Ghosts of Mississippi Page #11
- PG-13
- Year:
- 1996
- 130 min
- 1,292 Views
Why not?
I had no reason to tell
unless he asked.
You had no reason, as a sworn police
officer, to tell an investigator...
...in an important murder case...
...that you knew the suspect was 90
miles away at the time of the murder?
I'd have been butting
into his investigation--
You'd have been "butting into his
investigation "by telling him an alibi?
Sure.
Did you ever go to the D.A.
and tell them what was going on?
Did you tell the FBl
what was going on?
about this case was Hardy Lott...
...Mr. Beckwith's defense attorney.
-When he called me--
-How long was...
...the defendant in jail by then?
A couple of weeks?
I don't remember, exactly.
Well, let me help you out.
It was over eight months.
Eight months.
You let your buddy sit in jail
all that time...
...and never once told anyone,
"You've got the wrong guy."
You're asking this jury
to believe that?
Yes, sir.
Earlier in your testimony, you said
that you and I are friends, right?
Said what?
That we're friends.
You and I are friends.
You still think we're friends?
Sure.
As my friend, if I ever go
to jail for murder...
...don't leave me there
for eight months...
...if you know where I was
when the murder took place.
Objection!
That was a thing of beauty.
Nothing further.
Will you redirect?
Thank you, Your Honor.
Would you lie for Mr. Beckwith?
Did he ask you to?
you know perjury is a serious crime.
I'm gonna ask you this one last time.
On the night that Medgar Evers
was killed...
...did you or did you not see
Beckwith some 95 miles away...
...from where the murder took place?
I saw him.
As God is your judge.
As God is my judge.
Thank you, Mr. Holley.
We have nothing further.
No further questions.
You may step down.
Is the defense prepared to call
its next witness?
Your Honor...
...the defense rests.
-What?
-Damn!
Quiet.
Ladies and gentlemen.
Quiet or I'll order the bailiff
to clear the courtroom.
Coward to the end.
To my knowledge...
...this jury is being asked
to look further...
...into the past than any jury...
...in the history
of American jurisprudence.
That places you folks
at a considerable disadvantage.
Evidence has been lost.
They don't have the bullet.
They don't have the spent cartridge
case that was found in the gun.
They don't have the live ammunition
that was found in the gun.
Where is it?
Nobody knows.
Does this create reasonable doubt?
Of course it does.
And you have heard a number
of witnesses testify...
...that years after the crime,
Mr. Beckwith said this...
...or Mr. Beckwith said that.
But the defense has presented you
with an eyewitness.
...who has testified under oath
that he saw the defendant...
...in Greenwood, Mississippi,
over 90 miles from Jackson...
...Iess than an hour after the murder.
Does that create reasonable doubt?
You bet it does.
And reasonable doubt
means one thing...
...and one thing only.
By law...
...you must render
a not guilty verdict.
Forget that it's Byron "Delay" Beckwith.
Forget that you may not like him,
that you...
...may not agree with him.
Judge the evidence...
...and judge it fairly.
Because...
...in the United States...
...we don't do that for people
we just like and admire.
We do that for everybody...
...that's on trial...
...in an American court of law.
Because if the system doesn't work...
...for Byron De La Beckwith...
...it doesn't work...
...for anyone.
I ask you to let the system work...
...and once and for all...
...find the defendant...
...Byron De La Beckwith,
not guilty.
Thank you.
An unarmed man...
...arrives home in the late hours
of the night...
...home to his family, his wife...
...and three small children...
...gets out of his car...
...and with his back turned...
...is gunned down by a coward.
That coward is...
...Byron De La Beckwith.
His gun.
His scope.
His fingerprint.
His car.
And lastly, but certainly not least,
his mouth.
When he thought he got away with it...
...he couldn't keep his mouth shut
with people he wanted to impress.
And now his venom has come back
to do him in...
...because, ladies and gentlemen...
...there is no statute
of limitations on murder.
The law doesn't say
that if you killed someone...
... 10 years ago or 20 years ago...
...or even 30 years ago,
that you don't have to pay the price.
The law doesn't say that if you are
50 years old or 60 years old...
...or 70 years old,
that you don't have to pay the price.
No man...
...is above the law.
And for what reason...
...was Medgar Evers' life taken?
For wanting some degree
of equality for himself...
...his family and his fellow man.
Ladies and gentlemen,
when that kind of murder happens...
...no matter who the victim...
...no matter what his race...
...there is a gaping wound...
...Iaid open on society as a whole.
Justice...
...has sometimes been referred to...
...as the soothing balm
to be applied...
...to the wounds inflicted on society.
But when there is no justice...
...those wounds can never be cleansed.
Those wounds can never be healed.
When I addressed you
in my opening statement...
...I said that this was a simple case.
Well, I was right and I was wrong.
The evidence is simple...
...and the conclusion is
more than obvious.
But the reason we are all...
...sitting in this courtroom
so many years after...
...this disgraceful
assassination took place...
...is anything but simple.
President John F. Kennedy...
...in his landmark civil rights speech
to the nation...
...delivered on the very night
Medgar Evers was murdered, said...
... "We face a moral crisis
as a country...
...and as a people.
Those who do nothing are
inviting shame...
...as well as violence.
Those who act boldly are
recognizing right...
...as well as reality."
Today, 30 years later...
...on behalf of the state
of Mississippi...
...I'm asking you 12 ladies
and gentlemen to act boldly.
To hold this defendant accountable
and find him guilty...
...simply because it is right...
...it is just...
...and Lord knows, it is time.
Is it ever...
...too late to do the right thing?
For the sake of justice...
...and for the hope of us
as a civilized society...
...I sincerely pray that it is not.
Thank you.
How long do you think they'll be out?
All I know is a short time is good
and a long time is...
...not so good.
Then I'll pray for a short time.
This reminds me of Medgar's office
on Lynch Street.
You know, I used to be
Medgar's secretary.
He insisted that we behave
in the office...
...strictly as employer-employee.
He'd call me Mrs. Evers,
and I'd have to call him Mr. Evers.
Is that right?
Everybody thought he was crazy.
But he was just so determined
to do a good job.
You remind me of Medgar.
Thank you, ma'am.
Would you like a cup of coffee?
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Submitted on August 05, 2018
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