Disclosure

"You feel he set you up?"

"Yes."

"And that’s why you feel he shares responsibility?"

"Yes."

"In what way did he set you up?"

"Well, I think it’s obvious. Things had gone very far along, when he suddenly got off the couch and said he was not going to proceed. I’d say that was a setup."

"Why?"

"Because you can’t go so far and then just stop. That’s obviously ahostile act, intended to embarrass and humiliate me. I mean . . . anyone can see that."

"All right. Let’s review that particular moment in detail," Fernandez said. "As I understand it, we’re talking about the time when you were on the couch with Mr. Sanders, with both of you in a state of partial undress. Mr. Sanders was crouched on his knees on the couch, his penis was exposed, and you were lying on your back with your panties removed and your legs spread, is that correct?"

"Basically. Yes." She shook her head. "You make it sound so . . . crude."

"But that was the situation at that moment, was it not?"

"Yes. It was."

"Now, at that moment, did you say, `No, no, please,’ and did Mr. Sanders reply, `You’re right, we shouldn’t be doing this,’ and then get off the couch?"

"Yes," she said. "That’s what he said."

"Then what was the misunderstanding?"

"When I said, `No, no,’ I meant, `No, don’t wait.’ Because he was waiting, sort of teasing me, and I wanted him to go ahead. Instead, he got off the couch, which made me very angry."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted him to do it."

"But Ms. Johnson, you said, `No, no.’"

"I know what I said," she replied irritably, "but in that situation, it’s perfectly clear what I was really saying to him."

"Is it?"

"Of course. He knew exactly what I was saying to him, but he chose to ignore it."

"Ms. Johnson, have you ever heard the phrase, `No means no’?"

"Of course, but in this situation-"

"I’m sorry, Ms. Johnson. Does no mean no, or not?"

"Not in this case. Because at that time, lying on that couch, it was absolutely clear what I was really saying to him."

"You mean it was clear to you."

Johnson became openly angry. "It was clear to him, too," she snapped.

"Ms. Johnson. When men are told that `no means no,’ what does that mean?"

"I don’t know." She threw up her hands in irritation. "I don’t know what you’re trying to say."

"I’m trying to say that men are being told that they must take women at their literal word. That no means no. That men cannot assume that no means maybe or yes."

"But in this particular situation, with all our clothes off, when things had gone so far-"

"What does that have to do with it?" Fernandez said.

"Oh, come off it,"Johnson said. "When people are getting together, they begin with little touches, then little kisses, then a little petting, then some more petting. Then the clothes come off, and you’re touching various private parts, and so on. And pretty soon you have an expectation about what’s going to happen. And you don’t turn back. To turn back is a hostile act. That’s what he did. He set me up."

"Ms. Johnson. Isn’t it true that women claim the right to turn back at any point, up to the moment of actual penetration? Don’t women claim the unequivocal right to change their minds?"

"Yes, but in this instance"

"Ms. Johnson. If women have the right to change their minds, don’t men as well? Can’t Mr. Sanders change his mind?"

"It was a hostile act." Her face had a fixed, stubborn look. "He set me up."

"I’m asking whether Mr, Sanders has the same rights as a woman in this situation. Whether he has the right to withdraw, even at the last moment."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because men are different."

"How are they different?"

"Oh, for Christ’s sake," Johnson said angrily. "What are we talking about here? This is Alice in Wonderland. Men and women are different. Everybody knows that. Men can’t control their impulses."

"Apparently Mr. Sanders could."

"Yes. As a hostile act. Out of his desire to humiliate me."

"But what Mr. Sanders actually said at the time was, `I don’t feel good about this.’ Isn’t that true?"

"I don’t remember his exact words. But his behavior was very hostile and degrading toward me as a woman."

"Let’s consider," Fernandez said, "who was hostile and degrading toward whom. Didn’t Mr. Sanders protest the way things were going earlier in the evening?"

"Not really. No."

"I thought he had." Fernandez looked at her notes. "Early on, did you say to Mr. Sanders, `You look good’ and `You always had a nice hard tush’?"

"I don’t know. I might have. I don’t remember."

"And what did he reply?"

"I don’t remember."

Fernandez said, "Now, when Mr. Sanders was talking on the phone, did you come up, push it out of his hand, and say, `Forget that phone’?"

"I might have. I don’t really remember."

"And did you initiate kissing at that point?"

"I’m not really sure. I don’t think so."

"Well, let’s see. How else could it have occurred? Mr. Sanders was talking on his cellular phone, over by the window. You were on another phone at your desk. Did he interrupt his call, set down his phone, come over, and start kissing you?"