Chapter 8 - PATRICIA’S FIRST STORYPatricia hired a lawyer before speaking with detectives again.
That was her right.
I did not treat lawyering up as proof of guilt.
My own attorney would later tell me:
“Never criticize someone for getting counsel when you also have counsel.”
Fair.
Through her attorney, Patricia said:
Emily was postpartum.
Emotional.
Exhausted.
They argued.
Emily stood suddenly while holding Lily.
Patricia raised her hand defensively because Emily stepped toward her.
Emily lost balance.
The baby fell.
No intentional slap.
Patricia admitted telling me to call it an accident because she believed it was one.
She denied grabbing my arm in the hallway.
Unfortunately for her, Officer Morales’s body camera captured part of that.
Not the initial grab.
It began as Morales approached.
But the camera recorded me shouting:
“Officer! I want to report an assault on my child.”
Then Patricia moving toward me.
Daniel blocking her.
Then Patricia saying:
“This is insane. She fell.”
Later, the bruise on my cheek was photographed repeatedly over forty-eight hours.
Could a fall create a cheek injury?
Possibly.
But I had not struck my face on anything.
And two nurses remembered the left side of my face being red immediately after they entered the room.
One nurse, Tasha Bennett, also remembered something else.
When she entered, Patricia was not helping me.
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She was standing beside the bed saying:
“Emily, stop screaming.”
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