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Judge says former celebrity chef no paragon of virtue, but there were too many questions to find him guilty of sexual assaut
By adamg on Tue, 05/10/2022 - 3:35pm
Law 360 covers today's acquittal of Mario Batali on a sexual-assault charge for an incident at a bar next to the Italian food court at the Pru that used to have his name on it.
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Ugh, Law360 paywall.
Like LexisNexis needs the money :-)
to summarize what the globe
to summarize what the globe reported:
victim pissed off another judge when on jury duty, claimed to be a clairvoyant.
batali's legal staff found out about that, asked for a bench trial, then told the judge about the jury duty stuff. judge in this case said the victim lacked credibility because of the jury duty incident and acquitted the croc'ed menace.
The Glob has it too
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/05/10/metro/final-prosecution-witness-e...
Batali didn't take the stand, and the accuser was not credible.
If I were his lawyer, I would have advised Mario
not to dress like an escaped convict in a 1920s silent short.
He may have gotten off here, but fuck that scumbag.
The outfit may have been part of the plan
The way the buttons were straining in the Globe picture I thought he was going for the Fatty Arbuckle look. Maybe his lawyer figured the judge would be subliminally influenced by that star's lack of a conviction.
And don't forget Fatty
And don't forget Fatty Arbuckle was found innocent after three trials.
Forget?
What did you think "lack of a conviction" meant?
Pru
I was taking a leak in the pru restrooms one day and Mario sidled up in the urinal next to me. He took an extended peak at my junk and I was like, dude, step off. This guy is a perv and too bad about the verdict.
There's No Doubt
He's a creep. However, the text messages of her telling a friend she was going to 'essentially shake him down' for $10k (she used an exact figure), was a huge red flag.
That’s probably what put ….
… “ not beyond the shadow of a doubt” in the judge’s mind.
I would have struggled with this decision, if it were mine. Reading the texts, it could easily have been the witness going along with her friend and joking.
As for the accusations elsewhere in the news that she didn’t show a shocked expression on her face in the pics, it’s entirely plausible to me that a young woman would pretend to go along with what a powerful man much bigger and stronger than she was trying to do to her till she could get away.
Also, that she lied to get off a jury and out of a gym membership don’t indicate to me that this is someone who would go so far as to help send someone to jail for something he didn’t do. That requires an entirely different sort of dishonesty.
As soon as you hit “It could have been…”
You have failed to meet this burden of proof.
once again
dudes protecting dudes.
yup
kinda had that thought too once he was found not guilty and earlier in the trial he waived his right to a jury trial.
its been a while since i took
its been a while since i took pre law courses, but i thought there were advantages to a bench trial in that they were easier to appeal by the defendant in the case that they are found guilty?
“Well…”
“You’re rich white and famous, so I see no problem here…”
He was found not guilty.
That does not mean he is innocent.
Don't forget the over $7 million he paid for wage theft!
Combined amount for 2 cases years apart.
He beat this rap but he didn't beat those ones.
He and the Bastianichs a true dirt bags.
Should have done time for that kind of theft.
Consequences of your actions
Once you establish a reputation for being a liar, a fraud, and a cheat, it becomes hard to get a conviction based on your testimony against someone who assaulted you, even if that person is actually guilty. I’ll leave up to you the question of whether that’s fair or not, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“Once you establish a
“Once you establish a reputation for being a liar, a fraud, and a cheat”
Doesn’t that apply to Batali also, at least the cheat part? Considering his involvement in cheating his employees on pay?
Oh, it all certainly does apply to him
But he had the sense (and the good legal advice) not to testify nor have a jury trial.
The burden of proof
is on the government, acting on behalf of an alleged victim, with the presumption of innocence extended to the accused. So the character of the accuser and witnesses is going to be scrutinized much more than that of the accused.