Good afternoon, citizens. Be seated. Counsel. And you, sir, are you Carl Lee Hailey? Yes...

Judge Omar Noose: Good afternoon, citizens. Be seated. Counsel. And you, sir, are you Carl Lee Hailey? Carl Lee Hailey: Yes sir. Judge Omar Noose: Mr. Hailey, I am holding a copy of an indictment returned by the grand jury of Mississippi presenting that Carl Lee Hailey did murder Billy Ray Cobb, a human being, and James Willis Willard, a human being, and did attempt to kill Dwayne Looney, a peace officer, against the peace and dignity of the State of Mississippi. Do you understand the charges against you? Carl Lee Hailey: Yes sir. Judge Omar Noose: How do you wish to plead? Carl Lee Hailey: [pause] Not guilty, Your Honor. Jake Tyler Brigance: The defense enters a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, Your Honor. Judge Omar Noose: Your trial is set for July 22nd. All pre-trial motions and matters are to be filed no later than July 8th. Is there anything further? D.A. Rufus Buckley: Yes, Your Honor. In the response to the insanity plea, the state requests the defendant be examined by it's own doctors. Judge Omar Noose: Granted. D.A. Rufus Buckley: Additionally, the state opposes any request for bail. Jake Tyler Brigance: But Your Honor, we have not yet asked for bail. Now Governor Buckley cannot oppose a request until one is made. He should have learned that in law school. D.A. Rufus Buckley: Your Honor, even Mr. Brigance's meager legal experience should have taught him two things: number one, I have not been elected governor... yet. And number two, he is required to request bail. The state opposes any such request. Judge Omar Noose: Well in the future why don't we just wait until he makes the request? [DA Rufus Buckley nods lightly with a slight smile] Jake Tyler Brigance: Thank you, Your Honor. Your Honor, we would like to request bail. Judge Omar Noose: Denied. I have never allowed bail in a capital murder case and I don't feel that an exception is called for today.

And you, sir. - Are you Carl Lee Hailey? - Yes, sir. Uh, Mr. Hailey, I am holding a copy of an indictment returned... ...by the grand jury of Mississippi presenting that: "Carl Lee Hailey did murder Billy Ray Cobb, a human being... ...and James Lewis Willard, a human being... ...and did attempt to kill Dwayne Looney, a peace officer... ...against the peace and dignity of the state of Mississippi." Now, do you understand the charges against you? - Yes, sir. - How do you wish to plead? Not guilty, Your Honor. The defense enters a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, Your Honor. Your trial is set for July 22. All pretrial motions and matters should be filed no later than July 8. - Is there anything further? RUFUS: Yes. Your Honor, in response to the insanity plea... ...the state requests the defendant be examined by its own doctors. Request granted. Additionally, the state opposes any request for bail. Your Honor, we haven't yet asked for bail. Now, Governor Buckley cannot oppose a request until one is made. He should've learned that in law school. Your Honor, even Mr. Brigance's meager legal experience... ...should've taught him two things. One, I have not been elected governor yet. And number two, he is required to request bail. The state opposes any such request. In the future, why don't we just wait till he makes the request, huh? JAKE: Thank you, Your Honor. - Your Honor, we would like to request bail. - Denied. I have never allowed bail in a capital-murder case... ...and don't feel that an exception is called for today. Good enough. We will be filing for a change of venue. I anticipated this. Let me save you some time, Mr. Brigance. Your motion is denied. JAKE: Your Honor, we have not yet filed. We are simply indicating our intent to file in writing by letting you-- I said, request denied. Your Honor... ...how can you summarily deny this request? It is quite clear that Carl Lee Hailey cannot receive a fair trial here. - Now, we feel-- - That's enough. Sidebar. Your Honor, we have a right-- Mr. Brigance. I will not tolerate grandstanding in my courtroom. [QUIETLY] Get back to work. Excellent technique, counselor. Your Honor. We feel it would be remiss not to tell you that in State v. Johnson... ...and State v. Fisher... ...both in 1985... ...failure to properly consider a change of venue... ...has been a reversible decision on appeal to the state supreme court. No.... No trial judge likes his rulings overturned. I guess you get to submit that brief after all. Have it on my desk by Tuesday morning. Mr. Hailey, you are hereby ordered... ...to remain in custody of the Madison County sheriff until trial. Dismissed. Find me that state doctor. What's his name? Rodeheaver. Get him down here to interview Hailey. Since he's not able to afford a real one, find who Brigance is using for a shrink. - I want him discredited. - You want professional or personal dirt? I don't wanna know how. Get me enough to shatter him. We can do that. Taylor. This is $900, Carl Lee. We said a thousand down. My kids gotta eat. Mine too. All right, when do I get the rest? Them folks over at the bank, they won't loan me no money on my house. Why not? Your house is almost paid for. You borrowed on it before for Lester's trial.