Taylor Swift Wins Pretrial Victory In Sexual Assault Case

Taylor Swift and her legal team earned a pretrial victory Wednesday in the star's legal case against David Mueller, a former Denver radio D.J. who allegedly groped Swift at a meet-and-greet four years ago. A federal judge sanctioned Mueller for reportedly destroying multiple electronic devices that allegedly contained evidence of Swift's claim, according to legal documents obtained by the Denver Post.

U.S. District Judge William Martinez tossed Mueller's defamation claims, ruling that Swift's legal team is granted permission to question Mueller about a two-hour audio recording of a conversation between him and his former 98.5 KYGO boss, Robert Call. The audio recording was reportedly created the day he was fired.

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Martinez said the evidence is pertinent because Mueller's 98.5 KYGO boss claimed that the D.J. modified his story when confronted about Swift's accusations, which was reportedly a deciding factor that led to his eventual termination in 2013. Mueller, who initially recorded the audio on his cell phone, uploaded the file to his office computer and personal laptop. However, People reported in June that the audio file was accessible on two laptops, an iPad, a cell phone and a hard drive.

Mueller "surreptitiously recorded the entire two hours of his June 3, 2013, meeting with KYGO personnel, which was conducted as part of KYGO’s independent investigation into Plaintiff’s groping," according to People.

He admitted to destroying the devices, claiming that they were "fried," according to the Denver Post. However, Mueller did recognize how crucial the audio file would've been to the trial. The legal papers stated that the "Plaintiff edited the audio on his laptop computer, on which he also retained a full copy of the original audio file(s)." He then claimed to have "damaged" the laptop from a coffee spill, which led him to take it to the Apple Store. He claimed the retail associates gave him a "new machine."

Martinez also wrote in the document, "the 'bad faith destruction of a document relevant to proof of an issue at trial gives rise to an interference that production of the document would've been unfavorable to the party responsible for its destruction.'"

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During the singer's Red Tour, Mueller attended and participated in a pre-concert meet-and-greet with his girlfriend, where he groped the singer during a group photo. Swift alerted her tour manager, security team and photographer of the incident.

Mueller sued Swift in September 2015 for making slanderous allegations against him, claiming he lost his position at 98.5 KYGO and he was banned from Swift's concerts for life, according to NME. Swift brought her legal team in to help in October 2015, counter-suing Mueller because he did not "merely brush his hand against Ms. Swift while posing for the photograph: he lifted her skirt and groped her."

Billboard obtained a transcript of Swift's videotaped deposition in October 2016, revealing that she felt "violated" by Mueller.

"Right as the moment came for us to pose for the photo, he took his hand and put it up my dress and grabbed onto my ass cheek, and no matter how much I scooted over, it was still there," Swift said. "It was completely intentional, I've never been so sure of anything in my life."

She added, "I remember being frantic, distressed, feeling violated in a way I had never experienced before. A meet-and-greet is supposed to be a situation where you're thanking people for coming, you're supposed to be welcoming people into your home, which is the arena for that day, and for someone to violate that hospitality in that way, I was completely stunned."