21st Precinct
Drama
Drama
A Life in Your Hands.
A witness has answered the question. Jonathan Kegg wants to know whether anyone asked the right one. Enter A Life in Your Hands on Heritage Radio Vault, the courtroom radio drama created by Erle Stanley Gardner, the author behind Perry Mason. Testimony, legal argument and the search for a decisive fact bring the uncertainty of an investigation into the courtroom.
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A Life in Your Hands: Programme Guide.
What happens when the person questioning a witness is committed to neither side? Jonathan Kegg enters the courtroom with an unusual purpose, making A Life in Your Hands a mystery about listening closely, testing testimony and discovering what an account leaves out.
Broadcast history.
The series appeared as a summer programme across 1949–1952, on NBC in 1949, 1950 and 1952 and on ABC in 1951. Its half-hour stories combined murder investigation with courtroom questioning. The runs were seasonal rather than a single continuous year-round series.
Cast and creative team.
Erle Stanley Gardner created the programme, but he was not its regular scriptwriter. Writers included Bob McKee and Doug Johnson. Jonathan Kegg was played at different times by Ned LeFevre, Carleton KaDell and Lee Bowman, so credits from one season should not be treated as universal.
Where to begin.
The Final Curtain Call · Arson Case · Murder in the Eye Doctor's Office
The Final Curtain Call is the historical premiere, dated 7 June 1949 in the researched programme log. The other two are further available cases in HRV.
An interesting detail.
Kegg's role was described as amicus curiae, a friend of the court. In the programme he represents neither prosecution nor defence. This is the series' dramatic premise, not guidance about how a real case should be conducted.
Listening appeal.
Try the show if you like a mystery whose solution depends on what people say and how their evidence fits together. Listen for the distinction between a confident answer and a convincing explanation.
Collection and date notes.
HRV lists 19 public recordings. Similar or repeated titles are kept as separate catalogue records and should not be assumed to be duplicate audio without checking. Historical logs also distinguish rehearsals from transmitted programmes. Modern podcast dates refer to publication of these records.
Sources.
Choose your next episode.
19 public recordings in this programme. Catalogue order is not a verified original broadcast chronology.
19 episodes available.
Questions about A Life in Your Hands.
Is Jonathan Kegg the defence lawyer?
The programme presents him as a friend of the court who represents neither prosecution nor defence.
Did Erle Stanley Gardner write every script?
No. He created the series, while other writers supplied scripts.
Why does the leading voice change?
Different actors played Jonathan Kegg during the separate summer runs.
