After less than 4 hours of deliberation in November 1993, the jury acquitted John Bobbitt on the charge of aggravated sexual assault, citing insufficient evidence.
Where this was said
At 45:38 · chapter starts 42:50
The first trial to conclude was John Bobbitt's, charged with marital sexual assault. The prosecution laid out a case of years of documented abuse, with Lorena testifying that she had been 'distraught' after being choked and raped twice in five days. A police officer testified he was 'convinced' Lorena was telling the truth and was 'concerned for her safety.' There were also inconsistencies in John's statements about whether sex had occurred that night. John's defense attorney Greg Murphy offered a simple counter-narrative: Lorena was a social climber who fabricated the rape allegations to spite a husband who was leaving her. After just three days of trial, the jury deliberated for less than four hours and returned a not guilty verdict. Juror William Voigt told a reporter they needed 'screaming or bruising' to substantiate the claim — a standard Ash and Alaina note is nearly impossible to meet in a marital rape case, where the assault happens in private and the victim may not seek immediate medical attention. John's mother shrieked with joy in the courtroom; John pumped his fist.
In Virginia in 1993, the marital rape charge legally required that the husband and wife be living apart at the time of the assault — cohabiting couples had no legal protection.
After just three days of trial, the jury deliberated less than four hours before acquitting John Bobbitt of aggravated sexual assault. A juror said they needed 'screaming or bruising' as evidence — an impossible standard for marital rape. Within days, the case exploded from local crime story to national punchline, covered by outlets from the National Enquirer to the New Yorker.
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