Chapter 23 - Verdict
The jury deliberated eight hours.
Felony forgery related to altered caregiver/travel documents:
Guilty.
A separate identity/fraud count based on fake parent email:
Guilty as misdemeanor under charged statute.
Attempted custodial interference:
Not guilty.
The state had not proven beyond reasonable doubt that Marjorie intended to unlawfully deprive me of custody for the statutory period/degree required, given she planned a temporary term with a known relative and expected eventual parental involvement.
Fair.
Misdemeanor child endangerment/cruel discipline:
Guilty on the count tied to punitive sleeping arrangement and repeated compelled cleaning that caused minor physical irritation and emotional distress.
No kidnapping conviction.
No trafficking.
No wild sentence.
At sentencing, mitigating:
Sixty-five.
No record.
Child physically safe from travel because stopped.
No completed removal.
Strong family/community history.
Aggravating:
Planning.
Forgery.
Child vulnerability.
Use of grief/attachment.
Then Marjorie spoke.
“I thought I was the only adult willing to make hard decisions.”
She looked at me.
“I see now that I defined ‘hard’ as ‘the decision Fletcher would refuse.’”
Good.
Then:
“I thought if Ione became easier, Fletcher would become less exhausted.”
Her voice broke.
“I made her responsible for his exhaustion.”
There.
Then:
“I treated her bedroom, comfort, and home as rewards.”
She cried.
“They are not.”
Sentence:
Four months county custody, with two suspended and eligibility for home confinement after a short custodial period, depending jurisdiction.
Two years probation.
No unsupervised contact with Ione.
No access to her passport, school, medical, or travel records.
No acting under any caregiver authority.
Parenting/grandparent education.
Community service.
The judge emphasized:
The case was not about whether England or Bathbridge were good.
It was about taking parental authority through forged documents and coercing a child to accept removal.
Marjorie served approximately thirty days in custody, then home confinement/work-like release? Retired. Home confinement for remainder.
No life-destroying prison.
May you like
Consequences.
Narrow.
