Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior CorrespondentMario Batali has been cleared of charges that he groped a woman at a Boston bar in 2017, as a judge ruled on Tuesday that the celebrity chef is not guilty of indecent battery and assault.Batali — the famed TV chef and restauranteur behind Eataly, who fell from grace in 2017, following a series of sexual misconduct allegations — was on criminal trial this week in Boston with a woman who was accusing him of forcible kissing and groping.
Batali was facing two-and-a-half years in prison, if found guilty.The quick trial spanned two days. Batali waived his right to a trial by jury, and did not take the stand.
Boston Municipal Court Judge James Stanton found Batali not guilty, citing credibility issues with the accuser, Natali Tene. “It’s an understatement to say that Mr.
Batali did not cover himself in glory on the night in question,” the judge said in his ruling, addinh that Tene “has significant credibility issues.”Batali, who had a sour look on his face for most of the trial, smiled big and hugged people on the way out of the courtroom.
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