Robert "Bobby" DeLaughter was the protagonist of the 1996 film Ghosts of Mississippi.
He was played by Alec Baldwin.
Some 25 years after the death of lawyer and civil rights activist Medgar Evers his widow Myrlie Evers decided she had what was needed to bring the suspected murderer Byron De La Beckwith to justice. DeLaughter was an assistant attorney who decided to help her, even though it could damage his political aspirations.
Over the next several years DeLaughter worked hard on the case. The family was targeted by individuals not wanting to see De La Beckwith face justice. That and his commitment to bringing De La Beckwith to justice caused his marriage to Dixie DeLaughter — which had already been strained — to fall apart. DeLaughter soon fell in love with a nurse named Peggy Lloyd, who he had met at a local ER after having taken one of his children there for a medical emergency.
Bolstered with evidence from the previous trials that Myrlie had saved, DeLaughter took the matter to trial Laying out his case he told the jury that there was no statue of limitations on the crime of murder, and it was never too late to correct an injustice.
When both the defense and prosecution had rested the trial went to jury. DeLaughter admitted to Myrlie that this was the hard part, waiting to see what the jury would decide. After extended deliberations the jury came back into the courtroom, where De La Beckwith was found guilty.
Trivia[]
- The real Bobby DeLaughter eventually became a judge. He later became embroiled in a corruption scandal and was convicted of lying to the FBI. DeLaughter served 18 months in prison as a result.