Chapter 4

4: 4

Because of the follow-up evidence Loretta supplied, and because I couldn't give a reasonable explanation for why I ran that day, I was detained.

Loretta filed suit. If I couldn't clear my own name in the time I had, I would face the full weight of the law.

My mother was out there the whole time, running from one door to the next for me.

She hired lawyers, leaned on friends, begged Milton. But against evidence this solid, she was close to despair.

"Les, Mom doesn't believe you'd ever do something like this. Don't worry. I will get you out."

When she came to see me, she looked years older.

Now she was the only person who believed I was innocent.

My mother was working every angle to save me. Milton was working every angle too.

He already had his own law firm, and a big name in the field.

Faced with his daughter being sexually assaulted, he didn't try to keep it quiet. He deliberately made it as loud as he could.

He forced the university to issue a public notice and to punish me before the case had even been tried.

Something like this would be a scandal at any university.

The school wanted it handled privately. Expel me, hand Loretta a graduate school recommendation, and pay out part of the settlement.

Milton refused. He wanted an apology and a public statement from the school.

Under the pressure, the school had no choice but to announce it and go through with my expulsion.

My university was one of the top schools in the country, so a scandal like this shot straight to the top of the trending lists.

And everyone connected to it trended right along with it.

Nephew, daughter—that relationship made the whole thing spread even faster, and for a while it sat at number one.

Milton, already a controversial celebrity lawyer, drew intense attention all over again.

Putting justice above family was one of his halos. This time it shone brighter than ever.

More and more people started following the case, and on the day of my trial, every seat in the gallery was full.

Milton had petitioned for the trial to be open, saying he wanted women everywhere to learn how to protect their own rights.

The hearing was public, and set up with a live online stream.

Just like my father twenty years before, I stood in the defendant's box.

And my own uncle wasn't just family to the plaintiff this time. He was arguing her case.

The trial began. Milton presented his evidence piece by piece, and the judge called the witnesses.

Everything was stacked against me.

The police had turned in their findings too, confirming there was no family tie between the eyewitness and Milton, and no financial dealings either.

There was also no prior conflict between the eyewitness and me.

"Defendant, this is your time to present a defense."

The judge looked at me.

I hadn't hired a lawyer. I was defending myself.

"Mom." I glanced at her.

My mother stood and submitted a video to the court as evidence.

I requested that it be played then and there.

The court verified the contents first, and only then played it in open session.

The spot where it supposedly happened, the one Loretta said had no cameras—it turned out there were cameras after all.