Chapter 23 - Ella’s Testimony
Ella testified for two days.
She explained the photograph in the attic.
Her meetings with Ross.
The phone call.
Amanda’s file.
The assault.
The defense attorney tried to portray her smile after the shove as proof she engineered the incident.
“You wanted your father to strike you.”
“No.”
“You expected it.”
“I prepared for the possibility.”
“You used your family’s private pain to create a public spectacle.”
Ella looked toward Charles.
“He created the spectacle when he put his hand on me.”
The attorney asked whether she hated her father.
Ella paused.
“I hated what fear made our family call normal.”
“Is that a yes?”
“No. It is the truth.”
The attorney displayed photographs of Charles receiving commendations.
Saving an officer during a shooting.
Raising charity money.
Mentoring recruits.
Ella did not deny any of it.
“A person can do good things and still commit terrible crimes.”
That sentence stayed with the jury.
May you like
The defense wanted a hero or monster.
Ella gave them a man who chose corruption repeatedly and used past good deeds as protection.
