Kevin Spacey To Enter Witness Box As His Defense Begins In Trial At Southwark Crown Court

deadline.com:

Kevin Spacey is to take the witness box today as his defense in his UK sexual offences trial begins. Spacey’s lawyer Patrick Gibbs KC has told the jury at Southwark Crown Court in the past few minutes that he would be calling the Hollywood actor to the witness box.

Prior to the trial, it was unclear whether Spacey would provide a defense or not. The two-time Oscar winner began by swearing an oath to tell the truth during his evidence.

Gibbs addressed the jury at the start of the defense case, saying: “A couple of weeks ago when I very briefly identified the issues to you I suggested that there might be some obstacles in your route to the truth, and those obstacles, I suggested then, were rumour and fame and how fame makes people behave towards you and secrecy… and sexual confusion.” He added that he hopes the “obstacles” are “in pretty clear sight” for the 12 jurors. “I asked you just to keep an eye out for what actually happened – whether it was consensual, whether it appeared to be consensual, what by contrast has been or may have been reimagined with a sinister spin and what has just been made up,” Gibbs went on to say.

The barrister added that he hoped the jury could see why those questions “may at least have been worth keeping in mind.” The jury has spent the last fortnight hearing the case for the prosection including testimony from four complainants.