Garth Brooks wants to take his sexual assault case to federal court

Garth Brooks has filed to take his legal complaint against Jane Roe, a former employee who has accused him of sexual assault, to federal court. According to People magazine, he has grounds to do so because the damages Roe is seeking in her lawsuit exceed $75,000, “which falls within the federal court regulations.” A legal expert for Entertainment Tonight weighed in on possible reasons why the country singer would want to move the case to federal court, including a wider jury pool, a quicker trial date, and perhaps a greater chance of getting the case dismissed altogether. 

Last month, Brooks’ legal team filed documents that outed the identity of his accuser, who used to work as a hairstylist and makeup artist for him and his wife Trisha Yearwood. Brooks argued that he was justified in doing so because Roe had revealed his identity; Roe’s team felt otherwise. “Garth Brooks just revealed his true self. Out of spite and to punish, he publicly named a rape victim,” her lawyers said in a statement. “With no legal justification, Brooks outed her because he thinks the laws don’t apply to him. On behalf of our client, we will be moving for maximum sanctions against him immediately.”

Brooks has denied all allegations of misconduct against him. “For the last two months, I have been hassled to no end with threats, lies, and tragic tales of what my future would be if I did not write a check for many millions of dollars. It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face,” he said in a previous statement. “Hush money, no matter how much or how little, is still hush money. In my mind, that means I am admitting to behavior I am incapable of—ugly acts no human should ever do to another… I trust the system, I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be.”