Chapter 23 - THE FIRST TRIAL VIDEO
Wade’s trial began eleven months after the hospital.
Lucy was five.
The first video shown was not the USB.
Hospital security.
Public corridor.
Nurse.
Steps.
Wade.
Lucy.
His arms.
Throw.
Erin’s catch.
My arrival.
Lucy:
“Daddy... he said he'd hurt Mommy!”
Wade lunging again.
My block and slap.
Wheelchair.
Then:
“Don't cut them! Nothing's in there!”
The nurse cutting.
Object visible.
Me:
“You just confessed.”
No one in the courtroom laughed at the absurdity of the sentence.
The video was too clear.
Wade’s attorney cross-examined Erin.
“Did my client say, ‘There is a USB drive in the boot’?”
“No.”
“Say he hid something?”
“No.”
“So the statement ‘nothing’s in there’ was ambiguous?”
“Yes.”
Good defense.
“Could he have been worried trauma shears would frighten Lucy?”
“He said no one takes the boots off before I used the shears.”
“Could he have been panicking?”
“Yes.”
“Did panic prove he knew of the drive?”
“No.”
Correct.
That was why the state had Claire.
And the home video.
May you like
Evidence builds.
It should.
