Sultan, Brother Seek Immunity in Beauty Queen’s Lawsuit
Lawyers for the Sultan of Brunei and his brother asked a Los Angeles federal judge Monday to dismiss the lawsuit filed against them by a former Miss USA who says the Sultan held her captive in an island palace where she was expected to perform sex acts.
The Sultan’s attorneys said Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and his brother, Haji Jefri Bolkiah, should be protected under sovereign immunity from the lawsuit.
But former Miss USA Shannon Marketic’s lawyers contended that the two men should not be protected under sovereign immunity.
Former state Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp, who represented the sultan and his brother, said: “You have a fairly scabrous complaint which she filed. . . . Prince Jeffrey . . . says unreservedly that [Marketic] has never been to the Royal Place or invited there.”
Marketic and one of her attorneys, Timothy Martin, declined to discuss the case. Marketic, 26, claims she and six other women were tricked into going to Brunei last year, offered what they were told were legitimate modeling jobs.
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