This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Haggis says the encounter with Breest, which allegedly took place after a premiere, was consensual. Breest originally filed suit in December 2017, although proceedings were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. where he is being sued by film publicist Haleigh Breest, who alleges that Haggis raped her in January 2013. Haggis is also facing court proceedings in the U.S. “In the coming weeks, the reasons for the decision will be known and, therefore, so will the fate of the judicial proceedings pending in Italy,” Laforgia noted in the statement. Four judges have now ruled in favor of Haggis. On Friday evening, the Court of Lecce contacted attorneys for both parties to inform them of the court’s decision, rejecting the public prosecutor’s appeal and confirming the decision made by judge Gilli. This is expected to happen in the coming weeks, unless new evidence surfaces. Laforgia stated that Haggis’ arrest was the result of a judicial error ansd, based on the evidence, the prosecutors must now close the case. There was no immediate comment from the alleged victim’s legal team. The Prosecutor of Brindisi appealed her decision to the Court of Lecce, where Haggis’ lawyer, presented what he says is “irrefutable and objective evidence that the woman told multiple lies to investigators and the court, with facts and witnesses completely contradicting her story,” the lawyer added. “Two weeks ago, Judge Vilma Gilli of the Court of Brindisi questioned the alleged victim and then immediately overturned Haggis’ house arrest,” Laforgia said in the statement. The 69-year-old director spent 16 days under house arrest in a hotel, before being released from detention. Haggis, who won two Oscars for “Crash” and is also known for writing “Million Dollar Baby,” was arrested on June 19 in Ostuni, a location in the southern region of Puglia on the heel of the Italian boot, on charges of sexual assault allegedly inflicted to a 28-year British woman over the course of two days in June. “After viewing the evidence and hearing arguments from both sides, the District Court of Lecce, an appellate court with three judges, unanimously rejected a prosecutor’s appeal to have Haggis’ house arrest reinstated,” said Haggis’ Italian lawyer Michele Laforgia in a statement issued on Saturday.