"Elementary, my dear Watson." |
Sir John Mortimer |
Rumpole's tools of the trade: his wig, a brief, and a glass of "Chateu Fleet Street" |
"Law is a subject which, I may say, never interested me greatly. People in trouble, yes. Bloodstains and handwriting, certainly. The art of cross-examination, of course. Winning over a jury, fascinating. But law!"-John Mortimer, Rumpole and the Gentle Art of Blackmail
Then there is of course there is the most defining trait of Rumpole, which is his motto-"never plead guilty!". Rumpole, a self proclaimed "Old Bailey Hack" who works almost entirely as a defense counsel. He is a firm believer of the credo "innocent until proven guilty, believes it is "more necessary to defend, then prosecute" and will do the best he can for his clients, although he frequently laments the hopeless cases he is given, and the incompetence of his clients:
" I could win most of my cases if it weren't for the clients. Clients have no tact, poor old darlings. No bloody sensitivity! They will waltz into the witness-box and blurt out things which are far better left unblurted."-John Mortimer, Rumpole and the Confession of Guilt
Despite his losses, Rumpole is very talented at what he does. In his youth as a junior barrister he gained recognition for winning the Penge Bungalow Murders "alone and without a leader", which paved the way for his career as a defense counsel. Rumpole's most frequent clients are the Timsons, a clan of "minor villains" from South London who deal with petty theft, and will call upon Rumpole whenever they have need of his services. Rumpole has defened at least three generations of the family. Although Rumpole is not a detective in the tradition of Sherlock Holmes, or Hercule Poirot, he often plays the part when trying to get a "not guilty" verdict, by either digging up evidence that is harmful to the prosecution himself, or with the help of either his client's solicitor, or private investigator F.I.G. "Fig" Newton. Although Rumpole firmly believes in "innocent until proven guilty", there are times when the reality of his job kicks in. In Rumpole and the Expert Witness, he learns that his client is guilty on his own, after a "not guilty" verdict comes back from the jury, and is genuinely upset by the fact he unwittingly helped get a murder (who happens to be a son of an old frined") off, and can do nothing about it. In Rumpole and the Alternative Society, when his hippie-like client whom he is defending on a drug charge openly admits that she is guilty after a rather good day in cour for her, he goes straight to the presiding judge, and informs him that his client decided to change her plea to "guilty". Most striking is Rumpole and the Honourable Member, where he defends a MP on a rape charge. His cross-examination of the victim causes him to get into a heated argument with his daughter-in-law over his tactics. The MP admits his guilt on the stand, but Rumpole is shaken by the experience.
Rumpole in his element-the Old Bailey |
"You’re wrong. Wrong about Rumpole. He’s the radical! You’re not. You’ll grow up to be a prosecutor, or a Circuit Judge! But Rumpole never will, because he says what he thinks, and because he doesn’t give a damn what anybody thinks about him. And because he can win the cases you’re afraid even to do on your own."
Rumpole's colleague aren't the only ones who disapprove of him, most judges don't like him either, and Rumpole returns the sentiment. All of them share the following traits: they are bluntly biased towards the prosecution, and believe that Rumpole is always wasting the court's time no matter how good his case is. Amongst them are Mr. Justice Grave, or "Justice Gravestone", Mr. Justice Oliphant (whose fondness of "Northern common sense" drives Rumpole crazy), and then there is the most infamous of them all Judge Roger Bullingham. Judge Bullingham or the "Mad Bull" is a judge with an "unreasoning prejudice against all black persons, defence lawyers and probation officers", and can barely hide his contempt for Rumpole.
It may seem that no one is able to control Rumpole, but there is one person who is able to keep him line-Mrs. Hilda Rumpole, his wife. Hilda, or "She Who Must Be Obeyed" as Rumpole calls her, is very disappointed that her husband is neither a Queen's Counsel, Circuit Judge, or at least Head of Chambers. Despite her criticism of Rumpole,the two do seem to care for each other. Hilda is somewhat prone to suspicions of acts of adultery committed by her husband that often leads to tense relations between the two, such as the time Rumpole did a divorce case due to a lull in crime in Rumpole and the Married Lady:
"‘You can come home as late as you like now, Rumpole. And you can spend all the time you like with her.’
‘Her?’ Whoever could she be talking about?
‘I’ve heard her! Time and time again. On the telephone.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ I tried a light laugh. ‘That’s a client.’
‘Rumpole! I’ve lived with you for a good many years.’
‘Man and boy.’
‘And I’ve never known you to be telephoned by a client. At home!’
‘I usually have quiet, undemanding clients. Murderers don’t fuss. Robbers can usually guess the outcome, so that they’re calm and resigned. Divorcing ladies are different. They’re inclined to telephone constantly.’
‘So I’ve noticed!’
But love conquers all and they always reconcile, as Rumpole puts it "they'd rather have war together than a lonley peace", not unlike his divorce client. Hilda on her part, believes that Rumpole "would go to seed" without her. The two have one child Nick Rumpole the "brains of the family", who works in America as a professor of sociology.
Although the stories are written for humour, they do tackle serious issues. Rumpole and the Confession of Guilt deals with racism in the criminal justice system of the UK. But most serious of all is Rumpole and the Reign of Terror, in which Rumpole takes on a Pakistani doctor as a client, who is beening held on terrorism charges, and is determined that even if he is guilty he should at least be given a fair trial to decide his guilt, much to the disapproval of the establishment, and the government itself. These witty, and engaging stories are overlooked treasures of the mystery genre, deserve a much wider audience, and are sure not to disappoint the reader.
Adaptions
Leo McKern in his most famous role |
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