Kevin Spacey found not guilty on all charges in U.K. sexual assault trial

[Jose Garcia]

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/n

American Kevin Spacey was found not guilty Wednesday of all the sexual assault charges he was facing in a U.K. trial. The actor had faced nine sexual offense charges related to incidents reported by four men that allegedly took place between 2001 and 2013.

The Academy Award-winning actor had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

All four of the alleged victims — who can't be named under U.K. law — testified during the trial, as did Spacey himself, who said he was crushed by the allegations.

In their testimony, the four men described Spacey a "sexual bully" and a predator.

Read more: CBS News

[flying_wahini]

1. No doubt he was a predator. Ick. His career is over, anyway.

[Snooper9]

9. Wow if you have knowledge of this you should have testified!

!!!!

[Alexander Of Assyria]

14. Some reasonable doubt, obviously. 12 jurors listening to every ounce of evidence said so, while

being instructed on he pertinent law by a jurist…I will go with the Jury and Justice System.

[Renew Deal]

16. I guess the trial doesn't matter

So much for innocent until proven guilty.

[JI7]

20. What do you base this on ?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

29. And you no doubt know this how?

[Martin68]

30. You sound like you don't know what you're talking about. Can you enlighten us regarding what special

information you are privy to? Or are you just going on instinct like some Republicans we know?

[EYESORE 9001]

2. I'll still never watch him again

My personal belief is court got it wrong.

[former9thward]

3. The accusers were found to be serial liars by the court.

The testimony by Elton John and his husband was particularly important showing they were lying.

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. That, too, is a conclusion that you can't actually take from the court

There was no declaration, apart perhaps from Spacey's defence barrister, that they are "serial liars". They have not been "shown" or "found" to have been lying.

The jury had originally been deadlocked on some of the charges, the AP previously reported. The judge then told the jury earlier today that they could return a nonunanimous verdict if 10 of the 12 jurors agreed.

https://www.vulture.com/2023/07/kevin-spacey-not-guilty-sexual-assault-trial.html

So 10 or 11 of the jurors decided that none of the charges had been proved beyond reasonable doubt. That does not mean the court found the accusers were liars.

[oldsoftie]

4. Unbelievable.

[hlthe2b]

5. Elton John and his partner both testified on Spacey's behalf, albeit on one specific issue...

I find it hard to believe that there was not some truth in the accusations--even if the one John and his husband testified to may have been less so (I'm not questioning John's veracity). I'd be curious to know if there was something about the conduct of the British trial that made conviction less likely.

Spacey has quite the challenge if he thinks he will make a Hollywood comeback. Admittedly I did really like him in House of Cards...

[ProudMNDemocrat]

8. L.A. Confidential...mostly because of Russell Crowe as Bud White.

Other than that, I do not watch Kevin Spacey films.

[Kennah]

31. Captain Dudley Smith (James Cromwell) was a rockstar villain

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

10. he's a very good actor. Think of all the opportunities he's missed... could have been in both Barbi

and Oppenheimer. Too bad he's a freak.

[Ocelot II]

17. He is (or was) an excellent actor.

He was great in House of Cards and The Usual Suspects. From what I know of British law, I don't think a conviction is any less likely than in our courts - the judge is allowed to express an opinion as to the defendant's guilt and the credibility of witnesses, for example. Maybe the witnesses weren't very credible. But he probably won't be able to make a comeback. He's yet another example of a talented person with unsavory personal behavior.

[onetexan]

26. Our law system is based on the British system

So yes i trust the jury to return the correct verdict. IMO there were just too many holes in the witnesses' story. Spacey will be ok finding work in england. As for the US the public tends to have short memory (look at the Con). He may in the future find work here.

[Ocelot II]

27. Yes. But our legal system also has constitutional protections

that the British system does not have; I think convictions might be easier for a British prosecutor to get than would be possible for an identical crime here. Although our system is based on Britain's, over time it's become very different in many ways.

[Marthe48]

6. I have mixed feelings

and I didn't read news on this story often.

[aeromanKC]

7. Great news!!

[Pototan]

11. The world we live in...

Kevin Spacey is found not guilty of sexual assault, yet he has been black balled in Hollywood and on TV and will probably never work again. That's the prerogative of his employers and the choice of the public.

But here's the rub. Although Spacey has to pay a price for credible accusations, even after an acquittal, Trump, who was found responsible for sexual assault by a unanimous verdict of a jury in a civil case, remains 50 points ahead of his nearest rival for the Republican nomination for President of the United States.

WTF.

[Ocelot II]

18. Yup, go figure. Famous people who have been credibly accused of sexual assault

are (sometimes) convicted of crimes, and even if not, their careers are destroyed - but we have an ex-president whose reprehensible behavior, sexual and otherwise, is regarded by his cult as a feature rather than a bug. I'd happily trade Spacey's acquittal for TFG's conviction.

[The Grand Illuminist]

12. If it wasn't for his legal troubles

He could have reprised his role of Lex Luthor in The Flash movie.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

13. Kevin Spacey leaves Southwark Crown Court today after being cleared of all charges in his

Kevin Spacey leaves Southwark Crown Court today after being cleared of all charges in his



https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12334455/Kevin-Spacey-cleared-House-Cards-star-not-guilty-sexual-assault-trial-labelling-claims-against-madness-stab-back.html

[Alexander Of Assyria]

15. On way to civil litigation lawyers office, no doubt. Time for justice for the accusers.

[hamsterjill]

19. I accept the verdict.

The jurors heard the testimony and saw the evidence. They rendered a verdict.

Accusers have been known to lie. Predators have been known to get off scott free. We don’t know.

That said, if he is indeed innocent of the charges, I feel badly for him because his career will never be the same and I thought he was good at his craft.

[Aussie105]

34. I too accept the verdict.

But the damage has been done.

The public will not easily turn their disdain and disgust away from him and direct it at his accusers.

Sorry, but your career is over.

[Obvious85]

21. Contrast that with the Judge who confirmed that the jury found Trump DID Rape

No if, ands, or buts, in spite of Trump's continued denial

[FakeNoose]

22. I wonder if he'll remain in Britain now?

Maybe he's decided to retire, or maybe it's been decided for him. It seems there's a lot of hostility towards him.

[Bayard]

23. Hard to determine guilt without seeing the evidence

I do like his movies......L.A. Confidential, Pay It Forward, Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil, Se7en, many more.

[Oopsie Daisy]

25. Good. I'm glad it's over for him.

I hope to see him acting again soon.

[tiredtoo]

28. I liked him in that movie that won an academy award

Name of movie escapes me. It was "American Beauty" 1999 movie.

[Xolodno]

32. He's probably not going to be able to work again for awhile.

But I wouldn't put it past some Hollywood producer to bring him in for some movie. And he'll probably hit it out of the park as he has no incentive to just phone it in. Then the headlines will be how "he's back".

[Jose Garcia]

33. He is in a movie coming out next month:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/kevin-spacey-thriller-peter-five-eight-1235518858/