'It needs to be erect': Prosecution says suspect's penis must be 'relevant'

Richard Henry Patterson. Photo / Police handout

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Lawyers in the murder trial of a Florida man who wants to show his penis to the jury went back and forth this week on whether he would need to be erect.

The trial for Richard Patterson, 65, of Margate began last week.

Margate faces second-degree murder charges but claims his girlfriend Francisca Marquinez, 60, accidentally choked to death while performing oral sex on him in 2015.

But the judge has not ruled whether his genitals will be presented in the court room.

The prosecution reportedly doesn't object but argued that the penis must be erect.

"Do we do it in the back? Do we do it in open court?" assistant state attorney Peter Sapak asked. "How is the defendant going to be erect when the jury views it? Because a flaccid penis, whether it be a picture or the jury actually seeing it, is completely irrelevant. It needs to be erect."

Defense attorney Ken Padowitz said the court should hear from a medical expert about the logistics of the prosecution's argument.

"He's telling the court, as if he's a medical expert in his argument, that it matters whether the penis is erect or not," Padowitz said.

"But he's merely speculating here since he's never asked that question to Dr Wright in definition, and he doesn't, obviously, know, actually, what the expert opinion is what is needed or not needed in order for a human being to choke."