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The Boston lawyer, previously named as one of People magazine’s “Top 50 Bachelorettes,” was found not guilty of two counts of rape on Friday, according to Boston 25 News.
Gary Zerola, 51, was accused of raping a 23-year-old woman in 2016. The woman claimed that after going out with her friends in Boston’s North End, she was awakened by Zerola sexually assaulting her.
Zerola’s legal team called the woman a liar and accused her of kissing the lawyer earlier in the evening and changing her story.
“Basically, she’s a liar,” Zerola’s attorney Rosemary Scapicchio argued. “The story you just heard from the Commonwealth doesn’t tell half of what happened.”
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Gary Zerola watches the proceedings at his rape trial in Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston, June 6, 2023. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
The 2016 incident was not the first time Zerola had been accused of rape. In 2008, two separate women testified that Zerola raped them in the 1990s, but the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence, according to Boston 25 News.
Zerola was named as one of People magazine’s “America’s Top 50 Bachelors” in 2001, along with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Benicio del Toro.
Zerola, a former prosecutor for Suffolk and Essex counties in Massachusetts, said he was “grateful” for the jury’s decision Friday.
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“I’m just thankful that the jury kept an open mind and listened to all the facts,” Zerola said, according to FOX 25.
Gary Zerola talks to his attorney Henry Brennan Jr. in Suffolk Superior Court during his trial on rape charges in March 2018. (Angela Rowlings/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images, File)
“Mr. Zerola has been cleared of all these charges and can now try to get his life back on track,” Scapicchio said. “It’s been a long six-and-a-half months for him.”
The spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney said Zerola is still under investigation on a separate rape charge.
“We are grateful to the Middlesex special prosecutor and victim advocate who guided this case from the beginning, the Boston detectives who investigated it, and especially the survivor who had the courage to come forward and the patience to stick with it. spokesman James said. Borghesani said.
Gary Zerola, 51, was accused of raping a 23-year-old woman in 2016. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
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“There is another case pending against this defendant in 2021 with similar allegations, and we will again do our best to prove those allegations,” he added.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
