Copyright (c) 2014 This screenplay may not be used or reproduced without the express written permission of the author
Courthouse Banter, by Fin Burn
In a courtroom, two men are mumbling in the back. The men are DAVID and PAUL, they're arguing about the case. It's a murder trial, DAVID believes that the accused is innocent and PAUL believes that the accused is guilty. The two characters often go to court cases together and try to predict the verdict as a hobby.
JUDGE: You two at the back, if one more word is said then I'll have you both arrested for contempt in the face of the court.
DAVID: See, you’re a fuckin idiot. [To PAUL]
JUDGE: Out of here, now!
The two men leave quickly, before getting in any serious trouble.
DAVID: Look what you did? You tool.
PAUL: Shut up, what the fuck is wrong with you, every time we go to a murder trial, every damn time, you root for the killer.
DAVID: You can't give someone a lifetime sentence without knowing for ABSOLUTE sure, that he did it.
PAUL: They know for ABSOLUTE sure that he did it, there's a witness, there's no other suspects, the man he killed was a known enemy of his.
DAVID: The man that they suspect he killed!
PAUL: Do you just like murderers? Is that it?
DAVID: No, I hate murderers, which is why I hate all the people that want to take away a mans life, for committing a crime they don’t have sufficient evidence, to say he committed.
PAUL: How? Just how is it that you think there's a possibility he didn't do it?
DAVID: She didn't see it happen.
PAUL: She did, for fuck sake, yes she did, she saw it happen, you lunatic.
DAVID: You don't listen, use your fuckin ears. She didn't see it happen, that's not what she said, she saw him walk in with a gun, she panicked, she looked away, heard a gunshot, and that's it. When she looked back up, the man two seats down from her was dead.
PAUL: So the accused definitely walked in there with a gun?
DAVID: Yes I believe so. 
PAUL: And the victim definitely died by gun shot?
DAVID: Yes.
PAUL: Are you just insane? Why isn't this as obvious to you as it is to everyone else?
DAVID: Did you by any chance listen to where the murder happened?
PAUL: A cafe.
DAVID: Yes, a cafe, you know when you walk up to a cafe, you can see every seat in the place right? You know what that would be good for? If you saw someone in it, that you wanted to shoot, anyone on the street could've shot him.
PAUL: But not the man who walked right in, in front of a witness with a gun?
DAVID: OBVIOUSLY the accused is the most likely person to have killed him, but there's a reasonable doubt there, and that witness is not worth shit, unless she saw the murder.
PAUL: You're ridiculous I won't have this; the dogs in the street know who killed hm.
As they argue a couple walks by from stage right, DAVID walks up to them.
DAVID: Hey guys, I'm so sorry, could I use you just for a second?
He doesn’t give them a chance to reply.
DAVID: Come on, it'll only take a second; I just wanna give my friend a demonstration, thanks.
DAVID places the girl stage right, facing centre stage, "just stand there" and the boy centre stage, facing the girl, "just stand here, with your arm raised like a gun please", and then goes to PAUL and has him stand in front of the girl, "and you're the victim, compadre". 
DAVID: Sweetheart, if you could just close your eyes, for me. 
DAVID walks in front of the boy who is holding his arm like a gun, and gives PAUL the finger.
DAVID: Now, darling, please open your eyes. What do you think just happened?
He doesn’t give her a chance to speak.
DAVID: No, your boyfriend didn’t shoot my friend here; I just told him what I think of him. You can go now, thank you for your time. 
The two men don't speak until the couple has gone. 
PAUL: You're fucking ridiculous, you're wasting other peoples time now, they didn't deserve hearing that nonsense, they didn't do anything wrong to you. 
DAVID: I was just showing you that there are other possibilities, that there is a reasonable doubt. 
PAUL: There's no reasonable doubt, no one came into that cafe after the accused, to shoot the victim or to give him the finger... Sometimes, things are just as they seem. 
DAVID: ~Frustrated laughing~, sometimes they're not.
DAVID punches PAUL, PAUL falls on the ground, and appears to be bleeding, DAVID takes out a pocket knife and then crouches above PAUL.
PAUL: AAHH!! What the fuck?
DAVID: Compadre, you're bleeding right now, and I'm holding a knife, standing over you, if someone came along right now, wouldn't it look like I cut you?
PAUL: Fuck you!
DAVID: Tell me that you know, that sometimes, things aren't as they would seem at first.
PAUL: You're fucking insane.
DAVID: Listen to me, if you don't tell me, that you know that sometimes things aren't as they seem at first, then I'm gonna make this as it seems okay?
There is a pause.
PAUL: Okay, I'm sorry you're right.
DAVID: I know. 
DAVID stands up from PAUL and starts to walk away; as he's leaving he throws his knife on the ground. 
DAVID: YOU SHOULDN'T GET ME SO WORKED UP. 
DAVID exits stage right, PAUL waits for a while, and then feels his wound and leaves stage left.