"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. Tagga
rt?"
"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."
Harriett was disgusted and looked to see if any of the jurors, particularly the women, seemed to be equally uncomfortable. Sharon had leaned her head back and was looking at the ceiling of the courtroom with a smile on her face.
"Had you and your wife ever had anal intercourse before?"
"No."
"Did she ask you to stop?"
"She didn't mean it."
"You raped her, Mr. Taggart, didn't you?"
"That's only your interpretation."
"What did Sharon do afterward?"
"Nothing."
"She just laid there?"
"She pulled a cover over herself and went to sleep."
"She didn't speak to you?"
"No."
"And what did you do?"
"I went to sleep."
"Rape can be pretty exhausting, can't it?" Harriett asked sarcastically. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sean Lassiter start to rise from his chair. "Withdrawn. Was Sharon in bed when you woke up the next morning, Mr. Taggart?"
"Yes," Frank answered.
Turning toward the jury, Harriett said, "At some time after eleven in the evening on January eighteenth, two thousand and six, a bullet went through the windshield of Leonard Kaufmann's vehicle causing him to lose control of it. He died instantly as a result of his vehicle colliding with a utility pole."
Turning back toward Frank, Harriett said, "Did you know that, Mr. Taggart, or were you too busy sleeping off a night of good sex? No more questions for this witness, your Honor," Harriett said as she returned to her chair at the defense table. Waiting for Lassiter to cross-examine Taggart, Harriett looked at Nick and shrugged. Sharon leaned toward Harriett and touched her arm.
"You ever done it that way, Harriett?" Sharon whispered.
"No, Jan. I haven't."
Chapter Forty-Two
AFTER A TWO-hour recess for lunch, Harriett called to the stand the witness she had been dreading since the trial began.
"Defense calls Alexis Dunne to the stand," Harriett announced.
Harriett avoided looking at the prosecution table as she waited for Alex to enter the courtroom and be sworn in. As she looked down at her notes, Nick reached behind Sharon and tapped Harriett on the shoulder.
Leaning back, he said, "Do you want me to take this one?"
"Thanks. I can handle it."
"You sure?"
"Yeah," she smiled. "It's okay."
By the time Harriett looked at Alex, she was seated and taking a deep breath. They both already knew what was coming, and Harriett planned to get through her questions as quickly as possible.
"Ms. Dunne, do you know the defendant, Sharon Collins Taggart?"
"Yes. My law firm handles legal matters for Taggart Industries in Dallas, and her brother is engaged to my sister."
"Have you ever had an occasion to spend time alone with Mrs. Taggart?"
"I met Mrs. Taggart during her brother's campaign for the state legislature two years ago. I enjoyed her company several times after that."
"As a result, did you and my client become intimate?"
Alex's jaw tightened and for a fleeting moment, Harriett wished it hadn't been necessary to ask the question. "We became involved in a sexual relationship that lasted approximately a year," Alex answered as she looked at Sharon.
"When was the last time you saw Mrs. Taggart?"
"She called my office and asked if she could see me regarding a legal matter just after Thanksgiving of last year."
"Did she indicate what the legal matter was?"
"She said she was considering a divorce and wanted to know her legal options concerning the division of their property and custody of their two children."
"Did your secretary schedule an appointment for Mrs. Taggart?"
"Mrs. Taggart asked to speak directly to me. I explained that my appointment calendar was booked until the following week, but finally agreed to meet with her at my office the evening of December first. About six-thirty."
"What happened when Mrs. Taggart arrived at your office, Ms. Dunne?"
"We discussed the Taggart's property holdings and other assets, which were fairly negligible. I told her I didn't think she would have any problem being awarded custody of her children. Certainly, her parents had the financial resources to tie Mr. Taggart up in court for months, and I didn't believe he would be able financially to challenge her custody claim."
"Did anything else transpire during your meeting?"
"Sharon and I had a sexual liaison in my office afterward," Alex stated.
Clearing her voice slightly, Harriett asked, "What, if anything, happened after you and Mrs. Taggart were intimate?" She couldn't bring herself to look at Alex as she asked the question and pretended to look over her notes on the table. Turning her head slightly, she saw Sharon look up at her and smile. Returning her attention to Alex, Harriett said, "Ms. Dunne?"
"Afterward, as callous as it must have seemed, I told Sharon that the relationship between us was a mistake. It should never have happened. I knew better, but allowed myself to be seduced anyway."
"What was her reaction when you told her it had been a mistake?"
"At first she laughed. Then when she realized I was serious, she became distant. She left about ten minutes later."
"Do you remember what time Sharon left your office?"
"Not exactly, but I believe it must have been around nine or nine-thirty."
Turning to face the jury, Harriett said, "And at eleven-thirty that same night, Elizabeth Pennington died in an automobile accident on the freeway. No further questions, your Honor."
"Cross, Mr. Lassiter?" Landers asked.
"I have no questions for this witness, your Honor," he said.
HARRIETT WAS LOOKING forward to a long weekend. Before the first witness of the fifth day could be called, Landers had announced that trial would not resume until the following Tuesday due to a personal family matter, which would take him out of town. She had already elicited and heard enough sickening testimony in just four days to last her a lifetime and would enjoy the three-day break with Jess. Since the trial had begun, no other unusual events had occurred either to her or Lacey.
Rising from her seat, Harriett said, "Your Honor, the defense calls Parker
Collins."
Collins entered the courtroom and walked directly to the witness chair to be sworn in. Harriett was amazed at how calm he appeared despite the fact that everyone in the courtroom was already aware of what he had been accused of, including his fiancee, Paige Dunne.
"Permission to treat the witness as hostile, your Honor," Harriett requested.
"Granted," Landers ruled.
"Senator Collins," Harriett began as he took his seat, "we've already heard four days of testimony concerning abuse suffered by your sister when she was a child."
"I did not molest my sister, Ms. Markham," Collins said, shaking his head. "She's made up stories like that since she was little to get my parents' attention."
"Are you telling this court that your sister was not abused?"
"She's always told my mother lies about me. I can't put up with them any more, not even to save Sharon from prison."
Squinting slightly, Harriett asked, "Are you aware, sir, that we have sworn affidavits from two of your high school friends saying that they sodomized and sexually molested Sharon from the time she was six until she was at least thirteen? And that both claim they paid you money for the privilege of doing that?"
Collins's face slowly drained of color as he searched for a response.
"That's a lie," he finally said. "Sharon was raped by one of my friends when she was twelve or thirteen, but I didn't find out about that until after it was over."
"Is that when you took her to Dr. Wilder?"
"Yes. I'm sure Sharon had to have been traumatized by the rape, and now she's dumping all of that over onto me. I should have been watching her more closely, but I thought I could trust my friends."
"Sharon thought she could trust you, sir. Guess you were both wrong. Which one of your friends do you claim raped Sharon?" Harriett asked.
"I don't remember now. It's been a long time ago."
"How about Jerry Phelps?" Harriett asked as she picked up a legal pad from her desk.
"Or maybe Raul Santiago? Or David Curtis? Or Steven Lanier? Are any of these names ringing a bell for you, Senator?"
"They knew Sharon had been raped."
"Which one raped her!" Harriett demanded.
"Phelps did."
"Isn't it convenient that Jerry Phelps is dead now and can't dispute your story?" Then she smiled slightly, "But then there are Thad Larabee and Jacob Meier. They have a slightly different story, although Meier did mention Phelps."
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