Women ‘especially good at lying’ – defense lawyer in millionaire rape trial (VIDEO)

The defense lawyer in a rape trial in Memphis, Tennessee, told the majority female jury that “women can be especially good” at lying while accusing the alleged victim of being a prostitute. His client was found not guilty of aggravated rape on Friday.

“People can be very good at lying. Women can be especially good at it because they’re the weaker sex and we... want to protect them and not have anybody take advantage of them,” defense attorney Steve Farese told the court on Thursday during closing arguments, following a three-day trial.

“There’s always a reason behind a lie,” he added.

His client, former tech mogul Mark Giannini, stood accused of raping a 28-year-old mother of four on June 19, 2014. The women had applied for a housekeeping job at Giannini’s residence and alleged that he had drugged and then raped her at her own home following the interview.

“These sorts of ideas and myths about rape are precisely what makes it hard for a woman to come forward and report a rape in the first place,” Fatima Goss Graves, president-elect of the National Women’s Law Center, told The Huffington Post in an interview.

“The man is not guilty,” Farese said. “Has he done things that are immoral, yes, you cannot legislate morality. It’s the oldest profession in the book. Am I calling [her] a bad name because she was engaged in the oldest profession in the book out of desperation? No,” he added.

Giannini did not take the stand in his own defense.

Giannini also stands accused of raping a 23-year-old employee at his home in September 2013, and a 19-year-old employee in 2011, to which has pleaded not guilty in both cases.

In January, Giannini had his $3 million bond revoked after he was indicted for attempting to bribe and coerce a witness after allegations that he attempted to pay off one of his alleged victims.

"My job is not to care if anybody gets offended," Farese said via telephone on Thursday as cited by 11 Alive. "Smart people will see it for what it is."