[ad_1]
Oscar-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis was ordered Monday to pay an extra US$2.5 million in damages in a rape lawsuit, bringing the full to $10 million for a lady who stated he sexually assaulted her almost a decade in the past.
While accuser Haleigh Breest’s attorneys referred to as the decision simply, Haggis insisted that he had been falsely accused and was financially ruined by combating the civil case. He vowed to enchantment.
Read extra:
Christina Applegate shines in 1st public look since MS analysis
Read More
“I can’t live with lies like this. I will die clearing my name,” he stated as he left court docket.
Screenwriter and movie director Paul Haggis, middle, leaves court docket after being discovered responsible in a sexual assault civil lawsuit, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022, in New York.
AP / John Minchillo
Breest, a publicist, stated Haggis raped her and compelled her to carry out oral intercourse in his New York condo on Jan. 31, 2013. He says they’d a consensual encounter.
The jury sided with Breest final week, awarded her $7.5 million in compensatory damages for struggling and determined that she was additionally due punitive damages. Jurors returned to court docket Monday to listen to testimony about Haggis’ funds and determine how way more he’d need to pay.
Publicist Haleigh Breest smiles as she leaves court docket after screenwriter and movie director Paul Haggis was discovered responsible in a sexual assault civil lawsuit, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022, in New York.
AP / John Minchillo
They bought a fast course in film financing as Haggis was questioned about his earnings on such movies as Oscar greatest image winners Crash and Million Dollar Baby, and the James Bond flicks Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.
While explaining the complexities of screenwriting compensation, he estimated that all through his 4 a long time in TV and films, he’s made as a lot as $25 million — earlier than taxes, brokers’ and different representatives’ charges and asset splits along with his two ex-wives.
The 69-year-old filmmaker stated throughout Monday’s listening to that he’d suffered numerous monetary losses over time — together with the destruction of a poorly insured house within the 1994 Northridge earthquake — however that Breest’s lawsuit wiped him out. He stated his authorized payments topped $2.6 million, whereas his profession abruptly dried up.
“I’ve spent all the money I have at my disposal. I’ve gutted my pension plan, I’ve lived on loans, in order to pay for this case in a very naïve belief in justice,” he stated exterior court docket.
Breest’s attorneys questioned Haggis’ claims of being broke.
“Nothing Paul Haggis says can be trusted,” legal professional Ilann Maazel stated.
After the decision, he stated the jury “did the right thing.” Jurors left court docket with out commenting.
Breest, 36, stated she suffered each skilled and psychological hurt from what occurred after she accepted an invite for a drink at his condo following a film premiere.
She declined to remark Monday. In a press release after the preliminary verdict Thursday, she stated she appreciated “the opportunity to seek justice and accountability in court — and that the jury chose to follow the facts — and believed me.”
She sued for unspecified damages. Haggis wasn’t criminally charged within the matter.
The Associated Press typically doesn’t determine individuals who say they’ve been sexually assaulted except they arrive ahead publicly, as Breest has achieved.
© 2022 The Canadian Press