The Fatty Arbuckle case (1962)

one and two. The one sure thing was a constant series of contradictions. By this time both defense and prosecution were wary about every witness, not knowing how a witness might change his testimony. There was damaging testimony for the defense when a new doctor came to the stand and stated: "I do not speak without carefully weighing my words. I fully comprehend how damning they might be to the State. But my long experience as an obstetrician and a careful study of this case leads me to this conclusion— I firmly believe that Virginia Rappe had a chrome illness and the illness in the natural course of its progression reached a crisis in the night of September 10th. I believe any unnatural movement might have caused her ruptured bladder and it could have happened at any time. That is my opinion— I do not have any so-called proof." " This statement shook Friedman. He peppered the doctor in a crossfire but got nowhere. McNab followed with a young woman. She turned out to be a good witness for the defense and chockful of laughs. She suffered from an inflamed bladder condition. She described her symptoms and pain, which were similar to the pains ascribed to Virginia. 'Isn't this all rather personal?" she said several times to questions from McNab. Then McNab asked the attractive divorcee, "Was intercourse painful to you?" The young lady blushed and said, "Yes, but it was fun." The courtroom howled. Even Arbuckle smiled. McNab didn't crack a smile. "Did you ever fear that during intercourse some serious damage might be done to your internal organs?" "No," answered the witness frankly, "I wasn't tJiinking about that during intercourse." Friedman, unhappy about this girl, challenged her with: "Do you drinkr^ "Once in a while." "Do you have any pains after drinking?" 129