<P> The story takes place in the fictional town of Clanton, Mississippi in the 1980s, a period of time during which racial tension was heavily prevalent in America . This setting is also featured in other John Grisham novels . Three of the characters, Jake Brigance, Harry Rex Vonner and Lucien Wilbanks, later appear in the 2013 sequel Sycamore Row . Harry Rex Vonner and Lucien Wilbanks also appear in Grisham's 2003 novel The Last Juror, which is set in Clanton in the 1970s . Harry Rex Vonner also appears in the 2002 Grisham novel, The Summons, and in the short story "Fish Files," in the 2009 collection Ford County . A brief reference to the events depicted in the book is also contained in Grisham's 1994 novel The Chamber . </P> <P> In 1984 at the De Soto County courthouse in Hernando, Grisham witnessed the harrowing testimony of a 12 - year - old rape victim . The inspiration came from the case of the rape and assault of 12 year old Marcie Scott and her 16 - year - old sister Julie Scott . Unlike Grisham's depiction, however, the Scotts were white and their assailant, Willie Harris, was black . According to Grisham's official website, Grisham used his spare time to begin his first novel, which "explored what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her assailants ." He spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987 . Grisham has also cited Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird as an influence . This book is set in 1984 . Another stated inspiration was the success of Presumed Innocent . </P> <P> In the small town of Clanton, in fictional Ford County, Mississippi, a ten - year - old African - American girl named Tonya Hailey is viciously raped and beaten by two redneck white supremacists, James "Pete" Willard and Billy Ray Cobb . Tonya is later found and rushed to the hospital while Pete and Billy Ray are heard bragging at a roadside bar about their crime . Tonya's distraught and outraged father, Carl Lee Hailey, consults his friend Jake Brigance, a white attorney who had previously represented Hailey's brother, on whether he could get Carl Lee acquitted if he killed the two men . Jake tells Carl Lee not to do anything stupid, but admits that if it had been his daughter, he would kill the rapists . Carl Lee is determined to avenge Tonya and, while Pete and Billy Ray are being led into holding after their bond hearing, he kills both men with an M - 16 . </P> <P> Carl Lee is charged with capital murder . Despite efforts to persuade Carl Lee to retain high - powered attorneys, he elects to be represented by Jake . Helping Jake are two loyal friends, disbarred attorney Lucien Wilbanks and sleazy divorce lawyer Harry Rex Vonner . Later, the team is assisted by liberal law student Ellen Roark, who has prior experience with death penalty cases and offers her services as a temporary clerk pro bono . Ellen appears to be interested in Jake romantically, but the married Jake resists her overtures . The team also receives some illicit behind - the - scenes help from black county sheriff Ozzie Walls, a figure beloved by the black community and also well respected by the white community who upholds the law by arresting Carl Lee but, as the father of two daughters of his own, privately supports Carl Lee and gives him special treatment while in jail and goes out of the way to assist Jake in any way he legally can . Carl Lee is prosecuted by Ford County's corrupt district attorney, Rufus Buckley, who hopes that the case will boost his political career . It is claimed that the judge presiding over Carl Lee's trial, Omar "Ichabod" Noose, has been intimidated by local white supremacist elements . This proves true when, despite having no history of racist inclinations in his rulings, Noose refuses Jake's perfectly reasonable request for a change of venue, even though the racial make - up of Ford County virtually guarantees an all - white jury . </P>

When does the movie a time to kill take place