Richard Patterson’s Florida Murder Trial: Oral Sex Defense and Verdict

Richard Patterson, a 65-year-old Margate man, was acquitted of second-degree murder on May 22, 2017 in the death of his 60-year-old girlfriend Francisca Marquinez, after a Broward County jury deliberated for fewer than four hours. The Florida murder trial became nationally known for a defense theory that Marquinez died accidentally during oral sex, but Patterson’s attorney abandoned that explanation in closing and won the case on a different argument entirely: that the medical examiner could not establish any homicide had occurred.¹

How Marquinez Was Found

Marquinez was last seen alive by anyone other than Patterson on October 25, 2015.² Three days later, her decomposing body was discovered face down on the bed in her condo at the Royal Park Gardens Condominiums on Royal Palm Boulevard in Margate.³ She had been dead at least 24 hours, probably closer to 48.⁴

Investigators found a bag of paper towels and tissues stained with blood and semen near the body. There was additional blood in and around the apartment and on Marquinez’s hand.⁴ Patterson had not called 911. He contacted his ex-girlfriend Holly Graff, who put him in touch with criminal defense attorney Ken Padowitz, and Padowitz called police to the condo.¹ Patterson was arrested about a week later and charged with second-degree murder, which carried a maximum penalty of life in prison.⁵

The Prosecution’s Problem

Prosecutor Peter Sapak was working around a serious gap: the official cause and manner of Marquinez’s death were both undetermined. Because of decomposition, authorities could not establish whether external bruising had been present, and the autopsy showed no broken neck bones or cartilage damage.²

Without forensic proof of homicide, the state built its case on what Patterson said and did. Holly Graff testified that Patterson admitted to choking Marquinez.² Sapak also introduced text messages Patterson sent his daughter saying he “did something terrible” and was “really sorry.”⁵ In closing, Sapak called this a “guilty conscience” and argued Patterson shifted from contrition to self-preservation after speaking with a lawyer. Recordings captured Patterson telling Graff not to discuss the case and saying he “could not go to jail.”

Expert testimony on both sides worked against a strangulation theory. Associate Medical Examiner Louri Boiko testified that an accidental death during a sexual act was “very unlikely,” explaining that airway obstruction takes two to three minutes and a victim would instinctively resist.⁶ The defense’s expert, former Broward County Medical Examiner Dr. Ronald Wright, agreed strangulation was “not likely,” and raised the possibility of a cardiovascular event, noting that “60-year-old people just have cardiovascular events all the time.”⁷

The Oral Sex Defense

In his opening, Padowitz told the jury Marquinez had choked to death while performing oral sex on Patterson. He filed a motion asking Judge Lisa Porter in Broward Circuit Court to let the jury view Patterson’s genitalia, calling the visual “essential” to the theory, and provided the state with photographs of his client posed next to a tape measure.⁸ Judge Porter deferred ruling, and Padowitz withdrew the request before any decision, saying “it wasn’t necessary” and that the demonstration “would have been highly embarrassing and humiliating both for him and for the memory of his girlfriend.”⁹

The defense also offered a narrative for Patterson’s silence after the death, though Patterson never took the stand. Padowitz told the jury Patterson left the bedroom for 15 to 20 minutes after consensual sex, returned to find Marquinez dead, and was so distraught he tried to overdose on sleeping pills, which incapacitated him for more than a day and explained why he never called 911. An empty pill bottle was found near the bed, and investigators recovered internet searches on how to commit suicide.¹

When the defense rested on May 19, 2017, Padowitz moved for a judgment of acquittal, arguing the state had not proven a crime had occurred. Judge Porter denied the motion.³

The Closing Argument That Won the Case

In closing, Padowitz abandoned the oral sex theory. “That’s not the way she died,” he told the jury. “But that’s the way Richard Patterson thought she died.”¹ He conceded the sex-death explanation was “not a reasonable theory for the jury to believe” and argued instead that Marquinez likely died of an undiagnosed heart attack or stroke, meaning no crime had occurred.⁵

That reframing transformed the state’s best evidence. Patterson’s statements to Graff and his texts to his daughter were no longer admissions of homicide; they were the panicked reactions of a man who mistakenly believed the sexual act had killed her. The failure to call 911, the call to a lawyer, the suicide attempt — all were recast as confusion and humiliation rather than cover-up.¹

Padowitz later said the sensational theory had always been tactical. “I always had the same strategy throughout the trial,” he told the Sun-Sentinel. “The jury heard me say to them in opening that my client believed this was the way Ms. Marquinez died. What I didn’t tell them until closing is that he was most likely wrong.” Foregrounding the sex-death claim forced the prosecution to spend trial time disproving an argument the defense never intended to rely on, while the real argument, reasonable doubt about an undetermined cause of death, built quietly in the background.¹

Verdict and Family Reaction

After a week-long trial, the jury returned a not-guilty verdict in under four hours on May 22, 2017. Patterson never testified.¹ Padowitz said his client was “very happy that justice has been done” and was looking forward to seeing his grandchildren.³

Marquinez’s relatives sat in “unconcealed frustration” as the verdict was read. One called out in the courtroom: “This is not justice.” Her son, Omar Andrade, was present and declined to comment as he left.²

1
Sun-Sentinel. Lawyer Says Murder Trial’s Spotlight on Oral Sex Helped Him Mask Defense’s Endgame
2
Sun-Sentinel. Margate Man Acquitted in Murder Case After Oral Sex Defense
3
NBC Miami. Closing Arguments Underway in Oral Sex Defense Trial
4
LegalReader. Woman Dies During Sexual Act
5
Police1. Man Who Claimed Girlfriend Choked During Oral Sex Acquitted in Murder Case
6
Local 12. Florida Medical Examiner Testifies Against Big Penis Defense
7
NBC Miami. Former Medical Examiner Testifies at Trial of Broward Man Who Claims Girlfriend Died During Oral Sex
8
Click2Houston. Man on Trial for Girlfriend’s Choking Death Wants to Show Penis to Jury
9
Sun-Sentinel. Defense Rests in Oral Sex Choking Case, Drops Request for Jury to View Defendant’s Penis