Dead Man Walking Page #3

what I done wrong.

Life's plowed them over. He started

getting in trouble when he was 15.

- Every kid does when he's 15.

- His dad was never around.

Most of your kids in the projects

are raised by single parents.

They're not raping and killing.

You're being suckered.

There you go again, Louie.

What about the parents

of these victims?

- Are you seeing and counseling them?

- You think they'd talk to me?

Aren't there people in your

neighborhood that need help?

Yes, Mom.

I'm still working with them.

Why visit murderers?

They're at the end of the line.

For all the energy and resources

you're putting into them...

...you could be keeping

other kids from going to prison.

Mama's friends, the Pierres,

read an article...

...which mentioned your name

with Poncelet.

My name was in the paper?

It has nothing to do with that.

I am just curious.

Helen, what has drawn you to this?

Mama, I don't know.

I feel caught more than drawn.

The man's in trouble and, for some

reason, I'm the only one he trusts.

Your heart's in the right place...

...but a full heart

shouldn't follow an empty head.

Or an empty stomach.

As a child you always

brought home strays.

If we'd taken in all those dogs and

cats, we couldn't have fed the family.

Your heart is large.

Just take care that others

don't take advantage of it.

I'd hate to see that.

All right, Mama.

My daddy took me to a bar

when I was 12...

...and told me to pick my whiskey.

There was all these bottles

behind the bar and I said:

"I'll take that one

with the pretty turkey on it."

The guys in the bar

laughed their butts off.

We got drunk as coots that night.

My daddy was a good man.

Sharecropper, hard worker.

That's the one thing I got from him:

working hands.

- How old were you when he died?

- 14.

Why's you a nun?

I was drawn to it, I guess.

That's a hard question to answer.

It's like asking why you're a convict.

- Bad luck.

- Good luck, then.

I had a loving family,

a lot of support.

I guess I felt obliged

to give some of it back.

Don't you miss having a man?

Don't you want to get married,

fall in love, have sex?

You don't want to talk about it?

Well, I have close friends,

men and women.

I haven't experienced sexual intimacy,

but there's other ways of being close.

You sharing your dreams,

your thoughts, your feelings.

That's being intimate too.

We got intimacy right now,

don't we, Sister?

I went to see your mother.

She said she'd appear

at the pardon board hearing...

...if you want her to.

I like being alone with you.

You're looking real good to me.

Look at you.

Death is breathing down your neck...

...and you're playing your

little-man-on-the-make games.

I'm not here for your amusement,

Matthew. Show some respect.

Why? Because you're a nun

and you wear a little cross?

Because I'm a person.

Every person deserves respect.

What's the answer?

What'll it be with your mama?

Mattie had a hard life...

...but he was a good boy.

When he was 6, he--

He--

Ladies and gentlemen, let's be honest.

You're not gonna find

many rich people on death row.

Matthew Poncelet's here today

because he's poor.

Didn't have money so he had

to take what the State gave him.

He got a tax lawyer who'd never

tried a capital case before.

An amateur.

The jury selection took four hours.

The trial lasted five days.

The lawyer raised one objection

the entire trial.

Now, if Matthew

had himself some money...

...well, he could've hired

a team of crackerjack lawyers...

...and they would have hired top-notch

investigators, a ballistics expert...

...a psychologist to compile

profiles of desirable jurors.

And you can be sure...

...Matthew Poncelet wouldn't be

sitting here today before you...

...asking for his life.

The death penalty.

It's nothing new,

been with us for centuries.

We've buried people alive,

lopped off their heads...

...burned them alive in public,

gruesome spectacles.

I wanted them to see these pictures.

In this century, we kept searching

for more and more humane ways...

...of killing people we didn't like.

We've shot them with firing squads,

suffocated them in gas chambers.

But now...

Now we have developed a device...

...that is the most humane of all:

Lethal injection.

We strap the guy up. We anesthetize

him with shot number one.

Then we give him shot number two

which implodes his lungs.

And shot number three stops his heart.

We put him to death

just like an old horse.

His face just goes to sleep...

...while inside, his organs

are going through Armageddon.

His facial muscles would contort, but

shot number one relaxes those muscles.

So we don't have to see

any horror show.

We don't have to taste

the blood of revenge...

...while this human being's organs

writhe, twist, contort.

We just sit there quietly,

nod our heads and say:

"Justice has been done."

It has been six years since the

brutal and reprehensible murders...

...of Hope Percy and Walter Delacroix.

And justice is long past due.

Matt Poncelet has had a lengthy,

thorough court review.

Both a trial and

a retrial for sentencing...

...as well as many appeals

to state and federal courts...

...and successive petitions

filed by Mr. Barber.

There's been no doubt in the

court's mind about who did the murder.

Matthew Poncelet is not a good boy.

He is a heartless killer.

These murders were calculated,

disgusting and cruel.

This man shot Walter Delacroix

two times in the back of his head.

And raped Hope Percy

and stabbed her 17 times...

...before shooting this sweet girl

two times in the back of the head.

These families...

...will never see their children

graduate from college.

They will never attend their wedding.

They will never have Christmas

with them again.

There will be no grandchildren.

All they ask of you is simple justice

for their unbearable loss.

I ask you to take a breath...

...steel your spine...

...and proceed with the execution

of Matthew Poncelet.

It's always a good sign

when you have to wait.

- I don't know if we made any headway.

- I thought you did great.

It'd be best if they realized their

culpability in the death of a man.

- Hilton.

- Excuse me, Sister.

I'm Walter Delacroix's father.

- Mr. Delacroix, I'm sorry about--

- Sister, I'm a Catholic.

How can you sit by Poncelet's side

without ever having come to visit...

...with me and my wife

or the Percys to hear our side?

How can you spend all your time

worrying about Poncelet...

...and not think that maybe

we needed you too?

Mr. Delacroix, I didn't think

that you wanted to talk to me.

Earl, we're going in.

This is Mary Beth and Clyde Percy.

- I'm sorry about your daughter.

- Yeah, so are we. Excuse us.

Listen, Sister...

...I'm sure you've seen a side of Matt

Poncelet that none of us has seen.

I'm sure he's on his best behavior,

must be pretty sympathetic to you.

But, Sister, this is an evil man.

This is a man who abducted

teenage kids and raped...

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