Evelyn Prentice Page #8

- Yes.

- Your Honor, I agree with Mr. Prentice.

This procedure is entirely out of order.

Judith Wilson is on trial here.

And I object to this hysterical

outburst before the jury.

Your Honor, I'd like a recess

before we proceed any further.

Your request for a recess is denied.

Mrs. Prentice's declaration

is a confession of murder.

But, Your Honor...

...it's the duty of this court

to advise Mrs. Prentice...

...of her constitutional rights.

That is correct, Mr. Prentice.

So before Mrs. Prentice testifies,

she's entitled to advice of counsel.

I don't want counsel.

I just want to tell everything.

I can't keep silent any longer.

I know I'm going to hurt you...

...and Dorothy.

Swear in the witness.

Swear that the testimony you

are about to give in the court...

...shall be the truth, whole truth,

nothing but the truth, so help you God?

- I do.

- Be seated, please.

Mrs. Prentice, you...?

You knew Lawrence Kennard?

Yes.

When did you last see him?

In his apartment.

- When?

- October 9th.

Will you please tell this court,

in your own words...

...what you know about this case?

I had written some letters.

There was nothing wrong...

...but they might have been

misinterpreted.

He wouldn't return them to me.

He wanted money.

He threatened to show them

to my husband.

Go on.

There was a gun lying

in an open drawer.

I picked it up.

I didn't intend to use it.

I only meant to frighten him

into giving me back the letters.

He'd been drinking.

He struck me.

I fell back...

...my elbow hit the wall and the gun

went off accidentally.

Accidentally?

Yes.

Then, what happened?

He fell.

I heard someone in the kitchen.

I was frightened.

I threw the gun on the chair...

...and ran out into the hall.

Mr. District Attorney,

do you wish to ask any questions?

No, Your Honor.

If the court please, I move

for the dismissal of the case...

...of The People vs. Judith Wilson.

I object, Your Honor.

I wanna examine the witness.

Motion for dismissal denied.

Proceed, Mr. Prentice.

You've just testified that the shot

that killed Kennard...

...was fired accidentally.

Is that right?

Yes.

You're quite sure of that?

Yes.

He struck you...

...and as you fell back, your arm

hit the wall and the gun went off.

Is that how it happened?

Yes.

Well, then,

there was only one shot fired?

There was only one shot.

Did you notice any blood or wound

on Kennard as he was lying there?

No.

Did you examine him to see

if he was still breathing?

No.

No, I...

I heard someone in the kitchen.

I was frightened...

...and I ran out into the hall.

Did you pass anyone on the way out?

No.

Neither in the hall nor on the stairs?

Nobody.

You're quite certain of that?

Yes.

And you're sure that

there was only one shot fired?

There was only one shot.

That's all.

I'd like to recall Miss Wilson

to the stand.

Very well.

Will you please take the stand,

Miss Wilson?

Miss Wilson, if you will recall...

...evidence has shown

that after Kennard was murdered...

...these two bullets were found.

One in his body, the other embedded

in a wall of his apartment.

Yes, sir.

So we know that two shots

must have been fired.

Yes.

In your previous testimony, you said

that you heard both those shots.

- Is that right?

- Yes.

Yet Mrs. Prentice,

admitting that she killed Kennard...

...has just testified

that only one shot was fired.

Well, perhaps I was mistaken.

But before, you were sure.

I don't remember.

I was so frightened, so confused.

Perhaps I heard only one shot.

Suppose I refresh your memory...

...on a few points

of your previous testimony.

You said that as you were about

to enter the kitchen...

...you heard two shots fired.

That you rushed into the kitchen...

...flung open the door into the living

room and saw Kennard lying there.

Is that right?

That's right.

That you knelt down beside him,

saw that he was dead...

...picked up the gun

and that at that moment...

...the grocery boy came in

and saw you. Is that right?

Yes.

Well, if Mrs. Prentice went out

just as you came in...

...and the grocery boy arrived

only a moment later...

...I don't quite see how Mrs. Prentice

avoided meeting the grocery boy...

...either in the hall or on the stairs.

Yet both Mrs. Prentice and the boy

have testified that they passed no one.

Can you explain that?

Well, I...

I may have stopped in the kitchen

for a few minutes.

For what?

I don't remember.

Get a drink of water or something.

I see.

In spite of the fact that

you had just heard a gun fired...

...you stopped to get a drink of water.

Judith Wilson, you've been

on trial in this court for your life.

All these weeks, I've been

your friend and your counsel.

I've labored and I've struggled

to prepare a defense for you...

...that would send you out of here

a free woman.

I believed in your innocence

and I believed in you.

But you've betrayed my friendship

and you betrayed my trust.

You lied to me and you lied to this court.

Now, I want you to tell the truth.

I want to know what really happened...

...between the time you came up

those stairs...

...and the time

the grocery boy found you.

Shall I tell?

No.

No, I'll tell.

I'll tell everything.

As I came up the stairs, I heard a shot.

One shot.

I rushed into the kitchen, threw

the door open into the other room.

And I saw Larry lying on the floor.

I couldn't move for a moment.

As I stood there staring at him...

...he stirred a little and I saw

that he was still alive.

As I started over to him,

he straightened up and got to his feet.

He was a little dazed.

He'd hit his head when he fell.

I asked him if he was hurt.

He said, "No, she didn't hurt me."

So then I knew it was a woman,

someone he'd been making love to.

I asked him

what she'd been doing there.

He became very brutal.

He'd been drinking.

He told me to mind

my own business and get out...

...that he was through with me,

tired of me.

And I saw this time that he meant it.

I pleaded with him.

I told him how much I loved him...

...what he'd done to my life,

but he just laughed at me.

He told me to get out

or he'd kick me out.

He took hold of me by the shoulders...

...and started pushing me

toward the door.

He hurt me.

And then I...

I just went kind of crazy.

Before I knew what I was doing,

I broke away from him.

I ran over and picked up the gun.

I told him he'd never live

to treat another woman...

...the way he treated me

and I shot him.

He fell to the floor...

...and I was kneeling beside him

with the gun still in my hand.

Then the grocery boy came in

with the things.

This girl's story pleads more eloquently

in her defense than anything I can say.

She was clean and decent and honest.

She met Kennard...

...and he destroyed her

just as thoroughly...

...as if he had put that bullet

into her brain.

What she and other women

must have suffered at his hands...

...we can only guess.

But that guess alone is enough

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