Kevin Spacey Tells Court to Dismiss His Criminal Sexual Assault Case

Kevin Spacey Tells Court to Dismiss His Criminal Sexual Assault Case

Kevin Spacey wants the court to toss his criminal sexual assault case, and this is because of his accuser’s refusal to testify.

According to THR, the man who accused Kevin Spacey of groping him at a Massachusetts resort island bar in 2016 asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on Monday and refused to testify after being questioned by the actor’s lawyer about text messages the defense claims were deleted.

Recall that the man told police he went over to talk to Spacey after his shift ended at Nantucket’s Club Car bar because he wanted to get a picture with the actor. He said Spacey bought him several drinks and tried to persuade him to come home with him before unzipping the man’s pants and groping him for about three minutes.

He added that he tried to move Spacey’s hands, but the groping continued, and he didn’t know what to do because he didn’t want to get in trouble for drinking because he was underage. The man said he fled when Spacey went to the bathroom.

Spacey denied groping the teen, and pleaded not guilty to indecent assault and battery in January. Now his lawyers have accused the man of lying in the hopes of winning money in a civil case against Spacey.

And the matter is made worse because the man’s refusal to testify has caused the judge to question the viability of the case against the two-time Oscar winner.

The man was ordered to testify after he failed to turn over the phone he used that night to the defense and then said it was lost. Spacey’s lawyers say the man deleted messages from his phone that would support Spacey’s claims of innocence and then provided investigators with manipulated screenshots of conversations from that night.

The accuser, speaking publicly for the first time, said he gave police what he had “available” to him “at the time” and did not manipulate any of the messages. “I have no knowledge of any deletions of messages on my phone,” the man said.

After being pressed by Spacey’s lawyer about whether he knew that altering evidence used in a prosecution is a crime, the man invoked his right against self-incrimination, and the judge said his testimony Monday would be stricken from the record.

Spacey’s lawyer urged the judge to dismiss the case, calling it “completely compromised.”