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“Gentleh tiives theives you no license to ignore the plain facts in front of you”

What facts? I thought Moody’s drau like a great lawyer; he hadn’t even bothered to counter that revelation He was counting on the famous prejudices of white juries to carry the day for him

“Mr Corbett quoted the Good Book to you He quoted a verse from First Samuel Well, I too would like to leave you with a phrase from God’s holy word The book of Exodus”

He paused, and then spoke in a clear, loud voice: “Thou… shalt… not… lie!”

That was it? That was Lewis’s big dramatic finish?

I wanted to laugh, and I could swear I saw my father roll his eyes

Chapter 123

JUDGE CORBETT’S INSTRUCTIONS to the jury:

“All right, that brings the evidentiary phase of this proceeding to a close,” said the judge

He rubbed his chin, then adjusted his spectacles He took a sheet of paper from a folder and placed it in front of him

“Gentlemen of the jury, I need not re our little to, because of this case You have seen the signs of it—the streets of our town are filled with strangers, including, but not lientlemen of the press And I understand that over at the Slide Inn Café they keep running out of chocolate pie as fast as they can make it”

He paused, waiting for a laugh

It didn’t come

The courtroom was too tense for frivolities now

The sight of all those soldiers outside had made everyone nervous