| A Matter of Trust |
| Jack was too nervous to eat much lunch, but Lennie made sure he at least got a little nourishment. This trying day was only half over, and the second half was likely to be worse than the first. "You did real good in there, Jack." Jamie reassured him. "But now comes the hard part." Jack just nodded. "I know, Jamie. They'll be brutal." "I know it's going to be hard, but you've got to keep your cool. They will accuse you of ugly things; you have to stay above it all." Lennie's hand covered his on the table. "You can do it, Jack. I know you can. Remember, this is YOUR game. Right?" Jack smiled. "Right." Jamie paid the bill and they walked back to the courthouse. She smiled as she noticed that they were holding hands. She'd had an ulterior motive in getting their current relationship out in the open. Most victims had the support of their family and friends in the courthouse; it hadn't seemed fair to her that Jack should be denied Lennie's support just because they were gay. It was bad enough that Adam had to stay away from the trial; as the sitting DA, it would be blatant favoritism for him to appear at this trial. She knew it was pure torture for their boss. They took their places in the courtroom, Jack sitting beside Lennie until the Judge returned and called the court to order. Lennie could feel all the eyes in the room looking at them; it wasn't a particularly comfortable feeling. Finally, a bailiff led in the defendant and his counsel, and the jury was brought back in. The Judge entered and started the session, asking McCoy to re-take the stand. Lennie gave his hand one last squeeze as he got up and took his place. Once he was seated, the judge looked at the defense. "Mr. Donaldson, your witness." Donaldson stood and approached the witness stand, a gleam in his eye. "Mr. McCoy. You mentioned that prior to your involvement with Det. Briscoe, you had kept your," he consulted a notepad, "sexual liaisons at an emotional distance." And that you "wanted to get back to a simple, uncomplicated sort of encounter." Jack stared him down. "Yes, those were my words." "So your normal sexual practice is a series of "one night stands?" "Objection! Relevance!" Donaldson looked up at the Judge. "It shows a pattern of behavior, your Honor." "Overruled." He looked at McCoy. Jack sighed. "I suppose you could say that." "And tell me, Mr. McCoy. Do you ever engage in 'rough sex' ?" "I guess that depends on what you mean by rough sex, Mr. Donaldson." "Oh, say for example, spanking." Jack knew where this was going, but the Judge had already allowed things to move in this direction. He'd have to defend himself. "Yes, but ..." Donaldson cut him off. "And what about role playing? Fantasy games?" "Objection!" Liz Donnelly cried out again. Feldman looked at her. "Your Honor, Mr. McCoy is not the one on trial here!" "Relevance will become apparent in a few moments, Your Honor." Feldman frowned. "Go on, Mr. Donaldson, but make it fast. Answer the question, Mr. McCoy." "Yes." Jack didn't dignify it with anything further. Donaldson just continued. "Mr. McCoy, you said when my client approached you at the bar, he asked if you preferred giving or receiving. Are you sure that's what he was asking?" Jack blinked, taken by surprise. "Yes." "Do you remember his exact words?" Jack paused a moment, remembering. "He asked if I preferred Top or Bottom." "And you construed that to mean giving versus receiving? Of what?" Jack searched for socially acceptable words. "Penetration." Donaldson smiled. "Ah. But don't those words have other meanings?" Jack stared at him. "Such as?" Donaldson grinned. "In the context of kinky sex, don't they also connote who will be dominant versus submissive?" Jack was truly flabbergasted. He hadn't even considered that interpretation. "I � wouldn't know about that. I'm not into kinky sex." "Now really, Mr. McCoy. You've already admitted that you've engaged in spanking and rough fantasies. I think most people would consider that pretty kinky." Jack just glared at him, forcing himself to stay calm. "Then they would be blissfully ignorant of the wide variety of what goes on in the kinky sex world." Donaldson grinned. "It sounds like you are not so ignorant, Mr. McCoy?" Jack struggled to keep hold of his temper. "Awareness does not imply participation." "But were you aware of that interpretation of the terms 'top' and 'bottom?' " Jack sighed. "Yes, I guess I had heard that at some point." "So how did you know which meaning my client intended?" "Context is everything, Mr. Donaldson. The Jade Palace is not the place someone would come looking for that type of action. There are other bars more suited to that sort of things." "Ah. But Mr. McCoy, my client moved to New York from New Jersey only a few months ago. How was he to know which bars were suited to what? Is there a sign in the bar saying 'We only do straight gay sex here?" There were a few surreptitious laughs from the gallery at his choice of words. Jack shot back, "Well, he knew it was a gay bar. I'd guess word on the street is how most people figure out what bars suit their preferences." "Ah, but it's rather obvious that the Palace is a gay bar, to anyone who walks in, isn't it? The lack of female patrons?" "I guess, if he's just going to randomly walk into every bar in New York until he finds a gay one. There are easier ways. And some gay bars do have female patrons." Donaldson let it drop. He'd already planted a seed of doubt. Now to bring it home. "So when you left the bar that night with my client, all you wanted was a quick fuck? Like all of your other nameless encounters?" "Objection!" Feldman glared at Donaldson. "Mr. Donaldson, please mind your language!" "My apologies, your Honor. I'm simply using the vernacular common to the gay community." "I don't care if it's common to the British Parliament, it's not appropriate in my courtroom! Jury will disregard that last statement." Jack sighed. This point went to Donaldson. Stricken from the record, but not from the memories of the jury. Painting a picture of him as the stereotypically amoral faggot, bouncing from one partner to another, engaging in all sorts of 'rough sex,' all of it meaningless, loveless. // When the shoe fits � // He looked out at Lennie, realizing that the only reason he could see it now was thanks to the love Lennie had shown him. He suddenly wanted more than anything to be worthy of that love. Donaldson knew he had won despite the apparent censure from the judge. He pressed his advantage. �Now, Mr. McCoy. You did not initially report this incident as a rape.� Jack kept his voice even as he answered. �I�ve already explained that.� �Yes, well, that�s one explanation. I have another. Perhaps you just didn�t consider what had happened to be rape. You knew it had been consensual. But maybe you let it go too far.� �Objection! Counsel is testifying!� Feldman nodded. �Sustained. Counselor, ask a question.� �Mr. McCoy, you are not exactly a young man. Activities that were easy in your youth are more difficult now. After what, a month or two with your nice sedate cop lover, going back to the rough games was harder on your body than you expected. Is that why, after a week, you decided that it had been rape? To justify to yourself how you had let yourself be used so roughly?� �Objection!� Feldman shook his head. �He did finally ask a question. Answer it, Mr. McCoy.� Jack was seething, but his �game face� won out. // They can�t beat you at your own game, Jack. // Lennie�s words kept coming back to him. �First of all, Mr. Donaldson, I�ve never participated in the really rough stuff, before or after my � relationship with Det. Briscoe. So your entire theory is outrageous. Mr. Blaise did NOT engage in consensual �rough sex� with me, he raped me. It just took a week before I could accept what had happened and admit it to myself, let alone others.� Donaldson paused, then took off in another direction. �Mr. McCoy, you are a prosecutor working in the District Attorney�s office, correct?� �Yes.� �As a prosecutor you have a rather impressive conviction record, wouldn�t you say?� Jack wondered where they were going with this. �I�m good at my work.� �Of course you are. In fact, you have a reputation of being a man who likes to win.� �Objection! Relevance.� �Come to the point, Mr. Donaldson.� �Your encounter with my client left you visibly injured, humiliating you at work, and leaving you feeling emasculated because you realized you couldn�t take it rough any more. And when your ex-lover the cop brings the case to you, rather than admit you wanted it rough, you cry rape.� �Objection!� �Mr. Donaldson, please ask a question.� �Were you thinking that your revised testimony could help win the case against the man who had humiliated you, and at the same time perhaps win back your more sedate cop lover?� Jack�s nearly shouted �No!� and Donnelly�s �Objection!� rang out simultaneously. Feldman was getting quite impatient with the defense counsel. �Mr. Donaldson, enough. Save your alternate theories of the crime for your closing statements. The jury will disregard Mr. Donaldson�s comments. Mr. Donaldson, do you have any actual questions for this witness?� Donaldson backed down, knowing he had planted doubt. "No, Your Honor." Donnelly stood up. Being well-versed in the world of sex-related crimes was paying off. "Re-direct, Your Honor." At Feldman's nod, she went on. "Mr. McCoy, have you heard of any variant of kinky sex which would result in injuries like the cut on your face?" Jack collected himself. "No. I've heard of bondage games where one partner is restrained which might leave marks on wrists and ankles. Some people find the pain associated with spanking or whipping to be a stimulus to enhance their pleasure. But it's always in the context of a game; the scenario is discussed openly, and serious injury is not intended. I've certainly never heard of a punch in the face that splits the skin being part of any sex game." "And what about a 'safe word'?" "People who indulge in those more dangerous games always agree in advance on a 'safe word' which means to stop. Sometimes, particularly in role-playing fantasies, pretending to be reluctant is part of the game. So the players agree on a word other than no to mean 'no for real' if the game has gone too far for their pleasure." "So if Mr. Blaise intended to play a rough game with you, he would have asked for your safe word?" "Yes." "Did he?" "No, he did not." Donnelly smiled. "Thank you, Mr. McCoy. You can step down." // thank god it's over � // Jack stood and quickly strode into the gallery, taking his seat beside Lennie. Lennie immediately took his hand, reassuring him. Donnelly looked up at the Judge. "The prosecution rests, your honor." Feldman looked at Donaldson. "Are you ready to proceed, Mr. Donaldson?" "Yes, your honor. The defense calls Steven Knight to the stand.� Continue on to Chapter 32 Send me some Feedback Back to the Story Index Disclaimer: These characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I'm just borrowing them for fun, not profit. |
| Chapter 31 |