Sycamore Row

On the second day of trial, both Jake and Lanier give convincing opening statements. Jake presents his case first, calling various witnesses who establish the facts surrounding Seth’s death by suicide and final written communications. Jake introduces the burial instructions found at Seth’s home, the letter Seth wrote to Jake, and the holographic will as evidence. Copies are given to every juror and displayed on a large screen as they’re referenced. During a recess, the foreman and another juror agree that Seth seems to have known exactly what he was doing.

Ancil’s recovery takes a turn and Lucien worries he won’t regain consciousness. Lucien’s having a drink at his hotel bar when Ancil shows up, admitting he’d faked his worsened condition as part of an escape plan.

Jake puts several members of Seth’s church on the stand, then Seth’s oncologist, followed by his office manager, Arlene. Their testimonies support Seth’s testamentary capacity in his final days by refuting a portrayal of Seth as being doped up on pain medications. However, Lanier leads Arlene to reveal a man named Monk always cleaned Seth’s office, meaning there was no need for Lettie to do it. This fuels suspicion that Lettie was using the opportunity to manipulate Seth. Lanier’s jury consultant deems the day a draw between the two lawyers, based on juror reactions.

Lucien sneaks Ancil to a law office in Juneau and helps him record a deposition for the trial. Then Lucien heads to the airport with the video. Ancil takes Lucien’s offer to use his hotel room, but finds a detective waiting for him there.

Lettie takes the stand Wednesday morning. She does well answering Jake’s questions, but is tripped up by Lanier, who gets her to lie about who she’s worked for and whether she’s ever been fired. Without revealing the significance of his questions, Lanier reserves the right to recall Lettie as a witness later in the trial. Jake says the proponents rest, and Lanier calls Fritz Pickering as his first witness. When Lanier tells the judge how Fritz’s testimony will prove Lettie lied under oath, the judge overrules Jake’s objection. Fritz’s testimony about firing Lettie after finding his mother’s handwritten will leaving her $50,000 is devastating to Jake’s case.

Jake and Harry Rex talk over lunch, agreeing that their hopes for winning the case are lost. After the lunch recess, Herschel lies on the stand about how close he and his father were. Jake’s cross examination makes it clear Herschel was lying. Ramona annoys the jury with her fake crying. Lanier then calls Julina Kidd, the woman who sued Seth for sexual harassment. He interprets the significance of her testimony for the jury, saying, “Seth had a propensity to seduce women who worked for him, regardless of color. This weakness led him to make decisions that were not financially sound” (407). Privately, Portia tells Jake he got a phone message threatening to burn his house down again and referring to Lettie’s family with racist slurs.

Lucien gets so drunk during his flights back from Alaska that he’s arrested in Memphis. When Jake learns about the video Lucien has of Ancil’s deposition, he sends Sheriff Ozzie to Memphis to get him released. Jake requests the judge declare a mistrial so they can start over properly once Ancil can be there. The request is denied. Lanier calls medical experts who testify that anyone taking Demerol at the dose Seth was prescribed would lack testamentary capacity. A probate expert explains how Seth’s newer will doesn’t take advantage of tax codes like the prior one, resulting in a loss of $3 million and suggesting Seth wasn’t making sound financial decisions. Witnesses privy to Seth’s business dealings in his last days testify to Seth seeming confused and making mistakes that cost his company a lot of money.

Sheriff Ozzie has trouble getting Lucien out of jail in Memphis and calls on Booker Sistrunk, who helps because Jake winning the case is the only way Lettie will be able to repay the $55,000 she owes him. Jake, Harry Rex, and Ozzie watch Ancil’s deposition, then show it to Judge Atlee. Lanier objects to the jury seeing it, but Atlee decides to admit it.

In his deposition, Ancil calls his father, Cleon Hubbard, mean and abusive. He describes his father’s feud with the Rinds family over their land, which Cleon felt rightfully belonged to the Hubbards. Part of that land, a small settlement where enslaved individuals had once been housed, was called Sycamore Row. As children, Ancil and Seth witnessed Cleon and other white men beat Sylvester Rinds there and lynch him from a sycamore tree.

Cleon then forced Sylvester’s wife Esther to deed the property to him for a few dollars. He promised her she could still live there, but two days later he and the sheriff told Esther and all the Rinds families living on the land to get out immediately. They families grabbed what they could carry and watched from the woods as their homes and church were burned down. The survivors camped in the woods, nearly starving, until they were run off. Ancil later learned some were shot, and some of the kids he played with drowned in the creek. Ancil eventually ran away from Clanton at age 16 and had no further contact with his family.

Jurors’ reactions to the video during a recess show how impactful it was. Willie Traynor, journalist and owner of the Hocutt House, tells Jake that Mississippi has had more lynchings than any other state, and no perpetrators have ever been charged. Jake and Lanier give closing statements. Jake’s is brief and effective. Lanier’s is long and grasping. The jury deliberates on five aspects of the case, as directed. They rule in favor of the handwritten will—and therefore in favor of Lettie—on all five.

Jake worries the verdict will be overturned on appeal because the admission of Ancil’s deposition video violated rules of discovery. Judge Atlee meets with Jake and Portia and suggests a settlement to avoid that outcome. His proposition assumes starting with $12 million after taxes, giving $500,000 each to Ancil and Seth’s church, and putting $5 million in a foundation to benefit relatives of the Rinds. He suggests foundation funds should be used only for education and managed by a trustee who answers to the judge. The remaining $6 million would be split equally between Lettie, Herschel, and Ramona. Lettie would keep the 80 acres of land. Portia is sure Lettie will agree to this plan, and loves Judge Atlee’s idea that Jake be the foundation trustee. They all agree to “hammer out a settlement” in about 10 days, and the judge ends the meeting by saying, “I want this to happen, understand?” (447).

Ancil gets out of jail on bond a month later and comes to Ford County. Lucien, Jake, and Sheriff Ozzie show him the tree where Seth hung himself. Ancil says it’s the only tree left of the row of sycamores where Sylvester was lynched. He thinks it might even be the same tree. Ancil meets Lettie, hugs her, and says he’s sorry. Lettie tells him “the past is the past” and introduces him to her family. Herschel’s there too, and Ancil meets his nephew for the first time.

A note from John Grisham, dated October 15, 2013, describes what influenced him to write a sequel to his debut novel, A Time to Kill, more than 20 years later. A Time to Kill’s publication in 1989 met with a lukewarm reception. The runaway success of his second novel, The Firm, led Grisham to focus on legal thrillers, which he distinguishes from his Ford County novels. A Time to Kill proved resilient, however. It grew in popularity and was still his bestselling book by 2013. Many fans asked Grisham about a sequel, but as he told them, he was “waiting on a story” (450). Grisham’s years of wondering how Jake fared in the wake of the Hailey trial ultimately inspired Sycamore Row, giving him a sense of “having dinner with old friends” as he wrote the second novel in the Jake Brigance series (451).