Twelve Angry Men

by Mamet, David; Rose, Reginald

  8TH JUROR: Through the windows of a passing elevated train.

  10TH JUROR: Right. This el train had no passengers on it. It was just being moved downtown. The lights were out, remember? And they proved in court that at night you can look through the windows of an el train when the lights are out and see what’s happening on the other side. They proved it.

  8TH JUROR [ to the 10TH JUROR]: I’d like to ask you something.

  10TH JUROR: Sure.

  8TH JUROR: You don’t believe the boy. How come you believe the woman? She’s one of “them,” too, isn’t she?

  10TH JUROR [ suddenly angry]: You’re a pretty smart felow, aren’t you?

  The 10TH JUROR crosses toward the 8TH JUROR. Several JURORS rise as if to intercept the 10TH JUROR.

  FOREMAN: Hey, let’s take it easy.

  10TH JUROR [ angrily]: What’s he so wise about? I’m teling you . . .

  3RD JUROR: Come on. Sit down. What are you letting him get you al upset for?

  The 10TH JUROR sits.

  FOREMAN: Let’s calm down now. Let’s try to keep it peaceful in here. Whose turn is it? [ To the 5TH JUROR.] OK. How about you?

  5TH JUROR [ looking nervously around]: I’l pass it.

  FOREMAN: That’s your privilege. How about the next gentleman?

  6TH JUROR: I don’t know. I started to be convinced, uh—you know, very early in the case. Wel , I was looking for the motive. That’s very important. If there’s no motive, where’s the case? So anyway, that testimony from those people across the hal from the kid’s apartment, that was very powerful. Didn’t they say something about an argument between the father and the boy around seven o’clock that night? I mean, I can be wrong.

  11TH JUROR: It was eight o’clock. Not seven.

  8TH JUROR: That’s right. Eight o’clock. They heard an argument, but they couldn’t hear what it was about. Then they heard the father hit the boy twice, and final y they saw the boy walk angrily out of the house. What does that prove?

  6TH JUROR: Wel, it doesn’t exactly prove anything. It’s just part of the picture. I didn’t say it proved anything.

  8TH JUROR: You said it revealed a motive for the kiling. The prosecuting attorney said the same thing. Wel , I don’t think it’s a very strong motive. This boy has been hit so many times in his life that violence is practical y a normal state of affairs for him. I can’t see two slaps in the face provoking him into committing murder.

  4TH JUROR [ quietly]: It may have been two slaps too many. Everyone has a breaking point.

  FOREMAN [ to the 6TH JUROR.]: Anything else?

  6TH JUROR: No.

  FOREMAN: OK. [ To the 7TH JUROR.] How about the next gentleman?

  7TH JUROR: Me? [ He pauses, looks around, shrugs.] I don’t know, it’s practicaly al said already. We can talk about it forever. I mean, this kid is oh for five. Look at his record. He was in Children’s Court when he was ten for throwing a rock at his teacher. At fourteen he was in Reform School. He stole a car. He’s been arrested for mugging. He was picked up twice for trying to slash another teenager with a knife.

  He’s real quick with switch knives, they said. This is a very fine boy.

  8TH JUROR: Ever since he was five years old his father beat him up regularly. He used his fists.

  7TH JUROR: So would I. A kid like that.

  4TH JUROR: Wouldn’t you cal those beatings a motive for him to kil his father?

  8TH JUROR [ after a pause]: I don’t know. It’s a motive for him to be an angry kid. I’l say that.

  3RD JUROR: It’s the kids, the way they are nowadays. Angry! Hostile! You can’t do a damn thing with them. Just the way they talk to you. Listen, when I was his age I used to cal my father “Sir.” That’s right, “Sir!” You ever hear a boy cal his father that anymore?

  8TH JUROR: Fathers don’t seem to think it’s important anymore.

  3RD JUROR: No? Have you got any kids?

  8TH JUROR: Two.

  3RD JUROR: Yeah, wel I’ve got one. He’s twenty. We did everything for that boy, and what happened? When he was nine he ran away from a fight. I saw him. I was so ashamed I almost threw up. So I told him right out. “I’m gonna make a man outa you or I’m gonna bust you in half trying.” Wel , I made a man outa him al right. When he was sixteen we had a battle. He hit me in the face. He’s big, y’know. I haven’t seen him in two years. Rotten kid. You work your heart out . . . [ He breaks off. He has said more than he intended. He is embarrassed.] Al right. Let’s get on with it.

  4TH JUROR [ rising]: I think we’re missing the point here. This boy, let’s say he’s a product of a filthy neighborhood and a broken home. We can’t help that. We’re here to decide whether he’s guilty or innocent of murder, not to go into reasons why he grew up this way. He was born in a slum. Slums are breeding grounds for criminals. I know it. So do you. It’s no secret. Children from slum backgrounds are potential menaces to society. Now I think—

  10TH JUROR [ interrupting]: Brother, you can say that again. The kids who crawl outa those places are real trash. I don’t want any part of them, I’m tel ing you.

  5TH JUROR [ rising]: I’ve lived in a slum al my life. I nurse that trash in Harlem Hospital six nights a week.

  10TH JUROR: Oh, now wait a second. . .

  5TH JUROR: I used to play in a backyard that was filed with garbage. Maybe it stil smel s on me.

  10TH JUROR [ his anger rising]: Now listen, buddy.

  FOREMAN [ to the 5TH JUROR]: Now, let’s be reasonable. There’s nothing personal

  . . .

  5TH JUROR [ loudly]: There is something personal!

  The 3RD JUROR moves to the 5TH JUROR and pats him on the shoulder. The 5TH JUROR does not look up.

  3RD JUROR: Come on, now. He didn’t mean you, feler. Let’s not be so sensitive.

  11TH JUROR: This sensitivity I understand.

  FOREMAN: Al right, let’s stop al this arguing. We’re wasting time here. [ He points to the 8TH JUROR.] It’s your turn. Let’s go.

  8TH JUROR: Wel, I didn’t expect a turn. I thought you were al supposed to be convincing me. Wasn’t that the idea?

  FOREMAN: Check. I forgot that.

  10TH JUROR: Wel, what’s the difference? He’s the one who’s keeping us here.

  Let’s hear what he’s got to say.

  FOREMAN: Now just a second. We decided to do it a certain way. Let’s stick to what we said.

  10TH JUROR [ disgusted]: Ah, stop bein’ a kid, wil you?

  FOREMAN: A kid! Listen, what d’you mean by that?

  10TH JUROR: What d’ya think I mean? K-I-D, kid!

  FOREMAN: What, just because I’m trying to keep this thing organized? Listen. [ He rises.] You want to do it? Here. You sit here. You take the responsibility. I’l just shut up, that’s al .

  10TH JUROR: Listen, what are you gettin’ so hot about? Calm down, wil ya?

  FOREMAN: Don’t tel me to calm down. Here! Here’s the chair. You keep it goin’

  smooth and everything. What d’ya think, it’s a snap? Come on. Mr. Foreman. Let’s see how great you’d run the show.

  10TH JUROR [ to the 11TH JUROR]: Did y’ever see such a thing?

  FOREMAN: You think it’s funny or something?

  12TH JUROR: Take it easy. The whole thing’s unimportant.

  FOREMAN: Unimportant? You want to try it?

  12TH JUROR: No. Listen, you’re doing a beautiful job. Nobody wants to change.

  7TH JUROR: Yeah, you’re doing great. Hang in there and pitch.

  10TH JUROR: Al right. Let’s hear from somebody.

  There is a pause.

  8TH JUROR: Wel, if you want me to tel you how I feel about it right now, it’s al right with me.

  FOREMAN [ softly]: I don’t care what you do.

  8TH JUROR [ after a pause]: Al right. I haven’t got anything briliant. I only know as much as you do. According to the testimony the boy looks guilty. Maybe he is. I sat there in court for three days listening while the evidence built up. Everybody s
ounded so positive that I started to get a peculiar feeling about this trial. I mean, nothing is that positive. I had questions I would have liked to ask. Maybe they wouldn’t have meant anything. I don’t know. But I started to feel that the defense counsel wasn’t doing his job. He let too many things go. Little things.

  10TH JUROR: What little things? Listen, when these guys don’t ask questions, that’s because they know the answers already and they figure they’l be hurt.

  8TH JUROR: Maybe. It’s also possible for a lawyer to be just plain stupid, isn’t it?

  6TH JUROR: You sound like you’ve met my brother-in-law. A few of the JURORS

  laugh.

  8TH JUROR [ smiling]: I kept putting myself in the boy’s place. I would have asked for another lawyer, I think. I mean, if I was on trial for my life I’d want my lawyer to tear the prosecution witnesses to shreds, or at least to try. Look, there was one al eged eyewitness to this kil ing. Someone else claims he heard the kil ing and then saw the boy running out afterward. There was a lot of circumstantial evidence, but actual y those two witnesses were the entire case for the prosecution. Supposing they were wrong?

  12TH JUROR: What do you mean, “Supposing they were wrong?” What’s the point of having witnesses at al ?

  8TH JUROR: Could they be wrong?

  12TH JUROR: They sat on the stand under oath. What are you trying to say?

  8TH JUROR: They’re only people. People make mistakes. Could they be wrong?

  12TH JUROR: I . . . No! I don’t think so.

  8TH JUROR: Do you know so?

  12TH JUROR: Wel, now, listen. Nobody can know a thing like that. This isn’t an exact science.

  8TH JUROR: That’s right. It isn’t.

  3RD JUROR [ rising angrily]: Al right. [ To the 8TH JUROR.] Let’s try to get to the point here. What about the switch knife they found in the father’s chest?

  2ND JUROR: Wel, wait a minute. I think we oughta . . . There are some people who haven’t talked yet. Shouldn’t we . . . ?

  3RD JUROR: Look, they can talk whenever they like. Now just be quiet a second, wil you? [ He turns to the 8TH JUROR.] OK, what about the knife? You know, the one that fine, upright boy admitted buying on the night of the murder. Let’s talk about that.

  8TH JUROR: Al right, let’s talk about it. Let’s get it in here and look at it. I’d like to see it again. [ He turns to the FOREMAN.] Mr. Foreman?

  The FOREMAN rises and crosses to the door.

  3RD JUROR: We al know what it looks like.

  The FOREMAN knocks on the door.

  The GUARD unlocks the door and enters.

  The FOREMAN whispers to him.

  The GUARD nods and exits, locking the door.

  What are we gonna get out of seeing it again?

  5TH JUROR: You brought it up.

  4TH JUROR: The gentleman has a right to see exhibits in evidence. [ To the 8TH

  JUROR.] The knife, and the way it was bought, is pretty strong evidence. Don’t you think so?

  8TH JUROR: I do.

  4TH JUROR: Good. Now suppose we take these facts one at a time. One. The boy

  admitted going out of his house at eight o’clock on the night of the murder after being punched several times by his father.

  8TH JUROR: He didn’t say “punched.” He said “hit.” There’s a difference between a slap and a punch.

  4TH JUROR: After being hit several times by his father. Two. The boy went directly to a neighborhood junk shop where he bought a . . . What do you cal these things—

  4TH JUROR: Three. This wasn’t what you’d cal an ordinary knife. It had a very unusual carved handle. Four. The storekeeper who sold it to him identified the knife in court and said it was the only one of its kind he had ever had in stock. Five. At, oh, about eight forty-five the boy ran into three friends of his in front of a diner. Am I correct so far?

  8TH JUROR: Yes, you are.

  3RD JUROR [ to the 8TH JUROR]: You bet he is. [ To the others.] Now, listen to this man. He knows what he’s talking about.

  4TH JUROR: The boy talked with his friends for about an hour, leaving them at nine forty-five. During this time they saw the switch knife. Six. Each of them identified the death weapon in court as that same knife. Seven. The boy arrived home at about ten o’clock. Now this is where the stories offered by the boy and the State begin to diverge slightly. He claims that he stayed home until eleven thirty and then went to one of those al -night movies. He returned home at about three fifteen in the morning to find his father dead and himself arrested. Now, what happened to the switch knife?

  This is the charming and imaginative little fable the boy invented. He claims that the knife fel through a hole in his pocket sometime between eleven thirty and three fifteen while he was on his trip to the movies and that he never saw it again. Now this is a tale, gentlemen. I think it’s quite clear that the boy never went to the movies that night. No one in the house saw him go out at eleven thirty. No one at the theater identified him. He couldn’t even remember the names of the pictures he saw. What actual y happened is this: the boy stayed home, had another fight with this father, stabbed him to death with the knife at ten minutes after twelve and fled from the house. He even remembered to wipe the knife clean of fingerprints. The GUARD

  unlocks the door and enters carrying a curiously designed knife with a tag hanging from it.

  The 4TH JUROR goes to the GUARD, and takes the knife from him.

  The GUARD exits and locks the door.

  Everyone connected with the case identified the knife. Now are you trying to tel me that it real y fel through a hole in the boy’s pocket and that someone picked it up off the street, went to the boy’s house and stabbed his father with it just to be amusing?

  8TH JUROR: No. I’m saying it’s possible that the boy lost the knife and that someone else stabbed his father with a similar knife. It’s possible.

  The 4TH JUROR flicks open the knife and jams it into the table.

  4TH JUROR: Take a look at that knife. I’ve never seen one like it. Neither had the storekeeper who sold it to the boy. Aren’t you asking us to accept a pretty incredible coincidence?

  8TH JUROR: I’m not asking anyone to accept it. I’m just saying that it’s possible.

  3RD JUROR [ shouting]: And I’m saying it’s not possible.

  The 8TH JUROR stands for a moment in silence, then he reaches into his pocket and swiftly withdraws a knife. He holds it in front of his face and flicks open the blade, then he leans forward and sticks the knife into the table alongside the other.

  They are exactly alike. There is a burst of sound in the room. The 8TH JUROR

  stands back from the table, watching.

  6TH JUROR: Look at it! It’s the same knife.

  7TH JUROR: What is this?

  12TH JUROR: Where’d that come from?

  2ND JUROR: How d’you like that?

  3RD JUROR [ looking at the 8TH JUROR ; amazed]: What are you trying to do?

  10TH JUROR: Yeah. What’s going on here? Who do you think you are?

  4TH JUROR: Quiet! Let’s be quiet. [ To the 8TH JUROR.] Where d’you get that knife?

  8TH JUROR: I was walking for a couple of hours last night, just thinking. I walked through the boy’s neighborhood. The knife comes from a little pawnshop three blocks from his house. It cost six dol ars.

  4TH JUROR: It’s against the law to buy or sel switchblade knives.

  8TH JUROR: That’s right. I broke the law.

  3RD JUROR: Listen. You puled a real bright trick here. Now, supposing you tel me what you proved. Maybe there are ten knives like that. So what?

  8TH JUROR: Maybe there are.

  3RD JUROR: So what does that mean? It’s the same kind of knife. So what’s that?

  The discovery of the age or something?

  11TH JUROR: It would stil be an incredible coincidence for another person to have stabbed the father with the same kind of knife.

  3RD JUROR: That’s right! He’s right.

 
7TH JUROR: The odds are a milion to one.

  8TH JUROR: It’s possible.

  4TH JUROR: But not very probable.

  FOREMAN: Listen, let’s take seats. There’s no point in miling round here.

  They begin to move back to their seats. The 8TH JUROR stands watching.

  2ND JUROR: It’s interesting that he’d find a knife exactly like the one the boy bought.

  3RD JUROR: What’s interesting? You think it proves anything?

  2ND JUROR: Wel, no. I was just—

  3RD JUROR: Interesting! [ He points at the 8TH JUROR.] Listen, how come the kid bought the knife to begin with?

  8TH JUROR: Wel, he claims that—

  3RD JUROR: I know. He claims he bought it as a present for a friend of his. He was gonna give it to him the next day because he busted the other kid’s knife dropping it on the pavement.

  8TH JUROR: That’s what he said.

  7TH JUROR: Baloney!

  9TH JUROR: The friend testified that the boy did break his knife.

  3RD JUROR: Yeah. And how long before the kiling? Three weeks. Right? So how come our noble lad bought this knife one half-hour after his father smacked him and three and a half hours before they found it shoved up here in the father’s chest?

  7TH JUROR: Wel, he was gonna give the knife to his friend. He just wanted to use it for a minute.

  There is scattered laughter.

  8TH JUROR [ to the 3RD JUROR]: Let me ask you this. It’s one of the questions I wanted to ask in court. If the boy bought the knife to use on his father, how come he showed what was going to be the murder weapon to three friends of his just a couple of hours before the kil ing?

  3RD JUROR: Listen, al of this is just talk. The boy lied and you know it.

  8TH JUROR: He may have lied. [ To the 10TH JUROR.] Do you think he lied?

  10TH JUROR: Now that’s a stupid question. Sure he lied.

  8TH JUROR [ to the 4TH JUROR]: Do you?

  4TH JUROR: You know my answer. He lied.

  8TH JUROR [ to the 5TH JUROR]: Do you think he lied?

  5TH JUROR: I’m not sure. . . [ He breaks off and looks nervously around. ]

  3RD JUROR [ leaping into the breach]: You’re not sure about what? Now wait a second. [ To the 8TH JUROR.] What are you, the kid’s lawyer or something? Who do you think you are to start cross-examining us?