more than four hours. lawyers on both sides argued one last time about the strange and sad death of vera lawrence. prosecutors said the defendants killed vera. the team of donnie and mark had an elicit, illegal, frankenstein erik enterprise. the defense told jurors to hold vera herself responsible. now vera lawrence made a choice to change her body. always wanting more injections. and on who will you place responsibility for vera lawrence s choices? donnie hendrix is not guilty. the lawyers debated evidence, science and the law. but it was no surprise that there was also a tough parting shot for the transgender witnesses who d made the trial such a lurid curiosity. the witnesses that mr. schinberg called, the convicted felons and the transvestites, this became the greatest show on earth.
this was his apartment, and he would do anything he could to save his life and save his face. you cut a deal with mr. schinberg. is that true, ms. williams? so you re not in prison for 20 years in florida state, are you, ms. williams? evidently not. i m here. the grilling of cory williams made it clear just how much was riding on his testimony. yes. here s cory, your friend. yeah. and what does she do? she comes in and lies in court in trial. and i see mark standing over her, putting the silicone inside, yes. and she dropped the whole 1,000-pound bomb on you. exactly. to save herself. as far as the defendants were concerned, this was no pumping party. it was just friends getting together to see cory williams new apartment. but defense attorneys had a startling suggestion about that fateful night. and it came from williams himself. maybe vera lawrence had been pumped by someone named marcos.
mark hawkins and donnie hendrix were being held responsible for vera lawrence s death. partners in life, they were now accused of being partners in crime, facing identical charges of third-degree murder and practicing medicine without a license. the prosecutor was counting on persuading the jury, partly through stories told from the stand by transgendered men, who claimed to know the accused as silicone pumpers. so an open-minded jury was a priority. i wanted people who were open culturally. i was very concerned i would have jurors who wouldn t hear the message because of the messenger. the prosecutor had reason to be doubly anxious about jury selection. because he decided to hold one trial that would be heard by not one but two separate juries. one for hawkins and one for hendrix. may it please the court, counsel, ladies and gentlemen of the jury in his opening statement, prosecutor schinberg downplayed the right sexuality of his case and portrayed the defendants in a way th