Rape lawsuit against Trey Songz dismissed over statute of limitations, judge rules
Lawyers have claimed the rapper was wrongfully accused of raping two women in an incident in 2009, but two rulings by a judge in Atlanta have ruled out the case in its entirety
A rapper who was wrongfully accused of rape has had his case against him dismissed in a US district court.
A trial judge in Georgia said the statute of limitations had expired on the first rape accusation after the defendant made a demand for a new trial because of “new evidence”.
Troye Sintra, aka Trey Songz, was initially charged with two counts of rape, which were reduced to one count each after the statute of limitations had expired.
After his acquittal, Mr Sintra sued the women, claiming they were “conspiring” to try to force him to leave the country.
However, the judge said he lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because it was not filed within 28 days of the alleged incident, which had taken place in February 2009 in Los Angeles.
The judge said that, as the accuser never filed the lawsuit within the statute of limitations, he had no jurisdiction to hear it.
Mr Sintra’s lawyers sought an immediate hearing, but the judge denied the application, leading to an appeal to the 12th Circuit Court of Appeals court.
However, that appeal was rejected and the case was dismissed.
Judge Henry Floyd said last week he was in no doubt that the woman had lied in the first case, after listening to her interview with police, and would have “an absolute motive” to fabricate the other case.
The ruling comes just three days after the rapper’s lawyer said the women “conspired” to get him to the United States.
Mr Sintra’s lawyer, James Houghton, said that the trial judge “seemed to think that if you say anything negative about the person who is allegedly the victim of a rape, you are subject to criminal charges.”
Mr Houghton said he believed the men and women who had been involved with the case.
“There are some people (who) have an absolute motive to lie, they will lie because of their friendship with another person,” Mr Houghton said.
In a statement, Mr Sintra said: “It has been a great pleasure to have my case heard by the court.
“I look forward to continuing with