"Uphill climb"

Posted on Sun May 1st, 2022 @ 11:16am by Lieutenant Lydia Whitlock M.D.

Mission: The Goddess
Location: Part D Courtroom
Timeline: Six months earlier
628 words - 1.3 OF Standard Post Measure

OOC Lori: I know I'm a bit late for sneaking this in before the end of the month, but I hope I can be forgiven. :-)

"Dr. Whitlock, will you explain to the jury the concept of ' learned helplessness' and how it applies to the defendant's actions in this case?"

From her seat in the witness box, Lydia made sure to address the jury, looking them all in the eye. The former Starfleet officer on trial for killing his abusive partner was counting on her and the defense team to make the case that he didn't deserve to be put to death even though the partner he killed came from a society whose views on trauma were archaic.

"Learned helplessness is a concept that was coined to explain why mammals, or in the case of the original research, dogs, did not escape from cages that were left open following the repeated administration of electric shocks. In the original research, the dogs were initially given electric shocks every time they tried to escape their cages. Eventually, the dogs stopped trying to escape their circumstances even though the electric shocks had stopped and the cages remained fully open to the outside. Researchers believed that over time, the dogs learned escape was pointless and so they stopped trying to escape even though there was no longer any physical impediments for preventing it. The concept was that to explain why people who have been exposed to repeated physical and emotional abuse do not leave their relationships even when there is no immediate threat to their lives. In short, with enough abuse, people come to believe they are incapable of escaping their situation even if there are no obvious imminent threats to prevent them from leaving. In short, over time, a survivor's sense of self, confidence and confidence become so eroded they come to believe escape is impossible."

The defense attorney smiled and looked up at the judge. "No further questions, your honor."

The prosecutor was up like a shot before the judge could even give permission for rebuttal. "So Dr. Whitlock, you expect this true to believe that despite the fact the defendant was twice his partner's size, and despite the fact when he murdered the victim in this case the victim was sleeping in his bed, the defendant was the helpless one in this relationship?"

Lydia purposely took a beat before she answered, making sure to maintain eye contact with the jury even though the prosecutor's tone rankled the psychiatrist like nails on a chalkboard. "I am saying that psychological trauma from abuse creates incredible damage to someone from the inside out. It creates emotional chains that are just as strong as any physical chains someone can be tied with. I realize it's hard for people to understand how the defendant could've killed his partner as he was sleeping. Legally, some societies still believe that killing someone is never justified unless the person represents an imminent physical threat, but abuse survivors often relive their experiences over and over mentally as a consequence of the severe trauma they've been through so that imminence is not so narrowly defined. Physical strength is irrelevant when it comes to emotional and psychological chains."

The back-and-forth continued for at least another hour before the jury was sent out to deliberate.

The guilty verdict came back less than two hours later.

Despite Lydia's and the defense team's best efforts to explain that anyone, including a man, could suffer the psychological consequences of abuse and could be driven to the ultimate crime, they had lost.

It was the only one she had lost during her entire hiatus to return to the Starfleet Criminal Investigative Service but still, its sting would drowned out all of the previous victories.