Echoes of Resilience

28

Taylor and Jacobs sat in the precinct watching Meredith's press conference, both blown away by her statement. The underlying anger in her voice cut them both to the core. Once Meredith finished and walked away, they listened to her lawyer answer the media's questions, the most popular being why the charges in her case were being dropped if there was evidence that he was guilty.

"Meredith was told that her captor took a deal, meaning there would not be a trial. After the incident with the FBI agent she was told that the only options were to take him to trial, where Meredith would have to testify, or to drop the charges and solely prosecute him on the murder of the Seattle Grace scrub nurse. It has already been alleged by the defense that Meredith was in cahoots with the FBI agent and faked her kidnapping to further the agent's agenda to frame him for her sister's murder. Although he did confess upon being arrested, Meredith understands that everything that happened since then could overshadow his confession and she could be retraumatized just for the jury to find him not guilty. She decided that it was important to bring attention to the issue of police misconduct and in response to her lawsuit the prosecutor found her to be a liability and decided to drop the charges. Personally I feel that the evidence speaks for itself and they could get a conviction without her testimony, but they were unwilling to pursue the case without her." Courtney explained to the press.

"Do you think that the justice system puts too much pressure on living victims?"

"Absolutely. If you can convict someone of murder without victim testimony based on DNA and other evidence then I do not see why you cannot do the same with a kidnapping victim. In Meredith's case there is plenty of evidence that a crime was committed, evidence that negates any theory that she consented to the time she was kept in captivity. I understand that a jury hearing from the victim can help them weigh the facts of the case, but is it worth the trauma?"

"What missteps do you think the police took that are the most prominent in this case?"

"I believe the catalyst to the mess that was created was not testing the bloody rope. Even if they had no reason to believe that Meredith wasn't her captor's first victim, it is police protocol to test every piece of evidence that they come across. Had they tested the rope when they found it they would have known that he had other victims and may have found out that he had a partner in the past before his partner managed to smuggle a phone into the jail."

"How would knowing about a partner have changed things?"

"For one, if they were aware that he hadn't worked alone in the past then they could have made sure that the jail was following protocol and checking ID's just in case the partner visited him. Had they done that, the phone would not have been smuggled in which would have saved Meredith extra trauma. Also they could have got the partner before he went and murdered someone else."

"How did the FBI get involved in this case?"

"The FBI were called in by the assigned officers in hopes that if they took the case and threatened the death penalty, Meredith's captor would agree to a deal and give up his partner to save his own life. This may have worked had they called in the FBI sooner, but by the time they placed the call this individual had already murdered someone else. Had that rope been tested and they alerted the jail of a potential partner, there is a good chance that they would have caught the partner and they never would have called in the FBI. Had the FBI not been called in and the agent not gone rogue, we wouldn't be where we are today. It all goes back to the rope."

"She's right you know, had you tested that damn rope this entire case probably would have played out very differently." Taylor and Jacobs' commanding officer said as he walked into the precinct. "The two of you told me that you sent the rope for testing right away, but that the lab was backed up. So you lied because you knew you were in the wrong?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.