So, here is the truth about me. I’ve worn a mask every day of my life. In high school, it was a smile that I faked to get boys to like me. In law school, I changed my name to sound more “New England.” At the law firm, I wore heels, makeup, and a wig. And when I got married, I threw myself into becoming a Keating, and it was all to create a version of myself that the world would accept. But I’m done. Instead, I stand before you, mask off, to tell you the God’s honest. I have done many a bad thing. I’ve coerced witnesses, got clients to lie on the stand, bullied students to tears, manipulated jurors like you. But those are not the crimes I’m being tried for. It’s murder. And I am no murderer. What I am is a survivor. I survived getting taunted by the N-word when I was in grade school. I survived the sexual abuse by my uncle when I was 11. I survived losing my first love, Eve, because I was scared to be gay. Then the death of my son in a car accident, the murder of my husband, then alcoholism, depression, grief, and every death leading up to this trial. But today, you decide. Am I a bad person? Well, the mask is off, so I’m gonna say yes. But am I the criminal mastermind who pulled off a series of violent murders? Hell no. Who I am is a 53-year-old woman from Memphis, Tennessee, named Anna Mae Harkness. I am ambitious, black, bisexual, angry, sad, strong, sensitive, scared, fierce, talented, exhausted. And I am at your mercy.
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