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When he finished they sat on the balcony and watched the candles inch slowly in the darkness around the square The laughter froh the night There was no moon
Ellen left for the final round of drinks She returned with her saaritas She sat them on the table and stood behind her boss She placed her hands on his shoulders and began rubbing the lower part of his neck with her thumbs He relaxed and ed his shoulders and upper back, and pressed her body against his
"Ellen, it&039;s ten-thirty, and I&039;ht?"
"Where do you think I should stay?"
"I think you should stay at your apartment at Ole Miss"
"I&039;m too drunk to drive"
"Nesbit will drive you"
"Where, ?"
"At the house my wife and I own on Adarabbed her drink Jake stood and leaned over the rail and yelled at Nesbit "Nesbit! Wake up! You&039;re driving to Oxford!"
Carla found the story on the second page of the front section "All White Jury Chosen for Hailey" read the headline Jake had not called Tuesday night She read the story and ignored her coffee The beach house sat by itself in a sehbor o hundred yards away Her father owned the land in between and had no plans to sell it He had built the house ten years earlier when he sold his company in Knoxville and retired wealthy Carla was the only child, and now Hanna would be the only grandchild The house-with four bedrooms and four bathroorandchildren
She finished the article and walked to the bay s in the breakfast roo the beach, and then the ocean The brilliant orange mass of the sun had just cleared the horizon She preferred the warmth of the bed until well after daybreak, but life with Jake had brought new adventure to the first seven hours of each day Her body was conditioned to at least wake up at five-thirty He once told her his goal was to go to work in the dark and return froreat pride in working more hours each day than any lawyer in Ford County He was different, but she loved hiht miles northeast of Clanton, the Milburn county seat of Temple lay peacefully beside the Tippah River It had three thousand people and twono moral reason to be there this tiht roouarded by soldiers and a couple of state troopers The ten women had paired off nicely, as had Barry Acker and Clyde Sisco The black alternate, Ben Lester Newton, arded a room to himself, as was the other alternate, Francie Pitts The televisions had been disconnected and no newspapers were allowed Supper Tuesday
night had been delivered to the rooms, and Wednesday&039;s breakfast arrived promptly at seven-thirty while the Greyhound war lot Thirty e set out for Clanton
They talked on the bus about their families and jobs Two or three had known each other prior to Monday; ers They aardly avoided any ether and the task before thee Noose had been very plain on this point; no discussions about the case They wanted to talk about s: the rape, the rapists, Carl Lee, Jake, Buckley, Noose, the Klan, lots of things Everyone knew of the burning crosses, but they weren&039;t discussed, at least they weren&039;t discussed on the bus There had been many discussions back in the motel rooms
The Greyhound arrived at the courthouse five h dark s to see how many blacks and howseparated by the guardsmen It eased past the barricades and parked at the rear of the courthouse, where the deputies aiting to escort them upstairs as soon as possible They went up the back stairs to the jury roo The bailiff informed them it was nine, and His Honor was ready to start He led them into the crowded courtroonated seats
"All rise for the court," Mr Pate yelled
"Please be seated," Noose said as he fell into the tall leather chair behind the bench "Good entlemen," he said war well this o"
They all nodded
"Good I&039;: Did anybody attempt to contact you, talk to you, or influence you in any way last night?"
They all shook their heads
"Good Did you discuss this case a yourselves?"
They all lied and shook their heads
"Good If anyone attempts to contact you and discuss
me as soon as possible Do you understand?"
They nodded
"Now at this time we are ready to start the trial The first order of business is to allow the attorneys tothe attorneys say is testimony and is not to be taken as evidence Mr Buckley, do you wish tostatement?"
Buckley rose and buttoned his shiny polyester coat "Yes, Your Honor"
"I thought so You may proceed"
Buckley lifted the small, wooden podium and moved it squarely in front of the jury box, where he stood behind it and breathed deeply and slowly flipped through soal pad He enjoyed the brief period of quietness with all eyes on hi the jurors for being there, for their sacrifices, for their citizenship (as if they had a choice, thought Jake) He was proud of them and honored to be associated with theain, he was their lawyer His client, the State of Mississippi He expressed fear at this awesoiven to him, Rufus Buckley, a simple country lawyer frohts on the trial, and his hopes and prayers that he would do a good job for the people of this state
He gave prettystatements, but this was a better perfore, and objectionable Jake wanted to burn him, but from experience he knew Ichabod would not sustain an objection during an opening staterant, and Buckley&039;s rhetoric did not qualify -yet All this fake sincerity and gushiness irritated Jake to no end, primarily because the jury listened to it and, more often than not, fell for it The prosecutor was always the good guy, seeking to right an injustice and punish a criminal for some heinous crime; to lock him away forever so he could sin no ht off thestatement, that it was up to theently for the truth, together as a teaainst
evil It was the truth they were after, nothing but the truth Find the truth and justice would win Follow him, Rufus Buckley, the people&039;s lawyer, and they would find the truth
The rape was a terrible deed He was a father, in fact had a daughter the sae of Tonya Hailey, and when he first heard of the rape he was sick at his stoht of his own little girls and had thoughts of retribution
Jake s Buck-ley had chosen to confront the rape instead of keeping it fro a critical confrontation with hi the rape Ellen&039;s research found the law to be clear that the lurid details were inadmissible, but it wasn&039;t so clear as to whether it could be mentioned or referred to Evidently Buckley felt it was better to acknowledge the rape than try to hide it Good ht Jake, since all twelve and the rest of the world knew the details anyway
Ellen smiled too The rape of Tonya Hailey was about to be tried for the first time
Buckley explained it would be natural for any parent to want revenge He would too, he ad heavier, there is a e
He ar the podiu his rhythm He launched himself into a twenty-minute discourse on the criminal justice system and hoas practiced in Mississippi, and how many rapists that he, Rufus Buckley, had personally sent to Parchman, for life, most of theood common sense to make it work, and it would collapse if people like Carl Lee Hailey were allowed to short-circuit the systeine that A lawless society where vigilantes roamed at will No police, no jails, no courts, no trials, no juries Every man for hi down for afor due process and a fair trial, yet he did not believe in such things
Ask the mothers ot Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Willard Ask them what kind of fair trials their sons received
He paused to allow the jury and the courtrooht It sunk in heavy, and every person in the jury box looked at Carl Lee Hailey They were not looks of coernails with a shly bored Buckley pretended to review his notes at the podiuain, this time in a most confident businesslike tone of voice The State would prove that Carl Lee Hailey carefully planned the killings He waited for almost an hour in a small room next to the stairs where he knew the boys would eventually be led as they were taken back to jail He soed to sneak an M-16 into the courthouse Buckley walked to a small table by the court reporter and hoisted the M-16 "This is the M-16!" he announced to the jury, waving it wildly about with one hand He sat it on the podium and talked about hoas carefully selected by Carl Lee Hailey because he had used one before in close combat, and he kne to kill with it He had been trained with an M-16 It&039;s an illegal weapon You can&039;t buy one down at the Western Auto He had to go find it He planned it
The proof would be clear: premeditated, carefully planned, cold-blooded murder
And then there was Deputy DeWayne Looney A fourteen-year veteran of the Sheriffs Department A family man -one of the finest law enforcement officers he had ever known Gunned down in the line of duty by Carl Lee Hailey His leg was partially amputated What was his sin? Perhaps the defense would say it was accidental, that it shouldn&039;t count That&039;s no defense in Mississippi
There&039;s no excuse, ladies and gentleuilty
They each had an hour for their openings, and the lure of that much time proved irresistible for the DA, whose re his condean to look bored and searched for other points of interest around the courtroo, and Noose cleaned his glasses seven
or eight tilasses to stay awake and fight boredohout the trial Jake had seen him rub them with a handkerchief or tie or shirttail while witnesses broke down and cried and lawyers screamed and flailed their arms at each other He didn&039;t miss a word or objection or trick; he was just bored with it all, even a case of this h he was sorely telasses, held theh they were caked with grease, then remounted them just north of the wart No ain The longer Buckley droned on, the more they were cleaned
Finally, after an hour and a half, Buckley shut up and the courtroohed
"Ten-ed off the bench, through the door, past chambers to the , and after Buckley&039;s marathon, he decided to make it even shorter Most people don&039;t like lawyers to begin with, especially long-winded, tall-talking, wordy lawyers who feel that every insignificant point must be repeated at least three times, and the major ones have to be hammered and drilled by constant repetition into whoever happened to be listening Jurors especially dislike lawyers aste tiood reasons First, they can&039;t tell the lawyers to shut up They&039;re captives Outside the courtroom a person can curse a lawyer and shut him up, but in the jury box they become trapped and forbidden to speak Thus, theytheir watches, or any one of a dozen signals which boring lawyers never recognize Second, jurors don&039;t like long trials Cut the crap and get it over with Give us the facts and we&039;ll give you a verdict
He explained this to his client during the recess
"I agree Keep it short," said Carl Lee
He did Fourteenstate about daughters and how special they are How they are different from little boys and need special protection He
told thehter and trie special oonu hter, a bond that could not be explained and should not be tampered with He aded ability to be so forgiving and cohter He was a big man indeed But in reality, could they, as jurors, as parents, be so tender and trusting and indulging if their daughter had been raped-by two drunk, stoned, brutal animals who tied her to a tree and-"
"Objection!" shouted Buckley
"Sustained," Noose shouted back
He ignored the shouting and continued softly He asked thehout the trial, how they would feel had it been their daughter He asked them not to convict Carl Lee but to send him home to his fa
He finished shortly after he started, and left the jury with a marked contrast in the two styles
"Is that all?" Noose asked in amazement
Jake nodded as he sat by his client
"Very well Mr Buckley, you may call your first witness"
"The State calls Cora Cobb"
The bailiff went to the witness rooh the door by the jury box, into the courtroom where she orn by Jean Gillespie, and then he seated her in the witness chair
"Speak into the microphone," he instructed
"You are Cora Cobb?" Buckley asked with full volu
"Yes, sir"
"Where do you live?"
"Route 3, Lake Village, Ford County"
"You are the mother of Billy Ray Cobb, deceased?"
"Yes, sir," she said as her eyes watered She was a rural woman whose husband had left when the boys were small They had raised themselves while she worked two shifts at a cheap furniture factory between Karaway and Lake Village She lost control over thee She was about
fifty, tried to look forty with hair dye and makeup, but could easily pass for early sixties
"How old was your son at the time of his death?"
"Twenty-three"
"When did you last see him alive?"
"Just a few seconds before he was kilt"
"Where did you see him?"
"Here in this courtroom"
"Where was he killed?"
"Downstairs"
"Did you hear the shots that killed your son?"
She began to cry "Yes, sir"
"Where did you last see him?"
"At the funeral home"
"And as his condition?"
"He was dead"
"Nothing further," Buckley announced
"Cross-exaance?"
She was a harmless witness, called to establish that the victi could be gained by cross-examination, and normally she would have been left alone But Jake saw an opportunity he couldn&039;t pass He saw a chance to set the tone for the trial, to wake Noose and Buckley and the jury; to just get everyone aroused She was not really that pitiful; she was faking some Buckley had probably instructed her to cry if possible
"Just a few questions," Jake said as he walked behind Buckley and Musgrove to the podium The DA was immediately suspicious
"Mrs Cobb, is it true that your son was convicted of selling ing to his feet "The criminal record of the victim is inadmissible!"
"Sustained!"
"Thank you, Your Honor," Jake said properly, as if Noose had done him a favor
She wiped her eyes and cried harder
"You say your son enty-three when he died?"
"Yes"
"In his twenty-three years, how many other children am he rape?"
"Objection! Objection!" yelled Buckley, waving his ar, "Sustained! Sustained! You&039;re out of order, Mr Brigance! You&039;re out of order!"
Mrs Cobb burst into tears and bawled uncontrollably as the shouting erupted Sheand carrying on resounded through the stunned courtroom
"He should be adloith violent anger and his neck a deep purple
"I&039;ll withdraw the question," Jake replied loudly as he returned to his seat
"Cheap shot, Brigance," Musgrove ed, "and instruct the jury to disregard"
"Any redirect?" asked Noose
"No," answered Buckley as he dashed to the witness stand with a handkerchief to rescue Mrs Cobb, who had buried her head in her hands and was sobbing and shaking violently
"You are excused, Mrs Cobb," Noose said "Bailiff, please assist the witness"
The bailiff lifted her by the arm, with Buckley&039;s assistance, and led her down froh the railing, down the center aisle She shrieked and whined every step of the way, and her noises increased as she neared the back door until she was roaring at full throttle when she lared at Jake until she was gone and the courtrooain Then he turned to the jury and said: "Please disregard the last question by Mr Brigance"
"What&039;d you do that for?" Carl Lee whispered to his lawyer
"I&039;ll explain later"
"The State calls Earnestine Willard," Buckley announced in a quieter tone and with ht from the witness room above the courtroom She orn and seated
"You are Earnestine Willard?" asked Buckley
"Yes, sir," she said in a fragile voice Life had been rough on her too, but she had a certain dignity that made her more pitiful and believable than Mrs Cobb The clothes were inexpensive, but clean and neatly pressed The hair was minus the cheap black dye that Mrs Cobb relied on so heavily The face was , she cried to herself
"And where do you live?"
"Out froe"
"Pete Willard was your son?"
"Yes, sir"
"When did you last see hiht here in this room, just before he was killed"
"Did you hear the gunfire that killed him?"
"Yes, sir"
"Where did you last see him?"
"At the funeral home"
"And as his condition?"