UPDATED with more testimony, 5:09 PM: Back on the witness stand Thursday, Paul Haggis denied sexually assaulting any of the four Jane Does who have testified in support of Haleigh Breest, the New York woman who is suing the Oscar-winning filmmaker and former Church of Scientology member for allegedly raping her in 2013.
On the stand for a second day, Haggis finished his direct testimony in the sexual assault civil trial by saying these “terrible false allegations” had left him both “scared” and “humiliated.”
“I’m scared because I don’t know why women or anyone would lie about things like this, make up or twist the truth,” Haggis said more than seven hours into questioning by his lawyer, Priya Chaudhry. “I don’t know.”
In a halting voice, he said, “To see my daughters sitting in the courtroom right now, my son and my family, I’m humiliated by these false allegations.”
Haggis also faced 90 minutes of cross-examination by a lawyer for Breest, Ilann Maazel, that will continue on Friday. Judge Sabrina Kraus has told jurors to expect closing arguments on Monday.
Haggis denied, with varying degrees of detail, the individual accounts of the Jane Does who testified either in person or through depositions about incidents that happened between 1996 and 2015. Deadline is not identifying the women.
One woman testified that Haggis raped her in 1996 in his Toronto production office for the TV show Due South. Haggis said he already was back in Los Angeles by then.
Another woman said...
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