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"Are you Carl Lee Hailey?" asked the judge
"Yes"
"Mr Brigance your attorney?"
"Yes"
"I&039;ainst you by the grand jury Have you been served a copy of this?"
"Yes"
"Have you read it?"
"Yes"
"Have you discussed it with your attorney?"
"Yes"
"Do you understand it?"
"Yes"
"Good I&039;m required by law to read it to you in open court" Noose cleared his throat " &039;The grand jurors of the State of Mississippi, taken froood and lawful citizens of Ford County thereof, duly elected, eed to inquire in and for said county and state aforesaid, in the name and under the authority of the State of Mississippi, upon their oaths present that Carl Lee
Hailey, late of the county and state aloresaia, wimm me jurisdiction of this court, did unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously and intentionally and with ht, kill and , and Pete Wil-lard, a hu, and did shoot and attempt to kill DeWayne Looney, a peace officer, in direct violation of the Mississippi Code, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Mississippi A true bill Signed, Laverne Gossett, foreht his breath "Do you understand the charges against you?"
"Yes"
"Do you understand that if convicted you could be put to death in the gas chamber at the state penitentiary at Parchuilty or not guilty?"
"Not guilty"
Noose reviewed his calendar as the audience watched intently The reporters took notes The artists focused-on the principals, including Buckley, who hadfor a profile shot He was anxious to say so He scowled contemptuously at the rear of Carl Lee&039;s head, as if he could not wait to fry thisand the thispered ied in hushed conversation with one of the clerks Then he returned to the bench where the defendant stood motionless next to his attorney, are of Buckley&039;s show and was trying desperately to ignore it
"Mr Hailey," Noose squeaked, "your trial is set for Monday, July 22 All pretrial motions and matters must be filed by June 24, and disposed of by July 8"
Carl Lee and Jake nodded
"Anything further?"
"Yes, Your Honor," Buckley booh for the reporters in the rotunda "The State opposes any request for bail by this defendant"
Jake gripped his fists and wanted to scream "Your Honor, the defendant has not yet asked for bail Mr Buck-
ley, as usual, is confused about the procedure He cannot oppose a request until it is made He should&039;ve learned that in law school"
Buckley was stung, but continued "Your Honor, Mr Brigance always requests bail, and I&039;m sure he&039;ll request it today The State will oppose any such request"
"Well, why don&039;t you wait until he makes his request?" Noose asked the DA with a touch of irritation
"Very well," Buckley said His face had reddened and he glared at Jake
"Do you plan to request bail?" Noose asked
"I had planned to at the proper tiot a chance Mr Buckley intervened with his theatrics-"
"Never mind Mr Buckley," Noose interrupted
"I know, Judge, he&039;s just confused"
"Bail, Mr Brigance?"
"Yes, I had planned to request it"
"I thought so, and I&039;ve already considered whether bail should be allowed in this case As you know, it is completely within my discretion, and I never allow bail in a capital h an exception is in order in this case"
"You mean you&039;ve decided to deny bail?"
"Yes" &039;
Jake shrugged his shoulders and laid a file on the table "Good enough"
"Anything further?" Noose asked
"No, Your Honor," Jake said
Buckley shook his head in silence
"Good Mr Hailey, you are hereby ordered to remain in the custody of the Ford County sheriff until trial You are dismissed"
Carl Lee returned to the front rohere a deputy waited with the handcuffs Jake opened his briefcase, and was stuffing it with files and papers when Buckley grabbed his arance," he said through clenched teeth
"You asked for it," Jake replied "Let go of my arm"
Buckley released his ar et burned"
Buckley had three inches and fifty pounds on Jake, and his irritation was growing The exchange had drawn attention, and a deputy moved between them Jake winked at Buckley and left the courtroom
At two the Hailey clan, led by Uncle Lester, entered Jake&039;s office through the rear door Jake met them in a small office next to the conference room downstairs They talked about the press conference Twenty h the rear door, and Jake led them to the office, where Carl Lee was reunited with his family Ozzie and Jake left the room
The press conference was carefully orchestrated by Jake, who marveled at his ability to ness to beconference table he sat with the three Hailey boys standing behind hi Tonya
Legal etiquette forbade revealing the identity of a child rape victie ell known because of her daddy She had already been exposed to the world, and Jake wanted her to be seen and photographed in her best white Sunday dress sitting on her daddy&039;s knee The jurors, whoever they were and wherever they lived, would be watching
Reporters crammed into the room, which overflowed and trailed down the hall to the reception area, where Ethel rudely ordered theuarded the front door, and two others sat on the rear steps Sheriff Walls and Lester stood aardly behind the Haileys and their lawyer Microphones were clustered on the table in front of Jake, and the cahts
"I have a few prefatory rean "First, all questions will be answered by me No questions are to be directed to Mr Hailey or any member of his family If he is asked a question, I will instruct him not to answer Second, I would like to introduce his family Tobehind us are his sons, Carl Lee, Jr, Jarvis, and Robert Behind the boys is Mr Hailey&039;s brother, Lester Hailey"
Jake paused and s in her daddy&039;s lap is Tonya Hailey Now I&039;ll answer questions"
"What happened in court this ned, he pled not guilty, and his trial was set for July 22"
"Was there an altercation between you and the district attorney?"
"Yes After the arraignrabbed my arm, and looked as if he planned to assault me when a deputy intervened"
"What caused it?"
"Mr Buckley has a tendency to crack under pressure"
"Are you and Mr Buckley friends?"
"No"
"Will the trial be in Clanton?"
"A e venue will be filed by the defense The location of the trial will be detere Noose No predictions"
"Could you describe what this has done to the Hailey faht a lanced at Carl Lee and Tonya "You&039;re looking at a very nice faood and simple There was a job at the paper mill, a little money in the bank, security, stability, church every Sunday together, a loving faed punks coainst this little ten-year-old girl They shocked us, and made us all feel sick They ruined her life, and the lives of her parents and family It was too much for her father He snapped He broke Now he&039;s in jail facing trial and the prospect of the gas chaone The children face the possibility of growing up without their father Their mother must now find a job to support the and borrow from friends and relatives in order to survive
"To answer your question, sir, the faan crying quietly, and Jake handed ner a handkerchief
"Are you hinting at a defense of insanity?"
"Yes"
"Will there in fact be a plea of insanity?"
"Yes"
"Can you prove it?"
"That will be left for the jury We will provide them experts in the field of psychiatry"
"Have you already consulted with these experts?"
"Yes," lied Jake
"Could you give us their names?"
"No, that would be inappropriate at this point"
"We&039;ve heard ruainst Mr Hai-ley Could you confirainst Mr Hailey, his fae, just about everyone involved I don&039;t kno serious they are"
Carl Lee patted Tonya on the leg and looked blankly at the table He looked scared, pitiful, and in need of sy to strict orders, they stood at attention, afraid to move Carl Lee, Jr, the oldest at fifteen, stood behind Jake Jarvis, the e eleven, stood behind his mother They wore identical navy suits hite shirts and little red bow ties Robert&039;s" suit was once Carl Lee, Jr&039;s, then Jarvis&039;s, and now his, and it looked a bit more worn than the other two But it was clean, neatly pressed, and perfectly cuffed The boys looked sharp How could any juror vote to force these children to live without their father?
The press conference was a hit Segments of it ran on the networks and local stations, both on the evening and late news The Thursday papers ran front page pictures of the Haileys and their lawyer
The Swede had called several ti the teeks her husband had been in Mississippi She didn&039;t trust hiirlfriends he had confessed to Each time she called, Lester was not around, and Gwen lied and explained that he was fishing or cutting pulpwood so they could buy groceries Gas tired of lying, and Lester was tired of carousing, and they were tired of each other When the phone rang before dawn Friday , Lester answered it It was the Swede
Two hours later the red Cadillac was parked at the jail Moss Junior led Lester into Carl Lee&039;s cell The brothers whispered above the sleep of the ino home," Lester mumbled, somewhat ashamed, somewhat timid
"Why?" Carl Lee asked as if he had been expecting it
"My wife called this otta be at work tomorrow or I&039;ly
"I&039;oin&039;, but I ain&039;t got no choice"
"I understand When you comin&039; back?"
"When you want me back?"
"For the trial It&039;ll be real hard on Gwen and the kids Can you be back then?"
"You know I&039;ll be here I got some vacation time and all I&039;ll be here"
They sat on the edge of Carl Lee&039;s bunk and watched each other in silence The cell was dark and quiet The two bunks opposite Carl Lee&039;s were eot how bad this place is," Lester said
"I just hope I ain&039;t here er"
They stood and embraced, and Lester called for Moss Junior to open the cell "I&039;m proud of you, bubba," he said to his older brother, then left for Chicago
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who met him in Ozzie&039;s office Jake was red eyed and irritable
"Carl Lee, I talked to two psychiatrists in Memphis yesterday Do you knohat the minimum fee is to evaluate you for trial purposes? Do you?"
"Am I supposed to know?" asked Carl Lee
"One thousand dollars," Jake shouted "One thousand dollars Where can you find a thousand dollars?"
"I gave you all the ot I even offered-"
"I don&039;t want the deed to your land Why? Because nobody wants to buy it, and if you can&039;t sell it, it&039;s no good We&039;ve got to have cash, Carl Lee Not for me, but for the psychiatrists"
"Why?"
"Why!" Jake repeated in disbelief "Why? Because I&039;d like to keep you away froas chamber, and it&039;s only a hundred miles froot to convince the jury that you were insane when you shot those boys I can&039;t tell them you were crazy You can&039;t tell them you were crazy It takes a psychiatrist An expert A doctor And they don&039;t work for free Understand?"
Carl Lee leaned on his knees and watched a spider crawl across the dusty carpet After twelve days in jail and two court appearances, he had had enough of the criht of the hours and ? Sure the boys had to die He had no regrets But did he contemplate jail, or poverty, or lawyers, or psychiatrists? Maybe, but only in passing Those unpleasantries were only by-products to be encountered and endured temporarily before he was set free After the deed, the system would process him, vindicate him, and send him home to his family It would be easy, just as Les-ter&039;s episode had been virtually painless
But the syste to keep him in jail, to break him, to make orphans of his children It see an act he considered unavoidable And now, his only ally wasdemands he could not ry and yelling
"Get it," Jake shouted as he headed for the door "Get it froet it froet it And as soon as possible"
Jake slammed the door and marched out of the jail
Carl Lee&039;s third visitor of theblack limousine with a chauffeur and Tennessee plates Itlot and cauard eed-from behind the wheel and opened the door to release his boss They strutted up the sidewalk and into the jail
The secretary stopped typing and smiled suspiciously "Good mornin&039;"
"Mornin&039;," said the smaller one, the one with the patch "My name is Cat Bruster, and I&039;d like to see Sheriff Walls"
"May I ask what for?"
"Yes ardin&039; a Mr Hailey, a resident of your fine facility"
The sheriff heard his nareet this infamous visitor "Mr Bruster, I&039;uard did not move
"Nice to meet you, Sheriff I&039;m Cat Bruster, from Memphis"