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“I... knew that my father could be a violent man. Before he was married he fought in World War I in the Army, and my mother told me that he brought back... bad memories from that time. And... and that sometimes he could fly into rages. I was the youngest child. But my brother, Sam, he told me of some things that, well, frankly, shocked me. And while I knew that my father was abusive toward her, I didn’t know the extent of my mother’s injuries that Mr. Till just talked about.”
She began to weep into her hanky.
“Did you ever speak to your father about it?” asked DuBose.
“Many times. And then when they ran out of money and came to us, I told him we wouldn’t help him financially unless he sought professional counseling.”
“And did he?”
“Yes, he did. And I thought... I thought things were better.”
“But the divorce action apparently shows that things were not, in fact, better?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Did you know your mother was seeking a divorce?”
She hesitated. “No.”
“So you said your brother knew about the abuse?” asked DuBose.
“Yes. I didn’t know that Sam had tried to get a psychiatrist involved. But if I had known my mother was still being physically abused, I would have tried to put a stop to it. Even if it required having my father institutionalized.”
Battle rose and said, “As tragic and sad as all of this is, Your Honor, what possible relevance does it have to this case?”
Before Ambrose could make a ruling, DuBose looked directly at the jury and said, “With a troubled marriage like that, you could have people who knew the Randolphs, and who were taking sides in such a bitter relationship. Or who did not want a divorce to take place for some reason. Could that have led to violence against the Randolphs by one of these parties? And if you have others with reasonable motivation and opportunity to commit the crime, then that equates to the basis for reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury.” She now looked directly at Battle. “I can’t think of anything more relevant.”
Ambrose said grudgingly to her, “Go on ahead.”
DuBose turned back to Christine. “You testified that as far as you could see your parents had a good time with the defendants’ family when they went there for lunch and to swim in the pool?”
“That’s right. They all were happy. Even my father.”
“And yet it seems that your father had the pool water replaced after the Washingtons were in it.”
“Yes,” she replied, looking disconsolate.
“Can you explain that?”
“My father was a... complicated man, Miss DuBose. I could see him having the Washingtons over, and letting them swim, and eating lunch outside. But I could also see him wanting to replace the water before any of his family used the pool again. It was just the way he saw the world, I suppose.”
“Do you believe your father liked or respected Black people?”
“I think my father knew there would always be Black people in his life... to serve him, I mean. And to ones who worked for him, he could be generous and... he perhaps enjoyed showing off his wealth, his superior position over them. I don’t mean that he would do it necessarily in a mean or cruel way. I just mean that he saw it as something to be expected of him. As... as a benevolent white person.”
“You mean being kind to... those beneath him?”
“Yes, I guess that does describe it pretty accurately from his point of view,” she said sadly.
“Thank you for your candor. I know this can’t have been easy.”
Christine wearily shook her head. “None of this has been easy, for anyone.”
CHAPTER 77
LATER THAT DAY BATTLE RECEIVED a message in the courtroom and immediately asked for and received a recess.
Ambrose ordered the trial to recommence on Monday.
