I was sitting in the library of Baylor Law School. Lately I had been spending time talking with Rick Miller (a fellow law student) and I had come to be fairly good friends with him, but after we had been together for several days, I had stopped being with him. Before Miller, I had been spending time with someone else.

Mark Witcher (a fellow law student) walked up and began talking with me. He seemed like a nice fellow and in many ways he reminded me of myself. He would be the type of fellow I would like to work with after I graduated from law school. I knew his father was a lawyer somewhere in the area. We talked for a while until I rose and left.

I went to a class which appeared to be in the practice court room, except the seats were like those found in a movie theater. I sat in the far back of the class on the right side. Instead of a lecture taking place, a series of short trials was being held on the stage in front of the class. A jury of about seven or eight men and women was sitting in the jury box. Two teams of two lawyers each were conducting each case against each other.

Each trial was short and seemed to consist solely of closing arguments. Each of the two lawyers on each team would stand and give an argument before the jury. After each trial finished, the people in the full class would vote by applause. I sat there a long time watching the trials until I finally grew tired of them and began reading a book.

The last trial finally began. My fellow law student Haim Habib and his partner were on one team and Frank Mitchell (another law student) and his partner were on the other team. I was still reading my book while Haim gave his argument to the jury; but I stopped reading and looked up when Mitchell began giving his argument. Professor Angus McSwain was the judge.

Mitchell walked over to the jury box and said, "Now friends, I want to say something about one of Haim's questions."

McSwain stopped Mitchell and told him that his walking up to the jurors and calling them friends was obnoxious. 

Time was running out; the class was about to end. After Mitchell had been interrupted, he could not remember where he had been in his argument, and he was unable to continue. He just stood there trying to remember his next point. McSwain had a written copy of Mitchell's argument in his hand; Mitchell tried to look at it. Then Mitchell looked at the table where he had been sitting, but he just could not seem to remember what to say next. His confusion lasted for several minutes.

It must have been about 5 p.m. —time for the class to end. The jury suddenly stood and walked across the stage, even though Mitchell was still trying to remember what he was supposed to say. The jury headed out the door and Mitchell still could not remember. After the jury had left, the class began to grow restless as if the people wanted to leave; a murmur passed over the room. The class seemed to be trying to decide whether a vote should be held to determine the winner. Some people seemed to think voting would be unfair because Mitchell had not had an opportunity to finish. Someone near the front of the room (perhaps Brenda Boley, a fellow law student) said we should not vote now ... that we should give Mitchell a chance to finish later. Some people stood up. I wanted to vote and I suddenly hollered out loudly, "Vote now!"

Someone else chimed in and hollered, "Yea, vote now!"

It was rather confusing how a vote would take place, but someone said, "For Haim" and many people began clapping. Someone else said, "For Frank"—but not many people clapped for Mitchell. It seemed clear to me that Haim had won. The noise quieted down and I hollered out, "Haim wins!"

Someone else echoed, "Haim wins!"

Although it seemed clear that Haim had won, I was unsure the vote would actually count. I was sure, however, that I wanted Haim to win.

People began milling about. Joe Spence (a law student) walked up to me and said someone two or three rows down had told him that I "had my chips." I knew that this was a British slang expression meaning "I was in trouble." I thought, "Well there's only one person who could have said that."

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