 Newt initially keeps quiet about what he has seen, but appears to be bothered that Silas Newhall, who was at the scene of the crime for another reason, is being accused for a murder he did not commit.Encouraged by his mother Sarah, Newt reveals to Judge Cavanaugh that Booker committed the murder, and also testifies in court, but rather than doing the good he intended it to do, Newt's testimony leads to the suicide of Booker and almost being killed by Marcus.Through all this, the film is able to capture "an adolescent boy's initiation in sex, love, death, justice and injustice, and, because he is black, a fair measure of racial hatred" in "a profoundly nostalgic way", according to "New York Times" movie reviewer Roger Greenspun.