Chapter 15 - PATRICIA’S COUNTERSTORY GROWSBy the second month, Patricia’s defense became more sophisticated.
She no longer said nothing physical happened.
The audio made that impossible.
She said I moved toward her aggressively.
She raised her hand.
Contact occurred.
I lost my balance.
No deliberate slap.
Her attorney also emphasized that I had undergone significant blood loss during delivery.
True.
My hemoglobin was low.
I had experienced dizziness once the morning after Lily’s birth.
True.
Could I have stumbled?
Yes.
Had I told a nurse I felt dizzy that morning?
Yes.
This was not irrelevant.
The prosecution needed more than my certainty.
The audio helped.
The cheek injury helped.
Nurses helped.
But no camera captured palm hitting face.
Then another witness emerged.
Not a dramatic hidden witness.
A patient across the hall.
Her name was Linda Watkins.
Fifty-eight.
Recovering from abdominal surgery.
Her door had been open because the room was hot.
She heard Patricia and me arguing.
She could not see the entire room.
But she could see part of my doorway reflected in the glass of a framed hallway print.
She heard me say:
“Leave.”
Then saw what she described as Patricia’s arm “snap sideways.”
Then heard the impact.
Then the baby.
Could she positively identify a slap?
No.
She was honest.
May you like
“I saw an arm move. Then heard a smack.”
That was much stronger because she did not exaggerate.
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