Giannini rape charges dismissed
Aggravated statutory rape charges against Memphis businessman Mark Giannini were dismissed on Tuesday after prosecutors failed last week to convince a judge that his arrest for a sexual relationship with a teenage girl violated his probation.
During a two-day hearing last week the 17-yearold alleged victim testified that she never told Giannini her age, that she lied about her age on the Seeking Arrangements website where they met and on her Facebook page.
On Tuesday county prosecutors asked General Sessions Judge Bill Anderson to dismiss the charges. However, the case may be revisited. “This is an ongoing investigation. Our prosecutors will review all the facts once the investigation is complete and determine next steps at that point,” said Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich in a statement.
Last week prosecutors unsuccessfully argued that Giannini should have realized that the girl was underage and asked her for identification. He said there was no reason for him not to believe she was as old as she claimed.
“They had no proof. If you can’t prove by a preponderance of the evidence, in other words 51 percent on your side, then you certainly can’t prove reasonable doubt. That’s a higher standard. So the judge’s ruling pretty much took care of that,” said Steve Farese, Giannini’s attorney.
Giannini still must be tried on two other rape charges.
Last year, Giannini entered a no contest plea on a felony drug charge for possession of the anixety drug Alprazolam with intent to deliver, a Class D felony.
He was sentenced to four years, which included the two years he had already served and two years probation.
Last week, Criminal Court Judge W. Mark Ward presided over a hearing to revoke that probation, with testimony from the 17-year-old, her mother, an FBI agent and Giannini.
“I don’t think that the state has established that it is a violation based upon the facts that I have here, so I am going to dismiss the state’s petition,” Ward said on Friday.
The teenager, who will be 18 in December but told the court she listed her age as 20 on the Seeking Arrangements website, said on her Facebook page that she was born in 1994 and never told him she was 17.
The teen also stated that within 15 minutes of their first meeting he showed her his ankle monitor and told her about his pending rape charges.
Giannini, 52, said he had no reason to think she was lying, thought she was in her mid-20s and that “for a period” he loved her.
“She didn’t look young to me,” Giannini said last week.
Giannini also testified that to help her out, he gave the teenager $1,000 to $1,500 while they were together, including $300 on the day they met, which was several hours before they had sex at his home.
Shelby County assistant district attorney Carrie Shelton argued Friday that Giannini should have taken steps to verify her age and called his behavior “reckless.”
“He had information this person was a child and he didn’t take steps to verify that she was a child,” Shelton said.
Farese said it was unreasonable to expect Giannini to ask for proof of her age.
“Certainly we don’t do that in a free country. Certainly we don’t do that when engaging in relationships and he (the judge) saw through that,” Farese said.
Giannini must still answer to two separate rape cases and should be back in court this fall. He was indicted on charges of raping a 19-year-old in 2002 and a 23-year-old in 2013.
And last year Giannini was acquitted of raping a woman in 2014 at his home in Eads.