Page 124 of Notorious

Once the jury is seated and the judge indicates to Danny that he can go ahead, Tawni is sworn in. After she gives her name, he asks her, “Do you know Gary Pinkerton?”

“Yes,” she says. Although she still looks scared, her voice is clear.

“How do you know him?”

“He’s produced at least a dozen of my films.”

The jury is now looking interested.

“Those films are pornography, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever experienced any scenes where Gary Pinkerton took actions that went beyond what was agreed to in your contract?”

Tawni nods. “Yes.”

Danny’s voice is low and careful. “Can you describe what happened?”

Taking a deep breath and straightening her back, Tawni tells the court a story of how, after she had finished a scene, Gary called her to his office and had sex with her. She didn’t want to, but she didn’t say no.

Something similar happened after a later scene, and she testifies that, that time, she told him no, and he got angry, but he let her leave.

Then, the next time he called her to his office, he’d given her some Gatorade. She testifies, “I passed out and woke up later with semen on my legs, and it wasn’t from the scene.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because he filmed it,” she says. “In his office. He filmed himself having sex with me.” A shudder goes through the courtroom. “He showed me it later on his phone. He was proud of it.”

“You say you passed out. Do you believe he had given you any drugs?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And on what basis do you have that belief?”

“I went to the hospital for a test, and they found Rohypnol. That’s certainly not something I would have taken knowingly, and I felt fine when I entered his office. Here’s the screening.” She pulls out a piece of paper. The bailiff takes it from her, and the document gets marked as an exhibit by the clerk.

“No further questions,” Danny says.

Gary’s lawyer attempts to cross-examine Tawni about how much sex she’s had during her career, but her testimony is clear: “I know what I consent to and what I don’t. I did not consent to have sex with Gary, and he drugged me so I couldn’t say no.”

After court is done for the day, Tawni’s waiting in the hallway. Johnny wraps her in a hug, kissing the top of her head. “I didn’t know,” he says huskily. “I didn’t know Gary pulled that shit with you, too. I’m so sorry it happened to you. And I’m so darn grateful you came and supported me.”

“When Weston & Ramirez interviewed me, they said you had no evidence that he roofied anyone, and I knew I had to speak up,” she says. “Guess the other side underestimated me. But Gary’s a turd. I know people think just because we agree to have sex on camera, it means they can do anything to us. But it doesn’t.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Thank you,” I say. “You were magnificent. It was very brave of you.”

She shrugs and turns to Johnny. “You’d do it for me, wouldn’t you, Velvet?”

“Yes. That I would. Wanna go to dinner with us tonight?” Johnny asks. “And maybe a drink?”

Tawni grins. “I’d love to.”

The next day, Danny gives a devastating closing argument, reminding the jury that Johnny was horribly assaulted, causing physical and emotional trauma, in addition to which he was deprived of his livelihood due to Pinkerton’s derogatory comments about him—and for this, he should be compensated. Danny also asks for punitive damages for Pinkerton’s extreme and outrageous behavior. He tells the jury to punish Pinkerton and send a message that sexual assault is always unacceptable. Johnny then has to sit through opposing counsel telling the jury that a porn star is paid for having sex, and that’s exactly what Johnny did.

The judge sends the jury out to deliberate.

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