Chapter 12 - THE CHARGE AGAINST TRAVIS
Travis was charged with misdemeanor domestic assault.
No felony because the injury was limited and the conduct, while serious, was one documented strike without a weapon or severe bodily harm.
The prosecutor also reviewed whether his earlier wrist-grabbing incidents could support a pattern charge.
I had no contemporaneous police reports.
Some texts.
One broken-phone photograph.
Enough for family court context.
Not enough to invent extra counts.
Travis’s lawyer requested a negotiated resolution.
The first offer:
Diversion.
Domestic-violence intervention program.
No unlawful contact.
Restitution for medical care.
No new offense.
Potential dismissal after completion.
I was angry.
“Dismissal?”
My lawyer asked:
“What sentence do you want?”
I did not know.
Prison sounded satisfying for approximately three seconds.
Then absurd for one slap given the jurisdiction and facts.
No consequence sounded worse.
The prosecutor said:
“Diversion is not nothing.”
Correct.
Travis initially refused because program intake required acknowledging he used violence during a marital dispute.
He wanted:
“I reacted improperly.”
May you like
Too soft.
The case continued.
