1 00:00:12,667 --> 00:00:14,376 Well, hello. 2 00:00:14,380 --> 00:00:16,347 I feel really at home here, you know, 3 00:00:16,349 --> 00:00:19,412 because I've been to Guantanamo many times, 34 times. 4 00:00:19,413 --> 00:00:23,038 So being in a very small enclosed area, 5 00:00:23,039 --> 00:00:27,085 and the bright interrogation lights, not allowed food or water, 6 00:00:27,086 --> 00:00:28,816 I mean, it's just like home to me. 7 00:00:28,817 --> 00:00:30,217 (Laughter) 8 00:00:31,407 --> 00:00:34,694 I wanted to start out by being rude to the TEDx people, obviously, 9 00:00:34,695 --> 00:00:37,013 but what I really wanted to begin with 10 00:00:37,014 --> 00:00:40,473 was a little tribute to my aunt who just died very recently. 11 00:00:40,474 --> 00:00:43,775 My auntie Jean, she was 94, she had a very good innings. 12 00:00:44,955 --> 00:00:49,543 But one of the things about auntie Jean she chose the wrong time to be born. 13 00:00:49,544 --> 00:00:51,770 She was born in 1920. 14 00:00:51,771 --> 00:00:55,296 She, as the daughter in the family, got very few opportunities. 15 00:00:55,297 --> 00:00:57,595 She was a very brilliant, very sharp woman, 16 00:00:57,596 --> 00:01:01,385 but it was my dad, her younger brother, who got all the benefits; 17 00:01:01,386 --> 00:01:05,269 went to go to Cambridge and got a first there; all that good stuff. 18 00:01:05,269 --> 00:01:08,667 My aunt didn't get that, and I used to tease her that if she had, 19 00:01:08,668 --> 00:01:10,350 - she was quite a Tory - 20 00:01:10,351 --> 00:01:14,016 she probably would have run the country and wielded her handbag 21 00:01:14,017 --> 00:01:17,617 more effectively than Margaret Thatcher, which I found quite terrifying. 22 00:01:18,927 --> 00:01:21,816 My father, as I say, was the one who had the opportunities, 23 00:01:21,817 --> 00:01:27,692 but he, unfortunately, was blighted all his life with bipolar disorder. 24 00:01:27,693 --> 00:01:32,629 So even though he was very intelligent himself, and had all those opportunities, 25 00:01:32,630 --> 00:01:35,288 it was very difficult for him to do things. 26 00:01:35,289 --> 00:01:40,462 I wanted to tell you a couple stories that were occurring to me recently. 27 00:01:40,463 --> 00:01:43,613 One was when I was seven years old and this is just to illustrate, 28 00:01:43,614 --> 00:01:46,510 I love my dad dearly, it's not to denigrate him in anyway. 29 00:01:46,511 --> 00:01:49,804 When I was seven, he called me into the library, and he said, 30 00:01:49,805 --> 00:01:55,572 "Clive, your generation has just kept juvenile for too long, immature. 31 00:01:55,573 --> 00:01:59,274 Frankly, you're seven now, and it's time for you to go and live by yourself." 32 00:01:59,275 --> 00:02:01,089 (Laughter) 33 00:02:01,090 --> 00:02:03,927 "Here is £200, now buzz off." 34 00:02:03,928 --> 00:02:05,572 Now, you know, it was confusing. 35 00:02:05,573 --> 00:02:07,993 My pocket money at the time was a shilling a week, 36 00:02:07,994 --> 00:02:09,935 and I don't think I calculated it then, 37 00:02:09,936 --> 00:02:12,266 but I calculated it last night coming over here; 38 00:02:12,267 --> 00:02:15,366 80 years of my pocket money, he had just given me! 39 00:02:15,367 --> 00:02:18,538 Nonetheless, I didn't feel I was quite ready to go out and about, 40 00:02:18,539 --> 00:02:21,866 and fortunately, as ever, my mother came in and solved the problem 41 00:02:21,867 --> 00:02:24,810 by taking the money away and sending me to bed. 42 00:02:24,811 --> 00:02:28,290 These sorts of things would happen rather regularly with my dad. 43 00:02:28,291 --> 00:02:31,656 There was another story I was remembering, a little later on in life, 44 00:02:31,657 --> 00:02:35,078 when I was trying a death penalty case in southern Mississippi. 45 00:02:35,079 --> 00:02:39,976 My dad had come over to help, and as ever with dad, 46 00:02:39,977 --> 00:02:42,654 he decided I was total rubbish, 47 00:02:42,655 --> 00:02:45,776 and so he managed to hitchhike his way up to Jackson, Mississippi, 48 00:02:45,777 --> 00:02:48,027 he managed to get in to the Governor's mansion, 49 00:02:48,028 --> 00:02:49,943 where he told the Governor that he felt 50 00:02:49,944 --> 00:02:51,976 that not only should my client be executed 51 00:02:51,977 --> 00:02:55,560 but they'd be doing the world a favor if they'd execute me at the same time. 52 00:02:55,561 --> 00:02:57,447 (Laughter) 53 00:02:57,448 --> 00:03:00,134 There were many people in the authorities of Mississippi 54 00:03:00,135 --> 00:03:02,522 who agreed with him on that, 55 00:03:02,523 --> 00:03:05,901 but it was slightly confusing for me at the time. 56 00:03:05,902 --> 00:03:10,604 What really helped me, ultimately, actually end up doing death penalty work 57 00:03:10,605 --> 00:03:14,936 was a comprehension of my dad, and that some of these things he would do, 58 00:03:14,937 --> 00:03:18,820 were not necessarily the product of a rational mind. 59 00:03:18,821 --> 00:03:22,207 But sadly, a lot of people would see some of the things my dad would do, 60 00:03:22,208 --> 00:03:26,208 and hate him for it, and would feel he was a fraud or something worse. 61 00:03:26,209 --> 00:03:30,147 Indeed, he did do some extraordinarily bizarre things over the years. 62 00:03:31,467 --> 00:03:33,130 One of those actually was my aunt. 63 00:03:33,131 --> 00:03:35,828 My aunt Jean was an immensely compassionate woman, 64 00:03:35,829 --> 00:03:40,828 but she simply couldn't understand, or accept, perhaps, is a better word, 65 00:03:40,829 --> 00:03:45,088 that her blue-eyed younger brother was mentally ill. 66 00:03:45,089 --> 00:03:48,108 So she would always feel that what he was doing was bad, 67 00:03:48,109 --> 00:03:51,671 rather than the product of his mental illness. 68 00:03:51,672 --> 00:03:54,826 Which is very sad, because I feel that perhaps if my dad 69 00:03:54,827 --> 00:03:57,323 had been recognised earlier, he would have got help. 70 00:03:57,324 --> 00:04:00,848 He was only ever sectioned once, and he only ever got treatment once. 71 00:04:00,849 --> 00:04:02,648 That sort of ruined his life. 72 00:04:02,649 --> 00:04:06,057 Which brings me, naturally, to Ricky Langley. 73 00:04:06,058 --> 00:04:11,930 Ricky Langley is a guy I represented in Louisiana. 74 00:04:11,931 --> 00:04:15,988 And Ricky Langley is a pedophile, who's molested a lot of children, 75 00:04:15,989 --> 00:04:21,084 and who ended up killing a six year old child called Jeremy Guillory. 76 00:04:21,101 --> 00:04:26,589 I ended up taking on his case way back in 1993, for the first time. 77 00:04:26,590 --> 00:04:31,916 His story goes back, far back, to before he was born even. 78 00:04:31,917 --> 00:04:33,608 I want to tell you about his story 79 00:04:33,609 --> 00:04:36,398 because it leads to a woman called Lorelei Guillory, 80 00:04:36,399 --> 00:04:39,199 who was the mother of the child who got killed, 81 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,600 who is one of my great heroes in life. 82 00:04:41,603 --> 00:04:47,327 Before Ricky was born, his mum and dad were driving along on this road, 83 00:04:47,328 --> 00:04:48,927 with their two kids in the back. 84 00:04:48,928 --> 00:04:50,700 Alcide was driving, and he was drunk 85 00:04:50,701 --> 00:04:53,139 and he drove off the road, and hit a telegraph pole. 86 00:04:53,140 --> 00:04:54,565 One of the kids in the back 87 00:04:54,566 --> 00:04:59,731 was this tousle-haired little child called Oscar-Lee; blonde hair, six years old. 88 00:04:59,732 --> 00:05:02,839 Lovely little kid, who was the apple of his parent's eyes. 89 00:05:02,840 --> 00:05:04,719 He was killed instantly, 90 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,104 and his sister, a little younger than him was decapitated and killed. 91 00:05:08,105 --> 00:05:10,211 Dreadful, dreadful stuff. 92 00:05:10,212 --> 00:05:11,317 Betty, the mother, 93 00:05:11,318 --> 00:05:15,166 was thrown through the front windscreen, and very badly injured herself. 94 00:05:15,167 --> 00:05:18,949 She ended up in Charity Hospital for most of the next two years. 95 00:05:18,950 --> 00:05:23,005 She was in a body cast from her neck to her ankles. 96 00:05:23,006 --> 00:05:26,751 At the trial, I had an Australian volunteer of ours model this, 97 00:05:26,752 --> 00:05:29,668 which should warn you never to come and work as a volunteer 98 00:05:29,669 --> 00:05:31,948 for a reprieve, I dare say. 99 00:05:31,949 --> 00:05:36,067 But when she was in this body cast, she became pregnant. 100 00:05:36,068 --> 00:05:38,910 This, of course, had something to do with Alcide, 101 00:05:38,911 --> 00:05:44,130 her husband's rather regressive views about the roles of husbands and wives. 102 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,869 No one believed she was pregnant, because how could she be? 103 00:05:47,870 --> 00:05:50,728 Although that was another thing we demonstrated at the trial, 104 00:05:50,729 --> 00:05:53,872 to the amusement of the judge at least, who was a bit of a pervert. 105 00:05:53,872 --> 00:05:55,779 (Laughter) 106 00:05:55,780 --> 00:05:57,487 Lovely guy, actually. 107 00:05:57,488 --> 00:06:01,498 So she was pregnant, but for five months, no one believed her. 108 00:06:01,499 --> 00:06:05,722 And during those five months, Ricky who was that fetus, 109 00:06:05,723 --> 00:06:09,112 was subjected to his own private Hiroshima of x-rays 110 00:06:09,113 --> 00:06:11,224 and all of these drugs that she was taking 111 00:06:11,225 --> 00:06:13,764 that should never be given to a pregnant woman, 112 00:06:13,765 --> 00:06:17,708 and one of the drugs, bizarrely, has been linked with pedophilia. 113 00:06:17,709 --> 00:06:20,198 If you expose a fetus to that drug, 114 00:06:20,199 --> 00:06:24,419 then that individual is much more likely to become a pedophile later, 115 00:06:24,420 --> 00:06:27,067 and it's so bizarre, we didn't present that to the jury 116 00:06:27,068 --> 00:06:30,414 because I think they would have thought we made it up, but it's true. 117 00:06:30,415 --> 00:06:35,500 Anyway, five months in, the doctors finally accepted she was pregnant, 118 00:06:35,501 --> 00:06:39,167 they cut her body cast off, there was a big old whoosh. 119 00:06:39,168 --> 00:06:41,557 They said to her, "You've got to have an abortion. 120 00:06:41,558 --> 00:06:43,057 There's no two ways about it, 121 00:06:43,058 --> 00:06:45,112 after all we've done to you and that fetus." 122 00:06:45,113 --> 00:06:48,351 But Alcide, the husband, said, "No, , that's not going to happen. 123 00:06:48,352 --> 00:06:50,945 I'm Catholic, we don't do abortions." 124 00:06:50,946 --> 00:06:54,030 So Betsy carried Ricky to term. 125 00:06:54,031 --> 00:06:58,221 When he was born, it was obvious he wasn't the blonde, blue-eyed, 126 00:06:58,222 --> 00:07:00,233 little Oscar-Lee, the apple of their eye. 127 00:07:00,234 --> 00:07:04,224 He was strange looking, that's I suppose, the best one can say about it. 128 00:07:04,225 --> 00:07:07,825 I am sure they said that about me as a child and still do. 129 00:07:07,826 --> 00:07:12,379 But Ricky had obviously suffered immensely in there, 130 00:07:12,380 --> 00:07:16,718 and it was pretty obvious fairly soon that there was something going on. 131 00:07:16,719 --> 00:07:18,117 He wasn't Oscar-Lee, 132 00:07:18,118 --> 00:07:22,327 his dad would tease him horribly about him not being Oscar-Lee. 133 00:07:22,328 --> 00:07:24,696 He was molested himself. 134 00:07:24,697 --> 00:07:29,486 He then, at age eight, starts sleeping on gravestones in the local cemetery. 135 00:07:29,487 --> 00:07:33,524 At ten, he puts a notice on his school notice-board saying, 136 00:07:33,525 --> 00:07:36,284 "I am not Ricky Langley, I am Oscar-Lee," 137 00:07:36,285 --> 00:07:38,859 who you will recall, was the dead brother. 138 00:07:38,860 --> 00:07:41,721 Ricky was already developing this psychosis 139 00:07:41,722 --> 00:07:44,305 that he was his dead brother, Oscar-Lee, 140 00:07:44,306 --> 00:07:48,022 or Oscar-Lee was his alter-ego, who was his tormentor, 141 00:07:48,023 --> 00:07:50,808 who made him do things that he didn't want to do. 142 00:07:51,828 --> 00:07:55,401 Ricky started molesting other children, no question about it. 143 00:07:56,981 --> 00:07:59,650 He had no understanding at that time what was going on. 144 00:07:59,651 --> 00:08:02,924 He ultimately was banged up in the prison system of Georgia 145 00:08:02,925 --> 00:08:07,875 for molesting a child, actually the child of his cousin. 146 00:08:07,876 --> 00:08:10,126 This was the first time he ever got counseling, 147 00:08:10,145 --> 00:08:11,498 and the counselors told him, 148 00:08:11,499 --> 00:08:15,777 "You're a pedophile, you're mentally ill, we can't treat it, it's untreatable." 149 00:08:15,778 --> 00:08:17,547 You are going to carry on offending. 150 00:08:17,548 --> 00:08:21,326 And indeed, under that theory, which is a slightly bizarre one, 151 00:08:21,327 --> 00:08:23,940 about a year after we set you free from prison, 152 00:08:23,941 --> 00:08:27,037 you will inevitably molest another child." 153 00:08:27,038 --> 00:08:30,203 Now Ricky, like my father, Ricky was a very intelligent guy. 154 00:08:30,204 --> 00:08:33,835 There is often this stereotype that if you're really bright, 155 00:08:33,836 --> 00:08:37,721 you can't suffer from mental disorders, which are obviously silly. 156 00:08:37,722 --> 00:08:40,788 Ricky was told this, said, "Look, you've convinced me." 157 00:08:40,789 --> 00:08:44,356 He wrote a letter to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles 158 00:08:44,357 --> 00:08:47,086 saying, "Look, don't let me go then, for goodness sake. 159 00:08:47,087 --> 00:08:49,778 Put me in a mental hospital where I belong." 160 00:08:49,779 --> 00:08:52,939 But bureaucracy being what bureaucracy often is, 161 00:08:52,940 --> 00:08:55,028 they ignored him, they let him go. 162 00:08:55,029 --> 00:08:59,934 Sure enough, about a year later, he ends up killing a small child, 163 00:08:59,935 --> 00:09:03,857 Jeremy Guillory, six years old, who was the child of Lorelei Guillory, 164 00:09:03,858 --> 00:09:05,957 the woman I mentioned before. 165 00:09:05,958 --> 00:09:11,773 You know, when I first talked to him, and he told me about it, he said, 166 00:09:11,774 --> 00:09:16,180 "I thought it was Oscar-Lee, my tormentor, I was trying to get rid of him!" 167 00:09:16,181 --> 00:09:19,533 Obviously, one of the great challenges of dealing with a case like this 168 00:09:19,534 --> 00:09:22,921 is you're trying to tell to arguably rational people, 169 00:09:24,631 --> 00:09:27,891 something that is irrational; it's incredibly hard to understand. 170 00:09:27,892 --> 00:09:30,709 But one of the little insights we had into Ricky 171 00:09:30,710 --> 00:09:32,454 was there was a picture of Oscar-Lee 172 00:09:32,455 --> 00:09:34,909 and a picture of Jeremy Guillory, 173 00:09:34,910 --> 00:09:37,384 and Oscar-Lee's own aunt couldn't tell them apart. 174 00:09:37,385 --> 00:09:41,465 Perhaps that was a little insight into what Ricky was feeling or seeing. 175 00:09:41,466 --> 00:09:43,897 But no question he killed this poor child. 176 00:09:43,898 --> 00:09:46,403 He was sentenced to death, first time round. 177 00:09:46,404 --> 00:09:48,320 The jurors accepted he was mentally ill. 178 00:09:48,321 --> 00:09:51,065 They said, "Yeah, but he's dangerous, we better kill him." 179 00:09:51,066 --> 00:09:52,275 We got him a new trial, 180 00:09:52,276 --> 00:09:55,158 and before the new trial, I got to know Ricky a lot better, 181 00:09:55,159 --> 00:09:59,061 and I got to know Lorelei, the mother of the small child who had been killed. 182 00:09:59,062 --> 00:10:02,022 Lorelei was a fascinating, fascinating character. 183 00:10:02,023 --> 00:10:05,186 She was a recovering alcoholic, very little education, 184 00:10:05,187 --> 00:10:08,280 but full of the most immense compassion. 185 00:10:08,281 --> 00:10:11,446 What she wanted most of all, as the mother of a victim. 186 00:10:11,447 --> 00:10:15,578 was to understand "Why?"; to understand why this had happened. 187 00:10:15,584 --> 00:10:17,418 I was talking to her and I was saying, 188 00:10:17,459 --> 00:10:21,293 "Look, if you really want to understand, you are very welcome to talk to Ricky. 189 00:10:21,334 --> 00:10:24,543 I know that would be difficult, but Ricky would love to talk to you; 190 00:10:24,584 --> 00:10:27,460 to apologise because he knows he took the life of your child, 191 00:10:27,501 --> 00:10:31,835 but to explain a little bit about how mentally ill he is. 192 00:10:31,848 --> 00:10:35,201 I think if you do that, it won't totally explain everything, 193 00:10:35,202 --> 00:10:39,368 because it was an irrational act, but it will help you." 194 00:10:39,369 --> 00:10:42,380 And it was immense tribute, I think, to Lorelei, that she said, 195 00:10:42,381 --> 00:10:43,804 "Yeah, I'm going to do that." 196 00:10:43,805 --> 00:10:46,866 So she goes down to the jail, all by herself, to see Ricky. 197 00:10:46,867 --> 00:10:48,358 I'd said, "Look, talk to Ricky, 198 00:10:48,359 --> 00:10:49,868 if you don't like what he says, 199 00:10:49,869 --> 00:10:52,956 you can testify against him, I don't mind, this is just for you." 200 00:10:52,963 --> 00:10:56,540 So she goes in there, she had always called him "Langley". 201 00:10:56,541 --> 00:11:00,458 Obviously, she had it in for him at the beginning. 202 00:11:00,459 --> 00:11:05,251 She sat down, Ricky explained all of his life history and he apologized to her. 203 00:11:05,271 --> 00:11:06,867 At the very end of three hours 204 00:11:06,868 --> 00:11:10,278 talking to the person who had murdered her six-year old, 205 00:11:10,279 --> 00:11:12,841 she says to him, first time calling him "Ricky", 206 00:11:12,842 --> 00:11:15,787 she says, "Ricky, I'm going to fight for you!" 207 00:11:15,788 --> 00:11:18,591 And she leaves that jail, she goes down to the DA's office, 208 00:11:18,592 --> 00:11:21,964 I'm not going to mention who it was, I really didn't like the guy, 209 00:11:21,965 --> 00:11:26,433 and goes into his office, and explains all of this. 210 00:11:26,434 --> 00:11:28,646 Says, "I think Ricky Langley was mentally ill, 211 00:11:28,647 --> 00:11:32,058 and I don't want this death penalty nonsense. 212 00:11:32,059 --> 00:11:35,107 It's just going to put me through the pain again, dreadful stuff, 213 00:11:35,107 --> 00:11:36,657 not going to solve anything." 214 00:11:36,658 --> 00:11:38,906 And the DA says to her, she says, 215 00:11:38,907 --> 00:11:44,471 "Miss Guillory, you're a very strange criminal defendant, I mean, victim." 216 00:11:44,472 --> 00:11:48,399 And then, he proceeded to seek the death penalty again, anyhow. 217 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:52,058 Indeed, the authorities tried to take away her other child, 218 00:11:52,059 --> 00:11:55,266 because she was an unfit mother, because she took a strange approach 219 00:11:55,267 --> 00:11:58,103 to the person who had killed her first child. 220 00:11:58,104 --> 00:12:00,825 Anyway, we get to the trial, and one of the lovely things 221 00:12:00,826 --> 00:12:03,021 - I love about doing capital trials in America 222 00:12:03,022 --> 00:12:05,370 is you get to ask people all sorts of questions - 223 00:12:05,371 --> 00:12:06,768 I would love to do it to you, 224 00:12:06,769 --> 00:12:10,077 "You're under oath, you have to answer whatever I ask you." 225 00:12:10,078 --> 00:12:11,078 It's great fun. 226 00:12:11,079 --> 00:12:12,838 (Laughter) 227 00:12:12,839 --> 00:12:16,960 Great fun for me, not for you, it really is. 228 00:12:16,961 --> 00:12:20,970 So I was picking this jury, and they were lovely people. 229 00:12:20,971 --> 00:12:23,420 We got 12 people who've had close family relatives 230 00:12:23,421 --> 00:12:25,230 who had serious mental disorders, 231 00:12:25,231 --> 00:12:26,971 who really understood a lot of it. 232 00:12:26,972 --> 00:12:30,551 And they laughed at the pathetic weak jokes I would tell, 233 00:12:30,552 --> 00:12:34,845 so I was confident that the outcome was going to be okay at this trial, 234 00:12:34,846 --> 00:12:38,238 because they really didn't like the prosecutor. 235 00:12:38,239 --> 00:12:39,698 So I talked to Lorelei; 236 00:12:39,699 --> 00:12:42,650 and in a death penalty case in America, there are two trials. 237 00:12:42,651 --> 00:12:45,614 The first is whether you are guilty of capital murder or not, 238 00:12:45,615 --> 00:12:47,712 and only if you are guilty of capital murder 239 00:12:47,713 --> 00:12:50,057 do you get to the second, which is life or death; 240 00:12:50,058 --> 00:12:52,537 do you get the life sentence or the death penalty. 241 00:12:52,538 --> 00:12:55,133 I said to Lorelei, "Look, these people are nice people, 242 00:12:55,134 --> 00:12:57,792 they are not going to convict him or capital murder, 243 00:12:57,793 --> 00:13:02,325 You won't get the chance you wanted which was to testify at the penalty phase, 244 00:13:02,326 --> 00:13:06,026 to say that the death penalty would have a dreadful impact on you. 245 00:13:06,027 --> 00:13:08,137 You are just not going to get that chance. 246 00:13:08,138 --> 00:13:12,817 I just need to tell you that, because I'm afraid that's what is going to happen. 247 00:13:12,818 --> 00:13:15,447 I'm very happy, but I'm sorry for you." 248 00:13:15,448 --> 00:13:18,862 So she went away that night, very religious, and she prayed, 249 00:13:18,863 --> 00:13:21,149 and she came back the next morning, and she said, 250 00:13:21,149 --> 00:13:23,875 "The logic of my position, is..." 251 00:13:23,876 --> 00:13:26,878 She said it in a much more Southern Louisiana accent, 252 00:13:26,879 --> 00:13:31,526 "The logic of my position is that he's mentally ill, 253 00:13:31,527 --> 00:13:35,078 he shouldn't be in prison; he should be in a mental hospital. 254 00:13:35,079 --> 00:13:38,825 I want to testify that he should be found 'not guilty by reason of insanity' 255 00:13:38,826 --> 00:13:42,442 because he was insane at the time he killed my child." 256 00:13:42,443 --> 00:13:44,781 I said, "Alright." 257 00:13:44,782 --> 00:13:47,878 She said, "One thing I really need though, is a guarantee; 258 00:13:47,879 --> 00:13:50,538 that he'll never be released from the mental hospital 259 00:13:50,539 --> 00:13:52,264 to harm another child. 260 00:13:52,265 --> 00:13:53,841 I said, "That's easy." 261 00:13:53,842 --> 00:13:55,813 Ricky only wants that. 262 00:13:55,814 --> 00:13:57,223 He wanted to be a guinea pig 263 00:13:57,224 --> 00:14:00,931 because he knew what he was, in a way, what he'd been made, 264 00:14:02,425 --> 00:14:04,663 One of the things about this, not withstanding, 265 00:14:04,664 --> 00:14:07,142 what the "News of The World" used to always do, 266 00:14:07,143 --> 00:14:11,736 is that's no one who hates Ricky Langley more than Ricky Langley. 267 00:14:11,737 --> 00:14:15,479 He wanted to be a guinea-pig so he could be studied, 268 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,210 so that other people wouldn't suffer what he had suffered, 269 00:14:18,215 --> 00:14:21,424 and that other children wouldn't suffer what he had caused. 270 00:14:21,425 --> 00:14:23,707 He signed off on whatever he had to sign off on, 271 00:14:23,708 --> 00:14:27,668 and I said to Lorelei, "What do you want me to ask you as a witness?" 272 00:14:27,669 --> 00:14:29,659 And she says, "Just ask me one question." 273 00:14:29,660 --> 00:14:31,208 So I did. 274 00:14:31,209 --> 00:14:34,127 I'm sorry, this stuff always makes me a bit chokey, 275 00:14:34,139 --> 00:14:38,381 when I talk about this with Lorelei because it was a remarkable human moment. 276 00:14:38,382 --> 00:14:40,975 She's on the witness stand, and I ask her one question, 277 00:14:40,976 --> 00:14:44,927 "Miss Guillory, do you have an opinion as to whether that man over there 278 00:14:44,928 --> 00:14:49,210 who killed your six-year old child was mentally ill at the time he did it?" 279 00:14:49,211 --> 00:14:53,786 And she turns to the jurors, and she says, "Well yes, as a matter of fact, I do. 280 00:14:53,787 --> 00:14:59,346 I think that Ricky Langley has been crying out for help since the day he was born. 281 00:14:59,347 --> 00:15:03,846 For whatever reason, his family, society, the legal system; 282 00:15:03,847 --> 00:15:06,074 just won't listen to him. 283 00:15:06,075 --> 00:15:11,311 As I sit on this witness chair, I can hear the death cries of my child, Jeremy. 284 00:15:11,312 --> 00:15:13,844 But I can still hear that man crying out for help. 285 00:15:13,845 --> 00:15:17,820 I think he was mentally ill at the time he killed my child." 286 00:15:17,821 --> 00:15:21,120 Now, when you are doing a closing argument in a death penalty case, 287 00:15:21,121 --> 00:15:22,558 - and I've done many - 288 00:15:22,559 --> 00:15:25,522 it's tough; it's quite a responsibility. 289 00:15:25,523 --> 00:15:27,823 It's not nearly as much fun as the earlier bit, 290 00:15:27,833 --> 00:15:29,421 which is interrogating you lot. 291 00:15:29,422 --> 00:15:32,315 But this was easy, right? I just talked to the jurors, I say, 292 00:15:32,316 --> 00:15:35,568 "Listen to what the lady says, I can't put it any better than that." 293 00:15:35,569 --> 00:15:38,440 And sure enough, they did acquit him of first-degree murder, 294 00:15:38,441 --> 00:15:44,564 though we still are fighting both his' and Lorelai's battle for true justice. 295 00:15:44,565 --> 00:15:46,333 The reason I tell this is two-fold. 296 00:15:46,334 --> 00:15:48,988 One is, she's a victim. 297 00:15:48,989 --> 00:15:51,738 One of the horrifying things about our society today 298 00:15:51,739 --> 00:15:53,346 is the way the government, 299 00:15:53,347 --> 00:15:57,548 the great teacher for good or for ill, tries to teach victims to hate. 300 00:15:57,549 --> 00:16:02,548 Lorelei is one of my great heroes, because she tried to understand, 301 00:16:02,549 --> 00:16:05,434 and it's so obviously the right thing to do. 302 00:16:05,435 --> 00:16:08,416 But the other thing is about mental illness. 303 00:16:09,936 --> 00:16:12,696 Ricky understands that he's mentally ill, 304 00:16:12,697 --> 00:16:15,794 which is more than my poor dad ever really did. 305 00:16:15,795 --> 00:16:17,558 But the great thing, ultimately, 306 00:16:17,559 --> 00:16:20,945 is even though my aunt was compassionate, and brilliant, and whatever, 307 00:16:20,946 --> 00:16:23,691 she could never understand my father's true defense, 308 00:16:23,692 --> 00:16:25,545 which was that he was mentally ill. 309 00:16:25,546 --> 00:16:27,418 But Lorelei Guillory could. 310 00:16:27,429 --> 00:16:31,980 Lorelei Guillory could see not only that Ricky was mentally ill 311 00:16:31,981 --> 00:16:36,141 but that we needed to understand him, and not just hate him. 312 00:16:36,142 --> 00:16:39,681 That was the root, finally to understand people, 313 00:16:39,682 --> 00:16:43,837 and perhaps, to get us to a place where we might be able to prevent 314 00:16:43,838 --> 00:16:46,768 some of these things happening in the future. 315 00:16:46,769 --> 00:16:49,055 That's the reason I want to tell that story, 316 00:16:49,056 --> 00:16:53,065 because Lorelei Guillory is one of the great unsung heroes, 317 00:16:53,066 --> 00:16:54,815 or heroines in the world, 318 00:16:54,816 --> 00:16:57,328 and I wanted to take this time to tell you her story. 319 00:16:57,329 --> 00:16:58,713 So thank you very much. 320 00:16:58,714 --> 00:17:00,319 (Applause)