He explains his past crime and his early parole from prison after being convicted of self-defense manslaughter in a drunken, bar-room brawl:I""ve been in the penitentiary for four years.After the back panel of the dress has been ripped off, this causes him to be embarrassed for her situation, and it is her turn to be foolish.Afterwards, she watched video footage that Jason shot of himself - literally his last message before he died, about his desire to do his best in documenting "the truth" with his friends.]Relationships formed during filming would last for he remainder of Gregory Peck""s life -- he received the pocketwatch of Harper Lee""s father; he became the surrogate father to Mary Badham; and Brock Peters delivered Peck""s eulogy after his death in June of 2003.