A sexual battery, etc. lawsuit filed against Marilyn Manson by his former personal assistant Ashley Walters has been dismissed just weeks ahead of the case going to trial. Per Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Judge Steve Cochran ruled this morning (December 16th) that Walters‘ suit wasn’t exempt from the statute of limitations. Judge Cochran also took legal issue with her claims of attempting to revive the suit on the basis of allegedly suppressing the memories of the alleged abuse. Judge Cochran said at a hearing this morning:
“We have a situation where the complaint was not filed until about 10 years after the operative events. I’m not able to find that the delayed discovery rule is applicable. I don’t have the authority to rule that the delayed discovery doctrine would apply under the circumstances that exist in this case.”
Walters‘ legal representative Kate McFarlane told Rolling Stone of today’s ruling:
“We’re disappointed. We think this is the wrong decision. The delayed discovery rule is specifically to address situations where victims of sexual abuse deserve the ability to seek justice when their abuser has used tactics to prevent them from coming forward. This is something we see time and time again, and it seems the law hasn’t caught up to the science and what’s right for victims. But I don’t believe this is the end of the road.”
Walters‘ suit dates back to incidents that allegedly took place from August 2010 to July of 2011 while she was under the employ of Manson. Originally filed back in 2021, Walters alleged sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual battery, infliction of emotional distress and the violation of several Californian civil codes in her original complaint, putting forth numerous disturbing claims against the shock rocker.
Initial complications with the statute of limitations would see the case dismissed back in May of 2022, before eventually successfully being appealed in December of 2023. Manson has denied the allegations put forward against him by Walters. Speaking on today’s ruling, Manson‘s lawyer Howard King told Rolling Stone:
“It’s gratifying, after all these years, that a judge can just look at the facts and see that once again, Brian Warner was wrongfully accused. It’s nice for him to get some justice, though it was at great personal cost. Now he can move on.”
Manson has faced numerous allegations and civil suits in the wake of over a dozen women coming forward against him back in 2021. That wave of claims of wrongdoing followed allegations of abuse against him being public made by his ex-fiancée Evan Rachel Wood in February of 2021.
With Walters‘ complaint once again being dismissed, most of Manson‘s legal matters regarding those allegations have now been settled. A rundown of the more prominent matters of his legal history in recent years can be found below:
- Manson reached a settlement with Esmé Bianco in January of 2023 after the latter filed suit against him for sexual assault, etc..
- Ashley Morgan Smithline recanted and dismissed her sexual assault lawsuit against Manson in February of 2023.
- Manson reached a settlement in September of 2023 with a woman who accused him of sexual assault.
- Bianca Allaine Kyne filed suit against Manson over claims she was sexually assaulted by him in the mid to late 1990s.
Following a four-year investigation by the LADA’s Sex Crimes Division, this past January saw Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman opt to not pursue criminal charges against Manson over the various sexual assault-related claims made against him. A statement issued by Hochman’s office at the time said of the matter:
We have determined that allegations of domestic violence fall outside of the statute of limitations, and we cannot prove charges of sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt.
During the course of that investigation, Manson filed a defamation suit against Evan Rachel Wood and her associate, claiming the pair had intentionally set out to defame him with their allegations. Manson‘s legal team also claimed that the pair had essentially ‘coached’ others alleged victims to come forward against him. Wood denied Manson‘s claims, and after facing numerous setbacks in that defamation suit, Manson dropped his case in November of 2024.
Manson did however face some legal action back in 2023, having struck a plea deal in a case related to a 2019 live concert spitting incident. During that show, he was found to have spit on a videographer hired to document the concert for the video screens behind him. He went on to serve 20 hours of community service and paid a $1,400 fine. However, roughly two months after reaching that plea deal on criminal charges, a civil lawsuit brought against him by the videographer was revived in court.
