Britney Spears’ attorney called allegations that her father was surreptitiously recording her and monitoring her communications “unfathomable” in a new court filing Monday, establishing it as further evidence to remove him from her case.
The New York Times’ “Controlling Britney” documentary, which FX and Hulu debuted Friday, revealed troubling allegations that James “Jamie” Spears had recording devices planted in his daughter’s home. A former assistant to Black Box, a security firm employed by the conservatorship, alleged that Jamie Spears asked to monitor all of Britney Spears’ communications, including those to Samuel Ingham, her former attorney.
Jamie Spears “crossed unfathomable lines,” Britney Spears’ attorney, Mathew Rosengart, said.
“Unauthorized recording or monitoring of Britney’s private communications — especially attorney-client communications, which are a sacrosanct part of the legal system — represent an unconscionable and disgraceful violation of her privacy rights and a striking example of the deprivation of her civil liberties,” Rosengart said in a statement Monday.
Vivian Thoreen, an attorney for Jamie Spears, said that her client has “dedicated his life” to helping his daughter turn her life around.
“Jamie does not answer to the court of public opinion; he answers to a court of law, the probate court,” Thoreen said in a statement following the release of the Times’ documentary. “All of his actions were well within the parameters of the authority conferred upon him by the court. His actions were done with the knowledge and consent of Britney, her court-appointed attorney, and/or the court.”
Edan Yemini, the CEO of Black Box Security, did not respond to detailed questions about the allegations, according to the Times.
The Times’ documentary is a follow-up to “Framing Britney Spears,” which debuted in February and helped put the #FreeBritney movement in the spotlight.
Rosengart cited the claims in a filing to the court Monday that asserted it as further evidence that Jamie Spears should be removed as his daughter’s conservator. The petition to replace him with a professional accountant was filed in July and will be reviewed by a judge Wednesday.
He argued to the court that the allegations don’t need to be proven true to remove Jamie Spears, only that the allegations themselves serve against his client’s best interest. Rosengart called Jamie Spears’ recent filings “subterfuge, designed to avoid the stigma of being suspended and its consequences.”
“As a result of these deeply-disturbing allegations, Mr. Spears will inevitably be focused over the next several days and weeks on defending his own interests not his daughter’s (yet again),” the filing said. “And regardless of the outcome of the allegations, what cannot be genuinely disputed is how deeply upsetting they are to Ms. Spears and if nothing else, they magnify the need to suspend Mr. Spears immediately.”
Earlier this month, Jamie Spears filed a petition to terminate his daughter’s conservatorship entirely, which is also expected to be reviewed by the judge this week. The move came as a shock to many as Jamie Spears has continued to defend his role as conservator and called his daughter “mentally sick” in a court filing just weeks prior.
The termination petition asked the court to end the legal guardianship without further psychological evaluation, something Britney Spears asked for in her June 23 testimony.
“The conservatorship has helped Ms. Spears get through a major life crisis, rehabilitate and advance her career, and put her finances and her affairs in order. But recently, things have changed,” the filing said. “Ms. Spears is now outspoken in her frustration with the level of control imposed by a conservatorship, and has pleaded with this Court to ‘let her have her life back.'”
Diana Dasrath contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
