Chapter 20 - The verdict
Delphine’s criminal trial lasted four days.
The prosecution showed:
Original reimbursement authorization carrying my genuine digital signature.
Equity memorandum containing the same signature image.
Metadata showing creation after the signed authorization.
Gavin’s testimony that he believed I had acknowledged equity.
Private mediator’s note:
Wife presents husband-signed acknowledgment of 18.5% participation.
Defense argued:
The document was an internal negotiating summary.
Signature indicated approval of expenses, not conveyance.
No title office received it.
No bank relied on it.
No property changed hands.
The jury convicted her of:
Knowingly using a false signature representation in a material financial document.
They acquitted the broader attempted property-fraud count because prosecutors did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that she had taken a sufficiently concrete step toward obtaining title or a specific fraudulent settlement.
Mixed verdict.
Appropriate.
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The house remained mine because it had always been mine.
The criminal case did not “give it back.”
