The London Paradigm (book 4 of Adopted by the Josephs)

52. Tyler

Tyler Joseph's Daughter's Courtroom Outburst

COLUMBUS - The custody trial to determine whether Tyler Joseph's adopted daughter will remain in his and his wife's custody, or be forced to move to a foreign country with an uncle she's only known for a year, and only mostly long-distance, started today in a Columbus courthouse.

Both lawyers were given the opportunity to state their cases. While the lawyer for Mark Solman was stating their case, Samantha Joseph, 15, burst out that the lawyer was lying, prompting a warning from the judge.

Her family's lawyer, Tyler and his wife Jenna calmed the teen down.

After the recess, Jenna, their friend Brendon Urie, who had accompanied the family for support, will be testifying later this week and an unidentified male left the courthouse with Samantha.

Only Tyler remained in the courtroom for the remainder of the session.
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Samantha returned to school the next day while the rest of us went to the courthouse. Jenna and I were slated to testify on the first day. I went first.

"Mr. Joseph," Greyson started. "How did you come to be acquainted with Samantha?"

I told the story about how she appeared in our back yard, setting off the motion lights in the back, Jenna asking me to go check and finding Samantha frozen like a deer in the headlights in a spotlight.

"What did Samantha say to you, as you approached her?"

"Nothing," I said. "I said to her that she should come inside, out of the rain and we could figure out what to do about the person in the woods screaming obscenities."

"So, what happened when you said that to her?"

"Well, I also mentioned she looked like she was about to pass out. And as I approached her, that's exactly what she did. I was able to catch her before she hit the ground," I said.

"Why did Samantha pass out in your backyard?" Greyson asked.

"I didn't know it at the time, but it was because she is diabetic and she had a low blood sugar."

"Objection!" the other lawyer stood up. "Speculation."

"Your Honor, we have the medical files showing that on the night in question Samantha did indeed have low blood sugar. And Mr. Joseph has already admitted that at the time they did not know that was the reason for their daughter fainting."

"Overruled," the judge said.

"Continue, Mr. Joseph," she said to me.

"How did you come to discover Samantha is diabetic?" Greyson asked,

"Well, she was soaking wet because it was pouring rain that night, so my wife was going to change her into dry clothes, while I gathered some towels and warm blankets to cover her with.  Jenna found her MedicAlert bracelet that said she's a Type 1 Diabetic, and I'll admit we assumed that might be causing an issue. We didn't have the expertise or anything to check that, so we called 911."

"Did you continue to change her then?"

"No. We decided to wrap her in warm blankets and waited for the ambulance."

"When the ambulance arrived, what did you do?"

"Jenna and I told them what we could, and then I went with her in the ambulance and Jenna followed in our car and met us at the hospital."

"You weren't family. How did you get in with her?"

"I claimed to be her uncle. I didn't want her to wake up alone and scared, especially in light of the person yelling on the other side of my fence line."

"And they allowed you to stay?"

"They did. We made sure to stay out of their way, and we were able to give them some information as to what we'd done at home. They knew Samantha from previous visits and eventually, her father showed up in the emergency room and started threatening the staff.  By this point, the police had arrived because of our 911 call, and social workers came, as well."

"What did the police do when they arrived?"

"They arrested Stanley for uttering threats, and we had spoken with Samantha, who had woken up by this time.  She was terrified when she heard her father in the lobby."

"Whose idea was it to offer to foster Samantha?"

"We both sort of agreed without even discussing it?"

"Why?"

"It was obvious to us that Samantha needed a safe home. Especially if her father was going to be in jail.  So we offered and were cleared for emergency approval."

The questions more or less went on and on along the same vein, asking about Samantha coming into our lives and what the first few weeks were like.

"Mr. Joseph," Greyson said. "Samantha's father's rights were terminated shortly after she came into your care. Can you tell us why?"

"We found out through Samantha, she told her therapist, that the night her mother was killed, she was the actual target. His rights were terminated almost immediately."

"How come you were able to then adopt Samantha, seeing as we now know she has a blood relative?"

"The police did the most thorough search for relatives they could with the information they had. They couldn't find anything on Samantha's mom. No marriage certificate, no Social Security card, nothing. She didn't have bank accounts or credit cards. It's almost as if she didn't exist."

This went on along this vein, too.

Finally, it was Mark's lawyer's turn.

"Mr. Joseph, when Samantha appeared in your backyard, why didn't you simply return her to her father?"

"She was unconscious. How was I supposed to find out where she lived?"

"Did you look for any ID?"

"Do you know many thirteen-year-olds who carry ID?"

"Your Honor, permission to treat Mr. Joseph as a hostile witness."

"This isn't a criminal trial, so your request is denied."

She continued asking ridiculous questions and trying, unsurprisingly, to equate Samantha running away to the abuse that caused her to run into our yard.

I stayed calm on the outside as I seethes on the inside.

"Mr. Joseph," the lawyer asked. "Why do you want Samantha?"

"What kind of a question is that? She's my daughter. We adopted her because we love her. She needed a safe and stable home and we can give that to her. We have given that to her. She's a completely different person than the girl who appeared in our yard two years ago. We've watched and helped her grow confident and strong. She plays basketball. She's a class leader at school. Well, she was in middle school. She's a good kid and we love her."