Emily Simpson

He would serve time and be on the sex offender registry for life.

But... He only had to plead guilty for one count of rape.

And it kind of felt like it discounted all of the times, all of the deceit, all of the manipulation.

It was like it came down to one incident.

For a year, Saskia had been preparing to take the stand, to make Mike answer for what he'd done to her, in video after video.

Now, she learned, there would be only one charge, and there would be no trial.

I felt that my chance to speak my truth was gone, and my emotions all the lead up to that just kind of drained out of me in tears.

The decision to go to trial wasn't hers to make because the prosecutors don't represent Saskia like attorneys would in a civil case.

They represent the state of Maryland and its citizens as a whole, and they had to be realistic.

With the instructions given to the jury, would they convict?

Remember, the law wasn't on Saskia's side.

Force was required to prosecute spouses for rape.

That's Debbie Feinstein, head of the Special Victims Division at the state's attorney's office in Montgomery County.

She supervised the case.

The burden of proof was incredibly high.

Any doubt as to whether Mike's actions constituted forcible rape could throw the whole case out the window.

He could walk free.

The state's attorneys also had to think about Saskia.

They were aware of Saskia's alcohol use, her dependence on prescription medications, her mental health history, and her dad's mental health history.

These were all things that a defense attorney would use to turn a jury against her.