But then — then — the machine turned.
What do you see? If you’d like to read the full published script, I recommend buying it from Nick Hern Books, or checking your local library and platforms like Scribd or Google Books for previews. Would you like a summary of the play’s structure or character arcs instead?
Every question a scalpel. Every pause a doubt. And the jury? The jury loves doubt. Doubt is their blanket. Because certainty is terrifying. Certainty means you have to act.
So now I stand here. Not in a wig. Not in silk. In a jumper my mum knitted. And I say: The law is not broken. It was built this way. Prima Facie Script Pdf LINK
And the jury believes him. Because the machine was built by men. For men. To protect men.
Prima facie. On the face of it. Look at my face now.
And I am still true.
Because some things cannot be proved beyond reasonable doubt. But they are still true.
And the defense barrister — that used to be me — stands up and says, “But on the face of it, my client is innocent.”
That hears.
I woke up on my own floor. Carpet burn on my spine. Clothes not my own — because they were inside out, like a scream turned inside out. And I knew. I knew what reasonable doubt felt like when it was your body on the floor.
A prima facie case. That’s what they teach you on day one. On the face of it. On the face of it, the prosecution has enough. Enough to answer. Enough to put the defendant on trial. But I didn’t defend the guilty. I defended the process . Because if the process breaks — if the machine rusts — then anyone can be crushed.
Not from guilt. From consequence .
But a prima facie case — on the face of it — is not enough. Not anymore.
That believes.