London — Kevin Spacey arrived on the Southwark Crown Court docket in London Tuesday for the fourth day of a trial through which the Hollywood star stands accused of sexual assault. Spacey, 63, faces a total of 12 criminal charges based mostly on allegations made by 4 males referring to incidents that occurred over a two-decade interval.
The actor is accused of sexual assault, indecent assault and a extra critical offense of inflicting an individual to have interaction in sexual exercise with out consent, which carries a most sentence of life imprisonment in Britain.
Spacey has pleaded not guilty to all 12 charges in opposition to him. The accusers, who’ve supplied graphic testimony within the courtroom this week, can’t be named publicly below British regulation.
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Spacey’s exceptional appearing profession largely got here to an finish in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp publicly accused him of sexual misconduct, however he fended off these accusations and sexual misconduct legal prices in a 2019 case in Massachusetts.
In an interview with German journal Zeit in June, Spacey predicted that he would additionally beat the case within the U.Okay. after which go on to revive his repute and appearing profession.
Prosecution calls Spacey a “sexual bully”
The court docket heard opening statements Friday from each the prosecution and protection within the case.
Lead prosecutor Christine Agnew opened the trial by labeling Spacey a “sexual bully.”
She known as the Oscar-winning actor “a person who doesn’t respect private boundaries or area, a person who, it might appear, delights in making others really feel powerless and uncomfortable.”
Patrick Gibbs, Spacey’s lawyer, informed the 12-person jury that the actor had come again to Britain to rebut the allegations by explaining “what really occurred.”
Gibbs informed the jurors they’d hear “many damned lies” about his consumer’s habits.
“What has been reimagined with a sinister spin? What has been made up or twisted?” Spacey’s lawyer requested the court docket.
Jury informed to evaluate Spacey the person, not the actor
The choose within the case, Justice Mark Wall, informed jurors that he had a observe from one of many jury members indicating that they “inadvertently” watched a clip of a movie with Kevin Spacey in it over the previous 24 hours.
“That is under no circumstances an issue,” the choose informed the jury. “The defendant is, as you already know, a high-profile actor, and little question there are clips of his movies on social media.”
Julia Quenzler
“You aren’t right here to evaluate him as an actor…you might be right here to evaluate him as a person in opposition to the proof offered,” he stated.
As proceedings started final week, Wall had informed the court docket that the case had “attracted a whole lot of media protection,” and urged jurists to “depend on what you see and listen to on this courtroom.”
Accuser calls Spacey a “slippery, snaky, tough individual”
On Monday, the court docket heard from one man who stated he had been assaulted a number of instances by Spacey and that the assaults had brought on him disgrace, anxiousness and melancholy.
The accuser described Spacey as a “slippery, snaky, tough individual” who had initially made him uncomfortable by questioning his sexuality, earlier than later changing into “sensitive feely” and aggressively groping him when the 2 have been alone collectively.
The person had been employed by Spacey as a driver when the American actor served as inventive director on the Previous Vic Theatre in London within the early 2000s. He stated Spacey had put his fingers on his genitals 5 or 6 instances and he accused the star of “grooming” him.
Nearly 20 years after the alleged assaults, the person stated he nonetheless couldn’t carry himself to observe any film that includes Spacey.
“I am unable to stand watching the person. It makes me really feel sick,” the person stated in a video clip of his interview with police that was performed within the court docket.
Man describes a particular alleged assault
On one event, the accuser stated Spacey had grabbed his genitals whereas he was driving the actor to a celebration hosted by singer Elton John in 2004.
The complainant stated Spacey grabbed his crotch so laborious that he almost crashed the automotive. Giving his testimony from behind a display, the accuser stated he’d threatened to knock Spacey unconscious if he put his fingers on him once more. He informed the court docket that Spacey replied: “That is such a activate to me.”
The protection, in cross examination, stated the person’s allegations have been inaccurate and claimed Spacey had solely attended one such gathering in 2001. The complainant stated it was attainable that he had misremembered the dates.
The person rejected insinuations by protection counsel Patrick Gibbs that he had in reality been flirtatious in the direction of Spacey.
Gibbs additionally requested the person why he stored a “heat and jolly” letter from Spacey in his possession and questioned why the accuser had posted a “cozy” picture of himself with Spacey on social media.
“It is only a regular picture, two males standing subsequent to one another,” the accuser responded.
Accuser says Spacey informed him to “be cool” throughout alleged assault
The court docket heard from a second accuser Tuesday who stated Spacey assaulted him after becoming a member of a gaggle of his pals for an evening of consuming at a pub close to Oxford in 2013. The complainant informed the court docket that round 1:30 a.m. on the night time in query, the actor invited the entire group again to a rented property the place he was staying.
The person stated he was on the lookout for a coat to put on exterior to smoke when he by chance let Spacey’s canine out. After getting the canine again into the room, he stated he “circled and Kevin was about 5 yards away from me.”
The person stated Spacey got here towards him in a hugging movement earlier than kissing the person’s neck, grabbing his crotch and saying, “be cool, be cool.”
The person stated he pushed Spacey away and {that a} “panicked look” got here throughout the actor’s face when his advance was rejected. The accuser informed police it “all occurred fairly swiftly” and that he grew to become “a bit teary” when he left the home.
When requested by the protection why he solely got here ahead to police to report the incident in 2018, 5 years after it allegedly occurred, the person stated he got here ahead when he realized there have been “different incidents involving Kevin Spacey.”
The trial started on June 28 and was anticipated to final about 4 weeks.
