Salem Witch Trials

In a colonial Salem courtroom, cobbler Edward Abbey Manning stands accused of consorting with the devil, and his court-appointed counsel, Larry Grosvenor, arrives late and breezes through the charge sheet like a modern plea-bargaining lawyer. Grosvenor assures his client that nobody is ever really a witch, then fumbles every move: the fiery prosecutor Brother Lowell barely needs evidence, the accusing witness Mistress Cartwright claims the defendant came to her as a goat and took her to dinner, and the only proposed test of innocence is surviving underwater beneath heavy stones. As a last resort Grosvenor puts Edward on the stand, but the moment his hand touches the scripture it bursts into smoke and he starts chanting in a demonic tongue, sending his lawyer scrambling to change the plea before the judge condemns him.