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Sidney Smotherman
Judge Garrett is the judge during Ray’s trial in 1986 until the judge retires in 2003. While the judge doesn’t show as much explicit bias as Prosecutor McGregor and Lieutenant Acker, he willfully ignores much of the evidence that exonerates Ray and during the appeals process often wastes years of Ray’s life in delaying his rulings.
Judge Garrett Quotes in The Sun Does Shine
The The Sun Does Shine quotes below are all either spoken by Judge Garrett or refer to Judge Garrett. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1 Quotes
Hell, as far as the police and the prosecutor and the judge and even my own defense attorney were concerned, I was born guilty. Black, poor, without a father most of my life, one of ten children—it was actually pretty amazing I had made it to the age of twenty-nine without a noose around my neck. But justice is a funny thing, and in Alabama, justice isn’t blind. She knows the color of your skin, your education level, and how much money you have in the bank. I may not have had any money, but I had enough education to understand exactly how justice was working in this trial and exactly how it was going to turn out. The good old boys had traded in their white robes for black robes, but it was still a lynching.
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Chapter 20 Quotes
Alabama’s death penalty is a lie. It is a perverse monument to inequality, to how some lives matter and others do not. It is a violent example of how we protect and value the rich and abandon and devalue the poor. It is a grim, disturbing shadow cast by the legacy of racial apartheid used to condemn the disfavored among us. It’s the symbol elected officials hold up to strengthen their tough-on-crime reputations while distracting us from the causes of violence. The death penalty is an enemy of grace, redemption and all who value life and recognize that each person is more than their worst act.
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Judge Garrett Character Timeline in The Sun Does Shine
The timeline below shows where the character Judge Garrett appears in The Sun Does Shine. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...stares at Ray with hatred and would probably execute him at that moment. The judge, Judge Garrett , is less overtly biased but is only going through the motions of the trial....
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...third, and in doing so, put the death penalty on the table. After Perhacs’s conclusion, Judge Garrett rules that Ray is guilty of each capital offense in accordance with the jury’s verdict...
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There is one bright spot in Ray’s sentence: by sentencing him to death, Judge Garrett gives him the best chance at regaining his life. Now that Ray has been sentenced...
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Chapter 7
...find Ray guilty, and another 45 minutes to determine his punishment: death. In December, before Judge Garrett reads the official death sentence, Ray tells them that God would reopen his case and...
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Chapter 8
...from the verdict: he replays some of the other events in his mind. Perhacs told Judge Garrett that a man called him, confessing he was the real killer, but no one hunted...
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Chapter 14
Alan Black asks Judge Garrett for money for new ballistics experts to investigate Ray’s case, which the judge grants. Ray...
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Chapter 18
...hoping that they will concede that Ray is innocent because of the mistaken ballistics evidence. Judge Garrett schedules the hearing for March 11–13, 2002. Bryan is optimistic that things are going well...
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Chapter 19
...of the attorney general’s time. After this statement, Bryan writes to Ray, assuring him that Judge Garrett is very suspicious that the state seems so desperate not to look at new evidence....
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...his mom, Lester, and Phoebe. Perhacs barely acknowledges Ray, and McGregor isn’t at the hearing. Judge Garrett never looks at Ray.
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Judge Garrett notes that the experts’ testimony might just be a difference of opinion, but Bryan argues...
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Through the summer of 2002, Ray and Bryan wait for a ruling from Judge Garrett . When Lester visits one day, Ray is confident that he’ll be getting out. He...
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Chapter 20
...after Ray’s mom’s death in 2002, Ray receives a letter from Bryan. Bryan explains that Judge Garrett is going to retire, but the judge intends to keep Ray’s case. Bryan is talking...
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In January 2005, two and a half years after the Rule 32 hearing, Judge Garrett issues a ruling in favor of the state. In fact, he simply signed the state’s...
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Chapter 21
...County—they want the lower courts to rule on whether Payne was a competent expert. Since Judge Garrett has fully retired, a new judge, Laura Petro, is now deciding the case. It takes...
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