Kevin Spacey advised a British jury on Thursday that he was “a big flirt” who had what he characterised as mild, touching and romantic encounters with a person who later accused him of sexual assault.
He all the time revered the person’s boundaries, Mr. Spacey stated, including that he felt “crushed” by the accusations.
Two weeks right into a sexual assault trial in London in opposition to the Oscar- and Tony Award-winning actor, Mr. Spacey’s testimony on Thursday was the primary time that the jury heard from him straight.
Mr. Spacey, 63, has pleaded not responsible to 12 costs regarding incidents that the prosecution says concerned 4 males and occurred from 2001 to 2013. For most of that point, Mr. Spacey was the inventive director of the Old Vic theater in London.
Sitting on the entrance of a courtroom at Southwark Crown Court and going through the jury, Mr. Spacey — who was carrying a grey swimsuit, and light-weight blue tie — was largely calm, and infrequently joked together with his authorized consultant, Patrick Gibbs.
Opening the trial final month, Christine Agnew, a British prosecutor, advised the jury that Mr. Spacey was “a sexual bully” who “delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable.” He had repeatedly groped males, Ms. Agnew stated. On one event, Ms. Agnew added, Mr. Spacey gave a person oral intercourse with out that man’s consent.
In the times after Ms. Agnew’s opening speech on June 30, the jury heard from the 4 nameless complainants. Under British regulation, it’s unlawful for anybody to establish complainants in sexual assault instances, or to publish data which will trigger them to be recognized. The jury first watched recordings of interviews that every complainant gave to British law enforcement officials, then the accuser was cross-examined within the courthouse.
The first complainant stated in his police interview that, within the early 2000s, Mr. Spacey touched him a number of occasions. On one event, the complainant stated, he was driving with Mr. Spacey to a ball when the actor grabbed his genitals so arduous that he virtually veered off the street.
On Thursday, the day’s opening session targeted on Mr. Spacey’s recollection of these encounters and the actor mentioned his relationship with that complainant. Leaning again in his chair and sounding wistful, he stated the person was “friendly and charming and flirtatious.”
The pair’s encounters step by step “became somewhat sexual,” Mr. Spacey stated, including that this most definitely occurred on the actor’s personal initiation. Mr. Spacey stated the pair by no means had intercourse. The complainant “made it clear he didn’t want to go any further,” Mr. Spacey added. He stated he had revered the complainant’s boundaries.
Later, Mr. Spacey was requested about one other complainant who advised the police that he met Mr. Spacey at a charity occasion in 2005 and that Mr. Spacey made lewd feedback to him. The complainant stated Mr. Spacey went on to seize his genitals with such power that it felt “like a cobra” taking maintain.
Mr. Spacey stated these occasions “never happened,” and characterised the person’s account of the evening as “madness.” The actor stated that he had little recollection of the charity gala, however that he would by no means do something to “embarrass myself in such a way” at a public occasion.
Mr. Spacey’s authorized consultant then turned to the accusations of a 3rd complainant, an aspiring actor. That man advised the police that, one evening in August 2008, he visited Mr. Spacey’s condominium and fell asleep. When he woke, he stated, he found the actor performing oral intercourse on him. He stated he then pushed Mr. Spacey away, and Mr. Spacey requested him to depart.
Mr. Spacey stated he believed he had loved a “very nice and lovely” night with the complainant. He stated that the person turned “awkward and fumbling” after the oral intercourse, and “hurriedly left,” as if he regretted the encounter. Mr. Spacey, whose voice rose in quantity and velocity as he mentioned the incident, stated he telephoned the complainant shortly afterward to examine on his welfare, as his cellphone data confirmed. The pair later exchanged textual content messages, Mr. Spacey stated.
Source: www.nytimes.com