Defending Jacob

By day three of the trial, Jacob is obsessively picking a scab. Logiudice questions a woman who claims to have seen a boy vaguely matching Jacob’s description in Cold Spring Park. Another witness claims to have heard a boy saying, “‘Stop, you’re hurting me’” (301). There is a palpable shift in the courtroom. Andy observes a shaken Laurie, who increasingly asks him what they should do if Jacob is guilty. In the grand jury transcript, Andy still maintains that Jacob’s guilt never even crossed his mind.

On the stand, Duffy reveals that “‘Certain aspects of the investigation had to be carried out without Mr. Barber knowing’” (313). He believes that Jacob wrote the story on the Cutting Room because it describes the angles of the knife wounds correctly. He reveals that the knife they did find in the park was the wrong one; he thinks it was planted there to mislead investigators. However, he continues to maintain that Andy did not suspect anything. Finally, Logiudice asks when Duffy learned that Andy’s father was a murderer, causing Jonathan to call for a mistrial. Exiting the court, Andy spies a stranger watching him, and connects it with the car on their street.