Theyve got an old movie on with a real juicy trial. You see, they claim this woman murdered her husband, but she claims that she was, lets see. She was smoking these cigarettes blind folded, and, well, that was the commercial. Anyway, its real good. Come on. Well, mr. Krausman. I havent seen you in a long time. Hello, mr. Anderson. Is this your boys jacket . I didnt want to say anything until i was sure it was his. I dont like to go around accusing any boy if hes not guilty. Accusing . What do you mean . Did bud do something wrong . He sure did. He damaged a lot of property over at my place. I figure the damage will run at least 100. And then he ran off. Oh, now wait. Im sure bud would never i never thought he would neither, bud, we want to ask you. My goodness, your hair is soaking wet. What happened . Well, we always take showers after gym class, you know. Sometimes, a guy doesnt have a chance to dry it. Why, that was over more than two hours ago. Yeah. Well, i didnt mean gym class exactly. This is more of an after school deal. Bunch of guys. Were playing basketball. Well, i better go dry my hair. Just a minute, son. Wheres your jacket . Jacket . Mr. Grausmans yard. Mr. Grausman . Thats right. Mr. Grausman was just here and told us the whole story. What story . I think you know what story. Mr. Grausman said he didnt mind if you boys pick an apple now and then off his tree, but when you damage 100 worth of property doing it, thats another matter. 100 . What did i do . What bothers me, bud, is you werent man enough to tell mr. Grausman what youd done. Instead, you ran. Dad, i dont know what youre talking about. But, i didnt do it well, bud, if you didnt do it why was your jacket found there . I dont know how it got there. Did it just walk into mr. Grausmans back yard . Dad, i dont know how come the jackets covered with white wash which you fell into . Fell into . Bud, youre just making it tougher on yourself. But, i didnt wait a minute. The first thing i want bud to do is go upstairs and dry his hair before he catches his death of cold. Okay. But, i didnt do anything. Boy, oh, boy. Its sure a sad sight to see someone convicting himself the way he did. He couldnt have done a better job if hed come in here with a big sign saying, im guilty actually, its still all just circumstantial evidence. Now, if this were a court trial oh, betty. [betty] really, father. [betty] no one actually saw bud in mr. Grausmans yard. T he admits he only guessed it was bud. Sure, but i bettys right bud, i told you to go upstairs, and you shouldnt be eavesdropping. Well, i wasnt hardly. But, youre convicting me without any sure proof. Look, son, you you want to punish me and make me pay 100 damage without even giving me a fair deal. Your own daughter says that. All she is that circumtstantial evidence bud has a point. In here it says that in our country, a shadow of a doubt. Now betty, please. Shes right, isnt she, dad . Yes, of course. But in this. What do you want us to do . Have you arrested so you can have a trial . No. I would like a fair shake. Hey, why dont we put on a trial . Betty,now no, really. Budll feel better if we convict him fairly. And itll help me. I can write this up for my theme on the court system. Oh, lets do it. Well, would you feel you were getting a fair shake if we did this . Gave you a trial . , sure. Itd be better than what im getting now. All right. Well do it. You left school til the time you got home . Are you just going to stand there and pry into my personal affairs . Look, im trying to help you, stupid if you want to spend the best years of your life im sorry. Im sorry. Thats better. Now, if you were at the gym, we can prove that by the fellows you were playing basketball with this afternoon. Now, who were they . I cant remember. Oh, come now, bud. Even you cant be that dumb. Just give me one name. I wasnt there. Thats what i figured. Her and confess that you well, now there you go again. You think im guilty. Well, what else can i think . You wont tell me where you were. Maybe i got reasons. All right. What are they . knocking times up. Come on. Court is about to convene. Were not ready yet. Sorry. The wheels of justice are ready to roll. Oh, silent sam, i dont know what were going to do. So it will give us a little time to think. Come on. Just remember, weve got one thing in our favor. No one can prove he saw me do anything. You sit there, judge. Oh, dont sit down yet. Everyone stand. Oh, not you. Hear ye, hear ye. The maple street court, township of springfield, is now in session. Her honor, margaret Portia Anderson presiding. Be seated. What am i in this trial . Nothing . Youre the bailiff, the clerk of court, sergeant at arms, and court reporter. Is that good . Sure you swear in the witnesses. Oh, you mean, do you swear to tell the truth bit. Thats right. All right, your honor. Proceed. Thank you, your honor. I wish to call as my first witness, mr. Jim anderson. Hey, can he call himself . Well, i think . Can he do that . Well, i dont really. Can he . He can. He can. All right, kathy. Im a witness, so you swear me in. Dont tell me. I know what to do. Raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and gee, i wish i could be the witness. I do. State your name. [father] jim anderson. Be seated. Pretty good, huh . Mr. Anderson, did you have a caller this afternoon . Yes. Mr. Grausman came to our back door with a boys jacket. Excuse me, mr. Anderson. Is this the jacket . It is . Thank you. [father] your honor,i would like to introduce this as exhibit a. That ought to go to the cleaners. Lets not tamper with the evidence. Now, mr. Anderson, why did mr. Grausman to ask if it belonged to my son, bud. And it did. Then he said that bud, in attempting to pick an apple from his tree i object. He didnt know for sure it was bud. Oh, objection, whats the word . [betty] sustained [father] overruled well, anyway, bettys right. Mr. Anderson, just what was the damage . And how was it caused . Well, according to mr grausman, there was a stepladder standing under his apple tree near his garage. glass breaking hey, you boy hey you come back here he brought the jacket here to me. Just three things, mr. Anderson. One, when mr. Grausman brought the jacket to you this afternoon, he asked you if it was buds, right . Thats right. A boy through his upstairs window, he shouted, hey, you boy is that right . Yes. He did not say, hey, bud yes, but that was before hed identified thank you. Just answer my questions, thats all. Three, did you see any of the events youve just described . No. Thats what mr. Grausman told me. Mr. Anderson. With no eye witnesses, theyre whipped well, what do we do now . Hmm . Oh,yes, well. Im supposed to call my next witness now, but i dont have any others. Let me be a witness, please no, no, kitten. What about bud coming home with wet hair . Oh, my. Probably someone coming to spend the evening. Oh, dear. Come on, help me straighten up the furniture. I dont want anyone to see the house this way. Oh no, mother. You cant. Not in the middle of a trial especially not when were on the verge of winning. Why, mr. Grausman. Sorry to bother you again, mr. Anderson. But, i know that you werent convinced that your boy was the culprit. I was talking to my neighbor, mrs. Lester here, she sure did. She was an eye witness. Id like them to hear what you have to say. But, shes telling the truth. Why, i dont doubt that at all. [father] i think you know everyone. Oh yes, of course. Oh, please excuse the way things look, mrs. Lester. [mother] we were [father] we were playing sort of a game with the children. Thank you. My goodness. I feel almost as if i were in court. Raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the whole shes been seeing too many trial movies. Oh, i see. Of course, honey. I always tell the truth. Well, now mrs. Lester, if youll tell us exactly what you saw. Ive always thought so well of bud. And i dont like to say anything against him. No, of course not. Go on. Well, i happened to have glanced out my kitchen window, and i saw bud, sort of, well, sneaking down the alley. Kind of hiding and looking back over his shoulder. From the direction of mr. Grausmans house next door. Go on. Well, i thought he was acting strange, so i watched him. Then he did a very peculiar thing. He stopped by my garden water faucet near the alley, and washed his hair understand why he was doing that until mr. Grausman told me later about him falling into the whitewash. What time did you see him doing this . About 4 30. I remember because i had just looked at my clock timer on my stove. And what time did the accident take place in your yard . It was about 4 20. Yes. Well, thank you for taking the trouble to come over and tell us, mrs. Lester. We appreciate your interest. I made out an itemized list of the damages. I tried to keep it down. It comes to 98. Yes. Well, ill see that this is taken care of just as soon as possible. Silly story about a shower at the gym . Whats happened to you, bud . Wait, mom. You can ask me questions if im not on the witness stand. Oh, im through with all that court stuff. Im talking to you as your mother. Your honor, i guess it goes without saying the prosecution rests with only one comment. Bud, i dont know when ive ever been gosh, youre saying these things before weve had a chance to present our side of the case. Go on, betty. Now, lets bud, were not going to drag this farcical thing out any longer. But, mom were all through mom dad, didnt you agree that i was going to get a fair trial . Yes, thats true, but okay, then. Come on, betty. Get up and start our case. What do you mean . Ive got an alibi you can use. You claim that you were in pittsburgh at a hardware convention. Kathy well, this morning i saw all right, all right, kitten. Look, dopey. That little case we had to begin with mrs. Lester pulled the rug right out from under it. Now wait. Mrs. Lester only saw me washing my hair. Did she see me climb the ladder in mr. Grausmans yard . No. Bud, how can you persist in the face of all we know . Gosh, everybodys against me. No one will even listen to me. Anything to say wed be more than eager to hear it. But, so far even if you had anything to say you wouldnt say it. You wont tell anything, not even to me. Try the pittsburgh alibi [mother] shh, kathy do you have anything to say . Well and if you have, will you tell it . Would you talk . Guess its the only thing i can do now. But i guess the first question to ask you is did you enter mr. Grausmans yard around 4 20 this afternoon, climb a ladder and cause any damage . Oh, bud, are you still going to now, mother, let him tell whatever he has to say. If you did not enter mr. Grausmans yard at that time, will you please tell the court and me too, where you were and what you were doing . I was getting my hair curled. I knew you would, but thats the truth. Go on. Well, i carried april adams books home for her, and she invited me in. Somehow, she got to talking about how cute id look with curly, wavy hair. And, well then, somehow, i swear, i dont know how she did this, but she talked me into letting her air. And, well, when i started to leave, i saw fatty beamer going by. Well, i couldnt let fatty see me looking like that, so i went out the back way instead and snuck down the alley. Thats why i was sneaking, see. And, when i saw mrs. Lesters water faucet well, thats how it happened. Well, it did the one about pittsburgh would have been better than that you be quiet. Well, do you want to ask him anything . No, only this. The witness appears to have a very vivid imagination jumped off his back and tiptoed into mr. Grausmans yard . Dad, i told you. I dont know how it got there. All right. We wont discuss it anymore. Your problem now is to figure out how youre going to pay that 98 bill for the damages you did. Dad, why should i pay for it . I said we werent going to discuss it anymore. Dad the trial is over, and i dont want to hear anymore about it. But, dad you heard what your father said. phone rings hello . That . Yes, its wonderful ill tell him. Bye. Why didnt we think of that . Hey hold everything. We want to reopen the trial. Oh now, betty, no. Were not going through any more of this. But, i have something that changes the whole complexion. Look, betty, tricks arent going to help him now. This isnt any trick. Honest. And we did agree to give bud a fair deal, didnt we . Yes, certainly. All right, then. Courts back in session. Come on. Now then. I think the most incriminating evidence at the scene of the crime. Right . Okay. Now, bud, you put on your jacket. Go over in the corner behind the big chair, and put it on. What for . Go on. Okay. Now bud, as soon as you have it on, you come out as though you were sneaking into mr. Grausmans yard. Thats right. Its not his. That was april adams on the phone just now, and she called to say that bud left his jacket at her house after the hair curling. Well,ill be. It just never occured to me it wasnt his. Wait, then whose is that . Search me. Hey, wait. Fatty beamer. He has one exactly like this. And remember . I saw him right near there when i was coming out of aprils house. Must have been fatty. Well, maybe. But i know im not much of a judge. Oh, i feel so ashamed now for being so ready to believe the worst about bud. Yes, i think this court owes the defendent a big apology. Bud, i hope youll accept our apology. And i hope weve all learned something from this. Boy, i sure have. [voiceover] robert young and jane wyatt children laughing with elinore donahue, billy gray, and Lauren Chapin in father knows best. [margaret] wait a minute. What did i do . Nothing, i want to know whats wrong with your hand. Oh, sorry theres nothing fatal. I just gouged it the other day. Oh, the way youre always scratching and scraping yourself up on that old car of yours. I didnt do this on my car. What happened . Burn, bruise, fracture