Chapter 36 - using julian as a witness divided the justice center
The objection came from survivors.
Not defense lawyers.
That made it harder.
A Blue Mercy survivor stood during the Justice Center public meeting.
“You’re giving Julian Blackwell a platform.”
“No.”
I answered too quickly.
She looked furious.
“He will testify.”
“Yes.”
“That is a platform.”
Fair.
Another survivor said:
“He helped build the family power that hurt us.”
Also fair.
Daniel sat in the back.
Ruth beside him.
Claire watched from the side wall.
Rachel had warned me this meeting would be ugly.
She underestimated it.
A man whose father lost property through the old network said:
“So because Blackwell knows the code, Blackwell becomes useful again?”
I understood the disgust.
The empire had made itself indispensable by controlling information.
Now one of its heirs again possessed information others needed.
That looked awful.
The question was whether looking awful made it wrong.
I answered carefully.
“Julian does not control the documents.”
“He does not control the investigation.”
“He does not control how his testimony is used.”
“He is one witness.”
The Blue Mercy survivor asked:
“Does he get credit?”
“No institutional rehabilitation statement.”
“No honor.”
“No advisory role.”
“No Justice Center position.”
“Then why him?”
“Because he can authenticate evidence.”
Silence.
Then Ruth stood.
My mother rarely used meetings for speeches.
That made everyone listen.
“A witness is not a prize.”
She said.
“A guilty person can still know something true.”
“And a harmed person can still dislike hearing it from him.”
Both.
Again.
The board eventually approved limited use of Julian’s testimony under independent evidentiary review.
Three members voted no.
I was grateful for the no votes.
Healthy systems should preserve disagreement.
Afterward, Julian’s attorney sent one message.
He understands the conditions.
Nothing else.
I realized how strange progress can look.
Ten years earlier Julian ordered me to protect his family from embarrassment.
Now he was permitted to speak only within boundaries set partly by people his family harmed.
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That was not humiliation.
It was accountability.
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