“You clothed her?”
“Well, no.”
“Took her on vacation?”
“That wouldn’t have been our place?—”
“You sent her home with food or to school with snacks.”
“We were not her parents.”
“No, you weren’t. You were doing your bit for charity.” Before she can protest, he moves on. “Did you report her mother to CPS?”
“No.”
“Why not? You knew Sorrow was living with an alcoholic. She was always hungry and needed help with her homework, so why not report it?”
“I…I’m not sure. You hear so many horror stories about foster care.”
“And she wasn’t your child. Got it. Alright, let’s move on to when she was dating Alec. You said she changed. After listening to the doctor’s report, do you agree that a change in Miss Wells’s behavior might be down to the abuse she was receiving?”
“My son never touched her,” she snaps, letting her facade crack for a moment.
“I was referring to her home life, but it’s interesting that’s where your thoughts went. The doctor testified that Sorrow’s injuries the night of the crash were consistent with being beaten, not from being in a car accident.”
“Well, it’s no secret her mother hit her.”
“But again, you didn’t call CPS. You said Alec went out with friends that night,” he continues before she can get her bearings.
“Yes,” she grunts.
“And he was drinking. His friends attested to that.”
“He was at a party, and he was stressed over his relationship. All teenagers drink.”
“And then he drove over to Miss Wells’s residence. Imagine if he had hit someone and killed them. All teenagers drink, right? Only Alec was eighteen, so he definitely would have been tried as an adult.”
“He’s dead. It doesn’t matter now.”
“Actually, it does.” He pulls out a file and holds it up for the judge to see.
“See exhibit 16, already entered into evidence. This is Miss Wells’s medical file for that night, as you saw yesterday. The list of injuries was vast, and as you can see, this states that no alcohol was detected in Miss Wells’s bloodstream. Turn to the next page, marked 17, please.”
I tip up Sorrow’s head so I can see her face and get a read on her. “You okay?” I mutter just loud enough for her to hear.
She nods before resting her head on my shoulder. I turn back to the front of the court as Mr. Knowles continues.
“This is the copy of the medical report for the night of the accident that was used in Miss Wells’s trial. As you can see, the blood sample result differs, showing that she was well over the limit. It’s also worth noting that the wordsmiscarriageandbabyhave been removed from this report, as have the types of bruising that would have raised red flags. Can you tell me why this report is different?”
“No. I’m not a doctor or a police officer. I’m guessing a second doctor wasn’t happy with the findings of the first report.”
“No. The signature at the bottom is Dr. Gray’s. It’s a forgery, and not a very good one. We had Dr. Gray confirm it.”
“I know nothing about that.”
“No? So, you didn’t make a sizable donation to the hospital the next day?”
“I was thanking them for the care they gave my son.”
