The Mason county district attorney, Rufus Buckley (played by Kevin Spacey) who seek the death penalty due to the national media attention of the trial. He is counting on the trial to stay in that county and an all-white jury due to “the race statistic in the mason county is 26-30 % black and in other county 45-80% percent black. Black are more sympathetic to other blacks if the trial gets move Jakes Brigance has a chance to get a color in the jury box but if stayed in Mason it’s an all-white jury for sure”. Jake’s mentor, Lucian Wilbanks (played by Donald Sutherland, while discussing if he could win this case, Wilbanks says “The case is very interesting because if you could win, justice would prevail or if you lose and justice would also prevail.”
