Chapter 12 - BERNICE’S DEFENSE
My mother retained a respected attorney.
Good.
The better the defense, the less anyone could say consequences came from a family ambush.
Her position:
She believed she was acting in Elodie’s best interests.
She did not deny modifying medication.
She argued she misunderstood flexibility in the plan.
She admitted backfilling logs but called it “recordkeeping convenience.”
She denied intentionally delaying medication during true respiratory distress.
She argued Elodie had anxiety and sometimes requested rescue medication when objective signs did not support need.
True sometimes.
Then:
She said Griffin had delegated medical discretion.
Did I?
I had told her:
“You know her.”
“Use judgment.”
“Don’t call me for every cough.”
Those messages existed.
I stared at them in discovery.
My lawyer said:
“They matter.”
“I know.”
Could “use judgment” reasonably mean skip prescribed controller doses?
No.
Could it mean decide whether mild cough needed rescue under action plan?
Maybe.
That nuance mattered.
Then my text:
Mom, if she seems fine, don’t obsess over the app.
Bad.
I had meant:
Don’t let tracking consume the evening.
She interpreted—or later claimed she interpreted—as flexibility.
Again.
No simple world.
Then my mother’s strongest evidence:
One pulmonology note from a year earlier:
Rescue inhaler may be used as needed according to symptoms.
Bernice argued she was assessing need.
But controller medication was different.
Scheduled.
The logs showed she reduced that too.
Harder.
Then notebook:
“Half schedule again.”
No physician authorization.
Then:
“Logged as given because G checks constantly.”
Intent to conceal.
That was the spine.
Then her lawyer offered plea discussions.
No agreement yet.
Prosecutors wanted a felony endangerment count.
Defense wanted misdemeanor neglect.
Trial likely.
Meanwhile family court:
Bernice petitioned for supervised grandparent visitation.
Not custody.
She acknowledged no medication authority.
Asked for one hour weekly with monitor.
My lawyer asked:
“What do you want?”
“No.”
“For now or forever?”
I hated.
“For now.”
Good.
Courts prefer specificity over vows.
Elodie was terrified.
Therapist opposed forced contact.
Judge denied temporary visitation but left future review possible after criminal case and treatment.
No grandparent access by entitlement.
No permanent ban yet.
That uncertainty bothered Bernice.
May you like
It comforted me.
We did not need lifetime decisions in the worst month.
