Kevin Spacey’s attorney tests positive for Covid-19 during trial

CNN
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Jennifer Keller, a lead attorney representing Kevin Spacey in the sexual misconduct lawsuit filed by Anthony Rapp, has tested positive for Covid-19.

Keller tested positive Thursday morning and is symptomatic, US District a judge Lewis Kaplan told the court.

“I would ask that everybody at the defense table mask now,” Kaplan said.

Keller was not present in court Thursday morning. The judge relayed the news of the positive test.

The trial is in its fifth day.

Multiple jurors and others who had been in close contact with Keller requested test kits from the court. Kaplan instructed those in close contact with Keller to test on Sunday and Tuesday.

All jurors and people sitting at the defense table, including Spacey, confirmed to Kaplan they are fully vaccinated.

Kaplan said the trial will resume this morning.

“We’ll go as far as we can,” Kaplan said.

Clinical and forensic psychologist Lisa Rocchio is on direct examination by Rapp’s legal team and is expected to be their final witness.

After testifying over the course of several days, Rapp finished his time on the stand on Wednesday.

He claims that in 1986, Spacey, then 26, invited Rapp, then 14, to his Manhattan home where he picked Rapp up, laid him down on his bed, grabbed his buttocks and pressed his groin into Rapp’s body without his consent. He is suing Spacey for assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Spacey’s attorneys have attempted to poke holes in Rapp’s claims, among them, that Lupita Nyong’o’s New York Times op-ed is what inspired him to come forward with his allegations to Buzzfeed in 2017. While Spacey’s legal team showed that Rapp reached out to the Buzzfeed reporter eight days before Nyongo’s piece published, Rapp maintained that he was “deeply inspired” to speak publicly about his claims, and reiterated that his initial call with the Buzzfeed reporter was off the record.

“It was after reading her article and what she said about breaking her silence that confirmed for me that I was going to go ahead and give the interview,” Rapp said.

Spacey’s legal team has also pointed to discrepancies between Rapp’s claims, including dates he ran into Spacey at industry events.

“Sometimes the truth and memory are different,” Keller said.

“In some cases, yes,” Rapp said.

Before ending his time on the stand, Rapp’s attorney Peter Saghir asked the actor if he had been lying about his allegations against Spacey.

“I have not. It was something that happened to me that was not okay,” Rapp replied.