One “remarkable coincidence” after another: Coley McCraney, J.B. Beasley, and Tracie Hawlett, and McCraney’s Lawyer’s 12 Angry Men defense (the trial of the century)

By Anonymous
tuesday, april 25, 2023 at 6:14:00 a.m. edt

Reasonably coherent version of day four and McCraney’s testimony here:

https://www.wtvy.com/2023/04/24/follow-day-4-mccraney-trial-here/

He did not return to the store, per se, but had gone somewhere else after having been “stood up” (by “Jennifer”), and on his way home he just happened to be driving by the store when his truck broke down, so he stopped in the parking lot where he saw the two girls by the pay phone.

And they just happened to drive by where his semi truck was parked because that was on the way to some shortcut he wanted to show them. So they stopped to see his semi truck, where he and “Jennifer” got in while Tracie waited in the car. Even though both girls were in a hurry, because they had to get home to avoid violating their curfew.

[11:11 a.m. The defendant stated that he began having car trouble on his way home and “coasted” into the Big Little parking lot. Marshall presented an overhead view of the Big Little parking lot and asked where his car stopped. He said he was all the way off to the side of the store. McCraney claimed he saw the girls near the phone as he pulled in. “It’s a remarkable coincidence,” Marshall said about McCraney’s car breaking down near the Big Little. “I guess so,” McCraney said.]

[11:23 a.m. He said that the girls were going to drive the shortcut with McCraney and then drive him back to his house before driving back on the shortcut to Dothan. McCraney said the girls did not know that his truck was there. He also said that he was not aware that the girls were trying to make curfew. He said that it was his idea to stop at the truck stop, where he and J.B. got out of the car, so McCraney could show her his truck. He stated that Tracie stayed in the car. They got in the truck around midnight, the front seat to begin with, according to McCraney. Marshall asked how the conversation changed when J.B. sat on the bed that was in the truck. McCraney said he got in the bed with her and continued “small talk” before they “touched each other.” McCraney said that they were talking when J.B. moved to the bed. Marshall asked if these events happened fast and McCraney said that they did. Marshall asked if they were in the bed about 12:05 a.m., and McCraney agreed. McCraney claimed that Tracie was still in the Mazda 929.]

Apparently having decided not to challenge the DNA evidence, and instead go with a story of consensual sex, he must have worked with his lawyers to come up with a story to explain events, including encountering the girls at the same store he’d left earlier when “Jennifer” failed to show up for their agreed meeting. And this is the best they could come up with?

N.S.: And then the ultimate coincidence: That after McCraney’s truck broke down at the Big Little Store, just as the girls were on the pay phone at the Big Little Store, and just after he had his “one thing led to another” quickie with “Jennifer,” and the girls dropped him off at home, that some other party murdered them both, while not raping either of them.

It’s a ridiculous tale, and yet the same ridiculous “coincidence” is at the heart of America’s most famous and revered courtroom drama, Reginald Rose’s 12 Angry Men (1957).


[“On September 20, 1954, Dramatic History was Made, with the Only Broadcast of the Original, 50-Minute, Reginald Rose Teleplay, 12 Angry Men (Complete, Restored Video)”; and

“Stacking the Deck: An Analysis of the First, TV Version of Reginald Rose’s Legendary Play, Twelve Angry Men, and Rose’s Dirty Little Secret.”]