Giannini's attorney argues women are good at lying "because they're the weaker sex"

Shelby County businessman Mark Giannini is on trial this week on aggravated rape charges. Commercial Appeal justice reporter Katie Fretland will be live blogging from the trial.

Tuesday: Court blog - Victim testifies Giannini raped her at Eads mansion

Wednesday: Court blog - Housekeeper testifies Giannini destroyed cell phone, asked her to research extradition

5:05: p.m.: Jury returns at 9 a.m. tomorrow to deliberate.

4:35 p.m.: Shelby County Assistant District Attorney Neal Oldham tells the jury that no amount of money would have been worth what Giannini did to the victim.

Earlier in the trial, Farese asked the woman if she hit, bit or scratched Giannini.

She didn’t fight him, because she just wanted to go home, Oldham told the jury.

"Isn’t crying and saying I want to go home enough?" Oldham asked.

4:30 p.m.: Earlier, Farese told the jury of 11 women and three men that women can be especially good at lying "because they're the weaker sex." He added that he has daughters and he believes them, if somebody does something wrong to them he'll take action. "But how do we know when they're lying?" Says to consider have they lied before and do they have anything to gain by lying.

Full quote:

“People can be very good at lying. Women can be especially good at it because they’re the weaker sex and we ... and we want to protect them and not have anybody take advantage of them at least I do.”

He appeared to say “that’s what the book says” referencing the weaker sex comment.

4:20 p.m.: "The man is not guilty," Farese argues. "Has he done things that are immoral, yes, you cannot legislate morality. It's the oldest profession in the book. Am I calling (her) a bad name because she was engaged in the oldest profession in the book out of desperation? No."

4:04 p.m.: Farese continues questioning the woman's credibility: "They can't make chicken salad out of chicken squat," Farese says, adding, "Don't tinkle on my leg and tell me it's raining. I know what's going on. One lie after another lie after another embellishment, on and on it goes."

4:00 p.m.: Defense attorney Farese tells the jury the woman was crying "on cue" and that she was dressed up like an "Amish person."

"She's totally unbelievable," Farese, says urging the jury to "follow the money."

3:43 p.m.: Farese tells the jury it's easier to be a victim than a suspect. He references a lawsuit that the woman filed in Circuit Court and says she's seeking $6 million.

He says the woman knows that if Mr. Giannini is found guilty the burden of proof in a civil case is less and she could get $6 million.

He says the top she was wearing is not in evidence because "they" don't want the jury to see it, because, he says, it was a sexy halter top.

Farese said Giannini kissed her and asks her to brush her teeth and use Scope, because he didn't like that she was a smoker.

She comes out and he's butt naked in the pool, Farese said. She says he pulled her into the pool, and Farese says she must have come to the edge of the pool for him to pull her in.

The woman said he also raped her on an American flag towel after they were in the pool, and Farese raises questions about why her DNA wasn't on the towel.

Farese has been sarcastically referring to the defendant as "master criminal Mark Giannini."

3:31 p.m.: Attorney Steve Farese is beginning his closing argument with a PowerPoint slide displayed with the words: "Saying it does not make it so."

He quotes Albert Einstein that, 'whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters."

Farese is questioning the woman's credibility and questions why the woman would have taken her children to a dangerous city in Mexico to be with their father, who she said was abusive. (The woman testified she went to Mexico so her children could have a father after he was deported.)

"Her job was as a mule for the cartel to bring illegal drugs into my country," Farese said, because she was an American.

She lied every time she came into the country with cocaine and marijuana, Farese said.

3:09 p.m.: Banti says Giannini thought he could take advantage of the woman, a Waffle House waitress who had four children, because he was a self-made millionaire and "no one was going to believe her over him."

Banti urges the jury to find him guilty.

3:03 p.m.: Banti says there are clues about what happened in addition to the victim's testimony. The police were at his gate days after the woman reported he raped her, "and what did he do? He ran," Banti said. He called the housekeeper and asked her to pick him up on Collierville Arlington road, Banti says. She didn't go pick him up.

"Left out in the middle of nowhere in Eads, Tennessee, he walked back to the house," Banti said. Footprints were found in the direction of where the housekeeper was asked to go pick him up.

He had a passport and a Desoto County Sheriff's deputy badge on him.

2:52 p.m.: Swabs from the victim showed evidence of semen. Forensic scientist Donna Nelson was not able to determine who the semen belonged to, but Giannini could not be excluded. The results excluded 96.3 percent of the Caucasian male population, but not Giannini, according to Nelson's testimony.

2:42 p.m: Banti tells the jury about the testimony of Giannini's former housekeeper of two years, who had known him 20 years. She said on June 19 she got a phone call from Giannini to help take a girl home. The woman was laying on a lawn chair, passed out. She looked drunk and he knew what room to take her back to. She and Giannini helped her into the car and she was crying, in and out of consciousness.

The housekeeper helped the woman to her room.

The housekeeper testified Giannini's behavior was erratic in the ensuing days — that he destroyed his phone, told her to get rid of it, gets a new phone and that he asked her to research countries that don't extradite to the United States. He asks her to go to Waffle House to spy on the victim to see what she's saying, Banti says.

He says he's not going to jail and would go to Florida to get a ship captain to take him to another country, Banti tells the jury.

2:25 p.m.: Shelby County Assistant District Attorney Jessica Banti is summarizing evidence in the case and victim's account of what happened to her.

Banti says Giannini grabbed the woman by the hair and kissed her forcefully and tells her she tastes like smoke, to go brush her teeth and use mouthwash.

She's very scared and she does what he says, but first she says she wants to go home, Banti said.

He says "This is your job interview," and she complied, Banti said.

He told her she didn't brush her teeth fast enough, Banti said.

Banti tells the jury Giannini was naked in the pool, pulled the woman into the pool and raped her.

"She's asked him repeatedly to go home," Banti said. "She's crying."

Banti says Giannini belittles the woman, calls her names and says he's good for an old man. Banti describes graphic and violent details.

"This isn't just rape, this is making someone inhuman," Banti said. "This is about power, not just about sex."

Banti says he takes her inside and continues raping her.

He tells her he had a vasectomy because he "hated people," Banti said.

"He put his hands around her throat and she blacked out," Banti said. "She woke up in the hospital."

2:20 p.m.: Closing arguments are starting.

1:45 p.m.: Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Mark Ward instructs the jury on the law. He tells them the crimes charged are three counts of aggravated rape, and for each count the jury can consider lesser offenses. The lesser offenses the jury can consider are: aggravated sexual battery, rape, sexual battery and assault.

12:15 p.m.:  The defense has formally rested its case. Judge Mark Ward will charge the jury and closing arguments after lunch.

12:00 p.m.: Closing arguments are scheduled for about 1:30 p.m. The defense doesn't have any more witnesses and the state has no rebuttal.

11:37 a.m.: Mark Giannini is on the witness stand outside the presence of the jury about whether or not he wants to testify.

"I choose not to," he said.

11:00 a.m.: Antonio Perry works for Lakeside Behavioral Health System. His job involves assessment and evaluations. Perry came to Baptist East hospital while the victim in the case was there. He is testifying about the woman's medical records and a form that was marked "no" for "past criminal conviction." The victim in the case does have a criminal history of a drug felony in Texas.

In a section on thought processing, the documents say she couldn't recall recent events. In a section about decision making, the documents say "poor decision making, suicide attempt."

The forms also indicate marijuana and alcohol was found in her system and "patient would not give any details" and that she said she didn't drink.

10:50 a.m.: Sheila Arnold is the next witness. She was a nurse at Baptist East where the victim in the case was taken. She testified she was the day shift nurse. She said the woman told her she had been raped.

10:40 a.m.: Oldham is asking James if Giannini had sent him to go find people for him.

"No, but I know what he likes," James said, adding that they are "pretty young ladies."

"Pretty young ladies who are desperate for money," Oldham asked.

"No, who need assistance," James said.

Giannini told him that he and the woman ended up getting in touch, James said.

Oldham asks if James told her she was going to be forced to do things against her will.

James says no.

"Did you tell her she was going to be choked until she passed out?"

No.

"So she didn't know exactly what was going to happen?"

"She did know one thing and that was you're going to be having sex," James said.

"Did she know it was going to be forced sex against her will?"

Attorney Steve Farese stands up and objects.

"No," James said.

10:35 a.m.: Prosecutor Neal Oldham is cross-examining JJ, who just picked Giannini out of the courtroom.

Giannini stood up for the identification.

10:27 a.m.: The first witness today is John "JJ" James, who was a customer at Waffle House, where the victim in the case worked. He was known at the restaurant as "Trouble," because he would carry on, he said.

James talked with the woman at the restaurant.

"I told her Mark was a nice guy, a wealthy fellow," James testified.

She needed money, James said. He told her she knew someone with money: Mark Giannini, he said.

Defense attorney William Massey asked James if he told the woman that sex would be involved in the relationship with Giannini.

"Basically," James said.

"What does basically mean?"

"Yes," James said.

10:20 a.m.: The lawyers in the case are discussing what lesser offenses the judge could instruct the jury to consider. Giannini is charged with three counts of aggravated rape against one woman in this trial.

10:00 a.m.: Background — Part of the testimony Wednesday was about why Giannini would have had a DeSoto County Sheriff's badge in his shorts when law enforcement made contact with him at his home.

Retired Shelby County Sheriff's Lt. Kevin Helms testified about going to Giannini's home as part of the investigation of Giannini in 2014. When law enforcement made contact with Giannini, he was sweaty, had scratches on his body that looked fairly fresh and his shorts contained a passport and the badge, Helms said.

Helms said that the badge would give the appearance that Giannini might be a deputy sheriff with DeSoto County, adding that "I know he's not."

Helms said that sometimes "back in the day" badges were given out in connection with politics.

"I don’t think he went through law enforcement," Helms said. "I’m not sure , back in 2007, he either went though the Mississippi post-certified thing to get it or he politically got it somehow from giving money and donating to a campaign."

9:45 a.m.: The third day of testimony in the trial of Mark Giannini is scheduled to begin today with his defense team calling three or four witnesses. Giannini is represented by Whit Cooper, Steve Farese, Chelsea Harris and William Massey. On Wednesday, prosecutors Jessica Banti, Carrie Bush and Neal Oldham rested their case following testimony by Giannini's former housekeeper, a retired Shelby County Sheriff's lieutenant, medical professionals and a forensic scientist.