Chapter 14 - Decker Faces Two Separate Questions
Months passed.
My shoulder healed slowly.
The investigation separated the central issues.
Was Decker’s use of force legally justified based on what a reasonable
officer could have perceived?
And did he later attempt to falsify, influence, or conceal evidence?
Those questions were not identical.
The second had increasingly direct evidence.
The first required reconstruction, expert review, video analysis,
statements, and applicable law.
I learned patience.
Not because patience felt fair.
Because accuracy mattered more.
Decker faced formal consequences through multiple processes.
Some findings became public.
Other proceedings remained pending.
I refused invitations to declare victory before everything concluded.
My life was not a television ending.
Neither was accountability.
But one thing was no longer disputable.
The original story broadcast over Decker’s radio—
May you like
Suspect reached for a weapon—
had not survived contact with the evidence.
