Kathy O’Brien Character Analysis in Monster

Kathy O’Brien is Steve’s defense attorney. O’Brien is fairly humorless, but Steve feels as if she is the only person involved in the trial who actually wants to understand who Steve is as a person. Although O’Brien feels that their chances of winning the case are slim, she makes a genuine effort to defend Steve and display his good character, telling him that their main goal is to make Steve seem different from the other three obvious criminals involved in Mr. Nesbitt’s murder. O’Brien tells Steve that purely because he is a young black male, half the jury will already assume he is guilty from the moment they see him. Although O’Brien wants to defend Steve and understand who he is as a person, Steve senses that O’Brien does not truly believe he is innocent. Before Steve gives his own testimony, she coaches him on how to distance himself from King as much as possible and falsely deny that he was in the drugstore on the day Mr. Nesbitt was killed. O’Brien’s doubt about Steve’s actual innocence is confirmed when, after they win the case and Steve is found not guilty, she stiffly refuses his attempt to hug her in gratitude and happiness, suggesting that even though she defended his innocence and genuinely did her best to understand him, she does not regard him well.

Kathy O’Brien Quotes in Monster

The Monster quotes below are all either spoken by Kathy O’Brien or refer to Kathy O’Brien. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

[Steve] is writing the word Monster over and over again. A white hand (O’BRIEN’s) takes the pencil from his hand and crosses out all the Monsters.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon, Kathy O’Brien, Sandra Petrocelli

Related Symbols: Monster

Page Number and Citation: 24

Explanation and Analysis:

Miss O’Brien says that Petrocelli is using Bolden’s testimony as part of a trail that will lead to me and James King. I think she is wrong. I think they are bringing out all of these people and letting them look terrible on the stand and sound terrible and then reminding the the jury that they don’t look any different from me and King.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), James King, Kathy O’Brien, Sandra Petrocelli, Wendell Bolden

Page Number and Citation: 60

Explanation and Analysis:

STEVE: I thought you’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty?

O’BRIEN: That’s true, but in reality it depends on how the jury sees the case. If they see it as a contest between the defense and the prosecution as to who’s lying, they’ll vote for the prosecution. The prosecutor walks around looking very important. No one is accusing her of being a bad person. They’re accusing you of being a monster.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), Kathy O’Brien (speaker), Sandra Petrocelli

Related Symbols: Monster

Page Number and Citation: 62

Explanation and Analysis:

Miss O’Brien looked at me—I didn’t see her looking at me but I knew she was. She wanted to know who I was. Who was Steve Harmon? I wanted to open my shirt and tell her to look into my heart and see who I really was, who the real Steve Harmon was.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), Kathy O’Brien, Alguinaldo Nesbitt

Related Symbols: Monster

Page Number and Citation: 92

Explanation and Analysis:

I remembered Miss O’Brien saying that it was her job to make me different in the eyes of the jury, different from Bobo and Osvaldo and King. It was me, I thought as I tried not to throw up, that had wanted to be tough like them.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), James King, Richard “Bobo” Evans, Osvaldo Cruz, Kathy O’Brien

Page Number and Citation: 130

Explanation and Analysis:

[O’Brien] said that Bobo’s testimony hurt us a lot and that she had to find a way to separate me from King, but King’s lawyer wanted to make sure the jury connected us because I looked like a pretty decent guy.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), James King, Richard “Bobo” Evans, Kathy O’Brien, Asa Briggs

Page Number and Citation: 201

Explanation and Analysis:

If you don’t testify, you’ll just make the tie between you and King stronger in the mind of the jury. I think you have to testify. And the way you spend the rest of your youth might well depend on how much the jury believes you.

Related Characters: Kathy O’Brien (speaker), Steve Harmon, James King, Asa Briggs

Page Number and Citation: 216

Explanation and Analysis:

O’BRIEN: One last question. Were you in any way involved with the crime that we are discussing here? To make it clear—were you, in any way, involved with the holdup and murder that occurred on the 22nd of December?

STEVE: No, I was not.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon (speaker), Kathy O’Brien (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 224

Explanation and Analysis:

[O’BRIEN’s] lips tense; she is pensive. She gathers her papers and moves away as STEVE, arms still outstretched, turns toward the camera. His image is in black and white, and the grain is nearly broken. It looks like one of the pictures they use for psychological testing, or some strange beast, a monster.

Related Characters: Steve Harmon, Kathy O’Brien

Related Symbols: Monster

Page Number and Citation: 276

Explanation and Analysis:

Kathy O’Brien Character Timeline in Monster

The timeline below shows where the character Kathy O’Brien appears in Monster. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...today. A prison van drives Steve to the courthouse, where he meets his attorney Kathy O’Brien. O’Brien explains that both Steve and James King are on trial for felony murder, and... (full context)

...close it out. The guard brings Steve into the courtroom and seats him next to O’Brien. Steve tells her he’s scared, and that he’s writing this all down in his notebook... (full context)

On his notepad, Steve writes “monster” over and over again, until O’Brien takes the pencil from him and crosses each “monster” out and tells him to believe... (full context)

...neighborhood. Briggs challenges Delgado’s medical expertise to so quickly know that Nesbitt was dead, but O’Brien makes no follow-up. (full context)

...a robbery. Zinzi then called a detective he knew with the information. When Briggs and O’Brien question Zinzi, he admits that he stole the information from Bolden, who wanted to strike... (full context)

...it is only something that is happening to him, rather than something he participates in. O’Brien says that Petrocelli is bringing out her witnesses to build a connection between Steve and... (full context)

...although he’s the youngest, every man in the jail is fairly young. He understands why O’Brien is trying to make the jury see Steve as a real person. That night he’d... (full context)

Steve meets privately with O’Brien in a waiting room. O’Brien says the court case isn’t going well, since nothing is... (full context)

O’Brien mentions that, later in the day, Osvaldo Cruz will testify. The screenplay cuts to a... (full context)

...it back someday. The man cries with anxiety, and Steve wants to cry with him. O’Brien told him that if the judge sentences him to 25 years, he’ll have to serve... (full context)

...heart, Steve knows he’s a good person. Before he’d left the courthouse yesterday he’d asked O’Brien about her own life, and she told him about her university education and her law... (full context)

...looks away and stops smiling. He puts his head down on the table, and when O’Brien tells him to sit up, there are tears in his eyes. (full context)

...is lying under oath, testifying so the district attorney will keep him out of jail. O’Brien starts questioning Osvaldo, pointing out that he was arrested again for beating up his girlfriend.... (full context)

In a visiting room, Steve’s father Mr. Harmon visits him. Mr. Harmon says O’Brien isn’t sounding very positive about the case so far, but it will be good when... (full context)

In his notes, Steve records that O’Brien is angry today because Petrocelli is intentionally manipulating the jury, showing them the grisly photos... (full context)

In his notes, Steve remembers that O’Brien warned him not write anything in his notebook that he wouldn’t want the prosecutor to... (full context)

...day. Steve looks over his movie and wishes that this life were only a movie. O’Brien told him that Monday is important, the day that the prosecution will use its key... (full context)

Steve resumes his screenplay. In the courthouse, O’Brien and Petrocelli chat briefly with the judge before Petrocelli calls Lorelle Henry to the stage,... (full context)

...points out that there were only six people in that lineup. Briggs steps down, and O’Brien has no further questions. (full context)

O’Brien begins her questioning. When pressed, Bobo admits that he never talked to Steve himself and... (full context)

...that Bobo saw Steve come out of the drugstore immediately before the robbery. In response, O’Brien confirms that Bobo himself never spoke to Steve or saw him again, nor does he... (full context)

In his notes, Steve recounts that O’Brien is worried about their defense; she says that Bobo’s testimony looks bad for Steve, and... (full context)

...shot from an angle that suggests a right-handed shooter, but the questioning is brief and O’Brien tells Steve that it’s a weak argument. Steve recalls Mr. Sawicki telling his film students... (full context)

In a separate meeting room, O’Brien counsels Steve that he needs to testify to present himself to the jury as a... (full context)

O’Brien sits at the table across from Steve with a paper cup and explains that she... (full context)

The scene cuts back to the courtroom. Steve is on the witness stand while O’Brien questions him. O’Brien asks several questions about whether Steve has any connection at all to... (full context)

...day of Christmas break. Multiple times, Petrocelli asks illegitimate leading questions, prompting rebuke from Briggs, O’Brien, and the judge who warns her to stop. Petrocelli ends her questioning, “satisfied.” Steve returns... (full context)

O’Brien calls Mr. Sawicki to testify to Steve’s character. Mr. Sawicki describes Steve as an honest,... (full context)

O’Brien then summarizes her defense of Steve Harmon. She argues that even the prosecution was only... (full context)

O’Brien argues that even Bobo’s testimony suggests that only he and King had any contact with... (full context)

...the screenplay, a guard tells Steve that the jury has reached a verdict. Steve asks O’Brien if it will be a good one, and she says she doesn’t know, but if... (full context)

...and closes her eyes. Steve is found not guilty. He spreads his arms to hug O’Brien, but she turns away stiffly to collect her papers. She moves away while Steve still... (full context)