ACT 3
(Curtain up. Court all seated.)
(Judge) Mr. Harris,
you're first.
(Harris) (addressing the jury) Some of you may be thinking
there is not enough proof that Dr. Burton murdered his wife. There was a motive
and evidence. Shirley Burton has not been seen or heard from in twelve months.
People don't disappear without any trace. Her credit cards and social security
number have not been used in the past twelve months. Don't you believe she is
dead? None of her friends or anyone can find her. Her dress was found with blood
on it in a dumpster. Does Doctor Burton have a motive? He said, "I wish she was
dead." Who else would he be talking about? He won't answer that question. Isn't
it suspicious and a motive? Doctor Burton took a polygraph test, but it is a
FACT that one out of every ten polygraph tests are not accurate. You all heard
Shirley Ann Burton say that her mother was depressed at times. Why was she
depressed? It could have been a problem between her and Doctor Burton that she
didn't want to discuss with others. Mrs. Burton's blood was found on the back
seat of Doctor Burton's car, the car that he drove to Columbia. He could have
sent someone else on that trip. This was not a normal thing for him to do on the
night his wife was first missing. A good life is gone. Many people will miss
Shirley Burton. I'm asking you all to bring justice to this case by finding
Doctor Burton guilty of second degree murder. Common sense and the facts tell
you what most likely happened. Remember circumstantial evidence is evidence.
Blood is evidence. Saying you wished someone was dead is evidence. The State
asks for justice.
(Harris sits down)
(Judge) Mr. Toms (Toms faces the
jury.)
(Toms) Doctor Burton is not guilty of murder. The State has not proven
that. Doctor Burton does not have a criminal record. He is a deacon at East Side
Baptist Church. Shirley Burton could have disappeared of her own accord; or if
dead, she could have been killed by someone else. She was taking a prescription
for depression. She could have had a reason to leave home and is still alive.
Doctor Burton took her out to dinner the night before she disappeared. He loved
and cared for his wife. Shirley Burton used her husband's car occasionally. The
traces of her blood from a scratch could have been in the car. Doctor Burton has
told you why he had to go to Columbia. The State has only presented a theory. No
one should be convicted just because of a theory. Doctor Burton is an important
member of our community. He is not guilty. (Toms sits down.)
(Judge)(speaking
to the jury) If you find evidence that Doctor Burton had a motive to kill his
wife, and evidence that he was the murderer, you must find the defendant guilty
of second degree murder. If you have reasonable doubt, you must acquit the
defendant. The verdict reached must be unanimous. The jury may now go to
deliberate the case.
(Jury files out. Curtain remains up. Stage lights dim.
Others in the courtroom remain in place in the dark.) (Music interlude.) (Lights
back up. Jury files back in.)
(Judge) The Bailiff informs me that the jury
has reached a verdict, is that right?
(Foreman) We have, your
honor.
(Judge) Please hand it to the Bailiff.
(Bailiff(receives the
verdict) Thank you. (takes it to the Clerk.)
(Judge) The Clerk will now read
the verdict.
(Clerk) We the jury find the defendant Doctor Thomas J. Burton
guilty of second degree murder.
(Judge) Doctor Burton please stand. A second
degree murder verdict mandates a sentence. The minimum here permitted by law is
five years and the maximum is life in prison without parole. Doctor Burton
because of your profession, reputation, and no prior criminal record, I am
sentencing you to the minimum sentence of five years. Court dismissed.
(Stage
lights slowly dim while curtain starts to drop slowly. Curtain stops half way
down and then starts back up. Stage lights off. a lady sitting in a chair is
pushed out from the right wing of the stage. Spotlight on lady.)
(Mrs.
Burton)(in chair in spotlight)(speaks very dramatically and with much feeling)
"Being with you made my heart smile, then it laughed and giggled with you. Your
happiness made it happy, then your sorrow made it sad. It made a black hole
which only got bigger. It used my anger, (very emotionally) guilt, and sorrow to
rip and break it apart, my heart finally died. Not your sorrow or happiness
could bring it back. It is gone forever, because of you!"
No one will ever
know.
No one will ever know that I ran away.
No one will ever know that I
am still alive.
(Spotlight moves across stage to the other
side)
(JESUS) I know!
(Final Curtain.)
(The quoted area spoken
by Mrs. Burton was written by Mapuana O, a student at Kamehameha School, Hawaii,
Honolulu.)
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