A time to kill

They were watched closely. The two front rows, the one on the right in front of the blacks and the one on the left in front of the whites, were occupied by two dozen journalists of various sorts. Some took notes while some sketched the defendant, his lawyer, and now finally, the judge.

"They gonna make this nigger a hero," mumbled one of the rednecks, loud enough for the reporters.

When Bullard assumed the bench, the deputies locked the rear door.

"Call your first witness," he ordered in the direction of Rocky Childers.

"The State calls Sheriff Ozzie Walls."

The sheriff was sworn and took the stand. He relaxed and began a long narrative describing the scene of the shooting, the bodies, the wounds, the gun, the fingerprints on the gun and the fingerprints of the defendant. Childers produced an affidavit signed by Officer Looney and witnessed by the sheriff and Moss Junior. It identified the gunman as Carl Lee. Ozzie verified Looney's signature and read the affidavit into the record.

"Sheriff, do you know of any other eyewitness?" asked Childers with no enthusiasm.

"Yes, Murphy, the janitor."

"What's his first name?"

"Nobody knows. He's just Murphy."

"Okay. Have you talked to him?"

"No, but my investigator did."

"Who is your investigator?"

"Officer Rady."

Rady was sworn and seated in the witness chair. Mr. Pate fetched the judge another cup of ice water from chambers. Jake took pages of notes. He would call no witnesses, and he chose not to cross-examine the sheriff. Occasionally, the State's witnesses would get their lies confused in a preliminary, and Jake would ask a few questions on cross-examination to nail down, for the record, the discrepancies. Later at trial when the lying started again, Jake would produce the testimony from the preliminary to further confuse the liars. But not today.

"Sir, have you had an occasion to talk with Murphy?" Childers asked.

"Murphy who?"

"I don't know-just Murphy, the janitor."

"Oh him. Yes, sir."

"Good. What did he say?"

"About what?"

Childers hung his head. Rady was new, and had not testified much. Ozzie thought this would be good practice.

"About the shooting! Tell us what he told you about the shooting."

Jake stood. "Your Honor. I object. I know hearsay is admissible in a preliminary, but this Murphy fella is available. He works here in the courthouse. Why not let him testify?"

"Because he stutters," replied Bullard.

"What!"

"He stutters. And I don't want to hear him stutter for the next thirty minutes. Objection overruled. Continue, Mr. Childers."

Jake sat in disbelief. Bullard snickered at Mr. Pate, who left for more ice water.

"Now, Mr. Rady, what did Murphy tell you about the shooting?"

"Well, he's hard to understand because he was so excited, and when he gets excited he stutters real bad. I mean he stutters anyway, but-"

"Just tell us what he said!" Bullard shouted.

"Okay. He said he saw a male black shoot the two white boys and the deputy."

"Thank you," said Childers. "Now where was he when this took place?"

"Who?"

"Murphy!"

"He was sittin' on the stairs directly opposite the stairs where they got shot."

"And he saw it all?"

"Said he did."

"Has he identified the gunman?"

"Yes, we showed him photos of ten male blacks, and he identified the defendant, sittin' over there."

"Good. Thank you. Your Honor, we have nothing further."

"Any questions, Mr. Brigance?" asked the judge.

"No, sir," Jake said as he stood.

"Any witnesses?"

"No, sir."

"Any requests, motions, anything?"

"No, sir."

Jake knew better than to request bail. First, it would do no good. Bullard would not set bail for capital murder. Second, it would make the judge look bad.

"Thank you, Mr. Brigance. The court finds sufficient evidence exists to hold this defendant for action by the Ford County grand jury. Mr. Hailey shall remain in the custody of the sheriff, without bond. Court's adjourned."

Carl Lee was quickly handcuffed and escorted from the courtroom. The area around the rear door downstairs was sealed and guarded. The cameras outside caught a glimpse of the defendant between the door and the waiting patrol car. He was in jail before the spectators cleared the courtroom.

The deputies directed the whites on one side to leave first, followed by the blacks.

The reporters requested some of Jake's time, and they were instructed to meet him in the rotunda in a few minutes. He made them wait by first going to chambers and giving his regards to the judge. Then he walked to the third floor to check on a book. When the courtroom was empty and they had waited long enough, he walked through the rear door, into the rotunda and faced the cameras.

A microphone with red letters on it was thrust into his face. "Why didn't you request bond?" a reporter demanded.

"That comes later."

"Will Mr. Hailey plead an insanity defense?"

"As I've stated, it's too early to answer that question. We must now wait for the grand jury-he may not be indicted. If he is, we'll start planning his defense."

"Mr. Buckley, the D.A., has stated he expects easy convictions. Any comment?"