Eli's little speech responded well among the more immediate crowd.  Some empowered nods, a few unsure glances. For the most part, the young priest's words resounded with enough power despite having little sway over the judge. From the crowd it was unsurprisingly predictable coming from a priest with so much fire in his soul and spark in his walk. He had a number of these folks soaking up his message like a sponge what with how they leaned on his every word. A bit preachy for Tucker, but then again law and church were bound to rub raw eventually. 

"He knows best- Let Father show us the Lord's work!" One woman cheered aloud. Two gloved hands reached forward to the stand, her efforts rejected and blocked by a ground-level officer. Finn's head bobbled, nodding against the chafe of the noose. Sparking more nods of agreement, their judge and proctor had no choice but to hear what his people and the frail priest rallied for. It humored him to say the least, but it was also a frightening effort. 

"Said it himself! [i]Jesus[/i] loves me just the same-" Finn chimed in, matter-of-factly, but was soon cut off when the executioner jolted the rope to silence him. The reminder that Finn had no place to speak followed angrily. 

"You're tellin' me you'll [i]adopt[/i] this sorry son'va bitch and transform him into an honest man? Oh, I am a man of faith, Father. But I'm not the convicted one here." He nearly burst at idea of it, but with the crowd's turn of their cheeks he checked himself not to laugh. Perhaps their Little Priest was not aware of the severity of his crimes? Truly even the most humble and righteous of men would rather see a man hanged than to accept such a burdensome task. Tucker challenged him. "Casey is a thief, a liar, and a killer. He's been wanted by our county for years and you want me to hand him over to you? What hope can there be left for such a wretched soul?"

To simply hand Casey over to Father Cassidy was ludicrous... and all the while tempting. As much as Tucker wanted to see the redhead dancing on the end of a rope that afternoon, he was also the sort to push a bet. If somehow Casey was placed into Father's custody and made the slightest mistake, not only would Casey swing but Cassidy a fool for so much as trying to tame a single wiry hair on Finn's head. Then again, he did go through the trouble of arranging an execution... 

Pawing at the gruffness of his greying beard and a conflicted sigh, he dropped all hypothetical and looked Eli straight in the eyes. "Convince me, Father, because I don't think you understand the weight of your request."