Chapter 10 - I Finally Give My Statement
Three days after surgery, I gave my statement.
My attorney sat beside me.
So did no one from my chain of command.
That was deliberate.
I wanted my memory documented without an audience of people who depended
on me professionally.
I described the stop.
My hands.
My announcement about the wallet.
Decker’s contradictory commands.
The shot.
Then the click.
Investigators asked whether I had moved.
“Yes.”
I told the truth.
“I began lowering my right hand after explaining where my identification
was.”
“Quickly?”
“No.”
“Could Officer Decker have perceived a threat?”
“I can’t tell you what was inside his mind.”
That answer surprised them.
I continued.
“I can tell you what I did.”
That distinction had guided me in combat.
Facts first.
Intent second.
I had spent eighteen months making decisions where assumptions could
kill people.
May you like
Now I refused to manufacture certainty simply because I was the one in
the hospital bed.
