Paul Haggis will not face trial in 2022 after a judge dropped the allegation against the writer-director for alleged sexual assault.
In June 2022, a "young foreign woman" told investigators that Haggis was detained in Brindisi, Italy for sexual assault, and she was "forced to seek medical care" after "involuntary sexual relations" with human Italian authorities.
The alleged victims got off at a nearby airport on Sunday morning after the alleged encounter with Haggis for two days. Airport police and staff said they found the woman in a “unstable physical and psychological condition” and a “confused state.” The woman was taken to a nearby hospital where she was examined and later told authorities about sexual assault and filed formal charges.
Haggis was detained until July 2022 until he was arrested until the investigation was over. However, on Thursday, an Italian judge ruled that no sexual acts had occurred without consent and formally dropped the charges against Haggis.
"It was the end of a nightmare for Mr. Haggis, which unfairly undermined the careers of film genius and the 2006 Oscars," his lawyers Michele Laforgia and Daniele Romeo said in a statement.
In late 2017 and early 2018, several women filed allegations of sexual misconduct against Haggis, including public relations officer Haleigh Breest, who filed a civil lawsuit against a million-dollar infant screenwriter; the civil trial ended in November 2022, with Haggis ordering $10 million in damages to Breest.
"It's obvious that Paul is totally innocent, and this woman lied - the time of lying. Now everyone should question the credibility of the judgment made in a false criminal charge, which is a strategic to generate global headlines, inciting public opinion and irreparable justice."