A sexual battery lawsuit brought against Marilyn Manson by his former personal assistant, Ashley Walters, has once again been dismissed just weeks before it was scheduled to go to trial.
According to Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Steve Cochran ruled on the morning of December 16 that Walters’ claims were not exempt from California’s statute of limitations. The judge also rejected arguments that the lawsuit could be revived under the delayed discovery rule, which Walters’ legal team argued should apply due to allegedly suppressed memories of abuse.
Speaking during the hearing, Judge Cochran explained his reasoning:
“We have a situation where the complaint was not filed until about 10 years after the operative events. I’m not able to find that the delayed discovery rule is applicable. I don’t have the authority to rule that the delayed discovery doctrine would apply under the circumstances that exist in this case.”
Walters’ attorney, Kate McFarlane, expressed disappointment with the ruling in a statement to Rolling Stone:
“We’re disappointed. We think this is the wrong decision. The delayed discovery rule is specifically to address situations where victims of sexual abuse deserve the ability to seek justice when their abuser has used tactics to prevent them from coming forward. This is something we see time and time again, and it seems the law hasn’t caught up to the science and what’s right for victims. But I don’t believe this is the end of the road.”
Walters’ allegations stem from incidents she claims occurred between August 2010 and July 2011, while she was employed as Manson’s personal assistant. The lawsuit, first filed in 2021, accused the shock rocker of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violations of several California civil codes, outlining numerous disturbing allegations.
The case was initially dismissed in May of 2022 due to statute-of-limitations issues, though that decision was later appealed and temporarily revived in December of 2023. Manson has consistently denied Walters’ allegations.
Following Tuesday’s ruling, Manson’s attorney Howard King told Rolling Stone:
“It’s gratifying, after all these years, that a judge can just look at the facts and see that once again, Brian Warner was wrongfully accused. It’s nice for him to get some justice, though it was at great personal cost. Now he can move on.”
Manson faced a wave of allegations beginning in 2021, when more than a dozen women accused him of abuse after his ex-fiancée Evan Rachel Wood publicly shared her claims in February of that year. Since then, most of the resulting civil matters have either been settled or dismissed.
Notable developments in Manson’s recent legal history include:
- He reached a settlement with Esmé Bianco in January of 2023 after she filed a sexual assault lawsuit.
- Ashley Morgan Smithline recanted and dismissed her sexual assault claims against him in February of 2023.
- Manson reached a settlement in September of 2023 with another woman who accused him of sexual assault.
- Bianca Allaine Kyne filed a lawsuit alleging she was sexually assaulted by Manson in the mid-to-late 1990s.
In January of this year, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman confirmed that no criminal charges would be filed following a four-year investigation by the LADA’s Sex Crimes Division. At the time, the DA’s office stated:
“We have determined that allegations of domestic violence fall outside of the statute of limitations, and we cannot prove charges of sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt.”
During that investigation, Manson filed a defamation lawsuit against Evan Rachel Wood and an associate, alleging they conspired to defame him and encouraged others to come forward with false claims. Wood denied the accusations, and after multiple legal setbacks, Manson voluntarily dropped the suit in November of 2024.
Separate from the abuse allegations, Manson pleaded no contest in 2023 to a misdemeanor charge related to a 2019 concert incident in which he spat on a videographer. He received 20 hours of community service and a $1,400 fine. A civil lawsuit brought by that videographer was later revived roughly two months after the plea deal.
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