The Trial of the Chicago 7 Page #9

KUNSTLER:

6 and 11.

JUDGE HOFFMAN:

(to the MARSHAL)

Bring in Juror 6.

60.

The MARSHAL opens a side door and brings in JUROR #6. She’s

23-years old and nervous to be brought into chambers.

KUNSTLER:

Judge, I wonder if we could-

JUDGE HOFFMAN:

Juror Number 6, how are you?

JUROR #6

I’m fine.

KUNSTLER:

Judge, before we speak to-

JUDGE HOFFMAN:

(stopping him)

Please.

(to JUROR #6)

Your parents received this note in

their mail this morning. They

called the police as they should

have done. I’d like you to take the

note and read it out loud.

JUROR #6

My parents?

KUNSTLER:

Your Honor-

JUDGE HOFFMAN:

Please read the note out loud.

JUROR #6 takes the note from the MARSHAL...

JUROR #6

(reading)

“We’re watching you.”

JUDGE HOFFMAN:

And you see who’s signed it.

JUROR #6

“The Panthers”.

JUDGE HOFFMAN:

And you understand that to mean the

Black Panthers, don’t you?

Very shaken, she nods yes.

61.

JUDGE HOFFMAN (CONT'D)

And you understand that defendant

Bobby Seale is the head of the

Black Panthers.

KUNSTLER:

Judge-

JUDGE HOFFMAN:

He’s the Chairman of the Black

Panther Party.

She nods yes.

JUDGE HOFFMAN (CONT'D)

Do you still feel you can render a

fair and impartial verdict?

She says nothing...

JUDGE HOFFMAN (CONT'D)

Juror Number 6, your family has

been threatened and so have you by

members of an organization led by

one of the defendants.

KUNSTLER:

Judge, for the love of Christ-

JUDGE HOFFMAN stops him with one look...

KUNSTLER (CONT'D)

I apologize, Your Honor.

JUDGE HOFFMAN:

I would think so.

(beat)

Do you still feel you can render a

fair and impartial verdict?

JUROR #6

(barely a whisper)

No sir.

JUDGE HOFFMAN:

You’re dismissed from this jury.

Thank you for your service. Please

bring in Juror Number 11.

JUROR #6

(quietly to WEINGLASS)

I’m sorry.

62.

WEINGLASS:

(quietly)

Keep reading James Baldwin.

CUT TO:

68 INT. JUDGE HOFFMAN’S OUTER-OFFICE -DAY 68

The doors open and the lawyers empty out.

FORAN:

(to KUNSTLER)

I thought the Panthers were smarter

than that.

KUNSTLER:

They are.

FORAN:

Well-

KUNSTLER:

The Panthers don’t write letters

any more than the mob does, and the

moment I find out it was your

office that did, you’re gonna see

the criminal justice system up

closer than you ever wanted to.

KUNSTLER exits with WEINGLASS.

SCHULTZ looks at FORAN...”Did we do this?”...FORAN says

nothing and we

CUT TO:

69 INT. CONSPIRACY OFFICE -NIGHT 69

A large folder gets dropped on the table and opened. It

contains pictures of all the jurors and alternates. The two

who were just dismissed get ripped out.

KUNSTLER, WEINGLASS and the DEFENDANTS are standing or

sitting around.

TOM:

Who are the alternates?

JERRY:

We’re gonna make this public.

63.

KUNSTLER:

Help yourself.

TOM:

Who are they?

JERRY:

Somebody other than the FBI has to

investigate that letter.

KUNSTLER:

Who’d you have in mind, Jefferson

Airplane? The FBI investigates-

JERRY:

This is bullshit!

TOM:

Who are the alternates?

JERRY:

F***in’ bullshit.

DAVE:

Can we clean up our language?

WEINGLASS:

Kay Richards. She’s a 27-year old

dental hygienist.

TOM:

That doesn’t sound too bad.

KUNSTLER:

We think she’s dating a guy named

Tom Bannercheck who works for

Daley.

And all the defendants starts chiming in-

ALL:

What?!, etc./ You let her be an

alternate?!, etc./ Why would she

be anywhere near that jury

box?!/etc.

They keep shouting as the lawyers simultaneously defend

themselves.

KUNSTLER:

(simultaneously)

We were out of preemptory

challenges.

64.

WEINGLASS:

(simultaneously)

She was an alternate and we were

out of preemptory challenges.

TOM:

How did that happen?

KUNSTLER:

It was her or the Korean War vet

who kicked his son out of the house

for protesting the Vietnam--you

don’t have to be Clarence Darrow to-

JERRY:

Did they manipulate the jury pool?

How come there’s nobody who looks

like me?

KUNSTLER:

Raise your hand if you’ve ever

shown up for jury duty.

Nobody raises their hand...

KUNSTLER (CONT'D)

Then shut the f*** up.

During this, an ASSISTANT has come in and handed a note to

WEINGLASS. WEINGLASS has read it now-

WEINGLASS:

Bill.

KUNSTLER:

Yeah.

WEINGLASS hands the note to KUNSTLER, who reads it...

TOM:

What?

WEINGLASS:

He’s sequestering the jury.

There’s silence in the room...

JERRY:

‘Course he is.

JERRY exits.

65.

ABBIE:

No such thing as a political trial.

Good to know.

ABBIE exits.

KUNSTLER:

(to WEINGLASS)

I want an expert in geriatric

psychiatry sitting in the gallery

for a few days. I want a medical

evaluation of this judge.

KUNSTLER heads out and WEINGLASS goes into the living room,

where the end of the nightly news is playing on the TV.

WEINGLASS:

The sequester’s probably a reaction

to Abbie doing stand-up on the

weekends.

ABBIE:

It’s not stand-up.

WEINGLASS:

It’s you in a college auditorium in

a spotlight telling jokes, right?

ABBIE:

Little reductive.

JERRY:

Hey.

JERRY’s pointing out something on the TV. Everyone starts to

stand in silence, facing the TV.

BACK IN THE KITCHEN-

RENNIE’s writing in his notebook...

FROINES:

Names?

RENNIE:

Yeah. From yesterday.

TOM:

Is anyone hungry?

RENNIE:

If I hadn’t asked you to help me

with Sara Beth, none of this-

66.

TOM:

No.

RENNIE:

I asked you to help with Sara Beth

and that’s what got us the first

riot. The first riot got us the

real riot.

TOM:

Rennie, that’s not what-

RENNIE:

Hang on.

RENNIE sees the backs of the people standing in the living

room. He walks to the living room and FROINES and WEINER

follow. Then TOM.

We see over their backs that the news is scrolling the names

of that day’s fallen soldiers.

Then everyone sits.

BERNADINE:

(to RENNIE)

I’ll add the names.

RENNIE:

Thank you.

CUT TO:

70 INT. COURTROOM -DAY 70

The jury box is empty but everyone else is there. KUNSTLER is

addressing the judge.

KUNSTLER:

We move to strike the order of

sequestration of the jury which was

made by Your Honor’s sua sponte

motion.

JUDGE HOFFMAN:

Hold on. Mr. Rubin, Mr. Hoffman,

what are you wearing?

ABBIE and JERRY are wearing judge’s robes.

ABBIE:

It’s an homage to you, sir.

67.

JUDGE HOFFMAN:

Do you have clothes underneath

there?

ABBIE:

Yes sir. Hang on.

(to JERRY)

Do you?

JERRY:

Yeah.

JUDGE HOFFMAN:

Take off the robes.

ABBIE and JERRY take off the robes and have police uniforms

underneath.

A big LAUGH from the GALLERY.

JUDGE HOFFMAN (CONT'D)

(TO KUNSTLER)

Continue.

KUNSTLER:

We feel that sequestration for what

appears will be a considerable

period of time can only serve-

JUDGE HOFFMAN:

It would be a considerably shorter

period of time if the defense made

fewer objections.

KUNSTLER decides to finish despite being interrupted...

KUNSTLER:

--can only serve to the defendants

disadvantage. And Your Honor, the

defense will make not one fewer

objection than the prosecution or

this Court gives us reason to.

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