Judge Priest Page #5

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I know you think

I'm not good enough for him.

Well, let me tell you something.

If Rome were half as mean as you are,

he wouldn't be good enough for me.

Well, of all things.

Carrie- Looks like you run second.

Oh, no, I don't. If Rome's father

were alive, he'd back me up.

Rome's already got himself

talked about all over town with this girl.

And I'm not going to have him

publicly defending her in court.

Well, Rome, you see how

your mother feels about it...

...so, looks like you lost your first client.

They're certainly hard to get too.

No, Uncle Billy, I haven't lost anything.

- Rome.

Mother, I think I'm old enough

to know my own mind.

I said I'd defend Mr. Gillis,

and I'm going to go through with it.

Court now called to order.

We're going to have a long session today.

May it please the court...

I would point out that for many years...

...a political and personal difference has

existed between Your Honor and myself.

Now that I am a candidate

for the exalted office...

...which you have held for so many years...

...those differences have reached a point...

...where for the protection of the people...

I must demand an impartial trial judge.

Uh, per-perhaps I'm-I'm gettin' deaf...

...but, uh, the fact

had never reached me before.

Are you insinuating that you

won't get full justice in this court?

I maintain that my language was

sufficiently plain for any comprehension...

...however obtuse.

And I will make it even franker.

I charge in the presence of two witnesses...

...you took sides with the defendant Gillis...

...in a prior attack upon this plaintiff.

I been sittin' on this bench

for nigh on 20 years.

And nobody

has ever asked me to step down.

I'll file an affidavit of prejudice.

That won't hardly be necessary.

Then, I call upon you, Judge Priest,

to vacate the bench during this trial...

...and yield your place to a qualified judge.

I, uh-

I'm- I'm not denying,

Senator, that you-

Well, you kind of took my breath away.

I guess I had, uh, just sort of...

...got the habit that I was

took for granted here on this bench.

Gosh, I was- I was pretty near raised

in this- in this courtroom.

When I quit fighting in '65...

...for what we thought was right...

I kind of calmed down...

...found out l- I couldn't lick

the whole United States.

I come back here to my hometown.

And I put up my shingle.

It wasn't long before

I was sittin' on that bench.

Maybe I did have a hankering

for the spirit of the law-

And not the letter...

...but as far as I know,

nobody ever found cause to complain...

...till now.

Now, you, uh-you jury...

...you forget everything that I've said.

And, uh, my feelings has no place...

...in the, uh- in the records of-of this trial.

Now, if you'll excuse me...

...and neither side has any objection...

I'd like to ask

the Honorable Floyd Fairleigh...

...if he won't come up here...

...and take-...

...take my- my place on-on the bench.

Uh-huh.

Well, what happened then?

Well, what happened then?

Gentlemen of the jury,

in plain language...

...the defendant here

burst in upon these three worthy citizens.

L- I object, Your Honor.

I deny that my client ever

burst into any place or anything.

Objection sustained.

So be it, Your Honor.

Nevertheless, I shall demonstrate that

my young friend's client here...

...did burst into something.

That armed with a lethal weapon, to wit...

...a dirk, dagger or knife

of deadly length and deadly sharpness...

...he burst into Mr. Talley's quivering flesh.

I object, Your Honor.

- Objection sustained.

Your Honor's humble servant

bows to Your Honor's august ruling.

In due time, Mr. Talley's scarred

and mutilated person...

...will bespeak the verity of my claim...

...with a silent eloquence far exceeding

the powers of my poor tongue.

We was playing bottle pool

when he come in and attacked at me.

Didn't you attack him with a billiard cue?

Not until after he come at me with a knife.

Well, it-it's just like Flem says.

We wasn't paying him no mind

until he come lookin' for Flem.

But weren't you three all

armed with billiard cues?

Well, never heard of nobody

playing pool without 'em.

It's just like Flem and Joe says.

He come in lookin' for trouble.

You don't like the defendant, do you?

- Who does?

Your Honor, the defense is through

with the witness.

I should think

my young learned colleague...

...would be glad to be through

with the witness.

Your Honor, the prosecution rests.

Before the defense proceeds,

this court recesses for half an hour.

Sure told him something.

I don't know why you did it,

Mr. Gillis...

...but Judge Priest told me

what happened in the barber shop.

Oh, you've got to tell the jury.

They'd never convict you in a million years...

...if they knew you were

defending a girl's name.

Don't you see? You can't think of me now.

You've got to think of yourself.

Look, Mr. Gillis, I don't

want to bring Ellie May's...

...name into this thing

any more than you do...

...but she's right.

They can give you 10 years for assault...

...and the way Maydew's working

on the jury, they'll give you the limit.

Oh, you've got to tell the truth, Mr Gillis.

Don't you see? You've got to.

I ain't gonna tell 'em anything.

Yes, sir, Talley lied all the way through.

And Herringer and Gab Rive,

they lied too.

It was three against one

in Billy Gaynor's back room.

And it's three against one

in this here courtroom.

Have you ever been in any other

cutting scrape in town before?

No, sir.

- That's all.

One moment.

Where do you come from, Mr. Gillis?

I ain't a-sayin'.

You aren't exactly what we Southerners

would call a sociable person, are you?

I mind my own business.

- Precisely.

Except when you go looking for trouble.

- I don't go looking for trouble.

But I ain't the one to run away from it.

How long have you had

a grievance against Mr. Talley?

Mmm, we had a run-in

a few days before he jumped me.

Oh, a run-in, eh?

And what was this run-in about?

Well, well, come on. Tell the jury.

What did you hate him for?

I ain't a-sayin'.

Then you didn't have any

reason for knifing him?

I didn't say that.

Make up your mind. Why did you hate him?

I ain't a-sayin'.

That's all, Your Honor.

Anything further?

That's all, Your Honor. The defense rests.

This court will adjourn

till tomorrow morning.

It is our hope

that the summations will be brief...

...so that we may all attend the reunion

ceremonies which will begin at noon.

Well, Reverend Ashby.

Say, this is a pleasure...

to welcome you.

L-I don't get the chance to do this often.

It certainly does me honor.

Here, Jeff. Uh, make the reverend

comfortable there.

It, uh, looks like you, uh, kind

of caught me red-handed there.

Well, could I, you know, kind of inveigle-

Been a long, tiresome day,

and, uh, it's mostly mint.

No, thank you, William.

I appreciate your subtlety.

You know, I kind of thought

that, uh-that, uh-...

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