An attorney is under fire for comments he made about women during a rape trial in which a wealthy Tennessee businessman was found not guilty Friday, KTLA sister station WREG reported.
Steve Farese is seen in a Memphis courtroom in April 2017. (Credit: WREG)
Steve Farese, a well-known Memphis-area litigator, made the remarks while representing Mark Giannini, 51, who had been accused of raping a 25-year-old woman. Giannini also faces separate charges for two other alleged rapes dating back to 2002, involving two different women.
"There's always a reason behind a lie. People can be very good at lying. Women can be especially good at it because they're the weaker sex and we, that's what the books say, and we want to protect them and not have anyone take advantage of them. At least I do," Farese said during closing statements Wednesday.
Memphis Area Women's Council executive director Deborah Clubb called Farese's comments "absolutely despicable."
Giannini was the founder and former CEO of Service Assurance, a computer and information technology company that he sold to Konica-Minolta. He was also on the board for the Boys and Girls Club, the Memphis Botanic Garden and the Memphis Chamber of Commerce.
The 25-year-old plaintiff told police she was drugged and raped at Giannini’s home when she was hired to clean his house in June of 2014. Detectives who searched Giannini's mansion reported finding drugs, guns, nipple clamps, sex toys, lingerie and numerous flash drives, according to WBTV, another local station.
Giannini was arrested shortly after the search and he was found with his passport, a small contact lens case with Viagra and a large sum of cash, police said.
After the jury – made up of nine women and three men – found Giannini not guilty on three counts of rape Friday, the woman he was accused of raping "left crying and screaming," according to local newspaper The Commercial Appeal.
Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich said after the verdict that they were "deeply disappointed in the outcome" and credited the woman with coming forward, adding that she hopes the case doesn't stop others from testifying.
Farese told the newspaper they were "very, very pleased" by the outcome, and that he thought his client had already been convicted by public opinion.
Giannini's two other rape cases are still pending.
