Sometime later, Brigance brings his wife and daughter to a family cookout at Carl Lee's house to celebrate his freedom, challenging Carl Lee's previous statement that their children would never play together. Meanwhile, Sheriff Walls arrests Freddie Lee for his crimes, as well as a corrupt deputy who is also revealed to be a Klansman. Jubilation ensues amongst the supporters while the Klan becomes enraged over their defeat. In his final comment, Brigance then asks the jury to imagine how they would feel if she were white.Īfter deliberation, the jury finds Carl Lee not guilty. During closing arguments, a deeply-shaken Brigance tells the jury to close their eyes and listen as he describes the entire ordeal of Tonya, in which some of the jurors shed tears. Carl Lee refuses this, replying that he had chosen Brigance as an attorney because he is a white man and has insight into how the jury sees Carl Lee. Dispirited, Brigance tells Carl Lee that there is little hope for an acquittal and tries to persuade him to take a plea deal that will imprison him for life, but spare him execution. Willard Tyrell Bass, by revealing his prior conviction of statutory rape. However, Buckley in turn discredits Brigance's psychiatrist, Dr. When Brigance refuses to back down, the Klan then increases their attacks, including kidnapping and assaulting Roark, and burning Brigance's house down.īrigance is able to discredit the state's psychiatrist, Dr. They also burn a cross on his lawn and threaten his wife and daughter. The Klan also begins to target Brigance, assaulting his elderly secretary and her husband, who dies of a heart attack brought on by the assault. The protest erupts into a violent brawl that results in dozens of injuries and the death of Stump Sisson. On the first day of the trial, the Klan takes to the streets and rallies, only to be outnumbered by counter-protesters consisting of the area's minority residents and whites who support Carl Lee. Meanwhile, Billy Ray's brother, Freddie Lee Cobb, plans to avenge his brother's death by joining and enlisting the help of the Mississippi branch of the Ku Klux Klan and its Grand Dragon, Stump Sisson, to ensure Carl Lee's conviction and death sentence by any means necessary. Brigance seeks help from his defense team: law student Ellen Roark, close friend Harry Rex Vonner, and former mentor and longtime activist Lucien Wilbanks, a once-great civil rights lawyer.

He seeks the death penalty, and presiding Judge Omar Noose denies Brigance a change of venue to a more ethnically diverse county, meaning that Carl Lee will have an all-White jury. Carl Lee is arrested and Brigance agrees to defend him.Īs the rape and subsequent revenge killing gain national media attention, district attorney Rufus Buckley decides to take the case in hopes of furthering his political career. Carl Lee goes to the county courthouse and opens fire with an automatic rifle, killing both rapists and unintentionally wounding Deputy Dwayne Looney, whose leg is later amputated. Brigance admits the possibility that the rapists will walk free. Tonya's father, Carl Lee Hailey, contacts Jake Brigance, a white lawyer who previously defended his brother Lester. Tonya survives, and the two men are arrested by Sheriff Ozzie Walls. The duo dump her in a nearby river after a failed attempt to hang her. In Canton, Mississippi, ten-year-old African American girl Tonya Hailey is abducted, raped, and beaten by two local white men, Billy Ray Cobb and James Willard, while on her way home from getting groceries. It is the second of two films based on Grisham's novels directed by Joel Schumacher, with the other being The Client released two years prior. The film received mixed reviews but was a commercial success, making $152 million at the worldwide box office.

Jackson, Matthew McConaughey, and Kevin Spacey star with Donald and Kiefer Sutherland appearing in supporting roles. A Time to Kill is a 1996 American legal drama film based on John Grisham's 1989 novel of the same name.

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