Act I (Pg. 1 - 20)

Question 1

7TH JUROR [turning to the 8TH JUROR]: Do you want some gum?

Answer 1

8TH JUROR [smiling]: No, thanks.

Question 2

12TH JUROR [to the 8TH JUROR]: Not a bad view.

Answer 2

The 8TH JUROR nods.

Question 3

12TH JUROR: I’ll tell you we were lucky to get a murder case. I figured us for a burglary or an assault or something. Those can be the dullest. [She looks out of the window.] Say, isn’t that the Woolworth Building?

Answer 3

8TH JUROR: That’s right.

Question 4

FOREMAN: The gentleman at the window.

Answer 4

The 8TH JUROR turns, startled.

Question 5

FOREMAN: How about sitting down?

Answer 5

8TH JUROR: Oh, I’m sorry. [He moves to his chair and sits.]

Question 6

FOREMAN: Nine—ten—eleven. That’s eleven for “guilty.” OK. “Not guilty”?

Answer 6

The 8TH JUROR slowly raises his hand.

Question 7

7TH JUROR [after a pause]: So, what do we do now?

Answer 7

8TH JUROR: Well, I guess we talk.

Question 8

3RD JUROR [leaning over toward the 8TH JUROR]: Well, look, do you really think he’s innocent?

Answer 8

8TH JUROR: I don’t know.

Question 9

3RD JUROR: I mean, let’s be reasonable. You sat in court and heard the same things we did. The man’s a dangerous killer. You could see it.

Answer 9

8TH JUROR: The man! He’s sixteen years old.

Question 10

3RD JUROR: Well, who wasn’t? [To the 8TH JUROR.] I really think this is one of those open-and-shut things. They proved it a dozen different ways. Would you like me to list them for you?

Answer 10

8TH JUROR: No.

Question 11

10TH JUROR: Then what do you want?

Answer 11

8TH JUROR: Nothing. I just want to talk.

Question 12

10TH JUROR: I want to ask you something. Do you believe his story?

Answer 12

8TH JUROR: I don’t know whether I believe it or not. Maybe I don’t.

Question 13

7TH JUROR: So what’d you vote “not guilty” for?

Answer 13

8TH JUROR: There were eleven votes for “guilty.” It’s not easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first.

Question 14

7TH JUROR: Who says it’s easy for me?

Answer 14

8TH JUROR: No one.

Question 15

7TH JUROR: What, just because I voted fast? I think the guy’s guilty. You couldn’t change my mind if you talked for a hundred years.

Answer 15

8TH JUROR: I’m not trying to change your mind. It’s just that we’re talking about somebody’s life here. I mean, we can’t decide in five minutes. Suppose we’re wrong?

Question 16

7TH JUROR: Suppose we’re wrong! Suppose this whole building fell on my head. You can suppose anything.

Answer 16

8TH JUROR: That’s right.

Question 17

7TH JUROR [after a pause]: What’s the difference how long it takes? We honestly think he’s guilty. So suppose we finish in five minutes? So what?

Answer 17

8TH JUROR: Let’s take an hour. The ball game doesn’t start till eight o’clock.

Question 18

10TH JUROR: Great. I heard a pretty good story last night. So this duck walks into a bar, see, and asks the bartender…

Answer 18

8TH JUROR: That’s not what we’re sitting here for!

Question 19

10TH JUROR: All right, then you tell me. What are we sitting here for?

Answer 19

8TH JUROR: Maybe for no reason. I don’t know. Look, this boy’s been kicked around all his life. You know—living in a slum, his mother dead since he was nine. He spent a year and a half in an orphanage while his father served a jail term for forgery. That’s not a very good head start. He’s had a pretty terrible sixteen years. I think maybe we owe him a few words. That’s all.

Question 20

2ND JUROR: Oh. Well . . . [She pauses nervously.] Well, it’s hard to put into words. I just—think he’s guilty. I thought it was obvious from the word go. I mean, nobody proved otherwise.

Answer 20

8TH JUROR: Nobody has to prove otherwise. The burden of proof is on the prosecution. The defendant doesn’t have to open his mouth. That’s in the Constitution. You’ve heard of it.

Question 21

10TH JUROR [rising, handkerchief in hand]: Just a minute. Here’s a woman . . . [She blows her nose.] Here’s a woman who’s lying in bed and can’t sleep. She’s dying with the heat. Know what I mean? Anyway, she looks out the window and right across the street she sees the kid stick the knife into his father. The time is twelve ten on the nose. Everything fits. Look, she’s known the kid all his life. His window is right opposite hers, across the el tracks, and she swore she saw him do it.

Answer 21

8TH JUROR: Through the windows of a passing elevated train.

Question 22

10TH JUROR: Right. This el train had no passengers on it. It was just being moved downtown. The lights were out, remember? And they proved in court that at night you can look through the windows of an el train when the lights are out and see what’s happening on the other side. They proved it.

Answer 22

8TH JUROR [to the 10TH JUROR]: I’d like to ask you something. [10TH JUROR: Sure.]
8TH JUROR: You don’t believe the boy. How come you believe the woman? She’s one of “them,” too, isn’t she?

Question 23

6TH JUROR: I don’t know. I started to be convinced, uh—you know, very early in the case. Well, I was looking for the motive. That’s very important. If there’s no motive, where’s the case? So anyway, that testimony from those people across the hall from the kid’s apartment – that was very powerful. Didn’t they say something about an argument between the father and the boy around seven o’clock that night? I mean, I can be wrong.

11TH JUROR: It was eight o’clock. Not seven.

Answer 23

8TH JUROR: That’s right. Eight o’clock. They heard an argument, but they couldn’t hear what it was about. Then they heard the father hit the boy twice, and finally, they saw the boy walk angrily out of the house. What does that prove?

Question 24

6TH JUROR: Well, it doesn’t exactly prove anything. It’s just part of the picture. I didn’t say it proved anything.

Answer 24

8TH JUROR: You said it revealed a motive for the killing. The prosecuting attorney said the same thing. Well, I don’t think it’s a very strong motive. This boy has been hit so many times in his life that violence is practically a normal state of affairs for him. I can’t see two slaps in the face provoking him into committing murder.

Question 25

7TH JUROR: Me? [She pauses, looks around, shrugs.] I don’t know, it’s practically all said already. We can talk about it forever. I mean, this kid is oh for five. Look at his record. He was in Children’s Court when he was ten for throwing a rock at his teacher. At fourteen he was in Reform School. He stole a car. He’s been arrested for mugging. He was picked up twice for trying to slash another teenager with a knife. He’s real quick with switch knives, they said. This is a very fine boy.

Answer 25

8TH JUROR: Ever since he was five years old his father beat him up regularly. He used his fists.

Question 26

4TH JUROR: Wouldn’t you call those beatings a motive for him to kill his father?

Answer 26

8TH JUROR [after a pause]: I don’t know. It’s a motive for him to be an angry kid. I’ll say that.

Question 27

3RD JUROR: It’s the kids, the way they are nowadays. Angry! Hostile! You can’t do a darn thing with them. Just the way they talk to you. Listen, when I was his age I used to call my father “Sir.” That’s right, “Sir!” You ever hear a boy call his father that anymore?

Answer 27

8TH JUROR: Fathers don’t seem to think it’s important anymore.

Question 28

3RD JUROR: No? Have you got any kids?

Answer 28

8TH JUROR: Two.

Question 29

FOREMAN: All right, let’s stop all this arguing. We’re wasting time here. [He points to the 8TH JUROR.] It’s your turn. Let’s go.

Answer 29

8TH JUROR: Well, I didn’t expect a turn. I thought you were all supposed to be convincing me. Wasn’t that the idea?

Question 30

10TH JUROR: All right. Let’s hear from somebody. There is a pause.

Answer 30

8TH JUROR: Well, if you want me to tell you how I feel about it right now, it’s all right with me.

Question 31

FOREMAN [softly]: I don’t care what you do.

Answer 31

8TH JUROR [after a pause]: All right. I haven’t got anything brilliant. I only know as much as you do. According to the testimony, the boy looks guilty. Maybe he is. I sat there in court for three days listening while the evidence built up. Everybody sounded so positive that I started to get a peculiar feeling about this trial. I mean, nothing is that positive. I had questions I would have liked to ask. Maybe they wouldn’t have meant anything. I don’t know. But I started to feel that the defense counsel wasn’t doing his job. He let too many things go. Little things.

Question 32

10TH JUROR: What little things? Listen, when these guys don’t ask questions, that’s because they know the answers already and they figure they’ll be hurt.

Answer 32

8TH JUROR: Maybe. It’s also possible for a lawyer to be just plain stupid, isn’t it?

Question 33

6TH JUROR: You sound like you’ve met my brother-in-law. A few of the JURORS laugh.

Answer 33

8TH JUROR [smiling]: I kept putting myself in the boy’s place. I would have asked for another lawyer, I think. I mean, if I was on trial for my life I’d want my lawyer to tear the prosecution witnesses to shreds, or at least to try. Look, there was one alleged eyewitness to this killing. Someone else claims he heard the killing and then saw the boy running out afterward. There was a lot of circumstantial evidence, but actually those two witnesses were the entire case for the prosecution. Supposing they were wrong?

Question 34

12TH JUROR: What do you mean, “Supposing they were wrong?” What’s the point of having witnesses at all?

Answer 34

8TH JUROR: Could they be wrong?

Question 35

12TH JUROR: They sat on the stand under oath. What are you trying to say?

Answer 35

8TH JUROR: They’re only people. People make mistakes. Could they be wrong?

Question 36

12TH JUROR: I . . . No! I don’t think so.

Answer 36

8TH JUROR: Do you know so?

Question 37

12TH JUROR: Well, now, listen. Nobody can know a thing like that. This isn’t an exact science.

Answer 37

8TH JUROR: That’s right. It isn’t.

Question 38

3RD JUROR: Look, they can talk whenever they like. Now just be quiet a second, will you? [He turns to the 8TH JUROR.] OK, what about the knife? You know, the one that fine, upright boy admitted buying on the night of the murder. Let’s talk about that.

Answer 38

8TH JUROR: All right, let’s talk about it. Let’s get it in here and look at it. I’d like to see it again. [He turns to the FOREMAN.] Mr. Foreman?

Question 39

4TH JUROR: The gentleman has a right to see exhibits in evidence. [To the 8TH JUROR.] The knife, and the way it was bought, is pretty strong evidence. Don’t you think so?

Answer 39

8TH JUROR: I do.

Question 40

4TH JUROR: Good. Now suppose we take these facts one at a time. One. The boy admitted going out of his house at eight o’clock on the night of the murder after being punched several times by his father.

Answer 40

8TH JUROR: He didn’t say “punched.” He said “hit.” There’s a difference between a slap and a punch.

Question 41

4TH JUROR: Three. This wasn’t what you’d call an ordinary knife. It had a very unusual carved handle. Four. The storekeeper who sold it to him identified the knife in court and said it was the only one of its kind he had ever had in stock. Five. At, oh, about eight forty-five the boy ran into three friends of his in front of a diner. Am I correct so far?

Answer 41

8TH JUROR: Yes, you are.

Question 42

4TH JUROR: Everyone connected with the case identified the knife. Now are you trying to tell me that it really fell through a hole in the boy’s pocket and that someone picked it up off the street, went to the boy’s house and stabbed his father with it just to be amusing?

Answer 42

8TH JUROR: No. I’m saying it’s possible that the boy lost the knife and that someone else stabbed his father with a similar knife. It’s possible.

Question 43

4TH JUROR: Aren’t you asking us to accept a pretty incredible coincidence?

Answer 43

8TH JUROR: I’m not asking anyone to accept it. I’m just saying that it’s possible.

Question 44

3RD JUROR [shouting]: And I’m saying it’s not possible.

Answer 44

The 8TH JUROR stands for a moment in silence, then he reaches into his pocket and swiftly withdraws a knife. He holds it in front of his face and flicks open the blade, then he leans forward and sticks the knife into the table alongside the other. They are exactly alike. There is a burst of sound in the room. The 8TH JUROR stands back from the table, watching.

Question 45

4TH JUROR: Quiet! Let’s be quiet. [To the 8TH JUROR.] Where d’you get that knife?

Answer 45

8TH JUROR: I was walking for a couple of hours last night, just thinking. I walked through the boy’s neighborhood. The knife comes from a little pawn shop three blocks from his house. It cost six dollars.

Question 46

4TH JUROR: It’s against the law to buy or sell switchblade knives.

Answer 46

8TH JUROR: That’s right. I broke the law.

Question 47

3RD JUROR: Listen. You pulled a real bright trick here. Now, supposing you tell me what you proved. Maybe there are ten knives like that. So what?

Answer 47

8TH JUROR: Maybe there are.

Question 48

7TH JUROR: The odds are a million to one.

Answer 48

8TH JUROR: It’s possible.

Question 48

FOREMAN: Listen, let’s take seats. There’s no point in milling round here.

Answer 48

They begin to move back to their seats. The 8TH JUROR stands watching.

Question 49

3RD JUROR: Interesting! [He points at the 8TH JUROR.] Listen, how come the kid bought the knife to begin with?

Answer 49

8TH JUROR: Well, he claims that—

Question 50

3RD JUROR: I know. He claims he bought it as a present for a friend of his. He was gonna give it to him the next day because he busted the other kid’s knife dropping it on the pavement.

Answer 50

8TH JUROR: That’s what he said.

Question 51

7TH JUROR: Well, he was gonna give the knife to his friend. He just wanted to use it for a minute. (There is scattered laughter.)

Answer 51

8TH JUROR [to the 3RD JUROR]: Let me ask you this. It’s one of the questions I wanted to ask in court. If the boy bought the knife to use on his father, how come he showed what was going to be the murder weapon to three friends of his just a couple of hours before the killing?

Question 52

3RD JUROR: Listen, all of this is just talk. The boy lied and you know it.

Answer 52

8TH JUROR: He may have lied. [To the 10TH JUROR.] Do you think he lied?

Question 53

10TH JUROR: Now that’s a stupid question. Sure he lied.

Answer 53

8TH JUROR [to the 4TH JUROR]: Do you?

Question 54

4TH JUROR: You know my answer. He lied.

Answer 54

8TH JUROR [to the 5TH JUROR]: Do you think he lied?

Question 55

3RD JUROR [leaping into the breach]: You’re not sure about what? Now wait a second. [To the 8TH JUROR.] What are you, the kid’s lawyer or something? Who do you think you are to start cross-examining us?

Answer 55

8TH JUROR: Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen in a jury room?

Question 56

7TH JUROR: Yeah. What do you think you’re gonna accomplish? You’re not gonna change anybody’s mind. So if you want to be stubborn and hang this jury, go ahead. The kid’ll be tried again and found guilty sure as he’s born.

Answer 56

8TH JUROR: You’re probably right.

Question 57

FOREMAN: OK. I think we oughta get on with it now. These side arguments only slow us up. [To the 8TH JUROR.] What about it? 6TH JUROR [to the 8TH JUROR]: You’re the only one.

Answer 57

8TH JUROR: I have a proposition to make to all of you. I want to call for a vote. I’d like you eleven men to vote by secret written ballot. I’ll abstain. If there are still eleven votes for guilty, I won’t stand alone. We’ll take a guilty verdict in to the judge right now. But if anyone votes not guilty, we’ll stay and talk this thing out. [He pauses.] Well, that’s all. If you want to try it, I’m ready.

Question 58

The FOREMAN stacks all the slips on the table in front of him. He picks up the first slip of paper, opens it and reads. “Guilty.”... "Not Guilty".

Answer 58

There is a babble of voices. The 8TH JUROR relaxes, moves to his chair and sits.

Question 59

9TH JUROR: For the time being the vote is ten to two. (The 7TH JUROR enters the washroom, slams the door after her.) I’m talking here. You have no right to . . .

Answer 59

8TH JUROR [to the 9TH JUROR]: She can’t hear you. She never will.