MANASSAS, Virginia -- John Wayne Bobbitt, the first witness to take thestand in the trial of his estranged spouse, testified Monday his wife 'gave a grunt' before she hacked off his penis with a kitchen knife and fled from their home with his severed organ.
Lorena Bobbitt, a 24-year-old manicurist, went on trial Monday in Prince William County Circuit Court in Manassass, about 30 miles west of Washington, on a charge of malicious wounding. She has admitted she cut off her husband's penis in the early morning hours of June 23, but maintains she acted out after he had raped her.
Her attorneys are trying to build a case around the irresitible impulse defense -- meaning that she was fully aware of the nature and consequences of her actions, but could not stop herself from acting out her feelings.
John Wayne Bobbitt, whose organ was surgically reattached, was tried late last year on a charge of marital rape. He was acquitted.
In opening statements, defense attorney Lisa Kemler said Lorena Bobbitt suffered an 'acute pscychotic break' after enduring a 'brutal, violent, primitive assault' at the hands of her husband.
If convicted, Lorena Bobbitt, a native of Ecuador who grew up in Venezuela, could be sentenced to between five and 20 years in prison. She could also be deported.
Kemler said the seven-woman, five-man jury hearing the trial would believe Lorena's story of abuse and ultimately find that 'a life is more valuable than a penis.'
But Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert said John Wayne Bobbitt was the real victim. 'Out of a dead sleep, he was awakened by...somene grabbing and ripping off his penis.'
John Wayne Bobbitt, an ex-Marine who last worked as a nightclub bouncer, was the first witness to take the stand in the trial. Bobbitt, 26, said at first that he did not remember whether he and his wife had sex in the hours before she sliced off his penis. But later, under cross-examination by defense attorney Blair Howard, he said they had not had sex.
Howard said doctors who exmained Lorena Bobbitt after the incident found semen in her body, and said John Wayne Bobbitt had changed his story since he first talked to investigators last summer.
Under cross-examination, John Wayne Bobbitt also insisted that he never forced his wife to have sex.
'I never did that,' he said.
Bobbitt, who was composed but had two bright spots of color on his cheeks, acknowledged that he did not indulge in much foreplay before sex, but said the couple had read a sex manual called 'How to Satisfy A Woman Every Time and Have Her Beg for More.'
He said he felt aroused by his wife before she hacked at him, but said he could not perform sexually after working all day on 'the most exhausting day of my life.'NEWLN: end 1stled
'I caressed my wife...I wanted to have sex...That silk underwear just turned me on,' he said.
But Kemler, part of Lorena Bobbitt's defense team, said in opening statements that John Wayne Bobbitt conducted 'a reign of terror in the marital home,' and that one witness would testify she had seen Lorena looking 'as though beaten by a wild animal.'
Kemler said the petite Lorena, who weighed 92 pounds at the time of the incident, suffered from three mental disorders: major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and panic disorder.
'Continued abuse led to an acute psychotic break at the time of the incident,' Kemler said.
But Ebert -- who also led the prosecuting team in the case against John Wayne Bobbitt -- told the jury the husband spent a hard day at work, went barhopping with a friend, and went home to sleep -- to be rudely awakened by his wife carving offhis penis with a kitchen knife.
'Out of a dead sleep, he was awakened by...someone grabbing and ripping off his penis,' Ebert said. 'A sleeping man had his penis cut off.'
In his testimony, John Wayne Bobbitt described how his wife, still clutching his severed organ, ran from their apartment.
'She gave a grunt when she did it and then she just ran out the door,' he said.
Lorena Bobbitt has said she drove away from the home and flung the penis out of her car window. She later called police and told them what she had done. Police retrieved the organ, and doctors were able to reattach it in a 9 -hour operation.
'Doctors are pretty sure I'll be fully functional,' Bobbitt said in his testimony Monday. He currently faces a paternity suit filed by a Niagra Falls, N.Y., woman who claims he fathered her year-old son.
The two Bobbitts -- who are in the process of getting a divorce -- left the courtroom without speaking to reporters and hurried into waiting cars. Testimony was to resume Tuesday at 9 a.m.
The case has attracted international attention -- an estimated 200 reporters representing 75 news agencies are covering the trial -- and sparked a new round in the battle of the sexes. Many women's rights advocates have voiced support for Lorena, while many men have expressed horror at the case and anger at the sympathy given Lorena.
The battle of the Bobbitts also has spawned a number of salacious jokes and raunchy T-shirts. Vendors were out in force outside the courthouse, hawking snacks and souvenirs. Among the mementoes for sale were T-shirts, chocolate penises and boxer shorts saying 'Don't cut me short.'
Another T-shirt for sale said 'Manassas, Virginia -- Remembered Again,' accompanied by a picture of a cannon with its end lopped off, an allusion to the town's historic role as the site of two major Civil War battles. One vendor was selling T-shirts showing a knife-wielding woman and bearing John Wayne Bobbitt's autograph.
One of the most popular T-shirts inspired by the case -- reading 'Manassas, Virginia, a cut above the rest' -- sold out before Lorena Bobbitt's trial began.
John Wayne Bobbitt, the first witness to take the stand in the trial of his estranged spouse, testified Monday his wife 'gave a grunt' before she hacked off his penis with a kitchen knife and fled from their home with his severed organ.
Lorena Bobbitt, a 24-year-old manicurist, went on trial Monday in Prince William County Circuit Court in Manassass, about 30 miles west of Washington, on a charge of malicious wounding. She has admitted she cut off her husband's penis in the early morning hours of June 23, but maintains she acted out after he had raped her.
Her attorneys are trying to build a case around the irresitible impulse defense -- meaning that she was fully aware of the nature and consequences of her actions, but could not stop herself from acting out her feelings.
John Wayne Bobbitt, whose organ was surgically reattached, was tried late last year on a charge of marital rape. He was acquitted.
In opening statements, defense attorney Lisa Kemler said Lorena Bobbitt suffered an 'acute pscychotic break' after enduring a 'brutal, violent, primitive assault' at the hands of her husband.
If convicted, Lorena Bobbitt, a native of Ecuador who grew up in Venezuela, could be sentenced to between five and 20 years in prison. She could also be deported.
Kemler said the seven-woman, five-man jury hearing the trial would believe Lorena's story of abuse and ultimately find that 'a life is more valuable than a penis.'
But Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert said John Wayne Bobbitt was the real victim. 'Out of a dead sleep, he was awakened by...somene grabbing and ripping off his penis.'
John Wayne Bobbitt, an ex-Marine who last worked as a nightclub bouncer, was the first witness to take the stand in the trial. Bobbitt, 26, said at first that he did not remember whether he and his wife had sex in the hours before she sliced off his penis. But later, under cross-examination by defense attorney Blair Howard, he said they had not had sex.
Howard said doctors who exmained Lorena Bobbitt after the incident found semen in her body, and said John Wayne Bobbitt had changed his story since he first talked to investigators last summer.
Under cross-examination, John Wayne Bobbitt also insisted that he never forced his wife to have sex.
'I never did that,' he said.
Bobbitt, who was composed but had two bright spots of color on his cheeks, acknowledged that he did not indulge in much foreplay before sex, but said the couple had read a sex manual called 'How to Satisfy A Woman Every Time and Have Her Beg for More.'
He said he felt aroused by his wife before she hacked at him, but said he could not perform sexually after working all day on 'the most exhausting day of my life.'
'I caressed my wife...I wanted to have sex...That silk underwear just turned me on,' he said.
But Kemler, part of Lorena Bobbitt's defense team, said in opening statements that John Wayne Bobbitt conducted 'a reign of terror in the marital home,' and that one witness would testify she had seen Lorena looking 'as though beaten by a wild animal.'
Kemler said the petite Lorena, who weighed 92 pounds at the time of the incident, suffered from three mental disorders: major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and panic disorder.
'Continued abuse led to an acute psychotic break at the time of the incident,' Kemler said.
But Ebert -- who also led the prosecuting team in the case against John Wayne Bobbitt -- told the jury the husband spent a hard day at work, went barhopping with a friend, and went home to sleep -- to be rudely awakened by his wife carving off his penis with a kitchen knife.
'Out of a dead sleep, he was awakened by...someone grabbing and ripping off his penis,' Ebert said. 'A sleeping man had his penis cut off.'
In his testimony, John Wayne Bobbitt described how his wife, still clutching his severed organ, ran from their apartment.
'She gave a grunt when she did it and then she just ran out the door,' he said.
Lorena Bobbitt has said she drove away from the home and flung the penis out of her car window. She later called police and told them what she had done. Police retrieved the organ, and doctors were able to reattach it in a 9 -hour operation.
'Doctors are pretty sure I'll be fully functional,' Bobbitt said in his testimony Monday. He currently faces a paternity suit filed by a Niagra Falls, N.Y., woman who claims he fathered her year-old son.
The two Bobbitts -- who are in the process of getting a divorce -- left the courtroom without speaking to reporters and hurried into waiting cars. Testimony was to resume Tuesday at 9 a.m.
The case has attracted international attention -- an estimated 200 reporters representing 75 news agencies are covering the trial -- and sparked a new round in the battle of the sexes. Many women's rights advocates have voiced support for Lorena, while many men have expressed horror at the case and anger at the sympathy given Lorena.
The battle of the Bobbitts also has spawned a number of salacious jokes and raunchy T-shirts. Vendors were out in force outside the courthouse, hawking snacks and souvenirs. Among the mementoes for sale were T-shirts, chocolate penises and boxer shorts saying 'Don't cut me short.'
Another T-shirt for sale said 'Manassas, Virginia -- Remembered Again,' accompanied by a picture of a cannon with its end lopped off, an allusion to the town's historic role as the site of two major Civil War battles. One vendor was selling T-shirts showing a knife-wielding woman and bearing John Wayne Bobbitt's autograph.
One of the most popular T-shirts inspired by the case -- reading 'Manassas, Virginia, a cut above the rest' -- sold out before Lorena Bobbitt's trial began.
