Kevin Spacey found not guilty of battery
<p dir="ltr"><em>Content warning: This article mentions child sexual abuse (CSA).</em></p>
<p dir="ltr">A New York jury has found that Kevin Spacey isn’t liable for battery in a sexual abuse lawsuit brought against him by actor Anthony Rapp.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The civil suit related to allegations from 1986, where Spacey allegedly picked Rapp up and briefly laid on top of him in a bed after a party.</p>
<p dir="ltr">After deliberating for about an hour, the jury concluded that Rapp didn’t prove that Spacey “touched a sexual or intimate part” of him and the judge dismissed the case.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Rapp, who was 14 at the time of the alleged incident, first publicly accused Spacey of sexual abuse in 2017.</p>
<p dir="ltr">He alleged that Spacey, then 26, invited Rapp over to his home in Manhattan, where Spacey picked Rapp up, laid him down on a bed, grabbed his buttocks and pressed his groin into his hip.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Rapp sued Spacy for $US 40 million ($NZ 70 million) in damages, and his claim of assault was dismissed by the judge before the trial started.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The actor’s claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress was also dismissed after Rapp’s attorneys rested his case, meaning the jury only had to decide whether Spacey is ‘liable’ to damages for the claim of battery.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Under New York law, battery is defined as touching another person without their consent and in a way that a reasonable person would find offensive.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Rapp’s attorney Richard Steigman suggested in his closing statement that Spacey twisted his testimony during the trial to suit his defence, noting that Spacey apologised to Rapp when he first made the allegations.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"Don't listen to what I said in real time. I'm defending a lawsuit now. Listen to me now. I've got it straightened out," Steigman said, mocking Spacey’s testimony that he regrets giving the statement in 2017 and was coerced by publicists to do it.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Steigman also said Spacey’s testimony was rehearsed in comparison to Rapp’s and dismissed claims that Rapp came forward to out Spacey as gay.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"When you're rehearsed, and a world class actor and you're following the script and following the testimony of someone else, you can take that stand and be perfectly polished," Steigman said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"When you're merely coming to court coming forward and telling the truth of your experience, especially one like this that's a little bit complicated."</p>
<p dir="ltr">"The point of the story is not that Kevin Spacey is gay. It's that he sexually abused him when he was 14. That's what he's sharing with people, he's sharing his experience - nothing more, nothing less. Where's the proof that he said to any media outlet, you know, Kevin Spacey is gay, you really should run with this?"</p>
<p dir="ltr">Jennifer Keller, Spacey’s attorney, said in her closing statement that Rapp “hitched his wagon” to the #MeToo movement when he came forward.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"This isn't a team sport where you're either on the Me Too side, or you're on the other side," Keller told the jury.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"This is a very different place. Our system requires evidence, proof, objective support for accusations provided to an impartial jury. However polarised as society may be today, it really should not have a place here."</p>
<p dir="ltr">She also suggested that Rapp’s allegations were false and details taken from a scene from Broadway show Precious Sons, which Rapp performed with Ed Harris in 1986 at the time of the alleged incident.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"We're here because Mr. Rapp has falsely alleged abuse that never occurred at a party that was never held in a room that did not exist," she said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Keller concluded her remarks by asking the jury not to compromise their judgement by finding Spacey liable but only awarding Rapp a single dollar in damages.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"You're here to be judges of the facts. Did it happen? It didn't happen. One penny is too much for something that did not happen,” she said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“And for Mr. Spacey this is not about the money. For Mr. Spacey, this is about the truth that day and he was falsely accused.”</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>
