chunk: In 1935, Paul supervises fellow officers Brutus "Brutal" Howell, Dean Stanton, Harry Terwilliger and Percy Wetmore at Cold Mountain Penitentiary on what they refer to as the "Green Mile", Death Row. Paul, suffering from a severe bladder infection, receives a physically imposing, but mentally challenged, black man, John Coffey, into his custody; John had been convicted of raping and murdering two little white girls. One of the other inmates is a Native-American named Arlen Bitterbuck, who is charged with murder and is the first to be executed. Percy demonstrates a severe sadistic and bullying streak, but is beyond reproach; he is the nephew of Louisiana's First Lady, but only Paul is bold enough to defy this. He is particularly abusive with inmate Eduard "Del" Delacroix; he breaks Del's fingers with his baton, steps on a pet mouse named Mr. Jingles, which Del had adopted, repeatedly calls him by a gay slur, and ultimately sabotages his execution by failing to soak the sponge used to