I have been following this case for a couple of months now, but have not posted on it up to now. Usually when I have a thought, I see that someone else has already made the same point ahead of me, so I really wouldn't be contributing any new ideas by posting.
![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
However, after yesterday's court proceedings and the discussions here on WS that followed (not to mention the discussions over the past weeks!) one thing has really stands out in my mind. If I understand correctly, the following are among the situations listed that could lead to a suspect being charged with aggravated kidnapping, rather than simply kidnapping (at least in the state of Texas):
The intent to:
-Hold the victim for a ransom or reward
-Aid in the commission of a felony or an escape after committing the felony
-Inflict bodily injury on the victim or sexually violate or abuse the victim
-Terrorize the victim or another person
(Sorry if I should have linked something there...I don't know how to do that...baby steps for me here!)
There has been quite a bit of speculation here on WS about whether there is evidence of a sexual assault (or intended sexual assault), and whether LE was "reaching" (for lack of a better word) on hinging the AK charge on the sexual assault aspect. Looking at the above possible things that would constitute AK (and I only included the ones that I thought could possibly fit), I would think that LE could have chosen a different one if they were merely trying to bump the kidnapping charge up to AK. They could have said that EA kidnapped her in order to procure drugs from someone else (kind of like ransom?) They could have said that she was taken to be used in some other drug-related way (I don't know if there is any way the law could say that this was aiding in the commission of a felony?) They could have said that he took her intending to inflict bodily harm upon her, or I even think that they could have said that he took her in order to harass/intimidate/terrorize someone else (if not Christina herself). This is all entirely MOO -- just thinking about other ways the charge could possibly have gone, especially considering some of the theories I've read on here.
Especially after reading tweets from yesterday, I think there is probably (much) more evidence that we are not privy to yet, that has led LE in this direction. It seems to me that they had other options in charging EA. While some of yesterday's revelations were new to us (at least to me!) and revealed or affirmed other angles and aspects of the case, I am reminded that none of that information was new to LE yesterday -- they have known what the tweets said, where the DNA was found, what kind of DNA was found, etc., for at least awhile now, but SOMETHING they have (or know) must have led them to AK, and presumably due to the intent of SA, IMO.
One thing I am wondering about this, and I apologize if this has already been addressed and I just missed it or didn't understand it, but did LE (or the prosecutor) have to state specifically, and formally, while filing..."We think it's AK, and THIS is the one, official, exact reason why." (To where if there was NO evidence pointing to that exact reason...SA in this case...the charge would no longer exist?) Or is it more a case of, "She was kidnapped, and different pieces of evidence point to XYZ as all being things that contributed to it being AK (and as the case progresses, the shift may be on one, another, or all of the mitigating circumstances?) I know I have read many posts saying that LE stated SA was the reason for the AK charge, but is that something we know just from reading how various documents were worded along the way, or was it a legal declaration of it being AK, due specifically and only to SA? I hope that makes sense -- I can't think of another way to word it!
I apologize for this extremely lengthy post, and for posting and asking questions about something that everyone else may have already moved on past...I'm still catching up with reading this thread, and I jumped ahead just to post! Thank you all for your patience and for all of your awesome posts. I know that everyone doesn't agree on all the particulars, but you all have really put a lot of information and ideas on here, and I know I'm not the only one who appreciates it! I hope that getting some of this straight in my head might eventually lead me to being useful in coming up with ideas and angles to explore that could help in some way. Oh -- and it's nice to see JMOM back!