's going to be quite unlikely that we're going to see anything uh come of it but at this at the same token you know if they are looking for justice or you know if they're looking for some sort of um you know either compensation or some sort of jail time for David Copperfield they're going to have to pursue it in the courts and at that point they are going to have to face cross-examination and ex examination of their credibility a lot of this will also be based purely on their testimony and not on physical evidence or digital evidence right so that it would really all come down to them a lot of times that's right and it's very difficult I mean there are people who don't say what happened to them for a long time because of Shame embarrassment fear of retaliation um or fear that they're not going to be believed we see this all of the time it's called a delayed outcry it doesn't necessarily mean that they're not credible but at the same time it does sometimes make it that much harder for let's say a prosecutor to move forward with a a criminal case because the evidence if it had existed back then is no longer there it's just usually the testimony of this woman or these women but from a criminal point of view or a civil point of view isn't there an issue of statute of limitations these claims are too old you know it is very interesting it would go state by state the statute of limitations could have run in several of these cases but for example in New York there's been a recent reopening of that window called the adult survivors act where people can you know sue their perpetrators even when the statute limitations had actually expired there was a look back and a reopening of the opportunity to do that so these women will have to determine or their lawyers will have to determine state byst state whether that lookback exists or whether for some reason the statute was told um and there are possible you know loopholes there for these women to move forward with cases as we talk about the potential legal ramifications of this case with David Copperfield let me highlight one of our great partners and sponsors here on sidebar Morgan and Morgan this is a firm that are specialist in the litigation arena in fact Morgan and Morgan is America's largest injury law firm and for a reason they win a lot they have secured multi-million doll verdicts in settlements in fact they secured a $120 million verdict in one of the first personal injury trials post pandemic and by the way in that case there was a pre-trial offer of just $20,000 yeah Morgan and Morgan they don't settle for lowball offers they will fight to protect your legal rights and for what you deserve in compensation but one of the best things about Morgan and Morgan is how easy they make this whole process for their clients from submitting your claim to uploading documents to signing contracts to talking to your legal team it can all be done from your smartphone that's it seeing if you have a case only takes a few minutes and there's no upfront fee yeah I forgot to mention that no upfront fee you only pay them if you win so if you've ever been injured in an accident you can check out Morgan and Morgan you can start a claim in eight clicks or less without even having to leave your couch to start your claim visit forth people.com LC sidebar or by dialing pound law that's pound 529 on your phone now in a uh statement to the rap uh copperfield's representative said in part quote most of these historic accusations have been made before and all of them are as false now as they were then DAV requested the evidence upon which these false allegations claim to rely and this has not been provided by contrast whenever US law enforcement has looked into such matters they have been investigated thoroughly and it has been found that there is simply no case to answer the guardian's characterization is not who David is and he continues to support anyone who has experienced any form of abuse or discrimination and the rep added David will be considering the position with his legal team and will take such steps as may be appropriate over these false and Securus allegations does that mean a lawsuit does that mean a defamation lawsuit right and so if these women are going to come forward only with a newspaper article or with you know without moving forward into a court room where their credibility can be tested by cross-examination or either a you know evidence or a lack thereof then it's you know the person who's being accused doesn't have the ability to confront their accuser in that way they don't have the ability necessarily to say in public you know here's my here's my evidence or here's the cross-examination where we are able to discredit these allegations and therefore they could claim if this has any Financial effect on his reputation or on his business that these statements are lialis slanderous and he might be able to file a defamation law suit uh keep in mind though with defamation truth is a defense so he's gonna have to wait very carefully um into that legal field and be ready for that potential confrontation of the truth or untruths but that means he would also go after the guardian right and and if he does I I have to imagine the guardian must have gone through number of different protocols before they write an article like this uh against um you know such a high-powered high-profile individual sure there are a lot of rules that you know newspapers and magazines have to follow before writing their stories not only do they have to cover you know themselves by looking at whatever evidence they can get ah hold of but they also have to couch um their language as a form of you know this is an allegation they can't say that this actually happened and I do think that the guardian and other news outlets have done that they've been able to say you know while these women are saying X Y and Z don't forget these are just allegations and they have also posted his side of the story his statement through his attorneys so they have probably been able to cover themselves look these are really harrowing allegations um and we're talking about another high-profile very powerful wealthy individual I mean David Copperfield has been a staple in the Magic game for as long as I remember he made the Statue of Liberty disappear in New York what back in 1983 he's won I think 21 Emmy Awards holds 11 Guinness World Records he's a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame I think he was nighted by the French government he's a uh I think he's listed by the way as a living legend by the US Library of Congress he's been in Vegas for decades I've seen his show so many times um and whenever we talk about allegations against somebody of his stat there isn't always a thought you know they're going for the money grab they're going after him because he's rich and famous um how is that complicated here uh in terms of David Copperfield absolutely any good prosecutor or any litigator knows that when you go up against a celebrity you cannot ignore their Celebrity Status um you can make that argument in both directions by the way you can make the argument that because he's a celebrity you know this is why these women are saying it they are looking for money they're looking for some sort of Fame it never really happened on the other hand you can say because he was a celebrity you know perhaps he did take advantage of his stature and he knew that nobody was going to go up against him because he was too valuable um his status as a magician by the way I mean one could argue if he was able to make the Statue of Liberty disappear what other kind of Illusions was he able to to do in order to trick these women or to trick their his audience it all is so important to take into consideration even if he were let's say to take the stand in a criminal case or a civil case how does that affect a jury does a jury look at him as a showman and therefore they don't believe him or do they look at him in awe because he's able you know to convince them he is an Illusionist so his celebrity status has to play a role in every single step of this evaluation and by the way the the complaints that he sexually assaulted women on stage during live performances multiple people around in the audience what do you make of those claims listen I you know one might say that if everybody saw it happen how could he would never have done it why would he have ever done something everybody would witness however he makes his living with slight ofand movements with Illusions and so it is quite possible that some of the things that he did he did you know while on stage but secretly you know there was an allegation I think that he had put his hand you know in an area of of a woman where it may not have been seen by the audience and if he is so talented to be able to do tricks and fool his audience with respect to his Illusions who's to say that he could not have done it you know on stage and and sometimes that gives people a Power Trip right he's able to say I was able to do this and I fooled everybody maybe it's his greatest trick of all um so those kinds of claims you have to test it you have to be able to you know ask the right questions of both the person who's making the allegation um and tested against any other possible evidence maybe other Witnesses and maybe him himself you know he's claimed there's been complaints against him before um he has claimed before that he's been falsely accused of sexual misconduct in 2007 there was this former beauty queen Lacy Carol she accused Copperfield of assaulting her on his private island I believe in the Bahamas FBI ended up investigating raided his Warehouse in Las Vegas the case was closed there wasn't any further explanation she filed a lawsuit against Copperfield dropped it copperfield's legal team said there was no settlement um she was later arrested by the way charged I think it was in Washington state with um various different offenses um and in an interview with opr Oprah winrey Winfrey after this investigation closed Copperfield told her that he was the victim uh in all this in 2018 when the rap ran the story about Carol Copperfield said in a statement I've lived with years of news reports about me being accused of fabricated heinous acts with few telling the story of the accuser getting arrested in my innocence knowing that false accusers can negatively impact the believability of others are and are and are a true disservice to those who have been victims of sexual misconduct I didn't draw attention to it how does that complicate everything it certainly does listen there are it's not that people have never made false allegations in a sex crimes case before it it can happen um I'm not I don't know enough to know whether this was or was not a false allegation but that being said you know just because one person may have made a false allegation doesn't mean that the other 16 I'll tell you well Lewis the woman I mentioned before when she saw the reports about Carol's accusations I believe an allegedly she went to the FBI uh too uh to back up This Woman's claims says she had interview with the agents but nothing really came of it interesting you know there's there's also the idea that even if something happened if there's not proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt the FBI or the police may not be able to move forward with the case and that is the sad Truth by the way in many cases where something happens to somebody and unfortunately by the time they speak out about it there may not be enough evidence to corroborate what had happened um especially with the FBI it's different from State cases um with a state case I sometimes feel that police and prosecutors are a little bit more willing to move forward with the case whereas and the FBI when you go Federal a lot of times they really want a slam dunk case they don't want to lose they want to make sure that they have a ton of evidence before they move forward and so it is possible that the FBI felt they didn't have enough but there might be enough for a civil case because that burden of proof is lower than Beyond A Reasonable Doubt out um and so we have to always be careful um to to make claims that something is false just because something is not able to move forward in a criminal place because you need so much proof like I said beyond a reasonable doubt it doesn't necessarily mean that it did not happen it could just mean there isn't enough evidence to move forward in that Arena I want to end this conversation with Jeffrey Epstein um because you might remember that David Copperfield was mentioned in these court court documents is having connections to Jeffrey Epstein not that he's one of the purported people uh part of his sex crime ring nothing like that he but in documents that were released earlier this year in connection with the defamation lawsuit against Epstein's former Madame Galen Maxwell one of Epstein's accusers said that Copperfield had visited Epstein in the past um and testified that she met Copperfield at a dinner at one of Epstein's homes and she says that Copperfield performs some magic tricks before asking if this woman was aware that quote girls were getting paid to find other girls and she says he didn't really go into any further detail including whether uh the girls were underage but uh again that what do you make of that comment that connection in light of what we're hearing now you know a lot of times we like to judge people by the company that they keep and in in society we do that all of the time and it's it's like if you don't want to be judged the way that your friend is being judged maybe you shouldn't be their friend then again I don't really know if maybe he was just hired to perform there rather than actually you know have this strong relationship we don't really know those details um and then of course in the courtroom um we always want to make sure that we're not convicting People based on extraneous things propensity evidence you know where there's smoke there's fire that's really not allowed in a courtroom and so you know if these claims were to move forward criminally or civil they would have to be tested for it's on its own you know they would have to be tested on its own evidence with its own you know people and you know as much as we would like to potentially say in society we we do this we make assumptions about people um and we judge them based on their company in a courtroom it really does have to be solely evidence-based and that's what the jury would have to be told and I believe copperfield's lawyers have said that he was not aware of anything Jeffrey Epstein was involved in no crimes only learned about them when the media and the Press came forward uh but one of the lawyers for an alleged Epstein victim Brad Edwards um said in a tell all book this is our understanding that he had served Copperfield with a subpoena but was unable to depose him due to a number of legal and logistical roadblocks and you know of course even if he was able top him doesn't mean he would be able to provide you know bombshell information about Jeffrey Epstein but it's just something to think about um and what a development to say the least I'm sure this is not the last we've heard of David copperfield's name in the news right now Serena towns in good seeing you thank you so much for coming on appreciate it and that is all we have for you right now here on sidebar everybody thank you so much for joining us as always please subscribe on Apple podcast Spotify YouTube wherever you get your podcasts I'm Jesse Weber I'll speak to you next time [Music]

Channel: Law&Crime Network

Views: 63,889

Keywords: law and crime, law and crime network, true crime, truecrime, true crime videos, court, trials, law&crime

Id: pNOU2OfzErI

Length: 19min 57sec (1197 seconds)

Published: Thu May 16 2024