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“You heard the testimony as it was presented,” he said “And now it is up to you to decide the truth as you see it, using the laws of our great state of Mississippi as your guide

“Once you decide this case,” he went on, “those reporters rite their stories, and then they’ll leave Once the circus is gone and the streets are quiet again, we folks in Eudora will be left with… each other”

I had heard e to a jury alistic Today, for so unusually lyrical

“And what you decide in that jury roo time… the e live our lives in this town”

Suddenly he seeain, he was all business

“You will adjourn to the jury rooht outside your door, if there’s anything you need”

The jury e Corbett had finished his instructions

But he was not quite done

“One other thing, gentle the defense counsel just as ive you my point of view on a matter he chose to address”

He clai to the jurors, but his eyes stayed on Maxwell Lewis the whole time

“The people ash your clothes and pick your cotton are every bit as capable of telling the truth as any other kind of people”

Lewis’s face flushed so red I thought he ht explode

But I knew exactly what my father was up to For the spectators and journalists, some of whoueousa statement of racial tolerance

I was neither a spectator nor a journalist, however I wasn’t buying his act for a h fifty-four objections that were overruled fifty-three tied the prosecution’s chances of getting a fair trial in his court

The judge banged the gavel I had given him “Gentlemen, kindly repair to the jury room and do your job”