Justice

Lawyer Says Awful Thing About Women at Rape Trial

April 26th 2017

The lawyer for a Tennessee businessman accused of drugging and raping a woman is under fire over sexist comments he made during trial last week.

Attorney Steven Farese, whose client Mark Giannini was ultimately found not guilty, attempted to dismiss the accuser by making this argument: women are "especially good" at lying.

Why would he say that?

Because, according to Farese, women are "the weaker sex."

Giannini's defense "largely rested on the veracity of the accuser," raising concerns about the sexist line of attack his attorney took, NBC News reported.

Critics have said that the attorney played into victim blaming, misleading the jury by suggesting that women are disproportionately dishonest. He also commented on what the woman wore during the incident, calling the "sexy top" a "contraption."

"She knew where she was going," Farese said. "She knew what she was doing."

lawyerNBC News - nbcnews.com

Though the jury found Giannini not guilty after he was accused of drugging and raping a woman who came to his house to apply for a housekeeper position, the attorney's defense included elements that have become familiar in sexual assault cases — the underlying theme being that the woman was asking for it.

Experts have found that fears about being made out to be at fault contributes to why sexual assault is massively underreported.

Approximately 63 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, and on college campuses it's even worse at 90 percent.

Farese did not respond to request for comment. He did tell the Memphis Commercial Appeal that it's not his job "to care if anybody gets offended" on Thursday. Check out the NBC News report on the lawyer below.

Share your opinion

Do you know someone who was too afraid to report a sexual assault to the police?

No 16%Yes 84%