THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 10, 1995 TAG: 9501100293
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
A year after the start of Lorena Bobbitt's much-hyped trial for severing her husband's penis, she remains under a judge's supervision and still married.
After a two-week trial that began Jan. 10, 1994, Lorena Bobbitt was acquitted by reason of insanity in the attack on her husband seven months earlier.
``She is still under court supervision and receiving therapy in the area,'' said Lisa Kemler, part of a team of lawyers who successfully argued that emotional and physical abuse at the hands of John Bobbitt drove his wife to mental illness.
Lorena Bobbitt and her new attorney, Joseph Maloof, did not respond to a request for an interview.
She is working as a secretary in his Fairfax office and living nearby with her parents, Kemler said.
Lorena Bobbitt, 25, claimed she could not recall many of the events of June 23, 1993, when she fled the couple's Prince William County apartment with her husband's penis in one hand and a red-handled kitchen knife in the other.
She sobbed on the stand as she told jurors how Bobbitt taunted her, roughed her up and raped her during a stormy four-year marriage.
Bobbitt, 27, was acquitted in a separate trial of sexually abusing his wife, and he denied any abuse during testimony in his wife's trial.
``There was no question John Bobbitt was an abuser. The question for the jury was whether that justified her actions,'' said Paul B. Ebert, the Prince William commonwealth's attorney who prosecuted both cases. ``They seemed to feel that it did.''
Lorena Bobbitt filed for divorce in July 1993, but the case is still pending. Under Virginia law, the couple may divorce after a one-year separation, but must file additional papers to do so.
``It's lying fallow right now,'' said Gregory Murphy, John Bobbitt's divorce lawyer. ``They just haven't paid much attention to it.''
Both Bobbitts still intend to divorce, their lawyers said.
On Jan. 21, the jury considering the malicious wounding charge against Lorena Bobbitt decided she could not be held responsible for the crime. She went immediately to Central State Hospital in Petersburg, where doctors evaluated her.
In March, the South American-born manicurist was released from the hospital. She returned to Northern Virginia but must see a psychiatrist and report to Prince William Circuit Court officials on her progress.
Lorena Bobbitt is expected to pursue movie or other entertainment deals after the court releases her from supervision. She may appeal for release whenever her private therapist recommends it.
John Bobbitt toured the United States and Europe after his wife's trial, making appearances on radio shows and in bars.
He was briefly engaged to a Las Vegas dancer, who successfully pursued domestic violence charges against him.
Late last year, Bobbitt began peddling a $50 pornographic film featuring his surgically reattached penis.
Murphy, who defended Bobbitt in the spousal abuse case, said Bobbitt has been demonized by the press and the public. ``People were only interested in the superficial aspects of the case,'' Murphy said. ``There was so much that never got reported or . . . was reported wrong.''
Murphy is writing a book about press coverage of the case and speaks frequently to legal groups about the public and media attention paid to sensational court cases.
Kemler also is on the lecture circuit, often defending the Bobbitt case against criticism of the so-called ``abuse excuse.''
KEYWORDS: JOHN BOBBITT LORENA BOBBITT by CNB