Murder! Page #2

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Ready?

Yeah.

Hurry up, Markham.

There you are.

Ok?

Yeah.

Yeah. Why not?

Members of the jury,

Diana Baring is indicted

and stands charge

with the willful murder

of Edna Druce.

For this indictment,

she has pleaded

not guilty.

It is your duty

to inquire

whether she

is guilty or not.

I need not remind you

that in the eyes

of the law,

men and women are equal.

The crime of murder

in England, at least,

is judged dispassionately.

Neither beauty

nor youth nor provocation

can mitigate...

She gave me

the strangest look.

Half-surprised...

And half-angry.

And she said:

"How dare you!"

And I don't

remember anymore.

I just don't remember.

Must have happened when

I was not conscious of myself.

That's all I can say.

Our defense is

a complete denial

of all responsibility.

You've been able to observe

the behavior of the prisoner

in the dock...

And in the witness box.

My learned friend has

referred to her behavior

as hardened.

Gentlemen and ladies

of the jury,

is there anything so hardy

as the behavior

of sheer innocence?

If you're convinced

that the story

of the defense

represents the facts

it is your duty to

discharge the accused.

I shall like

to remind you

that truth is often

stranger than fiction.

If, on the other hand,

you are convinced

that the evidence

is indeed fiction,

then I must tell you

in the words

of the counsel

of the prosecution

that neither

youth nor beauty

nor provocation

can be held to mitigate

the crime of murder.

Go and consider the

facts for yourselves.

Well, uh, ladies

and gentlemen,

we can't talk standing.

Would you ladies like

to sit together?

Anyway...

Why, I say,

may we smoke?

Yes. I don't

see why not.

That is, if the ladies

haven't any objection.

No. Not at all.

Now, I think the best thing to do...

if you agree,

is to allow me to go over

the broad facts of the case.

Because after all,

I think it's pretty clear

and I really don't think

it'll be necessary

for us to examine

all the evidence again

in detail.

Now, in the first place,

the prosecution.

They say that the girl

and the dead woman

were on bad terms.

They make it up.

Edna Druce comes to supper,

they both have

a drop too much

and begin quarreling

about some man.

For instance, you heard

how the landlady said

that she heard

raised voices.

And the girl

admits as much

but won't give

the name of the man.

Now that

in itself is fishy.

The girl gets hold

of the poker,

loses her temper,

and there's the end

of Edna Druce.

The prosecution argues

that it has proofs.

Practically

caught red-handed.

Girl's dress

all over blood,

the poker at her feet,

brandy flask empty,

and the girl half-silly.

And in addition to that,

no other person was known

to have entered the house.

I think that's pretty clear.

I think you ought to

mention that the girl

comes of a good family.

Yes, but it's

those so-called

well-bred people

who are able

to remain so brazen

in the face of

a thing like this.

Well,

look at the way

she behaved

in the box.

Half a minute, ladies.

Let's get on.

Now, take the defense.

They don't deny she did it

but argue

that their case is

that the thing

happened when...

She was in a fit

or something.

Surely it

is clear to you

that in the evidence

for the defense

the doctor put

forWard a theory

that it was due

to the independent

activity of the

suppressed experience.

In other words,

disassociation,

which in this

particular form

is called a fugue.

So that a person

displaying the

strangest behavior

for a considerable

period of time

would be quite

unaware of this

when he or she

regained normality.

Well, I think the best thing

for us all to do

is to write down

our opinions

and then we can see

how we stand.

Whichever

in the minority...

Can then give

their individual reasons

and the thing can be

worked out that way.

That makes 7 guilty...

And 3 not guilty.

There are 2 not in.

I take it you

haven't come

to any decision

at all.

I think the whole

business is hateful.

There's too much

responsibility

put on our shoulders.

Either we've got

to let her go free--

that's not fair

to the rest of the world

if she's guilty--

or we got to hang her

But if we

recommend her to mercy.

Mercy? Is that what

you call it?

20 years

cut out of life.

The best years

and to spend them in hell.

Have you ever been

inside a prison?

It takes

a civilized community

to think out

a punishment like that.

I think

you exaggerate.

It's no use

confusing

the issue

like this.

People who do wrong

have got to be

punished somehow.

You can't run the

world on sentiment.

No, but that's what

we've tried to do.

Save the unfit.

Get more children

and make glorious wars

to be rid of.

The whole world's

a reeking pit of sentiment.

Your verdict,

mr. Shackleton.

Guilty, I suppose.

Who's the other one?

You, mr. Matthews?

Is there anything

special troubling you

so that you can't

make a decision?

What is it prevents you

from making a decision?

Well, nothing really.

Uh, well, uh...

Have you made up

your mind at all

what it's going to be?

You heard the case

for the prosecution.

That's pretty clear,

isn't it?

And you know what the

defense is, don't you?

Yes, but I, uh...

Don't quite understand

what the lady meant

when she said no.

When, uh...

When she spoke.

My dear man,

mrs. Ward was only

trying to tell you

that the defense was

that murder

was committed

in a fit of daytime

sleep walking.

Yes. But, uh...

The murder took

place at nighttime.

Can you write?

Well, will you

please write down

whether you think the

prisoner guilty or not?

Now that leaves

only 3 for not guilty.

I'll give you my reasons

for not guilty.

The evidence for the

defense by the doctor

is to my mind

conclusive.

Anyone who's followed

the modern trend

of pscyhological

investigations

must be aware

that any person

suffering from severe

mental strain,

such as the prisoner

may have been

following on so many

rehearsals and things,

may bring about

a sudden condition

in which the patient

is no longer either

conscious of or responsible

for their actions.

We've already

had evidence

that the

prisoner's mind

is a delicately

balanced one

and quite liable through

some hidden flaw

in that mind

to become deprived

of all consciousness

and readily enter

into a state

wherein the body

is still functioning,

though no longer under

the control of the will.

And it is

on these grounds,

that I feel

that Diana Baring

must have been the

victim of circumstance.

I have no doubt that

mrs. Ward is right.

That being the case,

it is quite

liable to recur,

possibly with

the same results.

Well, that's a point

I hadn't considered.

Well, it's really

important.

Because with

this poor gal,

you have to consider not

only this one tragedy

but others

that may follow it.

There may be other crimes lying ...

You mean, there's a sort

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