Chapter 42 Summary

Before the jury returns to the courtroom to deliver the verdict, Lou Dell presents Judge Harkin with a note from Nicholas Easter, requesting that he have a deputy accompany him from the courthouse after the verdict has been read, as he is afraid that he might be attacked. Harkin arranges this and reconvenes the court. The jury enters, and, after the document containing the verdict is shown to a straight-faced Harkin, Easter reads out the verdict. They find for the plaintiff two million in compensatory damages, and they find for the plaintiff four hundred million in punitive damages. Everyone in the courtroom is in a state of shock as Judge Harkin asks each of the jurors whether this is their verdict, with Lonnie Shaver claiming loudly that he did not vote for this verdict. After a lengthy thank-you from Harkin, the jury is...