Religious Liberty On Trial

by Debbie Lawrence

  "So, in the name of your church, you decided to be Judge, Jury, and executioner."

  Dr. Freed froze, like a Deer in the headlights. He nodded slightly.

  The Judge called out "Bailiff, please arrest Doctor Freed for gross negligence, medical malpractice, obstruction of Justice, and violation of Miss Clark's right to due process! You are going away for a long time Dr. Freed. And I hope that Tina wins a substantial judgement from your hospital."

  Tommy Testifies

  There were only two witnesses left. Everything else had backfired. He was dreading the next call, but the Senator had insisted, as had the defendants.

  "The defense calls Thomas Thompson."

  Tom was sworn in.

  "Tommy, please tell me about the night that you first met Tina."

  Tommy nodded and smiled "The first time I saw Tina, was at the dance at Loretto Heights college. We came up hoping to get lucky and get laid. We'd come up a few times before and got lucky, a girl invited me up to her room and we made out."

  Tommy continued, even as some of the women on the jury acted annoyed.

  So, I see this beautiful chick in a gorgeous dress, heels, legs to die for. I had to have her. I mean, she was hot and had it all together."

  "So, what did you do Tommy"

  "I went over to dance with her. She was dancing with a bunch of other broads, and with this one girl, she was putting on a show. I watched the girl on girl action until a slow dance came on. Then I pulled her into my arms and danced with her. Did I tell you she was really sexy, and I wanted her bad?"

  He looks at the Jury, a couple of the guys are getting into it, but the women are obviously disgusted.

  "So, I ask if we can go up to her room. She says she's flattered but she has a girlfriend, and then she tells me she's got a cock instead of a cunt." I step away as quickly as I can, because I don't want the other hot dames thinking I'm into fairies cause I still wanna get laid."

  Then I figure I might as well make a few bucks so I bet Gary a hundred bucks that he can't get into her panties. If she bats him off, I win, if he manages to cop a feel, there ain't no way he's going to admit it. Either way, I get paid."

  "About 15 minutes later, the two of them come over, and Tina tells the whole table that I gotta pay up, because he won the bet. Now I'm out $100 bucks. I'm starting to hate that bitch."

  "So about 30 minutes later, this really hot blond chick asks me to dance. I figured maybe I'd get lucky with her. I ask if she wants to go to her room, and she says yes, after a few dances. I figure I got a sure thing now, so I dance."

  "When we get to her room, I'm all sweaty and stinking and she wants me to take a shower. She gives me a robe, towel, and a bar of soap, and I shower."

  "When I come out, the towel and terrycloth robe are gone and there's nothing there but a girl's nightie, all sheer and stuff. I tried to dry off with paper towels, then I figure maybe she's being kinky or something."

  A few people on the Jury giggled and shook their heads.

  "So, I went back to this girl's room, but it was locked. She wasn't answering so I pounded harder, then I got mad and started saying I was going to show her."

  "Then a bunch of girls start blowing whistles. Finally, I see the blonde, and Tina, and some other girl. They are in the room across the hall. They tell me that Tina threw my clothes into the bushes. I tried to punch Tina, but she dodges and my hand goes into the wall."

  "Finally, I found the clothes, but I had to use a stick to get them down, and then I end up in handcuffs in the pink sissy robe, being accused of rape."

  Defense just wanted it all to go away.

  "Were you charged with rape?"

  Tommy shook his head, no I wasn't, but I did face discipline, I was confined to quarters for a month. I got KP duty, and I was put on probation. That little bitch Tina screwed up my chances of a good post after graduation from the academy.

  "So, what did you do Tommy?"

  "I called Betsy to see if she could help me, maybe she could teach Tina a lesson."

  "Betsy talked with my bunk mates and we worked up a plan to play a practical joke on Tina. They told me they were just going to slip her something to knock her out, then make it look like she'd done something terrible. I had no idea they were going to beat her up."

  Betsy burst out "Lying sack of shit!"

  The judge pounded her gavel "No more outbursts like that young lady or you will be removed from the courtroom."

  What the Jury noticed however, is that this was the first time during the entire proceeding, that she had had such an outburst.

  The Defense tried to get back on track "So you simply wanted to teach Tina a lesson? Why?"

  "Because she is unnatural, she is an abomination, she should be persuaded to repent!"

  The statement sounded rehearsed, there was no passion behind it. The jury wasn't buying it either.

  Defense handed him a bible with all the necessary passages marked and highlighted Tom read the King James passages aloud, again, without much passion or feeling.

  "So Thomas, what do those passages mean to you?"

  "It means that two-faced lying tranny sluts like Tina should be put to death."

  There was an audible gasp in the gallery. The Jury was more disgusted than impressed. They had come to like Tina, and Tom's inflammatory statement didn't ring true, let alone convince anyone.

  "Your witness counselor."

  The prosecutor stood up. "Thomas, can you quote John 3:16?"

  Tom smiled "Sure, everybody knows that verse, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Whoever believeth in him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life."

  The prosecutor smiled "Very good Thomas, when did you learn that verse?"

  Tommy smiled "When I was a little boy, probably 5 or 6 years old."

  "Now Thomas, please give us the next verse."

  “I don’t know the next verse. I haven’t memorized all of them!”

  “Just the ones that support what you want?”

  Defense Objected

  The prosecutor continued “I withdraw the question?”

  “Please feel free to read from your Bible.”

  “For he came into the world, not to condemn it, but to redeem it.”

  “Are you familiar with the Sermon on the mount?”

  “Yeah, sorta, blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the humble.”

  “What did he have to say about someone who lusts after his neighbor’s wife.”

  “Jesus said we committed Adultery”

  “What did he say about retaliation?”

  “I don’t remember.”

  “Didn’t Jesus say that you were to forgive those who do you wrong? Didn’t he say to love your enemies? Turn the other cheek?”

  Defence Objected “This isn’t a test on religion or the bible.”

  Prosecution held “The Defense has made this case about the Religious beliefs of the defendants, claiming that they acted as they did and inflicted intense violence and pain because of their strongly held religious beliefs. I am trying to show that the Defendants were simply acting with malice aforethought and that if any biblical teaching had any impact, it was only those verses that justified the hateful and violent actions.

  Defense Objected “Why should it matter whether he knows the whole bible! He’s a Christian.”

  The Prosecution countered “The Defense has had several prominent religious leaders of very large congregations testify that Thomas and Elizabeth are model Christians. I would like to suggest that they were not only not model Christians, but they were just driven by malice and completely ignored the teachings of the religion they claim justified their actions.

  The Judge smiled and nodded “I will allow this line of questioning. This is not a condemnation of a religion, but focuses on the defendant's practice of the teachings of that religion.”

  Defense knew his case was about to blow up in his face. They would probably even get maximum penalty, and
he would probably never hear from the senator again. The prosecution time after time was able to prove that not only did Tom not know biblical verses, but that he didn’t seem to have any firm beliefs and didn’t practice his religion actively

  “In conclusion, Thomas, it looks like you decided to use a handful of verses AFTER THE FACT, to try and justify actions which were in direct contradiction to all the teachings and principles of the religion you profess to practice, even though your practice seems to be limited to memorizing a few verses of the bible, completely out of context.”

  Tommy struggled “But Pastor Blair and the youth pastors at Calvary Temple told us that we should be soldiers of god. They also told us to kill faggots and trannies so we wouldn’t go to hell!”

  “Weren’t there also sermons on Love your neighbor as yourself? How about “Do unto others as you would do unto them? Remember those sermons?”

  Tommy slumped “Yeah, but nobody can actually DO that. It’s just unrealistic.”

  “No more questions at this time.”

  Defense had one last chance.

  “Thomas, did you know how badly Tina would be attacked?”

  Thomas saw defense shaking his head “Oh, no! I had no idea that Betsy and the guys were going to be so rough. I figured they would just drug her, rough her up a little, and then we’d leave. I had no idea they were going to almost kill her!”

  “So you were thinking they might just what, hit her in the stomach with their fists, spank her on the butt, and maybe she’d be a little sore for the next couple of days?”

  Prosecutor objected “Leading”

  The Judge saw what was happening “Sustained. No coaching the witness on the stand.”

  Defense knew he had been caught.

  “Tommy, tell me when you decided to have Betsy go after Tina?”

  “I called dad from Jail, I’d been arrested for being in a night-gown and was suspected of rape. Dad came down with Betsy. She’d been in prison before, and dad thought she might be able to help me cope with the trauma of being in jail.”

  The jury laughed - compared to the pictures of Tina, it was hard to consider an hour or two in jail to be as bad as the months of pain and suffering Tina endured as she healed.

  “Dad talked to the cops, they let me go without being charged. I guess they didn’t want to piss off a Senator. Lucky for me, dad was on break!”

  Crickets!

  “When you left, you talked to Elizabeth?”

  “Yeah, I told Betsy what happened, and she told me I had to get even. I couldn’t let a tranny faggot bitch get the best of me like that.”

  “And Betsy is your sister?”

  “No, Betsy is my step-sister. Dad divorced my mom and married Betsy’s mom. Betsy is always trying to get me into trouble. Especially when dad’s away!”

  Betsy was seething but bit her lip hard to keep from bursting out.

  “So when Betsy told you that you had to get even, what did you do!”

  “I got a bunch of my bunk-mates to help me out. Todd, Gary, Mike, George, Ralph, Nick, and Tony. I told them I needed their help, told them what happened, and told them that Betsy would tell them what to do. Betsy even promised them all blow-jobs if they helped.”

  “What did you tell them to do?”

  “I told them to rough her up a little. Betsy would tell them how.”

  “You said Betsy has been in jail before?”

  “Yeah, prostitution, assault.”

  “Assault?”

  “Yeah, a guy stiffed her, and then came to see her again. She tied him up and cut his balls off!” Tommy laughed.

  The Jury was audibly disgusted.

  “So, you had no idea that Betsy was going to be as violent as she was?”

  “No, like I said, I thought they might slap her around a little, maybe even fuck her in the ass, but I didn’t think they’d try to kill her.”

  Defense rolled his eyes. “No more questions!”

  The prosecution saw exactly what was happening. They were going to try to pin everything on Betsy, make it look like Tommy was just playing a practical joke, and he could go back and follow in daddy’s footsteps. She had to shut that down.

  “So Tommy, you had no idea that your friends would get so rough?”

  “None whatsoever”

  “Is that your final answer?”

  “Yes Ma’am”

  “Finally, manners!”

  The jury laughed.

  “So, you don’t remember telling your friends that you want her fucked up good, you wanted them to put her in the hospital for the rest of the year!”

  “That was earlier, I was mad, I was furious.”

  “Didn’t you tell three of your friends you wanted her dead?”

  “Yeah, but that was right after! I calmed down by the time we went after Tina!”

  “Really? According to your friends, that was what you said on the way up from Colorado Springs. You ranted for an hour while you drove from the academy to Loretto Heights.”

  “You can’t prove that”

  “Would you like me to call your friends to the stand. When I talked to them, they seemed quite annoyed with your ranting!”

  Defense “Objection! Hearsay”

  “No problem, I can call them.”

  Tommy folded “OK! I was still pissed on the way up. Thanks to that sissy faggot, I was confined to quarters, was assigned shit duty, and was on probation with the school.”

  “You knew you WOULD be kicked out of school if the investigation showed that you had set up 5 other women to be groped, two of whom were actually raped!”

  Defense objected.

  “No problem, I’ll call all of the women as rebuttal witnesses.”

  Tommy was trapped and he knew it “Yeah! Getting caught, the police and air force had discovered that I’d made bets with a few guys. I figured if I couldn’t get into their pants, then they couldn’t either.”

  “So you admit that you set those girls up to be raped?”

  “No, it was just a practical JOKE. Just a joke! I didn’t mean for people to get raped!”

  “Even though, when you had to pay off those bets you said, ‘I hope you fucked her good?’ I can call Tony, Nick, and George, see if they remember?”

  Tony nodded “OK, I made the bets to get even. They were frigid bitches and I was frustrated and angry.”

  The prosecutor smiled “So you hired your goons to take your revenge.”

  “No more questions.”

  Defense knew the damage was done. Tommy wasn’t going to have a career after this, other than career criminal.

  Betsy Testifies

  “The defense calls Betsy Thompson”

  Defense didn’t want to call Betsy, but the Senator insisted. Did he hope Betsy would take the fall?

  Betsy was sworn in.

  The defense started in.

  “Betsy, when your brother called you for help, what was the plan?”

  Betsy had been biting her lip for 30 minutes while Tommy testified.

  “I’m not taking the fall for no RAT BASTARD”

  Defense knew this was the end, but he had to go through the motions.

  “What exactly did you discuss, and what did you do!”

  Betsy sneered “Tommy called me right after he got out. He wanted me to help beat the life out of that sissy faggot.” The jury gasped.

  “He wanted me to get his friends to beat her to death, but he wanted her to die slowly, painfully. We were supposed to beat her up slowly, make her scream while we did it. We were supposed to do as much damage as possible before we kicked his nuts so hard, they’d be mashed potatoes, and stomp his tiny dick so hard it would never work again, THEN we could start going for vital organs.”

  Defense was grasping at straws, “So you wanted to hurt her really badly, but not kill her?”

  “Oh no, Tommy wanted her dead, he just didn’t want her to die too quickly.”

  “You weren’t supposed to kill her immediately?”

/>   “No, we figured if we did it right, she would be in agony for about a week or two before she died. Even if she lived, she’d never be able to fuck anybody again!”

  The Jury was audibly and visibly disgusted.

  “Can you tell us about the ride up?”

  “Yeah, Tony drove one car, I drove the other. I gave the guys some crystal meth laced with PCP to get them nice and wired. I told them I’d give them all blow jobs when the job was done.”

  Betsy continued “So we got to LHC, and I gave the guys in Tommy’s car some of the crystal and PCP. Then I had to get Tina quick, before these guys did something stupid, like start beating the crap out of Tommy.”

  Defense continued “How did you lure Tina out?”

  “That wasn’t too hard. I knew what she looked like, I knew she’d be dancing with a bunch of girls. I watched until I spotted her dyke girl-friend dancing with her, and I cut in. I played the guy in prison, so I knew how to signal that I was into girls, and how to be polite. I didn’t want Alice getting suspicious. If I was lucky, she’d let Tina dance with me and join some friends.”

  “I cut in and after a couple of dances, I saw Alice step out, probably for a smoke. I offered to get Tina some punch. I tasted it, and realized it was spiked, but I added a little vodka so I could get enough alcohol to make the Rufy take effect. Then I added the drug. I poured a glass for myself.

  Tina wasn’t much of a drinker, so she only drank about a third of the glass before she decided to try and find Alice. I had to get her out of site before the drug hit. Fortunately, Tina saw Alice who waved and saw me and said “Have fun, I’ll see you soon. Alice must be really confident in Tina, I would have been jealous as hell, but the way Tina kept checking for Alice told me that Tina wasn’t going to fall for seduction.”

  I decided to lead her up an isolated path, so that when she fell, she would be hidden by the bushes. Once she was out, I just had to signal the guys and have them help me get her to a spot we had picked out. Tony remembered that a girl had given him a blow-job there. One of the few times he got lucky.”

  Betsy laughed, but the jury didn’t.

  “Once she was in place, I woke her up with some smelling salts. She came to so fast I thought we were going to have to hold her down to keep her from screaming. Instead, she just kept asking questions.”