Chapter 22 - The criminal question
Police and prosecutors reviewed the sidewalk.
Daniel’s foot on my hand.
Failure to render aid.
Statements.
Could they prove a serious elder-abuse felony?
Not cleanly.
Daniel had not been my caregiver.
No legal duty equivalent to certain custodial relationships.
Bystander duties are limited.
The intentional foot contact supported a low-level assault or battery theory.
His counsel negotiated.
Daniel accepted a misdemeanor battery-related resolution tied to the hand contact.
Fine.
Community service.
Behavioral program.
No jail.
People online were furious.
“Billionaire buys justice.”
Maybe privilege helped in ways hard to measure.
But the documented physical injury to my hand had been minor.
I refused to demand a homicide-style sentence for conduct the evidence did not support.
Marcus was not charged merely for leaving.
Morally terrible.
Legally different.
I wanted systems to remain accurate even when accuracy frustrated me.
Daniel hated the conviction anyway.
May you like
Good.
Consequences need not be enormous to be real.
