Chapter 16 - WALTER’S TRIAL
Walter went first.
Simple case.
The prosecutor did not drag Northstar into it.
Correct.
Issue:
Did Walter unlawfully strike me?
Video:
I carry Louisa.
He blocks.
Words.
He slaps.
I stumble.
Then I retaliate.
His defense:
He believed I was about to attack Lydia.
Video showed my body turned away.
Weak.
He testified.
“I wanted her to lower her voice.”
Prosecutor:
“Did you slap adults who raised their voices in your business meetings?”
“No.”
“Why Joanna?”
“She was in my home.”
There.
Authority.
Again.
Verdict:
Guilty misdemeanor assault.
No broader child-abuse conviction because evidence did not show he participated in shaving or binding before I arrived.
Correct.
Sentencing considered:
Age.
No significant record.
Video.
Immediate context.
His refusal to accept responsibility.
He received probation, brief custody? Could be suspended jail, probation, anger management, no contact.
No need huge prison for slap.
His family-governance role separately ended because Adam proxy invalidated and audit conflicts.
Not criminal punishment.
Walter spoke at sentencing:
“I should not have struck Joanna.”
Then:
“But she assaulted me worse.”
Judge:
“Her conduct is handled in her case. Yours is handled here.”
Perfect.
Separate.
He looked at me.
No apology.
Fine.
My own diversion completion remained.
No moral competition.
Afterward Walter filed no more family-court petition.
Maybe lawyer convinced.
Maybe fatigue.
Lydia’s plea followed.
She admitted:
Providing clippers to Heather.
Knowing Heather intended a punitive haircut.
Tying Louisa outside.
Leaving her barefoot in unsafe cold.
Ignoring distress.
She also testified Heather told her bracelet found in Louisa’s bag.
No knowledge planted.
Sentence postponed until after Heather trial.
She requested permission to send Louisa an apology drawing? No.
I said no direct contact.
She accepted.
That mattered.
Then the Northstar fresh vote occurred.
Independent trustees approved.
Employee protections included.
Sale to close after final audit settlement.
No family side fees.
The deal everyone nearly destroyed for control moved forward cleanly.
I felt no triumph.
Adam’s memo said he was not opposed to sale.
Maybe he would have approved.
Maybe not.
We could not ask.
The living made the decision.
Heather’s trial approached.
Pretrial motions decided:
Hidden-camera video admissible visually.
Audio portions limited based on state law and expectation/privacy. But her phone call in guest room perhaps captured; could be contested. We can rely on her own phone records/messages and video, not illicit audio.
Heather’s phone recordings and texts admissible where authenticated.
Child forensic interview admitted under protective child-hearsay rules subject local law, minimizing need for Louisa live.
Louisa would not sit before Heather in court if avoidable.
Good.
Then defense announced theory:
Heather planted bracelet as an “ill-conceived behavioral test,” but the haircut was impulsive anger, not part of any financial scheme.
The prosecutor would need to connect:
Key.
Schedule.
Deferral.
Frame.
Hair.
Phone.
It had evidence.
The strongest piece was not financial.
It was a three-year-old’s sentence recorded before anyone knew about Schedule N:
“Aunt Heather said tell where Daddy’s key is.”
Children can be unreliable.
May you like
But corroboration existed.
Everything converged.
