Mario Batali waived his right to a jury as he went on trial today, on charges of indecent assault and battery.
The celebrity chef, 61, has been accused of kissing and groping a woman while she tried to take a selfie at a Boston restaurant, in 2017.
He appeared at the Boston Municipal Court on Monday morning and waived his right to a jury, opting instead to have Judge James Stanton decide his fate.
It has been alleged that the noted cook grabbed the woman’s ‘intimate areas’ during a chance encounter at a bar in Boston – something he has denied.
She alleged that she was having a drink with a friend at a bar when she saw Batali.
The Chew star is thought to have called her over and suggested that they take selfies together before allegedly touching her without permission.
The alleged victim took to the stand at the courthouse earlier today and recalled being ‘shocked’ and ‘alarmed’ by the their interaction.
‘It all happened so fast,’ she said, via Reuters. ‘Essentially the whole time there was touching of my sensitive feminine areas.
‘I want to be able to take control of what happened and come forward, say my piece, get the truth out there – and everybody be accountable for their actions.’
Batali’s lawyers denied the accounts denied the accounts in the civil and criminal complaints.
‘The charges, brought by the same individual without any new basis, are without merit,’ Anthony Fuller said in a statement in 2019, when the chef initially pleaded not guilty before the case was stalled due to the pandemic.
The trial is expected to last several days. If convicted, he could face up to two and a half years behind bars and be required to register on the sex offender’s register.
In 2017, he was forced to step down from daily operations in his restaurant empire over reports of sexual misconduct, after three of his employees made allegations against him.
‘I apologize to the people I have mistreated and hurt,’ he said in a statement at the time. ‘That behavior was wrong and there are no excuses.
‘I take full responsibility and am deeply sorry for any pain, humiliation or discomfort I have caused to my peers, employees, customers, friends and family.’
The trial continues.
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