Roger Nores, a friend of the late pop star Liam Payne, has voluntarily withdrawn a defamation lawsuit filed against the singer’s father, Geoff Payne.
Payne tragically died on October 16 last year following a fatal fall from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Argentine prosecutor’s office later revealed that the 31-year-old’s cause of death was due to multiple traumas and internal and external bleeding.
Following Payne’s death, five people were arrested and charged in connection to his death. Among those arrested were Nores, and two members of staff at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel, Gilda Martin and Esteban Grassi. All three of them were exonerated of all charges earlier this year.
Elsewhere earlier this year, Nores filed a federal defamation lawsuit in Florida that alleged Geoff Payne – who recently described the media interest in his son’s passing as having “indescribable, lasting damage on the family” – had submitted a sworn declaration to Buenos Aires police, stating that Nores had “full responsibility for Liam’s care during this last period when I was not there.”
He denied the claim, with his original filing stating that while they were “dear friends”, he “never agreed to be and was never the caretaker of Liam.” He alleged the statements included in the sworn declarations were defamatory, resulting in damages of over $10 million (£8.1 million).
He added that he would donate any money he’s awarded from the lawsuit to Liam’s son, Bear. However, today (April 9), a Rolling Stone report confirmed he has asked the court to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit. TMZ has also revealed Nores intends to dismiss the suit without prejudice, meaning it could be refiled in the future.
Nores discussed his friendship with Payne in an interview with Reuters this March. Joined by his lawyer, he touched on the ‘Polaroid’ singer’s battle with addiction, saying: “You do what you can but at the end of the day it’s their decision. You start seeing a chain of events and it was just bad luck, it happened in a way that ended in tragedy.”
Meanwhile, last month a panel of judges reportedly denied an appeal to overturn the acquittal of Nores and the two hotel workers.
An appeal was filed on March 5, arguing there were flaws in the reasoning behind the decision and some of the information and evidence in the case had not been reviewed at the time of their acquittal.
However, the panel of judges firmly backed their exoneration, responding per Rolling Stone: “Rather than providing a specific and detailed critique of the Court’s reasoning, the appeal merely expresses disagreement with the evaluation of the collected evidence, repeatedly stating the need for further actions, which the Court had dismissed by noting that ‘Neither the parties suggested any relevant actions in this regard.’”
As such, the judges have concluded that the appeal “lacks the necessary merit to proceed”. The prosecutors who filed the appeal are now reportedly presenting their case to the Supreme Court, Cámara de Casación for further review.
Out of the five original suspects arrested and charged in Payne’s death, the two remaining personnel – Ezequiel Pereyra and Braian Paiz – are to remain behind bars while they await trial. For both of their parts, Pereyra and Paiz have been accused of suppling Payne with drugs – some of which were found in his body following the post-death toxicology report.
In November, Paiz broke his silence, admitting that he met the late One Direction singer twice before his death and confessed to taking drugs with him. However, he insisted that he never supplied Payne with narcotics nor accepted any money from him. Both Paiz and Pereyra could face four to 15 years in prison if found guilty. Paiz will also reportedly have to pay a $4,900 fine.
