NEW YORK – The civil trial against Kevin Spacey for an alleged sexual assault in 1986 against a minor, who was 14 at the time, began in New York on Thursday.
The judicial process began after the selection of the 12 members of the jury who will evaluate the lawsuit filed in 2020 by fellow actor Anthony Rapp, who claims 40 million dollars in psychological damages, medical expenses and unemployment due to the emotional problems he suffered from the his death Spacey allegedly tried to seduce him and touched him at a party in his New York apartment.
Spacey has denied the facts since 2017, after Rapp reported the alleged harassment in an interview.
“Anthony wants justice, this shouldn’t have happened,” Rapp’s attorney Peter Saghir said Thursday during his opening arguments in which he noted that his client was a helpless 14-year-old boy, while Spacey was aged 26. and 27 when the alleged accident occurred.
Rapp’s lawyer insisted to the jury that it was an “unacceptable” action that haunted him forever.
Spacey, winner of two Oscars in 1995 and 1999, along with his four lawyers, led by Jennifer Keller, sat behind Rapp.
The alleged incident occurred at a time when Rapp was starring in one play and Stacey, who started her career in the 1980s, was starring in another, both on Broadway.
Rapp went with a friend who was visiting him to see Stacey’s show and when it finished they went backstage to greet the actors and there they met Stacey, who invited them to have a drink and a meal, Saghir recalls.
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There was also a party invitation another day at Spacey’s apartment which Rapp attended alone. According to Rapp’s version, a drunken Spacey picked him up, laid him on a bed and climbed on top of him. According to Saghir, Rapp managed to escape to the bathroom and when he was trying to leave, he ran into Spacey again.
“Are you sure you want to leave?” Spacey would have asked, after which the attorney assured the jury that the actor acted “intentionally to satisfy his sexual desire.”
The plaintiff, who continually took notes and commented on one of his lawyers, now stared at the 12 jurors.
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For her part, Jennifer Keller told the jury that they “want justice” for their client Spacey and that once they hear from both sides, “they will be convinced that this alleged assault never happened” and that Rapp is lying.
An important element of the trial is that, according to the defense, Spacey’s apartment at the time was a studio with no rooms, while Rapp claims it was in a bedroom with a door separating it from the living room.
The lawyer also indicated that Rapp never said anything to her mother or went to the police and hinted that she made up the story and sued her “to attract attention and raise her professional profile. “when he saw the success that Spacey had achieved, ahead of his career.
