Page 83 of Goodbye Girl

A few giggles rose from the public gallery. The judge gaveled the courtroom to order.

“Let’s keep this respectful, please,” said the judge. “Mr. Swyteck, where are you going with this?”

“Judge, Mr. Paxton testified in his deposition that he saw Mr. McCormick’s dead body, and that his penis was erect. I’m sure Mr. Paxton will testify the same way later at trial. I want to explore the pathological reasons for that condition with the medical examiner while he is here in the courtroom.”

The media section of the gallery came to life, eating it up. Judge Cookson grumbled.

“Mr. Owens, does the prosecution intend to elicit testimony from Mr. Paxton about the victim’s penis?”

More giggles, and this time the judge’s gavel cracked with addedforce. “That’s enough! If there is anyone is this courtroom who finds the death of Mr. McCormick funny, please leave now!”

The courtroom was still. “No more outbursts,” said the judge. “Mr. Owens? Could you answer my question, please?”

“We do intend to elicit that testimony, Your Honor. As I explained in my opening statement, the prosecution will prove that the murder of Mr. McCormick occurred during the performance of deviant sexual activity. In some ways, that theory rises or falls with the erection.”

What a choice of words. Somewhere in the back of the courtroom, Jack imagined, the Imani look-alikes were biting their fists.

The judge replied in a begrudging voice. “All right, then. Mr. Swyteck, proceed.”

“Thank you, Your Honor. Dr. Leed, let me rephrase my question. In your thirty-plus years as a medical examiner, you’ve observed the condition commonly referred to as postmortem erection, have you not?”

“Yes, I have.”

“And now, Dr. Leed, I’m going to do something no sane trial lawyer ever does. I’m going to ask you a question without knowing what your answer will be. The cases in which you observed postmortem erection involved death by hanging or strangulation. Am I right?”

The witness made Jack wait a few seconds, but the answer was as expected. “Yes.”

“In fact, it’s not unusual for death by hanging, whether an execution or a suicide, to result in postmortem erection for men. Right?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s common. But as you say, it’s not unusual to observe a more or less complete state of erection of the penis.”

“And the same goes for death by strangulation, correct?”

“Less common. But yes, it happens.”

“And this complete state of erection occurs even if the man did not engage in any sexually arousing activity prior to his death.”

“That’s correct,” said the doctor. “This engorgement of the genitals is something we see in both men and women.”

“Let’s consider this phenomenon in the context of this case,” said Jack. “You testified that the cause of death was asphyxiation by ligature strangulation. In such a case, does the fact that Mr. McCormick hada postmortem erection indicate to you that he was engaged in sexual activity?”

“I don’t know what he was doing.”

“Precisely,” said Jack. “So, even though Mr. McCormick had a postmortem erection, you can’t say that he was engaged in sexual activity at the time of his death, can you, Dr. Leed?”

“No, medically speaking, I cannot.”

“You can’t even say that he was sexually aroused, can you, Dr. Leed?”

The witness seemed to know that his answer would be helpful to the defense, but there was no way to avoid it. “No. I cannot.”

Jack took the win—small, but it was enough. The postmortem erection was the prosecutor’s only “evidence” that the victim died while engaged in sexual activity. Jack had left him with none.

“Thank you, Dr. Leed. No further questions.”

The judge shifted his gaze to the other end of the defense table. “Ms. Ellis, any cross-examination on behalf of Mr. Nichols?”

“Yes, Judge,” said Ellis.