Chapter 16 - LAUREL’S MISTAKE
Laurel made one mistake that Cole’s defense later used.
Three weeks after Poppy came home, Laurel entered the marital house under a court-approved schedule to collect clothing and personal records.
Cole was not present.
A neutral monitor waited downstairs.
In the study, Laurel saw a locked desk drawer.
She knew the key location.
She opened it.
Inside:
Printed copies of the interference ledger.
Draft family-court declaration.
Reimbursement correspondence.
She photographed everything.
The order allowed collection of her property.
Not search of Cole’s private files.
She realized within minutes.
Called her lawyer.
Disclosed.
The photographs were quarantined.
Some material potentially privileged.
A neutral review excluded what could not properly be used.
Other documents were later obtained independently through discovery or from third parties.
Still, Cole’s lawyer had the point.
Laurel crossed a boundary because she feared evidence would disappear.
At trial she admitted it.
No equivalence.
May you like
Her improper search did not cause Cole’s act.
But credibility belongs to people who tell the truth about themselves too.
