An Italian court says there is no reason to continue the investigation against director Paul Haggis

This was established by a court of the city of Lecce there is no reason to continue the investigation against director Paul Haggisaccused of having sex with a woman without her consent.

The ANSA news agency reported that the court of that southern Italian city ruled in favor of the Oscar-winning Canadian director who, released on July 4, He risked being placed under house arrest again.

“Having notified the evidence and having heard the arguments of both parties, the Court of Lecce, three-judge appeals court, unanimously rejected the appeal prosecutor to restore Haggis ‘house arrest, “said Michele Laforgia, Haggis’ Italian lawyer.

Background

Haggis, who won two Academy Awards for Accident -He is also known for writing the script million dollar baby girl-, was arrested on 19 June in Ostuni, a town in southern Puglia – at the heel of the Italian boot – for alleged sexual abuse of a 28-year-old English woman with whom he was linked in those days of June.

After reporting the woman and during the investigation, the 69-year-old director spent 16 days under house arrest in a hotel before being released.

“Three weeks ago, Judge Vilma Gilli of the Brindisi Court questioned the alleged victim and then immediately overturned Haggis’s house arrest,” Laforgia said in the statement.

The Public Prosecutor of Brindisi appealed his decision to the Court of Lecce. But Haggis’s lawyer presented, in her own words, “irrefutable and objective evidence that the woman told multiple lies to investigators and the court, with facts and witnesses that completely contradict her version.”

Pending the closing of the case

Following this court decision not to continue the investigation into the case, there are still no comments from the alleged victim’s legal team.

For his part, Laforgia supports him Haggis’ arrest was the result of a mistrial. And that with the evidence presented, prosecutors should close the case. This is expected to happen in the coming weeks, unless new evidence comes out.

On Friday night, the Court of Lecce contacted the lawyers of both parties to inform them of the court’s decision, rejecting the prosecutor’s appeal and confirming Judge Gilli’s decision. So far, four judges have ruled in favor of Haggis.

“In the coming weeks, the reasons for the decision will be known and, therefore, the fate of the judicial proceedings pending in Italy”, added Laforgia in the note.

The cases against Haggis in the United States

It should be remembered that Haggis is facing similar court proceedings in the United States as well.where film publicist Haleigh Brest denounced him claiming that Haggis raped her in January 2013.

Breest originally filed the lawsuit in December 2017, although the proceedings were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now A date has been set for the trial: it will be October 11 in Manhattan, New York. Haggis assures that the meeting with Brest, which would have taken place after a premiere, was consensual.

Following the Brest denunciation, three other women accused him of sexual abuse. Haggis denied all allegations. The director once claimed that the complaints are retaliation by the Church of Scientology, a community he left in 2009. But the complainants denied that claim.