Director of Crash (“Collision”) and screenwriter of million dollar Baby Y Royal Casino69, arrived Wednesday morning at the Southern Circuit Court in Manhattan.
Haleigh Breest advertising agent accused the filmmaker in December 2017 of having abused her and raped her in January 2013when he was 26 years old.
In the midst of a wave of the #MeToo movement of complaints of sexual violence and sexism against women, the filmmaker was accused by three other women of sexual assault. But in New York he only appears because of Breest’s complaint.
Last June, Haggis had been arrested in southern Italyafter the complaint of a young woman for sexual assault, which he denied.
According to several US media, the filmmaker’s lawyers suggested Wednesday before the popular jury of the court that Breest’s complaint was remotely directed by the Church of Scientology after their breakup. A thesis that the complainant’s lawyers refuted.
In her complaint, Breest said that on January 31, 2013, after a film screening in Manhattan, the director insisted that they go have a drink at her house, instead of a bar as she wanted. Once there, Haggis forced her to fellate him and then raped her.
Known for being one of the creators of the series Walker Texas RangerHaggis received the 2006 Oscars for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay for Collision. He was also a screenwriter for million dollar Babyof Letters from Iwo Jimaby Clint Eastwood, and the episodes of the James Bond saga, Royal Casino Y Quantum of Solace.