Kevin Spacey assault case on shaky ground

Alleged victim opts not to testify out of fear of self-incrimination

NANTUCKET: Kevin Spacey may evade a trial as the case against him suffered a serious blow on Monday when his accuser declined to testify due to fear of self-incrimination.

William Little accused the actor of groping him in a Massachusetts bar in July 2016. The actor, 59, was charged in January with indecent assault and battery.

But William chose to plead the Fifth Amendment, which allows citizens not to testify so as not to incriminate themselves, after it was revealed his cell phone - a key piece of evidence in the case -may have been compromised.

PHOTO: FILE

He has said he took a smartphone video of the incident, which he says took place when he was an 18-year-old busboy in the bar. But the phone - which the defense wanted to examine - has apparently disappeared.

Interrogated at length about what he did with the phone and the messages on it, William insisted he had not deleted anything. But when warned that manipulating the information on the phone could result in charges being brought against him, he pled the fifth.

Little's mother Heather Unruh admitted she had deleted some potentially embarrassing photos before giving the phone to the police but said she had not erased anything related to the alleged assault.

PHOTO: ABC NEWS

Kevin’s lawyer Alan Jackson insinuated that text messages from William - who was a fan of the actor - that implied his consent in the situation had been deleted. "This entire case is completely compromised," he said. The prosecution did not rule dropping the case but asked the judge for a week to decide.

The Hollywood bigwig has insisted on his innocence in the matter. The charges carry a penalty of up to five years in prison. But he has already been dropped from House of Cards and from a leading role in director Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World.

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