Kevin Spacey has one less sexual assault accuser to deal with, as the Massachusetts busboy who accused the actor of groping him has suddenly dropped his lawsuit.
On Friday, the accuser’s lawyer Mitchel Garabedian said the alleged victim filed a voluntary notice of dismissal Wednesday in Massachusetts Superior Court, just over a week after the suit was filed.
The filing doesn’t indicate whether a settlement has been reached, but it does not seek attorneys’ costs and was filed “with prejudice” — which means the lawsuit cannot be refiled.
As we reported, journalist and former WCVB-TV news anchor Heather Unruh accused the House of Cards star of plying her then-18-year-old son with alcohol before reaching into his pants to grope him at the Club Car Restaurant in July 2016. The alleged victim reportedly worked at the Nantucket bar as a busboy at the time.
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Not only did the 59-year-old star vehemently deny the allegations, he and his team went on to accuse the alleged victim and his mother of erasing critical evidence to fit their story.
In a court appearance last month, the thespian’s attorney, Alan Jackson, alleged the boy’s phone — which he claimed featured “frat boy activities” — was wiped clean before it was handed to the police. He told the judge:
“They cleansed it… What troubles me your honor… the Commonwealth had all this information… we suspected this manipulation had been going on.”
The alleged victim’s attorney didn’t comment on the nature of the dismissal.
Still, Spacey isn’t entirely out of legal trouble over this alleged encounter. He’s been charged with indecent assault and battery — and that case is still pending.
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The actor’s team previously tried (and failed) to block prosecutors from filing the charges against him, arguing that the alleged victim told investigators he allowed Spacey to grope him for around three minutes — during which time he didn’t move away from the actor or tell him to stop.
In the alleged victim’s defense, though, he reportedly told police he couldn’t scoot away from Spacey because the bar was packed. The teen also claimed he had between 8 and 10 drinks of beer and whiskey in a little over an hour — and was allegedly so drunk, he may have blacked out.
We’ll see if this dropped lawsuit impacts the ongoing case in any way.
[Image via Future Image/WENN]
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