Her Catalyst: Part 25 of 25

In Part 25, Rebeka finds it hard to accept that she has an online site to display her drawings, but a gallery? Angelisa goes on an archeology field trip, but is disappointed. Later research reveals a clue which leads to another clue on another trip. A low technology search used on a third trip leads to a hunt for treasure.

A peek inside:

When it’s her turn, the prosecuting attorney asks the defendant, “From your own testimony, you admit that you struck my client, so why didn’t you plead guilty?”

“I didn’t hit her, I patted her fanny.”

“I’m not referring to how hard you hit her, the law regarding assault and battery concerns itself with one person striking another person without their consent. The force of how hard one person hits another person is taken into consideration when the punishment is determined, but the mere fact that you hit my client without her consent, regardless of hard you did so, makes you guilty of assault and battery.” She lets him think about that before she asks, “Next question, did my client know you were going to hit her?”

“No.”

“So, not only did she not give you permission to hit her, she didn’t even know you were going to hit her so she could either avoid being hit or defend herself from being hit.”

“She nearly killed me.”

“She was merely trying to defend herself. If she didn’t know you were going to hit her in the first place how could she know you weren’t going to hit her again or multiple times after that? . . . My client’s actions after you hit her . . . she acted within her rights of defending herself from further attack . . . Now that we’ve rather clearly determined that you are indeed guilty of assault and battery, let’s consider the motivation. Why did you ‘pat her fanny’ to use your own terminology?”

As he realizes where this is going, the defense attorney speaks up, “Objection! The prosecutor is trying to lead my client past what he is charged with.”

The judge barely pauses before he rules, “Denied. Criminal law concerns itself with the motivation as well as the criminal act itself. Continue, counselor.”

“Thank you, your honor.” She turns back to the defendant, “Back to the question, why did you ‘pat her fanny’?”

He hesitates before he answers, “Why does any man pat a woman’s fanny?”

“I don’t know since I’m not a man. Please, enlighten the court.”

When he hesitates longer, the judge reminds him, “You were asked a question and you’re under oath to tell the truth.”

The defendant sighs, hesitates, then responds, “A man pats a woman’s fanny when he’s expressing his approval of her beauty.”

“You mean you can’t go up to a beautiful woman, introduce yourself, and tell her she’s beautiful. Instead, you come up behind her and hit her?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but that is what you said, at least in regards to my client. You admitted you hit her and that you did it from behind when she was unaware. Now, can you please answer the question, why did you hit my client?”

The defendant hesitates before he answers, “I thought she was attractive.”

“Just to be clear about what you mean by attractive, did you think she was attractive like a flower, or like a picture of a sunset over the ocean, or in a sexual manner.”

His voice is barely above a whisper when he finally answers, “The last one.”

“So, to summarize, you thought my client was sexually attractive so you went over to her and without her consent or even awareness, you hit her. You didn’t hit her arm or her leg or her head or her back, but you hit her on the buttocks which is about as close as you could get to her sexual organs from where you were standing. Since you didn’t bother to make her aware of your presence, much less your attentions yet you touched her so intimately, it seems to me rather clear what your real intent was.”

He stares then blurts out, “I wasn’t going to rape her!”

“Then why did you touch her intimately without her consent? . . .”