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Guilty by Interpretation The Angelika Graswald Case and the Prosecution of Intent Linda Davidson Age Guidance: 16+ (Mature Teens & Adults) This book contains themes and discussions involving death, grief, interrogation, incarceration, and criminal prosecution. It includes emotionally intense material and analysis of real-life events. On a cold spring afternoon on the Hudson River, two kayaks set out-and only one person returned. What should have remained a tragic accident instead became something far more unsettling: a case built not on physical evidence, but on interpretation. When Vincent Viafore drowned in icy water, his girlfriend, Angelika Graswald, survived. And in a justice system uncomfortable with ambiguity, survival itself became suspicious. In Guilty by Interpretation, Linda Davidson delivers a gripping, internationally resonant work of narrative true crime that examines how intent can be inferred, narrated, and ultimately prosecuted-even when proof is elusive. With precision and escalating tension, the book traces the transformation of a drowning into a criminal case: the interrogations that mined trauma for meaning, the media narratives that hardened early assumptions, and the legal strategy that reframed uncertainty as guilt. This is not a story of a smoking gun or a hidden weapon. It is a case built on tone, pauses, emotional restraint, and the unspoken expectation of how grief should look-especially when the survivor is a woman who does not perform it on cue. Inside, you will find: A cinematic reconstruction of the Hudson River tragedy and the moments that turned grief into suspicion A clear breakdown of the prosecution's ""intent"" theory-and how circumstantial details can be shaped into a courtroom narrative An exploration of interrogation pressure and language vulnerability, including how tone, phrasing, and shock can be reframed as guilt The role of media judgment, and how ""likability"" and public perception can influence outcomes long before a verdict A deep dive into trauma response and cold-water realities, explaining why drowning can be quick, quiet, and physiologically confusing A critical look at gender expectations and credibility, asking whether a male survivor would have been treated the same way A final reckoning with reasonable doubt, and what remains when judgment is stripped away and only evidence is left Suspenseful, meticulously researched, and written with restraint, Guilty by Interpretation is a sobering examination of how narrative can outrun fact-and how easily interpretation can become conviction. This is not just the story of a death. It is the story of how certainty is created when the truth refuses to simplify.

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