A judge has ruled to release Paul Haggis from hotel detainment in Italy following his June arrest in the country on allegations of sexual assault.
Michele Laforgia, lawyer for the Academy Award-winning filmmaker, told the Associated Press Monday (July 4) that Haggis was still Italy as prosecutors decide whether to pursue an investigation of whether he allegedly had sex with a woman without her consent.
Haggis, 69, was arrested June 19 in the southern Italian region of Puglia after a woman told authorities he had non-consensual sex with her over a period of two days. Haggis was in the country for a film festival in the town of Ostuni.
Following the filmmaker's arrest, the office of prosecutors Antonio Negro and Livia Orlando, who are conducting the investigation, said in a statement [via AP] that the woman was "forced to seek medical care" following "non-consensual relations."
Italian daily Corriere della Sera quoted the ruling of judge Vilma Gilli [via AP], reporting how she concluded there was an "absence of constrictive violent behaviour" by Haggis, and noted that the woman's decision to be with Haggis in his accommodations was "spontaneous."
Haggis, who wrote consecutive Best Picture-winning films Million Dollar Baby and Crash, was previously accused of four counts of sexual misconduct in 2018.
Michele Laforgia, lawyer for the Academy Award-winning filmmaker, told the Associated Press Monday (July 4) that Haggis was still Italy as prosecutors decide whether to pursue an investigation of whether he allegedly had sex with a woman without her consent.
Haggis, 69, was arrested June 19 in the southern Italian region of Puglia after a woman told authorities he had non-consensual sex with her over a period of two days. Haggis was in the country for a film festival in the town of Ostuni.
Following the filmmaker's arrest, the office of prosecutors Antonio Negro and Livia Orlando, who are conducting the investigation, said in a statement [via AP] that the woman was "forced to seek medical care" following "non-consensual relations."
Italian daily Corriere della Sera quoted the ruling of judge Vilma Gilli [via AP], reporting how she concluded there was an "absence of constrictive violent behaviour" by Haggis, and noted that the woman's decision to be with Haggis in his accommodations was "spontaneous."
Haggis, who wrote consecutive Best Picture-winning films Million Dollar Baby and Crash, was previously accused of four counts of sexual misconduct in 2018.
