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CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
My father and I were walking up the front steps leading into the courthouse. I was stretching my legs with each step as I tried my best to keep up with him.
"Son, this is the courthouse and it belongs to the people of this county. We are here today for Billy John’s trial and the courtroom is kind of like church. You have to behave while you are in there just like you do in church. You can’t even whisper while the trial is going on, you hear?" My father’s statement sounded more like a warning.
"Yes sir." I replied. "I’ll be quiet as a church mouse!" I almost snickered.
The courthouse had an aura of reverence and respect! To me, it also had an odor all its own, kind of a legal smell.
A lot of my father’s friends worked in this building keeping all kinds of records, collecting taxes, dispensing licenses and permits and other functions of the county government business. The courtroom, where they tried cases and dispensed justice, was the most fascinating.
My father, a former schoolteacher, looked upon the courthouse as an extension of the schoolroom. He believed that a day in the courtroom, especially during a murder trial was much more educational to a young boy than a day in the classroom. He always urged me to study hard so I could take the time off from school to attend court with him when it was in session.
My father was right. The courtroom drama was educational.
It was also addictive. I still love a good murder trial!
Willie Jim was a huntin’ man
With a pack of mangy dogs.
Billy John had a herd of sheep
And he raised a few old hogs.
They lived just below the Hooty Knob
In a place called Ankle Deep
A quiet and peaceful place to live
‘Til those dogs killed all those sheep!
Billy John got raging mad.
He took aim at Willie’s head.
He placed a bullet ‘twixt his eyes
And shot him stone cold dead!
No one around really knew
Or actually saw this act,
But all the evidence at hand
Pointed to this fact!
My father took me to the trial
That would seal this young man’s fate.
He said that I would learn a lot
About law, and love, and hate!
The drama at the bar began
As they filled the jury box.
And things were moving right along
‘Til they called Old Man Avery Cox!
Now, Old Man Cox was a learned man
And was held in high esteem.
A dead cinch for the foreman’s job
But things are not always as they seem.
When asked if he could sift the sands
Of circumstantial evidence,
His answer was a classic tale
And it made a lot of sense.
"Hell no, Your Honor!" The old man said.
And His Honor asked him "Why?"
The old man sat back in his chair
And this was his reply!
"I’m a victim of the circumstance
And it has caused me pain and strife.
I’m sleeping by myself again
And I’m shunned by my dear wife!"
"I was in the barn the other day,
Measuring out some chop and meal
To feed my wife’s young heifer calf
And you know how you feel,
When all at once you get a cramp
Caused by nature’s urgent call?
Judge, I dropped my pants and heeded it
Right there in the stall!"
"I was sighing with relief,
As that calf leaped for the door
That I had left wide open
When my pants dropped to the floor.
I reached out and grabbed that calf
By the ear and by the tail.
I was pushing her into the stall
When my wife began to wail!"
"I was standing there behind that calf
With my pants below my knees.
My wife was raising holy hell,
She would not hear my pleas.
The circumstances proved her right,
Even though they were not true.
And to this day, I cannot explain
What I was trying to do!"
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