2ND JUROR: That’s right.
8TH JUROR: Second, the woman in the apartment across the street. She claimed that she looked out of her window and saw the kil ing through the last two cars of a passing elevated train. Right? The last two cars.
3RD JUROR: Al right. What point are you making here?
8TH JUROR: Now, we agreed that an el train takes about ten seconds to pass a given point. Since the woman saw the stabbing through the last two cars, we can assume that the body fel to the floor just as the train passed by. Therefore, the el train had been roaring by the old man’s window for a ful ten seconds before the body fel .
The old man, according to his own testimony, hearing “I’m going to kil you” and the body fal ing a split second later, would have had to hear the boy make this statement while the el was roaring past his nose. It’s not possible that he could have heard it.
3RD JUROR: That’s idiotic! Sure he could have heard it.
8TH JUROR: [ to the 3RD JUROR]: Do you think so?
3RD JUROR: The old man said the boy yeled it out. That’s enough for me.
8TH JUROR: If he heard anything at al, he stil couldn’t have identified the voice with the el roaring by.
3RD JUROR: You’re talking about a matter of seconds here. Nobody can be that accurate.
8TH JUROR: Wel, I think that testimony that could put a human being into the electric chair should be that accurate.
5TH JUROR: I don’t think he could have heard it.
6TH JUROR: Yeah. Maybe he didn’t hear it. I mean, with the el noise . . .
3RD JUROR: What are you people talking about?
5TH JUROR: Wel, it stands to reason. . .
3RD JUROR: You’re crazy! Why should he lie? What’s he got to gain?
9TH JUROR: Attention, maybe.
3RD JUROR: You keep coming up with these bright sayings. Why don’t you send one in to a newspaper? They pay three dol ars.
6TH JUROR [ to the 3RD JUROR]: Hey! What’re ya talking to him like that for?
The 3RD JUROR looks at the 6TH JUROR, then turns disgustedly away. The 6TH
JUROR reaches out and turns the 3RD JUROR firmly around by the arm.
A guy who talks like that to an old man oughta realy get stepped on y’know.
3RD JUROR: Get your hands off me!
6TH JUROR: You oughta have some respect, mister. If you say stuff like that to him again—I’m gonna lay you out.
The 6TH JUROR releases the 3RD JUROR and speaks to the 9TH JUROR.
Go ahead. You can say anything you want. Why do you think the old man might lie?
9TH JUROR: It’s just that I looked at him for a very long time. The seam of his jacket was split under his arm. Did you notice it? I mean, to come into court like that. He was a very old man with a torn jacket and he walked very slowly to the stand. He was dragging his left leg and trying to hide it because he was ashamed. I think I know him better than anyone here. This is a quiet, frightened, insignificant old man who has been nothing al his life, who has never had recognition, his name in the newspapers.
Nobody knows him, nobody quotes him, nobody seeks his advice after seventy-five years. That’s a very sad thing, to be nothing. A man like this needs to be recognized, to be listened to, to be quoted just once. This is very important. It would be so hard for him to recede into the background . . .
7TH JUROR: Now, wait a minute. Are you trying to tel us he’d lie just so that he could be important once?
9TH JUROR: No. He wouldn’t realy lie. But perhaps he’d make himself believe that he’d heard those words and recognized the boy’s face.
10TH JUROR: Wel, that’s the most fantastic story I’ve ever heard. How can you make up a thing like that? What do you know about it?
The 9TH JUROR lowers his head, embarrassed.
4TH JUROR: Gentlemen, this case is based on a reasonable and logical progression of facts. Let’s keep it there.
11TH JUROR: Facts may be colored by the personalities of the people who present them.
2ND JUROR: Anybody want a cough drop?
10TH JUROR: I’l take one.
The 2ND JUROR offers the cough drops to the 10TH JUROR. The 10TH JUROR
takes one.
Thanks.
12TH JUROR: Say what you like, I stil don’t see how anybody can think the boy’s not guilty.
8TH JUROR: There’s another thing I wanted to talk about for a minute. I think we’ve proved that the old man couldn’t have heard the boy say, “I’m going to kil you,” but supposing—
10TH JUROR: You didn’t prove it at al. What are you talking about?
8TH JUROR: But supposing he realy did hear it. This phrase, how many times has each of us used it? Probably hundreds. “I could kil you for that, darling.” “If you do that once more, Junior, I’m going to kil you.” “Come on, Rocky, kil him.” We say it every day. It doesn’t mean we’re going to kil someone.
3RD JUROR: Wait a minute! What are you trying to give us here? The phrase was,
“I’m going to kil you,” and the kid screamed it out at the top of his lungs. Don’t tel me he didn’t mean it. Anybody says a thing like that the way he said it, they mean it.
2ND JUROR: Wel, gee, I don’t know. I remember I was arguing with the guy I work next to at the bank a couple of weeks ago; so he cal ed me an idiot; so I yel ed at him
. . .
3RD JUROR: No listen, this guy is making you believe things that aren’t so. The kid said he was going to kil him and he did kil him.
8TH JUROR: Wel, let me ask you this: do you realy think the boy would shout out a thing like that so the whole neighborhood would hear it? I don’t think so. He’s much too bright for that.
10TH JUROR: Bright? He’s a common, ignorant slob. He don’t even speak good English.
11TH JUROR: He doesn’t even speak good English.
5TH JUROR: I’d like to change my vote to “not guilty.”
7TH JUROR: Now you’ve got to be kidding.
5TH JUROR: You heard.
FOREMAN: Are you sure?
5TH JUROR: Yes, I’m sure.
FOREMAN: The vote is nine to three in favor of “guilty.”
7TH JUROR: Wel, if that isn’t the livin’ end! What are you basing it on? Stories this guy made up. He oughta write for Amazing Detective Monthly. He’d make a fortune.
[ To the 5TH JUROR.] Listen, there are facts staring you right in your face. Every one of them says this kid kil ed his old man. For cryin’ out loud, his own lawyer knew he didn’t stand a chance right from the beginning. His own lawyer. You could see it. He deserves the chair.
8TH JUROR: Does he? It’s happened before that someone’s been convicted of murder and executed, and years later someone else has confessed to the crime.
Sometimes . . . sometimes the facts that are staring you in the face are wrong!
7TH JUROR [ to the 8TH JUROR]: I’m talkin’ to him—[ he indicates the 5TH JUROR]
not to you. [ To the others.] Boy, this guy is real y something. [ To the 8TH JUROR.]
Listen, the kid had a lawyer, didn’t he? The lawyer presented his case, not you. How come you’ve got so much to say?
8TH JUROR: The lawyer was court-appointed.
7TH JUROR: So what does that mean?
8TH JUROR: Wel, it could mean a lot of things. It could mean he didn’t want the case. It could mean he resented being appointed. It’s the kind of case that brings him nothing. No money. No glory. Not even much chance of winning. It’s not a very promising situation for a young lawyer. He’d real y have to believe in his client to make a good fight. As you pointed out a minute ago, he obviously didn’t.
7TH JUROR: Sure he didn’t. Who in hel could, except God come to earth or somebody? [ He looks at his watch then up at the clock.] Come on already! Look at the time!
11TH JUROR: Pardon me, but I have made some notes here.
10TH JUROR: Notes yet!
11TH JUROR: I would like please to say something. I have been listening very clo
sely, and it seems to me that this man—[ he indicates the 8TH JUROR] has some very good points to make. From what was presented at the trial the boy looks guilty, but maybe if we go deeper—
10TH JUROR: Come on, wil ya?
11TH JUROR: There is a question I would like to ask. We assume that the boy committed murder. He stabbed his father in the chest and ran away. This was at ten minutes after twelve. Now, how was he caught by the police? He came home at three o’clock or so and was captured by two detectives in the hal way of his house. My question is, if he real y had kil ed his father, why would he come back three hours later? Wouldn’t he be afraid of being caught?
3RD JUROR: Look—he came home to get his knife. It’s not nice to leave knives sticking around in people’s chests.
7TH JUROR: Yeah, especialy relatives’.
4TH JUROR [ to the 11TH JUROR]: The boy knew that there were people who could identify the knife as the one he had just bought. He had to get it before the police did.
11TH JUROR: But if he knew the knife could be identified, why did he leave it there in the first place?
4TH JUROR: Wel, I think we can assume he ran out in a state of panic after he kiled his father, and then when he final y calmed down, he realized that he had left the knife there.
11TH JUROR: This then depends on your definition of panic. He was calm enough to see to it that there were no fingerprints on the knife. Now where did his panic start and where did it end?
3RD JUROR: Look, you can forget al that other stuff. He stil came home to dig out his knife and get rid of it.
11TH JUROR: Three hours later?
3RD JUROR: Sure, three hours later.
11TH JUROR: If I were the boy and I had kiled my father, I would not have come home three hours later. I would be afraid that the police would be there. I would stay away, knife or no knife.
3RD JUROR: Listen, you voted “guilty,” didn’t you? What side are you on?
11TH JUROR: I don’t believe I have to be loyal to one side or the other. I am simply asking questions.
12TH JUROR: Wel, this is just off the top of my head, but if I were the boy, and I’d, you know, done the stabbing and everything, I’d take a chance and go back for the knife. I’l bet he figured no one had seen him and that the body probably wasn’t even discovered yet. After al , it was the middle of the night. He probably thought no one would find the body til the next day.
11TH JUROR: Pardon. Here is my whole point. The woman across the street testified that a moment after she saw the kil ing, that is, a moment after the el train went by, she screamed and then went to telephone the police. Now, the boy must certainly have heard that scream and known that somebody saw something. I don’t think he would have gone back if he had been the murderer.
4TH JUROR: Two points. One: in his state of panic he may not have heard the scream. Perhaps it wasn’t very loud. Two: if he did hear it, he may not have connected it with his own act. Remember, he lived in a neighborhood where screams were fairly commonplace.
3RD JUROR: Right! There’s your answer.
8TH JUROR: Maybe. Maybe he did stab his father, didn’t hear the woman’s screams, did run out in a panic, did calm down three hours later and came back to try and get the knife, risking being caught by the police. Maybe al those things are so.
But maybe they’re not. I think there’s enough doubt to make us wonder whether he was there at al during the time the murder took place.
10TH JUROR: What d’ya mean doubt? What are you talking about? Didn’t the old man see him running out of the house? He’s twisting the facts. I’m tel ing you! [ To the 11TH JUROR.] Did or didn’t the old man see the kid running out of the house at twelve ten? Wel , did he or didn’t he?
11TH JUROR: He says he did.
10TH JUROR: Says he did! [ To the others. ] Boy-oh-boy! How do you like that? [ To the 11TH JUROR.] Wel , did or didn’t the woman across the street see the kid kil his father? She says she did. You’re makin’ out like it don’t matter what people say.
What you want to believe, you believe, and what you don’t want to believe, you don’t.
What kind of way is that? What d’ya think these people get up on the witness stand for—their health? I’m tel ing you men the facts are being changed around here.
Witnesses are being doubted and there’s no reason for it.
5TH JUROR: Witnesses can make mistakes.
10TH JUROR: Sure, when you want ’em to, they do! Know what I mean?
FOREMAN: OK. Let’s hold the yeling down.
10TH JUROR: You keep saying that. Maybe what we need is a little yeling in here.
These guys are going off every which way. Did hear the scream, didn’t hear the scream. What’s the difference? They’re just little details. You’re forgetting the important stuff. I mean, al of a sudden here everybody . . .
8TH JUROR: I’d like to cal for another vote.
10TH JUROR: Listen, I’m talking here.
FOREMAN: There’s another vote caled for. How about taking seats?
Jurors who are standing move toward their seats.
3RD JUROR: What are we gonna gain by voting again?
FOREMAN: I don’t know. The gentleman asked . . .
3RD JUROR: I never saw so much time spent on nothing.
2ND JUROR: [ mildly]: It only takes a second.
FOREMAN: OK. I guess the fastest way is to find out who’s voting not guilty. Al those in favor of “not guilty” raise their hands.
The 5TH, 8TH, and 9TH JURORS raise their hands.
Stil the same. One, two, three “not guiltys.” Nine “guiltys.”
7TH JUROR: So now where are we? I’m teling you, we can yakety-yak until next Tuesday here. Where’s it getting us? 11TH JUROR: Pardon. [ He slowly raises his hand. ] I vote “not
guilty.”
7TH JUROR: Oh, brother!
3RD JUROR: Oh, now listen! What are you talking about? I mean, we’re al going crazy in here or something! This kid is guilty. Why don’tcha pay attention to the facts.
[ To the 4TH JUROR.] Listen, tel him, wil ya? This is getting to be a goddamn joke!
FOREMAN: The vote is eight to four, in favor of “guilty.”
3RD JUROR: I mean, everybody’s heart is starting to bleed for this punk little kid like the President just declared it “Love Your Underprivileged Brother Week” or something. [ To the 11TH JUROR.] Listen, I’d like you to tel me why you changed your vote. Come on, give me reasons.
11TH JUROR: I don’t have to defend my decision to you. I have a reasonable doubt in my mind.
3RD JUROR: What reasonable doubt? That’s nothing but words. [ He pulls out the switch knife from the table and holds it up. ] Here, look at this. The kid you just decided isn’t guilty was seen ramming this thing into his father. Wel , look at it, Mr.
Reasonable Doubt.
9TH JUROR: That’s not the knife. Don’t you remember?
3RD JUROR: Briliant! [ He sticks the knife into the table. ]
7TH JUROR: I’m telin’ ya, this is the craziest. [ To the 8TH JUROR.] I mean, you’re sittin’ in here pul ing stories outa thin air. What’re we supposed to believe? [ To the others. ] I’m tel ing you, if this guy was sitting ringside at the Dempsey-Firpo fight, he’d be tryin’ to tel us Firpo won. [ To the 8TH JUROR.] Look, what about the old man?
Are we supposed to believe that he didn’t get up and run to his door and see the kid tearing down the stairs fifteen seconds after the kil ing? He’s only saying he did to be important. I mean, what’s the point of the whole—?
5TH JUROR: Hold it a second.
7TH JUROR: And the Milwaukee rooter is heard from.
5TH JUROR: Did the old man say he ran to the door?
7TH JUROR: Ran. Walked. What’s the difference? He got there.
6TH JUROR: He said he ran to the door. At least, I think he did.
5TH JUROR: I don’t remember what he said. But I don’t see how he could run.
4TH JUROR: He said he went from his bedroom to th
e front door. That’s enough, isn’t it?
8TH JUROR: Wait a minute. Where was his bedroom, again?
10TH JUROR: Down the hal somewhere. I thought you remembered everything.
Don’t you remember that?
8TH JUROR: No. Mr. Foreman, I’d like to take a look at the diagram of the apartment.
7TH JUROR: Why don’t we have them run the trial over just so you can get everything straight?
8TH JUROR: Mr. Foreman . . .
FOREMAN: I heard you.
The FOREMAN goes to the door and knocks.
The GUARD unlocks the door and enters.
The FOREMAN confers briefly with him.
The GUARD exits and locks the door after him.
3RD JUROR: Al right, what’s this for? How come you’re the only one in the room who wants to see exhibits al the time?
5TH JUROR: I want to see this one too.
3RD JUROR: And I want to stop wasting time.
4TH JUROR: If we’re going to start wading through al that business about where the body was found . . .
8TH JUROR: We’re not. Not unless someone else wants to. I’d like to see if a very old man who drags one leg when he walks because he had a stroke last year can get from his bed to his front door in fifteen seconds.
3RD JUROR: He said twenty seconds.
8TH JUROR: He said fifteen.
3RD JUROR: Now I’m teling you he said twenty. What’re you trying to distort . . .
11TH JUROR: He said fifteen.
3RD JUROR: How does he know how long fifteen seconds is? You can’t judge that kind of thing.
9TH JUROR: He said fifteen seconds. He was very positive about it.
3RD JUROR: He’s an old man. You saw him. Half the time he was confused. How could he be positive about anything?
The GUARD unlocks the door and enters, carrying a large diagram of the apartment.
The diagram is a layout of a railroad flat. A bedroom faces the el tracks. Behind it is a series of rooms off a long hall. In the front room is an X marking the spot where the body was found. At the back of the apartment we see the entrance into the apartment hall from the building hall. We see a flight of stairs in the building’s hall.
Each room is labelled and the dimensions of each room are shown. The FOREMAN takes the diagram.
Twelve Angry Men Page 5