A Los Angeles judge says Britney Spears’ father must sit for a deposition with his daughter’s attorneys, who have accused him of “running and hiding” from an investigation into his alleged misconduct during her 13-year conservatorship. His lawyer tells Billboard he is “eager to testify and set the record straight.”
At a hearing Wednesday, Judge Brenda Penny ordered Jamie Spears to be deposed by August 12, and ordered him to hand over more documents and other information related to the conservatorship that was terminated in November — an order requested by Britney’s lawyers in a scathing motion in May.
The judge also denied a request from Jamie’s attorneys for more discovery from his daughter, and indicated that she would also likely refuse a request for a separate deposition of Britney. The judge ordered more briefing on that issue ahead of a final ruling later this month.
Outside the courthouse in video capture by TMZ, Britney’s attorney Mathew Rosengart said it had been a “great day in court” and that he looked forward to taking Jamie’s deposition after “nine months of hiding.” He also sharply criticized Jamie’s pending bid to depose the pop star.
“There’s absolutely no reason why somebody’s father … should want to depose their own daughter,” Rosengart said. “He professes to love his daughter? Is that something that somebody who loves their daughter does?”
In a statement to Billboard, Jamie’s attorney Alex Weingarten said that his client was “eager to testify and set the record straight” in his deposition: “When the court has the opportunity to review actual evidence, not just the wild and baseless accusations being hurled by Britney and her counsel, we know that Jamie will be vindicated.”
Weingarten also indicated in court that he would appeal the rulings denying his request for more discovery from Britney, according to CBS News, saying it was a “fundamental right.”
Britney’s long conservatorship was formally ended in November, but that wasn’t the end of the legal wrangling. Rosengart, a former federal prosecutor, has vowed to investigate alleged misconduct by Jamie during his years as conservator, including allegations that he took millions from the estate, illegally bugged his daughter’s communications, and tried to control her using drugs.
Jamie has said he has “nothing to hide” and would cooperate with such an accounting, but Rosengart accused him in May of blocking the investigation. In a motion asking Judge Penny to force the father to participate, Rosengart said Jamie “can run, but he cannot forever hide” from such a probe: “Mr. Spears has engaged in stonewalling and obstruction—for over six months—dodging his deposition and repeatedly failing to respond to simple requests for basic information.”
