A judge ruled Monday that Marilyn Manson can’t use the specter of his “indefinite” criminal investigation to avoid sitting for a deposition in the sexual assault and battery lawsuit brought by his former personal assistant, Ashley Walters.
Los Angeles County Judge Steve Cochran said Manson, born Brian Warner, can still show up, assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions, but he’s not entitled to a special order blocking the sit-down pending a charging decision from newly elected Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman. The judge noted Walters’ case has a June 2025 trial date that’s “not likely” to be postponed considering her lawsuit was filed in May 2021.
“There is no authority for a protective order blanket, for an indefinite period of time,” Judge Cochran said Monday, shutting Warner down. “There’s no such thing as a blanket assertion that would prevent a question-by-question approach.”
L.A. County Sheriff’s investigators raided Warner’s home in November 2021 after he was the subject of a series of allegations from multiple accusers and a lengthy Rolling Stone exposé. Investigators submitted their case file to the district attorney’s office for review in September 2022. The case became a flashpoint during Hochman’s recent race to unseat his progressive predecessor, George Gascón.
At a press conference in early October, Hochman invited Esmé Bianco, the Game of Thrones actress who sued Warner for sexual assault and human trafficking, to speak. (The two sides settled; terms were not disclosed.) Bianco told reporters she felt “ignored” by Gascón after reporting her alleged rape to police. Hochman slammed Gascón for allegedly denying “hundreds of women” their “day in court.”
Gascón issued his own press announcement that day, saying “new evidence has emerged within the last few weeks.” He said his office was working to review it before making a filing decision. Hochman ultimately won the election and assumed office earlier this month. (His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Rolling Stone.)
In her lawsuit, Walters alleges Warner lured her into a job in 2010 by complimenting her photography and offering an artistic collaboration. She claims Warner later whipped her, threw plates at her, pinned her down, bit her ear, forced her hand into his underwear and threatened her. She recalled seeing Warner throw a prop skull at his former fiancée, Evan Rachel Wood, “so hard” that it allegedly left “a large, raised welt on her stomach.” Warner denies the allegations.
Walters stepped forward in February 2021 as multiple women, including Wood, first accused Warner of intense physical and emotional abuse. A prior judge dismissed Walters’ lawsuit in May 2022, finding that they were too old. Walters fought the ruling and saw her lawsuit revived on appeal.
At the hearing Monday, Warner’s lawyer said the musician’s legal team is hoping to speak with Hochman’s office soon. “What we envision is that the Los Angeles D.A. will make decision on whether to pursue the charges or wrap up their investigation. Our hope is that given the change with the new district attorney, this will hopefully be addressed in the coming weeks,” Warner’s lawyer, Will Skinner, told the court Monday.
“What if the DA does what most prosecutors do, which is just say nothing? [They might say,] ‘If we file, we do. If we don’t, we don’t. We’re looking at it. We’re keeping our options open.’ If they make no announcement, then what?” Judge Cochran asked at one point. He went on to ask Walters’ lawyer if her client’s lawsuit was “overlapping” with the criminal case and what she expected to get from a deposition where Warner repeatedly asserts his Fifth Amendment right. The lawyer said she wasn’t sure about the criminal probe and that she couldn’t predict what Warner might say.
“He has a right to assert his Fifth Amendment, but asserting it is also a choice. So, he has to make that decision. He doesn’t get to use it as a delay tactic,” lawyer Kate McFarlane told the court. (At trial, Walters could argue to jurors that Warner declined to answer questions because his answers might incriminate him.)
Warner’s lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. Walters’ lawyer cheered the judge’s decision to let Warner’s deposition proceed.
“He has a right to use the Fifth Amendment. But the Fifth Amendment is not designed to prevent and delay victims from getting justice. That’s how he’s trying to use it here – to prevent his particularly heinous behavior from seeing the light,” McFarlane tells Rolling Stone.
Warner, 55, has reached out-of-court settlements with several of his accusers, including Bianco. He recently decided to drop a lawsuit against Wood.
