Chapter 24 - MY TESTIMONY ABOUT LILAI still testified at the plea/sentencing phase and in pretrial evidentiary proceedings.
Madsen asked me:
“Officer Reeve, did you ask Lila whether Uncle Shane was present?”
“Yes.”
“That was before a formal forensic interview.”
“Yes.”
“You understand leading questions can influence a child?”
“Yes.”
“So you contaminated the child witness.”
“I asked one question I should not have asked.”
He paused.
Good lawyers appreciate precise concessions.
“Is that a yes?”
“It is a yes that my question created a potential influence regarding Shane’s presence. Lila’s statements that her father was under the floor and talked to her occurred before I named Shane.”
He tried again.
I did not overclaim.
That mattered.
The court treated Lila’s spontaneous floor statements differently from later identity details.
As it should.
I left the courthouse embarrassed by my mistake but relieved we had not hidden it.
May you like
Policing does not become trustworthy because officers never err.
It becomes more trustworthy when errors are preserved instead of edited away.
