Paul Haggis: Italian Judge Drops Sexual Assault Charges Against Director
Paul Haggis will not face trial over an alleged sexual assault that occurred in Italy in 2022 after a judge dropped the charges against the writer-director.
In June 2022, Haggis was detained in Brindisi, Italy, on charges of sexual assault after a 'young foreign woman' told investigators that she was 'forced to seek medical care' following 'non-consensual sexual relations' with a man Italian authorities identified as Haggis.
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Prosecutors said that the alleged victim was dropped off at a nearby airport on Sunday morning following an alleged encounter with Haggis that lasted two days. Airport police and staff said they found the woman in 'precarious physical and psychological conditions' and in a 'confused state.' The woman was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was examined and later told authorities of the sexual assault and filed formal charges.
Haggis was detained until July 2022, when he was released from house arrest pending the conclusion of the investigation. However, on Thursday, an Italian judge ruled that no sexual act occurred without consent and formally dropped the charges against Haggis, the BBC reports.
'For Mr. Haggis, it is the end of a nightmare that has unfairly shattered the career of a film genius and 2006 Oscar winner,' his lawyers, Michele Laforgia and Daniele Romeo, said in a statement.
In late 2017 and early 2018, several women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Haggis, including publicist Haleigh Breest, who filed a civil lawsuit against the Million Dollar Baby screenwriter; that civil trial ended in November 2022 with Haggis ordered to pay $10 million in damages to Breest.
Priya Chaudhry, Haggis' lawyer at that trial, said in a statement to Rolling Stone Thursday following the dismissal of the Italian charges, 'It was always obvious that Paul was completely innocent — and that this woman lied. The timing of the lie, and the inevitability that it would be exposed, strongly suggest her false accusation was planned to sabotage Paul's other case on the eve of trial — deliberately engineered to inflict maximum damage and sway media and public opinion. Everyone should now question the credibility of a verdict delivered in the shadow of a false criminal allegation — one strategically timed to generate global headlines, inflame public opinion, and irreparably taint the course of justice.'
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