Hadrian's Lover (37 page)

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Authors: Patricia-Marie Budd

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Transcripts: Hadrian vs. Hunter

Prosecution Questioning of Dean Stuttgart

Prosecution: 
   
Mr. Hunter, when did you first discover the deceased was heterosexual?
 
 
 
Dean:
 
The day Frank voc’d that Todd had been exposed at school.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Surely that wasn’t the first time. You must have suspected. When did you first suspect the deceased might be heterosexual?
 
 
 
Dean:
 
When the boys were thirteen.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Thirteen. Four years ago.
 
 
 
Dean:
 
Three and a half.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Three and a half then. So, you knew the boy was straight for three and a half years?
 
 
 
Dean:
 
No.
 
 
 
Defense:
 
Objection, M’Lady. The witness never claimed to have known about the deceased’s sexual preference, only to have suspected.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Sorry, suspected. So, then, you suspected straight tendencies for three and a half years, correct?
 
 
 
Dean:
 
Yes.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
In all that time, Mr. Hunter, did you ever sit the boy down to talk to him about the dangers of
strai
behavior?
 
 
 
Defense:
 
M’Lady, that’s a sexual slur.
 
 
 
Prosecution:                                  
 
My apologies. Straight behavior—or would the defense prefer I use the word heterosexual—did you ever sit the boy down and discuss the dangers of heterosexual behavior?
 
 
 
Dean:
 
No.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
No? That’s odd. Tell us, Mr. Hunter, you were reeducated, were you not?
 
 
 
Defense:
 
Objection.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
It is important, M’Lady. Since the defense is determined to throw blame on external forces, I am uncovering other external forces from the boy’s family and those closely associated with him.
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Proceed.
 
 
 
Defense:
 
M’Lady—
 
 
 
Judge:
 
As I allowed you levity, I will extend the same to the prosecution. Proceed with your questioning.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
You were reeducated, were you not?
 
 
 
Dean:
 
Yes.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
And in the three whole years you suspected the boy to be straight, you never once spoke to him about being straight or cautioned him about the consequences?
 
 
 
Dean:
 
Of course I did.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
How? Did you ever tell him about your being straight?
 
 
 
Defense:
 
Objection, M’Lady. My client was reeducated.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
My apologies. Having once been straight, did you ever speak to him about that, sir? Did you ever ask him if he thought about straight acts? Kissing girls? Touching breasts? That sort of thing? Did you ever once think to ask him what he liked most about his own sex? Did you ever once try to guide him toward a gay lifestyle? Did you ever tell him about reeducation camp?
 
 
 
Defense:
 
Objection! M’Lady, the prosecution is bombarding the witness, refusing him opportunity to answer.
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Objection noted. Prosecution will restrain himself to one question at a time.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Of course, M’Lady. Mr. Hunter, why didn’t you share your experiences with the boy?
 
 
 
Dean:
 
I…don’t talk about it.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Why not?
 
 
 
Defense:
 
M’Lady!
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Answer the question, Mr. Hunter.
 
 
 
Dean:
 
It…
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
It was what, Mr. Hunter?
 
 
 
Defense:
 
M’Lady, the prosecution is badgering the witness.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
M’Lady, please, all I did was request the witness to answer the question.
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Answer the question, Mr. Hunter.
 
 
 
Geoffrey:
 
Dean, it’s all right.
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Sit down, Mr. Geoffrey Hunter. Answer the question, Mr. Hunter. If you do not, I will have to charge you for withholding testimony.
 
 
 
Dean:
 
It was hell! Demeaning! Horrifying! Brutal. I was beaten and tortured.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
That smacks of exaggeration, Mr. Hunter.
 
 
 
Dean:
 
You weren’t there! They used a paddle on me damn near every day, electric shock therapy, and they overtly encouraged sexual activity between wards and guardians.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
The two methods of discipline and deterrents are legal and an accepted means of maintaining order in reeducation camps, particularly with violent and recalcitrant youth. As for wards choosing to have sex with their guardians, well, there is no law against having sex. No more questions.
 
 
 
Dean:
 
You assume wards have a choice.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
You may return to your seat, Mr. Hunter.
 
 
 
Dean:
 
They raped us!
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Were you ever raped, Mr. Hunter?
 
 
 
Dean:
 
Weller tri—
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Yes or no, Mr. Hunter.
 
 
 
Dean:
 
Weller had me down. He—
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Yes or no, Mr. Hunter.
 
 
 
Dean:
 
But he—
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Yes or no.
 
 
 
Dean:
 
No.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Thank you. No more questions.
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Defense, do you wish to cross-examine?
 
 
 
Defense:
 
Yes. Mr. Hunter, take a moment. I know this is hard for you. Did Gideon Weller ever try to rape you?
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Objection!
 
 
 
Defense:
 
M’Lady, if Mr. Weller had attempted to rape another ward, he may well have raped Todd Middleton, too.
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Objection overruled. Proceed.
 
 
 
Defense:
 
Mr. Hunter, did Gideon Weller ever try to rape you?
 
 
 
Dean:
 
Y-yes.
 
 
 
Defense:
 
Please tell us what happened.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Objection!
 
 
 
Defense:
 
M’Lady, I am trying to establish what the conditions at the Northeast Camp are really like in order to prove that Todd’s Middleton’s state of mind at the time he requested assisted suicide from the accused was in fact beyond repair.
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Objection overruled! Defense may continue with her line of questioning.
 
 
 
Defense:
 
Go ahead, Dean; take your time.

* * * * *

Salve!

A Stunning Revelation
HNN—Melissa Eagleton Reporting

Yesterday’s testimony by Dean Hunter was most revealing. One is left to seriously ponder the need for reformation in Hadrian’s reeducation system. It appears that Jason Warith’s cry for change needs to be met. In fact, Vice-President Elena Stiles has promised, if elected as Hadrian’s next president, to establish a committee dedicated to running a thorough investigation into our reeducation camps. It was hinted that she might even choose Mr. Jason Warith as an advisor to the committee.

As equally stunning as Dean Hunter’s horror stories about life during reeducation is the text testimony presented by defense lawyer Faial Raboud. Apparently, Mr. Dean Hunter had a text conversation with the young woman Todd Middleton was to have allegedly raped. The young woman, whose name has not been revealed, had refused to accuse the young man of rape. The text message Mr. Hunter allegedly had with this young woman suggests that the sexual act committed by Todd Middleton was not rape, but rather an act instigated by the young woman. This, along with the damning accusation that Mr. Weller may well have raped Todd Middleton lends credence to Faial Raboud’s argument that Todd Middleton was suffering from extreme depression. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case. Will Frank Hunter be found guilty of murder or will the court recognize Todd Middleton’s death as an act of kindness? Hadrian, remember to voc us your views. Please note; we have amalgamated all our viewer sites for this case into one: @HNN#RE-GW/MI-FH/AS.

Vale!

Transcripts: Hadrian vs. Hunter

Defense Questioning of Ms. Destiny Stuttgart

Defense:
   
Ms. Stuttgart, please remind the court of the values you and the four other original founding family members established for our country.
 
 
 
Ms. Stuttgart:
 
In order to do that, I must be allowed to start from the beginning.
 
 
 
Prosecution: 
 
No objections, M’Lady.
 
 
 
Ms. Stuttgart:
 
When world population topped ten billion, religious extremists with their apoplectic theories and revelations began to war against one another—and us. By us, I mean homosexuals.
 
 
Regardless of the education and incredible strides made to ensure acceptance in inclusion during the twenty-first century, the abuses against homosexuals grew and persecution became extreme.
 
 
Anti-gay mobs rose everywhere and even straight men and women were persecuted if they appeared gay or vocally supported us. Sensing the future direction of humanity, finding the need for strength in numbers, a collective was formed.
 
 
We were, in essence, a secret society. We called ourselves Hadrian’s warriors. So, Hadrian was formed as a means of self-preservation and protection. I find it ironic that the very reason we sit in this courtroom today is due to the same type of fear mongering that brought us together as a community.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Objection, M’Lady. With due respect to our founding mother, we are here today to try Frank Hunter with murder.
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Objection stands. Clerk, please strike our founding mother’s last statement.
 
 
 
Defense:
 
Please continue, Mother.
 
 
 
Ms. Stuttgart:
 
As I was saying, one reason for gathering our forces together was preservation—however, the word preservation means many things to us. Our efforts were not merely for the self-preservation of the homosexual community but for the preservation of all of humanity and the preservation of a life-sustaining planet.
 
 
Our planet, as we know it, or rather, as we knew it to be, must be preserved and repaired if humanity is to survive. This preservation became the crux of our constitution.
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
M’Lady, again, with due respect to our founding mother, I fail to see the purpose behind this line of questioning.
 
 
 
Ms. Stuttgart:
 
That is because you have become as blind as the rest of our society.
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Mother, please.
 
 
 
Ms. Stuttgart:
 
Don’t silence me like a wayward child. If any privilege comes of being a founding mother, it is the privilege to speak openly before all as to why our country was founded! Silence, all of you! Fear, hate, distress makes up the basis of humanity—
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Yes, outside our walls but—
 
 
 
Ms. Stuttgart:
 
No buts! It is the makeup of all humanity! Not just them but us, too! We are here today because of our fear, our hate, and our distress! They hate us. Now we hate them! They kill
us. Now we kill them! They are jealous, fearful, dying. We lock them out. Why? Because we have to! But how many of them are exactly like us?
 
 
We like to quote the Kinsey scale zero to six—and maybe our geneticists have eliminated the zero and the one, and maybe they haven’t—and maybe they shouldn’t be allowed to. What right do we have to say heterosexual sex is wrong? No more than they have the right to say homosexual sex is wrong. When we founded Hadrian, we were not looking for justifications or the creation of the perfect homosexual human race. We founded our nation on choice.
 
 
The choice Hadrian citizens made was to reduce the human population now—not tomorrow—not in twenty years—not in the next two hundred years—but now as the critical need is now—is still now!
Stability Now!
became our cry and to do that, we knew we needed a homosexual nation and IVF laws. We asked everyone who joined us, gay or straight, to pledge themselves, to choose with us what we honestly believe to be humanity’s last chance at survival.
 
 
It is why we sacrifice access to higher levels of technology working only with wind, hydro, and thermal power, keeping a store of energy for those days when access to natural energy is lost to us. We were willing to endure those days when we can’t drive or run hot water or watch the wall screen.
 
 
We made these sacrifices because we knew we have more than a claim to this planet; we are responsible to it. But times have changed. We no longer sacrifice for humanity, survival, and our planet. Instead, we demand luxury and—
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
M’Lady, please. This is getting us nowhere.
 
 
 
Ms. Stuttgart:
 
You sit down, be quiet, and listen. I am here today because my great-grandson is being charged with murder! That’s right! Frank Hunter is a Stuttgart by marriage. The poor boy doesn’t even know it. I have never even met him! Today is the first time I have ever seen him in my entire life. How wrong is that? How, you ask? Frank’s Papa Dean is my
grandson. And today is the first day I have seen Dean in over twenty years. I was told he was dead! I only learned otherwise when he voc’d and asked me to help his young friend. Forgive me…
 
 
 
Judge:
 
It’s all right, Mother. Take your time.
 
 
 
Ms. Stuttgart:
 
It’s hard. I’ve been denied access to my own grandson and two great-grandsons because of the prejudices of a society I helped to create. I am tired of hiding that reality.
 
 
There are heterosexuals among us and I don’t care. These men and women I hold in the highest esteem as they make the greatest sacrifice for humanity. They choose celibacy or, as in the case of my grandson, some even choose to embrace our lifestyle.
 
 
This morning, before I agreed to take the stand, I had a chance to meet with my boy because I didn’t want to say anything here today that would hurt him any more than he has already suffered. When I asked him if his marriage was a sham, he assured me the answer was no.
 
 
He loves his partner, Geoffrey Hunter, and I dearly want to get to know the man who won my boy’s heart. I want to learn from my grandson and his lover how they managed to find balance in a world where among humanity, balance is damn near unattainable.
 
 
Yes, balance! Humanity’s greatest flaw is in our lack of balance. We swing from one extreme to another, and today, I say Hadrian has taken the pendulum of man’s folly from one form of abuse into another.
 
 
When swung hard enough, the blade meets itself right back up at the top! My great-grandson killed Todd Middleton, but for reasons many of us cannot fathom. He killed his lover out of love.
 
 
Out of an awareness that our society would never accept him for who he was. Todd Middleton suffered grievously at the hands of Gideon Weller. The man is a rapist—
 
 
 
Prosecution:
 
Objection!
 
 
 
Ms. Stuttgart:
 
Objection be damned! And don’t you try to shush me, M’Lady, or strike any of my comments! I am a founding Mother and I say these proceedings go against the very fabric of the values of the country I helped create! You listen to me, and you listen well.
 
 
I say Gideon Weller is a rapist—not a confessed rapist, one yet to be proven in this court of law—but a rapist nonetheless. I saw the medical report describing Todd Middleton’s condition.
 
 
That alone should be enough to condemn the man! If anyone should be exiled or given henbane to swallow, it should be Gideon Weller and not my great-grandson! That’s all I have to say. I’m tired. Let me down.
 
 
 
Defense:
 
Of course, Mother. Thank you.
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Mother Stuttgart, please, the prosecution has the right to cross-examine you.
 
 
 
Prosecution:                                  
 
No questions for now, M’Lady. Mother Stuttgart looks quite drawn; perhaps she will allow for cross-examination tomorrow—if I still feel the need to question her.
 
 
 
Judge:
 
Good. Then, Mother, you may step down from the bench.

* * * * *

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