So we went to trial. It took about six months after the original allegations to schedule it. They went first. They had the child's statements. and her mother's claim that the child was fearful of her father. They had the child protective worker who believed the child. In cross, I pointed out that the child's mother had waited ten days to contact child protective services.

They also put on a tape of the conversation that Jack had with Lisa had after the last visit. This was a clear error on the part of the other attorney. His client claimed that in the background the child could be heard claiming that Jack had hurt her, and if you listened closely you could hear something. In the foreground though was Lisa's conversation with Jack, and that was not good for Lisa. The contempt and anger in Lisa's voice were obvious. Jack was just trying to figure out what was going on. At first he had no explanation for why his daughter had different underwear when she got home, and he thought that maybe she changed them herself. The other attorney tried to suggest that Jack had changed his story in the middle of the conversation to cover up, but her tone of voice was really the key.

So our side went. Jack testified and denied the allegations. He talked about his last visit. Despite his mental retardation, he did good. The fact was that those visits took place at his mother's house, with his mother present. Yes, there were times when he and Mia were alone, but they were very brief. Yes he liked to wrestle with her, and maybe he could have touched her then accidently. He testified that Mia had recently been toilet trained, but she still had accidents, and they kept extra underwear for her.

Jack's mother followed. Yes, Jack was alone with Mia at times, but she explained how after Jack got off the phone with Lisa, she noticed a wet spot on the floor in the bathroom, and a crumpled pair of underwear. Mia hadn't quite made it to the toilet and had gotten the underwear out herself.

The last piece of evidence was records from a speech therapist, who indicated that Mia's language skills were very limited.

So the judge, who I don't particularly like, ruled in our favor, and my client got his regular visits with his daughter. It wasn't quite over yet.