“So you say, but Jennifer hasn’t accused him of raping her. Only you’ve said that in this trial. Same thing with your mother. You say your father raped her, but she doesn’t say that. In fact, your mother is going to testify that you’re lying. Your own mother, Raymond, is going to take this stand and swear an oath to God, punishable by the crime of perjury if she lies, and say that you—you, Raymond, not your father, but you—raped your baby sister. And the only evidence we have that you’re not a rapist—in fact, the only evidence we have about anything you’ve said here today—is your say-so. The word of a person whose own mother says he is a liar.”

I objected, telling the judge that there wasn’t a question being posed. Before the judge could rule, Sutton said, “Here’s my question, Raymond. Are you calling your mother a liar?”

“She’s really scared,” Raymond said.

“Why would she be scared?” Sutton said, as if the idea of a battered woman being so frightened that she would lie to protect her abuser was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. “If what you say is true—that your father is a sexual predator who abuses his own family—she should be doing everything she can to send him to jail. But she’s not, is she, Raymond? No. And you’re right about one thing. She is scared. She’s scared that your father is going to go to jail and then there won’t be anyone to stop you from raping Jennifer. That’s what terrifies her.”

When his cross-examination was over and Raymond and I were in the hallway, he broke down. As he sobbed, I told him that I blamed myself for failing to see that line of attack coming. He didn’t care about what had just occurred on the stand, however. Something much worse than being accused of rape brought him to tears.

“My father is going to come home with us,” he said. “Isn’t he?”

Later that evening, Lauren suggested that we offer Chesterman a plea deal.

“No,” I said, almost instinctively.

“It’s not that close a call,” Lauren replied. “We’re going to lose. The wife is going to testify that she was never raped and that Raymond was never raped, but that Jennifer was. She’ll say Raymond is her abuser. For us to rebut that, we have to put Jennifer on the stand. And you know as well as I do that she won’t hold up under cross.”