A lady judge delivers a fair-minded summing-up at the end of a trial. Very femdom, very British. Deals with offensive concepts like "men's lib" which no sensible person could possibly support. Previously published elsewhere.
All rise for her Ladyship! This court is now in session.
Members of the jury. You have now heard all of the evidence in this case, as well as the summing-up arguments of the defense, so eloquently put to us by defending counsel Ms Ingrams there,whom I would like to compliment once more on her cogent arguments. And the stuff that prosecuting counsel said too, of course. Ms... erm, Langham I think? No, don't get up, Ms Langham. You've said all you need to say, I think. Don't worry: you did quite well, too.
As you know, members of the jury, the prisoner - Ms Rebecca Frances Davenport - stands accused of various crimes of violence which are, in descending order of severity: grievous bodily harm, actual bodily harm and assault. It is your job to decide whether she is guilty of any crime and if you do so decide, which of those it should be.
The fact of this particular case are not substantially in doubt or disputed by either party. We are concerned with the injuries sustained by Ms Davenport's husband, Tom, when she beat him, first with a cane and then with a riding whip, after he served her coffee that was too milky.
Now, members of the jury, you may well wonder what there is in this that requires the involvement of the law? Surely in this day and age a woman has a right to beat her husband as she sees fit and for whatever reason she chooses - or indeed no reason? I am sure we have all inflicted painful punishments on males from time to time, no doubt all richly deserved - should we therefore fear the heavy hand of the local police, following some healthy domestic corrective action?
Obviously not, members of the jury. The law, thankfully, recognises the needs of males for physical chastisement and the rights of responsible females to provide it. Yet it also specifies that only 'reasonable force' can be used. You may feel that a wife's rights over her husband should have no such limitation and so might I, so might any of us, but we do not make the law, ladies of the jury, and even after twelve years of Femsuprem government, this restriction remains in the law, albeit rarely tested in court.
What does it mean, this word 'reasonable', members of the jury? That will be for you to decide on the facts of this case, but I can give you some guidance.
First, 'reasonableness' refers to the severity of the beating sustained. You will have seen the detailed photographs of the buttocks and thighs of Ms Davenport's Tom, following the beating. Or beatings. You will have noticed the many criss-crossed welts from cane and whip, the extensive bruising in all shades of purples, browns and even black. I hope it is not inappropriate for me to note that Tom Davenport has a rather attractive, muscular pair of buttocks so no doubt - like me - you examined those photographs closely and with great interest.
In fact, Clerk to the court, do you think we might be shown the photographs again?
Splendid. Mmm. Yes, there we are, members of the jury. Study the evidence carefully, so you can recall every detail when you come to deliberate. Observe for example the cross-hatching on the right thigh, where Ms Davenport - clearly a most skillful wielder of the disciplinary rod - has first laid down a ladder of horizontal stripes with the cane, at near mathematically precise intervals, then some half an hour later, after devoting herself to abusing some other area of his flesh, returned and positioned herself in front of her secured husband and completed this grid pattern we see here with an exactly equivalent set of vertical strokes from her whip.
You will no doubt recall, members of the jury, how Tom sobbed with pain and fear even at the recollection of this part of his beating, as he described it stroke by stroke, with these fine photographs arranged to provide the colour, so to speak, to his shaking, tearful description. Indeed, members of the jury, one of you at least will recall that testimony very well, as we all heard that you were unable to contain your excitement. No cause for embarrassment, madam, still less - as counsel for the prosecution suggested - a reason to consider you biased and thus unfit to serve. It is perfectly normal, healthy and proper for a female to become sexually excited when contemplating a male being punished. You merely articulated what many of us, I dare say, were feeling, but with fewer inhibitions. And perhaps a little more loudly.
These bruises - whips and cane strokes, members of the jury - are the injuries at issue in this case. The prosecution withdrew the allegation that the injuries to ankles and wrists were in any way Ms Davenport's fault, as those were inflicted by her male upon himself, as he struggled under the lashes of her discipline. A fine pickle we would all be in, members of the jury, if any husband could escape the consequences of wifely retribution merely by jerking his arms so much when secured across the family whipping block, so as to dislocate his wrist or elbow!
So, members of the jury, have a last look at these photographs before I must ask the clerk to take them away again. Consider the welts and bruises inflicted - consider them carefully. They are certainly skillful, and I think it is clear that they were most effective in bringing home to Tom the errors of his ways and thus ensuring a more harmonious domestic environment. You might consider them, although severe, well within the boundaries that are - and should be - allowed for domestic discipline in our society. Bearing in mind the importance of suppressing all or any glimmers of male rebellion, after we finally threw off centuries of male oppression. You might feel that Ms Davenport should be praised for her skill and her firmness in how she dealt with her husband and wish to reward rather than penalise her for that. However, your task is a simpler one: was this firm, effective - and no doubt for Ms Davenport thoroughly enjoyable - thrashing a reasonable way for her to discipline her husband, just as reasonable as any beating any of us might inflict on our partners, any night of the week? You may well think so, members of the jury, you might well think so.
However, you might also choose to decide for whatever reason seems proper to you, that this action was unreasonably painful for Tom. The question, for the avoidance of doubt, being whether you consider the pain inflicted unreasonably severe. You are not being asked to decide whether Ms Davenport was unreasonably lenient on Tom. You might decide she was unreasonably severe... perhaps because you believe, in effect, that males even in firmly loving disciplinary relationships should be able to count on the law to protect them, should they - the males, members of the jury - themselves decide that the pain is too much for them. Perhaps you might think that you would be entirely content if your own husband were to turn around and warn you not to hurt him too much, threatening you with prosecution. You might think any of those things, members of the jury, and if you do then you might decide that the level of pain inflicted in this case, as shown in these splendid photographs, was unreasonable. You might decide that; you have that right and duty. Or you might decide that there's nothing wrong with a woman beating her man to the best of her ability and that the pain will do him nothing but good. It is up to you.
Clerk of the court, with regret I must ask you to take the photographs away again.
Now, members of the jury, there is a second element to 'reasonableness' and that relates to the severity of the punishment in relation to the fault Tom committed. As you will recall: he served his wife coffee that was too milky.
Now, counsel for the prosecution devoted considerable efforts to paint this act of Tom's as somehow undeserving of the thrashing that he received. You may have found the prosecution's arguments a little hard to follow there, members of the jury. I am not sure I myself can help you much in understanding them, but I will do my best. I believe young Ms Langham's point was that milky coffee is not such a bad thing. That - in effect - Ms Davenport should simply have put up with the milky coffee. Perhaps, members of the jury, the prosecution would like you to think she should have drunk coffee that was milkier than she enjoys, to avoid hurting the feelings of - or in other ways hurting - her husband. She could, in short, have taken some discomfort upon herself, privileging the feelings and desires of a male, above her own. As women did for so many centuries under the patriarchy. Perhaps the prosecution also believes she should have taken on some of the housework, to give poor Tom a break, put on an apron and cooked him a meal - or even gone down on her knees before him, unlocked his belt and given him a blow-job? Perhaps. We don't know. All the prosecution said was that Ms Davenport should have simply forced down the unpleasantly milky coffee without complaining. That this would have been more 'reasonable' then the actions she in fact took. Perhaps you agree with that idea, members of the jury. Or perhaps you do not.
Let me nonetheless remind you of a few relevant facts to consider. First: Ms Davenport has been Tom's wife for over four years and was his Responsible Female for some eight months prior to that. She is not - and I believe this is undisputed - new to coffee drinking, members of the jury. Tom has been making her cups of coffee for all of that time. Every day, usually more than once. Tom knew how she liked her coffee, members of the jury. A crucial point, so I shall emphasise it again: Tom knew how she liked her coffee. Yet he made it too milky. She likes her coffee quite dark... Tom knew that but made it milky. An act of rebellion, perhaps, members of the jury? Or merely the act of an unthinking male, characteristically concerned only with his own convenience and thinking nothing of the needs and wants of the woman whom he promised to love, serve and obey when they married? Either way, I am sure you will want to consider very carefully whether you wish to characterise a corrective beating in response to such behaviour as 'unreasonable', members of the jury. But of course that is a matter for your judgement.
Second, we have heard Ms Davenport's evidence - corroborated by Tom when he was strapped across the witness block - that this was the third time in the last year that he had served her coffee that was too milky. The third time, members of the jury! He repeatedly served her coffee he knew she would not like! Is that the act of an obedient husband? Should she allow it to pass unrebuked? Is it really that unreasonable for a husband to spend a few hours screaming and struggling under a relentless beating when he has willfully ignored his wife's wishes time and time again? Indeed, how 'reasonable' would it be for Ms Davenport - for any woman - to suffer such a repeated gesture of contempt and not inflict a thorough beating, I ask you? I can merely ask: it is of course for you to decide that, not for me.
Finally, we come to the conflicting evidence relating to Ms Davenport's instructions to Tom, when she dispatched him to the kitchen to prepare the coffee. She has testified that she clearly said "And don't put too much milk in it, maggot!", 'maggot' of course being the affectionate nick-name she uses at home to refer to Tom. The maggot himself - Tom, that is - denies that she made any such remark, and maintained that position even under vigorous cross-examination over the witness block. Rather a crucial piece of evidence, members of the jury, as even those of you who might for some reason feel well-disposed towards Tom and inclined to be lenient towards his apparent total lack of interest in his wife's comfort might feel that serving milky coffee following such an instruction is tantamount to direct disobedience.
Direct disobedience
, members of the jury.
Direct. Disobedience.
Something none of us would tolerate in our own relationships, I venture to say. But that is of course for you to decide, not for me. Perhaps you are of a different opinion. That is your right.
But many of us would no doubt feel that if such an instruction were given, Ms Davenport has no case to answer.
