Chapter 3: The Verdict

Westchester County Court – The Trial – Day Four

“Mrs Nielsen, you married your husband twelve years ago, is that correct,” William Sanford asked his witness.

William began the fourth day of trial by calling Mary Nielsen as a character witness and to substantiate some facts in evidence. He had deposed her privately and she had sometimes been present during the pre-trial conferences and he was confident that she would be a good witness.

“That’s correct we have been married for twelve years,” Mary had been briefed to keep her answers succinct and on point.

“Did your husband ever tell you about his crossdressing before you married?” William asked.

“No, and neither did he tell me during our marriage. The first I heard about it was when Stephanie was arrested and charged,” Mary swallowed dryly and reached for water.

“You had no inkling that about your husband’s extra-marital activities?” William waited for Mary to sip her water.

“Stephanie worked long hours and was often away from home on business and I also worked erratic hours so I guess if I’m honest I did wonder if he ever strayed. Stephen was a handsome man and I would suppose that any wife might perhaps wonder if her husband may be tempted to stray given the circumstances. He had the same concerns about me,” Mary answered straightforwardly.

“Really?” William feigned surprise.

“We both joked about it occasionally. You know, me joking about him chasing his secretary around the office and him joking about me being pursued by handsome young doctors,” Mary gave a wan smile.

“But you were both only joking,” William said for clarification.

“Stephanie’s secretary was a sixty-five year old spinster rumoured to be a lesbian so of course I was joking,” Mary smiled again.

“You work erratic hours as you said, as an administrator at a prestigious hospital, is that right?” William asked.

“I now know that while I was working the overnight shift was when Stephanie would go to see Jeremy Wallace or some other man with whom she had an assignation,” Mary blushed.

“And if I may ask you one last time ... you never suspected that your husband was crossdressing and cheating on you or that he was suffering gender dysphoria?” William said firmly.

“No,” Mary answered firmly.

“Now if we can turn to the matter of the snub-nosed .38 Smith and Wesson handgun that Stephanie reported stolen,” William changed the subject.

“Our house was broken into while I was at work and Stephanie was in Washington meeting with clients. A burglar broke into our house and stole some jewellery that I had left out along with four expensive watches and the pistol. Luckily most of our good jewellery was locked in the bedroom safe,” Mary answered precisely, as she had been briefed.

“I refer the court to the police report lodged at the time,” William held up the exhibit.

“What did the police have to say about the matter?” William waved the report and put it back on the exhibit table.

“They said it was a crime of opportunity. The house was unoccupied, I had forgotten to set the alarm and the crook or crooks were in and out in a matter of minutes. No fingerprints were found and the police said that burglars almost always wore gloves. They checked with pawn shops known to handle stolen goods but nothing was recovered so we lodged a claim with our insurance company,” Mary was once again succinct.

“Has your husband ever used violence against you or have you ever witnessed Stephanie offer violence to others?” William was about done.

Mary guffawed.

“Look at her; even as a man Stephanie was small statured and demure by nature. She would rather catch a spider in a glass and release it outside than kill it,” Mary chuckled.

“Do you still love you husband? I know this is a difficult question,” William said gently.

“Yes, I love Stephanie but it is not the same as it was before. We have both been to see Doctor Strauss and she explained to me Stephanie’s condition and why it was imperative that she be allowed to undertake gender reassignment. Stephanie did so with my blessing. We are companions and friends but we have agreed to go our separate ways after the trial. The breakup is amicable and we will remain friends for life,” Mary wiped at a tear.

“Thank you Mary. No more from me your Honour,” William tendered the witness.

Gerald Thatcher arose to conduct his cross-examination. He knew that he had to be careful because Mary was a sympathetic witness.

“So this woman, at the time presenting as man, lived under the same as roof as you for twelve years and for the last three years has been living a double-life and in your own words you had no inkling?” the ADA asked pointedly.

“No,” Mary followed the brief to keep her answers concise.

“You saw not a skerrick of lipstick, not a trace of mascara nor smelled a scintilla of perfume on him over the three years your husband was crossdressing right under your nose? I read now from the transcript of the forensic exam conducted on your husband on the morning of the arrest: ‘minute traces of mascara, eyeliner and lipstick were found on the subject’s face’. How do you explain that?” Gerald Thatcher looked up from the report in front of him.

“I guess I just never forensically examined my husband,” Mary replied sarcastically and there were a few muffled laughs in the gallery.

“Ok then, let’s move on to the so-called stolen pistol. Where did your husband keep the weapon? Was it kept in the safe?” the ADA moved along.

“It was kept in the bedside table drawer. Stephen, I mean Stephanie, said it was pointless locking away a gun we had bought for our protection,” Mary replied, blushing because she had dead-named Stephanie in her reply.

“Ok, so it was kept in Stephanie’s beside table. When was the last time you saw it?” Gerald Thatcher had a gleam in his eye.

Mary looked puzzled.

“The gun was reported stolen the morning after the burglary when your husband returned from Washington. You knew that the watches and jewellery had been stolen because they had been left out on the dresser. But I assume that you only discovered that the pistol was missing when you conducted an inventory to see what else had been stolen,” Gerald continued.

“Objection, does the ADA have a question for the witness?” William didn’t even bother getting to his feet.

“So it’s possible that the gun was missing before the burglary or that the weapon was not stolen but hidden elsewhere. I ask you again Mrs Nielsen, when was the last time you saw the gun?” the ADA grinned at Mary when he saw the look of uncertainty on her face.

Mary baulked and looked helplessly at William Sanford who looked just as helpless.

“I honestly don’t know. It was Stephanie’s gun,” Mary whispered.

“I’m sorry Mrs Nielsen, can you speak up so the jury can hear your answer?” the ADA smirked.

“I said I don’t know. It was Stephanie’s gun,” Mary answered succinctly.

“So, as I said, it’s possible your husband hid the gun elsewhere and reported it stolen as part of the burglary?” Gerald sounded triumphant.

“Objection! Calls for speculation from the witness!” William Sanford sounded panicked.

“Withdrawn,” the ADA had done the damage.

“One final question, and this time I read from the transcript of the expert witness Doctor Helena Strauss, ‘during our counselling Stephanie told me that she has been monogamous since she came out as a transwoman’. Monogamous means being faithful to one person. Are you that one person?” Gerald Thatcher couldn’t keep a smirk off his face.

“If you mean are Stephanie and I still fucking ... well that’s kinda personal counsellor but I bet you’d get off imagining that wouldn’t you?” Mary smirked right back at Gerald Thatcher who stood there gobsmacked, as was the judge, the jury and the gallery.

Judge Allison Vogel rapped her gavel as the courtroom erupted.

“Order in the court! The prosecutor’s question is rescinded and strike the witness’s reply as non-responsive,” Judge Vogel brought the court to order.

During the recess William, Stephanie and Mary sat in one of the courthouse anterooms looking dejected. Mary’s testimony had been a disaster. Gerald Thatcher had rattled her and Mary was still fuming after the cross-examination.

“Ok. Let’s put things in perspective. All of the prosecution’s evidence is circumstantial. We are far from done here,” William tried to sound confident.

“I shouldn’t have let him rattle me. I shouldn’t have risen to the bait,” Mary was forlorn.

Stephanie sat beside Mary consoling her and William had to admit that he was a little jealous. Mary’s answer to the question about Stephanie being monogamous did not rule out that Mary and Stephanie were still fucking. If that was the case then Stephanie was lying because he assumed that Stephanie’s monogamy extended to him.

The Offices of Stone, Lyman and Sanford – Four Months Before The Trial

“I want a speedy trial William,” Stephanie paced the floor of William Sanford’s office.

It was late and they were alone in the law firm. Stephanie and William had been meeting almost daily preparing for trial, usually after hours because William was in court during the day trying other cases.

“In New York, the average time to process a murder case is around twenty four months. This is due to a number of factors, including the complexity of the cases, the large number of criminal defendants requesting jury trials, and the limited amount of court time available each year.”

“The New York Criminal Procedure Law governs the Speedy Trial Clock, which requires the prosecution to be ready for trial within six months of a felony charge being brought. However, the clock can be paused for a number of reasons, mainly because the defendant requests a delay or if motions or interlocutory appeals are being considered. Murder cases contain the most evidence and involve several technical witnesses, which contributes to the length of time it takes to resolve them,” William explained.

Stephanie was about to complain but William held up his hand to stop her.

“In your case it’s different. We have stipulated to most of the prosecution’s facts because you admit that you were at the scene of the crime before the murder. Most of their case is circumstantial and I think I can punch a few holes in it,” William continued.

“The prosecutor’s office and I have submitted to the court that we can get the trial done in seven to ten days at the most, as neither of us have many witnesses to call and many of the facts in evidence have been agreed to. The Clerk of the Westchester County Courthouse has set a trial date four months from now,” William smiled at Stephanie.

“Thanks god! I can’t wait for it to be over,” Stephanie stopped pacing and sighed.

“The ADA will try to bias the jury against you to get his verdict. He knows the evidence against you is thin but it is very provocative, especially where it goes to motive. He’s going to paint you as a deviant adulterer and promiscuous slattern who cheated on her spouse and her lover, as a means of turning the jury against you,” William said gravely.

“Slattern,” Stephanie chuckled.

“Now there’s an archaic word but it is probably appropriate,” her laughter resonated around the room.

William stepped into Stephanie and glared at her.

“This is serious Stephanie. We will rebuff the implied slander; Doctor Helena Strauss will be a very important witness. We have to convince the jury that no matter what you were, you are not that person now. That by freeing you the jury are freeing not only an innocent person but also someone who has sought and found redemption,” William continued to stare into Stephanie’s eyes.

“You still loathe me don’t you? Even with all the time you spent talking to Helena about me and her explaining why I was what I was, you find me repulsive,” tears welled up in Stephanie’s eyes.

“I’m sorry Stephanie, I’ve seen the pictures, I’ve read the emails and texts, I’ve studied the evidence and I’m not convinced that just because you had a little surgery anything has changed,” William sighed.

“If you don’t believe me what chance do I have with the jury?” a single tear ran down her cheek.

“That’s my job, to convince them otherwise. Your job is to present yourself just like you have been doing to me: a beautiful woman who lost her way but is now virtuous and regretful of her past. How you present yourself in court and how you behave on the stand will have a significant effect on the case,” William admitted.

“And that is going to be difficult. I could put you in a sack dress and sneakers and you would still look beautiful and alluring. The men on the jury will look at those pictures of you and they will fantasise and the women will look at you and hate you,” William brushed away Stephanie’s tear with his fingertip.

“What about you, William? Do you fantasise?” Stephanie whispered.

“No. You are correct, I still loathe you. I can’t reconcile what you were with who you are now,” it was William’s turn for tears to well up in his eyes.

“Then what chance do I have? I’m lost,” Stephanie’s face was inches from William’s.

Her perfume was intoxicating; her face was so beautiful, framed by the platinum shock of hair, her makeup perfect, that sexy overbite framed by red lipstick. She stood inches away from him, petite, frightened and tearful but still sexy in her tight-fitting dark suit, shimmery hose and heels.

“You’re confused aren’t you?” Stephanie raised her hand to William’s face and stroked his cheek.

“You want to believe that I’ve changed because you find me fascinating but you are also repulsed by me because of what I am. I see that look in men’s faces all the time. It’s ok William. I’m used to it. Just do the best you can, even if you despise me,” Stephanie turned away from William and stepped towards the door.

William caught her wrist and pulled her back to him and held her at arm’s length.

“Yes I’m confused and also a little afraid. I will admit that over the time we have spent together I have become attracted to you but I wouldn’t know what to do with you, even if I were to make a move and you were to reciprocate. It is also highly inappropriate for a lawyer to become romantically involved with a client,” William breathed.

“Then let’s not be inappropriate William,” Stephanie put her hands on his chest, keeping a chaste distance between them.

She kissed him softly on the lips and he held her gently while she did so.

“We shouldn’t be doing this Stephanie, it’s a bad idea,” William hissed when Stephanie broke the kiss.

“Then don’t,” she smiled up at him sweetly.

William pulled her close against him and crushed his lips against hers and drove his tongue into Stephanie’s mouth. She clung to him and lifted one leg like a 1930’s movie actress. She felt like she was floating on air and once again was overcome by that feeling of safety but this time there was an undercurrent of deep affection.

She could feel William’s hard body under his designer suit. Because it was late his face had the rasp of five o’clock shadow, his cologne was something musky and manly, his breath tasted faintly of coffee and breath mints. William was very masculine and confident; he strode around the room like a panther, his voice was deep and commanding. Stephanie had been falling for him ever since he took the case.

She didn’t think anything would come of it. She knew that he loathed her and did his best to hide it and she knew that he was too professional to get involved with a client. But every now and then she’d seen signs that he was curious: looking at her ass when she bent over the conference table to retrieve a document, checking out her legs when she slumped in a chair nearly exhausted and her skirt rode up, looking down her blouse when she had her jacket off as they worked late into the night and a button popped on her blouse.

Stephanie knew that men desired her; she had fucked enough of them. But she would be the dirty little secret. She was the woman you took to a sleazy hotel and fucked just to see if it was like the tranny porn on the internet. She was the woman men joked about with trusted friends at the bar but would never be seen in public with her. She knew that no self-respecting man would want be seen with Stephanie in public because of what she was and especially because her whole sordid past was being played out in the media.

Their kisses became more impassioned and William struggled to get Stephanie out of her tight jacket and then she helped him out of his. They continued to kiss while they did this, not wanting to break the bond they had formed. Then they became a little sordid with each other, William squeezed Stephanie’s buttocks through her tight skirt. He had wanted to squeeze that ass for months and found it round, plump and supple; just as he expected it to be.

Stephanie gasped as William circled his fingers on the globes of her ass, squeezing them intermittently, tracing the cleft between them, teasing her. She reciprocated and squeezed William’s tight ass, digging her nails into the pliant glutes. She could feel his cock pressing against her belly through the fabric of his trousers. As much as she was tempted to squeeze the appendage, she would make him wait.

Whilst still kissing her, his lips crushing hers, his tongue darting in her mouth, her moved his hands from her prim ass to her chest and unbuttoned her blouse. Her firm, creamy orbs were cupped in a satin and lace brassiere and William popped them out of the half-cups and stroked the magnificent globes. They were a perfect handful, the skin silky and white, the areolas pink and inviting, the nipples like berries ready to be plucked.

Stephanie’s kisses became more ardent as William felt the heft of her breasts and began to stroke them, her nipples hardened to his touch as he lightly fingered them. He was gentle with them, cupping them, using his long fingers to softly massage the tender flesh and the ball of his thumb to knead her nipples until they were fully erect and Stephanie was gasping into his mouth. William didn’t know it but he was the first man to touch Stephanie’s breasts since her surgery and the feeling was ecstatic.

She ground her body against him, encouraging him and she was rewarded. He kept manipulating her breasts with one hand while the other worked its way back down to her ass. He cupped a buttock and squeezed it and then her slipped his hand under her skirt and was rewarded with the feel of lacy stocking tops against his fingers and the sleek gossamer sheen of the nylon shrouding her thighs. Stephanie was wearing thigh-high hold-up stockings and she felt William’s lips break into a smile as he kissed her.

“You like them?” Stephanie placed her hand on top of William’s and guided it up and down her thigh.

“They’re sexy,” William whispered.

“You’re sexy,” he smiled at her and kissed her quickly.

Stephanie slipped her hand between their bodies and found him, hard, expectant and throbbing. She squeezed his cock and it trembled in her fingers. It felt long, thick and meaty even through the fabric of his trousers.

It was William’s turn to gasp.

The silence of the office was broken by the reverberant metallic scraping sound of William’s zipper being undone and then the clink of a buckle being opened and the rasp of trouser fabric against hairy legs as Stephanie lowered William’s pants to his knees.

“This is it William, we can stop here and put this down to too many late nights, overtiredness and bad judgement,” Stephanie looked up into William’s soft brown eyes and he looked lovingly into her emerald-green orbs.

“You’re the client, you decide,” he smiled at her cheekily.

She smiled back at him and then watched as William closed his eyes in anticipation as Stephanie freed his engorged manhood and slowly and softly caressed it with her fingertips. She gently raked her nails along the steely shaft and glans, lingering on the sensitive fold of his fraenulum and listened to his breathing quicken and felt his heart pounding in his chest.

She slowly lowered herself down his body, clinging to him like a snake slithering down a limb, her breasts pressed against his body and her fingers raking down his torso until she was crouched down with William’s magnificent penis inches from her face. She reached out and touched it, relishing the contrast of her bright-red nails against his pink shaft and bloated glans. A filament of pre-ejaculate oozed from the eye and she caught it with her fingertip and massaged it into William’s veiny appendage.

She felt William shudder as she did so and then she felt his fingers stroking her tousled blonde hair. He wasn’t pushing her but he was encouraging her and Stephanie obliged. She opened her mouth and took his sturdy rod into her mouth, clamping her lips gently on the shaft while her tongue flittered against his glans.

“Oh god Stephanie,” William gasped and Stephanie’s eyes lit up with delight.

She slowly fellated him, suckling his tender organ whilst her hand cupped his scrotal sac and gently kittled the furrowed pouch. She let his cock slide out of her mouth and she slathered the shaft and titillated his bulbous glans with her wet tongue and full lips and then she took his scrotum in her mouth and suckled it while she stroked his cock.

William was mewling and sighing, his hands resting lightly on Stephanie’s head while she ministered to his desires. William had been fellated by many women during his lifetime but Stephanie was the best he had ever had. She edged him to extremis and then retreated, allowing him to recover before her mouth did things to his genitals that he never dreamed of. She worked her mouth up and down his shaft, expertly using her lips and tongue, introducing her fingers into play as necessary.

William knew that he wouldn’t be able to suppress his orgasm much longer and he wanted more. He wanted to feel Stephanie’s petite body under him while he fucked her.

He lifted Stephanie to her feet and gazed lovingly into her eyes. Stephanie looked sexily dishevelled and alluring: her lipstick was smeared around her impossibly full lips, her blonde bob mussed, and her mouth slightly open as she breathed heavily. She looked amazingly provocative as she tottered on her heels, her blouse open with her magnificent bosom peeking out of her blouse, her skirt had ruched, exposing the lacy bands at the top of her shimmering tan hose.

William growled and pulled her into his embrace and smashed his mouth against hers. He felt her go limp and held her tighter, his lips crushing hers, his tongue flittering in her mouth, his hands squeezing her ass, his cock pressed against her tight belly.

“I want to fuck you,” William hissed as he pawed at the diminutive sexy goddess, inhaling her perfume, feeling her feminine bumps and curves.

“If you bend me over you won’t have to see my cock,” Stephanie smiled up at him sweetly, deliberately trying to shock him.

William’s response was to lift her bodily from the floor and carry her over to his desk and lower onto the hardwood surface. Stephanie wrapped her arms and legs around him as William carried her, their mouths locked together. William pawed at her, hiking her skirt up her legs until her pretty pink nylon panties were exposed. Stephanie had been tucked during the day but as the day wore on she had freed her genitals from their uncomfortable trap and now her hard cock tented the front of her panties and her scrotum rested in the gusset.

William looked down, fully expecting to be repelled by what he saw but to his surprise he found that he wasn’t. The front of Stephanie’s panties was distended and wet with pre-seminal fluid and he knew that he had caused that state of arousal in her. To his mind’s eye it was no different to cis woman wetting her panties with vaginal juices in anticipation of sex. The constant reviewing of the evidence, seeing the pictures of Stephanie posing provocatively and the pornographic images of her having sex had inured him. In fact he had been subconsciously stimulated whilst his conscious mind felt disgust.

But that was now all academic. He had this beautiful, provocative transwoman perched on his desk, her long stocking-sheathed legs wrapped around him, her magnificent breasts heaving, her face a picture of rapture and his steely appendage was barely an inch from her panties.

He pressed his cock against hers as he leaned down and kissed her. He could feel the pliable hardness of it through her gauzy undergarment and it felt amazing. He rutted against her as he kissed her passionately, her legs scissoring against his flanks, her bottom raised off the desk so that she could press her extremities against his phallic sword.

“What now?” William was a little perplexed.

He understood the dynamic of anal sex, in fact one of his ex-girlfriends was an aficionado, but they were in his law firm office and totally unprepared.

“Wait, just let me...” Stephanie’s fingers scrambled across the desk and clawed at her handbag.

She unclasped it and rummaged around inside until she found what she was looking for. She produced a tube of Dior moisturising hand cream and smiled cheekily up at William as she secreted a generous dollop of the salve on her fingertips.

“Don’t cum in my hand,” she jokingly admonished William as she lathered his manhood with the lubricious emollient.

William gasped and Stephanie leaned forward and drove her tongue into his ear and nipped his earlobe. She kissed him, feeling his cock judder in her fingers as she did so. She eased aside the gusset of panties and positioned his glans against her puckered bud.

Using her legs as a fulcrum Stephanie impaled herself on William’s hard throbbing cock.

“Oh god!” William sighed as her tight, velvety anus clasped his penis.

He clamped his mouth on hers and began to fuck Stephanie, withdrawing his cock all the way out so that her sphincter circled his glans and then thrusting it forward until his scrotum slammed into her pantied taint. Stephanie clung to William and met his thrusts, gyrating her buttocks, expressing every scintilla of pleasure from his magnificent organ as it lit up the pleasure centres in her anus and extruded a continuous vibrato of delight from her prostate.

It had been so long since Stephanie had had sex that her orgasm bloomed almost immediately. She could feel William’s cock pulsating inside her slick anus and she could tell that he too was close. She stifled a scream when William clutched her buttocks and rammed his cock all the way inside her and ejaculated. She could feel his cock quiver and convulse, feel the freshets of steaming milt fill her void. His tongue flickered in her mouth.

William could feel Stefanie’s anus contract around his ejaculating penis, milking him of his issue. She screamed into his mouth as she came like an express train, her nylon-clad legs rubbing on his sensitive flanks, her high heels locked behind his back, her breasts pressed against his chest.

He broke the kiss long enough to watch the front of Stephanie’s pink nylon panties suddenly effloresce with a spreading stain as a puddle of creamy semen bloomed where the glans of her penis distended the diaphanous garment.

He had made her cum!

William continued to fuck Stephanie until their orgasms peaked and began to subside and even when he finished thrusting he left his cock inside her, kissing her, holding her tight, feeling a bond between them that was undoubtedly sexual but there was something more that he couldn’t put a name to and didn’t really want to ... at least not yet.

“Have you broken some sort of law or commandment or something by making love to me?” Stephanie had a twinkle in her eye.

“Oh yes. Oh god yes,” William chuckled.

“Wanna do it again?” Stephanie looked up at him adoringly.

William left Stephanie impaled on his cock as he carried her over to the leather sofa in the corner of his office. She rained kissed on him and whispered endearments as he did so.

They did it again.

Westchester County Court – The Trial – Day Five

William had asked Stephanie to dress demurely for court but there was no hiding her comely figure, killer legs and pretty face as she strode to the witness stand. She was wearing a conservative dark suit: a knee-length pencil skirt and long jacket, pale-pink satin blouse, transparent hosiery and black low heels. Her alabaster skin, long swanlike neck, shock of platinum blonde hair and full red lips gave her a Marilyn Munroe like countenance, despite the subdued makeup.

There was just no way to make Stephanie not look sexy and desirable.

The scandal sheets had been taking pictures of her every day as she entered the court and plastering them all over the media. The pundits had been commenting on her fashion and one media outlet had used the banner: ‘Happy Wife – Happy Life’ and then gone on to quote Mary Nielsen’s response to the ADA’s question about Stephanie’s monogamy.

There was a climate of schadenfreude pervading the paparazzi and mainstream media which leaked into the courtroom. The gallery was packed with people who wanted to see this beautiful, wealthy, confident, articulate transwoman taken down a peg or two. The LGBTI community was evenly split, with some labelling Stephanie a fraud who had undertaken gender reassignment to garner sympathy and those who fully supported her and of course the TERFs were having a field day. A famous female comedian did a skit on a late night chat show mocking Stephanie, portraying her as a dumb blonde who accidently shot her lover because she thought the gun wasn’t loaded.