Gary Zerola was as soon as listed as considered one of Individuals’s high bachelors. Now he’s on trial for rape.

Crime

A former prosecutor, Zerola has confronted a number of accusations of rape or sexual assault over the span of greater than twenty years.

Gary Zerola as soon as graced the pages of Individuals journal as considered one of America’s high bachelors, heralded as a shiny lawyer and foster care advocate with a delicate aspect.

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 — considered one of a number of accusations of rape or sexual assault Zerola has confronted over the span of greater than twenty years. 

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

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

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

“I used to be too scared,” she instructed the jurors, in response to 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 an inclination thus far youthful ladies, in response to a 2008 Boston journal article. 

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

In 2008, he was twice acquitted on separate sexual assault allegations. In response to the Globe, court docket filings additionally present that Zerola has had costs towards him dropped in Miami Seashore and New Orleans, whereas statutes of limitations have run out on not less than three allegations from the Nineteen Nineties. 

In considered one of Zerola’s 2008 instances, Boston journal reported that “his lawyer’s success in excluding proof of the opposite alleged assaults from the report was key.” 

Whereas out on bail within the 2016 rape case, Zerola allegedly broke into a lady’s dwelling 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 costs — met the girl 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 girl instructed authorities she awoke to seek out Zerola sexually assaulting her.

Shouting match erupts in court docket

Prosecutors stated Tuesday that the girl within the 2016 case was out ingesting 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 girl had met and socialized with Zerola a number of instances earlier than, contrasting their preexisting relationship with extra stereotypical depictions of rape. 

“You’ll not hear a couple of 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 evening, as you may assume whenever you first sat in right here and stated, ‘Effectively, this can be a rape case.’”

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

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

In response to the Globe, Scapicchio interrogated the girl about a number of images, some from that evening and others linking her to Zerola. One picture confirmed the girl kissing Zerola — first on the cheek, after which on the lips, the newspaper reported. 

Whereas the girl acknowledged that the kisses should have occurred, she stated she didn’t keep in mind the images and that she by no means would have had intercourse with Zerola given his relationship together with her good friend, in response to the Globe.

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

The girl stated the bike journey “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 girl if she gave Zerola oral intercourse after the journey.

“I’d by no means [expletive] do this,” the girl replied, in response to the Globe. Pointing at Zerola, she added, “That’s [expletive], and it!”

Lady’s good friend takes the stand

Protection lawyer 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 underneath Krowski’s rapid-fire questioning, because the protection lawyer hammered her reminiscence of the small print surrounding the alleged assault. 

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

In response to the Boston Herald, Krowski described Daley’s reminiscence at instances as “very dangerous” and “very selective.”

“You appear to have an inclination to recollect particular issues that in your thoughts put Mr. Zerola in a damaging mild,” Krowski stated, in response to the Herald.

In response to Court docket TV, Daley testified that after the alleged rape, her good friend shook her awake and stated, “We’re leaving.” As the 2 ladies walked to Zerola’s automobile so he might give them a journey, Daley stated her good friend grabbed her by the arm and instructed 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, in response to 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, in response to the Herald.

Per Court docket TV, Daley testified that when she requested Zerola about allegedly making a go 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 girl’s vagina, the Herald reported.

Zerola stays underneath home arrest in Salem, prohibited from having feminine guests — apart from family and legal professionals — with out clearance, in response to the Globe. 

Apart from a short lived suspension in 2007, the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers exhibits his legislation license stays energetic.