After the prosecution had rested its case, the defense called fourteen witnesses, each of whom testified that Tamar was a "pathological liar" and was not to be believed. The first three witnesses were all family members: her grandmother, her own mother, and her half-brother Duncan, who all hammered home the point that whatever Tamar swore to under oath should not be believed. All of this was exhilarating fodder for the dailies chronicling the testimony with headlines such as "Grandma Calls Tamar Hodel 'Untruthful'" and "Tamar's Ma Calls Her an Awful Liar." What was more, a host of Tamar's friends and acquaintances were flown down from San Francisco, and all repeated the same testimony that her mother and grandmother had given. Each of them in turn admonished the jury not to believe anything Tamar said.
December 21, the shortest day of the year, was the longest of Dad's life, because on that day the wealthy Hollywood doctor at the center of the media frenzy was called to testify in his own defense. Calm and dignified as he unfolded his version of the events that led to his arrest, he held the jury spellbound with the story of how he was "demonstrating hypnosis to the four adults in his bedroom." Barbara Sherman was the subject, and Sexton and Corrine Tarin watched as he ordered Sherman to raise her hands, suggesting to her they were "bars of steel." He told the jury that when he "turned to the others to have them note the experiment," he saw that Tarin's arms were likewise extended, and then he saw his daughter and Sexton sprawled on the bed. He claimed that Tamar "had her blouse and brassiere off and Sexton was fully clothed." He immediately "pulled Sexton off of her, and ordered him out of the bedroom." After Sexton left he ordered Tarin out of the bedroom and sent Tamar to her room.
He related to the jury that Tamar was mistaken on her dates, and the hypnosis session was not July 1, but rather June 18, the same night she had come down from San Francisco to live at the house. He informed the jurors how he had asked her mother, Dorothy Anthony Barbe, not to send her down because he had recently suffered a heart attack and was in no position to give his daughter the close supervision that she needed. He concluded his testimony by informing the jury that Tamar's account was "nonsense, and was the fantasy of a vengeful and incorrigible child."
It was my father's word against Tamar's and the other witnesses', particularly Corrine Tarin and Fred Sexton, as well as against the boxes of evidence retrieved from the Franklin House, all of which pointed to my father's deep interest in sexual fantasy, clearly focusing on the perverse. Despite the attacks on Tamar's credibility by her mother and grandmother, Corrine Tarin's and Fred Sexton's testimony corroborated Tamar's testimony as to the sexual nature of the events that evening and the fact that she had been molested by an adult. It would be up to the defense to get my father off the hook in the face of very damning evidence. If Dad's defense attorneys could not find a way through the maze, my father would go to jail, lose his medical license, and his career would be over.
In his summation, Neeb directly attacked the testimony of the adult witnesses present in the bedroom by not only assaulting the credibility of the witnesses themselves, but arguing that the jury couldn't even consider their testimony:
You are instructed that even if you did believe that there was sufficient evidence to convince you beyond a reasonable doubt as to this particular offense, you still cannot convict the defendant upon the testimony of Tamar Hodel, who would be, under the circumstances, if they were true, an accomplice, and you cannot convict any person upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice.
You are further instructed that the witness Corrine Tarin, because of her conduct, would also be an accomplice, and one accomplice cannot corroborate another, and the same rule applies to the testimony of Fred Sexton.
In his next summary argument, Neeb told the jury:
According to the testimony in this case, the witness Fred Sexton has by his testimony admitted that he attempted to have intercourse with Tamar Hodel, who is under the age of eighteen years, and as a result the witness Fred Sexton could be charged with an attempted rape, a felony, and you may consider, in determining the weight and credibility to be given to the witness Fred Sexton, the question of whether he has been arrested or charged with an attempted rape as it may bear upon the question of his state of mind while testifying, or any hope which he may have of immunity from prosecution as a result of his testifying for the prosecution and against the defendant in this case.
And finally:
You are instructed that if a person aids and abets and encourages another person in the commission of any offense, the person who aids, abets or encourages may be guilty of the same offense of the person who actually commits the act and in this regard you may consider the question of whether or not the witness Corrine Tarin would or would not be in a position of one who was aiding, abetting or encouraging the witness Fred Sexton in an attempted rape, a felony, upon Timar Hodel, and if said Corrine Tarin is found by you to be in such a position, you are instructed that she would then be an accomplice of the said Fred Sexton, and as such could be subject to prosecution as a principal in the offense of attempted rape, a felony; and you may consider this together with the fact that the said Corrine Tarin has not been arrested or charged as an accomplice with the said Fred Sexton in the commission of an attempted rape as such situation may bear upon her credibility and her state of mind while testifying, and any hope of immunity from prosecution that she may have as a result of her testifying for the prosecution in this case.
Neeb's defense was powerful, instructing the jury that because Tamar Hodel was a partner in the crimes his client was being charged with, the jury couldn't use Tamar's testimony without other corroborating evidence. Therefore, the jury, by law, had to disregard Tamar's testimony. Neeb also argued that the jury should not convict Dr. Hodel on the testimony of either Fred Sexton or Corrine Tarin, because they were both admitted accomplices to felony sex offenses, and both had presumably made deals with the police to tell them what they wanted to hear in exchange for not being charged with crimes and not going to prison.
In his closing argument to the jury, defense attorney Robert Neeb hammered at the fact that Tamar, a "psychopathic liar," should never have been allowed to testily. "She should be in a hospital under treatment as a psychopath," he declared, reminding the panel of eight women and four men of the long parade of defense witnesses who had testified to Tamar's inability to tell the truth.
After final instructions by Superior Judge Thomas L. Ambrose, the case was given to the jury late in the afternoon of December 24, 1949. After less than four hours of deliberation, the jury returned an acquittal verdict on both felony counts. The morning Mirror headline read, "Jury Declares Dr. Hodel Innocent of Sex Charges," and continued:
The prominent Hollywood doctor wept when the jury announced its verdict. . .
Tamar, whose lurid account of a lustful predawn sex circus in her father's bedroom brought the scandal, was not present. She is in Juvenile Hall . . .
In his closing arguments, Neeb pleaded that Tamar be given psychiatric treatment. It was not learned immediately what disposition would be made of the girl.