Narrative Adaptation
Narrative Adaptation of Selections from Once in a Lifetime transcript
“…so yeah. He was out with me on a run to Lowe’s that day, and you know, I saw him with my own eyes. Ain’t no way he could’ve been down at the gas station.”
“So,” said the prosecution lawyer, “tell me, do you happen to have a receipt from your trip to Lowe’s?”
“Ah…I’m sorry, could ya repeat the question?”
“Do you have a receipt from your trip to Lowe’s that day.”
“Ah, ah, no, no, I don’t have one with…with me right now.”
“I see…tell me, you say you’re a good friend of the defendant. What do you often like to do?”
The witness beamed up “Oh yeah, absolutely! See we always like to just head out and go—” He suddenly cut himself off in the middle of what he was saying and gasped to himself.
“Go on,” said the lawyer, “What do you like to head out and do with him?”
The defendant turned towards him and was glaring. The witness stuttered on the spot and struggled to speak, but he eventually straightened up and said, “You know...we…we like to just hang out a lot, ya know? He’s just a really good buddy of mine. A really good buddy.”
…
“Did you file a police report”
“The police report is not in the current evidence.”
“Did you get any video of the incident from the gas station?”
“No, we did not.”
“Did you find or contact any witnesses from the gas station?”
“No, we did not.”
“Did you find or contact any witnesses from the house?”
“No, we did not. As I said, we took the photos as she came to us, and that’s what’s here. I thought I made that plenty clear for you.”
A brief murmur erupted among some of the jurors, but the judge banged down his gavel. “Cross talk during the testimony is not allowed.”
…
The judge paused and looked intently at the standing jurors. “I have one final reminder before I dismiss you to deliberate the case. I understand that many of these testimonies have been highly emotional, and this is a very serious subject matter, but I would like to stress that you must come to your decision based only on the facts of this case. Think of it like a box,” said the judge as he rigidly gestured a square with his fingers, “all the facts you’ve heard are in that box. You must only consider what is within that box to decide this case. While of course you should use your life experiences to help yourselves think through what’s been presented, for this case you must ultimately base your final decision solely on the evidence presented. This is a task of the utmost gravity, and I hope you will all carefully consider the facts we have presented as you come to a judgement.” He paused to let his final words sink in. “You are now dismissed.”
As they began walking to the jury room, Philip turned and looked over towards the defendant. The defendant sat there upright, almost completely still and stiff, but fixed an angry glowering stare right at Philip, a sharp gaze cutting right through his eyes and into him. Philip turned away, with a slight unnerved hesitation, and followed the others towards the jury room.
Everyone made their way inside the room. A large table rested in the middle surrounded by plain leather chairs; it was a highly official, yet offputtingly typical little space. The faint haze of afternoon heat permeated through the air. The jurors all made their way around and took their seats, with the forewoman sitting at the head of the table.