0:00:12.667,0:00:14.376
Well, hello.

0:00:14.380,0:00:16.347
I feel really at home here, you know,

0:00:16.349,0:00:19.412
because I've been to Guantanamo[br]many times, 34 times.

0:00:19.413,0:00:23.038
So being in a very small enclosed area,

0:00:23.039,0:00:27.085
and the bright interrogation lights,[br]not allowed food or water,

0:00:27.086,0:00:28.816
I mean, it's just like home to me.

0:00:28.817,0:00:30.217
(Laughter)

0:00:31.407,0:00:34.694
I wanted to start out by being rude[br]to the TEDx people, obviously,

0:00:34.695,0:00:37.013
but what I really wanted to begin with

0:00:37.014,0:00:40.473
was a little tribute to my aunt[br]who just died very recently.

0:00:40.474,0:00:43.775
My auntie Jean, she was 94,[br]she had a very good innings.

0:00:44.955,0:00:49.543
But one of the things about auntie Jean[br]she chose the wrong time to be born.

0:00:49.544,0:00:51.770
She was born in 1920.

0:00:51.771,0:00:55.296
She, as the daughter in the family,[br]got very few opportunities.

0:00:55.297,0:00:57.595
She was a very brilliant,[br]very sharp woman,

0:00:57.596,0:01:01.385
but it was my dad, her younger brother,[br]who got all the benefits;

0:01:01.386,0:01:05.269
went to go to Cambridge and got[br]a first there; all that good stuff.

0:01:05.269,0:01:08.667
My aunt didn't get that, and I used[br]to tease her that if she had,

0:01:08.668,0:01:10.350
- she was quite a Tory -

0:01:10.351,0:01:14.016
she probably would have run[br]the country and wielded her handbag

0:01:14.017,0:01:17.617
more effectively than Margaret Thatcher,[br]which I found quite terrifying.

0:01:18.927,0:01:21.816
My father, as I say, was the one[br]who had the opportunities,

0:01:21.817,0:01:27.692
but he, unfortunately, was blighted[br]all his life with bipolar disorder.

0:01:27.693,0:01:32.629
So even though he was very intelligent[br]himself, and had all those opportunities,

0:01:32.630,0:01:35.288
it was very difficult[br]for him to do things.

0:01:35.289,0:01:40.462
I wanted to tell you a couple stories[br]that were occurring to me recently.

0:01:40.463,0:01:43.613
One was when I was seven years old[br]and this is just to illustrate,

0:01:43.614,0:01:46.510
I love my dad dearly,[br]it's not to denigrate him in anyway.

0:01:46.511,0:01:49.804
When I was seven, he called me[br]into the library, and he said,

0:01:49.805,0:01:55.572
"Clive, your generation has just kept[br]juvenile for too long, immature.

0:01:55.573,0:01:59.274
Frankly, you're seven now, and it's time[br]for you to go and live by yourself."

0:01:59.275,0:02:01.089
(Laughter)

0:02:01.090,0:02:03.927
"Here is £200, now buzz off."

0:02:03.928,0:02:05.572
Now, you know, it was confusing.

0:02:05.573,0:02:07.993
My pocket money at the time[br]was a shilling a week,

0:02:07.994,0:02:09.935
and I don't think I calculated it then,

0:02:09.936,0:02:12.266
but I calculated it last night[br]coming over here;

0:02:12.267,0:02:15.366
80 years of my pocket[br]money, he had just given me!

0:02:15.367,0:02:18.538
Nonetheless, I didn't feel[br]I was quite ready to go out and about,

0:02:18.539,0:02:21.866
and fortunately, as ever,[br]my mother came in and solved the problem

0:02:21.867,0:02:24.810
by taking the money away[br]and sending me to bed.

0:02:24.811,0:02:28.290
These sorts of things would happen[br]rather regularly with my dad.

0:02:28.291,0:02:31.656
There was another story I was remembering,[br]a little later on in life,

0:02:31.657,0:02:35.078
when I was trying a death penalty case[br]in southern Mississippi.

0:02:35.079,0:02:39.976
My dad had come over to help,[br]and as ever with dad,

0:02:39.977,0:02:42.654
he decided I was total rubbish,

0:02:42.655,0:02:45.776
and so he managed to hitchhike his way[br]up to Jackson, Mississippi,

0:02:45.777,0:02:48.027
he managed to get in[br]to the Governor's mansion,

0:02:48.028,0:02:49.943
where he told the Governor that he felt

0:02:49.944,0:02:51.976
that not only should[br]my client be executed

0:02:51.977,0:02:55.560
but they'd be doing the world a favor[br]if they'd execute me at the same time.

0:02:55.561,0:02:57.447
(Laughter)

0:02:57.448,0:03:00.134
There were many people[br]in the authorities of Mississippi

0:03:00.135,0:03:02.522
who agreed with him on that,

0:03:02.523,0:03:05.901
but it was slightly confusing[br]for me at the time.

0:03:05.902,0:03:07.935
What really helped me, ultimately,

0:03:07.935,0:03:10.605
actually it ended up[br]doing death penalty work

0:03:10.605,0:03:14.936
was a comprehension of my dad,[br]and that some of these things he would do,

0:03:14.937,0:03:18.820
were not necessarily[br]the product of a rational mind.

0:03:18.821,0:03:22.207
But sadly, a lot of people would see[br]some of the things my dad would do,

0:03:22.208,0:03:26.208
and hate him for it, and would feel[br]he was a fraud or something worse.

0:03:26.209,0:03:30.147
Indeed, he did do some extraordinarily[br]bizarre things over the years.

0:03:31.467,0:03:33.130
One of those actually was my aunt.

0:03:33.131,0:03:35.828
My aunt Jean was an immensely[br]compassionate woman,

0:03:35.829,0:03:40.828
but she simply couldn't understand,[br]or accept, perhaps, is a better word,

0:03:40.829,0:03:45.088
that her blue-eyed younger brother[br]was mentally ill.

0:03:45.089,0:03:48.108
So she would always feel[br]that what he was doing was bad,

0:03:48.109,0:03:51.671
rather than the product[br]of his mental illness.

0:03:51.672,0:03:54.826
Which is very sad, because I feel[br]that perhaps if my dad

0:03:54.827,0:03:57.323
had been recognised earlier,[br]he would have got help.

0:03:57.324,0:04:00.848
He was only ever sectioned once,[br]and he only ever got treatment once.

0:04:00.849,0:04:02.648
That sort of ruined his life.

0:04:02.649,0:04:06.057
Which brings me,[br]naturally, to Ricky Langley.

0:04:06.058,0:04:11.930
Ricky Langley is a guy[br]I represented in Louisiana.

0:04:11.931,0:04:15.988
And Ricky Langley is a pedophile,[br]who's molested a lot of children,

0:04:15.989,0:04:21.084
and who ended up killing a six year old[br]child called Jeremy Guillory.

0:04:21.101,0:04:26.589
I ended up taking on his case[br]way back in 1993, for the first time.

0:04:26.590,0:04:31.916
His story goes back, far back,[br]to before he was born even.

0:04:31.917,0:04:33.608
I want to tell you about his story

0:04:33.609,0:04:36.398
because it leads to a woman[br]called Lorelei Guillory,

0:04:36.399,0:04:39.199
who was the mother[br]of the child who got killed,

0:04:39.200,0:04:41.600
who is one of my great heroes in life.

0:04:41.603,0:04:47.327
Before Ricky was born, his mum and dad[br]were driving along on this road,

0:04:47.328,0:04:48.927
with their two kids in the back.

0:04:48.928,0:04:50.700
Alcide was driving, and he was drunk

0:04:50.701,0:04:53.139
and he drove off the road,[br]and hit a telegraph pole.

0:04:53.140,0:04:54.565
One of the kids in the back

0:04:54.566,0:04:59.731
was this tousle-haired little child called[br]Oscar-Lee; blonde hair, six years old.

0:04:59.732,0:05:02.839
Lovely little kid, who was the apple[br]of his parent's eyes.

0:05:02.840,0:05:04.719
He was killed instantly,

0:05:04.720,0:05:08.104
and his sister, a little younger than him[br]was decapitated and killed.

0:05:08.105,0:05:10.211
Dreadful, dreadful stuff.

0:05:10.212,0:05:11.317
And Betsy, the mother,

0:05:11.318,0:05:15.166
was thrown through the front windscreen,[br]and very badly injured herself.

0:05:15.167,0:05:18.949
She ended up in Charity Hospital[br]for most of the next two years.

0:05:18.950,0:05:23.005
She was in a body cast[br]from her neck to her ankles.

0:05:23.006,0:05:26.751
At the trial, I had an Australian[br]volunteer of ours model this,

0:05:26.752,0:05:29.668
which should warn you never[br]to come and work as a volunteer

0:05:29.669,0:05:31.948
for a reprieve, I dare say.

0:05:31.949,0:05:36.067
But when she was in this body cast,[br]she became pregnant.

0:05:36.068,0:05:38.910
This, of course, had something[br]to do with Alcide,

0:05:38.911,0:05:44.130
her husband's rather regressive views[br]about the roles of husbands and wives.

0:05:45.000,0:05:47.869
No one believed she was pregnant,[br]because how could she be?

0:05:47.870,0:05:50.728
Although that was another thing[br]we demonstrated at the trial,

0:05:50.729,0:05:53.872
to the amusement of the judge at least,[br]who was a bit of a pervert.

0:05:53.872,0:05:55.779
(Laughter)

0:05:55.780,0:05:57.487
Lovely guy, actually.

0:05:57.488,0:06:01.498
So she was pregnant,[br]but for five months, no one believed her.

0:06:01.499,0:06:05.722
And during those five months,[br]Ricky who was that fetus,

0:06:05.723,0:06:09.112
was subjected to his own private[br]Hiroshima of x-rays

0:06:09.113,0:06:11.224
and all of these drugs that she was taking

0:06:11.225,0:06:13.764
that should never be given[br]to a pregnant woman,

0:06:13.765,0:06:17.708
and one of the drugs, bizarrely,[br]has been linked with pedophilia.

0:06:17.709,0:06:20.198
If you expose a fetus to that drug,

0:06:20.199,0:06:24.419
then that individual is much more likely[br]to become a pedophile later,

0:06:24.420,0:06:27.067
and it's so bizarre,[br]we didn't present that to the jury

0:06:27.068,0:06:30.414
because I think they would have thought[br]we made it up, but it's true.

0:06:30.415,0:06:35.500
Anyway, five months in, the doctors[br]finally accepted she was pregnant,

0:06:35.501,0:06:39.167
they cut her body cast off,[br]there was a big old whoosh.

0:06:39.168,0:06:41.557
They said to her,[br]"You've got to have an abortion.

0:06:41.558,0:06:43.057
There's no two ways about it,

0:06:43.058,0:06:45.112
after all we've done[br]to you and that fetus."

0:06:45.113,0:06:48.351
But Alcide, the husband, said,[br]"No, , that's not going to happen.

0:06:48.352,0:06:50.945
I'm Catholic, we don't do abortions."

0:06:50.946,0:06:54.030
So Betsy carried Ricky to term.

0:06:54.031,0:06:58.221
When he was born, it was obvious[br]he wasn't the blonde, blue-eyed,

0:06:58.222,0:07:00.233
little Oscar-Lee, the apple of their eye.

0:07:00.234,0:07:04.224
He was strange looking, that's I suppose,[br]the best one can say about it.

0:07:04.225,0:07:07.825
I am sure they said that[br]about me as a child and still do.

0:07:07.826,0:07:12.379
But Ricky had obviously[br]suffered immensely in there,

0:07:12.380,0:07:16.718
and it was pretty obvious fairly soon[br]that there was something going on.

0:07:16.719,0:07:18.117
He wasn't Oscar-Lee,

0:07:18.118,0:07:22.327
his dad would tease him horribly[br]about him not being Oscar-Lee.

0:07:22.328,0:07:24.696
He was molested himself.

0:07:24.697,0:07:29.486
He then, at age eight, starts sleeping[br]on gravestones in the local cemetery.

0:07:29.487,0:07:33.524
At ten, he puts a notice[br]on his school notice-board saying,

0:07:33.525,0:07:36.284
"I am not Ricky Langley, I am Oscar-Lee,"

0:07:36.285,0:07:38.859
who you will recall, was the dead brother.

0:07:38.860,0:07:41.721
Ricky was already[br]developing this psychosis

0:07:41.722,0:07:44.305
that he was his dead brother, Oscar-Lee,

0:07:44.306,0:07:48.022
or Oscar-Lee was his alter-ego,[br]who was his tormentor,

0:07:48.023,0:07:50.808
who made him do things[br]that he didn't want to do.

0:07:51.828,0:07:55.401
Ricky started molesting other children,[br]no question about it.

0:07:56.981,0:07:59.650
He had no understanding[br]at that time what was going on.

0:07:59.651,0:08:02.924
He ultimately was banged up[br]in the prison system of Georgia

0:08:02.925,0:08:07.875
for molesting a child,[br]actually the child of his cousin.

0:08:07.876,0:08:10.126
This was the first time[br]he ever got counseling,

0:08:10.145,0:08:11.498
and the counselors told him,

0:08:11.499,0:08:15.777
"You're a pedophile, you're mentally ill,[br]we can't treat it, it's untreatable.

0:08:15.778,0:08:17.547
You are going to carry on offending."

0:08:17.548,0:08:21.326
And indeed, under that theory,[br]which is a slightly bizarre one,

0:08:21.327,0:08:23.940
about a year after[br]we set you free from prison,

0:08:23.941,0:08:27.037
you will inevitably molest another child."

0:08:27.038,0:08:30.203
Now Ricky, like my father,[br]Ricky was a very intelligent guy.

0:08:30.204,0:08:33.835
There is often this stereotype[br]that if you're really bright,

0:08:33.836,0:08:37.721
you can't suffer from mental disorders,[br]which are obviously silly.

0:08:37.722,0:08:40.958
And Ricky, when he was told this, said,[br]"Look, you've convinced me."

0:08:40.958,0:08:44.356
And he wrote a letter to[br]the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles

0:08:44.357,0:08:47.086
saying, "Look, don't let me go then,[br]for goodness sake.

0:08:47.087,0:08:49.778
Put me in a mental hospital[br]where I belong."

0:08:49.779,0:08:52.939
But bureaucracy being[br]what bureaucracy often is,

0:08:52.940,0:08:55.028
they ignored him, they let him go.

0:08:55.029,0:08:59.934
Sure enough, about a year later,[br]he ends up killing a small child,

0:08:59.935,0:09:03.857
Jeremy Guillory, six years old,[br]who was the child of Lorelei Guillory,

0:09:03.858,0:09:05.957
the woman I mentioned before.

0:09:05.958,0:09:11.773
You know, when I first talked to him,[br]and he told me about it, he said,

0:09:11.774,0:09:16.180
"I thought it was Oscar-Lee, my tormentor,[br]I was trying to get rid of him!"

0:09:16.181,0:09:19.533
Obviously, one of the great challenges[br]of dealing with a case like this

0:09:19.534,0:09:22.921
is you're trying to tell[br]to arguably rational people,

0:09:24.631,0:09:27.891
something that is irrational;[br]it's incredibly hard to understand.

0:09:27.892,0:09:30.709
But one of the little insights[br]we had into Ricky

0:09:30.710,0:09:32.454
was there was a picture of Oscar-Lee

0:09:32.455,0:09:34.909
and a picture of Jeremy Guillory,

0:09:34.910,0:09:37.384
and Oscar-Lee's own aunt[br]couldn't tell them apart.

0:09:37.385,0:09:41.465
Perhaps that was a little insight[br]into what Ricky was feeling or seeing.

0:09:41.466,0:09:43.897
But no question he killed this poor child.

0:09:43.898,0:09:46.403
He was sentenced to death,[br]first time round.

0:09:46.404,0:09:48.320
The jurors accepted he was mentally ill.

0:09:48.321,0:09:51.065
They said, "Yeah, but he's dangerous,[br]we better kill him."

0:09:51.066,0:09:52.275
We got him a new trial,

0:09:52.276,0:09:55.158
and before the new trial,[br]I got to know Ricky a lot better,

0:09:55.159,0:09:59.061
and I got to know Lorelei, the mother[br]of the small child who had been killed.

0:09:59.062,0:10:02.022
Lorelei was a fascinating,[br]fascinating character.

0:10:02.023,0:10:05.186
She was a recovering alcoholic,[br]very little education,

0:10:05.187,0:10:08.280
but full of the most immense compassion.

0:10:08.281,0:10:11.446
What she wanted most of all,[br]as the mother of a victim.

0:10:11.447,0:10:15.578
was to understand "Why?";[br]to understand why this had happened.

0:10:15.584,0:10:17.418
I was talking to her and I was saying,

0:10:17.459,0:10:21.293
"Look, if you really want to understand,[br]you are very welcome to talk to Ricky.

0:10:21.334,0:10:24.543
I know that would be difficult,[br]but Ricky would love to talk to you;

0:10:24.584,0:10:27.460
to apologise because he knows[br]he took the life of your child,

0:10:27.501,0:10:31.835
but to explain a little bit[br]about how mentally ill he is.

0:10:31.848,0:10:35.201
I think if you do that,[br]it won't totally explain everything,

0:10:35.202,0:10:39.368
because it was an irrational act,[br]but it will help you."

0:10:39.369,0:10:42.380
And it was immense tribute,[br]I think, to Lorelei, that she said,

0:10:42.381,0:10:43.804
"Yeah, I'm going to do that."

0:10:43.805,0:10:46.866
So she goes down to the jail,[br]all by herself, to see Ricky.

0:10:46.867,0:10:48.358
I'd said, "Look, talk to Ricky,

0:10:48.359,0:10:49.868
if you don't like what he says,

0:10:49.869,0:10:52.956
you can testify against him,[br]I don't mind, this is just for you."

0:10:52.963,0:10:56.540
So she goes in there,[br]she had always called him "Langley".

0:10:56.541,0:11:00.458
Obviously, she had it in[br]for him at the beginning.

0:11:00.459,0:11:05.251
She sat down, Ricky explained all of his[br]life history and he apologized to her.

0:11:05.271,0:11:06.867
At the very end of three hours

0:11:06.868,0:11:10.278
talking to the person[br]who had murdered her six-year old,

0:11:10.279,0:11:12.841
she says to him,[br]first time calling him "Ricky",

0:11:12.842,0:11:15.787
she says, "Ricky,[br]I'm going to fight for you!"

0:11:15.788,0:11:18.591
And she leaves that jail,[br]she goes down to the DA's office,

0:11:18.592,0:11:21.964
I'm not going to mention who it was,[br]I really didn't like the guy,

0:11:21.965,0:11:26.433
and goes into his office,[br]and explains all of this.

0:11:26.434,0:11:28.646
Says, "I think Ricky Langley[br]was mentally ill,

0:11:28.647,0:11:32.058
and I don't want[br]this death penalty nonsense.

0:11:32.059,0:11:35.107
It's just going to put me through[br]the pain again, dreadful stuff,

0:11:35.107,0:11:36.657
not going to solve anything."

0:11:36.658,0:11:38.906
And the DA says to her, she says,

0:11:38.907,0:11:44.471
"Miss Guillory, you're a very strange[br]criminal defendant, I mean, victim."

0:11:44.472,0:11:48.399
And then, he proceeded to seek[br]the death penalty again, anyhow.

0:11:48.400,0:11:52.058
Indeed, the authorities tried to take[br]away her other child,

0:11:52.059,0:11:55.266
because she was an unfit mother,[br]because she took a strange approach

0:11:55.267,0:11:58.103
to the person[br]who had killed her first child.

0:11:58.104,0:12:00.825
Anyway, we get to the trial,[br]and one of the lovely things

0:12:00.826,0:12:03.021
- I love about doing[br]capital trials in America

0:12:03.022,0:12:05.370
is you get to ask people[br]all sorts of questions -

0:12:05.371,0:12:06.768
I would love to do it to you,

0:12:06.769,0:12:10.077
"You're under oath, you have to answer[br]whatever I ask you."

0:12:10.078,0:12:11.078
It's great fun.

0:12:11.079,0:12:12.838
(Laughter)

0:12:12.839,0:12:16.960
Great fun for me,[br]not for you, it really is.

0:12:16.961,0:12:20.970
So I was picking this jury,[br]and they were lovely people.

0:12:20.971,0:12:23.420
We got 12 people[br]who've had close family relatives

0:12:23.421,0:12:25.230
who had serious mental disorders,

0:12:25.231,0:12:26.971
who really understood a lot of it.

0:12:26.972,0:12:30.551
And they laughed[br]at the pathetic weak jokes I would tell,

0:12:30.552,0:12:34.845
so I was confident that the outcome[br]was going to be okay at this trial,

0:12:34.846,0:12:38.238
because they really[br]didn't like the prosecutor.

0:12:38.239,0:12:39.698
So I talked to Lorelei;

0:12:39.699,0:12:42.650
and in a death penalty case[br]in America, there are two trials.

0:12:42.651,0:12:45.614
The first is whether you are guilty[br]of capital murder or not,

0:12:45.615,0:12:47.712
and only if you are guilty[br]of capital murder

0:12:47.713,0:12:50.057
do you get to the second,[br]which is life or death;

0:12:50.058,0:12:52.537
do you get the life sentence[br]or the death penalty.

0:12:52.538,0:12:55.133
I said to Lorelei, "Look,[br]these people are nice people,

0:12:55.134,0:12:57.792
they are not going to convict him[br]or capital murder,

0:12:57.793,0:13:02.325
You won't get the chance you wanted[br]which was to testify at the penalty phase,

0:13:02.326,0:13:06.026
to say that the death penalty[br]would have a dreadful impact on you.

0:13:06.027,0:13:08.137
You are just not going to get that chance.

0:13:08.138,0:13:12.817
I just need to tell you that, because[br]I'm afraid that's what is going to happen.

0:13:12.818,0:13:15.447
I'm very happy, but I'm sorry for you."

0:13:15.448,0:13:18.862
So she went away that night,[br]very religious, and she prayed,

0:13:18.863,0:13:21.149
and she came back[br]the next morning, and she said,

0:13:21.149,0:13:23.875
"The logic of my position, is..."

0:13:23.876,0:13:26.878
She said it in a much more[br]Southern Louisiana accent,

0:13:26.879,0:13:31.526
"The logic of my position[br]is that he's mentally ill,

0:13:31.527,0:13:35.078
he shouldn't be in prison;[br]he should be in a mental hospital.

0:13:35.079,0:13:38.825
I want to testify that he should be found[br]'not guilty by reason of insanity'

0:13:38.826,0:13:42.442
because he was insane[br]at the time he killed my child."

0:13:42.443,0:13:44.781
I said, "Alright."

0:13:44.782,0:13:47.878
She said, "One thing I really need[br]though, is a guarantee;

0:13:47.879,0:13:50.538
that he'll never be released[br]from the mental hospital

0:13:50.539,0:13:52.264
to harm another child."

0:13:52.265,0:13:53.841
I said, "That's easy."

0:13:53.842,0:13:55.813
Ricky only wants that.

0:13:55.814,0:13:57.223
He wanted to be a guinea pig

0:13:57.224,0:14:00.931
because he knew what he was,[br]in a way, what he'd been made,

0:14:02.425,0:14:04.663
One of the things about this,[br]not withstanding,

0:14:04.664,0:14:07.142
what the "News of The World"[br]used to always do,

0:14:07.143,0:14:11.736
is there's no one who hates Ricky Langley[br]more than Ricky Langley.

0:14:11.737,0:14:15.479
And he wanted to be a guinea-pig[br]so he could be studied,

0:14:15.480,0:14:18.210
so that other people wouldn't suffer[br]what he had suffered,

0:14:18.215,0:14:21.424
and that other children[br]wouldn't suffer what he had caused.

0:14:21.425,0:14:23.917
So, he signed off on whatever[br]he had to sign off on,

0:14:23.917,0:14:27.668
and I said to Lorelei, "What do you want[br]me to ask you as a witness?"

0:14:27.669,0:14:29.659
And she says, "Just ask me one question."

0:14:29.660,0:14:31.208
So I did.

0:14:31.209,0:14:34.127
I'm sorry, this stuff always[br]makes me a bit chokey,

0:14:34.139,0:14:38.381
when I talk about this with Lorelei[br]because it was a remarkable human moment.

0:14:38.382,0:14:40.975
She's on the witness stand,[br]and I ask her one question,

0:14:40.976,0:14:44.927
"Miss Guillory, do you have an opinion[br]as to whether that man over there

0:14:44.928,0:14:49.210
who killed your six-year old child[br]was mentally ill at the time he did it?"

0:14:49.211,0:14:53.786
And she turns to the jurors, and she says,[br]"Well yes, as a matter of fact, I do.

0:14:53.787,0:14:59.346
I think that Ricky Langley has been crying[br]out for help since the day he was born.

0:14:59.347,0:15:03.846
For whatever reason, his family,[br]society, the legal system;

0:15:03.847,0:15:06.074
just won't listen to him.

0:15:06.075,0:15:11.311
As I sit on this witness chair, I can hear[br]the death cries of my child, Jeremy.

0:15:11.312,0:15:13.844
But I can still hear that man[br]crying out for help.

0:15:13.845,0:15:17.820
I think he was mentally ill[br]at the time he killed my child."

0:15:17.821,0:15:21.120
Now, when you are doing a closing[br]argument in a death penalty case,

0:15:21.121,0:15:22.558
- and I've done many -

0:15:22.559,0:15:25.522
it's tough; it's quite a responsibility.

0:15:25.523,0:15:27.823
It's not nearly as much fun[br]as the earlier bit,

0:15:27.833,0:15:29.421
which is interrogating you lot.

0:15:29.422,0:15:32.315
But this was easy, right?[br]I just talked to the jurors, I say,

0:15:32.316,0:15:35.568
"Listen to what the lady says,[br]I can't put it any better than that."

0:15:35.569,0:15:38.440
And sure enough, they did acquit him[br]of first-degree murder,

0:15:38.441,0:15:44.564
though we still are fighting both his'[br]and Lorelai's battle for true justice.

0:15:44.565,0:15:46.333
The reason I tell this is two-fold.

0:15:46.334,0:15:48.988
One is, she's a victim.

0:15:48.989,0:15:51.738
One of the horrifying things[br]about our society today

0:15:51.739,0:15:53.346
is the way the government,

0:15:53.347,0:15:57.548
the great teacher for good or for ill,[br]tries to teach victims to hate.

0:15:57.549,0:16:02.548
Lorelei is one of my great heroes,[br]because she tried to understand,

0:16:02.549,0:16:05.434
and it's so obviously[br]the right thing to do.

0:16:05.435,0:16:08.416
But the other thing[br]is about mental illness.

0:16:09.936,0:16:12.696
Ricky understands that he's mentally ill,

0:16:12.697,0:16:15.794
which is more than my poor dad[br]ever really did.

0:16:15.795,0:16:17.558
But the great thing, ultimately,

0:16:17.559,0:16:20.945
is even though my aunt was compassionate,[br]and brilliant, and whatever,

0:16:20.946,0:16:23.691
she could never understand[br]my father's true defense,

0:16:23.692,0:16:25.545
which was that he was mentally ill.

0:16:25.546,0:16:27.418
But Lorelei Guillory could.

0:16:27.429,0:16:31.980
Lorelei Guillory could see[br]not only that Ricky was mentally ill

0:16:31.981,0:16:36.141
but that we needed to understand[br]him, and not just hate him.

0:16:36.142,0:16:39.681
That was the root, finally[br]to understand people,

0:16:39.682,0:16:43.837
and perhaps, to get us to a place[br]where we might be able to prevent

0:16:43.838,0:16:46.768
some of these things[br]happening in the future.

0:16:46.769,0:16:49.055
That's the reason[br]I want to tell that story,

0:16:49.056,0:16:53.065
because Lorelei Guillory is one[br]of the great unsung heroes,

0:16:53.066,0:16:54.815
or heroines in the world,

0:16:54.816,0:16:57.328
and I wanted to take this time[br]to tell you her story.

0:16:57.329,0:16:58.713
So thank you very much.

0:16:58.714,0:17:00.319
(Applause)