"Something like that."
"It won't take long to fix their guilt or innocence, once we get a jury."
"Perhaps—if we ever get one. But the men of New Orleans seem filled with a quality of mercy which isn't tempered with justice. Those who haven't already formed an opinion of the case are incompetent to act as intelligent jurors. Those who could render a fair judgment are afraid."
"You don't think there's any chance of an acquittal!"
"Hardly! And yet I hear the defense has called two hundred witnesses, so there's no telling what they will prove. You see, the prosecution is handicapped by a regard for the truth, something which doesn't trouble the other side in the least."
"Suppose they should be acquitted?"
"It would mean the breakdown of our legal system."
"And what would happen?"
Blake repeated the question, eyeing the Mayor curiously.
"Exactly! What would happen? What ought to happen?"