Solely two witnesses testified throughout the trial, each for the prosecution. Ms. Tene, 32, who works within the software program trade, spent a lot of the first day on the stand, describing her encounter with Mr. Batali late one night at Towne Range and Spirits, a bar within the Again Bay neighborhood of Boston that has since closed.
Mr. Batali noticed her surreptitiously shoot a photograph of him from just a few seats away on the bar, then invited her to take some footage with him, she stated. Because the photograph session started, she testified, so did the pressured kissing and groping.
The one different witness known as was a good friend of Ms. Tene’s, Rachel Buckley, 37. She stated Ms. Tene despatched her an image of Mr. Batali the night time of their encounter, together with texts that described him as showing extraordinarily drunk however didn’t point out his grabbing her. Particulars of the groping and kisses from Mr. Batali got here up in subsequent conversations, Ms. Buckley testified.
A lot of the proof within the trial got here from two years’ value of Ms. Tene’s textual content messages, which generally confirmed her being flippant about promoting the photographs or getting cash from Mr. Batali. They revealed incidents wherein she lied to get out of a health club membership and, in an effort to keep away from jury obligation, instructed one other court docket that she was clairvoyant. As soon as she was seated on that jury, she violated court docket guidelines by looking out the defendant’s background and texting a good friend that she thought he was responsible.
The decide famous these incidents and her disregard for the courts, along with photographs from the night time on the bar that confirmed her smiling after her first encounter with Mr. Batali. Three minutes later, she took one other spherical of selfies with the chef.
“Her response or lack thereof to the alleged assault is telling,” the decide stated.
Simply earlier than he dominated, Decide Stanton additionally admonished Mr. Batali. “His conduct and his look and his demeanor weren’t befitting of a public individual of his stature at the moment,” he stated. “It’s a lesson for all of these individuals in public or movie star positions.”
