Chapter 49 Section 24

"I can't imagine two children like this, waking up one gray morning, put on a clean prison uniform, and go to the gallows. There, they are blindfolded, bound hand and foot, and pushed to the ground. The noose slowly lowered, passed around their necks, and tied a knot at the back. Then, as soon as the executioner pressed the mechanism, the pedal at the bottom of his foot was removed. I can't imagine that they fell in the air and were suddenly caught The noose around the neck stopped." "There have been all kinds of inhumane executions in history: burning, boiling, mutilation, dismemberment, etc. In England, criminals are hung at crossroads for all people to see.  … A thief Hanged, and more people have their wallets emptied in the crowd. A murderer is hanged, and someone is killed on the way to the hanging or on the way home."

"There have been so many executions in history, has the society we live in become safe and peaceful?" Claren Darrow shook his head sadly, "No." "For the past three months, I've been standing alone on the beach, trying my best to resist the overwhelming tide. I hope that the wind will die down and the sea will be calm. I believe they will eventually. By the way One sentence, please don't misunderstand the meaning of my metaphor. I know that in this lawsuit, the simplest and most popular way is to impose the death penalty on my client. Some mindless men and women would applaud such a verdict, and some narrow-minded or cruel people would applaud such a verdict. But there are countless parents, countless good-hearted, People who have hope for the future see not only these two unfortunate children, but their own children, the children of neighbors, and thousands of children in future generations. Perhaps one day, those children will also Will be where Nathan and Richard are today."

"Your Honor, you are now between the past and the future. You could hang these two children with a noose around their necks until they stop breathing. But if you Yes, you have turned your face to the past. . . . You can save them too, and at the same time save thousands of children like them now and in the future, save those who are kind-hearted and hopeful for the future I pray for the future, for a day when hatred and cruelty will no longer occupy people's hearts. At that time, people will learn how to discern and judge, how to understand and trust. At that time, people will understand that all life is Equally worth saving. Then people will understand that love and forgiveness are the highest states of the human soul."

Claren Daror spoke for three full days.When he finished speaking, many in the courtroom were in tears, including Judge John Gavelli. In later years, many law professors required their students to familiarize themselves with Dr. Darrow's concluding remarks. On Wednesday, September 10, 1924, Judge John Gavelli got up at 5:30 in the morning. After breakfast before 6:00, he was accompanied by two police officers for a walk around the apartment.In the ten days after the hearing ended, John Gavelli received many threatening letters and threatening phone calls. Some threatened that if the judge did not sentence the second criminal to death, he would blow up the court building.Others declared that if the judge dared to send the two men to the gallows, he would be strangled to death with cables.One day, the judge went out to attend a funeral. Someone called the apartment and informed Mrs. Gaveli that her husband had been stabbed. When the old lady rushed to the funeral, she found the judge safe and sound.Since then, the Gavelis have cut off the telephone line, and Director Morgan Collins has deployed 50 additional police officers to the criminal court building, bodyguards for judges, and armed guards at the apartment building where the couple lived.

At 8:15, Judge John Gaveli's car, escorted by two police cars one behind the other, drove towards the criminal court building.When he stepped into the courtroom, lawyers for the prosecution and the defense, as well as the Leopard and Roy family members, were already waiting there.Absent were only the victim's family, who Mr Fanks had informed the court in advance that they would prefer to remain at home. Before the judge announced his decision, he asked the defendants if they had anything to say, to which both Nathan and Richard shook their heads. In his speech, Judge Gavelli pointed out that there is no doubt that Nathan Leop and Richard Lowe were convicted of kidnapping and murder, the prosecution provided the court with a large number of witnesses and evidence, and the two defendants themselves The confessions all conclusively prove this.At the same time, after comprehensively analyzing the testimonies of both expert witnesses and relevant diagnostic reports, the judge did not believe that Nathan or Richard suffered from any form of mental illness or neurosis, although some of their behaviors were different from ordinary people.The judge said that there is no specific legal provision for this type of case, but he agreed with Dr. Kraren Darrow that the two defendants were too young to be sentenced to death (They are just too young to get the death penalty).

"This court chose imprisonment rather than the death penalty when sentencing, and its main consideration was based on the age of the two defendants. ... This does not mean that this court will not use the death penalty in any future cases, or generally Against the death penalty. But this court is convinced that he has the right to refuse to impose the death penalty on minors." Judge Gavelli looked at Nathan and Richard seriously: "In the history of Illinois, there are only two cases in which minors have been executed. This court does not want him to double that number." In those two cases, the defendant pleaded "not guilty".

Later, in an interview with reporters, Nathan humorously said: "If we knew this, we wouldn't need to hire those expert witnesses, and we wouldn't even need a lawyer. We just need to hand over the birth certificate to the judge." Judge John Gavelli concluded by declaring: For the crime of murder committed by the two defendants, this court sentenced them to life imprisonment according to law. For the kidnapping crime committed by the two defendants, this court sentenced them to 99 years in prison.