Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterDirector Paul Haggis asked a judge on Friday to speed up his civil trial on a rape allegation, saying he has nearly been bankrupted by legal fees and needs to clear his name in order to work.Haggis said he cannot continue to pay his legal bills, and asked the New York judge to set a trial “at the earliest practical date.”Haggis, who wrote and directed “In the Valley of Elah” and the 2006 Oscar winner “Crash,” was sued three years ago by Haleigh Breest, a publicist who alleged that he had violently raped her after a premiere in 2013.
Haggis maintains that the encounter was consensual. He simultaneously sued Breest, accusing her of using a false allegation to try to extort him out of $9 million.
Read more on variety.com