Summary

Santha fills another petition listing thirty-one reasons why Ray should be granted a new trial but the State "denied everything we had claimed, saying that all my claims were 'procedurally barred' because an issue was either already raised during my trial [...] or could have been raised on my direct appeal but wasn't" (133). Ray is struck by how yet another aspect of the legal system is stacked against him. Not long after, Santha has to stop representing Ray due to a new job, but Stevenson will be sending him another attorney. The men on the row start to have "lively legal debates" with each other and one night, while showering, the man next to him references the importance of money in an effective defense, saying "Hays has money. If anyone's going to get out of this place, it's Hays" (134). Ray asks who Hays is...