Student number: 20P021

Name: Lei Er Ya
Date: 24 –10 - 2021
Word: 738

Seeking-truth

Dr. Reitman was investigating the murder of a teenage Jehovah's Witness accused of
killing his teacher. During the investigation, assistant US attorney Hutchinson used
any possible evidence to make James Cole look guilty. His goal was to blame James
for the murder instead of finding out the truth. And James' parents kept James' picture
a secret because they knew the information would be used against him in court. In
today's society, we seem to be more reluctant than ever to seek the truth or to
ignorantly avoid it. Instead, Letterman continued to search for the truth, even though
he could have easily closed the case by claiming James' guilt. Instead of taking
shortcuts, Letterman worked to find the truth about Mrs. McCartney's murder.

Hutchinson said: “He had motive, means, and he resisted arrest. And he failed a
polygraph.” He believed that for now, James should be convicted and there was no
need to continue the investigation. In the face of Lightman's doubts about the case, he
still felt that Lightman was being redundant and fanciful. When Foster interviewed
James' classmates, there was no fair and truthful way to describe James. One
particular popular boy in a red hoodie said, "He said a bunch of crap about Mrs.
McCartney," and "The kid's a freak, I mean, I can't remember, but I'm sure I heard
him say some psycho things about Mrs. McCartney. " Foster replied, "You're not
saying that because you got suspended for punching him in the face, are you?" If
Foster had examined the student's description of James without considering his
motives, she would have been more likely to assume James' guilt, with the predictable
consequence that James faced the possibility of a ruined future.

Lightman and Foster return to James' parents' house for a conversation after doing
some digging. At first, the Cole's then kept James' picture a secret to protect their son,
knowing that the information would be used against him in court. Foster had to
convince them to share for James' sake. The Cole's told Foster and Letterman that
they had found pornographic photos of Mrs. McCartney that James had taken. Mrs.
Cole said, "We found them in his room before the police came and searched his
things." They felt the photos would make their son look guilty, so they hid them to
protect their son. Little did they know that the photos were the key to James' regaining
his freedom. Foster discovers a photograph of Mrs. McCartney having a dispute with
someone in a car in James's photo collection just hours before she was murdered, so
he and Lightman meet with the school principal to show him the photograph and ask
who drove the car. Once they turned the photos over to the Letterman Group, there
was a turning point in James' case, which led to justice being served.

When Lightman meets with Jaquelin for questioning at the second district station, he
follows up on James' case. Her license plate matches the car in the photo James took,
so she's brought in. After many minutes of denial, Jaquelin admits she knows who
killed Mrs. McCartney, but refuses to give Lightman the information he needs.
Lightman convinces Jaquelin to speak only after he pretends James has hanged
himself in his detention cell. She discloses that she and Principal Castle are dating and
that she is pregnant with his child in this situation. Mrs. McCartney had seen them
together and threatened to report him to the authorities. She admitted that when Mrs.
McCartney found out, the principal killed her so she wouldn't get caught. The
principal was then arrested and walked out of the school in handcuffs.

We should not give up the search for truth and lose the ability to pursue it. People
should not try to cover up the facts out of selfishness, prejudice, or ignorance, not
only will they not get the result they want, but they will make the situation worse. Just
like if James' parents didn't produce the photos because they were afraid, they would
be bad for James' situation, the result would have been predictable. And Lightman
seems trustworthy because he is always looking for the truth, even though it would be
easier to accept the lies and please those who hire him, but he still sticks to his ego
and seeks the truth.