Act Four/Scene Two to A Complex Apology:  A Dilemma of Conscience

SCENE TWO:     Her bail was a cool one million dollars.  For the sake of her daughters, and because everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and especially because we all knew for sure we’d get our money back, we quickly raised the one million.  We had faith that she wouldn’t skip town and forfeit bail, not just because we had known Joy for so long and knew she wasn’t going to run from her family, but also because we had faith in Fred that he and the girls would be staying put.  His word was good enough for us that things were going to work-out.  Later on I heard we set a record for the fastest time in the history of American jurisprudence for raising that much cash, and also learned that much of the million came from other doctors who knew Fred.

Joy pleaded Not Guilty, and per basic lawyering, kept mum.  For the next year all we learned came from the papers, and those of us on the block marveled at how well the family was handling things.  The girls stayed in school; still kept getting good grades; their friends stayed friends.  The elected politician on our block agreed to appear at her bail hearing as a character witness and made a public statement that he believed in the American justice system, that someone is innocent until proven guilty, that Joy was a long-time friend, that he could under oath tell a judge that Joy was not a flight risk, and that he was sticking by his friend.  The press had a field day speculating this would be the end of the politician’s career, and fellow legislators attacked him for supporting long lost causes, but, in the next parade he was in,

the streets were lined with supporters who said they appreciated how he put friendship above politics.  And that’s kind of the way it was in The Doc’s house too:  This is our mom; we’re going to let the legal system work things out; we’re standing by our mom; we talk to her every day; we hope she gets home as quick as she can.

And that’s how the dilemma of conscience intensified for this one East Como Boulevarder.  Joy was now faced with publicly declaring, even to her daughters, her guilt or innocence, whether what she did was wrong or right, justifiable or not.  She maintained her innocence (at least publicly) up to the time of trial, but the evidence against her was overwhelming.  In the end she agreed to go straight to a sentencing hearing, described her judgment as in keeping with the times, and said she understood that it was up to the judge to pass judgment on what the consequences would be for the judgment calls she had made.  A dilemma for the Judge too.

Tomorrow:  Scene Three