Gary Zerola was as soon as listed as one in every of Folks’s high bachelors. Now he’s on trial for rape.

Gary Zerola as soon as graced the pages of Folks journal as one in every of America’s high bachelors, heralded as a vibrant lawyer and foster care advocate with a delicate facet.

A vastly completely different portrait of the 51-year-old emerged in court docket this week as his trial started in a 2016 rape case — one in every of a number of accusations of rape or sexual assault Zerola has confronted over the span of greater than 20 years. 

He has pleaded not responsible to 2 prices of raping a lady in November 2016 following an evening of consuming.

In court docket Tuesday, the now 29-year-old girl stated she awoke to search out Zerola undressing and assaulting her, testifying that she was in “a state of shock,” based on The Boston Globe. She stated Zerola silently raped her, solely stopping when she acquired as much as wake her good friend, who was courting Zerola on the time and was asleep close by. 

Afterward, the lady stated she “acted as regular as potential as a result of there was nothing I may do in that second,” based on the Globe. She testified that she contemplated what to do earlier than finally visiting a hospital a couple of days later to be examined and communicate to police, the newspaper reported.

“I used to be too scared,” she advised the jurors, based on the Globe. “I’m not gonna name somebody. Gary’s a well known lawyer in Boston, he made that very clear.”

Who’s Gary Zerola? 

A former prosecutor in Essex and Suffolk counties, Zerola had a penchant for nightlife, a behavior of choosing up bar and restaurant tabs for pals, and a bent to this point youthful girls, based on a 2008 Boston journal article. 

Check out Zerola’s court docket data, and one other sample begins to emerge: A historical past of “practically indistinguishable” assault accusations courting again to 1996, the Globe reported. 

In 2008, he was twice acquitted on separate sexual assault allegations. In accordance with the Globe, court docket filings additionally present that Zerola has had prices in opposition to him dropped in Miami Seaside and New Orleans, whereas statutes of limitations have run out on at the least three allegations from the Nineties. 

In one in every of Zerola’s 2008 circumstances, Boston journal reported that “his legal professional’s success in excluding proof of the opposite alleged assaults from the file was key.” 

Whereas out on bail within the 2016 rape case, Zerola allegedly broke into a lady’s house and sexually assaulted her in January 2021, the Suffolk County District Lawyer’s Workplace stated in a press launch on the time.

Prosecutors stated Zerola — who has pleaded not responsible and is awaiting trial on these separate prices — met the lady at a gathering and accompanied her again to her condominium with a mutual acquaintance, allegedly returning to the condominium early within the morning with out her permission. 

As within the 2016 case, the DA’s workplace stated that the lady advised authorities she awoke to search out Zerola sexually assaulting her.

Shouting match erupts in court docket

Prosecutors stated Tuesday that the lady within the 2016 case was out consuming with Zerola and others earlier than the group wound up at Zerola’s good friend’s condominium, the place the alleged assault occurred. 

Prosecutor Thomas Brant famous that the lady had met and socialized with Zerola a number of occasions earlier than, contrasting their preexisting relationship with extra stereotypical depictions of rape. 

“You’ll not hear a few stranger pulling a lady into an alley. You’ll not see ripped clothes,” he stated, his remarks broadcast on Court docket TV. “You’ll not hear screams or shrieks within the night time, as you may assume while you first sat in right here and stated, ‘Effectively, it is a rape case.’”

Brant continued: “This was no stranger, however this was additionally no consent, what Gary Zerola did to her that night time, that early morning.”

In her personal remarks, Rosemary Scapicchio — Zerola’s legal professional — stated prosecutors’ model of occasions “doesn’t inform half of what occurred.” She known as the alleged sufferer a “liar,” arguing that the lady has modified her story over time.

In accordance with the Globe, Scapicchio interrogated the lady about a number of photographs, some from that night time and others linking her to Zerola. One picture confirmed the lady kissing Zerola — first on the cheek, after which on the lips, the newspaper reported. 

Whereas the lady acknowledged that the kisses will need to have occurred, she stated she didn’t bear in mind the photographs and that she by no means would have had intercourse with Zerola given his relationship together with her good friend, based on the Globe.

Scapicchio and the lady went forwards and backwards over whether or not the lady lied to police when she stated she had by no means been alone with Zerola earlier than, regardless of as soon as using with Zerola on the again of his motorbike, per the Globe. 

The lady stated the motorbike trip “was actually the very last thing on my thoughts” when she first spoke to authorities and that she was in any other case by no means alone with Zerola, the newspaper reported.

The questioning devolved right into a shouting match when Scapicchio requested the lady if she gave Zerola oral intercourse after the trip.

“I might by no means [expletive] do this,” the lady replied, based on the Globe. Pointing at Zerola, she added, “That’s [expletive], and you realize it!”

Lady’s good friend takes the stand

Protection legal professional Joseph Krowski Jr. additional attacked witnesses’ credibility in court docket on Wednesday as 29-year-old Colleen Daley — the alleged sufferer’s good friend, who was seeing Zerola on the time — took the stand. 

A Court docket TV clip exhibits Daley tearing up below Krowski’s rapid-fire questioning, because the protection legal professional hammered her reminiscence of the small print surrounding the alleged assault. 

“No disrespect, however do you will have any cognitive difficulties?” he requested at one level. 

In accordance with the Boston Herald, Krowski described Daley’s reminiscence at occasions as “very dangerous” and “very selective.”

“You appear to have a bent to recollect particular issues that in your thoughts put Mr. Zerola in a destructive gentle,” Krowski stated, based on the Herald.

In accordance with Court docket TV, Daley testified that after the alleged rape, her good friend shook her awake and stated, “We’re leaving.” As the 2 girls walked to Zerola’s automobile so he may give them a trip, Daley stated her good friend grabbed her by the arm and advised her Zerola “tried to hook up with me,” the information outlet reported. 

Krowski questioned why Daley wouldn’t ask follow-up questions when her good friend indicated that Zerola may need acted inappropriately, based on the Herald. 

When Daley stated she was feeling too sick to ask questions, Krowski argued that she wasn’t too sick to spend the day with Zerola following the alleged rape, based on the Herald.

Per Court docket TV, Daley testified that when she requested Zerola about allegedly making a cross at her good friend, he replied: “You don’t care.” 

Wednesday’s proceedings additionally included testimony from Sharon Italiane, the registered nurse who performed the rape equipment on the alleged sufferer and famous bruising and minor abrasions on the lady’s vagina, the Herald reported.

Zerola stays below home arrest in Salem, prohibited from having feminine guests — apart from family and attorneys — with out clearance, based on the Globe. 

Other than a short lived suspension in 2007, the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers exhibits his regulation license stays energetic.