Kevin Spacey Sexual Assault Trial: Jury Begins Deliberations

The jury in Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault trial in London began deliberations on Monday, July 24.

As Variety reports, the jury retired after a brief morning session during which the judge presiding over the case reviewed the evidence with the jurors. The jury will now consider the 12 charges against Spacey, all of which the actor has pleaded not guilty. 

Spacey’s trial began just under a month ago, when jury selection wrapped on June 28 and opening statements began two days later. The charges against Spacey stem from accusations made by four different men who accused Spacey of separate instances of sexual misconduct between 2001 and 2013. Spacey was first hit with five sexual assault charges from three men in May 2022, before the Crown Prosecution Service tacked on additional seven charges in Nov. 2022 related to allegations from one more man.

During the trial, the jury heard testimony from all four men as the prosecution tried to paint Spacey as a “sexual bully.” In her opening statement, Christine Agnew said Spacey “delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable,” describing him as someone who took “who he wanted, when he wanted.” 

Meanwhile, Spacey and his attorneys have tried to discredit the accusers and cast doubt on their allegations. For instance, one accuser said Spacey grabbed his crotch while they were driving to a charity event at Elton John’s house, saying he believed the incident occurred in 2004 or 2005; not only did Spacey produce schedules and itineraries to show he was working during that time, but both John and his husband David Furnish testified that Spacey had only attended their annual charity gala in 2001. (While the accuser acknowledged he may have had the dates wrong, he was adamant the incident happened.)

Additionally, Spacey suggested some of his accusers had made up their allegations because of — as he put it on the stand — “money, money, and then money.” (Two men have brought civil lawsuits against the actor while a third reportedly solicited a settlement.) Agnew responded to this claim in her closing argument last week, saying, “Are they all motivated by ‘money, money, money’ as you were told rather dramatically by the defendant? Or have they all just had enough of the secret of the truth that they have been carrying around for many years? They’re no longer prepared to be the secret keeper of someone who treated them so badly.”

In his closing argument, Spacey’s attorney said three of the accusers were liars, and claimed the other was intoxicated; he suggested all four men used the backlash against the actor to their advantage. Patrick Gibbs told the jury it was “not a crime to like sex, even if you’re famous and it’s not a crime to have sex, even if you’re famous, and it’s not a crime to have casual sex… And it’s not a crime to have sex with someone of the same sex because it’s 2023 not 1823.”

Spacey has faced numerous allegations of sexual assault and misconduct in recent years, all of which he’s denied. He’s so far emerged unscathed in any criminal or civil cases, most notably scoring a major victory last October when a jury found him not liable for battery in a lawsuit filed by Anthony Rapp. (Spacey also had charges against him dropped or dismissed in Massachusetts and California; the former were dropped after the accuser invoked the Fifth Amendment, while the latter case was dismissed after the accuser died of natural causes.)

Amidst all this, however, Spacey has remained fairly busy as an actor. Though he hasn’t booked any major Hollywood movies, he was cast in the 2022 Italian drama The Man Who Drew God and recently earned a role in the American thriller Peter Five Eight. In January, he received a lifetime achievement award from Italy’s National Cinema Museum. 

In an interview last month, Spacey suggested he had more projects lined up, and they would get the go-ahead if he was found not guilty in London. “I know that there are people right now who are ready to hire me the moment I am cleared of these charges in London,” Spacey told ZEITmagazine. “The second that happens, they’re ready to move forward.”