Chapter 17 - The criminal case begins
Belladonna’s trial began eight months after I came home.
Eira was still four.
No time jump into school years.
The prosecution started with confinement.
Door logs.
Seven nights locked.
Durations:
Between eighteen and forty-six minutes.
Belladonna remained nearby.
Eira had food, though sometimes intentionally poor-quality/burned food.
No dangerous temperatures.
No physical restraint.
Defense:
Time-outs.
Safety drill.
Prosecution:
Locked door inaccessible to four-year-old.
Repeated.
Used to compel obedience through fear.
Then food.
Maria testified:
She prepared fresh meals.
Belladonna told her Eira had eaten or rejected them.
Photos showed stored untouched portions.
Belladonna admitted intentionally substituting burned food after “noncompliance.”
No severe nutritional injury required for conduct to be harmful.
Then threat fabrication.
Harlow testified.
He was hired to perform public exposure assessment.
He did not create threatening captions.
Miles Dane testified Belladonna provided authorization document for package test.
He believed valid.
Digital forensic examiner showed my signature was copied from unrelated authorization.
Then Belladonna’s lawyer emphasized:
No money had yet been paid under Atlas contract.
No Price Haven lease signed.
No guardianship signed.
True.
So completed fraud-loss theories narrowed.
Attempt.
False communications.
May you like
Document misuse.
The jury would have to separate ugly planning from completed crime.
