Native Son - Richard Wright [164]
“Your Honor!” Buckley shouted.
“Allow me to finish,” Max said.
Buckley came to the front of the room, his face red.
“You cannot plead that boy both guilty and insane,” Buckley said. “If you claim Bigger Thomas is insane, the State will demand a jury trial….”
“Your Honor,” Max said, “I do not claim that this boy is legally insane. I shall endeavor to show, through the discussion of evidence, the mental and emotional attitude of this boy and the degree of responsibility he had in these crimes.”
“That’s a defense of insanity!” Buckley shouted.
“I’m making no such defense,” Max said.
“A man is either sane or insane,” Buckley said.
“There are degrees of insanity,” Max said. “The laws of this state permit the hearing of evidence to ascertain the degree of responsibility. And, also, the law permits the offering of evidence toward the mitigation of punishment.”
“The State will submit witnesses and evidence to establish the legal sanity of the defendant,” Buckley said.
There was a long argument which Bigger did not understand. The judge called both lawyers forward to the railing and they talked for over an hour. Finally, they went back to their seats and the judge looked toward Bigger and said,
“Bigger Thomas, will you rise?”
His body flushed hot. As he had felt when he stood over the bed with the white blur floating toward him; as he had felt when he had sat in the car between Jan and Mary; as he had felt when he had seen Gus coming through the door of Doc’s poolroom—so he felt now: constricted, taut, in the grip of a powerful, impelling fear. At that moment it seemed that any action under heaven would have been preferable to standing. He wanted to leap from his chair and swing some heavy weapon and end this unequal fight. Max caught his arm.
“Stand up, Bigger.”
He rose, holding on to the edge of the table, his knees trembling so that he thought that they would buckle under him. The judge looked at him a long time before speaking. Behind him Bigger heard the room buzzing with the sound of voices. The judge rapped for order.
“How far did you get in school?” the judge asked.
“Eighth grade,” Bigger whispered, surprised at the question.
“If your plea is guilty, and the plea is entered in this case,” the judge said and paused, “the Court may sentence you to death,” the judge said and paused again, “or the Court may sentence you to the penitentiary for the term of your natural life,” the judge said and paused yet again, “or the Court may sentence you to the penitentiary for a term of not less than fourteen years.
“Now, do you understand what I have said?”
Bigger looked at Max; Max nodded to him.
“Speak up,” the judge said. “If you do not understand what I have said, then say so.”
“Y-y-yessuh; I understand,” he whispered.
“Then, realizing the consequences of your plea, do you still plead guilty?”
“Y-y-yessuh,” he whispered again; feeling that it was all a wild and intense dream that must end soon, somehow.
“That’s all. You may sit down,” the judge said.
He sat.
“Is the State prepared to present its evidence and witnesses?” the judge asked.
“We are, Your Honor,” said Buckley, rising and half-facing the judge and the crowd.
“Your Honor, my statement at this time will be very brief. There is no need for me to picture to this Court the horrible details of these dastardly crimes. The array of witnesses for the State, the confession made and signed by the defendant himself, and the concrete evidence will reveal the unnatural aspect of this vile offense against God and man more eloquently than I could ever dare. In more than one respect, I am thankful that this is the case, for some of the facts of this evil crime are so fantastic and unbelievable, so utterly beastlike and foreign to our whole concept of life, that I feel incapable of communicating them to this Court.
“Never in my long career as an officer of the people have I been placed in a position where I’ve felt more unalterably certain of my duty. There is no room here for evasive, theoretical, or fanciful interpretations of the law.” Buckley paused, surveyed the court room, then stepped to the table and lifted from it the knife with which Bigger had severed Mary