In May, Smokey Robinson was sued for sexual assault by four former housekeepers. The 85-year-old pop icon denied the allegations and sued them for defamation, and then more accusations came out. Now, Robinson is accusing one of the former housekeepers of burglarizing his storage unit, which was allegedly raided on Nov. 22.
Surveillance footage reportedly shows an intruder stealing several boxes from the southern California storage unit. Robinson and his wife, Frances, claim it is Jane Doe 4, and are seeking an emergency restraining order, which was rejected by Los Angeles County Judge Kevin C. Brazile. Jane Doe 4 denies the allegation.
“It’s blurry, like security tapes are, but it’s clear to Mrs. Robinson who it was,” the Robinson's lawyer, Christopher Frost, said during a morning hearing. “You have to know the code, and you have to have a key to the lock. The only person who had that code and that key was Jane Doe 4.”
Her lawyer, Herbert Hayden, disputed the claim: “Our client has flatly denied any sort of involvement with this alleged burglary,” he told the court, adding that Frost had not produced the video. “It’s completely and patently false.” He told Rolling Stone it could be “some type of A.I. fabrication.” Co-counsel John W. Harris claimed that Jane Doe 4 was at work when the raid allegedly transpired and has not been contacted by investigators. Hayden gave the following statement to Rolling Stone:
The allegation that the video is somehow fabricated is false, desperate, and candidly, unethical. This is not a game. The video is the same one provided to us by the storage facility. If the Jane Does will waive their confidentiality arguments, we will share the video beyond the court. The court already has it, and so does the LAPD.
