Reports: Italian judge calls for Paul Haggis sexual assault case to be dropped

Reports: Italian judge calls for Paul Haggis sexual assault case to be dropped

An Italian judge has ordered the dismissal of a sexual assault case against Paul Haggis and has ruled there is no reason to investigate the Oscar-winning director.

A judge in the southern Italian city of Lecce ordered the investigation against Haggis to end on Friday night, Italian news agency ANSA reported on Saturday. Earlier, an appeals court ruled in Haggis’ favor, rejecting an attempt by prosecutors to reinstate Haggis under house arrest while the investigation continued.

Haggis was arrested on June 19 in the southern Italian city of Ostuni, where he was attending the inaugural Allora film festival. A 28-year-old British woman forced a 69-year-old director to have sex with her for two days. Haggis spent 16 days under house arrest at his hotel before being released.

in a sentence the hollywood reporter On Saturday, Haggis’ Italian lawyer Michele Laforgia noted that the three judges on the appeals court “unanimously rejected the prosecutor’s appeal to reinstate Haggis’ house arrest.” LaForgia said he presented “objective and indisputable evidence” that the woman who accused Haggis told “countless lies to investigators and the court, with facts and witnesses completely contradicting her story.”

The alleged victim’s legal team did not immediately comment on the judge’s decision.

LaForgia said that unless new evidence is presented in court, prosecutors will have to drop the case against Haggis, which he said he expects in the coming weeks.

Haggis, which won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay an accident and indicated itineraries Million dollar baby s Letters from Iwo Jima, there is also a separate claim pending in the EE. UU., In that movie publicist Hallie Brest is suing Haggis, alleging that she raped in 2013. Judgment in this case is scheduled for October 11 in New York. Haggis said her meeting with Brest was arranged.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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