Chapter 24 - I TESTIFY AND GIVE ADRIAN MY MISTAKE
My testimony lasted nearly four hours.
The prosecutor asked about arriving.
Lucia’s statement.
Phone.
Slap.
I admitted everything.
Then defense.
“Mr. Morelli, you are a feared man, correct?”
“My reputation is not a medical test.”
The judge told me to answer directly.
Fair.
“Yes.”
“Have your family businesses had conflicts with the Costas?”
“Yes.”
“Did you oppose a major transaction Victor Costa supported?”
“Yes.”
“After Adrian’s arrest, did you tell a lender Costa Maritime was criminally compromised?”
“Yes.”
“Was that accurate?”
“Not as broadly as I said it.”
“Did you cost the joint project money?”
“Yes.”
“Did you reimburse delay costs?”
“Yes.”
“Because you were retaliating?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Adrian looked at me for the first time all day.
His lawyer asked:
“So you used your economic power to punish the Costa family.”
“For forty-eight hours, yes.”
“And this jury should believe you did not use your power to shape this prosecution?”
“It should not believe me because of my power.”
Then:
“Why should it believe you?”
“It shouldn’t need to.”
The lawyer paused.
I continued.
“The staircase video is his. The blood is hers. The lab is independent. The housekeeper worked for them. The files came from his phone. My bad judgment does not become his innocence.”
The judge instructed me to stop volunteering.
I did.
But the point had landed.
Then:
“You struck Adrian before police determined what happened.”
“Yes.”
“You had already decided he was guilty.”
“Lucia told me he pushed her and I saw the video begin with him behind her.”
“So yes?”
“Yes.”
No heroic father.
No perfect witness.
Just a man who had made one unlawful choice after seeing his injured daughter.
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The jury could separate that from Adrian.
I had finally learned to.
