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It is better to settle these matters in the courts...
... than on the streets.
And new laws are needed at every level.
But law alone cannot make men see right.
We are confronted primarily with a moral issue.
The heart of the question is...
... whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights...
...and equal opportunities...
... whether we treat our fellow Americans...
...as we want to be treated.
If an American, because his skin is dark...
...cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public...
...if he cannot send his children...
... to the best public school available...
...if he cannot vote for the officials who represent him...
...if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life...
... which all of us want...
... then who among us would be content...
... to have the color of his skin changed?
Who among us would then be content...
... with the counsels of patience and delay?
One hundred years of delay have passed...
...since President Lincoln freed the slaves...
... yet their heirs, their grandsons are not fully free.
They are not yet freed from the bonds of injustice.
They are not yet freed from social and economic oppression.
That looks like a police car.
And this nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts...
... will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.
We preach freedom around the world and we mean it.
And we cherish our freedom here at home.
Are we to say to the world...
...and much more importantly, to each other...
... that this is a land of the free, except for the Negroes?
That we have no second-class citizens, except Negroes?
That we have no class or caste system...
...no ghettos, no master race, except with respect to Negroes?
Now the time has come for this nation to fulfill its promise.
The events in Birmingham and elsewhere...
...have so increased the cries for equality that no city...
...or state or legislative body can prudently choose...
... to ignore them.
The fires of frustration and discord...
...are burning in every city, North and South...
... where legal remedies are not at hand.
Redress is sought in the streets.
We face a moral crisis as a country and a people.
It cannot be met by repressive police action.
It is a time to act in the Congress...
...in your state and local legislative body...
...and above all, in all of our daily lives.
A great change is at hand...
...and our task...
...our obligation is to make that revolution, that change...
...peaceful and constructive for all.
Those who do nothing...
...are inviting shame as well as violence.
Those who act boldly are recognizing right...
...as well as reality.
Medgar!
-Get down! -Get the baby!
Medgar!
Oh, my God!
Daddy! Daddy!
Daddy, I love you!
Daddy, don't die!
I want my daddy!
Turn me loose.
Medgar Evers believed in this country.
It now remains to be seen whether his country believed in him.
The Citizens Council's raised thousands for your defense.
Money's pouring in from all over the South.
Nice likeness. What do you think, boys?
Mr. Beckwith, glad to see you.
Mighty glad to be here.
And isn't it true your husband was the first...
...to attempt to integrate the University of Mississippi?
At the time of his death, he was involved in a lawsuit...
...to integrate the public school system, wasn't he?
Your husband must've had quite a few enemies, would you agree?
Yes, he did.
Your eldest boy, his name is Kenyatta, isn't it?
Darrell Kenyatta Evers.
Kenyatta's a Mau Mau name, isn't it?
Objection.
Sustained.
Isn't it true that over 100 people were arrested during a demonstration...
...that your husband organized boycotting...
...a department store in downtown Jackson known as Kennington's?
Who's that?
Ross Barnett.
You're kidding.
Nope. You don't see that every day of the week.
A former governor shaking hands with an assassin in front of the jury.
There's not a court in America that would stand for that.
What's America got to do with anything?
This is Mississippi.
Byron De La Beckwith.
-You live in Greenwood, Mississippi? -Y es, sir.
My mother was a Yerger.
Her mother was Susan Yerger...
...a close personal friend of Mrs. Jefferson Davis.
You shoot Medgar Evers?
No, sir!
Your Honor, may l?
Mr. Beckwith, is this your rifle?
Let's see.
Well, it bears a similarity...
...but I couldn't say for certain.
I don't record the serial numbers of my weapons...
...and my gun was stolen from my home several days before...
...this whole business.
How do you feel, Delay?
I got tears in my eyes.
For Dixie, huh?
In summation...
...not only did surveillance cameras provide us with a visual record...
...of the crime being committed...
...but four eyewitnesses observed the defendant removing his mask...
...upon exiting the convenience store.
Short of you ladies and gentlemen attending the actual event...
...we don't feel the state could have a stronger case.
Thank you.
Counsel?
Hey, Bobby. How'd it go?
Through a combination of superior lawyering...
...and a less than stellar performance by our criminal, I got a conviction.
Congratulations.
My rape victim's reluctant to testify. Can you handle the Harrison motion?
-You bet. -You're a lifesaver.
-DeLaughter, your wife just called. -What'd she want?
To remind you you're having lunch with her mother and your parents at 1:00.
How could I forget?
Bobby.
-You seen this? -Yes, I have.
Evers' widow is calling for the re-prosecution of De La Beckwith.
Ed, this guy was killed over 25 years ago.
Dig up whatever you can on Medgar Evers and be in my office at 3:00.
Ed, this is ridiculous.
Well, sure it is.
But if we try to bury this...
...she'll have every black politician climbing all over me.
My office, 3:00.
Do we have any files here on Medgar Evers?
Who?
The civil rights leader that got himself shot in the 1960s?
I just saw that file. It was next to the one on the Lindbergh baby.
Clara, just bring me what we have.
Good afternoon, sir.
Did you make Hinds County safer today?
You know how it is with criminals. It's like finding a gray hair.
You pull one and two more pop up to take its place.
I love those earrings. Have you worn them before?
I've had them for quite some time. I just never wear them during the day.
You see that nonsense about the Sovereignty Commission?
Yeah, isn't that awful?
That fool, Rea Hederman. Since he took over that paper...
...Iiberals like Jerry Mitchell been trying to rewrite history.
The Sovereignty Commission was a fine organization that did a lot of good.
Dixie, would you pass me the butter?
Why do they dig up things that happened 25 years ago anyway?
Medgar Evers' widow wants to reopen the case.
You can't be serious.
Ed asked me to look into it.
You just tell him, "No, thank you."
When will these people get it through their heads that the '60s are over?
The 1860s and the 1960s.
I thought they found that Beckwith fella not guilty.
Actually, there were two hung juries.
The reason I know is because my late husband, Judge Moore...
...was a spectator at both those trials.
He'd never miss a day. And he told me...
...that they'd never convict Beckwith, no matter how many trials they had.
It's just political. I don't think anything will come of it.
Son, for your sake, it had better not.
You want to be a judge someday.
You persecute a 70-year-old man, guilty or not, over some nigger...
...you'll have everybody in Mississippi lined up against you.
-Hey, Howard. -How you doing?
Y'all got any of that crawdad chowder today?
Yes, sir.
-How many for crawdad chowder? -Oh, come on!
Mrs. Evers, Mr. Dees, I'm Jerry Mitchell from The Clarion-Ledger.
I broke the story on the jury tampering in your husband's case.
-I talked to you on the phone. -That's right.
Thank you for your good work. I can't tell you how much it's appreciated.
I'm just doing my job, ma'am.
What do you think your chances are of getting the D.A. to reopen the case?
I've passed this way before.
Let's just say I've adopted an attitude of tempered optimism.
DeLaughter, hear the news?
President Lincoln just got shot.
Some guy named Booth did it.
The Sovereignty Commission, a state agency, worked against the D.A...
...to ensure the jury had Beckwith sympathizers to keep him out of jail.
That's grounds for a new trial.
With all due respect...
...those old files have been leaking out for years.
They only ran background checks which, while unethical, was not illegal.
We can't prove jury tampering. I'd like you to meet Bob DeLaughter.
How do you do?
-Pleasure. -Mr. Morris Dees...
...the Southern Poverty Law Center.
-How you doing? -I was explaining...
...that in order for us to pursue this...
...we'll need more than an article in a newspaper.
We'll need new evidence.
In 1964, you had a mountain of evidence.
All you gotta do is retry Beckwith.
On the basis of that alone, you'll get a conviction.
As you can see, the mountain has crumbled a bit.
What's this?
That's all that's left of the state's case against De La Beckwith.
Just a few pages of the old police report.
-Where's the gun? Where-- -Where's the bullet?
Where's the original trial transcript? Where are the files? Beats me.
Are you telling us it is lost?
I'm telling you, we don't have it.
Well, that's outrageous.
Even if we had the evidence, we'd never get around...
...to the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial.
Mr. Dees would agree that 25 years isn't exactly what you'd call speedy.
May I see that?
Mrs. Evers, this is pretty strong stuff.
I'd like to see it.
"June 13, 1963.
To the Jackson Police Department:
When you catch whoever killed the nigger, pin a medal on him...
...because he just did Mississippi one hell of a favor.
June 14, 1963.
A female who refused to identify herself stated...
...that she'd heard a rumor that Medgar Evers' wife...
...had gotten jealous of Lena Horne, who appeared with Evers at a rally...
...and might have gotten her brother-in-law to kill Evers."
Who wouldn't be jealous of Lena Horne? What a beautiful woman.
Y es, ma'am.
The cops wrote that garbage down because they actually took it seriously.
Mr. Dees.
Do you think the police in Washington, D.C. would have written it up...
...if some nitwit said Jackie Kennedy had a hand in J.F.K.'s death...
...because her husband ran around with Marilyn Monroe?
What's your point?
The murder of Medgar Evers was a race crime...
...a political crime. An assassination.
Beckwith is free today...
...thanks to a racist jury, a racist police department...
...and a racist D.A.'s office.
Twenty-five years ago, Waller and this office...
...went after Beckwith not once but twice.
I don't need to sit here and listen--
Twenty-five years ago, I sat on the witness stand...
...and I watched as the former governor of this state...
...shook hands with the man who murdered my husband...
...while I was on the stand.
I don't expect you to understand...
...the pain and suffering my family went through...
...but I did come here thinking...
...that this office might want to see justice finally served.
You've given me all the reasons why you can't pursue this.
Perhaps you can find one reason why you can.
Good afternoon, gentlemen.
Ed Peters is a good man...
...but as you can see, we simply don't have a case.
I know you've been living with this thing for a long while...
...but maybe it's just time you....
Let it go?
I can understand why you'd think that, Mr. DeLaughter.
For years, I said the same thing to Medgar.
"Let it go. Let's get out of Mississippi."
Do you know what he said to me?
" I don't know if I'm going to heaven or to hell...
...but I'm going from Jackson."
Good afternoon, Mr. DeLaughter.
Hey, everybody, I'm home.
Hey, tiger.
Hi, Dad.
You sure you got enough distractions? I can go get your Game Boy.
Dad.
Hi, Daddy.
Hi, Dad.
-Did you bring me a lollipop? -I did. I got one for Claire too.
-Thanks, Daddy. -How was school today, sweetie?
Did Miss Collins like the bracelet you made?
Daddy, tell us a story.
-A real scary one. -Claire, you want to hear a story?
Okay, but not too scary.
Let's go to Mommy and Daddy's room, because we don't wanna disturb Burt.
-You want something to eat? -No, I got something at the office.
Thanks for letting me know.
Honey, what are you doing up?
I can't sleep.
The ghost is back.
I'll go. I'll go.
The ghost is back? Where is he this time?
In my bed.
Really? We'll just have to see about that.
You were right. He's right there on the bed.
No, Daddy.
Now he's over by the window.
I see.
Your bottle tree was supposed to keep him away.
Maybe I don't have the right kind of bottles.
You know, baby...
...when we lived in Natchez, there was a ghost...
...that lived right next door...
...in the remains of this house that got burned during the war.
And sometimes he'd come over and get right in my closet.
How'd you make him go away?
Granny would come in and sing a song...
...and before you knew it, he was gone.
What'd she sing?
She sang the song every ghost from Mississippi loves.
Sing it, Daddy.
All right.
I wish I was in the land of cotton
Old times there are not forgotten
Look away
Look away, Dixieland
In Dixieland where I was born
Early on one frosty morn'
Look away, look away
Look away, Dixieland
Oh, I wish I was in Dixie
Hooray, hooray
In Dixieland I'll take my stand
To live and die in Dixie
Away, away
Away down South
In Dixie
I'd ask what's new, but I'm afraid you'd tell me.
My readers are on the edge of their collective seat.
Will Mr. DeLaughter go after Byron De La Beckwith?
The D.A.'s office will investigate the possibility of reopening the case.
I didn't go to law school, but that sounds like bullshit.
Nice talking to you.
Have a nice day.
Can you tell me how I can get ahold of Lewis Skinner...
...or Fred Sanders?
If you want Lewis Skinner, you'll need a shovel and six hours of digging time.
What's Fred's status?
As far as I know, he's still aboveground.
Back in '63, none of those houses were there.
That was all vacant lot.
And this here was all covered over with brush.
I got out here eight minutes after the call came in.
The way Mrs. Evers yelled at me, you'd think I was the one who done it.
This is where they found the gun, hidden in some honeysuckle vines.
Any idea where that gun might be today?
Hell, no.
Back in those days...
...evidence had a habit of disappearing after the trials.
Look at that.
My grandmother could have picked Evers off from over here.
That's where he was shot.
That big tree wasn't there at the time.
There was blood everywhere.
All over the driveway, all over the car.
It was as if somebody had butchered a hog.
But Evers must've been one hell of a strong man because somehow he managed...
...to drag himself all the way up to his door.
After that bullet tore through his back, it slammed through that window...
...crashed through a wall...
...ricocheted off the refrigerator and busted the coffeepot.
We found it on the kitchen counter next to a watermelon.
You're kidding me.
No, sir.
Did he have any kids?
If my memory serves, I believe there were three little ones there that night.
What kind of man shoots another man in the back in front of his family?
I love the land of my birth.
I do not mean just America as a country...
...but Mississippi...
... the state in which I was born.
So the deplorable things I speak of here today...
... will be said to you in hopes of a future...
... where such will not be the case in Mississippi.
In the horrific deaths...
...of Emmett Till...
...Reverend G. W. Lee...
...Lamar Smith and a variety of other atrocities...
...no one has been convicted.
And we feel those guilty of having committed these ungodly acts...
...had the feeling of assurance that nothing ever would be done.
For you see, ladies and gentlemen...
... white juries have yet to convict a white man in Mississippi...
...guilty of a crime against a Negro.
The failure of the so-called decent or moderate white person...
... to take a positive and uncompromising stand....
Who's that?
Medgar Evers.
Why are you looking at it?
I just wanted to get an idea of who he was.
I'd like to get an idea of who you are.
What's that supposed to mean?
I was willing to go down that road with you...
...when you got out of law school and did that pro bono work.
And when you worked for that Jew lawyer who ran you ragged.
I minded a little when you turned down that offer from Morse & Braggs...
...so you could be assistant D.A. at one-fourth the salary.
But I'll be damned if I spent 10 years supporting your career...
...just so you can humiliate me.
You're gonna pursue this, aren't you?
You're gonna humiliate me in front of my friends...
...my family and the entire state.
I'm just looking at a couple of tapes.
Fine. Look at your tapes.
That's all you'd better do.
-Why not? -Because you can't win.
Who says?
-The Sixth Amendment. -Suppose I could get around it.
It's one thing for the grieving widow to carry on--
Suppose an argument could be made that the Sixth Amendment doesn't apply.
You want to retry Beckwith?
Fine.
Dig up 26-year-old physical evidence which probably no longer exists...
...identify it, and then you'll have to locate the key witnesses...
...who, if you find them, are probably dead or senile.
Their testimony could be read from the transcript.
We haven't seen a certified transcript in over 25 years.
-What if I found one? -Let's say, by some miracle...
...you found one, got an indictment. Then by some greater miracle...
...the state Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court didn't throw it out...
...and you actually got to trial. What if you lose?
The whole state, which is supposed to have changed so much...
...will be facing the worst public relations disaster...
...since that black kid, Emmett Till, bobbed up out of the river.
Are you telling me I can't go after this?
I'm telling you you're dealing with the past.
Mississippi's not a place you wanna be.
Hopefully, Jerry Mitchell can keep this thing alive for us.
Jerry Mitchell's fine, but what we need is national press.
Darrell, CNN won't run a major story about how the D.A. of Hinds County...
...is refusing to re-prosecute a case...
...that's a quarter of a century old.
Stop annoying your grandmama.
The greatest joy in your mother's life is being annoyed by her grandchildren.
Next to being annoyed by you, Walter.
I'll get it.
I'm not here no matter who it is.
Who?
Just a minute, please.
I want you to eat those beans.
It's long distance from Jackson.
A man by the name of DeLaughter. You want me to take it?
No, I'll take it.
Eat those beans.
I don't eat beans.
Hello, Mrs. Evers.
I know you probably left here feeling pretty discouraged...
...but I hope you understand Mr. Peters was just being realistic.
I understand perfectly.
I also wanted you to know...
...that we are going to be keeping this case open.
Mrs. Evers?
Did it suddenly occur to Mr. Peters that he'd better...
...start making nice with the black community before November?
-Mrs. Evers-- -He made it clear to me...
...that in addition to having no evidence and no witnesses...
...he also had no interest.
Looking into this wasn't so much Mr. Peter's idea as it was mine.
-Yours? -Yes, ma'am.
Judge Russel Moore was perhaps the most racist judge...
...in the history of the state of Mississippi.
Why would his son-in-law be interested in this case?
Mrs. Evers, I'm 37 years old, just like Medgar was...
...and I've got three kids, like he did.
I was 11 years old when your husband was killed...
...and I hardly remember him at all.
But I went by your house the other day and I could see him there...
...watering his lawn...
... working on his roof...
...playing with his children.
No man has the right to take another man away from his children.
I appreciate the call, Mr. DeLaughter.
I'll keep in touch, Mrs. Evers.
Did you plan on telling me...
...or was I just gonna read about it in the papers?
We should be at the Walkers' house in 15 minutes.
Well, I've got a lot of work to do here.
Suit yourself.
Nobody gives a goddamn what Byron De La Beckwith did...
...to some Medgar Evers 26 years ago.
Hell, Larry Smith got shot down in his own driveway just last week.
And it wasn't for no civil rights.
It was for his spare change.
I could have had any investigator I wanted, and I asked for you.
Am I meant to be flattered by that?
We're supposed to nail Eddie Williams for killing Wendell Washington...
...or that guy Pierson for shooting Donny Brown.
That's why we're only gonna work on this case in our spare time.
Holy shit.
Will you look at this?
You could buy a whole damn General Electric refrigerator for $185.
T alk about your good old days.
That's my daddy.
I didn't know he was on the force too.
Sure. Detective L.C. Bennett.
He was there when they found Beckwith's rifle, but I've never seen this.
John Goza is dead.
Herbert Speight is dead.
B.L. Pittman is dead.
Is anybody alive?
This is pointless.
It's Jerry Mitchell.
Jerry.
I don't have the gun yet.
I don't have anything. If I find the gun, you'll be the first to know.
-Pain in my ass. -It's funny.
I came by to see if you could use some help on this case...
...and you've got a picture of my daddy.
We sure could use some help.
Can you bring people back from the dead?
You're joking, but that's exactly what we have to do.
We have to make the past start living again.
This whole case is one big resurrection.
I want you to go through all the literature...
...from every organization Beckwith was part of:
White Citizens Council, Sons of the American Revolution, KKK.
Good, I always loved homework.
We'll start by paying these boys a little visit.
-Who's that? -Two cops.
They saw Beckwith 90 miles away at the time of the murder.
You think Holley and Cresswell will admit they lied under oath?
Time has a way of cleaning up people's memories.
I love the Delta.
It's the best place on earth.
If you're a mosquito.
-T ake care now. -Thank you, Mr. Holley.
Sometimes you can't win for losing.
I asked you boys to meet me out here...
...so as to avoid running into any of my constituents.
How long have you been an alderman up here, Mr. Holley?
Must be going on about five years.
I'll tell you this:
If word got out that I testified on behalf of Byron De La Beckwith....
I suppose, in a way, your boss and me got the same problem.
Sir?
If we want to keep our jobs...
...we'll have to kiss an awful lot of black behind.
Mr. Holley...
...Evers was killed shortly after midnight, 90 miles away in Jackson.
There's no way the killer could have been here...
...at 1 a.m. pumping gas.
No, sir, that'd be impossible.
It was a long while ago, but I'd like you to think back and tell me...
...are you sure about the time...
...you saw Mr. Beckwith at that gas station?
This old memory of mine...
...gets worse and worse with each passing year...
...but there's two things I am pretty sure about:
It was approximately 1:03 in the morning...
...and old Delay was gassing up that Valiant of his.
Lying son of a bitch.
You thought you'd hear something different?
Maybe we'll have better luck with his partner.
Y'all wanna subpoena me...
...then you go right ahead and do it.
But if I see you, Byron De La Beckwith...
...or the blackest nigger in this country...
...putting gas in his car at the time of a murder...
...then that's what I'll say.
I'd say he's in our camp.
I wish I had better news for her today.
Who's that?
Mrs. Evers.
Fill it up for me, would you, buddy?
I call her every Friday and let her know how the case is progressing.
Got a flash for you. This case ain't progressing.
I think about her keeping this thing alive all this time.
Imagine a woman loving a man so much.
I can't even get a woman to love me while I'm still alive.
Know what I did after my last divorce?
I took up golf.
Man needs a hobby to occupy his mind, or he'll start doing crazy things...
...Iike drinking too much...
...or chasing 26-year-old murder cases across the Mississippi Delta.
I told you I'd call you every Friday.
And it's Friday, Mrs. Evers, so I'm calling.
This really isn't necessary.
It's important to me you know we're doing what we can.
I wish I had better news for you today...
...but we still haven't been able to locate the autopsy report.
Most of the physical evidence is still missing.
A number of the witnesses have died, which really hurts us...
...and we've had no luck finding the original trial transcript.
I've just spoke with both Holley and Cresswell...
...and they're sticking by their stories.
I'm sure as the assistant district attorney of Hinds County...
...you're doing everything in your power...
...to see that justice is done.
I'll call you next Friday.
I'll be on pins and needles till then.
I waited for you to come home.
I'm not taking the children with me.
I just need to be on my own for a while.
I was just wondering when we stopped loving each other.
I don't know.
What happened, Bobby?
People change.
You saying I've changed?
I'm saying you haven't.
-It's a beautiful area, Mr. Beckwith. -It's heaven on earth.
Of course, like everywhere else...
... we do get the occasional stray nigger moving in.
But their houses always seem to burn down.
You know how careless niggers are with their cigarettes.
A real beauty.
-Where'd you get this? -Ed Bryson at Channel 3.
They're running a piece on Beckwith.
Do you think...
...it's a crime for a white man to kill a black man?
God put the white man here to rule over all the dusky races.
It says so in the Bible.
Is there a chance...
... you'd be indicted again for the murder of Medgar Evers?
Why would I be? Do you know of any new evidence?
-Are you a Jew? -Catholic.
I told you, I won't talk to no Jew.
Anybody who knows anything about Jews and niggers...
...knows that Jews put the niggers up to all this foolishness.
This CORE and SNCC and NAACP.
If you were indicted again?
Well, I'm just gonna tend to my business...
...Iike I always have.
I'm gonna look out for my God, my family...
...and the whole state of Christ's church.
That don't encompass anybody but white Christians.
All these other...
...races and colors and creeds and sissies...
... they are anti-Christs. See, many of them...
...believe in human sacrifices and voodoo and such.
According to your way of thinking...
...how could justice be done in the Medgar Evers murder?
First, find out who killed the nigger.
Then you just...
...do whatever the law says that you can do...
...if you're big enough to do it.
He's daring us to get him.
-We still ain't got nothing. -I know what you'll say.
-Did I kill Medgar Evers? -Did you?
I did not kill him.
But he sure is dead.
And he ain't coming back.
What did you think when you heard he'd been killed?
I didn't shed a tear.
No, sir.
Here. The latest literary efforts from the "Hate Group of the Month" Club.
For people who got one thing on their minds...
...they got a lot of ways to tell you about it.
I wonder what old Judge Moore would think about all this.
Dixie still living with her mom?
Shit, I'm late!
Hot off the presses. Armed robbery.
A guy named Spratlin held up Crechelle's, got away with $3800...
-...and an order of onion rings. -I'll take care of it.
Where you going?
-I said I'd be home by 6. -What about the Owens case?
-The assault with the baseball bat. -No, the carjacking.
Right. I'm on top of it.
You want this Evers thing to be your life's work...
...but there's cases that occurred in this decade.
I promise.
This office can't keep covering for you with the judges.
-You'd best be in court tomorrow. -I'll be there.
Daddy...
...how come Grandpa Russel would be mad at you?
Mommy said Grandpa Russel would be mad at you.
Great. What else did Mommy say?
She said that you're doing something that Grandpa won't like.
Yeah, well....
What are you doing?
Grandpa Russel and I didn't always agree on things.
What things?
Let's see, how can I explain this?
Explain it.
Right.
You know how sometimes people can just be different?
Like how?
Grandpa used to eat pig's knuckles.
That's how I feel. See, we're different.
Grandpa used to like to build things.
I can't build anything, but I like to work in the garden.
Grandpa had guns all over his house, and we don't have any guns.
I have a gun.
Yours is a nuclear-powered laser gun.
I'm talking about handguns and rifles.
Holy shit!
Claire, watch Drew!
Holy shit.
Don't say that. That's a bad word.
Benny?
Sanders said something about evidence disappearing after trials.
Do you know anything about that?
My daddy told me that kind of thing happened all the time.
People used to take stuff as souvenirs. You know, lawyers, bailiffs, clerks.
How about judges?
That's true.
I'm afraid I won't be able to play Tuesday.
We have a round robin at the club, and I promised Lou Ann.
Honey, don't worry about it. I'll call Charlynne.
If she can't make it, I'll get Louise.
Sugar, play that jack of clubs for me there, if you would. Please, ma'am.
Hi, Grandma.
What are you doing here? Dixie's not here.
I thought you'd enjoy a visit from your grandkids.
Darlin', it's my bridge night tonight. Drew! Come here.
Well, we can't stay but a minute.
Remember that rifle Judge Moore used to hold open the door to his study?
Have you seen that around anywhere?
Ladies, y'all know Bobby.
That's Marilyn and Jill and Leah.
I won't keep you from your game. Go ahead and I'll be right back.
Now, what is he doing here, Caroline?
He's looking for a gun.
I don't appreciate your roaming around.
I want you coming down those stairs now, and leave.
I spent many a happy hour up here arguing the law with your husband.
And if he knew what you were up to with this Evers nonsense...
...that man would turn over in his grave.
I said that to myself just this morning.
Dixie always said that you were crazy as hell.
Maybe she did have a point.
I love you...
...but you and Dixie aren't any more right for each other...
...than the man in the moon.
I'll go back and resume my bridge game.
You go on ahead. I'll be right down.
It's best if you come on back down with me right now.
I prefer it.
Be careful. It could be loaded.
-Hold on to that. -What are you doing?
-Checking this serial number. -I love my grandchildren.
-A little bit higher. -It's inappropriate to march in here...
...and you expect me to just let you....
What?
I love you, Caroline.
-You're full of shit. -I logged it in the evidence locker.
-Logged what in? -The gun that killed Medgar Evers.
-You're full of shit. -Who?
He says he found the gun.
-You're full of shit. -That's something to tell Mrs. Evers.
I'm not gonna tell Mrs. Evers.
You've been making those Friday calls so she'd trust you.
-lf she finds out.... -I can't have her find out.
This can't leave the office.
The only way we're gonna get a new indictment is if we find something...
...they didn't have 27 years ago.
The way I see it, that something will come from Beckwith.
Right now, he's on his mountaintop...
...shooting his mouth off to anyone who'll listen.
No telling what incriminating thing's liable to come out of that man.
But if he knows we have something like this...
...he'll know we're serious and clam up.
I doubt that Beckwith and Myrlie speak all that often.
Myrlie speaks to Jerry Mitchell.
Jerry Mitchell speaks to the world.
"You best stop wasting our taxpayers' money.
Enjoy your drive home."
Nice to see Jackson still has some concerned citizens.
Well, heck, son, what did you expect?
I expect people to act like decent, law-abiding citizens.
This is 1990, for crying out loud.
Of course it is. And we got blacks and whites playing ball together...
...and on the police force, in the government, on TV.
We are a fully evolved society. Aren't we, son?
Let me tell you something:
This country may be legally integrated, but emotionally...
...we will always be segregated.
I don't know that I accept that.
Of course not.
You're Bobby DeLaughter...
...Mississippi's self-appointed new civil rights leader.
Barney...
...do we have to talk about this?
No, we do not.
Who all wants some of your grandpa's famous baby backs?
I do! I do!
You're my son.
I don't want you to get hurt.
In Jackson, Mississippi
In 1963
There lived a man
Who was brave
He fought for freedom
Hello, Mrs. Evers?
It's Bobby DeLaughter.
Nothing earth shattering, no.
We've located all the witnesses...
...but without the original trial transcript...
...it's tough piecing the case together.
No, ma'am, that's about it.
-I wish I had more to report. -Hang up the phone.
-I hope I'll have something...
...a little more exciting next Friday.
-You too. -Hang up.
I'll call you next Friday, Mrs. Evers.
Thank you. Goodbye.
What is going on?
Would a confession by Mr. Beckwith qualify as exciting?
What do you got?
You know Jack Ables?
The lawyer?
He's representing a movie studio in a defamation of character suit...
...brought by a couple Klansmen. While he was doing his research...
...he came across that.
"Klandestine."
It was written 20 years ago...
...about this Klan titan turned FBl informant, Delmar Dennis.
On page 38, he talks about attending a Klan rally in August of 1965.
Guess who was a motivational speaker?
-Beckwith? -Our boy.
Listen to this.
And I quote:
" Killing that nigger gave me no more discomfort than our wives endure...
...when they give birth to our children."
Sounds like a confession to me.
Let's run down this Delmar Dennis. We need to have a chat with him.
$100 says old Delmar chickens out on us.
He's probably hiding in the woods, shitting in his drawers.
Where the hell is this place?
This guy informed on the Klan.
He could have made a deal with them to save his butt by delivering us.
That's a happy thought.
One of you Bobby DeLaughter?
Holding rallies and burning crosses is one thing...
...but when they killed them three kids up in Neshoba County...
-...freedom riders-- -Goodman, Chaney, Schwerner?
That made a lot of people come to their senses.
That's why I decided to go undercover for the FBl.
I need to ask you if what you say in that book happened.
That part about Beckwith's speech at that Klan rally. Is that a fact?
It's a fact.
I was shocked, and I remember thinking how stupid he was...
...shooting off his mouth like that in front of 100 men.
-Did you report that to the FBl? -Sure, I did.
But Beckwith was a white man accused of killing a black.
The FBl wasn't gonna blow my cover on a case they couldn't win.
They were saving me for Neshoba because--
Two of the victims were white.
Mr. Dennis, if I can't build the case...
...I give you my word that we never had this conversation.
But if I can...
...will you testify?
Byron De La Beckwith is the craziest...
...most dangerous son of a bitch I ever come across.
He's so crazy even the Klan's afraid of him.
He's an old man now.
That old man is probably more dangerous today than he was 30 years ago.
Mr. Dennis, we need your help.
I can't make no promises.
You know something, Mr. Dennis?
Six months I've worked this case.
A lot of people have told me to give it up.
" It's 27 years old. Let sleeping dogs lie."
But I don't see what difference it makes...
...if a man was bushwhacked yesterday...
...today or 27 damn years ago.
Murder is murder.
It's still my job to bring the son of a bitch to justice.
It's still your job to help me.
No. I did my job. I testified against the Klan.
They shot out my windows, blew up my car.
They hunted and harassed me for 25 years!
Don't that get me even for the wrong I done?
We never get even for the wrong we've done.
If I do this thing...
...you gotta promise me protection.
What's going on?
Stop that.
Stop that. IKnock it off.
Enough of that!
-What's going on? -Eddy called you a nigger lover.
My dad says you're after a man for something that isn't even a crime.
That's enough fighting, son. You get on home. Go on home.
Let me take a look at you.
My God. Get in this house. What's gotten into you?
All this fighting. All this name-calling.
Is this what you want?
To drag your children into this?
What would you have me do? Let a murderer go free?
I'd never tell you your business. I'm thinking about the children.
I don't understand why every decent person in this state...
...isn't sickened by what happened here 27 years ago.
-Oh, Bobby. -You're not, are you?
-Not in front of the children. -Why not?
I was just a kid...
...and I still remember you and your friends discussing it.
And I recollect someone saying, "That nigger needed to be shot."
I never said a hateful thing like that.
-You didn't cry, did you? -I can't say that I shed any tears--
Had it been our beloved governor, Ross Barnett, got himself shot...
...you would've been bawling your eyes out.
Evers left a young widow and three little kids. Why didn't you cry?
-I don't wanna discuss this now. -Why?
Because he tried to destroy our way of life.
And he succeeded all too well.
This state's going to hell on account of integration.
That's a fact. If you think they appreciate one thing...
...we gave them, you're crazy.
-Tiger, how do you feel? -I'm all right.
-Your son has one tough nose. -So it's not broken?
It'll be tender for a couple days, then it'll be good as new.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
You're welcome.
Thank you, ma'am.
Are you the one involved in this Medgar Evers thing?
Yes, I am.
I think what you're trying to do is very important.
Thank you very much.
I don't want you kids getting into anymore fights.
-But he called you a-- -I don't care what he called me.
It doesn't bother me. You gotta learn not to let it bother you.
A lot of people around here don't like what Daddy's doing now.
What are you doing, Daddy?
I'm trying to put a bad man in jail.
Mama says what you're doing is wrong.
Grandma said Edgar Mevers is ruining our life.
Medgar Evers was a good guy who tried to help people.
Did he try to beat the bad guys?
Yes, he did. He fought so that black people...
...could eat in the same restaurants, swim in the same pools...
...shop in the same stores and go to the same schools as white people.
What's wrong with that?
Nothing.
But you'll hear people say all kinds of bad things...
...about what your daddy's doing.
They're gonna tease you, try to pick fights.
But no matter what they do...
...I want you to walk away.
What if they say something really mean?
They're only words. They can't hurt you unless you let them.
Is this about sticks and stones?
That's exactly what this is about.
Y'all understand what I'm saying?
Yes, sir.
All right.
All y'all get on to bed now.
Good night.
I heard you had a little visit with my friend Delmar.
Mr. Beckwith?
Next time you see old Delmar, you tell him for me...
...there are a lot of dark, winding roads...
... between the backwoods of Louisiana and a courtroom in Mississippi.
A man could get lost.
Claire, what's the matter?
The ghost's in my room again.
Let's see what we can do.
-Where is he? -Sitting right there.
Oh, right.
Daddy, sing "Dixie."
Hop into bed, sweetie.
Sing.
You know, sweetie, maybe " Dixie" is not the right song.
Maybe that's why this ghost keeps coming back.
-But you said-- -I know, baby.
But I'm not so sure that all ghosts like "Dixie."
But how do we know what this ghost likes?
Seeing as this is your special ghost, maybe he'll like your favorite song.
"Old MacDonald"?
Let's give it a try.
Old MacDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O
And on that farm he had a--
What?
A ghost?
And on that farm he had a ghost
E-I-E-I-O
With a boo boo here And a boo boo there
Here a boo, there a boo Everywhere a boo boo
You wanted to have lunch to talk about Burt's nose?
No, actually, l....
I didn't think so.
So then, this is a date?
Apparently.
In the hospital cafeteria?
I took a chance. I thought it would either be stupid or charming.
What do you think?
Is there a third choice?
Extremely charming?
That's the one.
How'd you get into all this?
You want the standard answer or the truth?
How about a little of both?
I always liked helping people...
...and I like the hours.
Which answer was that?
A little of both.
But I do like that I work one week on and one week off.
Can't beat that.
Have to be careful not to shop too much in that week off.
That can kill you. What about you?
I wanted to be a lawyer since I was a little kid.
I watched Perry Mason...
...all the time. I identified with him.
-But he was a defense attorney. -I know.
Later, I realized the only way he ever won a case...
...is if some guy jumped up and yelled, "I did it!"
That didn't happen often, so I switched to the other side.
I think it's a good thing you did.
You would be in the minority these days.
There are a lot more people on your side than you think.
You're not saying that because I bought you a lime Jell-O?
Well, it is the way to a woman's heart.
But if you could pull this off, it'd do Mississippi a whole lot of good.
And if I don't?
I'll pretend I never met you.
I have renewed faith in the institution of marriage.
I can't get enough of my hunk of burning love.
Not now, Clara May!
Clara Mayfield.
-It's Jerry Mitchell. -I'll take it.
-I know you have the gun. -We've been over this.
I know you found it in Russel Moore's den.
There'll be a story about how the D.A. Iied to the people of Jackson...
...and how Bobby DeLaughter lied to Myrlie Evers.
I'm calling to see if you care to comment.
You've explained why you lied to the press.
You still have not explained why you lied to me.
I told you. Jerry Mitchell is a loose cannon.
This case was so delicate, I didn't want to take chances.
I'm the last person on earth who would jeopardize this investigation.
There's something you're not telling me.
I swear to God, there is no cover-up.
You fully intend to seek an indictment and a new trial?
That's what we've been working toward.
I thought so, Mr. DeLaughter.
I thought so.
This latest revelation only proves what we've suspected all along.
Peters and DeLaughter are just putting on a show for the black community.
As far as I'm concerned, they're nothing but a pair of lying racists...
...who never, I repeat, never...
...had any intention of prosecuting this case.
You wanted to see me?
Come on, sit down.
You don't mind being seen in the same room with a "lying racist"?
I don't mind if you don't.
You know Pat Bennett?
Sure, she's one of the best lawyers in the state.
Why are we talking about her?
I thought she might be able to help you on the case.
I've got it under control, Ed.
You have your share of the 93 capital murder cases...
...we have waiting for trial under control?
What new excuse would you suggest I give...
...to the families as to why those who've murdered their loved ones...
...have yet to see a courtroom?
I'm just curious. The fact that Pat Bennett is black...
...wouldn't have anything to do with this, would it?
I'm not gonna dignify that.
Whatever you may think, this is not the Bobby DeLaughter case.
This is a case against the peace and dignity of Mississippi.
Monday morning, I'm making a change.
You're about to hear the testimony of a fingerprint expert...
...concerning evidence he claims to have identified in a certain glass.
You're entitled to consider...
... the prosecution's failure to make the glass available to the defense.
It is permissible that for one fact alone to raise a doubt in your minds...
... that will require Mrs. Savage's acquittal.
-Can he do that? -This is my case, damn it.
How dare they say I'm putting on a show?
Only two people care about this case, and I'm one of them.
If anybody's putting on a show, they are. The only thing they' re--
They're only trying to stir up emotions and position themselves...
...as the saviors of the black community.
Where you going?
This is Bobby DeLaughter. I hope I didn't disturb you.
This won't take but a minute, ma'am.
When I started off, I had nothing more than...
...a couple of pages in an old police report.
I spent the better part of a year bumping up against dead witnesses...
...and tracking down live ones.
My car's been vandalized, my son's been in a fight...
...and I've been called ugly things by every racist in Mississippi.
Now, when there's a chance for an indictment...
...I've gotta fight off black politicians too.
I'm sorry I lied about the gun, but I've made a commitment to this case.
I'll be goddamned--
Pardon me, if I give it up to some special prosecutor...
...I don't care if he's black, green or blue.
I'm committed and I'm asking you to make a commitment to me.
If you do, I'll ride this thing to the finish line...
...or collapse heading in that direction.
Thank you for your call, Mr. DeLaughter.
The hell with her! She's like all the rest.
The white world hasn't gone out of its way to make her trusting.
When does it start? What do I have to do?
We had a real chance to send a message to this country...
...that Mississippi isn't a bunch of redneck racists.
My mother was right. We should separate and let the South rise again.
-You don't believe that. -Why not?
She doesn't want my help.
I'm just another white man putting her in her place.
She sees no difference between me and Beckwith.
-You didn't tell her about the gun. -Right.
If I had it to do over again, I still wouldn't have told her.
IKeeping the discovery of the murder weapon a secret was a good strategy.
It wouldn't bother her a lick if I was black. I'd just be a smart lawyer.
You can't have it both ways.
What do you mean by that?
You said the reason you didn't tell her about the gun...
...was that you were afraid she would leak the story.
You can't expect her to trust you, if you don't trust her.
I want you to meet with Pat Bennett and bring her up to speed.
Fine.
It's for the best.
If you say so.
I'm going out. You want something?
I'd like a Mercedes convertible, but I'd settle for a Dr. Pepper.
There are four important things in my life:
Medgar, Walter...
...my children...
...and this...
...the original court-certified transcript.
I've kept this for 27 years...
...through three district attorneys.
Once I give this up...
...I know that it may be gone forever.
I don't believe you'll find anymore opposition...
...to your continuing to handle this case.
Thank you, ma'am.
It's truly appreciated.
Let's get the son of a bitch.
My pleasure.
The decision by the D.A.'s office...
...to re-open the 27-year-old murder case of Byron De La Beckwith...
...continues to cause controversy.
Citizens of Jackson are concerned...
... that taxpayers' money is being used to dig up the past.
The grand jury handed down an indictment of Byron De La Beckwith...
...in the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
Extradition in the Beckwith case...
...is seen as a stumbling block for the D.A.'s office.
I plan to fight repossession-- What's the word?
Extradition tooth, nail and claw!
In an attempt to replace a lost autopsy report...
... the D.A.'s office of Hinds County today received permission...
...by the Evers family to exhume the body...
...of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
The body, buried in Arlington National Cemetery in 1963...
... was found in remarkably near-perfect condition.
After 18 months, extradition was finally granted...
...in the case of Byron De La Beckwith...
... the man accused of slaying civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
Beckwith will face murder charges 30 years after the initial two trials...
...for the same offense ended in hung juries.
Thank you, son.
" I first received the call...
...at 9 :42 p. m...
...on the night of June 12, 1963.
My partner and I responded and proceeded to the crime scene...
...Iocated at 2332 Guynes Street."
That's pretty good, Benny...
...but just because you read the part of a dead witness...
...doesn't mean you have to act like you're actually dead.
I'm doing my best.
I know you are.
Medgar Evers' autopsy report just came in.
You're not gonna believe this. He's still dead.
Thank you, Clara.
I got off the phone with Charles Evers. He won't come to the trial.
Did he say why?
He wouldn't say.
Get me the address of his radio station.
They found a bullet fragment in the body.
It's consistent with a.30-06 Enfield.
You'll be sorry. What happened to that nigger will happen to you.
Another one?
Closer we get to trial, the more nutjobs will crawl out of the woodwork.
You got a gun?
Here. T ake this.
No, wait. T ake this.
T ake this.
That was Muddy Waters doing his thing for y'all.
Now I'll play a little something that goes way back.
The great Robert Johnson.
Mr. Evers?
-Hi, I'm-- -Bobby DeLaughter.
Please sit down.
Robert Johnson.
IKing of the Delta Blues.
-Thank you. -You're welcome.
May your soul rise up to heaven...
...'fore the devil knows you're dead.
They say Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil to play the guitar like that.
What do you think?
If the devil wanted my soul, it'd cost a lot more than some guitar lessons.
I believe after this trial's over...
...Mississippi come through this time.
That's why I came here to talk with you, Mr. Evers.
Would you change your mind and come to the trial? Your presence...
...would mean a great deal.
Let me tell you something.
Medgar was my baby brother.
There ain't nothing I wouldn't do for him.
When we were little kids...
...we used to sleep in the same bed.
And on cold nights...
...I'd climb in first just so I could warm up the sheets for him.
I didn't go to the first two trials.
Myrlie...
...a lot of people, they criticized me for that.
But I won't go to no third trial neither...
...and for the exact same reason.
I know if I ever got in the same room with Byron De La Beckwith...
...as God is my witness...
...I'd wrap my hands around his chicken neck and snap it in half.
And nobody...
...be able to stop me.
I wouldn't blame you.
Nobody hardly ever...
...remembers Medgar anymore.
Whites or blacks.
And that's a goddamn shame.
Because whatever rights the black man has now...
...he's got because of something called the Civil Rights Movement.
And for a long time here in the state of Mississippi...
...before the television, newspapers, back before the fancy speeches...
...my brother, Medgar, was the Civil Rights Movement.
I'm sitting here tonight, talking to my friend and your friend...
...Assistant District Attorney Bobby DeLaughter.
We're talking about my brother, Medgar Evers...
...and we're gonna play the blues for Medgar all night long.
You and my sister-in-law...
...you get justice for my brother.
Devil, if you listening...
...I won't sell my soul for no guitar lessons...
...but I'll sell my soul for that.
Are you surprised bail was granted so quickly?
Mr. Beckwith was being held as a political prisoner.
He's not been found guilty. Why should he be kept in jail?
Mr. Scott, you're an officer of the Nationalist Movement, correct?
Is that where the money came from to secure his bond?
Mr. Beckwith has a lot of friends here. We'll do whatever it takes.
Suppose he doesn't show for the trial? Suppose he leaves the country?
If he runs, we'll find him.
How long will that take?
Another five years? Another 10?
I've already devoted a lifetime to this. That ought to be enough.
Yes, ma'am. It sure ought to be.
I'm sorry, Bobby.
It's all right, Mrs. Evers.
It's quite all right.
-How's Jared doing? -Fine.
He and Burt seem like they've been brothers all their lives.
They all sleeping?
And that's what you should be doing.
I want the opening statement to be great.
It was great when you read it three nights ago.
Unless you snuck in something about...
...Beckwith deserving the Nobel Peace Prize...
...I'm sure it'll be great tomorrow morning.
You see? That's why I look to you.
Eliminate Nobel Peace Prize reference.
That's good.
I left a gift for you in appreciation for everything you're doing...
... to ruin civilized society.
-What the hell is this? -It's scheduled to go off at 10 p.m.
You have a nice night.
It's a bomb.
Everybody, get up. Let's go.
What's going on?
It's nothing at all. Outside that door. A little drill is all.
Head for the front door.
Is this still the drill?
Where are we going, Dad?
Told you we're going to the Holiday Inn.
Is that where we're going? The Holiday Inn?
That's right.
We haven't found anything, but we'll go through it one more time.
I appreciate that.
I told them if anything ever happened, all they had to do was walk away.
How're they supposed to walk away from a bomb?
There wasn't a bomb.
This time.
If you want to give this thing up, I understand.
No one could fault you. But the world isn't going to be any safer.
I don't give a shit about the world. These are my children.
Yes, they are.
Someday they'll be able to tell their children...
...that their daddy put away Medgar Evers' killer.
Medgar Evers was a fool, and my daddy was right.
Doesn't matter how many civil rights laws you pass.
You'll never legislate how people think.
There are always gonna be a few misguided people.
I'm not talking about a few people. I'm talking about everybody, about us.
Do we have one single black friend? No.
We don't have dinner with them or have them over.
We don't sit with them in church.
You think this one trial will magically change this?
No, I don't.
It's a step.
That's all anyone can do is take a step.
Why do I have to take that step?
So some sick son of a bitch can murder my wife and kids?
Excuse me if I'm not interested in taking that step.
Where are you going?
For a drive.
" I don't know if I'm going to heaven or hell, but I'm going from Jackson."
We're on record in the matter of Mississippi v. Byron De La Beckwith.
Does prosecution have its opening statement?
We do, Your Honor.
Ladies and gentlemen...
...this is a very simple case.
It's about a man whose life was snuffed out...
...on June the 12th of 1963...
...by a bullet that tore through his body.
A bullet aimed out of prejudice...
...propelled by hatred...
...and fired by a back-shooting coward...
...from ambush...
...at night.
The evidence will overwhelmingly show that Byron De La Beckwith...
...a self-proclaimed, rabid racist on a lifelong mission...
...to purge society of anyone and anything...
...that stood for integration...
...is the man that fired that bullet.
Evidence will show how, when he thought he beat the system...
...he bragged about what he'd done.
Bragged about getting away with murder.
The evidence will undeniably show that the person who pulled the trigger...
...and ended the life of Medgar Evers is this defendant...
...Byron De La Beckwith.
Mr. Coxwell?
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
My name is Merrida Coxwell. This is James Kitchens...
...and we are representing Mr. Beckwith.
Mr. DeLaughter started his opening statement...
...by saying that this was a very simple case.
I agree with him.
But what Mr. DeLaughter is going to rely on is for you...
...to convict Mr. Beckwith simply because of his opinions.
That's because...
...he knows that the state cannot prove to you beyond a reasonable doubt...
...that the defendant committed the crime.
By the time this trial is over...
...you will have seen it was physically impossible...
...for Mr. Byron De La Beckwith to have killed Medgar Evers.
Mr. Beckwith is not guilty.
That's what the proof will show.
Thank you.
The state may call its first witness.
The state calls Myrlie Evers.
Raise your right hand.
Do you swear to tell the truth...
-...the whole truth, so help you God? -I do.
Be seated.
Will you tell us your name?
My name is Myrlie Evers.
Going back to 1963, were you married at that time?
Yes, I was.
And to whom were you married?
Medgar Wylie...
...Evers.
When was the last time you saw your husband alive?
June 11, 1963.
I'd fallen behind...
...in my housework and got up early that morning...
...to iron some shirts for Medgar.
By the time he woke...
...I had 10 freshly ironed shirts neatly hung on hangers.
He said, "I thank you for ironing these shirts...
...but I'm not going to need them."
Before he left for work that morning, he kissed us all goodbye...
...and then left.
But then he came back...
...and took me aside.
He said, "If anything should happen to me...
...I want you to promise me...
...you will take care of my babies."
I said, "Of course. They're my babies too."
He then kissed us all goodbye again and left.
Could you tell the jury what you remember...
...seeing and hearing when your husband returned home that night?
It was just after midnight when he got home.
We heard the car.
And then there was...
...this horrible blast.
The children...
...fell to the floor as their father had taught them.
I bolted to the front door.
Medgar was lying in the carport.
He still had his keys in his hand.
Blood everywhere.
The children came out shortly after I did...
...and they were screaming...
... "Daddy!
Daddy, get up!
Daddy, please get up."
But I knew he would never get up again.
Nothing further, Your Honor.
Mr. McIntyre, have you ever owned a 1917 Enfield.30-06 rifle?
Yes, I have.
Did you own that rifle in 1963?
Sometime, I believe in 1960, I traded it to Mr. Beckwith.
Mr. McIntyre, I want to show you this firearm and ask if you would...
...read the serial number on the barrel, please.
1-0-5-2-6-8-2.
Thank you. Going back to exhibit 35, would you read the serial number...
...on the invoice of the gun that you purchased...
...and later traded to Mr. Beckwith?
1-0-5-2-6-8-2.
Ms. Holder, were you at Joe's Drive-In on the night of June 11, 1963?
Yes, sir.
I wasn't working, but I was there hanging out with my friends.
T ell the jury if there came a time when your attention...
...was directed towards any particular automobile.
Being a carhop, you notice cars.
This one had a long antenna on the side of it.
We thought at first it was a patrol car.
It was white and it had a lot of mud on it.
It was a Plymouth Valiant.
Mr. Hargrove, were you employed by the Jackson Police Department in June 1963?
Yes, I was.
In charge of the ldentification Division for 42 years.
Did you reach a conclusion as to whose fingerprint...
...was on the telescopic side of the gun...
...recovered in your presence on June 12, 1963?
Yes, sir. I did.
With 14 points of identification, there's more than enough...
...to identify the fingerprint of Mr. Byron De La Beckwith.
After four days of testimony in the trial of white supremacist Beckwith...
...the prosecution, thus far, has presented essentially the same case...
...as was offered up in the two original trials.
However, this time there are two significant differences.
First, the makeup of the jury.
In 1964, Beckwith faced two all-male, all-white juries.
Today, he faces a jury made up of eight blacks and four whites.
Tomorrow the prosecution is expected to introduce three new witnesses...
... who did not testify in the first two trials.
State your name for the record.
Delmar Dennis.
Mr. Dennis, in March of 1964...
...were you a member of an organization known as...
...the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan?
I was.
In September of that year...
...did you become a paid informant for the FBl?
I did.
And in your capacity as informant...
...did you ever encounter the defendant, Byron De La Beckwith?
I did.
What were the circumstances of that encounter?
On August 8, 1965, I met Mr. Beckwith...
...at a Klan meeting in Byram, Mississippi.
He was a featured speaker that night.
Now, during that talk, would you tell the jury what, if anything...
...the defendant said about the murder or shooting death of Medgar Evers.
He said, "Killing that nigger gave me no more inner discomfort...
...than our wives endure giving birth to our children.
We gotta kill those enemies...
...including the President, from the top down."
Did he say anything else?
Yes, sir.
He said, "You're gonna get away with it like I did."
Thank you, Mr. Dennis.
Your witness.
You have seen FBl reports about your activities...
...as a paid informant, haven't you?
Mr. DeLaughter's office furnished me with copies.
In fact, there are...
...pages and pages of dialogue...
...that you reported to the FBl of things...
...that various people said over lunch, over dinner...
...riding in cars, meetings. Isn't that right?
Yet, nowhere in all those reports...
...does the quotation that you attributed to Mr. Beckwith appear.
Does it?
Maybe the pages got lost over the years.
And maybe they never existed.
Objection.
Sustained.
Dog ate my homework.
Mr. Dennis, did Byron De La Beckwith...
...ever specifically say that he killed Medgar Evers?
He never said, "I killed Medgar Evers. "That's true.
No further questions.
That's what he meant.
We ask that the witness's unsolicited opinion be stricken...
...and that the jury disregard it.
The jury will disregard Mr. Dennis' last statement.
I was standing out in the yard, and he said something to me about...
...having been tried twice in Mississippi...
...for "killing that nigger."
And what'd he say about that?
He said...
... "I had a job to do and I did it."
Thank you, Mr. Prince. Nothing further.
Back in 1986, when Mr. Beckwith allegedly made this statement to you...
...you went straight to the authorities, didn't you?
Well, you must've told some of your buddies.
You didn't tell anybody you were renting a house from a man...
...who admitted to you that he'd killed somebody?
I didn't at that time, no.
Mr. and Mrs. Beckwith had you thrown out of the house...
...because you had a drinking problem, right?
I had a drinking problem...
...but that's not why they--
You don't particularly like Mr. Beckwith for throwing you out, do you?
Mrs. Morgan...
...when you lived in Greenwood, Mississippi in the early 1970s...
...did you and your husband give the defendant a ride to Parchman Prison?
Yes, sir.
Me and my husband, Lloyd, was going to see Lloyd's brother...
...Jimmy Dale Morgan...
...and Mr. Beckwith was going to see some friend of his...
...whose name he wouldn't tell us.
During that time, did he make any statements concerning the murder...
...of Medgar Evers?
Yes, sir.
He said that he had killed Medgar Evers, a nigger...
...and said we'd better not say anything about us driving him up to Parchman...
...because he wasn't scared to kill again.
Thank you, Mrs. Morgan.
You have had some very traumatic things...
...happen to you in your life, haven't you?
Most definitely.
Your estranged husband...
...Lloyd Morgan, was very abusive to you.
Objection. Irrelevant.
Where are you going with this?
If you'll allow me...
...this line of questioning speaks directly to this witness's credibility.
Overruled.
Your husband, you told us...
...carried on an incestuous relationship with one of his children.
Yes, he did.
And your father...
...was very abusive to you when you were a child.
Yes, sir.
And as a result...
...of all this...
...you have been diagnosed by psychiatrists...
...as having an anxiety disorder.
Yes, sir, I have.
I have nothing further.
If this jury wants to believe a lying drunk, a paid informant...
...and a damn loony bird...
...then I might be in a bit of trouble.
But not as much trouble as our beloved justice system.
And this Prince fella still owes me $ 64 worth of rent.
How do you account for the matching numbers on the gun?
My rifle was stolen days before this nigger turned up dead.
Turn those lights off.
Mom, how can you stand watching this idiot?
When your father died...
...I carried around such hatred for that man...
... I actually made inquiries into having him killed.
But in time, I was able to let that hatred go.
I don't know how.
I remembered something your father once said to me.
He said, "When you hate, the only person who suffers is you.
Because most of the people you hate...
...don't know it and the others don't care."
The big question here is will Beckwith testify...
...as he did so confidently back in 1964?
Everybody wants to see the Byron De La Beckwith Show.
What if putting him on is too risky?
You kidding? He'll wanna tell that cock-and-bull story...
...about his gun being stolen two days before the murder.
Besides, this is Byron De La Beckwith we're talking about.
Summoned from his mountain by God Almighty...
...to give us the word according to Delay.
He'll testify.
I'll see you upstairs.
Something happen to you in your boyhood make you mean-spirited...
...enough to turn on your own?
Do what the good Lord and Mississippi got every right to expect you to do.
Which is?
Putting niggers away for killing white people instead of the other way around.
Mr. Peters and y'all should be run out of this state for this foolishness...
...and y'all probably will be.
This is not some deer you brought down. This is a human being.
A deer, Mr. DeLaughter, is a beautiful animal.
It's one of God's creatures.
I would never kill a deer.
A nigger, on the other hand, that's another matter entirely.
Are you standing here admitting to me that you--
IKilled Medgar Evers?
What if I did?
It's not like there's anything you nor anybody else can do about it.
Is there?
We'll see about that.
Oh, that we will.
That we will.
You know, it only takes but one of them, doesn't it?
The question is...
...which one will it be?
Maybe that chubby white gal who'd be sorely vexed...
...to let one of her own kind be put away, no matter what she told you.
Or maybe that old nigger minister...
...who won't want sending a sick old man to prison on his conscience.
You ain't never gonna get 12 people to convict me of killing a nigger...
...in the state of Mississippi.
No, sir. Hell, I don't even have to take the stand.
Couple more days, I'll be heading back to my home in T ennessee...
...where I will sit on my porch...
...and live out my days in peace and prosperity.
What are you gonna do?
" Free at last, free at last.
Great God Almighty, I'm free at last!"
The defense calls James Holley.
Relax. He's just needling you.
He'll testify.
Raise your right hand.
You swear the testimony you'll give is the whole truth, so help you God?
-I do. -Be seated.
Mr. Holley, did you have a personal relationship with the defendant?
No, sir. None whatsoever. I just kind of knew who he was.
Mr. Holley, in the early morning of June 12th, 1963...
...did you have occasion to see Mr. Beckwith?
He was standing outside at a Shell station...
...while the attendant was putting gas in his car.
T ell the jury what time you saw him.
At approximately 1:03 in the morning.
About how many miles is it from Greenwood to Jackson?
Must be around 90, 95 miles.
So you saw the defendant less than an hour after the murder...
...calmly standing by his car some 95 miles away from the scene of the crime?
I have nothing further.
Mr. Holley...
...on the night you say you saw...
...Byron De La Beckwith in Greenwood....
Delay, as you call him, I believe. Is that right?
Delay Beckwith, yes, sir.
Why do you call him Delay? Are y'all first-name buddies?
No, sir. I call him Mr. Beckwith most of the time.
We just noted...
... "Delay's car" and "Delay and the attendant."
Isn't that exactly what you told me and my investigators...
...when we asked what you were doing that night?
"Delay."
Your buddy.
My friend.
And how long has he been your friend?
-Just shortly after World War ll. -When you said...
...you had no personal relationship with him, that wasn't entirely true.
You've known him a long time and been friends a long time, right?
Well, sure, we're friends.
Just like I hope you and I are friends.
Pardon?
I said just like I would hope you and I are friends.
I'm flattered.
Let me ask you this.
At the time the defendant was arrested...
...there were a whole lot of law enforcement people...
...trying to gather information, am I right?
FBl, Jackson Police.
Do you remember that?
Did you speak to...
...Detective Sanders, one of the investigators?
I might've spoken a word with him.
Then you told him you saw Beckwith in Greenwood the night of the killing.
-ls that right? -I did not.
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?
The only person you spoke to 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?
As a former police officer, 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.
A sworn officer of the law...
...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?
No, thanks.
As many trials as I've been through and I can never take the waiting.
Wanna go for a walk?
No, you go ahead. I've gotten pretty good at waiting.
That Judge Hilburn...
...he don't have a lot of patience.
That jury ain't back with a verdict in a few hours...
...he'll declare a mistrial.
I'm not sure I got that.
Would you mind repeating that, please?
You did say mistrial, didn't you?
I'm gonna snooch you.
All rise.
When the verdict is read...
...there will be no demonstrations...
...or any emotional outbursts of any type.
Has the jury reached a verdict?
It has, Your Honor.
If the bailiff will hand me the verdict.
I'll ask the jury at this time to stand and face the defendant.
The defendant will face the jury.
The jury foreman will now read the verdict.
We the jury...
...find the defendant...
...Byron De La Beckwith, guilty as charged.
-Quiet in this courtroom. -Guilty.
Mrs. Evers, how did you feel when the verdict came in?
It's been a long journey.
Medgar, I've gone the last mile of the way.
I've gone the last mile of the way.
And all I want to say...
...is yea, Medgar!
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