not the cause of her death. she had been injected on numerous occasion, prior times, old injections sites. it was a whodunit? which silicone killed her? not my client s silicone. what about the medical examiner who had done the autopsy, testified that it was an injection done on march 20th that killed vera lawrence? another defense attorney argued she was in over her head. this was so unusual that dr. price needed to do some home work and i don t think that she did. she needed to become an expert on the migration of silicone. how fast does this stuff move? that s where she was lacking. this is your first autopsy where you made the cause and manner of death accident and systemic silicone emboli. true? true. did you read any scientific literature regarding silicone toxicity in the human body before vera lawrence s autopsy? no. dr. price s admission that she had not read any scientific
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.
did you take orders from a person identifying themselves as m.d. hawkins? yes, i did. then they told the jurors that the silicone hawkins ordered wasn t even the medical variety. it was industrial stuff called gi thinner. it sold as an additive in the processing of rubber, never intended for human beings. so they had no legal concerns when they sold the silicone to hawkins. its s not sterilized, it s not sanitized, and it s never been designed or marketed for human consumption. the search of the defendant s home also yielded something else. a little black book with appointments and phone numbers, including one for vera lawrence. and lists of body parts with prices. read to the jury what s in that book. september 19, 1998. loretta, breasts. it looks like 300. hips, 300. and does that look like calves to you? that looks like calves, yes, sir. 150.
grandmother, died after receiving a silicone injection. a beauty treatment gone terribly wrong. accused of being the silicone pumpers, mark hawkins and donnie hendrix, were arrested and charged with third degree murder. more than two years after her death, defense attorneys were about to deliver their most withering attack against cory williams, the state s star witness, who testified he actually saw mark hawkins inject silicone into vera lawrence. cookie? cookie? ms. williams is fine. is it cookie? do you go by cookie? ms. williams is fine. what do you do for a living? hair, makeup. you re not a convicted prostitute? no. do you have sex with men for money? is that funny? i knew that i had a problem with cory williams, but i knew that cory williams was a convicted felon. did you cut a deal with the prosecutor that you would be on probation if you came into the courtroom and said this man and this woman injected vera lawrence in your apartment that night?
did she die from an injection she received on march 20th, 2001, the date of her death? no, i don t think so. i think she did die of, most probably, the silicone. but it s the cumulative effect of, looks like, months or even years of silicone injection. the defense believed dr. wright s testimony destroyed the foundation of the state s entire case. vera lawrence very likely died from silicone injections. but the mysterious marcos and other pumpers in her past were responsible, not hendrix and hawkins, who flatly denied the charges. defense attorneys, confident they d done more than enough to create reasonable doubt, were ready to give their closing arguments. one tragedy should not beget another tragedy. this man should not be convicted. so what happened on march closing statements lasted