Chapter 1: What doubts does Dana face as the case progresses?
As the case builds momentum, so do Dana's doubts. Every piece of evidence paints a different picture than the one in her file. A mother who gave everything, who could have hidden her crime but didn't, who spent decades trying to protect her son from a system that repeatedly failed families like hers.
Dana speaks with witnesses who've lived the same story, caregivers of disabled family members, experts who've seen institutional abuse firsthand. These aren't just character witnesses for Ada. They're witnesses to a broken system. A kind of system Ada feared would swallow her son the moment she was gone. Act Three. Interior courtroom. Day.
Chapter 2: What does Ada reveal about her past on the witness stand?
Court is in session. Ada on the stand to resume her testimony.
Ada, in your own words, can you tell us what happened the night of April 24th of this year?
It had been a good day, as close to perfect a day as could get for us. No meltdowns, no outbursts. The rain had held off till evening, so Teddy was able to lie in the garden, feel the sun on his face.
Insert flashback montage. Teddy lies on his back in the garden. Ada watches him from the doorway. Ada runs a bath for Teddy, pours bubble bath into the tub.
Chapter 3: How do witnesses challenge the prosecution's perspective?
Teddy enters the bathroom. He wears a robe. Ada brings Teddy a dish of ice cream. Teddy gets into bed. Ada tucks him in, sits next to him, checks her watch. Ada picks up a cloth hood from the nightstand. Ada connects a tube to the helium tank, turns a valve on the tank. Ada sits on the bed with Teddy, holds his hand.
Ada checks Teddy's pulse, strokes his hair, and kisses his cheek, then lays her head on his chest and sobs. Ada removes a yellow balloon from a package and uses the tank to fill it.
Chapter 4: What is the impact of expert testimony on the case?
Back to scene.
Ada, by your own admission, you're telling us you took your son's life. Why did you do it?
About a year ago... I read an article about a woman who lived with her 84-year-old mother, just the two of them. The woman was deaf, blind, and mentally disabled. Her mother had taken care of her for so many years, just like Teddy and me.
When the mother died at home, the woman crawled around on the floor over her mother's dead body, looking for food and water before she was finally found a week later. She was so traumatized, they had to put her into the hospital. All I could think was that.
Chapter 5: What internal conflict does Dana experience during the trial?
was that that could have been Teddy, all alone, unable to even walk out the front door for help.
But Ada, there are state hospitals, residential living facilities. Why didn't you just find somewhere else for him to go?
65 years, Teddy lived in that house with me. He knew every spot where the floor creaked. Exactly how long it took the toaster to pop up when it was time to plant the strawberries. That was his home, his sanctuary. It was where he belonged, where he felt secure, even happy. How could I take all that away from him?
Her voice breaks, but she keeps going.
Chapter 6: How does Ada justify her actions to the jury?
What?
Where else in the world would they let him play piano at two o'clock in the morning if he woke up from a bad dream? Where would they let him lie in the dirt and take comfort from the earth? Where would they hold him and stroke his hair and tell him how beautiful he was? How truly beautiful? Where would he be safe? Where? Just where is that place?
A juror fumbles for a tissue. Alexis waits a moment before continuing.
Chapter 7: What are the closing arguments presented by the prosecution?
Ada, did you also plan to take your own life that day?
I did.
What stopped you?
I had to tell our story. I couldn't bear anyone thinking I took my son's life because I didn't love him or because I thought he was a burden. Or I was tired of taking care of him, even when I was exhausted and sad and I couldn't understand what Teddy needed. Never for a moment did I ever wish he wasn't my son.
Tears fall freely down her face.
I'm not saying I never wished he didn't have autism. I wished that a lot, especially when he was young.
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Chapter 8: What is the final verdict and its emotional implications?
It's only human to feel that way. You never expect to have a child with a disability. It catches you completely off guard, changes the way you think about everything. I hated watching Teddy struggle. He had so much to offer the world and would never get the chance. It made me so angry. It was so unfair.
But having Teddy in my life, even with autism, is always what I would choose over never having had him at all. How empty my life would have been without him.
Ada looks out into the gallery. In the front row, she sees her 24-year-old self with infant Teddy in her arms as she coos to him and lulls him to sleep and brings him to her chest, kisses the top of his head, breathes deep in contentment. Alexis steps closer to Ada, puts her hand on the rail of the witness box. Ada.
Ada.
On the day you took your son's life, did you believe at that moment what you were doing was wrong? No. Thank you, Ada.
No more questions. Your witness? She walks back to her seat. Dana stands, straightens her jacket, steps around to the front of the prosecution table.
Just so we're perfectly clear, Mrs. Wells, did you kill your son? Yes. And do you believe killing a person is wrong? Under most circumstances, yes. But not in your circumstance. Because you didn't think your son could adapt to living anywhere else. A theory which you could have easily tested while he was still alive, but you chose not to.
Without exploring any other options, you planned and carried out the manner of your son's death You murdered your son because you alone decided that your son's life would be worthless without you.
Exterior, Ada's house, day. Flashback, 1990. Ada, in her mid-fifties, stands on the front porch, the door wide open. In the early morning, the air is still, the street quiet. She motions with her hand.
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