Kevin Spacey Found Not Liable In Sex Abuse Suit Brought By Anthony Rapp

>>> GOOD DAY. I’M IN FOR HALLIE. WE START WITH BREAKING NEWS MOMENTS AGO. A MANHATTAN JURY HANDED A VICTORY TO KEVIN SPACEY FINDING HIM NOT LIABLE FOR THE BATTERY WHICH HE WAS ACCUSED FROM A FELLOW ACTOR. HE DID NOT MAKE A COMMENT AFTER HE LEFT THE COURTHOUSE MINUTES BEFORE WE CAME ON AIR. HE WAS ACCUSED OF BRIEFLY LAYING ON TOP OF HIM AT A BED PARTY, ON A BED AT A PARTY, RATHER, WHEN HE WAS JUST 14. THE JURY DELIVERED A QUICK VERDICT. THE TRIAL LASTED FOR THREE WEEKS, HE WAS SEEKING MORE THAN $40 MILLION

IN DAMAGING. IN DAMAGING. THE LAWYERS TOLD THE JURY HIS SEX ABUSE WAS NOT LIABLE. IT IS AS IT NEVER OCCURRED AT A PARTY THAT WAS NEVER HELD. WE GOT THIS COVERED FROM MULTIPLE ANGLES TONIGHT. WE HAVE IT COVERED FROM MANY ANGLES. RON LET’S START WITH YOU. THIS NEWS JUST BROKE A SHORT TIME AGO. WHAT IS THE LATE INTEREST WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT THERE? >> IT APPEARS TO ME KEVIN SPACEY HAD A SLIGHT SMILE ON HIS FACE AS HE WAS WALKING OUT OF THE COURTROOM. HE DID NOT SAY ANYTHING. YOU CAN SENSE THAT HE WAS RELIEVED.

IT WAS THE FIRST TIME HE WAS ON TRIAL FOR SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS. ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN A DOZEN OR SO PEOPLE WHO HAVE ACCUSED HIM OF

DOING SOMETHING WRONG, SOME KIND OF ABUSE. HE FACES SOME SERIOUS CRIMINAL CHARGES IN GREAT BRITAIN IN A TRIAL THAT WILL START NEXT YEAR. HOWEVER, TODAY, A VICTORY. THIS IS THE CHARGING DOCUMENTS, AND THE FIRST QUESTION ON IT IS, DID MR. RAPP PROVE BY A PREPONDERANCE OF THE EVIDENCE TOUCH A SEXUAL PART OF MR. RAPP AND THE ANSWER WAS NO. THAT WAS THE FIRST OF EIGHT QUESTIONS. BUT AS SOON AS

THE JURY SAID NO TO THAT, THEY DID NOT HAVE TO GO ANY FURTHER. THAT IS WHY IT TOOK ALL OF AN HOUR AND 15 MINUTES OR SO DELIBERATION, ONE OF THE QUICKEST DELIBERATIONS YOU WILL EVER ENCOUNTER AFTER EIGHT DAYS OR SO OF TESTIMONY. BOTH SIDES PRESENTED VERY STARKLY DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF WHAT HAPPENED. SPACEY SAID IT NEVER HAPPENED. NEVER A PARTY. AND BY THE WAY HE LIVED IN A STUDIO APARTMENT. THERE WAS NOT EVEN A BEDROOM WHERE IT COULD OF HAPPENED AS RAPP INSISTED. SPACEY’S LAWYER SAID HE WAS ENVIOUS, HE WANTED TO RAISE HIS PROFILE AND

SORT OF MOCKED HIM SAYING THAT HE HAS GOTTEN MORE ATTENTION DURING THIS TRIAL THAN HE HAS GOTTEN DURING HIS ENTIRE CAREER. SO, THAT IS WHERE THINGS ARE NOW. IT WAS A REALLY STUNNING QUICK DECISION. THE JUDGE HAD THROWN OUT, ALREADY, TWO ALLEGATIONS, TWO COMPLAINTS AGAINST RAPP DURING THE TRIAL AND THERE WAS ONE REMAINING. SO, THAT IS WHERE IT IS NOW. SPACEY, AGAIN, WINNING SOMEWHAT OF A VICTORY TODAY. OF COURSE HE HAS A LOT OF OTHER LEGAL TROUBLES PILING UP. NOT JUST HERE BUT IN GREAT BRITAIN. JUST EARLIER THIS YEAR HE WAS ORDERED TO PAY PRODUCERS

OF THE NETFLIX SERIES “HOUSE OF CARDS” SOME $30 MILLION BECAUSE THEY CLAIM THEY HAD TO CANCEL EPISODES AND RESHOOT EPISODES AFTER FIRING HIM BECAUSE OF ALL OF THE ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT THAT WAS FLOATING AROUND IN THAT PRODUCTION AREA. SO, THERE IS THAT AS WELL. AT THE MOMENT, SPACEY LEFT SAYING NOTHING BUT AGAIN, A LOT MORE FIGHT ON THE WAY, TOM? >> RON, THANK YOU. LET’S BRING IN NBC NEWS LEGAL ANALYST. DANNY, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE VERDICT FROM A LEGAL STANDPOINT. AS RON POINTS OUT IT WAS REALLY QUICK IN COMING. >> NOT TOO

MUCH OF A SURPRISE. LOOK, THE CHILD VICTIM’S ACT IS GOOD LEGISLATION. I FACED THIS MYSELF. IT IS A GOOD IDEA IN THEORY TO EXPAND THE STATUE OF LIMITATIONS TO REOPEN IT FOR VICTIMS TO HAVE A SECOND SHOT AT CASES THEY OTHERWISE COULD NOT BRING BUT IT DOES NOT CHANGE THE FACT THAT THE PLAINTIFF STILL HAS TO MEET THE BURDEN OF PROOF. WHILE IT IS LIGHTER IN A CIVIL CASE PROVING THINGS THAT HAPPENED 30 PLUS YEARS AGO IS GOING TO BE HARD WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE STATUE OF LIMITATIONS. THAT IS WHY STATUE OF LIMITATIONS EXIST

BECAUSE OF THE PROBLEMS THAT THE PLAINTIFF RAN INTO IN THIS CASE. IT IS A PROBLEM OF PROOF OF THE EVIDENCE. PROVING SOMETHING OR DISPROVING SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED DECADES AGO. >> RON MADE THE POINT HE FACES OTHER CHARGES OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT HERE IN THE UNITED STATES AS WELL AS ABROAD. COULD THE OUTCOME OF TODAY’S CASE IMPACT THOSE CASES AS WELL? >> IN THEORY, MAYBE, BUT, PRACTICAL, NO, PRACTICAL, NO, THE REALITY IT IS A DISCREET CASE WITH ITS OWN VICTIM, AND THE OTHER CASES HAVE DIFFERENT VICTIMS AND PLAINTIFFS BUT LOOKING AT THE LANDSCAPE OF SPACEY LITIGATION, HE

IS WINNING. HIS CALIFORNIA CASE HAS GONE AWAY. HIS MASSACHUSETTS CASE HAS GONE AWAY. YES, HE HAS AN OPEN CASE IN GREAT BRITAIN. THAT IS A CHALLENGE. ALL IN ALL, HE MOSTLY HAS COME OUT ON TOP IN MOST OF THE LEGAL CASES WHICH IS A FASCINATING THING GIVEN ALL OF THE