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"Nope Watch TV too Saw you on the news last night You looked real good I&039;onna make you fa
"When do I get on TV? I ettin&039; fa- the laas not
"Today, 4n about an hour"
"Yeah, I heard we&039;s goin&039; to court What for?"
"Preli deal, at least it&039;s not supposed to be This one will be different because of the ca! You don&039;t say a word to anyone Not to the judge, the prosecutor, the reporters, anyone We just listen We listen to the prosecutor and see what kind of case he&039;s got They&039;re supposed to have an eyewitness, and he e about the gun, the fingerprints, and Looney-"
"How&039;s Looney?"
"Don&039;t know Worse than they thought"
"Man, I feel bad &039;bout shootin&039; Looney I didn&039;t even see the e you with aggravated assault for shooting Looney Anyway, the prelie to deterrand jury Bullard always does that, so it&039;s just a formality"
"Then why do it?"
"We could waive it," replied Jake, thinking of all the
caood chance to see what kind of case the State has"
"Well, Jake, I&039;d say they gotta pretty good case, wouldn&039;t you?"
"I would think so But let&039;s just listen That&039;s the strategy of a preliood to me You talked to Gwen or Lester today?"
"No, I called theht"
"They were here yesterday in Ozzie&039;s office Said they&039;d be in court today"
"I think everyone will be in court today"
Jake left In the parking lot he brushed by so Carl Lee&039;s departure from jail He had no co outside his office He was too busy at the moment for questions, but he was very aware of the cameras At one-thirty he went to the courthouse and hid in the law library on the third floor
Ozzie and Moss Junior and the deputies watched the parking lot and quietly cursed the mob of reporters and cameramen It was one forty-five, time to transport the prisoner to court
"Kinda re beside the highway," Moss Junior observed as he gazed through the blinds
"Rudest buncha folks I ever saw," added Prather "Won&039;t take no for an answer They expect the whole town to cater to them"
"And that&039;s only half of them-other half s waitin&039; at the courthouse"
Ozzie hadn&039;t said , i the security around the courthouse was intentionally relaxed He was tired of the press Twice Wednesday he had ordered reporters out of the jail
"I got an idea," he said
"What?" asked Moss Junior
"Is Curtis Todd still in jail?"
"Yep Gets out next week"
"He sorta favors Carl Lee, don&039;t he?"
"Whatta you mean?"
"Well, I hly the saht, ain&039;t he?"
"Yeah, well, so what?" asked Prather
Moss Junior grinned and looked at Ozzie, whose eyes never left the"Ozzie, you wouldn&039;t"
"What?" asked Prather
"Let&039;s go Get Carl Lee and Curtis Todd," Ozzie ordered "DriveTodd here for some instructions"
Ten minutes later the front door of the jail opened and a squad of deputies escorted the prisoner down the sidewalk Two deputies walked in front, two behind, and one on each side of the lasses and handcuffs, which were not fastened As they approached the reporters, the cameras clicked and rolled The questions flew:
"Sir, will you plead guilty?"
"Sir, will you plead not guilty?"
"Sir, hoill you plead?"
"Mr Hailey, will you plead insanity?"
The prisoner s patrol cars The deputies sraphers scraet the perfect shot of the ilante in the country
Suddenly, with the nation watching, with deputies all around hi his every move, the prisoner broke and ran He jolted, ju lot, over a ditch, across the highway, into soht The reporters shouted and broke ranks and several even chased him for a moment Curiously, the deputies ran back to the jail and sla in circles of disarray In the woods, the prisoner removed the handcuffs and walked home Curtis Todd had just been paroled one week early
Ozzie, Moss Junior, and Carl Lee quickly left through the rear of the jail and drove down a back street to the courthouse, where more deputies waited to escort hiers out there?" Bullard screamed at Mr Pate
"A ton"
"Wonderful! A ton of niggers I guess there&039;s a ton of rednecks too?"
"Quite a few"
"Is the courtroom full?"
"Packed"
"My God-it&039;s only a preliminary!" Bullard screamed He finished a half pint of vodka as Mr Pate handed hie"
"Brigance It&039;s all his fault He could waive this if he wanted to I asked hirand jury He knows that All lawyers know that But now I gotta ers mad because I won&039;t turn him loose, and I&039;ll make all the rednecks mad because I won&039;t execute hiance for this He&039;s playing for the caet reelected, but he doesn&039;t, does he?"
"No, Judge"
"How many officers out there?"
"Plenty Sheriffs called in the reserves You&039;re safe"
"How about the press?"
"They&039;re lined up on the front rows"
"No cameras!"
"No cameras"
"Is Hailey here?"
"Yes, sir He&039;s in the courtrooance Ever-body&039;s ready, just waitin&039; on you"
His Honor filled a Styrofoao"
Just like in the old days before the sixties, the courtrooated with the blacks and whites separated by the center aisle The officers stood solemnly in the aisle and around the walls of the courtroohtly intoxicated whites sitting together in ts near the front A couple were recognized as brothers or cousins of the late Billy Ray Cobb
They atched closely The two front rows, the one on the right in front of the blacks and the one on the left in front of the whites, were occupied by two dozen journalists of various sorts Some took notes while some sketched the defendant, his lawyer, and now finally, the judge
"They gonna er a hero," h for the reporters
When Bullard assumed the bench, the deputies locked the rear door
"Call your first witness," he ordered in the direction of Rocky Childers
"The State calls Sheriff Ozzie Walls"
The sheriff orn and took the stand He relaxed and began a long narrative describing the scene of the shooting, the bodies, the wounds, the gun, the fingerprints on the gun and the fingerprints of the defendant Childers produced an affidavit signed by Officer Looney and witnessed by the sheriff and Moss Junior It identified the gunnature and read the affidavit into the record
"Sheriff, do you know of any other eyewitness?" asked Childers with no enthusiasm
"Yes, Murphy, the janitor"
"What&039;s his first name?"
"Nobody knows He&039;s just Murphy"
"Okay Have you talked to hiator did"
"Who is your investigator?"
"Officer Rady"
Rady orn and seated in the witness chair Mr Pate fetched the judge another cup of ice water froes of notes He would call no witnesses, and he chose not to cross-examine the sheriff Occasionally, the State&039;s witnesses would get their lies confused in a preliminary, and Jake would ask a few questions on cross-examination to nail down, for the record, the discrepancies Later at trial when the lying started again, Jake would produce the testimony from the preliminary to further confuse the liars But not today
"Sir, have you had an occasion to talk with Murphy?" Childers asked
"Murphy who?"
"I don&039;t know-just Murphy, the janitor"
"Oh him Yes, sir"
"Good What did he say?"
"About what?"
Childers hung his head Rady was new, and had not testified ood practice
"About the shooting! Tell us what he told you about the shooting"
Jake stood "Your Honor I object I know hearsay is admissible in a preliminary, but this Murphy fella is available He works here in the courthouse Why not let him testify?"
"Because he stutters," replied Bullard
"What!"
"He stutters And I don&039;t want to hear him stutter for the next thirty minutes Objection overruled Continue, Mr Childers"
Jake sat in disbelief Bullard snickered at Mr Pate, who left for more ice water
"Now, Mr Rady, what did Murphy tell you about the shooting?"
"Well, he&039;s hard to understand because he was so excited, and when he gets excited he stutters real bad I mean he stutters anyway, but-"
"Just tell us what he said!" Bullard shouted
"Okay He said he saw a male black shoot the thite boys and the deputy"
"Thank you," said Childers "Nohere was he when this took place?"
"Who?"
"Murphy!"
"He was sittin&039; on the stairs directly opposite the stairs where they got shot"
"And he saw it all?"
"Said he did"
"Has he identified the gunman?"
"Yes, we showed him photos of ten male blacks, and he identified the defendant, sittin&039; over there"
"Good Thank you Your Honor, we have nothing further"
"Any questions, Mr Brigance?" asked the judge
"No, sir," Jake said as he stood
"Any witnesses?"
"No, sir"
"Any requests, ?"
"No, sir"
Jake knew better than to request bail First, it would do no good Bullard would not set bail for capital e look bad
"Thank you, Mr Brigance The court finds sufficient evidence exists to hold this defendant for action by the Ford County grand jury Mr Hailey shall remain in the custody of the sheriff, without bond Court&039;s adjourned"
Carl Lee was quickly handcuffed and escorted from the courtroouarded The cali patrol car He was in jail before the spectators cleared the courtroom
The deputies directed the whites on one side to leave first, followed by the blacks
The reporters requested some of Jake&039;s time, and they were instructed to meet him in the rotunda in a few iving his regards to the judge Then he walked to the third floor to check on a book When the courtrooh the rear door, into the rotunda and faced the cameras
A microphone with red letters on it was thrust into his face "Why didn&039;t you request bond?" a reporter demanded
"That comes later"
"Will Mr Hailey plead an insanity defense?"
"As I&039;ve stated, it&039;s too early to answer that question We rand jury-hehis defense"
"Mr Buckley, the DA, has stated he expects easy convictions Any comment?"