Lawyers in the murder trial of a Florida man who wants to show his penis to the jury went back and forth this week on whether he would need to be erect.
The trial for Richard Patterson, 65, of Margate began on Tuesday, but the judge has not ruled whether his genitals will be presented in the courtroom.
Patterson’s lawyers want to use his penis as evidence to argue that his girlfriend Francisca Marquinez, 60, choked to death while performing oral sex on him in 2015.
The prosecution reportedly doesn’t object, but argued at the trial that his penis must be erect, according to news station WPLG.
“Do we do it in the back? Do we do it in open court?” assistant state attorney Peter Sapak asked. “How is the defendant going to be erect when the jury views it? Because a flaccid penis, whether it be a picture or the jury actually seeing it, is completely irrelevant. It needs to be erect.”
Defense attorney Ken Padowitz slammed the prosecution’s argument, saying the court should hear from a medical expert about the logistics. Padowitz wants to call former Broward County medical examiner Ronald Wright as a witness to testify that Marquinez’s death “is consistent with being accidentally sexually asphyxiated during oral sex.”
“He’s telling the court, as if he’s a medical expert in his argument, that it matters whether the penis is erect or not,” Padowitz said. “But he’s merely speculating here since he’s never asked that question to Dr. Wright in definition, and he doesn’t, obviously, know, actually, what the expert opinion is what is needed or not needed in order for a human being to choke.”
Patterson faces second-degree murder charges and if convicted, could be sentenced to life in prison.