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Sep. 16, 2025

Closing arguments delivered in Gucci heiress abuse trial

Lawyers for Alexandra Zarini said Joseph Ruffalo, her stepfather, offered no witnesses to rebut claims he sexually abused her as a child, while the defense stressed the plaintiff's burden of proof and questioned her credibility, pointing to omissions in her childhood diary.

Closing arguments concluded Monday in a case accusing Joseph Ruffalo, the stepfather of Gucci heiress Alexandra Zarini, of sexually abusing his two young daughters. Plaintiff's counsel argued the defense failed to exonerate Ruffalo by calling no witnesses, while his attorneys emphasized that the burden of proof rests with Zarini.

"Where was the defense, right?" said Gary A. Dordick of Dordick Law Corporation in Beverly Hills in his closing statement on behalf of the ...

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