Page 25 (1/2)

"He was dead," she said, wiping tears with a Kleenex

"I&039;m very sorry," Buckley offered "No further questions," he added, eyeing Jake carefully

"Any cross-exa Jake suspiciously

"Just a couple," Jake said

"Mrs Willard, I&039;ance" He stood behind the podium and looked at her without compassion

She nodded

"How old was your son when he died?"

"Twenty-seven"

Buckley pushed his chair fro Noose relasses and leaned forward Carl Lee lowered his head

"During his twenty-seven years, how many other children did he rape?"

Buckley bolted upright "Objection! Objection! Objection!"

"Sustained! Sustained! Sustained!"

The yelling frightened Mrs Willard, and she cried louder

"Ade! He must be admonished!"

"I&039;ll withdraw the question," Jake said on his way back to his seat

Buckley pleaded with his hands "But that&039;s not good enough, Judge! He o into chambers," Noose ordered He excused the witness and recessed until one

Harry Rex aiting on the balcony of Jake&039;s office with sandwiches and a pitcher of rapefruit juice Ellen wanted just one, a small one she said to calm her nerves For the third day, lunch had been prepared by Dell and personally delivered to Jake&039;s office Compliments of the Coffee Shop

They ate and relaxed on the balcony and watched the carnival around the courthouse What happened in chambers? Harry Rex demanded Jake nibbled on a Reuben He said he wanted to talk about so other than the trial

"What happened in chaaht it was four"

"What happened in chambers!"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes! Yes!"

"Okay I&039;ve got to go use the rest rooet back" Jake left

"Row Ark, what happened in chaood, but no pere Buckley wanted blood, and Jake said he was sure, soot any redder Buckley ranted and screa the jury, as he called it Jake just smiled at hiovernor, Buckley would screae, do soentlemen, I expect you to act like professionals&039; And Jake would say, &039;Thank you, Your Honor&039; Then he would wait a few ain"

"Why did he make those two old ladies cry?"

"It was a brilliant move, Harry Rex He showed the jury, Noose, Buckley, everybody, that it&039;s his courtroom and he&039;s not afraid of a daot Buckley so juht now he&039;ll never relax Noose respects him because he&039;s not intimidated by His Honor The jurors were shocked, but he woke them up and told them in a not so subtle way that this is war A brilliant ht so myself"

"It didn&039;t hurt us Those wo for sympathy, but Jake reminded the jury of what their sweet little boys did before they died"

"The scus"

"If there&039;s any resentet by the time the last witness testifies"

"Jake&039;s pretty sood He&039;s the best I&039;ve seen for his age"

"Wait till his closing arguet syeant"

Jake returned and poured a sarita Just a very small one, for his nerves Harry Rex drank like a sailor

Ozzie was the first State witness after lunch Buckley produced large, multicolored plats of the first and second floors of the courthouse, and together they traced the precise, last movements of Cobb and Willard

Then Buckley produced a set of ten 16 x 24 color photographs of Cobb and Willard lying freshly dead on the stairs They were gruesoh none were particularly pleasant given their nature, some weren&039;t so bad In one of his cases, the victim had been shot in the heart with a 357 and sie, muscular old man, and the bullet never found its way out of the body So there was no blood, just a small hole in his overalls, and then a sh he could have fallen asleep and slumped over, or passed out drunk on the porch, like Lucien It was not a spectacular scene, and Buckley had not been proud of those photo-

graphs They had not been enlarged He had just handed the susted because they were so clean

But , with blood splashed on walls and ceilings, and parts of bodies blown free and scattered everywhere Those were always enlarged by the DA and entered into evidence with great fanfare, then waved around the courtroom by Buckley as he and the witness described the scenes in the pictures Finally, with the jurors fidgeting with curiosity, Buckley would politely ask the judge for pere would always consent Then Buck-ley and everybody else would watch their faces intently as they were shocked, horrified, and occasionally nauseated Jake had actually seen two jurors vomit when handed photos of a badly slashed corpse

Such pictures were highly prejudicial and highly inflahly admissible "Probative" was the word used by the Supre to ninety years of decisions from the Court It ell settled in Mississippi that ardless of their impact on the jury, were always admissible

Jake had seen the Cobb and Willard photographs weeks earlier, and had filed the standard objection and received the standard denial

These werethe DA had not done before He handed the first one into the jury box to Reba Betts It was the one of Willard&039;s head and brains taken at close range

"My God!" she gasped, and shoved it to the next juror, who gawked in horror, and passed it on They handed it to one another, then to the alternates Buckley took it, and gave Reba another one The ritual continued for thirty minutes until all the pictures were returned to the DA

Then he grabbed the M-16 and thrust it at Ozzie "Can you identify this?"

"Yes, it&039;s the weapon found at the scene"

"Who picked it up at the scene?"

"I did"

"And what did you do with it?"

"Wrapped in a plastic bag and placed in a vault at the jail Kept it locked up until I handed it to Mr Laird with the crime lab in Jackson"

"Your Honor, the State would offer the weapon, Exhibit S-13, into evidence," Buckley said, waving it wildly

"No objections," Jake said

"We have nothing further of this witness," Buckley announced

"Cross-exah his notes as he walked slowly to the podium He had just a few questions for his friend

"Sheriff, did you arrest Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Wil-lard?"

Buckley pushed his chair back and perched his ae, poised to leap and scream if necessary

"Yes I did," answered the sheriff

"For what reason?"

"For the rape of Tonya Hailey," he answered perfectly

"And how old was she at the time she; was raped by Cobb and Willard?"

"She was ten"

"Is it true, Sheriff, that Pete Willard signed a written confession in-"

"Objection! Objection! Your Honor! That&039;s inadance knows it"

Ozzie nodded affir the objection

"Sustained"

Buckley was shaking "I ask that the question be stricken froard it"

"I&039;ll withdraw the question," Jake said to Buckley with a sard the last question froance," Noose instructed the jury

"No further questions," said Jake

"Any redirect examination, Mr Buckley?"

"No, sir"

"Very well Sheriff, you may step down"

Buckley&039;s next witness was a fingerprintthe jurors what they had known for weeks His dramatic final conclusion unmis-

takably linked the prints on M-10 to those of Carl Lee Hailey Then came the ballistics expert fro and uninformative as his predecessor on the stand Yes, without a doubt, the fragments recovered fro there on the table That was his final opinion, and with the charts and diagraet it to the jury Prosecutorial overkill, as Jake called it; a debility suffered by all prosecutors

The defense had no questions for either expert, and at five-fifteen Noose said goodbye to the jurors with strict instructions against discussing the case They nodded politely as they filed froavel and adjourned until nine in the reat civic duty of jury service had grown old rapidly The second night in the Tee&039;s orders Soazines donated by the Clanton library were circulated and quickly discarded, there being little interest aroup in The New Yorker, The Sest

"Got any PenthousesT Clyde Sisco had whispered to the bailiff as he made the rounds He said no, but he&039;d see what he could do

Confined to their rooms with no television, newspapers, or phones, they did little but play cards and talk about the trial A trip to the end of the hall for ice and a soft drink beca the roommates planned and rotated The boredom descended heavily

At each end of the hall two soldiers guarded the darkness and solitude, the stillness interrupted only by the systee for the drink machine

Sleep came early, and when the sentries knocked on the doors at 6:00 AM, all the jurors were awake, some even dressed They devoured Thursday&039;s breakfast of pancakes and sausage, and eagerly boarded the Greyhound at eight for the trip back hoht day the rotunda was crowded by eight o&039;clock The spectators had learned that all seats were taken by eight-thirty Prather opened the door and the crowd filed slowly through the metal detector, past the careful eyes of the deputies and finally into the courtroom, where the blacks filled the left side and the whites the right The front roas again reserved by Hastings for Gwen, Lester, the kids, and other relatives Agee and other council members sat in the second roith the kinfolks who couldn&039;t fit up front Agee was in charge of alternating courtroom duty and outside demonstration duty for the ministers Personally, he

preferred the courtroom duty, wnere ne ieu miss the cameras and reporters which were so abundant on the front lawn To his right, across the aisle, sat the families and friends of the victims They had behaved so far

A few minutes before nine, Carl Lee was escorted fro room The handcuffs were re hi smile at his family and sat in his chair The lawyers took their places and the courtrooh the door beside the jury box, and, satisfied hatever he saw, opened the door and released the jurors to their assigned seats Mr Pate atching all this fro to chambers, and when all was perfect, he stepped forward and yelled: "All rise for the Court!"

Ichabod, draped in his favorite wrinkled and faded black robe, loped to the bench and instructed everyone to have a seat He greeted the jury and questioned them about what happened or didn&039;t happen since yesterday&039;s adjournment

He looked at the lawyers "Where&039;s Mr Musgrove?"

"He&039;s running a bit late, Your Honor We are ready to proceed," Buckley announced

"Call your next witness," Noose ordered Buckley

The pathologist from the state crime lab was located in the rotunda and entered the courtroom Normally, he would have been much too busy for a sis to explain to the jury precisely what killed Cobb and Willard But this was the Hailey case, and he felt compelled to do the job himself It was actually the simplest case he had seen in a while; the bodies were found as they were dying, the weapon ith the bodies, and there were enough holes in the boys to kill them a dozen times Everybody in the world kne those boys died But the DA had insisted on the ical workup, so the doctor took the stand Thursdayladen with photos of the autopsies and multicolored anatomy charts

Earlier in chambers, Jake had offered to stipulate to the causes of death, but Buckley would have no part of it No sir, he wanted the jury to hear and kno they died

"We will admit that they died by multiple wounds from bullets fired from the M-16," Jake had stated precisely

"No, sir I have a right to prove it," Buckley said stubbornly

"But he&039;s offering to stipulate to the causes of death," Noose said incredulously

"I have the right to prove it," Buckley hung on

So he proved it In a classic case of prosecutorial overkill, Buckley proved it For three hours the pathologist talked about how many bullets hit Cobb and how many hit Willard, and what each bullet did upon penetration, and the ghastly dae thereafter The anatomy charts were placed on easels before the jury, and the expert took a plastic, numbered pellet that represented a bullet, and h the body Fourteen pellets for Cobb and eleven for Willard Buckley would ask a question, elicit a response, then interrupt to belabor a point

"Your Honor, ould be glad to stipulate as to the causes of death," Jake announced with great frustration every thirty minutes

"We won&039;t," Buckley replied tersely, and moved to the next pellet

Jake fell into his chair, shook his head, and looked at the jurors, those ere awake

The doctor finished at noon and Noose, tired and numb with boredom, awarded a two-hour lunch break The jurors were awakened by the bailiff and led to the jury room where they dined on barbeque specials on plastic plates, then struck up card games They were forbidden to leave the courthouse

In every s for the quick buck He was the kid who at the age of five set up the first leed twenty-five cents a cup for four ounces of artificially flavored water He knew it tasted awful, but he knew the adults thought he was adorable He was the first kid on the street to purchase a laer on credit at the Western Auto and knock on doors in February to line up_yard work for the summer He was the first kid to pay for his own bike, which

he used forand afternoon paper routes He sent Christust He sold fruitcakes door to door in Nove cartoons, he was at the flea s At the age of twelve he bought his first certificate of deposit He had his own banker At fifteen, he paid cash for his new pickup the saht a trailer to follow the truck and filled it with lawn equipames He was a hustler; a millionaire to be

In Clanton, his nae sixteen He waited nervously in the rotunda until Noose broke for lunch, thenwas so precious that almost none of the spectators left for lunch Sohbors, point at their seats and make sure everybody kneas theirs for the day, then leave for the rest roohly treasured spaces on the pews, and suffered through lunch

Hinky could smell opportunity He could sense people in need On Thursday, just as he had on Wednesday, he rolled a shopping cart down the aisle to the front of the courtroom It was filled with a wide assortment of sandwiches and plate lunches in plastic containers He began yelling toward the far end of the rows, then passing food down to his customers He worked his way slowly toward the rear of the courtroom He was a vicious scalper A tuna salad on white bread went for two dollars; his cost, eighty cents A plate lunch of cold chicken with a few peas went for three dollars; his cost, a buck twenty-five A canned soft drink was one-fifty But they gladly paid his prices and kept their seats He sold out before he reached the fourth row fro orders from the rest of the courtroom Hinky was the man of the hour

With a fistful of orders, he raced froh the crowd of blacks, across Caffey Street and into Claude&039;s He ran to the kitchen, shoved a twenty-dollar bill at the cook and handed him the orders He waited and watched his watch The cook ave him another twenty

The trial ushered a wave of prosperity Claude naa never dreas as dery lined the sidewalk, waiting in the heat and haze for a table After the lunch recess on Monday, he had dashed around Clanton buying every folding card table andchair set he could find At lunch the aisles disappeared, forcing his waitresses toand between the rows of people, virtually all of ere black

The trial was the only topic of conversation On Wednesday, the composition of the jury had been hotly conde dislike for the prosecutor

"I hear tell he wants to run for governor"

"He Democrat or Republican?"

"Democrat"

"He can&039;t ithout the black vote, not in this state"

"Yeah, and he ain&039;t likely to get much after this trial"

"I hope he tries"

"He acts more like a Republican"

In pretrial Clanton, the noon hour began ten , tanned, pretty, coolly dressed secretaries froencies, and courthouse left their desks and took to the sidewalks During lunch they ran errands around the square They went to the post office They did their banking They shopped Most of theht their food at the Chinese Deli and ate on the park benches under the shade trees around the courthouse They azebo in front of the courthouse attracted eant It was an unwritten rule in Clanton that an office girl on the square got a headstart on lunch and did not have to return until one The irls

But the trial changed things The shade trees around the courthouse were in a combat zone The cafes were full froers who couldn&039;t get seats in the courtrooirls ran their errands and ate at their desks

At the Tea Shoppe the bankers and other white collars discussed the trialperceived Of particular concern was the Klan Not a single custo been forgotten in north Mississippi But the vultures loved the white robes, and as far as the outside world knew, Clanton, Mississippi, was the ho there They cussed the press for keeping them there

For lunch Thursday, the Coffee Shop offered the daily special of country-fried pork chops, turnip greens, and either candied yams, creamed corn, or fried okra Dell served the specials to a packed house that was evenly divided aners, and soldiers The unwritten but fir to anyone with a beard or funny accent was strictly enforced, and for a friendly people it ard not to sht-lipped arrogance had long since replaced the wariven to the visitors in the first few days after the shootings Too many of the press hounds had betrayed their hosts and printed unkind, unflattering, and unfair words about the county and its people It was a how they could arrive in packs from all over and within twenty-four hours become experts on a place they had never heard of and a people they had never met

The locals had watched the the sheriff, the prosecutor, the defense lawyer, or anybody whoThey watched thery wolves to pounce on the defendant, as invariably surrounded by cops, and who invariably ignored them as they yelled the same ridiculous questions at him The locals watched with distaste as they kept their ca for thethose elements appear to be the norm

They watched thee crap all over her face?" Ti in a booth by theJack Jones crunched on his okra and studied the orange face

"I think it&039;s so they use for the cameras Makes her face look white on TV"

"But it&039;s already white"