A time to kill

Guardia:
Juez:
Carl Lee Hailey:
Jake T. Brigance:
D.A.:
Cora Mae Cobb:
Sheriff:
Deputy Dwayne:
Ellen Roark:
Dr. Wilbert:
Dr. Willard:

Audiencia Preliminar

Guardia: All rise! (Se paran todos)

Court is in session. The Honorable Omar Noose presiding.

Juez: Good afternoon, citizens.

Be seated...
Counsel, and you, sir... are you Carl Lee Hailey?

Carl Lee H.: Yes, sir...

Juez: Alright Mr. Hailey.

I am holding a copy of an indictment returned by the grand jury of Mississippi presenting that “Carl Lee Hailey
did murder Billy Ray Cobb, a human being and James Willard, a human being and did attempt to kill Dwayne
Looney a peace officer against the peace and dignity of Mississippi”.
... Do you understand the charges against you?

Carl Lee H.: Yes.

Juez: How do you wish to plead?

Carl Lee H.: Not guilty, your honor.

Jake T. Brigance: The defense enters a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Juez: Your trial is set for July 22. All pre-trial motions and matters should be filed by July 8. Anything further?

D.A.: Yes, your honor.

In response to the insanity plea the State requests the defendant be examined by its own doctors.

Juez: Granted.

D.A.: Additionally, the State opposes any request for bail.

Jake T. Brigance: But your honor, we have not yet asked for bail.
Now Governor Buckley you cannot oppose a request until one is made.
D.A.: Your honor, even Mr. Brigance's meager legal experience should have taught him two things, number
one I have not been elected governor, yet... and number two he is required to request bail.
The State opposes any request.

Juez: In the future, why don't we wait till he makes the request.

Jake T. Brigance: Thank you, your honor.

Your honor, we would like to request bail.

Juez: Denied.
I never allow bail in a murder case and I don't feel an exception is called for today.

Jake T. Brigance: Good enough.

Your honor, we will be filing for a change of venue.

Juez: Yeah, I anticipated this.

Let me save you some time Mr. Brigance, your motion is denied.

Jake T. Brigance: But your honor, we have not yet filed.

We are simply indicating our intent to file in writing... (Lo interrumpe el juez)

Juez: I said, “Request denied.”

Jake T. Brigance: Your honor... how can you summarily deny this request?
It is quite clear that Carl Lee Hailey cannot receive a fair trial here in Canton.

Juez: That´s enough, sidebar.

Jake T. Brigance: Your honor, we have a right...

(Se acercan ambas partes, P.A. y Jake T. Brigance al juez)

Juez: I will not tolerate grandstanding in my courtroom. Go back to work.

(Camina Ellen Roark desde el público y asienta un papel en donde se encuentra la defensa)

(Ambas partes regresan a su lugar)

(Jake T. Brigance lee la hoja que le dejaron)

Jake T. Brigance: Your honor... It would be remiss not to tell you that in State vs. Johnson and State vs. Fisher
both in 1985, “Failure to probably consider a change of venue has been a reversible decision on appeal to the
State Supreme Court”.

Juez: No trial judge likes his rulings overturned.

I guess you get to submit that brief after all. Have it on my desk Tuesday.
... Mr. Hailey you are hereby ordered to remain in custody of the Madison County Sheriff until trial.
Dismissed. (Golpea)

(APROXIMADAMENTE 4 MINUTOS)

Juicio

(Cora Mae Cobb, ya lista para testificar)

Juez: Mr. Buckley... you may begin.

D.A.: Thanks, your honor. Good morning.
... You are Cora Mae Cobb, the mother of Billy Ray Cobb, are you not?

Cora Mae: Yes, sir.

D.A.: Where were you when your son was murdered?

Cora Mae: I was right outside that door right there. (Señala la puerta)
Me and Freddie was waiting for his hearing.
Billy was walking up the stairs... in handcuffs.

D.A.: Can you tell us how old your son was at the time of his death?

Cora Mae: 23.

D.A.: You said your son was 23 when he died?

Cora Mae: Yes.

Jake T. Brigance: In those 23 years, Mrs. Cobb, how many other children did your son kidnap?

D.A.: Objection, Your Honor! Objection! (Gritando)

Juez: Sustained. You are out of order Mr. Brigance.

Jake T. Brigance: Withdraw the question.

Juez: The jury will disregard the last question from Mr. Brigance.

Jake T. Brigance: Mrs. Cobb, in your son's 23 years ...how many other children did he rape?

Juez: Mr. Brigance, in my chambers.

Court will recess for lunch.

(APROXIMADAMENTE 3 MINUTOS)

(De regreso a la corte)

(Sheriff Ozzie listo para testificar)

D.A.: If you would, can you please identify this weapon?

Sheriff: The weapon found at the scene.

D.A.: Were you able to identify any of the fingerprints found on this gun?

Sheriff: Yes, the prints on the gun matched those of Carl Lee Hailey.

D.A.: You're sure?

Sheriff: Yes.

D.A.: Your honor, I would like to enter this into evidence as Exhibit S-18... (Entrega el arma como evidencia)
We have no further use of this witness.
Jake T. Brigance: Sheriff Walls... did you arrest Cobb and Willard?

Sheriff: Yes, I did. I arrested them for the rape and attempted murder of 10-year-old Tonya Hailey.

Jake T. Brigance: Is it true that Pete Willard signed a written confession saying that he and Billy Ray Cobb did
rape Tonya Hailey?

D.A.: Objection your honor! That's inadmissible, and Mr. Brigance knows it.

Juez: Mr. Brigance, I’ve spoken to you before.

We are not trying the rape of Miss Hailey today, but the murder of two young men, and if you continue in this
performance... I’ll hold you in contempt.
Is that understood?

Jake T. Brigance: Yes, sir. I have no further questions your honor.

Sheriff: Yes.

Juez: You say something Sheriff?

Sheriff: Yes, he did sign a confession.

D.A.: Objection you honor!

Juez: Jurors... you will disregard the last remark of Sheriff Walls.
Court is adjourned till tomorrow morning,9 o clock. (Golpea)

(APROXIMADAMENTE 2 MINUTOS)

(Siguiente parte del juicio=

D.A.: Your Honor, the State calls Deputy Dwayne Looney.

(Dwayne Looney pasa a testificar en muletas)

D.A.: Good morning. Would you please say your name for the record?

Dwayne Looney: Deputy Dwayne Powell Looney.

D.A.: Thank you, Deputy Looney.

Were you present at the murders of Billy Ray Cobb and James Lewis Willard?

Dwayne Looney: Yes, sir.

D.A.: If you can remember... describe how you were wounded for the members of the jury.

Dwayne Looney: I think bullets bounced off the floor, caught me in the knee.

D.A.: And what happened to your leg?

Dwayne Looney: Doc cut it off.

D.A.: After the loss of your right leg, detective... are you still able to serve as a police officer?

Dwayne Looney: I’m able to perform a number of services.

D.A.: Did you get a good look to the man with the gun?

Dwayne Looney: No, sir.

But Mr. Hailey did... personally apologize for his shooting me.

D.A.: OH! (Sarcastico) So Mr. Hailey admitted shooting you.

Dwayne Looney: Yes, sir.

D.A.: I have no further questions, your honor.

Juez: Mr. Brigance?

Jake T. Brigance: No questions, your honor.

Carl Lee H.: Wait a minute.

Juez: Mr. Buckley?

D.A.: Yes, your honor. The State would like to call Dr... (Lo interrumpen)

Jake T. Brigance: Can I have a moment to speak with my client?

Juez: Take your time.

(Hablan y hacen como que susurran y discuten) (Se para Jake T. Brigance)

Jake T. Brigance: Your honor, one question.

Juez: Make up your mind, Mr. Brigance.

Jake T. Brigance: Deputy Looney, do you think Carl Lee shot you intentionally?

Dwayne Looney: No, sir, it was an accident.

Jake T. Brigance: You think he should be punished for shooting you?

Dwayne Looney: No, sir. I hold no ill will toward the man. He did what I would have done.

Jake T. Brigance: What do you mean by that?

Dwayne Looney: I mean, I don't blame him for what he did. Those boys raped his little girl.

D.A.: Objection! The witness's opinion on this matter is irrelevant.

Jake T. Brigance: Your Honor... I believe Deputy Looney has earned the right to speak here today.

Juez: Overruled. Continue.

Jake T. Brigance: Go ahead, Dwayne.

Dwayne Looney: I got a little girl, if somebody rapes her, he's a dead dog. I’ll blow him away just like Carl Lee
did.
D.A.: Objection your honor! (Gritando)
Jake T. Brigance: You think the jury should convict Carl Lee Hailey?

Juez: Don't answer that question detective.

Dwayne Looney: He's a hero. You turn him loose.

Juez: The jury will disregard... (Lo interrumpe Dwayne gritando)

Dwayne Looney: Turn him loose!

D.A.: Your honor, silence that witness!

Dwayne Looney: Turn him loose!

Juez: Silence! Any more of that nonsense and you're all out of here!
(Pasa a declarar Dr. Wilbert)
Mr. Buckley, you may begin.

D.A.: Thank you, Your Honor.

Please state your name and occupation for the members of the jury.

Dr. Wilbert: My name is Dr. Wilbert Rodeheaver, Chair of Psychiatry at Mississippi State and Director of the
Whitfield Facility for the Criminally Insane.

D.A.: Thank you doctor, your credentials speak for themselves.

So, doctor, can you explain, as you do so eloquently in your book the McNaughton Rule for the jury?

Dr. Wilbert: Certainly. The McNaughton Rule states a person must be unable to tell right from wrong and/ or
be unaware of the consequences of his actions to be termed legally insane.

D.A.: You examined Mr. Hailey?

Dr. Wilbert: Yes, Mr. Hailey and I spoke about his childhood, his family his experiences during the war.

D.A.: And the rape of his daughter?

Dr. Wilbert: Yes, we spoke at length about the brutal rape of his daughter Tonya.

D.A.: What is your diagnosis of Mr. Hailey's mental condition on the day that he shot Billy Ray Cobb and
James Lewis Willard?

Dr. Wilbert: At the time of the murders, his mental condition was without any defects of any nature. Mr. Hailey
was sane.

D.A.: (Sarcasticamente) Wait a minute. The defense contends... Mr. Brigance has gone to great effort to prove
to this jury that Mr. Hailey is a nutball... is a slow coach... or what is the clinical definition? INSANE.
Do you disagree? (Viendo al Dr.)

Dr. Wilbert: Yes!

Carl Lee Hailey knew very well what he was doing. He slaughtered those men in cold blood.

D.A.: Thank you, doctor. I have no further questions, your honor.

Juez: The cross-examination, Mr. Brigance?

Jake T. Brigance: I need a minute your honor.

(Camina Ellen Roark desde el público y le entrega un papel a Jake, susurran)

Jake T. Brigance: Just a few questions, your honor.

Dr. Who do you work for?

Dr. Wilbert: The State of Mississippi.

Jake T. Brigance: You´ve been 11 years working for the state ...how many trials did you testify in that used the
insanity defense?

Dr. Wilbert: This is my 46th trial.

Jake T. Brigance: 46th trial.

Of those 46 trials... how many times have you testified the defendant was legally insane?

D.A.: Objection, your honor! The doctor cannot be asked to recall all of his testimony at those trials. It's absurd.

Juez: Overruled.

Jake T. Brigance: Thank you, your honor.

Dr. Wilbert: I can´t remember.

Jake T. Brigance: Could the reason you can't remember be that in 11 years and 46 trials whom you found insane?

Dr. Wilbert: I can't recall at this time.

Jake T. Brigance: Can you recall testifying at Dan Baker's trial?

D.A.: Objection! This has nothing to do with the proceedings here.

Juez: Overruled.
This better be good, Mr. Brigance.

Jake T. Brigance: Thank you, your honor. I´ll ask again. Can you recall testifying at the trial of Dan Baker?
It’s a rather brutal double homicide where you found the defendant sane?

Dr. Wilbert: Yes.

Jake T. Brigance: A dissenting psychiatrist disagreed with you, doctor.

And Mr. Baker was found insane and institutionalized.
Where is he currently?

Dr. Wilbert: At Whitfield.

Jake T. Brigance: And, who is the chief psychiatrist there?

Dr. Wilbert: I am.

Jake T. Brigance: You are. Dr. Wilbert is the chief psychiatrist at Whitfield. Now help me make this clear to
the jury, doctor.
In 1985 you testified that Dan Baker was legally sane. The jury disagreed with you. And Mr. Baker was found
not guilty by reason of insanity, since then he has been a patient in your hospital as a paranoid schizophrenic.
Is that correct?
Dr. Wilbert: Yes.

Jake T. Brigance: Do you normally admit patients keep and treat them for 10 years if they are of sound mind?

Dr. Wilbert: Of course not.

Jake T. Brigance: Then it would be fair to say that you find insane people sane for the purposes of trial?

D.A.: Objection! This is argumentative!

Jake T. Brigance: Withdraw the question your honor. Nothing further.

(SIGUIENTE AUDIENCIA)

Juez: Mr. Brigance, you may call your first witness.

Jake T. Brigance: Yes, your honor. The defense calls Dr. Willard Tyrrel Bass.

(Pasa el doctor al estrado)

Jake T. Brigance: Dr. Would you explain to the jury the effect his daughter's rape had on Mr. Hailey's condition?

Dr. Willard: Tonya's rape caused a relapse, a temporary break with reality.

Jake T. Brigance: But yesterday, a Dr. Rodeheaver suggested that Mr. Hailey's act of calculation was the
definition of sanity.

Dr. Willard: That's ridiculous. Many of the most famous schizophrenics are calculating. John Hinckley, for
example. Calculating. And legally insane.

Jake T. Brigance: So, Dr. Bass, how would you diagnose Mr. Hailey at the time of the murder?

Dr. Willard: Mr. Hailey experienced a recurrence of a dissociative condition as a result of the trauma caused by
his daughter's rape.
Now, since Mr. Hailey was unaware of the reality of his actions he couldn't tell right from wrong. He could not
understand the consequences of his actions. He was, therefore, legally insane.
Jake T. Brigance: Couldn't tell right from wrong, or understand the consequences of his actions.
Therefore, legally insane.
Thank you, Dr. Bass. Your honor, I have no further questions.

Juez: Mr. Buckley?

D.A.: Good morning. Dr. Bass could you please state for the record your full name?

Dr. Willard: Willard Tyrrel Bass.

D.A.: Tyrrel Bass. That's a very unique name.

Now, Doctor... have you ever been convicted of a felony?

Dr. Willard: No, of course not.

D.A.: You´re sure?

Dr. Willard: Yeah

D.A.: As certain of that as you are of the testimony you've just given to this jury?

Dr. Willard: Of course.

D.A.: So, let me just understand this now since you are under oath.
You're telling me, and this jury, that on October 17th, 1960 you weren't convicted of statutory rape?

Jake T. Brigance: Objection! Dr. Bass is not on trial.

D.A.: Your honor, this goes to show the credibility of the witness.

Juez: Overruled. Continue Mr. Buckley.

D.A.: Thank you, Thank you. Now, Doctor, were you convicted of statutory rape?

Dr. Willard: You got the wrong man.

D.A.: Really? I have some interesting photographs of you with an underage female in a motel by the Dallas
police on September 11th, 1960.
Would you like to look at these images and see if they refresh your memory?
No. I didn’t think so.
Your honor, we would like to introduce into evidence these records showing that on September 15th, 1960 this
man, one Tyrrel Bass, pled guilty, to statutory rape.
Now, Doctor, I’m going to ask you one last time... were you or were you not convicted of statutory rape?

Dr. Willard: I can explain.

D.A.: I’m not interested on your explanation doctor. Just answer the question, yes or no.

Dr. Willard: Yes, I was.

D.A.: I have nothing further.

Juez: Redirect, Mr. Brigance?

Jake T. Brigance: None, your honor.

Juez: Mr. Carl Lee Hailey, it´s your time to declare.

Jake T. Brigance: And how did you feel?

Carl L. Hailey: I felt... I don't know. It was like I was outside myself, watching myself.
All the while I kept hearing my baby say “I called for you, Daddy. When them men was hurting me, I called
for you over and over but you didn't never come.”

Jake T. Brigance: Thank you, Mr. Hailey. I have no further questions your honor.

Juez: Mr. Buckley

D.A.: Mr. Hailey, before you stepped outside yourself to watch yourself shoot Willard and Cobb were you
aware that if convicted they might be freed in only 10 years?

Carl L. Hailey: Yes, I heard people say that.

D.A.: You think men who kidnap a child should be free in 10 years?
Carl L. Hailey: No, sir.

D.A.: You think two men who rape a child should be free?
Carl L. Hailey: No, sir.

D.A.: You think two men who hang a child should be free in 10 years?

Carl L. Hailey: No, sir.

(Todos gritando)

D.A.: What do you think should happen to them? (Gritando y presionando)

Jake T. Brigance: Objection your honor!

D.A.: Do you think they deserve to die?!

Jake T. Brigance: Don´t answer de question

Carl L. Hailey: Yes, they deserved to die and I hope they burn in hell!

D.A.: I have nothing further, your honor.

Juez: Summations begin tomorrow. Court adjourned. (Golpea)

Summations

D.A.: Is Carl Lee Hailey insane? It’s a notion so outrageous... the only witness the defense could produce to
support it was a convicted felon. Carl Lee Hailey is not insane. This is a man who is a confessed murderer.
This is a man who admitted on this stand to carrying out the sentences that he believed the alleged rapists of his
daughter deserved! He's taken justice out of your hands! And put it in his own. And with those hands he took
the lives of two young men!
We feel terrible over what happened to his daughter. But feeling terrible and knowing something is wrong does
not give any of us a right to kill.
Everyone, your duty is clear. All in this courtroom know the truth. All in this state know the truth. Now you
need only find the courage to speak the words: “Carl Lee Hailey is guilty!”
Guilty!
Guilty!
State rests, Your Honor.

Jake T. Brigance: Now, I had a great summation all worked out, full of some sharp lawyering, but I’m not doing
it. I’m here to apologize. I am young, and I am inexperienced.
But you cannot hold Carl Lee Hailey responsible for my shortcomings.
In all this legal maneuvering something got lost. That something is the truth.
It is incumbent upon us lawyers not to just talk about the truth but to actually seek it, to find it, to live it. My
teacher taught me that.
Let's take Dr. Bass, for example. Obviously, I would never knowingly put a convicted felon on the stand. I hope
you believe that. But what is the truth? That he's a disgraced liar? What if I told you that the woman he was
accused of raping was 17 and he was 23, and that she became his wife,
bore his child and is still married to him? Does that make his testimony more or less true?
What in us seeks truth? Our minds... or is it our hearts?
I tried to prove blacks could get a fair trial in the South, that we are all equal in the eyes of the law. That's not
the truth. The eyes of the law are human eyes yours and mine, and until we can see each other as equals, justice
is never going to be evenhanded. It remains and will only reflect our own prejudices.
So, until that day we have a duty under, God to seek the truth not with eyes, not with our minds, where fear and
hate turn commonality into prejudice but with our hearts but we don't know better.

I want to tell you a story. Please close your eyes while I tell it. I want you to listen to me. I want you to listen
to yourselves.
Go ahead.
Close your eyes, please.
This is a story about a little girl walking home from the grocery store one sunny afternoon. I want you to picture
this girl. Suddenly a truck race up. Two men grab her. They drag her into a nearby field and they tie her up...
then rip off her clothes. And they climb on. First one, then the other... raping her shattering everything innocent
and pure with a vicious thrust... in a fog of drunken breath and sweat. And when they're done, after they've
killed her tiny womb, murdered any chance for her to bear children, to have life beyond her own they use her
for target practice. So, they start throwing full beer cans at her. They throw them so hard that it tears the flesh
all the way to her bones. Then they urinate on her. Now comes the hanging. They have a rope. They tie a noose.
Imagine the noose coiling tight around her neck and a sudden blinding jerk.
She's pulled into the air and her feet go kicking, they don't find the ground. The hanging branch isn't strong
enough. It snaps and she falls back to earth. So, they pick her up throw her in the back, drive to Foggy Creek
Bridge pitch her over the edge. And she drops some 30 feet down to the creek bottom.
Can you see her?
Her raped... beaten… broken body... soaked in their urine... soaked in their semen... soaked in her blood... left
to die.
Can you see her?
I want you to picture that little girl....
Now, imagine she's white.
The defense rests.