Gathering info...

Today was research time, making certain I'm setting up the legal aspects of the story correctly. First note to come up? Since this is set in Ohio, the DA is actually referred to as a Prosecutor. There's an office for the city, one for the county, and sometimes a Misdemeanor office in the middle. Sometimes.

Simon's charge is a 4th degree misdemeanor since he has no criminal history, though it could be the cop who arrested him is trying to bump it up as a 1st degree misdemeanor by claiming it happened within a school's safety zone. And never mind it was at night, long after school was out.

Simon had evidence to show his arrest happened outside the school's safety zone, but the law is written in such a way as to offer flexibility in that for the prosecutors. So that's coming up as a point of contention.

Thing is, if he gets the enhancement removed, then he could lose the right to a trial by jury. It's all so fucking complicated. But I sort of work around this by keeping it at his pov so he's just as confused as anyone about the possibilities.

This also gave me a place to bring out some of Dillon's and Elissa's backgrounds. And lay the groundwork for another case where a young man is accused of the same thing that segues into potential CSA charges but is dropped because his daddy is friends with all the top judicial people in not only that town but the state. This will be something for ReShawn to refer to, later.

So...it's moving forward.

On another note, there's lots of flooding in the Hill Country north and west of San Antonio, but so far none of my family or anyone I know has been directly affected. And in a typical Texas-side step...they're starting to crow that Lake Travis is back up to its proper depth.

Woohoo...