COURTS

Jury finds Mark Giannini not guilty of aggravated rape

Katie Fretland
USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

A jury of nine women and three men on Friday acquitted Shelby County businessman Mark Giannini of raping a woman, who testified he violently assaulted her in 2014 during what she thought was going to be a job interview.

Giannini nodded his head after the not guilty verdicts on all three charges were read and embraced attorney Steve Farese, while the woman in the case sobbed.

"This is not right," she cried. She left the courtroom and her screams echoed in the hallway outside.

"We thought all along our client was not guilty," said Farese who represented Giannini with Whit Cooper, William Massey and Chelsea Harris. "We knew we had a difficult hill to climb. We knew that he had been convicted by public opinion and we were very, very concerned and now we're very, very pleased.

Giannini is indicted on charges of raping two other women in cases that remain pending. Attorney William Massey said a court date of April 27 has been set to discuss Giannini's bond. His $3 million bond was revoked in May 2016 in connection with charges of coercion of a witness and bribery.

"While we respect the jury's verdict, we are deeply disappointed in the outcome," Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich said in a statement. "The victim in this case exhibited great strength and courage. We are saddened for her and hope that this result does not discourage other victims from speaking up."

The woman, a 28-year-old mother of four who was a Waffle House waitress, testified that Giannini raped her, belittled her and asked "Aw you want to go home? You don't like this?"

Giannini, 51, was charged with three counts of aggravated rape in this case and acquitted on all counts. The businessman was an owner of the information technology firm Service Assurance and a former board member of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Memphis, the Memphis Botanic Garden and the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce.

April 21, 2017 - The jury has found Mark Giannini not guilty of three counts of rape.

He declined to testify and his defense team presented an argument that the sex was consensual. His lawyers raised her criminal conviction in connection with drug smuggling and suggested she was after Giannini's money through a civil lawsuit seeking $6 million.

Farese's comment during the trial's closing arguments that women are the "weaker sex" and that they can be especially good at lying continued to draw criticism Friday with an advocate referring to the comments as "pathetic."

"His comments don't make logical sense," said Meaghan Ybos, executive director of the People for the Enforcement of Rape Laws. "And while he has a duty to represent his client, that doesn't make his comments less pathetic. "

April 20, 2017 - Defense lawyer Steve Farese holds a cigar as he looks over notes while sitting beside client, Shelby County businessman Mark Giannini, during his aggravated rape trial in Judge Mark Ward's courtroom at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center on Thursday.

“People can be very good at lying," Farese said in his closing argument. "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.”

Talented attys don't need to demean women to defend their clients. Attacking a rape victim on the stand is violating her again. #stevefarese

— Vogue Problems (@Vogueprobs) April 21, 2017

Demetria Frank, assistant professor of law at the University of Memphis, said the comment was “wholly inappropriate.”

“It’s kind of disgusting that we still hear comments like that at this point,” she said. “It should open up a bigger conversation about the biases and the ethics of attorneys in our justice system.”

Attorney Leslie Ballin said that "good lawyers don't read from a script when they are making their summations to the jury."

"Good lawyers occasionally will say something that as soon as it comes past their lips wish they could grab it and put it back in," he said.

"I know Steve and what I believe he meant to say was that it would be natural to empathize and have sympathy for a woman who had been raped but in this particular case this woman was not a rape victim even though she said so," Ballin said.

April 20, 2017 - Shelby County businessman Mark Giannini enters Judge Mark Ward's courtroom for his aggravated rape trial at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center on Thursday.

Ballin joked that "he was just trying to get Trump's attention to see if he could get a position on Trump's cabinet."

Attorney Tatine Darker said Farese's comment was unfortunate.

"It was an unfortunate comment, but a lot of things happen at trial and hindsight's always 20/20," she said. "I don't approve of the comment at all, it's unfortunate, but trial is a very high stress high pressure situation."

Darker said the criminal defense bar is a male-dominated group and "I think that's an example of why sometimes it's a problem."

"You have to gauge your audience and I think that when you're talking to a group of 11 women that, unless you really know who they are and have been able to gauge that, you're really gambling and taking very serious chances with that kind of comment," she said. "I think you're taking a chance you might alienate the jury."

Attorney Valerie Corder said that character traits for honesty or dishonesty are not associated with any particular gender.

By phone Thursday, Farese said it isn't his job "to care if anybody gets offended" and "smart people will see it for what it is."

Anna Whalley, administrator of crime victim services for Shelby County, said it is "very surprising in 2017 that people say things like that, and that they believe that."

"People are pretty appalled with that characterization of women," she said.