Original subtitles

What I remember very clearly

is after John's acquittal,

my secretary said,

"I've gotten several phone calls

from a lady with an accent."

Lorena came in and she sat across from me.

She said, um, "I don't know what to do.

"We went to court.

"Things did not turn out as I expected,

"and I think everybody thinks that I'm a very bad person

"and that I didn't tell the truth

and I did a horrible thing to my husband."

And she says, "I really don't know which way to go from here."

She was very emotional,

and, you know, tears

literally were coming down as she talked,

and that made quite an impression on me.

She was very young.

I said, "You appear to be genuine

in telling me your story."

I said, "But the most important thing

"from a lawyer's standpoint

"is whether we would be able

"to independently corroborate and confirm

"that he had abused her.

"If there is evidence that that was occurring

"with some regularity,

then your story becomes more believable."

After five months of media madness

and John Wayne Bobbitt's not guilty verdict,

he got as far away from the scene of the event as he could.

John Wayne went west.

Once he was acquitted,

everybody was looking to get an interview with John.

But Lorena's trial was coming up,

and I suggested that John should stay out of the press

until hers is over.

So they found this ranch outside of Colorado Springs

that John could live on where nobody would find him.

Me and my brother Brett

went out there for a few months

and it was nice. It was great.

We rode horses and we had-- they had little bulls,

you know, walked around, groomed,

and prepared 'em for shows.

One of 'em got away. A thousand-pound bull,

his name was High Roller.

And he pulled away and jumped up

and karate kicked me right in-- where I got operated.

I was down--down in a ditch.

I gotta ask you, though,

I mean, especially after what's happened to you--

riding horses, riding bulls,

I mean, is that painful?

Well...Oh, wow.

Yeah, it is. Um, sometimes.

You know, but I'm getting better.

It felt great, yeah, felt good.

Felt good being on the ranch.

And I met a girl there, Stephanie.

She became my girlfriend, and we had a lot of good sex.

Felt good being with her. She was a great girl.

I kinda wished, you know, I would've, you know,

stayed with her, but, um, I got sidetracked.

Come in and join the party!

Someone called me and said, "Look,

John is talking about leaving the ranch."

So I called John and he said, "Well,

"there's a John Wayne Bobbitt look-alike contest

going on locally somewhere in Colorado Springs,"

at what was called Hooters.

And he said, "I think I can win it."

I said, "Well, I would hope so.

But John, please don't go off the ranch."

He unfortunately did not listen to me.

So, Lorena, now what was your--

your beef with John?

- He forced me to have sex. - I did not force--

- Hey, John, no crosstalk. - But I--

No crosstalk.

Jokes was everywhere.

Approaching Thanksgiving,

the whole country making jokes about me.

Uh, number four Lorena Bobbitt excuse was--

David Letterman used to call me his girlfriend.

And the jokes did bother me,

because I didn't know how to handle it.

It's so rare in the United States

a penis is severed like this, but my understanding is

that in Latin America,

and that's where Lorena Bobbitt is from,

it's not all that rare.

People were talking about my background,

saying I was just a hot-blooded Latina woman.

She is a jealous wife,

an angry Ecuadoran immigrant whose American dream

of the good life has been destroyed.

It hurts my heart. It hurts my brain.

It hurts my whole body.

I was living at Janna's.

I didn't want to do anything.

I didn't want to do Christmas.

I didn't want to do Thanksgiving.

Come here and listen to me,

listen to me.

Maybe the whole problem was, you know, he was abusive.

She gets on the phone to the friend and says,

"He abuses me." Her friend says,

"Well, throw the prick out of the house!"

You just have to sit there and listen,

and there's nothing you can do about it.

I was crumbling down.

The Bobbitts are getting a divorce,

and Lorena is scheduled to go on trial

in this same courthouse in about three weeks

on a charge of maliciously wounding her husband.

Lorena Bobbitt's case is drawing worldwide attention.

It's the trial everyone is talking about.

The media circus for her husband's trial

is nothing compared to the army of reporters

and television satellite trucks forming up.

Initially, Judge Whisenant said

"We're not gonna make this a circus, Bob."

And, uh, so, uh,

"I don't think I'm gonna let cameras in."

Well, Court TV--you know, they're very smart--

they brought in a very attractive female attorney.

Well, about a minute after they were

face to face, he said, "Sure, come on in.

I think we can do that." I thought, "Holy cow."

For John's trial,

we didn't allow them to put this on TV,

because it was a sexual crime.

Lorena's case they did not consider to be a sex case,

even though he had his penis cut off.

That made no sense to me whatsoever.

They said that there were gonna be cameras there.

My friends were saying, "Are you ready for it?"

And I'm like, "What kind of question is that?"

You're never gonna be ready for any,

you know...of that.

The attorneys called me up and they said,

"The trial is being set for December 23rd."

And I said, "Nobody's gonna watch this at Christmastime.

"You gotta be kidding me.

Move it into January."

If you look at Nielsen ratings,

viewership goes way down 'cause people are out shopping

and they're with their families and all that.

So we had to move Lorena's trial into January.

Live from fuckin' Newark,

the carjacking capital of the world,

It's the "Miss Howard Stern New Year's Rotten Eve Pageant!"

Howard, it's time to meet the judges!

John Wayne Bobbitt!

The great John Wayne Bobbitt!

John Wayne Bobbitt, of course, had a terrible situation.

John, seriously, what happened to you is horrible,

and that's why we're raising money for you tonight.

Howard Stern had his annual

Miss New Year's Eve Pageant,

if you will. Well, he decided to make it

a telethon, raise money for John Wayne Bobbitt.

With the money calling in, they had this penis meter,

that would go up every time--

I mean, the whole show was just a farce.

I mean, it was unbelievable.

Let's see how you did there, John Wayne Bobbitt.

Take a look and tell me how much money you raised tonight.

Well, we got, uh...

$190,900 raised.

That is beautiful! $190,000!

Let's raise that penis, John.

It has been a pleasure raising money for you and your penis.

Congratulations. John Wayne Bobbitt.

Months after the surgery,

John Bobbitt met the volunteer firefighters

who found his severed organ.

Then once we found it, we packed it in ice

and brought it to you as fast as we could,

'cause we knew that it was important.

Oh, I'm really glad I met you guys.

Traffic was going the other way,

so it was a little bit easier getting there.

Yeah, I owe you guys a lot, you know.

Take you guys out for dinner or something.

Bobbitt now seems to be on a campaign

to improve his image,

even capitalize on his misfortune.

I have some T-shirts that I got here

from 25 years ago.

I guess, um, I went on tour before Lorena's court case,

so I was having a lot of fun, doing Howard Stern,

and I went on tour.

Got these "Severed Part" shirts.

And uh, sold a lot of them. Signed a lot of autographs.

And on the back it says, "Love hurts."

You know, it does hurt sometimes.

I was traveling, doing shows,

radio, television.

You know, it's great, you know,

being in the spotlight and, you know,

people wanting your autographs, meeting with you,

hanging out with you and going to clubs.

"Yeah, John Wayne Bobbitt in the house," you know,

and I'd go to concerts and people are screaming my name

and all that, and--

It's great. A lot of support.

People sympathize... I guess.

You know, can relate to obsessive relationships.

You know, am I wrong here,

or was your wife a crazy bitch?

The most controversial case

to hit this town will once again

be on center stage.

Let's start out first

with the prosecutor on this case, Mr. Ebert,

being the one who was the prosecutor

in case number one, the marital sexual assault,

and now on this charge, malicious wounding.

That's very odd.

Have I? No, I won't.

I don't intend to, unless somebody

can convince me that I should.

Can you be vigorous in prosecuting two people

- in the same instance? - Sure.

It's not necessarily John versus Lorena.

It's the state versus these people.

In a barroom fight, it's not unusual

for both parties involved in a fray

to be prosecuted successfully.

Mrs. Bobbitt's likely defense

will be temporary insanity.

The defense says the rape,

after years of abuse, put her over the edge.

With this case, we're entering a plea of not guilty.

We were putting forth a defense

of a form of insanity in Virginia--

irresistible impulse.

That defense was anchored on the proposition

that she had undergone a great deal of trauma,

and that night was the trigger.

This time, she is the defendant,

and John is the victim.

If found guilty of maliciously wounding her husband,

she faces a 20-year sentence.

About three to five days before the trial,

the prosecutor said,

"We have a plea bargain for you."

He said, "Rather than going through

"a whole messy trial and you being found guilty,

"you'll do four months in jail,

for admitting that this was premeditated."

Lorena got on the phone, and she was crying,

and she said, "If I submit to a felony,

I can never become an American citizen."

She said, "I'm going to risk 20 years in a prison,

because I want to be an American."

I said, "No, I'm not a failure.

If I go back, there's no way."

That's not what I wanted. That's not what I wanted.

I want to be here.

I came to America the first time

when I was 16 years old.

It was springtime.

When we were landing into Washington, D.C.,

it was just beautiful. It was a dream come true.

I remember seeing cherry blossoms,

flowers everywhere.

It was wonderful.

I felt like, "Oh, my God, I wanted be here.

This is what I want it to be."

I wanted to come and move here to this--this country.

I was born in Ecuador.

By the time that I was about 7 years old,

my parents decided to move to Venezuela.

My parents work hard.

We were poor, but we were happy.

In South America, we have something called a quinceñera,

but because my parents didn't have the means

to actually have a big party and,

I said, "You know what? I just want to travel

to the United States."

So I did it as a sweet sixteen,

and I love it.

So I graduate from high school in Venezuela,

and I moved here when I was only 18 years old.

We have family here in Virginia.

I had a student visa here,

so I was legal to stay here in this country.

I didn't speak any-- an ounce of English,

so I took English as a Second Language, ESL.

And I was just turning the TV to learn.

I was watching during the daytime,

so soap operas were everywhere.

"Days of Our Lives" was on.

I love you, I love you...

- ...I love you, I love you! - "All My Children."

Sometimes it was game shows--

"The Price is... On."

Something-- oh, what was it?

"The Price is Right."

That was the fun one.

A new Corvette!

The moment I set foot in the United States,

I felt that I had to make it.

That was it. There was no going back.

Just because this guy here, this abusive husband,

was shattering my American dream,

I would not let-- I wouldn't let that happen.

So I was just trying to fight, fight, fight it.

The "cut heard round the world"

comes to court at last.

The sensational trial is attracting

quite a bit of media attention.

There are about 15-20

satellite trucks, about 200 reporters.

This time,

Court TV is bringing the proceedings

into millions of homes.

Lorena Bobbitt goes on trial today

on charges of malicious wounding.

She's facing a 20-year sentence in prison,

a maximum, if she is convicted.

Get the original, the only original

John Wayne Bobbitt signed T-shirt.

And the entrepreneurs are back,

in greater numbers and with a greater variety of inventory

than ever before.

The circus atmosphere

surrounding the courthouse,

testimony to the fact that virtually everyone

is familiar with this case.

The atmosphere around the courthouse

was, as you can imagine, lots of spectators, vendors.

We had the media. Everybody and their brother

wanted to come in and see the trial.

This story was irresistible.

A "Newsweek" poll that we took

indicated that 60% of the country

was paying attention.

That's all I, you know, want--

The interest level was huge.

There was constant demand from editors

to get each new detail about both John and Lorena.

The coverage of the Lorena Bobbitt trial continues--

Prince William County Courthouse in Manassas, Virginia--

Lisa Stark, ABC News, Manassas, Virginia--

CNN Live, Manassas, Virginia.

What are you gonna tell the jury?

Um, well, I'll tell the jury the truth.

She says you raped her and you beat her.

Right. But that-- that wasn't true,

because that--that came out during my trial,

that, you know, she was just lying,

and she was so inconsistent, and she just--

the jury didn't believe her, and, uh,

you know, that's why I was acquitted.

This is a case of one person's word

against the other.

The jury will have to decide

whether Lorena Bobbitt's story is believable.

The defense team who represented Lorena

in her trial consisted of myself,

Jim Lowe, and Lisa Kemler.

It was the three of us that conducted the trial.

Paul Ebert and Mary Grace O'Brien,

you know, we knew that they were gonna be

a formidable team to go up against,

highly respected, highly regarded,

and I knew that we were gonna be in for a struggle.

This is a live shot of that courtroom,

and obviously you see the defendant,

Lorena Bobbitt there, waiting.

Trial where John was charged,

she told me that the long history of abuse

never was an issue in that case.

She just was put on the stand and told her story

about what happened that night,

and that was--that was the-- the case.

I told her, "This time it counts."

I had already seen how

the publicity was building.

I thought it was gonna be a zoo.

I didn't really want to be part of a media spectacle,

and, uh, I was lucky enough to be the third one selected.

The judge said, "I'm not gonna ask you

"whether you've heard about this case or not.

"I assume all of you have

unless you've been living under a rock."

All he really asked was,

"Can you keep an open mind

about the facts that are gonna be presented?"

The jury was selected within one day,

and we actually started the case

at approximately 1:30 or 2:00 in the afternoon.

Ladies and gentlemen,

John Bobbitt, the victim in this case,

had his penis amputated.

You folks will have to judge as to whether or not

what this woman did to her husband

was justifiable or excusable.

And you'll have to base that

on what you hear in this courtroom.

This is a case about a young...

petite... delicate, and naive woman

who, for four years, the evidence will show,

suffered extreme brutality which included things

such as rape, beatings,

and threats of more violence.

After you've heard all the evidence,

you will believe that there is no justification

for taking the law into her own hands,

and that she acted in anger or out of revenge,

and under your oath, it is your duty

to find her guilty and fix her punishment.

The evidence will show that at the time

when Lorena Bobbitt cut off her husband's penis,

she was a battered woman.

It was his penis from which she could not escape,

which caused her the most pain,

the most fear, the most humiliation.

I submit to you

that at the end of this case,

you will come to one conclusion--

and that is that a life is more valuable

than a penis.

Thank you.

The prosecution says

it's very simple--

She did it, she admits it,

and so she should pay for her crime.

Might appear that the prosecution's witnesses

this morning have been, in a sense, rather routine.

That is the need to prove the injury,

the medical steps that were taken,

the police procedures that were followed through.

The jurors were bombarded by powerful images

of a mutilated John Bobbitt.

The impact of the photograph

is gonna be quite something on that jury.

Yes, it's going to be a defense uphill battle

to be able to overcome the horrendous nature

of this injury.

When was it that you went to work at Legends, sir?

That was, I think, uh,

June 14th, 1993--'93.

Did your wife's attitude change toward you

- when that happened? - Yes.

I told her I'd be working at this really nice bar.

She didn't like that at all.

She said that the girls would be trying to pick me up,

and, or vice versa, and she said she'd be spying on me,

you know, checking me all the time,

make sure I'm not doing anything wrong at work.

Let me direct your attention

- to June the 10th of 1991. - Yes.

And ask if you and your wife

were present when an incident occurred

- at Kings Dominion? - Yes.

We were standing in line

waiting for the bumper cars.

All of a sudden, Lorena just--

she for some reason got upset,

and, um, she scratched John,

and she started, uh, trying to, like,

scratch his face, and she was punching him.

And John just-- he just stood there,

'cause he really didn't know what was going on.

Did the defendant ever

make any complaints to you that John was abusing her?

- No. - Did you ever notice

any bruises or marks on her?

No.

We always discuss about our lives at home,

and our husbands, and we had a discussion

what would we do if our husbands ever cheated on us?

I made a joke and I said, "You know,

I would probably kill him," and I said,

"I'm just kidding. I'm probably gonna

take everything and leave him."

And then I asked Lorena what would she do?

And Lorena stated, "I would--"

Can I say it exactly like--

Yeah, you say it exactly.

Lorena stated, "I would cut his dick off,

'cause that would hurt him more than just killing him."

Lorena Bobbitt looks like a woman in trouble

and she is. The 24-year-old manicurist

was portrayed by prosecution witnesses

as a vicious woman who physically attacked her husband.

Well, I think a lot of people look at this and say,

"My God, these people deserved each other."

A police investigator

who interviewed Mrs. Bobbitt

says she complained about their sex life.

"He always have orgasm, and he doesn't wait

"for me to have-- to have orgasm.

"He's selfish. I don't think it's fair,

so I pulled back shirt-- the sheets, then I did it."

- Yo, John! - John, how did it go?

At this point, the prosecution

is expected to rest.

There will be considerable rebuttal,

but the prosecution will turn it over for a while

to the defense.

I do think that men and women see this very differently.

And men see it as a man being mutilated,

I think in the most awful way a man can imagine.

Many women see it as a woman

abused to such a degree that she struck out

at the area that was doing her the most harm.

You can still be very sensitive

to the need to cut down on abuse of women

and see this act as different from the act

of many women who are abused,

- who may kill their husbands. - If you're a man, you may.

And you are.

I guess I can't help looking at it that way. Fascinating.

If he did force her, then she gave him what he deserved.

You don't force anyone.

Uh, I don't know. I disagree with that.

I mean, that's-- that's very cruel.

There is a battle of the sexes.

We went through it with Hill-Thomas, you know.

All kinds of terrible behavior

has been tolerated and overlooked.

Along comes Lorena Bobbitt,

and women...

were kind of thrilled about it.

They were like, "Wow, somebody struck back."

You know, it was really almost shocking,

the degree to which the women were excited.

You think that what she did was appropriate?

Yes.

I would've liked to do that.

- You would have? - Huh? Yes!

Yes, if I was raped or wronged,

of course, that's your first feeling,

to get back at somebody.

I was so glad

to see that someone finally evened up the odds.

You know what I mean?

It's like, whoop--

Motherfuckers are panicking across the country.

Men don't know what to do!

You know, guys get very uncomfortable

when you start talking about their junk,

and removing it, because for some reason,

you know, it is-- it's sacrosanct.

She basically said, "Never again.

"You're never gonna do this to me again,

and I'm going to make you remember what I'm telling you."

I thought it was kind of stunning,

but I know men were like-- you talk to men,

and they get little tears in their eyes and stuff,

because it was just-- it was unthinkable.

She did the unthinkable.

You see, women live with the knowledge

that weird shit could happen at any point.

You go down a dark alley and whoosh, somebody grabs you.

And now, men actually have to think about this shit!

Yeah!

It's 1994, and the shit is hitting the fan.

Women are pissed.

That's why they're going, "Yay!"

It seemed to sort of shift some things.

Now it didn't totally shift things,

but... I think it was really--

she made her point.

Women have been abused for centuries,

and men have been getting away with it,

and now the tables are turned a little bit.

We support Lorena!

Women fight back!

We don't need a judge or jury to tell us

whether or not Lorena is telling the truth.

Lorena came forward herself,

said this man was battering her,

this man was raping her.

That's all we need to know

to know that Lorena is telling the truth.

We support Lorena!

Women fight back!

We've supported Lorena Bobbitt as we support

women like her

in her quest for justice

and in the search for justice for all women

who are victims of violence in this country.

In some ways, I think that Lorena was

a symbol for what other battered women were going through.

But it was really hard to get to that point,

because there was so little coverage

of her actual abuse and so much coverage

of how she made sure that he wouldn't do it again.

Now for a closer look at our top story.

The defense began presenting its case today

in the Lorena Bobbitt trial.

It's the moment everyone has been waiting for,

for defendant Lorena Bobbitt to take the stand

and tell her side of the story.

The team felt it was absolutely necessary

that Lorena take the stand,

and tell the background of their relationship.

The only person who could tell that

was Lorena herself.

There wasn't any instruction.

I said, "Just be yourself."

Raise your right hand, please.

Do you solemnly swear or affirm

that the evidence you shall give to this court

shall be the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

- I do. - Please be seated now.

When did you meet John Bobbitt?

I met, um, John Bobbitt

on September of 1988.

How old were you then?

I was 19.

What was your reaction to him?

I was in love with him.

I, um...

To me he represent everything.

Um, that was the beginning of starting my family here,

in United States.

When you came here, where did you stay?

I stayed with Mrs. Castro,

which is a family friend.

The Castro family have two daughters.

Mercedes was a year older than me.

Emily was a year younger than me,

so I was right in the middle.

I met Lorena through my sister.

She was actually living at my sister's house.

My sister's very strict. Very, very strict,

My nieces loved parties and loved going places.

Lorena would go with them, but she was quiet.

She was very naive.

Where did you meet him?

I met him at the club.

- At the what? - Um, it's--

it's an enlisted men? Enlisted Marines' club.

And where is that?

Quantico base.

The first impression that I have was

that he was handsome.

He was a lance corporal,

Lance Corporal Bobbitt.

He, um, came and asked me

if I would like to dance, and I said, "Sure."

He has these most beautiful blue eyes.

There was a chemistry, you know.

Obviously he liked me, so he asked for my phone number,

and that was it.

She'd never dated anyone else before,

and she just was totally enthralled with him.

We only dated for 10 months.

We'd just go out for pizza,

or, you know, ice cream.

We were chaperoned, you know.

Everything was just innocence.

Miss Bobbitt, what is the family view

concerning unchaperoned dating?

Um, my family wouldn't allow it.

What is the family view concerning premarital sex?

My family wouldn't allow it.

From what I know is, Lorena fell instantly in love with him.

And he was handsome, I must say.

But my nieces did not like him at all.

The first time they met him, they did not like him.

I think he liked to drink,

and he always forgot his wallet...

wherever they went.

The girls, Emily and Mercedes, were like,

"Wait a minute, you paid last time.

Why-- He doesn't pay,"

so they might just see something that I didn't see,

but I didn't look at it as, you know, like,

"Oh, this is on purpose. He's doing it," or something.

I mean, you know, I loved him.

CNN's live coverage

of the Lorena Bobbitt trial continues.

Ms. Bobbitt, had John ever shown any violence

towards you to this time?

No.

Had he ever referred to you

in any derogatory way to this time?

No.

He was a Marine, and in the Marines,

they had a giant pool.

He invited to me to go.

He came out from the pool,

and he had this ring that he found

in the bottom of the pool.

It was actually pretty. It was a bow, golden.

You know, obviously it was somebody else's ring

that they lost at the pool.

But that become my engagement ring,

so...I said, "You have to be real.

You have to be serious," and he said, "No,

I'm serious. I want to marry you."

So that was-- that was it.

When I heard that they had gotten married, I, um--

I didn't-- I couldn't believe it.

I was like, "When? How?"

But all I know is that

she didn't go back to my sister's after that.

And what I remember hearing was

her parents were happy.

Lorena's parents were happy, because, uh,

she had married an American.

We have our good times,

you know, our happy moments.

But things started to change.

He couldn't keep a job. I don't know why.

There was a nightclub right--

basically across the street

from the apartment complex in the shopping center there

that he was supposed to be bouncing in,

and he bragged about being a Marine and all this, and--

I don't even know if he worked there a whole week.

Like I said, I don't ever remember--

He worked there three weeks.

I don't ever remember him working.

They bought a small home,

but when John got out of the Marine Corps,

their only steady income was from Lorena.

Was it subsequently foreclosed?

The house was foreclosed.

Could you make the payments by yourself?

No, sir, I could not.

We are a married couple.

Whatever is yours is mine. Whatever is mine is yours.

And I believe all this.

She claims that her desperation

to support both her and her husband

solely on her income drove her to crime.

Once she shoplifted from this Nordstrom store,

and stole more than $7,000 from her employer.

I didn't want to steal.

I was not in a good place.

I worked so hard, and it was never enough.

I--I stole because I have a lot of--

a lot of payments to do and I couldn't handle by myself.

But what you stole from Nordstrom

didn't have anything to do with paying the bills, did it?

I stole from Nordstrom

because he didn't like my dresses,

and he always tell me that I was ugly,

and I wanted to be pretty for him.

And I was just so embarrassed. I didn't want to tell anybody.

My family wasn't here. My family was in Venezuela.

I didn't want them to worry.

And I didn't want anybody to make any judgments

about what was going on.

It was just my business and, um,

I was gonna try to work it-- to work it out.

We continue with more of Lorena Bobbitt's testimony

in her own defense at her trial in Manassas, Virginia.

Come to order.

Counsel, ready to proceed? Yes, sir.

The defense is going to have to work

hard to portray John Bobbitt in a different light...

Mm-hmm. - ...consistent with what

Lorena Bobbitt is saying.

What every case turns on in the final analysis

over and over again,

is credibility.

Defense witnesses from the apartment building

shared by the couple are expected to testify

to a series of abusive incidents.

We'd done our homework,

had the documents from the court.

We had coworkers.

We had next-door neighbors.

That was the way we approached the defense.

You have to show the history of the battered--

of the battered wife, and you have to have--

build a bridge from the battering

to this particular event.

Did there come a time when you

and John and Todd

went to a club called Chelsea's?

- Yes, sir. - How long had you

been married when that occurred?

Like about a month later.

What happened on the ride home?

He was zig-zagging.

He was going, like, around 85 or 90.

I was scared and I told him to stop.

He would not listen to me,

so I st-- I grabbed the steering wheel.

Did he hurt you?

Yes, he did, sir.

He hurt me.

He punched me in the chest.

I mean, all I did was crying,

and I was just in pain.

And his brother was in the back seat,

and he was shaking his head "yes,"

you know, like, telling John that he did right or whatever.

What happened when you got home?

He took me by my arm

and he take me up to the apartment,

and then he, um-- he kicked me.

He told me that, "I told you to--not to cry."

At some point during that,

did Officer Francis show up?

Yes, he did, sir.

What happened when Officer Francis showed up?

As soon as John opened the door,

he immediately changed.

It was like he become-- he became another person,

like, uh, calmed down and everything.

He wasn't yelling. He's not aggressive.

The officer said if I have a place to go,

and I said, "No," but I leave anyways.

So I--I took my car,

and I stay in the parking lot of my work.

Where did you sleep that night?

I sleep in my car.

Did you tell anybody about this?

No, I didn't. No, I couldn't.

Why not?

Because I was...

I couldn't understand why the person that I love

have reacted that way.

I couldn't understand why my husband hit me.

I couldn't understand many things.

I was in shock. I was--

I couldn't-- I couldn't believe that.

I was embarrassed to tell people, also.

And I thought he might change.

He never gonna do it again.

There started to be incidents.

There was a little pushing and shoving,

and then that escalated and got more violent.

And I said, "You think anybody saw those things?"

She says, "Oh, definitely."

We lived in Maplewood Park Apartments.

They were our neighbors.

Heard, um, a lot of arguing,

but it was always John that I heard.

He was very dominating.

I mean, you could see it.

She was small. She was--she was a small woman.

She was maybe a buck-oh-five, I don't know.

She was tiny.

Like, there was a time that they got to arguing,

and, like, he kinda backed her down, you know what I mean?

Say they would go to the grocery store.

She'd be, like, carrying all the bags with her head down,

all somber, and he'd be, like, walking behind her,

always trying to act so macho, I mean...

She realized she made a mistake when she married him,

but I think she was way too scared

to--to leave him.

Okay, um...

John and Lorena were at my mother's house

for a Christmas Eve reunion we were having.

John gave her a box, um,

and told her to open it in front of all of us.

And Lorena said, "Okay, thank you,"

and just put it next to her,

and John says, "Aren't you gonna open it?"

She opened the box, and it happened to be

a very small underwear, a little bikini.

Obviously she got very embarrassed,

and she tried to put it behind her back

so none of the guys will see it.

And... she got up, and you could see

that she was about to cry.

I saw him get in-- his face got really red

and he follow her, and grab her by the arm

and push her against the wall.

I stopped where I was going,

because I thought he was gonna hit her.

He asked her, "What's wrong with you?"

And she said, "John, please, put me down."

And she was real scared,

so he just push her one more time,

walked away, and said, "Bitch."

In hindsight...

I don't know if anybody's ever heard of this,

but you--when they say you can see it in the eyes...

I see it in the eyes. Like, when I look back

at some of the footage, and some of his interviews,

it's in his eyes.

I asked her if at any time when she

became a victim of violence, domestic violence,

whether she ever reported that and she said she had.

We've responded to complaints of domestic violence

at their residence about half a dozen times

in the past few years.

In one case, we arrested John,

and charged him with assault and battery.

She would come over and I would see the marks on her throat.

She would have rug burns on her arms.

She had a bump on her head one night,

and bruises, like, through her back.

He got upset with her at a bar

because someone looked at her

and therefore he yelled and jerked her

and got very angry with her.

She had bruises on her hip.

She was really, really upset.

I heard the ruckus upstairs,

running and banging and heard her hollering.

And she'd said her husband had raped her.

I just gave 'em that-- those articles

on rape and domestic violence.

Too, I was abused wife, too.

He came up, grabbed Lorena by the hair,

screaming, yelling, they were fighting.

He was hitting her, punching her.

Have you seen her bruised?

Yes. I seen many of bruises,

in the inside of her leg,

and in the very backs of her arms.

She had the bruises on her right hip, here,

and on her left shoulder, here.

On her face, also.

The defense provided witness after witness

to tell the jury about bruises and scars,

both emotional and physical,

which they said were inflicted on Mrs. Bobbitt

by the former Marine.

There were so many incidents

on which at different times I call 911.

He kicked me, and he slapped me on my face.

He pulled my hair, grabbed my arm,

and--and dragged me,

and he twist my arm and my foot,

and he--he choke me.

Would you show us how he would choke you?

He would put his hands around my neck,

and he would choke my, um, this part of my neck.

He will put his two thumbs, pushing me very down, low.

You know, she didn't really want

to talk about it that much. That's something you hide.

I'd see her on her way to work,

lady picking her up outside that, uh,

her makeup was a little thicker than usual.

You know, it's-- she was covering it up,

red marks or bruises, whichever the case may be.

But he's no man to be beating on a woman.

- That's just-- - Women hide stuff.

That's what we do. We hide stuff.

Yeah, mm-hmm.

Well, I don't know why they do.

I did for a while.

- I mean, not really-- - Not with me.

I mean...

Yeah, like I'd kill you.

I did for a while with my first one.

I mean, I actually--

When it got physical, I took a pair of scissors

and stabbed him, and he never touched me again,

but the mental, and I stayed

because I thought my son needed a father.

But then when I was getting ready to leave,

he up and got sick and died, so...

But I kinda understand why women hide it.

I didn't tell people, you know.

I didn't tell people what was going on.

You just don't do that.

You know? You don't-- You just don't do it.

There was a pattern of physical abuse

and rape that she'd had to endure during the marriage,

and she said the one thing that he, uh,

he liked to have anal sex.

She said when he would come in,

3:00, 4:00 in the morning, drunk, she knew.

Laying there, she knew what was gonna happen.

He would tell guys he played basketball with

and they would, uh, engage in what we call "guy talk."

Yes, sir, Mr. Kaopua,

would you give the members of the jury your full name?

My name is Johnathan Alika Kaopua.

Please be seated, sir.

Mr. Whitaker, keep your voice up

so the members of the jury can hear you, please.

Would you give us your full name

and your age, please?

Jonathan Michael Whitaker, Age 19.

Did you ever hear Mr. Bobbitt make any statement

with reference to forced sex

and his attitude toward forced sex?

- Yes, sir. - Would you tell

the members of the jury where

and under what circumstances that occurred?

Uh, me, John Whitaker, and Lorenzo were in

Lorenzo's room talking about girls and stuff.

Tell the members of the jury

just what he told you, as well as you can recall it.

He said that he liked to make girls squirm,

and yell, and make 'em bleed,

and yell for help.

He said, uh, that he liked to have--

that the way he liked to have sex

was forced sex, because that turned him on.

He liked-- He liked to make girls squirm,

um, and he liked to fuck 'em up the ass.

He liked to "eff" them up the ass.

And you don't know whether John was

telling the truth when he made that statement

or was just, shall we say, engaging in

some sort of bravado when he came in there,

isn't that right?

You could tell he was serious.

Okay. Thank you.

I just wanted to help. That's it.

Like, I was young, man, watching my mother get spit on,

get her clothes ripped off of her,

smacked around.

She'd go to call the cops,

he'd punch the phone through the wall, you know?

I swore that I would never

have no female ever feel that way

under my arm, you know?

Like, I would never want to see a female

feel the way my mom felt, ever.

Did you and John ever engage

in anything other than vaginal sex?

He did it, sir. I didn't.

Did it happen-- when did it happen?

Um...

We went to the bedroom,

and, um-- he, um--

he grabbed me, and he, um--

he turned me, and...

I was-- I was with my stomach down,

and he, um--

he...

he did it. He--he--he--

He--

He, um...

He have, uh, anal sex.

Did he ask you if he could?

No, no, no.

Did you give him permission to?

No, no, no.

Did he use any lubricant?

No. No.

- No. - Was it forced?

Yes, yes, he did. It happened.

- Were you injured? - Yes, I was.

What injuries did you sustain?

I was bleeding, sir.

Did he ever threaten to do it again?

- Yes, sir. Yes. - How frequently?

Um...

Um, every time we would have sex.

He would, um-- he would threaten me.

How would he threaten you?

Um...

He, um--

Uh, he--

He...

He...

He would say he would like to have, um,

that kind of sex.

And, um...

I--I wouldn't--

I wouldn't let him.

I try not to let him happen again.

Your witness.

Uh, I want to call Mr. Bobbitt

as an adverse witness, Your Honor.

- Mr. Bobbitt? - Yes, sir.

John Bobbitt.

When you have a "he said, she said" situation,

it is also a challenge for the defense attorney

to attack the credibility

of the adversary or the victim--

Mr. Bobbitt, in this case.

The victim has to be credible

and has to be sympathetic.

One of the reasons that you have somebody

testify in person is so you can see

how they're reacting in questions.

They're putting him on the stand,

just exposing him to the jury,

and that's just to try to get a window into his character.

What the defense wants to show

that this is not a nice person,

or he's lying, or he's capable of lying.

Mr. Bobbitt, during the course

of the marriage, sir, did you ever strike your wife?

- No. - Never hit?

No, never, never did.

Did you ever forcibly

have sex with your wife?

No, I didn't.

I never forced my wife to have sex, ever.

You ever pushed, restrained,

grabbed or shoved your wife?

Um, yes, I have.

Okay. And have you-- how many occasions...

- Many. Many. - ...have you had to?

- Many times. - Many times.

And sometimes I'd hold her down.

That's the only-- you know, I mean,

you know, I could never hit my wife.

I mean, I could-- I'm afraid to hurt her.

I never hit her at all, just push her,

and hold her down and restrain her from hitting me.

You know, I'd--I--

I'd tell her, "This is not normal.

I don't believe in violence,"

and, you know, it's not ladylike to strike out.

What I've seen in my practice

and in my experience with abusers,

is two things--

there's the absolute denial.

The second thing is

the abuse generally starts out

the way it did in this case,

with pushing and shoving,

and the more it continues without the other person

taking action, it just continues to escalate.

Remember this form, sir,

that you filled out and signed in front of...

Kathleen Williams with the Family Advocacy Group

at Quantico Marines?

Can't say I have.

You have?

I can't say I--I don't--

I don't remember this form at all.

You've got a questionnaire,

which he has signed,

where he admitted instances

where he had struck his wife and so forth.

I don't remember this form at all.

And he says, "Ah, I don't remember any of this,"

and I said, "Well, look at the last page

and tell me if you can identify the signature,"

and he said, "Yeah, that's me."

February 21, 1991, you were charged

with assault and battery of your wife.

Do you remember entering

a plea of guilty in court to these charges?

Well, I didn't plead guilty to it.

I just said, you know-- I denied what--what she--

she stated in this here,

what they said in here. I didn't do nothing.

I didn't hit my wife or anything.

She just, you know-- they just said this.

Officer Bodmer, did you have occasion

to respond to a 911 call at the Bobbitt house

- at one point in history? - Yes, I did.

Do you have a recollection of whether or not

Mr. Bobbitt entered a plea of guilty in that hearing?

John Wayne Bobbitt entered a plea of guilty.

You remember an occasion

when you assaulted your wife,

and an Officer Francis from the Manassas Police

came to the door?

No.

Did you knock on the door?

Yes, I did.

Who answered the door?

Mr. Bobbitt did.

You were drinking heavily

on that occasion, weren't you, Mr. Bobbitt?

- No. - When that--

- Pardon me? - No.

I could--I noticed an odor of alcohol

about his person, yes.

Did you ever tell anybody

that you enjoyed forcible sex?

Uh, no, no.

- Never did? - No.

All right.

He's lying to law enforcement.

He's lying to the doctors, uh...

he lied to everybody.

So let's talk about John Wayne Bobbitt

as an adverse witness-- what did you think?

He does seem to have a problem recalling

a number of incidents that are important to the defense,

and I think that one possible liability

for John Bobbitt is if the jury seems to get the impression

that he's insincere in his selective memory.

The defense did a good job in cross-examining him

and getting him to contradict himself,

and I'm sure that Paul Ebert was sitting there cringing

as his star witness sat there and just mumbled.

John Bobbitt exited to jeers.

You could tell where the sympathy lay,

at least with these folks gathered at the courthouse.

She really came across as a victim,

and, you know, while you can be somewhat callous

and say, "I think she's being coached,"

there's still a pretty appalling record of abuse

in that marriage.

Lorena Bobbitt may have been abused,

but did it cause her to go temporarily insane

when she mutilated her husband?

That will be the ultimate question

when this trial resumes on Friday.

From what I saw, it was clear to me

that Lorena Bobbitt had been abused by her husband.

But from a legal and mental health perspective,

it doesn't really matter how abusive they'd been.

What matters is whether she was so mentally ill

that she knew what she was doing,

but she was incapable of stopping that impulse.

That was the issue.