Oscar-winner Paul Haggis ought to pay entire of $10 million in civil rape case | World Data

A New York jury on Monday ordered Oscar-winning screenwriter and director Paul Haggis to pay $2.5 million in civil punitive damages for raping a publicist in his home in 2013, for a blended verdict of $10 million throughout the case.

The choice acquired right here after the an identical jury on Thursday found Haggis liable for sexual assault throughout the civil case and ordered him to pay plaintiff Haleigh Breest $7.5 million in compensatory damages.

Breest alleged in her 2017 lawsuit that Haggis lured her to his SoHo home after a film premiere and raped her. Breest was one in all 4 ladies who publicly accused Haggis of sexual misconduct in 2017 and 2018.

Haggis denied the allegations and was in no way criminally charged within the US.

Breest’s lawyer, Ilann Maazel, knowledgeable reporters outdoor the New York Metropolis courtroom on Monday that justice had been carried out.

Haggis said the case has ruined him financially nevertheless vowed to attraction.

“I’ll die clearing my title,” he said.

Haggis, acknowledged for films along with “Crash” and “Million Dollar Youngster,” testified on Monday that he made as so much as $25 million all by his film career nevertheless cannot afford the judgment in opposition to him after racking up tens of tens of millions of dollars in approved costs.

Maazel said all through his closing arguments on Monday that Haggis must pay hefty punitive damages for his “chilly, calculated and premeditated” conduct.

“The one particular person he feels sorry for is himself,” Maazel said.

In June, Haggis was arrested by Italian authorities and held in custody for higher than two weeks on prices of sexual assault and aggravated non-public hurt. Haggis denied the allegations, and his lawyer Michele Laforgia later knowledgeable the Italian data firm Ansa that the prices had been dropped.