The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Grisham, John. A Time for Mercy. Doubleday, October 13, 2020. Kindle.

In the courtroom drama A Time for Mercy by John Grisham, lawyer Jake Brigance did not want to represent Drew Gamble. 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. Jake knew the case would not earn him any money. He worried what people would think of him if he defended a boy accused of murdering a police officer. He worried that he and his family would be in danger. He worried taking the case would ruin his friendship with police in the area. More than anything, Jake worried that the case would bankrupt him.

Even though Jake did not want the case, he was asked by Circuit Judge Omar Noose to represent Drew until Noose could find another lawyer. Jake grudgingly agreed. He first met Drew, a sixteen-year-old boy who was underdeveloped for his age, in the jail. Drew refused to talk at first. He seemed confused about what had happened and asked Jake several times if Stuart was dead. Drew also seemed unable to comprehend that his mother was alive. 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. When word spread that Drew had been released from jail, community members became angry. They feared that Jake would get Drew off on an insanity plea. Both Jake and his assistant, Portia, noticed how steeply calls to the office had dropped. Portia feared the town had turned against Jake.

Meanwhile, Jake was counting on a lawsuit against a railroad company for a big payout. He and his wife, Carla, were falling behind on bills. Jake had taken out a loan to pay for the cost of litigation in the lawsuit. 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 a witness that claimed the warning lights were not working, but that witness said there was a car behind him. Jake hoped that driver would confirm his witnesses’ story. A private investigator tracked down the driver, Neal Nickel, who had heard someone telling police the lights were not working. He said he had not spoken up and said they were working because he did not want to get involved at that time. He claimed he did not want to be involved at all. A few days before the trial, however, lawyers from the railroad company claimed Nickel had contacted them about testifying. Not only was the trial was delayed, but Jake also believed he would lose the profit he had expected because he had tried to cheat the system and hide a witness.

Meanwhile with Drew’s trial, Noose could not find another lawyer to take the case. He asked Jake to take it and do the best he could with it. He promised to make it worth Jake’s time. Jake had gotten to know Drew as well as his mother, Josie, and sister, Kiera. He learned that Stuart had a habit of getting drunk and then coming home and abusing Josie. He learned both children had been physically abused by Stuart. He also made it clear he resented having them in his house. When it was discovered that Kiera was pregnant, she admitted that Stuart had been raping her. Stuart had threatened to kill her if she told anyone what was happening.

During preparations for the trial, Jake was confronted by one of Stuart’s brothers and was badly beaten. The beating was stopped when a bystander saw what was happening and fired a gun, scaring the assailants away. Even though one of the men was identified, Jake refused to press charges.

The trial was ugly with a good deal of information coming out about the way that Stuart treated Josie and her children. Drew took the stand to testify. He told the jurors he did not shoot Stuart for revenge because he believed his mother was dead. He did not want to shoot anyone. He said that he shot Stuart because he feared Stuart would hurt him or his sister. He was not aware that Stuart was raping Kiera. Kiera took the stand, and the state’s attorney clarified she had not told anyone about the rapes. When he asked her why she had not even told the police what was happening, she reminded him she was being raped by a police officer. A mistrial was declared when the jury became deadlocked with six wanting to acquit Drew and six wanting to condemn him.

Noose and Reuben Atlee, the chancery court judge, circled around Jake after his beating. Noose tried to get Jake full pay for his services during Drew’s trial instead of the meager $1,000 generally paid to lawyers for the indigent. His finding in a bench trial that the county should pay Jake a fee of $50 per hour was appealed. Jake felt some financial relief might be coming when Atlee suggested that Jake refile the railroad lawsuit in chancery court. Atlee did not like the railroad and believed it was unfair they had brought Nickel forward at the last minute even though he had claimed he did not want to testify.

Jake and his wife, Carla, decided to adopt Kiera’s baby. The adoption case was locked and Jake and Carla did not plan to tell anyone who the names of the biological parents. Jake knew there would be talk and suspicions. He also realized he did not care what people thought.