In his attempt to be thorough, Jake hunted down the identities of every person on the scene to the collision in which a mother, father, and two children were killed. Jake had taken out a loan to pay for the cost of litigation in the lawsuit. He and his wife, Carla, were falling behind on bills. Meanwhile, Jake was counting on a lawsuit against a railroad company for a big payout. Portia feared the town had turned against Jake. Both Jake and his assistant, Portia, noticed how steeply calls to the office had dropped. They feared that Jake would get Drew off on an insanity plea. When word spread that Drew had been released from jail, community members became angry. Jake sensed that Drew had been traumatized and fought the prosecuting attorney as well as the sheriff to get Drew released from jail for a mental evaluation. Drew also seemed unable to comprehend that his mother was alive. He seemed confused about what had happened and asked Jake several times if Stuart was dead. He first met Drew, a sixteen-year-old boy who was underdeveloped for his age, in the jail. More than anything, Jake worried that the case would bankrupt him.Įven though Jake did not want the case, he was asked by Circuit Judge Omar Noose to represent Drew until Noose could find another lawyer. He worried taking the case would ruin his friendship with police in the area. He worried that he and his family would be in danger. He worried what people would think of him if he defended a boy accused of murdering a police officer. Jake knew the case would not earn him any money. The teen boy had shot his mother’s police officer boyfriend, Stuart Kofer, after Kofer came home drunk and beat Josie, Drew’s mother, unconscious.

In the courtroom drama A Time for Mercy by John Grisham, lawyer Jake Brigance did not want to represent Drew Gamble. The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Grisham, John.

John grisham a time for mercy