Crime
Zerola can also be awaiting trial on a separate 2021 rape case, the place he’s equally accused of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old lady whereas she slept.
A Suffolk Superior Courtroom jury discovered Gary Zerola – a former prosecutor and onetime Individuals journal high bachelor — not responsible on two rape fees Friday.
Zerola, 51, had been accused of raping a girl in November 2016 following an evening of ingesting. The girl, whose good friend was courting Zerola on the time, testified that she woke as much as discover Zerola undressing and assaulting her whereas her good friend lay sleeping close by.
All through the four-day trial, Zerola’s legal professionals hammered at witnesses’ credibility, trying to poke holes in testimony from the alleged sufferer and her good friend, each 29 years previous now.
“They will’t get their tales straight,” protection legal professional Joseph Krowski Jr. mentioned in a closing argument broadcast on Courtroom TV.
“In case you’re telling the reality, it’s straightforward to get your story straight,” Krowski mentioned. “In case you’re telling the reality, you’re solely recalling one thing that really occurred. However if you lie, it’s a lot tougher since you’re attempting to recollect earlier lies you’ve already informed.”
The protection crew repeatedly cited the alleged sufferer’s prior relationship with Zerola, pointing to Snapchats, outings for dinner and drinks, and a motorbike trip.
Nonetheless, prosecutor Thomas Brant argued in his personal closing argument that none of these interactions constituted consent.
Brant alleged that Zerola noticed the lady asleep on the sofa that morning and thought, “I can do that; I’m Gary ‘Large Time Lawyer’ Zerola. We have been all ingesting final evening. I used to be paying for it, and naturally, I can inform she needs me.”
Zerola’s protection crew objected to Brant’s characterization, and Choose Michael Ricciuti ordered “Large Time Lawyer” struck from the document.
Protection legal professional Rosemary Scapicchio informed The Boston Globe that her consumer was “relieved” by Friday’s verdict.
“It’s at all times aggravating to be accused of such a severe offense,” Scapicchio informed the Globe. “However in actuality, the commonwealth simply didn’t have any proof to show this case past an inexpensive doubt.”
She added: “The jury bought it proper.”
For his half, Zerola informed reporters outdoors the courthouse that he was “grateful that the jury had an open thoughts, they usually listened to the details,” per video from WCVB.
Friday’s verdict marks the third time Zerola has been acquitted on sexual assault allegations; courtroom information present that as many as a dozen girls have accused Zerola of comparable assaults stretching again to 1996, based on the Globe.
He’s additionally awaiting trial on a separate 2021 rape case, the place he’s accused of breaking right into a 21-year-old lady’s house and sexually assaulting her whereas she slept. Prosecutors have mentioned that Zerola met the lady at a celebration and accompanied her again to her house with a mutual acquaintance earlier than returning and getting into the house with out her permission.
In a press release following Friday’s verdict, the Suffolk County District Lawyer’s Workplace expressed gratitude to the particular prosecutor, sufferer advocate, and Boston detectives who labored on the 2016 case, “and particularly the survivor who had the braveness to come back ahead and the persistence to keep it up.”
“We’re not afraid to prosecute the hardest instances and we at all times respect the jury’s verdict, irrespective of how disappointing,” Suffolk District Lawyer Kevin Hayden’s workplace mentioned.
As for the pending 2021 case, the DA’s workplace mentioned it’ll “as soon as once more do our greatest to show these fees.”
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