LOS ANGELES:  In the rape trial against Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis, a jury has been selected. Opening statements are scheduled to start the trial in New York City.

Haggis, the creator of "Crash" and "Million Dollar Baby," has been charged with raping Haleigh Breest, a publicist, at a movie premiere over ten years ago. Breest's case was brought in 2017 in response to the #MeToo movement, which sparked a wave of allegations of sexual assault against well-known men.

Haggis maintains that the 2013 meeting was consensual and that the rape accusation was brought against him in revenge for his decision to quit and later criticise the Church of Scientology.

Breest's legal team argued that Breest and other witnesses have no affiliation with the church in an effort to prevent Haggis from asserting that Scientology was behind the accusations as retaliation.

They asserted, as per "Variety,"  report that pursuing that line of defence will divert the jury's attention away from the specifics of Breest's charges. However, in September, Judge Sabrina Kraus decided that Haggis could use that defence.

The defence and the prosecution questioned the possible jurors over their acquaintance with the Church of Scientology and the #MeToo movement on Tuesday (Pacific Standard Time).

But it wasn't quite as prominent as it was at the jury selection for Danny Masterson's rape trial, which is currently taking place in Los Angeles. Danny Masterson is an actor from "That '70s Show."

Leah Remini, the "King of Queens" actress who left Scientology and became an outspoken critic, and Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon are among the defendant's potential witnesses who could be asked to testify, according to counsel, as per "Variety."

Remini has previously asserted that the accusations of sexual assault against Haggis were the work of Scientology.
Following the jury selection, the attorneys and the court deliberated on a few crucial issues relating to the line of questioning to be directed at potential jurors as well as the role of Scientology in the case.

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