Chapter 19 - The criminal case
Derek faced charges related to unlawful restraint or confinement, domestic assault, and related conduct.
The precise charging language changed before resolution.
No attempted murder.
No abduction-for-ransom fantasy.
No child-endangerment count for leaving the children upstairs because he had not physically placed them there.
The prosecution did consider the risk created by knowingly isolating their mother from them.
Different issue.
Derek’s attorney challenged:
The padlock link.
The camera quality.
The financial motive.
My angry text.
My decision to go downstairs.
All fair subjects.
Then Derek changed strategy.
He entered plea negotiations.
Not immediate confession.
Months of evidence review first.
Eventually he accepted responsibility for a serious restraint-related offense and a domestic-violence assault count tied to the physical grab and confinement.
He received a custodial sentence shorter than the statutory maximum, followed by supervision and intervention programming.
May you like
Not decades.
Enough that the event could not be dismissed as a marital misunderstanding.
