Redress of Grievances (41 page)

Sean
Lassiter declined to cross-examine Clarissa Collins. As she stepped down from
the witness stand, she paused momentarily next to Harriett and looked at her
daughter. Sharon looked straight ahead, refusing to look at her mother.

Chapter
Forty-One

"MR.
TAGGART," HARRIETT said, beginning the fourth day of testimony, "how
did you meet your wife, Sharon Collins?"

"I
fixed her car. We started dating not long after that."

"How
would you characterize your relationship?"

Frank
shrugged and looked at the judge, "Pretty much the same as any other
couple when they start dating, I guess."

"Approximately
how long did you and Sharon date before you were married?"

"About
eight or nine months."

"What
was her family's reaction to your marriage?"

"They
acted happy enough, but I knew they weren't crazy about me."

"Did
that bother you?"

"Couldn't
have cared less. I wasn't going to be living with them."

"How
long were you married before your children were born?"

"About
four years before our son was born. My daughter came along a couple of years
later."

"Children
can sometimes place a burden on a family financially and emotionally,"
Harriett said. "Were there any noticeable changes in your relationship
with your wife after your children were born?"

"No.
Sharon was a good enough mother."

"Was
there ever a time when you thought she wasn't a good mother?"

"No."

"Not
even after your daughter was injured in January of 1999?"

"I
thought Sharon should have been more careful, that's all. I warned her that
Laurel was getting ready to start walking, and she should watch her more
closely."

"What
happened that caused your daughter's injury?"

"Sharon
left her alone to do something, and I guess Laurel decided that was a good time
to start walking. She fell and hit her head on a table."

"How
severely was she injured?"

"She
had a bruise on her cheek and knocked a tooth out."

"Was
she treated for her injuries?"

"Yeah.
Sharon took her in to the doctor right away. She didn't even lose the
tooth."

"What
was your reaction to Laurel's injuries?"

"I
was upset, naturally."

"Did
you blame Sharon for Laurel being hurt?"

"It
was her fault. I told her she couldn't leave the baby alone."

"Would
you say that Sharon was upset as well?"

"I
guess she was. She kept telling me how sorry she was. She knew she should have
listened to me."

"Did
you refuse to let Sharon feed Laurel that night or even to hold her?"

"You
bet. She deserved to be punished. But I might have overreacted a little."

"What
was her reaction to this 'punishment'?"

"She
got mad and said she was going out for a little while."

Picking
up a copy of a hospital report, Harriett said, "Your Honor, I request that
this copy of the hospital record regarding the injuries to Laurel Taggart be
marked defense exhibit eight."

Harriett
presented copies to Landers and Lassiter and then handed a marked copy to Frank
Taggart.

"Would
you read the date on the hospital record, Mr. Taggart?"

"January
10, 2000."

"Are
you aware that January 10th, 2000 was the night Jerome Roth was fatally injured
in an automobile accident after someone fired a shot at his vehicle?"

"No."

"Other
than this one incident, you believe Sharon is a good mother, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Was
she a good wife as well?"

Frank
looked at the defense table for a moment. Sharon leaned forward and rested her
elbows on the defense table and smiled slightly.

"Yeah.
She did the best she could. She always had dinner ready when I got home. The
kids were clean and healthy."

"Was
Sharon working?"

"She
didn't work until after Laurel was born in 1999."

"What
changes, if any, occurred in your personal relationship with Sharon after your
children were born, Mr. Taggart?"

"Like
I already said, she was a good mother."

"I'm
not interested in how she treated her children. How did she treat you?

"Did
the frequency of your lovemaking decline, Mr. Taggart?"

"Yeah,
a little, I guess. I didn't notice."

"Really?"
Harriett asked with mock surprise. "How frequently would you say you and
your wife had sex prior to the birth of your son Kevin?"

Frank
smiled sheepishly and glanced at Sharon. "Often enough."

"Once
a week? Twice a week? Nightly?"

"I
didn't mark the nights on my calendar, Ms. Markham."

"Was
there ever a time when you complained to your co-workers that your sex life
with your wife was non-existent?"

"No,
I..."

"How
about if I called Charles Renniger to testify, Mr. Taggart?"

Frank
glared at Harriett.

"Didn't
you complain to Mr. Renniger that you weren't quote, 'gettin' any' from your
wife?"

"Objection!
Ms. Markham is badgering her own witness, your Honor."

"Ms.
Markham?" Landers asked.

"Your
Honor, the relationship of this witness to his wife, or the lack of it, goes to
my client's state of mind. Permission to treat this witness as hostile,"
Harriett said.

"Granted,"
Landers said. Looking at the jury, Landers said, "Ladies and gentlemen, by
allowing Ms. Markham to treat Mr. Taggart as a hostile witness, she is allowed
to ask him leading questions which may not be objected to by the prosecution.
Continue, Ms. Markham."

"Thank
you, your Honor. Isn't it true that you told Mr. Renniger that you and your
wife weren't having sex at all, Mr. Taggart?"

"Yeah,
I told him that," Frank sulked.

"And
was that true?"

"After
Laurel was born, Sharon practically locked me out of the bedroom."

"Did
the same thing happen after your son was born?"

"Not
as bad. Less, but not a total freeze out."

"Did
Sharon's demeanor, the way she acted in general, change after Laurel was
born?"

"She
was quieter. A little down, but as soon as she got her job she was
happier."

"And
you believed your sex life would improve at that time, didn't you?"

"I
hoped so."

"But
it didn't."

"No."

"I
imagine that was very frustrating for you."

"You
could say that."

"Tell
me, did you discuss this problem with your wife?"

"I
tried to. I said maybe we needed to see a counselor or something."

"And
she refused?"

"Just
kept putting it off."

"Isn't
it true, Mr. Taggart, that you brought home pornographic videos and made your
wife watch them with you in an attempt to increase her interest in sex?"

"Yeah,
so what? Didn't work."

"Is
it true that you were in the habit of grabbing your wife from behind?"

"It
wasn't a habit. But I grabbed her a few times. She's my wife."

"Isn't
it true that you knew Sharon didn't like being grabbed from behind? In fact,
hadn't she asked you not to do it?"

"It
was just playing around. That's what men and women do, Ms. Markham. But then
someone like you probably wouldn't know anything about that," Taggart
smirked, looking at the jury. "You only know what happens between two
women."

"Your
Honor," Harriett said calmly, "please instruct the witness not to
editorialize. I ask that his last remark be stricken."

"Objection,"
Lassiter said. "Counsel can't object to her own witness's statements, no
matter how hostile, when she opened this line of questioning herself."

"Overruled,"
Landers said. "I will not allow my courtroom to become an open forum for
the purpose of airing personal grievances. The witness's remarks concerning
Mrs. Taggart's attorney will be stricken. The jury is instructed to disregard
them. Continue, Ms. Markham."

"You
ignored your wife's request that you not grab her, isn't that true?"

"She
got over it."

"Isn't
it true, that when you grabbed her and refused to release her, that she became
hysterical?"

"She
tried to get away, yeah."

"Did
you release her when she struggled to get away?"

"I
was just playing."

"Trying
to get a little, Mr. Taggart?"

"Yeah."

"Isn't
it true that on one of these occasions when she couldn't get away, that she
hurt you?"

"Yeah."

"You
slapped her after that, didn't you?"

"You
ever had someone stomp on your instep? Hurt like a son of..." Frank began
as he looked at the jury. "It hurt. I slapped her, but it was like a knee
jerk reaction to being hurt."

"What
did she do after you slapped her?"

"She
apologized," Frank said.

"Did
you have sex immediately after that?"

"Yeah.
She insisted."

"And
I suspect you didn't fight it very much."

"It
was a game. She always pretended not to want sex and wound up liking it once I
got her in bed."

"Do
you remember January eighteenth of this year?"

"What
about it?"

"Was
there anything special about that date?"

"No."

"Isn't
it true you and Sharon had a fight that evening?"

"We
could have. I don't remember."

"You
had a few drinks with your friends after work that evening, didn't you?'

"I
might have."

"According
to Mr. Renniger and another man," Harriett said as she looked at her
notes, "a Kenneth Payne, you had several drinks with them before you went
home."

"Then
I guess I did. So what?"

"Does
drinking make you amorous, Mr. Taggart?"

"I
don't know."

"Does
it make you more aggressive?"

"No."

"Isn't
true that on January eighteenth you arrived at your home after several drinks
and demanded sex from your wife?"

"No."

"And
isn't it true that Sharon declined your advances?"

"That
wouldn't have been anything new."

"Isn't
it true that at approximately ten o'clock on January eighteenth you physically
attacked your wife, Mr. Taggart?"

"No."

"You
grabbed her and took her into your bedroom, didn't you?"

"We
went in the bedroom."

"Where
you then ripped her clothes from her body and forced her down on the bed."

"That
never happened!"

"Then
didn't you hold her face down on the bed while you sodomized her?"

"That's
a fuckin' lie!" Frank said loudly.

"And
didn't Sharon beg you to stop?" Harriett pressed.

"No,
she..."

"She
what, Mr. Taggart? She wanted it? She liked it rough?"

Frank
looked at Sharon and smiled, "She came."

"Did
she struggle initially?"

"She
usually did." Frank cast a quick glance at Sharon as he answered.

"That
turned you on, didn't it?"

"Because
I knew she would stop trying to get away in a few minutes."

"And
did she?"

"Yeah,"
Frank said, continuing to look at Sharon. Harriett glanced at her client and
frowned slightly. She knew Sharon Taggart was no longer sitting at the table.

"What
happened when she stopped struggling?"

"I
let her go. Do you want me to tell you what she did then?"

"We're
all breathless with anticipation to know how this romantic evening ended, Mr.
Taggart."

Leaning
forward in the witness chair, Frank looked at Sharon with a crooked smile.
"She told me to put my hands under her hips and raise them, so I could get
at her better. Then I didn't have to do a damn thing but stay there on my knees
while she moved her hips with me inside her. Real slow at first. Then faster
and faster until she knew I couldn't hold it back any more and we both came. Is
that what you wanted to hear, Ms. Markham? It wasn't rape. Sharon
consented."