A Time to Kill (Grisham novel)

==Plot==

==Plot==

In the small town of Clanton, in fictional Ford County, [[Mississippi]], a ten-year-old [[African-American]] girl named Tonya Hailey is violently raped by two [[neo-Confederates]], James "Pete" Willard and Billy Ray Cobb, shortly after stealing a [[Flags of the Confederate States of America|Confederate Flag]] from a local college exhibition. Tonya is later found and rushed to the hospital while Pete and Billy Ray are heard bragging at a roadside bar about their crime. Tonya's outraged father, Carl Lee Hailey, consults his friend Jake Brigance, a white attorney who had previously represented Hailey's brother, on whether he could get himself acquitted if he killed the two men. Jake tells Carl Lee not to do anything stupid, but admits that if it had been his daughter, he would kill the rapists. Carl Lee is determined to avenge Tonya, and while Pete and Billy Ray are being led into holding after their bond hearing, he kills both men with an [[M16 rifle]].

In the small town of Clanton, in fictional Ford County, [[Mississippi]], a ten-year-old [[African-American]] girl named Tonya Hailey is violently raped by two [[neo-Confederates]], James "Pete" Willard and Billy Ray Cobb, shortly after stealing a [[Flags of the Confederate States of America|Confederate Flag]] from a college student. Tonya is later found and rushed to the hospital while Pete and Billy Ray are heard bragging at a roadside bar about their crime. Tonya's outraged father, Carl Lee Hailey, consults his friend Jake Brigance, a white attorney who had previously represented Hailey's brother, on whether he could get himself acquitted if he killed the two men. Jake tells Carl Lee not to do anything stupid, but admits that if it had been his daughter, he would kill the rapists. Carl Lee is determined to avenge Tonya, and while Pete and Billy Ray are being led into holding after their bond hearing, he kills both men with an [[M16 rifle]].

Carl Lee is charged with [[capital murder]]. Despite efforts to persuade Carl Lee to retain high-powered attorneys, he elects to be represented by Jake. Helping Jake are two loyal friends, [[disbarred]] attorney and mentor Lucien Wilbanks, and sleazy divorce lawyer Harry Rex Vonner. Later, the team is assisted by liberal law student Ellen Roark, who has prior experience with [[death penalty]] cases and offers her services as a temporary clerk ''[[pro bono]]''. Ellen appears to be interested in Jake romantically, but the married Jake resists her overtures. The team also receives some illicit behind-the-scenes help from black county sheriff Ozzie Walls, a figure beloved by the black community and also well respected by the white community who upholds the law by arresting Carl Lee but, as the father of two daughters of his own, privately supports Carl Lee and gives him special treatment while in jail and goes out of the way to assist Jake in any way he legally can. Carl Lee is prosecuted by Ford County's [[district attorney]], Rufus Buckley, who hopes that the case will boost his political career. It is claimed that the judge presiding over Carl Lee's trial, Omar "Ichabod" Noose, has been intimidated by local [[white supremacist]] element--a fact given further credence when, despite having no history of racist inclinations in his rulings, Noose refuses Jake's request for a change of venue, even though the racial make-up of Ford County virtually guarantees an all-white jury, which later becomes the case.

Carl Lee is charged with [[capital murder]]. Despite efforts to persuade Carl Lee to retain high-powered attorneys, he elects to be represented by Jake. Helping Jake are two loyal friends, [[disbarred]] attorney and mentor Lucien Wilbanks, and sleazy divorce lawyer Harry Rex Vonner. Later, the team is assisted by liberal law student Ellen Roark, who has prior experience with [[death penalty]] cases and offers her services as a temporary clerk ''[[pro bono]]''. Ellen appears to be interested in Jake romantically, but the married Jake resists her overtures. The team also receives some illicit behind-the-scenes help from black county sheriff Ozzie Walls, a figure beloved by the black community and also well respected by the white community who upholds the law by arresting Carl Lee but, as the father of two daughters of his own, privately supports Carl Lee and gives him special treatment while in jail and goes out of the way to assist Jake in any way he legally can. Carl Lee is prosecuted by Ford County's [[district attorney]], Rufus Buckley, who hopes that the case will boost his political career. It is claimed that the judge presiding over Carl Lee's trial, Omar "Ichabod" Noose, has been intimidated by local [[white supremacist]] element--a fact given further credence when, despite having no history of racist inclinations in his rulings, Noose refuses Jake's request for a change of venue, even though the racial make-up of Ford County virtually guarantees an all-white jury, which later becomes the case.