A time to kill

"Pick your best five, Mr. Buckley. I don't plan to be here all day."

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Mr. Brigance, you've asked for a change of venue. It's your motion. You may proceed."

Jake stood and walked slowly across the courtroom, behind Buckley, to the wooden podium in front of the jury box. "May it please the court, Your Honor, Mr. Hailey has requested that his trial be moved from Ford County. The reason is obvious: the publicity in this case will prevent a fair trial. The good people of this county have prejudged the guilt or innocence of Carl Lee Hailey. He is charged with killing two men, both of whom were born here and left families here. Their lives were not famous, but their deaths certainly have been. Mr. Hailey was known by few outside his community until now. Now everyone in this county knows who he is, knows about his family and his daughter and what happened to her, and knows most of the details of his alleged crimes. It will be impossible to find twelve people in Ford County who have not already prejudged this case. This trial should be held in another part of the state where the people are not so familiar with the facts."

"Where would you suggest?" interrupted the judge.

"I wouldn't recommend a specific county, but it should be as far away as possible. Perhaps the Gulf Coast."

"Why?"

"Obvious reasons, Your Honor. It's four hundred miles away, and I'm sure the people down there do not know as much as the people around here."

"And you think the people in south Mississippi haven't heard about it?"

"I'm sure they have. But they are much further away."

"But they have televisions and newspapers, don't they, Mr. Brigance?"

"I'm sure they do."

"Do you believe you could go to any county in this state and find twelve people who haven't heard the details of this case?"

Jake looked at his legal pad. He could hear the artists sketching on their pads behind him. He could see Buckley

grinning out ot the corner of his eye. "It would be difficult," he said quietly.

"Call your first witness."

Harry Rex Vonner was sworn in and took his seat on the witness stand. The wooden swivel chair popped and creaked under the heavy load. He blew into the microphone and a loud hiss echoed around the courtroom. He smiled at Jake and nodded.

"Would you state your name?"

"Harry Rex Vonner."

"And your address?"

"Eighty-four ninety-three Cedarbrush, Clanton, Mississippi."

"How long have you lived in Clanton?"

"All my life. Forty-six years."

"Your occupation?"

"I'm a lawyer. I've had my license for twenty-two years."

"Have you ever met Carl Lee Hailey?"

"Once."

"What do you know about him?"

"He supposedly shot two men, Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Willard, and he wounded a deputy, DeWayne Looney."

"Did you Know either of those boys?"

"Not personally. I knew of Billy Ray Cobb."

"How did you learn of the shootings?"

"Well, it happened on a Monday, I believe. I was in the courthouse, on the first floor, checking title on some land in the clerk's office, when I heard the gunshots. I ran out into the hall and bedlam had broken loose. I asked a deputy and he told me that the boys had been killed near the back door of the courthouse. I hung around here for a while, and pretty soon there was a rumor that the killer was the father of the little girl who got raped."

"What was your initial reaction?"

"I was shocked, like most people. But I was shocked when I first heard of the rape too."

"When did you learn that Mr, Hailey had been arrested?"

"Later that night. It was all over the television."

"What did you see on TV?"

"Well, I watched as much of it as I could. There were news reports from the local stations in Memphis and Tupelo. We've got the cable, you know, so I watched the news out of New York, Chicago, and Atlanta. Just about every channel had something about the shootings and the arrest. There was footage from the courthouse and jail. It was a big deal. Biggest thing that ever happened in Clanton, Mississippi."

"How did you react when you learned that the girl's father had supposedly done the shooting?"

"It was no big surprise to me. I mean, we all sort of figured it was him. I admired him. I've got kids, and I sympathize with what he did. I still admire him."

"How much do you know about the rape?"

Buckley leapt to his feet. "Objection! The rape is irrelevant!"

Noose ripped off his glasses again and stared angrily at the D.A. Seconds passed and Buckley glanced at the table. He shifted his weight from one foot to the next, then sat down. Noose leaned forward and glared down from the bench.