Original subtitles

♪♪ [Trumpet]

Well, do you have any more evidence?

No, sir, I haven't, but you can take my word for it.

He's guilty.

Well, that's your opinion, Sheriff.

This court is interested in fact.

Judge Lander, you're new in this country,

but I know Amos Marsh.

We'll confine our remarks

to the charges of robbery and murder.

I've nothing further to add.

A few shreds of circumstantial evidence and your opinion

do not make a case strong enough

to give to a jury.

I have no choice but to dismiss all charges.

Judge, can I ask a question?

Certainly. Proceed.

Well, I thought the jury was supposed to decide

if he was guilty or not.

Now, isn't that what the jury's here for?

Well, not if, in my opinion,

the evidence is insufficient to hold the accused for trial.

Amos Marsh,

you're free to go.

You're wrong, judge,

and you're gonna destroy Pierce County.

Sheriff Melville, I must warn you.

You are in contempt of court.

Maybe I am,

but I've got a right to warn you what'll happen.

All right. Go ahead.

This is a new country, and a rough one,

and for every citizen that wants law and order,

there's some bushwhacker that wants to destroy it.

Every gunman and gambler and killer

that's run out of the east heads straight here,

and there's only myself and my daughter

to try and keep them down.

Well, can't you handle the situation?

I can handle it, all right, but it's gotta be my way.

Your way? Yes.

Time's hasn't changed much since I road with the vigilantes,

and the law's gotta act fast

if there's an example to be made.

In other words, you're not only sheriff,

but judge and jury as well.

I don't want it that way, but that's the way it is,

and the facts have got to be faced.

This country is not ready yet for any law school ideas.

Not yet, it isn't.

Starting right now, it is.

This county is part of the Washington Territory

and part of the United States of America.

Its citizens and criminals will live within the law of the land.

Laws made for and by the people,

with equal rights and protection for all.

Now, is that clear?

But, Judge--

from now on,

every person accused of a crime

will be brought into this courtroom,

and with proper evidence.

I will tolerate no other way.

A fool's way with nothing but trouble at the end of it.

You've be warned, Sheriff.

I find you in contempt of court.

[Murmuring]

Thirty days in jail.

Jury is dismissed.

That judge lander must still think he's in Washington.

Can I help, Sheriff?

No. Just go home and forget about it.

Forget it?

I'm not about to.

And what are we gonna do without a Sheriff?

You're forgetting by Deputy.

She'll make a good Sheriff even if her dad is in prison.

Will Melville's the greatest Sheriff in Pierce County,

and don't let that judge make you think otherwise.

Well, this town ain't gonna let him down.

I won't let it.

All right, everybody,

go on home. Forget about it.

Dad, we'll get rid of that judge.

You just wait and see.

Now, wait a minute.

You forgetting you got a prisoner to take care of?

You're not going through with it?

Yep. From now on, every order of the court

is gonna be carried out, starting with this one

Well, at least I can pick out my own cell.

That judge got you worried?

Oh, not the way you mean, but he did set me to thinking.

About what?

Well, about the way I've been running things.

You know, I did take a lot of short cuts.

Never went to the courts unless I really had to.

Always in the interest of law and order,

I told myself.

That's true.

Is it?

You know, some folks were against

the next vigilante committee man being elected Sheriff.

Afraid of mobs.

They figured that a duly elected official

should stand on his own two feet

and you did, and your record's perfect.

Too perfect.

I had to resolve every case by myself.

Sometimes I wonder if that record

didn't get in the way of my Administration of Justice.

No. No, you were always in the right.

Even when you arrested Marsh,

well, we all know he's guilty.

Are you sure, Kate?

You know that judge made me take a good look at myself.

I didn't like very much what I saw.

Dad, don't ever stop believing in yourself.

Even when I was a child, I used to look on you as a giant.

You're not a child any more, Kate.

Times change,

and everyone's entitled to the due process of law.

The Judge's kind of law?

The Judge's kind of law.

You forgotten how my Mother died?

No.

An innocent bystander in a bank,

shot down and killed by a man like Amos Marsh.

It was an accident,

stray bullet.

And the Judge's kind of law,

with all it's tricks,

set her killer free.

And there wasn't even enough evidence

to convict him of murder.

Honey, that was a long time ago.

Uh, a different place.

To me, it was like yesterday afternoon.

Honey,

give the Judge's way a chance.

Will ya?

I'm sorry, Dad,

but for the first time in my life,

I'm not going to go along with you.

Will you promise me to keep away from him?

How can I?

I'm the Sheriff now.

That's right, Miss Melville.

You're Sheriff now.

Since that's understood,

there's one other thing I want you to know.

Yes?

I've worked with my Father ever since he became Sheriff.

I've seen the trouble and the danger he's gone through

without flinching.

He's gained a lot of respect in this whole territory,

especially from the criminals,

because they know he means business.

He's made the law work out here.

Well, I don't deny that, Miss Melville.

I think your father's a good man.

I think he's done a big job

in bringing peace to this place.

I differ with him, only--

only, he doesn't do it your way.

Is that right?

That's right, Miss Melville.

I guess that sums up our differences.

You talk out of both sides of your mouth.

First, you say my father's a good man,

he's done a good job for the law,

and then you turn right around and say

he's done that good job the wrong way

and throw him in jail for it.

Look, Kate,

now, how can I explain this?

Our laws are the code by which we all live.

They spell out the things that are wrong,

things that people mustn't do, in the interest of society.

These things are called crimes.

Now, these same laws provide the penalties

that those that commit these crimes

must pay to society.

I know that.

These laws go a step further.

They also provide that all those accused of crimes

have equal rights to defend themselves

against the accusers.

Spells out the specific method

by which these accusations are made

and places the entire burden of proof

on the accuser.

Now, do you understand that?

I understand one thing--

if someone's guilty, he's guilty,

and that's all there is to it.

That's the way my father ran things,

and that's how I'm gonna run them.

Well, I think she's a little upset about something.

I agree with ya, Doctor.

She's a pretty headstrong girl, Judge,

and a lot of the townspeople feel the way she does.

I just came over to warn you.

Warn me?

I think you're heading for trouble.

Trouble?

I hope not.

Caleb?

Sheriff, he's a proud man.

We gotta help him.

But the judge sentenced him.

Well, we'll just UN-sentence him.

How you gonna do that?

There's only one way.

Run the judge out.

Same as we run out the Indians.

Same as we run out anyone against our best interests.

Use force.

Ah, what did force ever bring us?

Fear and violence, them's the two companions

that force brought us to live with.

You afraid, little man?

I ain't ashamed to admit it.

I'm almost afraid to leave town

to work my claim.

If it ain't Indians, it's bushwhackers.

Well, then fight back,

or, maybe, you've got a better way.

Well, an old prospector like me

ain't got no ideas,

but I think maybe an educated man like the judge might have.

Name one.

Well, what he said about the law, for instance.

About it being the same for everybody.

Indians and settlers alike.

I think, maybe some day,

a law like that might put an end to fighting.

Not to take what's rightly theirs,

that's for cowards, without guts.

Uh, as if there isn't enough trouble in this town,

I gotta break up an argument between you two?

What are you so edgy about?

[Chuckles] The old man, here, he seems to think

the judge did the right thing, putting your Pa in jail.

I didn't say that at all.

I just said that laws is laws.

And that's what judges are for,

to enforce the laws in the proper way.

This judge, his kind of law

freed a bushwhacker like Amos Marsh.

Now, does that make you feel safer

when you're working your claim?

Well, since you put it that way,

it don't.

And you, you're trying to fire up a mob to storm the jail.

Well, I was only trying to help your Pa, Kate.

That's not going to help him.

The Governor just send in another judge like that one.

Well, we got to do something.

The judge is already doing it for us.

The judge?

Mm-hmm.

See, every lawbreaker I bring into court,

he's gonna turn loose,

and pretty soon the situation's gonna be outta hand.

And the judge,

he'll be held accountable.

Mm-hmm, and the Governor will just have to send us

a man of our choosing.

Well, I just hope nobody gets hurt.

Somebody's gonna get hurt, all right.

How bad, I don't know.

Here's your coffee, Dad.

Oh, thanks, honey.

Miss Kate?

They send me to fetch you.

What's wrong?

Caleb, he's been bushwhacked and robbed.

He's dead.

Do they know who did it?

Amos Marsh.

Uh, at least that's what I heard someone say.

I'll be right there.

Yessum. I'll tell 'em you're coming.

Now, Kate, you bring Marsh right back here.

So the judge can turn him loose again?

Now, look, things have got to cool off

before you can get at the truth.

He'll get his trial,

before we hang him.

Wait a minute!

Dad,

haven't you ever wondered about the judge?

What is a man with his education

doing out in a place like this?

He told me he came out for his health.

Mm-hmm.

And I know his ailment.

Ambition.

Kate, you're wrong.

Oh, am I?

Back east, he's just another judge,

but out here, he can strike pay dirt.

How?

By making a name for himself in courtroom law.

That would open doors to him,

like the governorship.

Washington, maybe.

Now, do you still want to stop me?

Caleb brought this mare here for me to shoe.

I took her back to his mine.

That's where I found him.

Amos Marsh?

Now that you mention it, I--

well, it was an hour or so before I found Caleb,

I did see Marsh riding hard towards the foothills.

Well, at the time, I didn't think anything of it.

Well, now you think, and think hard.

Did you see anyone, anyone else, at all?

No. No one.

I want volunteers.

We'll go with you.

Raise your right hand like me.

As acting Sheriff of Pierce county,

I'm empowered to deputize you if there's a need.

Well, there's a need.

So you're deputized,

all of you.

As Acting Sheriff,

you're responsible for bringing Marsh back to stand trail.

We're not gonna bring him back

for you to turn loose again.

That's murder.

I'm holding you responsible.

All of you

will be held accountable.

Mount up.

No one can stop what's got to be done.

Hello, Doc.

Hello.

Well, I guess you heard the news.

About Caleb?

I just examined the body.

Too bad, he was a nice man.

Yeah. Did you find any clue as to who shot him?

Well, it didn't appear to me that anybody shot him.

Nobody shot him?

There wasn't a bullet hole in him.

It was his neck.

His neck? Yeah.

It was broken.

You mean he fell?

No, that wasn't any fall.

Those marks on him were made by a pair of hands.

Well, do you think a man like...

Amos Marsh might have done it?

Well, you can't say for sure.

It's not likely, though.

The killer would have to be a man of great strength.

Where're you going?

I've got to get to that posse

and stop them.

I'd as soon tangle

with a bunch of renegade Indians

than to try to stop that mob.

Doc, trouble with having principles is

you gotta live up to them.

Get him.

You still deny you bushwhacked Caleb?

Is everyone around here deaf or something?

I didn't kill nobody.

Did you search the prisoner?

Sure did.

Show the jury what you found.

Ain't no jury, and this ain't no courtroom.

Why were you running?

I wasn't.

I was... hunting.

Yeah, that's what I'm doing out here.

Yeah? What about this?

Caleb's watch. Got his name scratched inside.

You wanna change your story?

He give me that watch.

We need more evidence than a watch.

Well now, where'd you get this?

Marsh's saddlebag.

Did he give you the gold, too?

I didn't kill him.

Where'd you get the gold?

Come on. We're wasting time.

Let's get on with the hanging.

There ain't gonna be no hanging,

not until the jury gives us a verdict.

But he's guilty.

How much more proof do you want?

We're not a lawless mob.

In my book, a man deserves a fair trial

let's get on with it, then.

Marsh, a confession would help a whole lot.

No.

All right.

You followed Caleb out of town.

You waited your chance so you could

bushwhack him for this gold.

Now, where's the rest of it? We know there's a lot more.

Now, there's only one bag that's--

Caleb was dead when I found him.

I found a few things, like the watch

and the bag of gold dust.

I couldn't help taking them.

He didn't need them anymore.

I don't know why I run.

I got rattled is all.

Did you kill him?

No. No, I swear, on my word.

Your... word?

You just gotta believe me.

It's up to you.

If you think he's guilty, raise your right hand.

You want to write down anything,

anybody will see the message.

Come on, let's hang him!

No, no!

Ready when you are, Sheriff.

Well, let's get it over with.

Don't hang him!

Ya!

You all right?

You do that again, and you go to jail.

We don't want to interference from you, Lander.

Release him.

He's been tried and found guilty.

A man is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt

in a court of law.

Your court of law set Marsh free.

Our way, we don't take no chances.

I think you're taking a lot of chances, ma'am.

We found Marsh with this gold,

he got from Caleb. He admitted it.

Amos Marsh didn't kill Caleb.

Now, how can you be so sure?

The Doctor's report revealed that his neck was broken.

The killer was a man of great strength.

Now, does he fit that description?

Liar!

This is one of your courtroom tricks!

Marsh is guilty, and I say let's hang him!

He's not the one who's gonna be hung.

All right, take the prisoner back to town.

Hold it.

Nobody's going no place.

I'm taking over,

and I say he hangs!

No wonder Marsh could only find one,

'cause you got the rest,

after you killed Caleb.

No. No. I didn't mean to kill him, judge, honest.

All I wanted was the gold,

but he kept struggling.

My hands around his neck.

Let Marsh go,

and we're taking him into town.

Kate.

Thank you.

I should be thanking you.

You opened up my eyes.

If you don't understand, my father will.

I think I understand.

A man is innocent until proven guilty

beyond a reasonable doubt.

When the west finally accepted courtroom justice,

it began its rise to greatness.

Kate Melville is one of the names that made it great.

See you next week with another page

from the panorama of the winning of the west.

See you then.