Pop star Taylor Swift has won a preliminary round in the federal court trial stemming from her allegation that she was groped by a Colorado disc jockey, as the judge dismissed the DJ’s rival claim accusing the singer of wrongfully getting him fired.
Swift teared up as the judge read his decision, saying there was no evidence that her actions were insincere. Afterward, her team smiled and embraced. Mueller’s side didn’t speak. The move came after days of testimony from the singer and others and just before jurors were set to hear closing arguments.
David Mueller’s ex-girlfriend, Shannon Melcher — who is in the picture at the centre of the court case — told the court about the moment she heard security quiz him about touching her bum. The defendant’s former flame said she overheard someone ask David Mueller, “are you happy with what you’ve done?”
As he was being questioned in the days that followed after an “interrogation” from the security team in a back room following the meet-and-greet, David Mueller maintained he never inappropriately touched Swift, saying, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Shannon said, “His story did not change.”
Shannon added she and Mueller felt “odd” about the meet-and-greet situation as they had been in the public section and the fact they felt Meuller felt he had to “dive into the photo”, but she didn’t notice any sudden movement from Swift while the picture was taken.
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift’s former bodyguard, Greg Dent, said he saw the moment the DJ allegedly lifted the singer’s skirt. Giving evidence today he said, “His hand went under her skirt, she jumped, moved her skirt down and moved closer to the girl and proceeded to have the pictured taken.”
The bodyguard continues, “I was standing off the side the girl, I could see their (Swift, Mueller, Melcher) backsides the entire time. I have no doubt that I saw Mueller place his hand under Taylor’s skirt, I couldn’t tell you how long it was up there.”
In contrast, David Mueller’s former co-host at KYGO had earlier told jurors he first thought it was a joke when he heard about the claims against his friend. He added that Mueller has maintained he never touched Swift and said his boss, Hershel Coiner — on-air name Eddie Haskell — thought she was wearing biker shorts during the meet-and-greet.
Swift, who spent an hour on the witness stand on Thursday, said it appeared both Mueller and his girlfriend have had a few cocktails at the event. When asked why her bodyguard did not step in when “this big drunk guy” groped her, Swift replied, “No one could have expected this to happen. It had never happened before. It was horrifying and shocking.”
