Marshall

A confession?

Is that what they call it?

Billy Lyons was thrown in jail for three days without cause.

In the case of Inez Washington v. the C. R. & L. Bus Company,

gentlemen, I have reviewed all the papers and briefs in my chambers

and I am prepared to rule.

The court finds that the service of the complaint

was in fact made at the wrong address,

as Attorney Friedman has argued.

Therefore, the defendant's Motion to Dismiss is granted.

Thank you, Your Honor.

Great work, Friedman.

Now, to get their confession, Special Agent Cheatwood,

sent by the Governor himself, took this club,

his "nigger-beater," he called it,

he tied Billy Lyons to a chair

and he pounded Billy Lyons in the head with it.

And still Billy Lyons insisted

he had not committed these murders.

We had this one pegged as a loser.

You've got a real knack for spotting technicalities.

Thank you, Mr. Sprague.

I'll be sending some more files your way, if you've got the time.

I will make the time.

Good.

They forced him into their car and hauled him off

to the murder scene.

The bodies had been burned, and were decomposing.

They took some of the bones of these dead bodies,

put them in a pan

and placed them in Billy Lyons' hands.

They admitted this.

Delirious with exhaustion and pain,

Billy Lyons confessed to a crime he did not commit.

And it is based upon that confession alone

that they now seek to hang Billy Lyons

by the neck until he is dead.

You'll get them the next time, baby.

There may not be a next time.

We needed this one. All right.

When you coming home?

I'll be on the next train to Knoxville.

I should be home by mid-day Wednesday.

Okay.

Be safe. I love you.

Love you, too. See you soon. Bye, baby.

Hey, boy!

Boy! What do you think you're doing here?

What you gonna do, nigger?

All aboard.

I'll see you boys another time.

That son of a bitch!

Let's go scare him.

Show

NAACP. Please hold.

Good morning, Mr. Marshall. Good morning.

Welcome back.

Thank you.

Hmm.

Thurgood, you're going to Bridgeport.

What, now? No, I swore to Buster...

How many Thurgoods are there? Five or ten?

There's only one, and that one is gonna get his ass

on the train tomorrow.

Why?

Why? "Nightmare in Greenwich," that's why, Thurgood.

"Wife Attacked By Negro Driver," that's why, Thurgood.

How about, "Fear Grips Connecticut."

What's the reaction?

Fear. Getting calls from all over the country.

Negroes getting fired.

White families afraid to have us in their homes.

Well, if we can't work as domestics,

Negro families are going to starve.

And this is a hell of a time to lose half of our staff.

It's got everything, doesn't it?

"Eleanor Strubing, a fair-haired Greenwich socialite,

"was the victim of a beastly attack in her own bedroom..."

Yes.

And the boy that they're holding

is straight out of Native Son.

Look at that.

Wow.

"Joseph Spell.

"Uneducated Negro servant with a criminal past."

A fable that the New York City press

is gonna feed on, to the last morsel.

Yeah. They're starving for this one.

So are we.

We win this thing,

our big donors are coming right back, Thurgood.

There's only thirteen million Negroes depending on you.

Irwin said I would find you here.

What? Your brother.

He said I'd find you here. You know, swimming.

Nice swimsuit.

Who the hell are you?

Tad Lancaster. Bridgeport High, remember?

Trombone?

Yeah. Still blowin' it, too, man.

What are you doing here, Tad?

Oh, I am working with the Bridgeport NAACP.

Actually, I am the Bridgeport NAACP and I need a little favor.

Do you know that Spell case?

The guy who attacked the girl from Greenwich?

Yeah.

Now national is sending a lawyer from the city to handle his defense,

and we need a local guy to get him admitted.

Uh, sorry, no. I'm not gonna do that.

Well, there's nothing else required.

I'm not interested. Well, think about the publicity, Sam.

Oh, no, that's exactly what I'm thinking of.

Well now, your brother seems to think...

My brother is an absolute idiot.

Listen, Tad, thank you so much for thinking of me.

Honestly, I'm grateful.

But I don't handle criminal cases, okay?

Find someone who wants that kind of attention.

Irwin already filed the papers with the court.

He did what?

A paper, please.

Thurgood Marshall.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Sam Friedman. Um, Friedman and Friedman.

Good to meet you, Sam. Give me a hand with these, would you?

Sure.

What've you got in here, cement?

Guns.

Books, Mr. Friedman.

My law library. It goes where I go.

Look, I told Tad Lancaster I'll get you admitted, as a favor,

but I can't get involved in a case like this.

Yeah? Why not?

Well, I do insurance defense. You know, accident cases.

I've got a reputation to think of.

Ah!

That must be difficult. What?

Having a reputation to think of.

You meet our client yet?

Your client. And no, I was waiting...

Well, come on then, let's get to it.

Got another one coming in. Okay.

University of Maryland Law School.

Was walking distance from home,

but they didn't accept colored,

so I had to go to Howard.

An hour and a half each way by bus,

and well known as a school for failures.

That's too bad.

No, no. It was best thing that ever happened to me.

They'd just brought in a new Dean, Charles Hamilton Houston,

he turned that place around and taught me everything I know.

Including how to sue the University of Maryland.

You sued them?

You bet your ass I did.

Soon as I passed the bar.

And?

Supreme Court ordered the bastards to integrate.

You argued in the United States Supreme Court?

What? No, the Maryland Supreme Court.

I didn't argue in front of the U.S. Supreme Court until last year.

Your boy's ready for you.

Spell, lawyer's here to see you.

Mr. Spell, I'm Thurgood Marshall, with the NAACP.

You heard of us?

You a lawyer? I am.

This is Sam Friedman, he's a lawyer, too.

You can go. I got no money for lawyers.

Anybody ask you for money?

Did you rape that woman, Joseph?

No.

Why does she say you did?

I don't know why she's saying that.

She says you raped her and tried to kill her.

She lying!

I was up in White Plains, ata club.

Come on, Joseph. All night long?

No, not all night.

I was at the house, but couldn't sleep.

So I went to play cards. Got back maybe 6:00, 6:30.

Anybody see you at the club?

Yeah, but I don't know their names or nothin'.

For an alibi defense you need witnesses, Joseph.

Otherwise, it's her word against yours,

and who do you think they're going to believe?

There was a cop.

A cop?

Stopped me in Port Chester on the way to the club.

Looked at my license then let me go.

What time was that?

I don't know. Maybe 3:00 in the morning.

I'm telling you this up front.

The NAACP, we're not like most lawyers.

We only represent innocent people,

people accused because of their race.

That's our mission. You understand?

So I need to know this... Look at me now.

Did you do what they said you did?

I never touched that woman.

Okay, Joseph. You got lawyers now.