Miss O’Brien was mad today. She said that Petrocelli was using a cheap trick. The judge said he was calling a half-day session because he needed to hear pleas in another case. O’Brien said that Petrocelli wanted to leave as bad an image in the mind of the jury as she could. She brought up the photographs again and made sure that the jury saw them a second time. Miss O’Brien said she wanted the jurors to take the bad images home with them over the weekend and live with them. The photos were bad, real bad. I didn’t want to think about them or know about them. I didn’t look at the jury members when they were looking at the pictures. I thought about writing about what happened in the drugstore, but I’d rather not have it in my mind. The pictures of Mr. Nesbitt scare me. I think about him lying there knowing he was going to die. I wonder if it hurt much. I can see me at that moment, just when Mr. Nesbitt knew he was going to die, walking down the street trying to make my mind a blank screen. When I got back to the cell and changed my clothes, I had to mop the corridors with four other guys. We were all dressed in the orange jumpsuits they give you and the guards made us line up.The water was hot and soapy and had a strong smell of some kind of disinfectant. The mops were heavy and it was hot and I didn’t like doing it. Then I realized that the five guys doing the mopping must have all looked alike and I suddenly felt as if I couldn’t breathe. I tried to suck the air into my lungs, but all I got was the odor of the disinfectant and I started gagging. “You vomit—you just got more to clean up!” the guard said. I held it in and kept swinging the big mop across the floor. To my right and left the other prisoners were doing the same thing. On the floor there were big arcs of gray, dirty water and swirls of stinking, brown bubbles. I wanted to be away from this place so bad, away from this place, away from this place. I remembered Miss O’Brien saying that it was her job to make me different in the eyes of the jury, different from Bobo and Osvaldo and King. It was me, I thought as I tried not to throw up, that had wanted to be tough like them. FADE IN: Four-way SPLIT-SCREEN MONTAGE: Three images alternate between shots of witnesses and defendants. We hear only 1 witness at a time, but the others are clearly still talking on other screens. In upper left screen is DETECTIVE WILLIAMS. Lower left is ALLEN FORBES, a City Clerk. Lower right is DR. JAMES MOODY, Medical Examiner. The upper right screen is sometimes black, sometimes a stark and startling white. Occasionally the images of those not speaking are replaced with images of KING or STEVE, and we get REACTION SHOTS. FORBES It was a registered gun. Our records show that Mr. Nesbitt applied for a license to have a gun on the premises in August of 1989. That permit was still in effect. The gun was licensed to him from that time. VO (PETROCELLI) So there was nothing unusual or illegal about the gun being in the drugstore? Is that correct, Mr. Forbes? FORBES Presumably he wanted it for the store. That is correct. SWITCH TO: DETECTIVE WILLIAMS. WILLIAMS I arrived at the crime scene at 5:15. There was some merchandise on the floor of the drugstore in between the counters. The body of the victim was lying halfway…his legs were half sticking out from behind the counter. I looked around the counter and observed a middle-aged Black male of approximately 200 pounds. It was pretty clear that he was dead. There was an emergency medical crew there, and they were just packing it in when I arrived. I looked around the scene and saw the gun. A uniformed patrolman pointed it out to me. I didn’t know at the time if it was the gun that killed the victim or not. There wasn’t any way to tell without tests. The cash register was open. The change was still in there, but no bills. Also, there were several cartons of cigarettes on the floor, and the clerk mentioned that several cartons of cigarettes were missing. We chalked the body, then had it turned. VO (PETROCELLI) What do you mean when you say you chalked the body? WILLIAMS That’s when you put a chalk mark around the perimeter of the body to show the position you found it in. We had photos taken, then we chalked the body so we could turn it over and see if there was any possible evidence beneath the victim. I didn’t see anything there. From the money being gone from the register, I figured it was a stickup and homicide. The guys from the Medical Examiner’s office wanted to move the body. It was time for them to get off, and I allowed them to take it. VO (PETROCELLI) Detective Williams, during the course of your investigation of the crime did you have occasion to speak to a Mr. Zinzi? WILLIAMS My partner got a call from this guy on Riker’s Island. That was Sal Zinzi. He was doing 6 months on a stolen property charge. There were a few guys in there who were giving him a hard time. He wanted out pretty bad. He told me about a guy who had told him about a guy who was selling cigarettes. It was a slim lead, but we followed it up until we found a Richard Evans. VO (PETROCELLI) Known on the street as Bobo? “You vomit—you just got more to clean up!” the guard said. I held it in and kept swinging the big mop across the floor. To my right and left the other prisoners were doing the same thing. On the floor there were big arcs of gray, dirty water and swirls of stinking, brown bubbles. I wanted to be away from this place so bad, away from this place, away from this place. I remembered Miss O’Brien saying that it was her job to make me different in the eyes of the jury, different from Bobo and Osvaldo and King. It was me, I thought as I tried not to throw up, that had wanted to be tough like them. FADE IN: Four-way SPLIT-SCREEN MONTAGE: Three images alternate between shots of witnesses and defendants. We hear only 1 witness at a time, but the others are clearly still talking on other screens. In upper left screen is DETECTIVE WILLIAMS. Lower left is ALLEN FORBES, a City Clerk. Lower right is DR. JAMES MOODY, Medical Examiner. The upper right screen is sometimes black, sometimes a stark and startling white. Occasionally the images of those not speaking are replaced with images of KING or STEVE, and we get REACTION SHOTS. FORBES It was a registered gun. Our records show that Mr. Nesbitt applied for a license to have a gun on the premises in August of 1989. That permit was still in effect. The gun was licensed to him from that time. VO (PETROCELLI) So there was nothing unusual or illegal about the gun being in the drugstore? Is that correct, Mr. Forbes? FORBES Presumably he wanted it for the store. That is correct. SWITCH TO: DETECTIVE WILLIAMS. WILLIAMS I arrived at the crime scene at 5:15. There was some merchandise on the floor of the drugstore in between the counters. The body of the victim was lying halfway…his legs were half sticking out from behind the counter. I looked around the counter and observed a middle-aged Black male of approximately 200 pounds. It was pretty clear that he was dead. There was an emergency medical crew there, and they were just packing it in when I arrived. I looked around the scene and saw the gun. A uniformed patrolman pointed it out to me. I didn’t know at the time if it was the gun that killed the victim or not. There wasn’t any way to tell without tests. The cash register was open. The change was still in there, but no bills. Also, there were several cartons of cigarettes on the floor, and the clerk mentioned that several cartons of cigarettes were missing. We chalked the body, then had it turned. VO (PETROCELLI) What do you mean when you say you chalked the body? WILLIAMS That’s when you put a chalk mark around the perimeter of the body to show the position you found it in. We had photos taken, then we chalked the body so we could turn it over and see if there was any possible evidence beneath the victim. I didn’t see anything there. From the money being gone from the register, I figured it was a stickup and homicide. The guys from the Medical Examiner’s office wanted to move the body. It was time for them to get off, and I allowed them to take it. VO (PETROCELLI) Detective Williams, during the course of your investigation of the crime did you have occasion to speak to a Mr. Zinzi? WILLIAMS My partner got a call from this guy on Riker’s Island. That was Sal Zinzi. He was doing 6 months on a stolen property charge. There were a few guys in there who were giving him a hard time. He wanted out pretty bad. He told me about a guy who had told him about a guy who was selling cigarettes. It was a slim lead, but we followed it up until we found a Richard Evans. VO (PETROCELLI) Known on the street as Bobo? WILLIAMS Known on the street as Bobo, right. We picked him up and he admitted involvement in the stickup. SWITCH TO: DR. MOODY. MOODY (Nods constantly as he testifies.) The bullet entered the body on the left side and traversed upward through the lung. It produced a tearing of the lung and heavy internal bleeding and also went through the esophagus. That also produced internal bleeding. The bullet finally lodged in the upper trapezius area. VO (PETROCELLI) And were you able to recover the bullet from that area? MOODY Yes, we were. VO (PETROCELLI) Dr. Moody, can you tell with reasonable certainty the time and cause of death? MOODY Death was caused by a combination of trauma to the internal organs, which put the victim into a state of shock, as well as by the lungs filling with blood. He wouldn’t have been able to breathe. VO (PETROCELLI) You mean he literally drowned in his own blood? REACTION SHOT: STEVE catches his breath sharply. REACTION SHOT: KING has head tilted to one side, seemingly without a care. WILLIAMS Known on the street as Bobo, right. We picked him up and he admitted involvement in the stickup. SWITCH TO: DR. MOODY. MOODY (Nods constantly as he testifies.) The bullet entered the body on the left side and traversed upward through the lung. It produced a tearing of the lung and heavy internal bleeding and also went through the esophagus. That also produced internal bleeding. The bullet finally lodged in the upper trapezius area. VO (PETROCELLI) And were you able to recover the bullet from that area? MOODY Yes, we were. VO (PETROCELLI) Dr. Moody, can you tell with reasonable certainty the time and cause of death? MOODY Death was caused by a combination of trauma to the internal organs, which put the victim into a state of shock, as well as by the lungs filling with blood. He wouldn’t have been able to breathe. VO (PETROCELLI) You mean he literally drowned in his own blood? REACTION SHOT: STEVE catches his breath sharply. REACTION SHOT: KING has head tilted to one side, seemingly without a care.

Answer 1

The narrative transitions between the courtroom proceedings and the emotional turmoil of the protagonist, Steve Harmon. The juxtaposition of the gruesome testimonies regarding Mr. Nesbitt’s murder and Steve’s experience as a prisoner creates a vivid representation of his internal conflict and fear.

Miss O’Brien's frustration with the defense strategy is palpable. She is keenly aware of the psychological influence that graphic evidence can have on the jury. Her desire to showcase the horror of the crime underscores the theme of perception in the trial—how witnesses contribute to the narrative that could seal Steve's fate.

As the testimonies unfold, the descriptions of the crime scene—Mr. Nesbitt's body, the chaos left behind, and the details of the gun and robbery—are stark reminders of the violence that has occurred. Detective Williams's account and Dr. Moody's medical examination add layers of grim reality, painting a vivid picture of the crime that insists on the jury’s (and Steve's) emotional engagement.

Steve's feelings of nausea and panic while mopping the corridors, alongside his disdain for being grouped with other defendants, accentuate his deep-seated fear of losing his identity and humanity in the judicial system. The heavy mops and the stench of disinfectant symbolize a loss of dignity and freedom, reinforcing his desire to escape this dehumanizing environment.

The split-screen montage further amplifies the tension. The multiple perspectives of witnesses, combined with the reactions of Steve and King, invite the audience into the emotional landscape of the courtroom, where the stakes are life and death. Steve's reactions, juxtaposed with King’s apparent indifference, highlight the difference in their responses to their circumstances—a reflection on guilt, innocence, and the struggle for identity amidst impending judgment.

The gradual accumulation of evidence presented against Steve—and the visceral details surrounding Mr. Nesbitt's death—serve to construct a narrative that is simultaneously prosecutorial and reflective, engaging the audience in a deeper analysis of justice, morality, and the consequences of choices made in desperation. The question of whether Steve is guilty or innocent becomes increasingly complex, muddying the waters of culpability against the stark backdrop of a violent crime that has irrevocably changed lives.