The prosecutor in Brindisi appealed her decision to the Lecce Court, where Haggis’ attorney presented what he said was “conclusive and objective evidence that the woman told multiple lies to investigators and the court, with facts and witnesses completely contradicting her story,” the attorney added. “Two weeks ago, Judge Velma Geli at the Brindisi Court questioned the alleged victim and then immediately rescinded Haggis’ house arrest,” LaForgia said in the statement. The 69-year-old filmmaker spent 16 days under house arrest in a hotel, before being released from custody. A 28-year-old British woman was allegedly assaulted over the course of two days in June. Haggis, who won two Oscars for “Crash” and is also known for writing “Million Dollar Baby,” was arrested June 19 in Ostuni, a location in the southern region of Puglia on the heels of an Italian shoe, on sex charges. “After seeing the evidence and hearing arguments from both sides, the Lecce District Court, a three-judge appellate court, rejected the prosecutor’s request to return Haggis’ house arrest,” Michele LaForgia, Haggis’ Italian attorney, said in a statement. Italian news agency ANSA reported that the court ruled in Haggis’ favor late Friday night. A judge in the southern Italian city of Lecce has ruled there is no reason to continue investigating allegations that Oscar-winning Canadian director Paul Haggis had sex with a young woman without her consent.
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