Chapter 13 - CHAD’S CHILD-ABUSE TRIAL
The prosecution did not show every video.
Good.
Leo did not testify live unless necessary.
His forensic interview was admitted in limited form under child-witness rules after judicial findings.
Connor? no Connor in this story. Evidence came from home cloud, emergency phone, and medical findings.
The bat incident dominated.
Video from a smart speaker? We had phone audio and doorbell partial. The emergency phone recorded encrypted audio after activation.
Chad:
“Cry louder. Maybe your dad can hear you from heaven.”
Leo:
“My dad told me to call this number if I was scared.”
Glass breaking.
Then my entrance.
Put the bat down.
Family business.
My punch.
The prosecution did not claim Chad struck Leo with full bat swings.
Leo said he did not.
They argued earlier “tapping” discipline with a bat caused bruises.
Medical expert said bruise pattern was consistent with blunt impacts but not uniquely identifiable.
The discipline log supported.
Standing drill.
Correction taps.
Cold shower.
Food hold.
Chad testified.
He called them structure.
“Did you strike Leo’s leg with a baseball bat?”
“I tapped him.”
“How hard?”
“Not hard.”
“Hard enough to leave bruises?”
“I don’t know where those came from.”
“Your log says ‘three correction taps left calf.’”
Chad looked at his attorney.
No escape.
He claimed Leo was manipulative.
The prosecutor played full video.
Chad provoking.
Then edited clip he submitted.
Created behavior.
He denied intent to deceive clinicians.
“I was showing the behavior.”
“Without showing what you did first.”
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
The jury could decide.
I testified about the final incident.
Chad’s attorney attacked my punch.
“You hit my client before he swung.”
“Yes.”
“You are trained in combat.”
“Yes.”
“You could have disarmed him.”
“Maybe.”
“You chose a punch.”
“I chose the fastest action I believed would stop the threat.”
No bravado.
No apology for that moment.
Then:
“You wanted to hurt him.”
“Yes.”
That was true too.
Intent can coexist with defense.
The jury convicted Chad of child endangerment, unlawful corporal punishment/assault counts tied to documented bat taps, menacing/reckless endangerment from the shattered table incident, and evidence manipulation related to behavioral submissions.
They acquitted one aggravated assault count because no serious bodily injury was proved from earlier discipline.
No attempted murder.
May you like
No fantasy.
He remained facing separate financial and trade-secret cases.
