Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey had tears in his eyes as he was found not guilty of sexually assaulting four men following a trial in London.
The 64-year-old had denied nine charges including sexual assault, which were alleged to have been committed between 2001 and 2013.
Over the course of the trial at Southwark Crown Court in London, each of Spacey’s four accusers gave evidence, describing him as a “vile sexual predator”, “slippery” and “atrocious, despicable, disgusting”.
Kevin Spacey was found not guilty of all charges (Jordan Pettitt/PA)— (PA Wire)
In a preliminary court hearing last month, Mr Gibbs said his client “strenuously denies any and all criminality in this case”. The American Beauty actor had described the allegations against him as “madness” and a “stab in the back” when giving evidence.
The Hollywood star had denied seven counts of sexual assault, one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
Mr Justice Mark Wall sent jurors out to consider their verdicts on Monday, before giving a majority direction this afternoon.
The Oscar-winning actor, who turned 64 on Wednesday, became tearful as the jury cleared him of all nine offences after deliberating for 12 hours and 26 minutes.
Jurors rejected the prosecution’s claims that Spacey had “aggressively” grabbed three men by the crotch and had performed a sex act on another man while he was asleep in his flat.
Under questioning from Spacey’s lawyer, Patrick Gibbs KC, the complainants all denied either seeking financial gain, attempting to further their career or giving false accounts to the jury.
The Hollywood actor was tearful in court as the verdicts were announced— (AP)
During the trial, one complainant alleged the actor “aggressively” grabbed his crotch while he drove him to a lavish showbiz party hosted by Sir Elton John in the early 2000s.
Jurors were told Spacey allegedly grabbed another man’s crotch “like a cobra” after meeting him at a West End theatre in the mid-2000s following an alleged “barrage of vile comments”.
The defendant was also accused of having had a “panicked” look on his face after a third man rejected an alleged sexual grab at an expensive property he was staying at in the Cotswolds in the early 2010s.
An aspiring actor told the court of an alleged incident in the late 2000s where “things went further” – claiming he woke up to find Spacey performing a sex act on him.
Spacey told jurors of “casual indiscriminate sexual encounters” but insisted that one-night stands “doesn’t make me a bad person”.
Spacey had described the allegations as ‘madness’— (PA Wire)
Referring to one of the incidents, he admitted touching a man’s crotch but said it was a “clumsy pass” after misreading the signals rather than a sexual assault.
A number of famous names were mentioned during the trial, with Rocket Man singer Sir Elton John even being called as a defence witness.
Spacey also spoke of having gifted a ping pong table to Dame Judi Dench after they worked on a film together, and told jurors about staying in Harry Potter star Richard Harris’s son’s flat in the 1980s.
He held his hand on his chest and mouthed “thank you” through tears twice as the jury was discharged before embracing his legal team.
The Oscar winner was emotional after the verdict— (REUTERS)
Addressing the press gathered outside the court, Spacey said: “I imagine that many of you can understand that there’s a lot for me to process after what has just happened today.
“But I would like to say that I’m enormously grateful to the jury for having taken the time to examine all of the evidence and all of the facts, carefully, before they reached their decision.
“And I am humbled by the outcome today.”
Following the not guilty verdicts, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said prosecutors “respect” the decision of the court.
In a statement, a CPS spokesman said: “Following a thorough investigation by the Metropolitan Police, the CPS made the decision to charge Kevin Spacey with sexual offences.
“The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges.
“It is the role of the jury to consider the charges and we respect the decision of the court.”
