Vance stood up immediately, resting his heavy hands on the counsel table.

“Your Honor, my client is a credentialed former preschool director with thirty years of child care experience,” Mr.

Vance said.

“She walked into a home containing serious structural hazards, including an unbolted commercial freezer and heavy hardware,” Mr.

Vance went on.

I rubbed my knuckles under the edge of the table as Mariana pulled her watchband tighter against her skin.

“Julian Morales created an attractive nuisance in an uncooled residential garage,” Mr.