Judgement in Berlin (1988) - full transcript

My dear parents,

I pray that by the time
you receive this Ietter,

I shaII have obtained
my Iife's dream--

to cross beyond the watchtower
and waII outside my window...

to the Iife enjoyed by the majority of peopIe in the worId,

a Iife in which one can choose
where and how to Iive.

And though it hurts me to know
that I may never see you again--

a pain that I know
you share--

I ask you to forgive me...

and understand that I must be
with my chiIdren in the West.

PoIand? Why PoIand?



Because you can
go there IegaIIy.

No one wiII recognize you.
You go with your own I.D.s.

You're on vacation.
You want to visit a museum, whatever, no probIem.

And then
you'II join us.

In two days.

As a West German, I can traveI as I pIease.
I decide to take a vacation.

I'II meet you in Gdansk,
give you the forged papers and I.D.s,

and you board the ship that
takes you to Hamburg or Bremen.

What is it, Sigrid?
Huh?

Oh.

It seems now so possibIe,
but... I'm frightened, Hans.

If Marina goes to--
No!

Sorry.
Think positive.

Ja--
Positive.



When Hans asked me to go with you,
I jumped at the chance.

It's a good pIan.

Hans, you and Marina have a Iife to Iive,
a free Iife.

And I? My boys are there,
and I'm here.

My God.
I'II never see them again unIess we try this!

It's our onIy chance.

Lutz.

Lutz!

100 Station,
Iocker 13.

Sigrid, I'm now
at the 100 Station.

My train Ieaves
in haIf an hour.

See you tomorrow
in PoIand.

Sigrid, don'tworry.
I'II be carefuI.

Departing from track one,

the Warsaw-Leningrad Express
with connection to Gdansk.

What do you want?

Let me go!

Look.

It's not him.
Come on. Come on. Hurry.

Ladies and gentIemen,
pIease fasten your seat beIts.

We wiII be taking off in a few minutes.
Thank you.

Ladies and gentIemen,
Captain Wiszevski informs you...

thatwe have started our descent towards SchoenefeId Airport.

Remember, you have nothing
to do with this.

I know.
And say nothing about Hans.

But I'm so afraid.
Nothing.

The temperature in BerIin
is 24 degrees CeIsius.

Thank you.

Can I heIp you, sir?
No, thank you.

I-- I hate flying.

What-- Quiet.
I don'twant to hurt you.

This is BerIin
U.S. MiIitaryAirport.

LOT 165, we have been advised by SchoenefeId Airport,
East BerIin, ofyour emergency.

PIease confirm.
That's affirmative, BerIin.

Bring out the crash foam.
We got a radar on a possibIe hijacking.

Prepare for emergency diversion.
Landing at TempeIhof.

Permission granted, LOT 165.

Radar contact, turn right,
heading 180, go back to visuaI...

to TempeIhof.

- PIease advise when you have the runway in sight.
- Roger. I have the runway.

LOT 165,
check wheeIs down.

Wind 2505.
CIear to Iand.

Roger, BerIin. Coming down.

Listen, ifyou want to
get offthe pIane and stay,

we are free!

LOT 165, this is transit controI.
HoId your position.

Shut down your engines.

Open the hatch
and observe the off-Ioading.

AcknowIedge.

Throw down your gun!
- Request foIIowing personneI to processing center.

WeIcome.WiIIkommen
to a free West BerIin.

Ask him again.
Did he hear anything or did he see anything?

Nein.

PIease, couId I use
the teIephone?

Yes.
WouId you escort him to a phone?

Okay.

Are you seeking asyIum?

What about the woman?

Sigrid Radke and her daughter
were traveIing with you.

They didn't know
whatwas going on?

She has nothing to do with this.
I toId you before.

I did it by myseIf,
for myseIf.

Don't be a fooI,
Guenther.

This is what I aIways
wanted for you.

Mama, how can I stay here...

when you're there,
so sick?

Oh, no, no.
You don'tworry about me.

Take care ofyourfamiIy.

I can't taIk now.

I Iove you.

Mama?

Mama!

The hijacking of a PoIish airIiner to West BerIin Saturday...

with 63 passengers
and eight crew members aboard...

ended peacefuIIy when the armed air pirate,
HeImut ThieIe,

an East German waiter,
surrendered toAmerican authorities at TempeIhof,

the United States
miIitary airfieId here.

The hijacker,
who was disarmed by U.S. Air Force personneI,

was taken intoAmerican custody,
aIong with a woman and a chiId in his company.

U.S. officiaIs said eight other passengers,
aII East Germans,

asked for asyIum and were turned over to West BerIin refugee services.

We are so Iucky.
Ja, das stimmt.

The fact that I am abIe
to express my feeIings now...

without fear...

fiIIs me with happiness.

I pray that you wiII
see this Ietter...

and smiIe for me.

B-E-A-R.

B-E-A-R.

And he make,
"Whaaaah!"

Whaaah!

And now, cat.

Good morning.
Oh, heIIo.

I'm sorry to interrupt you.
Itjust Iooked Iike you were having so much fun.

Ja, we enjoy the new present very much.
Thank you, CoIoneI.

I thought it might be kind of a painIess way for her to Iearn EngIish.

- How are you today, Marina?
- Good morning. More books?

No, no books today,
but I did bring you some...

chocoIate.

Thank you.
You're weIcome.

Frau Radke,
I have something for you too.

Oh, you brought me
some books.

This is a short statement
we've prepared.

It's a formaIity,
a reIease.

I can't beIieve it.
Why now, after so Iong?

Sigrid, we trust you.
We beIieve you.

Mr.
LaeuferwiII be taking you to a West BerIin refugee center.

They'II give you identification papers, money.

They'II heIp you find a job,
a pIace to Iive.

What about HeImut?

WeII, not yet. With HeImut,
it's a bit more compIicated.

"On behaIf of my daughter,
Marina Radke,

I hereby reIease and forever discharge the United States government."

We are aII signatories to the internationaI accord against hijacking,

incIuding West Germany,
for God's sake.

That agreement requires prosecution or extradition back to the East...

to face prosecution there.

It's poIiticaI suicide for the West Germans to do either.

What the heII do they put in their coffee around here?
So Bonn wants out.

You bet they want out.
We are in one heII of a bind.

We have to prosecute.

State has a mess,
and justice must cIean it up.

A courtroom.
Yes.

And Bonn is paying for every naiI.
Everything.

They're paying us to prosecute the case for them.

But, uh, whatwe need
is a reIiabIe judge.

As director offoreign Iitigation,
maybe you couId heIp us find one.

According to this report,
there was a judge.

WeII, he baiIed out,
Ieft us hoIding the bag...

Mm-hmm.
With three defendants in the bag.

They've been in custody
for months.

The East is demanding either their heads or their bodies.

We have to deIiver something ifwe
want them to protect our civiI aviation...

from other such excursions,
to Cuba, for instance.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You said "reIiabIe judge."

You knowwhat I mean,
Bruno.

Atough, no-nonsense judge,
possibIy a former prosecutor.

Look, we need this thing
overwith-- one, two, three.

Does anybody
spring to mind?

- Good morning, judge.
- Bruno, weIcome aboard!

- Did you take your shoes off?
- I remembered.

I'II be rightwith you.

Yankee doodIe went to London
just to ride a pony.

I am thatYankee doodIe guy!

Oh, my!
Marsha wouId Iove this!

I didn't reaIize the justice Department had a maid service.
Thank you.

ItwouId appear, esteemed judge,
that you're the one who's been cIeaning up.

Six mayors and, uh--
Eight.

WeII, who's counting?

What is it, a coupIe of state secretaries,
two state treasurers?

Extortion, bribery, fraud.

You shouId have had a sign over your door-- "Abandon hope,
aII who Iitigate here."

You're not such a bad prosecutor.
Do you miss it?

What do you think?

They've been in the custody ofthe United
States that Iong without a triaI or a hearing?

The man stiII is.

The woman and chiId were reIeased due to
Iack of evidence but are confined to West BerIin.

- Pending what?
- History.

Since the Iron Curtain,
no one has ever stood triaI for escaping from the East,

but hijacking is different.

Nowwe're taIking about
internationaI treaty agreements,

which, by the way, we have just signed,
with aII the internationaI attention.

So no one wants
that day in court.

We certainIy don't,
and we occupy West BerIin.

The West Germans don'twant it.
So it's heads we Iose, taiIs you win.

So why don't they do that?
Just toss a coin.

- They did. We won.
- We did?

The chanceIIery has had a very persuasive influence on the White House.

This wiII be the first such United States court for BerIin.

AII the procedures
wiII beAmerican,

as wiII the Iawyers
and the judge.

You caII that
"winning the toss"?

Of course, esteemed judge.
We have you.

You'II become an ArticIe Two judge with fuII dipIomatic passport.

This couId mean a better shot at the Supreme Court.

- How much time, you figure?
- No time at aII.

Case is open-and-shut.

This man, HeImut ThieIe,
confessed to everything.

He was quite candid in his statement,
heId back nothing. He was proud of it.

He was gIad
to be Iocked up.

Are our prisons so much better than their streets?

I want to discuss it
with Marsha before I agree.

There'II be no pIea bargaining.
You know how I feeI about that.

Do I know how you stand on that?
Oi, gevaIt!

This was aII we heard in Iaw schooI.
How does it go?

"Accept pIea onIy ifthe scope of a punishment...

afforded under the pIea is adequate to meet the nature ofthe crime."

"Never bind the judge's hands...

in advance."

What did Bruno say?

He said he's sorry
he missed you.

That's very sweet.
What did the man say?

It's an open-and-shut case,
shouIdn't take any time at aII.

CouId be Iike a second honeymoon for us, Iove.

He said the weather in BerIin is beautifuI this time ofyear.

I think it's very beautifuI right here in New jersey.
Ah, what do you know.

- You've aIready made your mind up, haven't you?
- Yes, I have.

Mm-hmm. Why?

If it's an open-and-shut case,
where's the chaIIenge?

- This couId mean a Iot to me, Marsha.
- Oh, Herbert, Herbert.

Your ambition is showing.

Good God!
You're 42 years oId and a federaI judge.

What more do you want?
It's good enough for me.

- You think I don't know that?
- I don't beIieve it.

- A jewish judge in BerIin?
- Oh, what's that got to do with it?

God, Herbert,
we don't have a singIe reIative Ieft aIive in Europe.

We don't even have a grave to visit.
How can you be impartiaI?

Maybe that's the chaIIenge,
Marsha.

Can I be a fairjudge anywhere,
under any circumstances?

Here, on the moon
or in Germany?

They found me a job!

HeIIo, Papa!
You're going to drive a taxi?

Ja.

Ataxi.

I don't understand why you bring me here in such a way.

Sigrid, I brought you here because I have
to share some information with you.

I'm sorry.
I had a very interesting visit this morning from a Maria Schuster.

Hmm?
Ex-wife of a certain Hans Schuster.

She says her husband is being heId captive in East Germany...

because of anotherwoman--
you.

Now I understand it aII.

You've kept siIent so as not to jeopardize Hans Schuster's position.

Sigrid,
you cannot protect him,

nor can your siIence
heIp him.

He's in jaiI
in East Germany,

and there's nothing
we can do about it.

May I?

Cigarette?

Russian?
No. French.

Foreign ministry.

Uri Davidovitch Andreyev.

Assistant to the first secretary for security,

internationaI department
ofthe Party CentraI Committee.

I'm flattered.

Your East German comrades
must think me very important...

to run to the Iong apron strings of Mother Russia.

I suppose that they might.

These forgeries
are remarkabIe.

Are you in the business
of arranging defections?

My name is Hans Schuster.

I'm an eIectricaI engineer empIoyed by a construction firm...

that does business
on both sides ofthe waII.

I met Sigrid Radke
in February of 1977.

We feII in Iove.

The fact thatwe Iived in two differentworIds was an inconvenience...

I sought to overcome.

I was to secure for Sigrid
and her daughter...

counterfeit
West German I.D. passes,

rendezvous with them in PoIand where,
thanks to the faIse I.D.s,

we wouId aII board a ship bound for Bremen and the free worId.

ObviousIy,
my pIan faiIed.

And HeImut ThieIe?

Awaiter,
a friend of Sigrid's.

He has chiIdren
in the West, I beIieve.

You do that very weII.

Sixweeks of practice
pay off.

- Mother Russia beIieves you.
- Then I don't understand.

Why the waiting?

Try me. Try me for the crimes
to which I've confessed.

Get it overwith.
I wouId Iike that.

I beIieve you had nothing to do with the hijacking.

What hijacking?
The PoIish airIiner.

The one they forced to take them to West BerIin.
My God.

They are free?
Yourfriends are not free.

At this moment, they are in prison,
Iike you, waiting to go on triaI.

That can't be true.

No one has ever been tried in the West for escaping from the East.

Correct. TheAmericans wiII do it for us.
TheAmericans?

They wiII be the first.
That's impossibIe.

Oh, no. In aII fairness
to the free worId,

we shaII Iet theAmerican court estabIish your sentence in their triaI.

We shaII be watching
very carefuIIy.

The waII, Herr Schuster,

iffour meters high
and 160 kiIometers Iong.

You are in
the construction business.

You know how--

You know how expensive
that can be.

One of my duties is to make sure aII that money doesn't go to waste.

In that sense, I, too,
am in the construction business.

But ifyou are, in fact, in the profession of...
engineering escapes,

then your stay here
wiII be indefinite.

Herr Schuster,
pIease beIieve,

there's nothing personaI
in what I teII you.

I knowwhat a man
wiII do for Iove.

But the Iaw's the Iaw.

I think Marsha
was right.

Aboutwhat?
A jewish judge in BerIin.

Somehow it doesn't sitweII.
The Iegacy's aII wrong.

Legacy schmegacy.

Ajudge is a judge is a judge, bubeIeh.
What's this?

Confessions you asked for.
ThieIe and Radke.

I don't envy
the defense here.

How can any Iawyer
defend a skyjacking?

Do you have a Iist ofthe pIayers?
Prosecution and defense.

Judah Best for the man.

Thought you'd be interested in the woman's counseIor.
Bernie HeIIring?

Sixweeks they had
Radke and the girI.

Sixweeks with HeIIer working on them day in and day out,
every day.

And he got nothing.

Yet the moment
Radke is reIeased,

she comes bouncing back,
eager to turn herseIf in,

with a carbon copy ofThieIe's confession on her Iips, right?

Right.
And we're supposed to beIieve it, right?

Why?
Because she confessed.

BuIIshit.

This is not a free-flowing confession.
It's too pat, too constructed.

There's got to have
been more said.

Questions, answers, comments,
smaII taIk, something, anything.

Now, what about
the other passengers?

- Did they see anything, hear anything?
- No. Nothing.

And even ifthey had,
they wouIdn't say anything to heIp us.

I mean,
they aII have reIatives in the East. Ahh.

Uh, Frau Becker,

do you think you couId
get hoId of a copy...

ofthe fuII transcript...

of Sigrid's interview
with HeIIer?

I'II see what I can do.

Good girI.
Thank you.

AII rise.

God save the United States
and this honorabIe court.

You may be seated.

May I, Your Honor, for the record,
introduce the counseIors for both tabIes?

Representing the prosecution is the United States attorney for BerIin,
Mr. Edwin PaImer:

Mr. AIan Sherman,
the speciaI prosecutorfor the United States court for BerIin.

Representing the defendant, Mr.
HeImut ThieIe, is Mr. Judah Best.

Representing Miss Sigrid Radke
is Mr. Bernard HeIIring.

German counseI for the defendants,
Ms. Kim Becker.

Thank you, Mr. Ristau.

I want to emphasize that the purpose of this preIiminary hearing...

is not to determine the guiIt or innocence of either accused,

but soIeIy to determine
ifthe United States,

which has been caIIed upon to exercise
jurisdiction in connection with this matter,

can find probabIe cause
to beIieve...

that one or both ofthe defendants has committed a crime.

In which case,
the accused wiII be heId over for a fuII triaI.

Now then, Mr. Sherman,

I understand a compIaint has been
fiIed against each ofthese defendants.

- That is correct, Your Honor.
- PIease inform the court ofthe charges.

Your Honor, the defendants,
HeImut ThieIe and Sigrid Radke,

have been charged with four counts in
vioIation of the West German penaI code--

first,
hijacking an airpIane:

second, taking a hostage--
to wit, the LOT stewardess:

third, depriving the passengers
ofthat pIane oftheir Iiberty:

and fourth, doing bodiIy harm to another-- to wit,
the stewardess.

Besides that, Your Honor,
the defendant ThieIe has been charged...

with a fifth count-- possession of a firearm without a Iicense.

Are you prepared to demonstrate there is probabIe
cause to hoId the defendants on these charges?

- I am, Your Honor.
- Very weII. You may caII yourfirstwitness.

CoIoneI Patrick HeIIer.

Can you teII us what
your investigation has shown...

regarding what happened on the pIane before it Ianded?

The airpIane was Iocated 15 minutes
from SchoenefeId Airport in East BerIin...

when, according
to his confession,

HeImut ThieIe made his way
to the gaIIey,

grasped the hair ofthe stewardess,
Beata Levandovska,

pIaced a pistoI
to her head...

and forced her to the floor
ofthe aircraft.

He then toId the crew that ifthey did not Iand in TempeIhofAirport,

he wouId shoot the stewardess.

CoIoneI HeIIer, isn't it true
that from August 30...

to September 10, 1978,

Sigrid Radke was heId
against herwiII...

and without benefit of counseI on your orders?

Objection.
That is immateriaI to the statement made on November 28...

when she came in voIuntariIy
to set the record straight.

Sustained.

Mr. HeIIring, you wiII pIease confine your
questioning to the statement on November 28.

Isn't it true, CoIoneI,

that the onIy shred of evidence
you have against Mrs. Radke...

is her own statement,

since none ofthe passengers on the airpIane actuaIIy saw her do any--

I object. Mr. HeIIring
is Ieading the witness.

Your Honor,
every singIe passenger on that pIane was interrogated.

I think the question demands an answer.
I agree. OverruIed.

PIease continue, Mr.
HeIIring. Thank you, sir.

I'II repeat the question.

Isn't it true that the onIy evidence you have against Mrs.
Radke...

is her own statement?

Yes, I wouId say that.

Isn't it aIso true
that Mrs. Radke toId you...

that she had begged Mr.
ThieIe not to go through with the hijacking...

and that actuaIIy she
attempted to prevent it?

- Objection, Your Honor.
- OverruIed.

The witness wiII pIease
answer that question.

She did say that.
Yes, she--

What Sigrid Radke may or may not have
said to ThieIe on that pIane doesn't matter.

The point is,
she did use her own daughter to smuggIe a gun onboard,

and she did hand
that gun to ThieIe.

Then she did nothing whatsoever to warn the captain,
the crew or the passengers...

that a hijacking-- ahijacking-- was about to take pIace.

I'm incIined to agree
with you, Mr. Sherman,

butwhether or not Mrs.
Radke attempted to withdraw from the scheme...

is a matter to be decided at a triaI,
not at this preIiminary hearing.

Anything further,
Mr. HeIIring?

No, Your Honor.
Nothing further.

Does the government
wish to reexamine?

Not at this time, Your Honor. Very weII.
The witness may step down.

Ladies and gentIemen,
at this time,

the court ruIes that
there is probabIe cause--

Excuse me, Your Honor.
- Mr. Best?

Yes, Your Honor.
Um, I've been advised by my coIIeague, Frau Becker,

that there is here in BerIin a perfectIy
vaIid constitution very simiIar to our own,

simiIar in its protection
of individuaI rights.

But it doesn't provide for the specific eIements
of due process as we understand them,

in particuIar, the right
to a triaI byjury.

My cIientwouId Iike to know at this time
if he wiII have a triaI before his peers--

citizens of BerIin--

as guaranteed by
theAmericanConstitution.

Uh, Mr. Best, I can onIy assure you,
as a federaI judge--

Excuse me.
Your Honor, excuse me.

Mr. Chairman? I beIieve Mr.
PaImerwouId Iike to respond to that now.

Mr. PaImer?

- May I approach the bench, Your Honor?
- You may. Mr. Best?

I'm sure Your Honor wiII appreciate the reIuctance...

with which we approach this compIex question at this time,

but I do not beIieve thatwe are actuaIIy bound by Iaw...

to extend those rights.

Mr. United States
Attorney,

it is the farthest thing from my mind to embarrass you or your cIient,

but notjust the defense,
but aII of us-- the counseI, the court, the peopIe--

are entitIed to know the Iimits
ofthis court's authority.

Your Honor--
Excuse me. Mr. PaImer.

Is it the government's position that the Constitution ofthe United States...

appIies here fuIIy
or something Iess?

We're not prepared to give a definitive position on that issue, sir.

We wouId argue in an American court-- I'm sorry.
GentIemen.

We're not having an argument on this today.
Be seated, pIease.

We wiII next proceed
to arraign the defendants...

and reconvene here next Monday morning to set a firm date for triaI.

Adjourned.

Open-and-shut case.
Piece of cake.

ShouIdn't take any time at aII.
Right, Bruno?

I'II provide the entertainment from here on.

Hey, that's
MarIene Dietrich.

Greatest Iegs-- Ah, second greatest Iegs in the worId.

I don't hear anything.

Oh, from continent to continent,
some things never change.

HeIIo.
Yeah, Bruno. What's up?

What the heII you mean,
no jury triaI?

"The United States authority
in BerIin is derived...

from rights of conquest,
not the consent ofthe government."

So, in otherwords,
the citizens ofWest BerIin have no rights at aII.

"The United States court for BerIin is
an instrument ofthe occupation poIicy...

"ofthe United States.

"The decision whether
to grant a jury triaI...

is a poIiticaI
and not a judiciaI question."

Don't Iook at me, judge.
I didn'twrite it.

So who did write it,
AdoIf HitIer?

"The decision whether
to grant a jury triaI...

is a poIiticaI
and not a judiciaI question."

This, as I understand it,
Your Honor,

is theposition
ofthese prosecutors...

for the United States
ofAmerica.

I have been abIe to find
onIy one IegaI precedent...

for theirposition,
Your Honor.

It is the case caIIed
Cat versus Mouse,

from a foreign
jurisdiction,

from the casebook caIIed AIice'sAdventures in WonderIand.

"A cat named Fury said to a mouse that he met in the house,

"'Let us both go to Iaw.
I wiII prosecute you.

"'Come,
I'II take no deniaI.

"We must have the triaI, for reaIIy,
this morning I have nothing to do.'

"Said the mouse to the cur,
'Such a triaI, dear sir,

"'with no jury orjudge...

"wouId be
wasting our breath.'

"'I'II be the judge, I'II be the jury,'
said the cunning oId Fury.

I'II try the whoIe cause
and condemn you to death."'

For shame...

that I shouId even have to
rise to respond...

to such aposition
on behaIf of our country,

a position written by peopIe somewhere in some foggy bottom...

with some pretty foggy heads.

I ask the court to ruIe,
notjust for our cIients,

but for the honor
of our country,

that these fugitives from another sociaI system be at Ieast entitIed...

to due process ofthe Iaw
in thisAmerican court.

We do not understand the confusion on
the part of the defense over this matter.

WeII, this court is a IittIe confused too,
Mr. PaImer.

This court sits--

This court sits in conquered territory.
It is an occupationaI court.

Therefore, it stands to reason that it is
an instrument ofAmerican foreign poIicy.

It cannot, by definition,
independentIy decide anything.

So, in otherwords,
this court must foIIow...

the directives
ofthe U.S. secretary of state?

In otherwords, myjob here is to simpIy obey?
I have nothing to decide?

Not on the question
ofthe jury triaI, no.

Sir, are you teIIing me...

that the Constitution ofthe United States does not appIy in this court?

It is ourposition...

thatwe're not restricted by the United
States Constitution in these proceedings.

That is correct.

Did you ever hear anyone say that to anyjudge
in an American courtroom anywhere?

I have not.

Two U.S. government prosecutors, one a bIack,
the other a jew, they sound Iike Nazis.

What the heII's
going on here?

Did you know this
wouId be an issue?

I didn't
anticipate that, no.

Do they reaIIy expect me
to do the same thing...

that Nuremberg prosecuted aII those
German judges for doing here 45 years ago?

You heard 'em, Bruno. They want me to be a good boy,
foIIow the fuhrer's orders...

and ruIe the defendants in my court are no
more than a mere extension offoreign poIicy.

They want me to become
a goddamn Nazi judge!

They can go to heII first.
Knowwhat I'm gonna do?

I'm gonna do what those German judges shouId have done in 1934.

I'm gonna resign.
They can get somebody eIse to do their dirty work.

Herb, Iisten,
if a jury of BerIiners...

is brought in to judge a case in which the United States is a Iitigant,

then the conquered
are judging the conquerors,

and our status as an occupying power is at an end,

and BerIin
is a free city.

Then the yogurt hits the fan,
because the Russians wiII be here the next day.

Now, aII I am saying is that this is not good guys and bad guys.

This is the state,

and PaImer and Sherman and in the
unenviabIe position of representing the state...

in what seems to be
an inhumane poIicy.

You work for the state.
How do you stand?

In this instance,

I support the decision
ofthe court.

And that decision
is mine aIone.

Some honeymoon.
"Weather in BerIin is beautifuI this time ofyear."

I'm sorry.
I'm just trying to understand what drives these peopIe.

What the heII is it?

Look at this!

My God.
That actuaIIy happened.

Seventy peopIe have been kiIIed
and more than 3,000 arrested...

trying to cross
that godforsaken waII.

Now I have to sit in judgment
on two that made it.

How the heII can I do that,

especiaIIy with the State Department breathing down my neck,

teIIing me they have no right
to a jury triaI?

Herbert, you have
made your point.

This case isn'tjust
a chaIIenge anymore.

It has gone so far beyond that,
and I'm getting scared now.

Why don't you Iet somebody eIse finish it and resign?

Don't think I'm not seriousIy considering resigning,

but I have to wonder--

WhatwouId have happened if EarI Warren
stopped defending the Constitution...

before schooIs in the South
were integrated?

What ifjudges Iike Frank johnson
ofAIabama and Bob Merhige ofVirginia...

hadn't fought
for equaI rights?

They firebombed Merhige's house,
and he stiII heId firm.

Who am I to waIk away when the Constitution's in jeopardy?

Come off it, Don Quixote.
Those guys were fighting for civiI rights.

You're risking our entire future here for a coupIe of Germans.

So that's it?
You want me to take out the HoIocaust on them.

BuIIshit. That is not the point at aII.
Yes, ma'am.

That is not the point at aII!
That is the point, Marsha!

You want me to bury these peopIe to
make up for aII our graveIess reIatives.

Let me teII you something.

My soIe responsibiIity here is to uphoId my oath to the Constitution...

and not to any government poIicies or personaI causes!

Mr. PaImer, wiII you pIease
approach the bench?

Sir, this court
rejects out of hand...

any notion that these defendants
have no rights here,

and unIess and untiI a different United
States judge for BerIin presides here,

the Constitution wiII remain in fuII force and effect.
Your Honor--

I'm caIIing your bIuff,
Mr. PaImer.

Ifthe occupationaI authorities do not bring
a jury of BerIiners into this courtroom,

I'm going to be forced
to set these peopIe free.

You know, I--

I aIways thought itwouId
be different here in the West.

Hans was aIways
so optimistic.

It is different here.

Not perfect,

but at Ieastwe can try
to make our system work.

Countries don't care
who they hurt.

What is the difference between one system and the other...

when you have nothing?

I'm sorry.

I know you--

you're reaIIy a very good man and you're
trying to do everything for Marina and me--

PIease, Sigrid, Iet me do it.
Let me show how you were tricked into making your confession.

No.

Don't you see that
these Russians are here?

They're in court. They see everything.
They Iisten, they watch.

There's no hope for Hans
ifthey know how he heIped us.

- It's bound to come out sooner or Iater.
- Okay, but not through me.

It's our onIy defense,
Sigrid.

Then I have no defense.

I wouId rather go to jaiI forfour orfive years than to hurt him.

Butwe...
PIease, you respect that!

Don't know that it's
four orfive years.

We couId be Iooking at a sentence of 15 years.
Doesn't matter.

Oh, for God's sake!

Save me from stupid
seIf-sacrifice!

TeII me something, Sigrid.

WiII your sense of honor and virtue feed your daughter,
put a roof over her head?

WiII it keep her company
for 15 years?

WiII Hans want you
to do that?

I don't know.

I just don't know!

You wanted to see me?

Yes. Thank you.

Your newspapers here--
how accurate are they?

SurprisingIy accurate,
I'd say,

especiaIIy regarding
this particuIar triaI.

So I can beIieve that Sigrid has not so far brought up my name?

Her siIence may be
an attempt to protect me.

That's an act of Iove I can't accept.
She must teII them.

And you think that'II set you free?
No.

I'm worried for her.
I'm worried for the chiId.

- But you wouIdn't understand that.
- ReaIIy?

You are too pragmatic,
you peopIe.

"From each,
according to his abiIity.

To each,
according to his need."

Sounds so simpIe,
beautifuI.

Butwhere inDas KapitaI
does it speak of Iove?

I'm not sure what KarI Marx had in mind,
but I know this isn'twhat God intended.

- God taIks to you?
- No. I just feeI with him.

Perhaps we have more
in common than you know.

Then heIp me.

I have written
a Ietter to her.

You can read it
ifyou wish.

It asks her to teII the truth,
to save herseIf.

Nothing more. I cannot do that,
Herr Schuster.

I'II teII you who suppIied me
with the passports, papers,

the forgeries--
everything!

Herr Schuster,
how do you thinkwe found you?

Now, Mr. HeIIring.

I understand that you wish to have the
statement of November 28 suppressed.

Is this true?
Yes, it is, Your Honor.

Very weII. I wiII hear
your arguments, sir,

but I hope it is possibIe for you to
accommodate the sensibiIities ofthis court,

or perhaps, more accurateIy,
this judge.

Your Honor,
you'II forgive me...

if I don't, uh, quite
comprehend your meaning.

Then I shaII be even
and direct, sir.

I hope there wiII be no more Iong and flowery speeches,
Mr. HeIIring.

Just simpIe, decIarative
sentences, okay?

Your Honor,
I wiII attempt,

with the greatest
difficuIty,

to controI my use ofthe Ianguage that I Iove,

a Ianguage that embeIIishes
the Iawwith grace notes.

Let us get on with it,
pIease.

I'II try, Your Honor.
Thank you, Mr. HeIIring.

Why do you wish to have
the statement suppressed?

Your Honor, I have in this hand
a statement, a confession.

And in the other hand--

And in the other hand,
I have a transcript...

ofthat same confession,

but incIuding the Ieading and coercive
questions concocted by the interrogators.

PIease remember your promise to the court,
Mr. HeIIring.

Now, are you teIIing me that that statement was not freeIy given,

that Mrs. Radke did not
come in voIuntariIy...

to cIear the air, as Mr.
Sherman assured the court?

Take note, Your Honor,
of how simpIe and decIarative I can be.

Yes.

- Objection, Your Honor.
- OverruIed, Mr. Sherman.

- How dare Mr. HeIIring--
- Mr. Sherman, you are overruIed.

PIease sit down.

- Who presided over this interrogation?
- CoIoneI Patrick j. HeIIer.

Mr.
HeIIring, that transcript must be produced and marked into evidence.

But, Your Honor,
I'm afraid I cannot.

- Mr. HeIIring?
- My cIient-- I think itwouId be appropriate.

Mr. HeIIring, I order you
to show me that transcriptnow.

No, but--

Excuse me for a moment,
Your Honor.

Sigrid, I'm sorry, but
there's nothing I can do.

The judge has ordered me.

Madam, I'm compeIIed
to inform you,

regretfuIIy, of course,

that even ifyou continue to sacrifice yourseIf,
there can be no guarantee...

that the information contained
in this transcript...

wiII not be reveaIed during Mr.
ThieIe's part ofthe triaI.

Do you cIearIy understand this?
Yes.

Very weII. Mr.
HeIIring, you may reexamine the witness.

When Mrs. Radke was in custody,
did she correspond with the outside worId?

Yes, I beIieve
she wrote some Ietters.

You beIieve? You had copies made of every one ofthem.
Isn't that true?

Objection, Your Honor.

Ifyour objection is vaIid, Mr.
PaImer, you have nothing to fearfrom this question.

PIease answer it, CoIoneI.
Yes, I did.

You had copies made of her Ietters.
With her approvaI?

She knew I was gonna be reading her maiI.
She didn't know I'd be making copies.

On whose orders? I was instructed by Mr.
PaImer to review aII her maiI.

Why?
We were afraid she wouId reveaI her Iocation.

You mean she was not permitted to teII
anybody where she was being kept?

We kept her Iocation a secret
for her own security, sir.

You feIt she was in danger
here in TempeIhof?

A U.S. miIitary base?
Yes, sir.

- Dangerfrom whom?
- From the East Germans, sir.

PIease continue,
Mr. HeIIring.

I have here a page
from the transcript...

ofyour November 28
interrogation of Mrs. Radke.

What page is that, Mr.
HeIIring? Page 13, Your Honor.

Thank you.
This is you speaking.

"We understand what you went through when the papers did not come.

"You thought that Hans had been arrested and the hijacking--

the hijacking is not
such a bad thing."

When you said this,
were you trying to persuade her...

or induce her to confess?

My motive was to instruct her as to what information we had about Mr.
Schuster.

Excuse me, CoIoneI.
Mrs. Bauer,

I want that Iast question
repeated, pIease.

I want you to Iisten very carefuIIy to
that question before you answer again.

"When you made this statement,

were you trying to persuade her
or induce her to confess?"

CoIoneI, do you now,
under oath,

read those words
as an inducement?

- I can't hear you. WouId you mind speaking up?
- I said yes. Yes, I do.

I shouIdn't have used
those words.

Itwas a poor choice ofwords
on my part.

And do you nowfind this sort
of inducement consistent...

with the duties of an officer of
the U.S. Department of Defense?

No.

- No more questions, Your Honor.
- Thank you, CoIoneI. You may step down.

I find it to be a fact that the United States heId a defendant,

Mrs. Radke, because they suspected that she
was in Ieague with the defendant, Mr. ThieIe.

And I find that without enough evidence to formaIIy charge her,

they nonetheIess continued to hoId her and her chiId in iIIegaI custody.

This court aIso finds
that the defendant, Mrs. Radke,

was unIawfuIIy and unconstitutionaIIy
induced by CoIoneI Patrick HeIIer...

to give statements that she expIicitIy did notwish to give.

AccordingIy, the court ruIes
that the statement given...

on November 28, 1973,

may not be used in evidence
against the defendant.

And that
it must be suppressed.

Ifthe prosecution can make a case against Mrs.
Radke without her statement,

Iet it do so.

If not, the case against her
wiII be dismissed...

and aII restraints upon herfreedom wiII be discharged.

Your Honor? Yes, Mr. PaImer?
What is your pIeasure?

WhiIe the United States occupation
authorities beIieve that the court's order...

regarding the defendant's constitutionaI right to a triaI byjury...

are not correct
as a matter of Iaw,

they nevertheIess want to move these proceedings to a resoIution...

and they wiII, therefore,
endeavor to give effect to the court's order.

Responding with one simpIe word,
Mr. PaImer,

do these defendants get
a triaI byjury?

Yes.

FeeIing pretty seIf-satisfied,
aren't you?

Yup.

A IittIe smug,
maybe?

Yup.

You knew you'd win
aII aIong, didn't you?

Nope.

Can you say anything
but "yup" or "nope"?

Nope. Yup.

Terrific. I'm married
to Gary Cooper.

Nope. SpencerTracy.

We are reconvened to hear a pretriaI motion to dismiss the case...

against Mrs. Radke.

Your Honor, at this time
the United States wishes...

to dismiss its case
against Sigrid Radke.

Mr. PaImer, I think she needs
much more than that, sir.

Are you prepared to use
your occupationaI authority...

to forbid the German courts from
pressing any further charges against her?

Yes.
Then the motion is granted.

- Mr. HeIIring.
- Sir.

- The case against your cIient is dismissed.
- Thank you, sir.

An update on the TempeIhof
hijack triaI.

FoIIowing the acquittaI of Sigrid Radke,
her attorney, Bernard HeIIring,

has announced he'II stay on
as ThieIe's defense.

We Russians have no heritage
of common Iaw...

with its habeas corpus:

no historicaI traditions
of pubIic poIiticaI debates.

Power is power,
quite simpIy,

and a triaI is nothing
more than anarchy.

This judge,
this man Stern,

why is he so ungovernabIe?

This judge has a distorted sense ofwhat
serves the best interests ofthe United States.

Notjust the United States.
My government is worried, Mr. WiIde.

Worried enough
to have put me on a pIane.

And before I embark
once again, I expect us...

to have found a soIution thatwiII dissuade others from hijacking pIanes...

or other such acts
ofterrorism.

ThieIe must be sentenced
to a term in jaiI.

The record must show his
crime was indeed a crime--

Even if I were to agree
with you, Mr. Andreyev,

there is nothing I can do
to force the decision of a jury.

What in the name of God
is happening here?

You said you wanted
500 prospective jurors, judge.

I guess this is them.

These are Russian soIdiers,
aren't they? Sure are.

What are they doing here?
Waiting for us to strangIe in our own contradictions.

Steve, what the heII are these Russian soIdiers doing here?

They're here to intimidate the jurors.

Can't you do anything about that?
No, sir.

Why not?
'Cause ifwe continue to cross into East BerIin,

then I can't stop
them from coming.

You want more cops?
No, for God's sake. No more bodies.

Just get everybody inside.
AII right. Everyone in. Let's go.

Is this working?
Yeah.

Ladies and gentIemen,
weIcome to the United States court for BerIin.

Under our system ofjustice,
a jury, and a jury aIone,

has the power to decide
what has been proven...

and what has not been proven
in a court of Iaw.

OnIy those peopIe
who are chosen jurists,

the 12 men and women randomIy
seIected from the community,

wiII have the right to decide
the facts ofthis case...

and, based upon those facts,
determine the guiIt or innocence ofthe accused.

Ladies and gentIemen
ofthe jury,

we are here
so that you can determine...

the guiIt or innocence
of a man.

Now, is this a man
with criminaI intent?

Is this a man who couId steaI,

who wouId kiII?

Now, what kind of a man
is HeImutAIexanderThieIe?

You reaIize the PoIish crew--
the piIot and the stewardess--

they'II aII testify.

Yes. It's good.
They wiII teII the truth.

I didn't come to West BerIin to give the kind offaIse confession...

they take in the East.

I want the triaI the judge
said I couId have.

I want to be judged
by my own peopIe.

He was standing over her.

The stewardess, you mean?
Yes. Beata Levandovska.

He was hoIding her
by the hairwith one hand,

and in his other hand he was hoIding a pistoI at her head.

And what did he do then?
He demanded thatwe Iand in West BerIin.

If his demands
are not fuIfiIIed,

he wiII shoot
Beata Levandovska.

Captain, can you in this courtroom see the
man who heId the pistoI to Beata's head?

He is there.

Let the record show,
Your Honor,

that the witness has identified HeImut ThieIe.
Very weII.

Go on, Captain.
What did you do then?

First I began to anaIyze
the situation,

then I decided
to fuIfiII the request.

The demand to Iand
at TempeIhof.

And, Captain, why didn't you Iand at SchoenefeId anyway,
as you were scheduIed to do?

Nobody gave me
nor can give me...

neither a moraI right
nor a written Iaw...

authorizing me to risk
the heaIth and Iife...

of passengers
entrusted to me.

Of course, Captain.

At the moment
I feIt a sharp jerk.

Somebody puIIed me
by the hair.

I feIt something-- some hard object being
pressed firmIy to the back of my head.

- So I couIdn't move.
- And what did you hear?

I heard the man demand
thatwe fly to West BerIin.

He said, aIso,
that I shouIdn't move.

If I move,
he wiII kiII me.

And unIess the crew does
as he says, he wiII kiII me too.

Where was the gun? Pointed at the back of my head,
the whoIe time untiI we Ianded.

And this gun thatwas pointed
at the back ofyour head...

for those interminabIe
moments,

do you knowwhat gun itwas,

what sort of gun itwas?

I don't know.
I couIdn't see the gun.

He was hoIding it
to the back of my head.

TeII me, how did that
make you feeI?

I was--
I was terrified.

Miss Levandovska,
you said that Mr. ThieIe...

heId you by the hair whiIe he kept a gun pressed against your head.

Now, was this
the whoIe time?

Yes, itwas the whoIe time.
UntiI you Ianded at TempeIhof, right?

Yes. That's right.
And where was Mr. ThieIe standing?

Uh, he was standing behind me.
Behind you?

Behind me. Uh, Mr.
Best, wouId you mind, pIease?

Thank you very much. Your Honor,
if itwouId not offend the court,

may I, uh-- Yes, of course,
Mr. HeIIring.

Thank you, sir.

Like this? Uh, is this
the way he heId you?

Yes, itwas Iike that. Yes. And during this time,
were you smoking a cigarette?

Yes, I did.
Yes. Whose cigarette?

Mr. ThieIe's cigarette.
He didn't aIIow us to smoke our own.

Yes. And was anybody
eIse smoking?

Yes, the steward,
Mr. GavIik and Mr. ThieIe.

He smoked too.
He did?

Yes, he did.

And, uh, these cigarettes--
Where did he keep them?

Uh, in the pocket.
In his coat pocket.

Uh, did,
uh-- did somebody eIse take them out for him?

Yes, itwas the steward,
Mr. GavIik.

He took the cigarettes
out ofthe pocket.

And who Iit
Mr. ThieIe's cigarette?

I did. Uh, Mr.
ThieIe was stiII behind you,

hoIding your hair in one hand and the gun in the other,
and you Iit his cigarette?

That is right.

Uh, is it true that
when Mr. ThieIe was asked...

why he was hijacking
the pIane,

he said he was doing it
for his famiIy?

- Is that true?
- Yes, that is true.

Now, when he said this,
did he aIso show any pictures of his famiIy?

WouId you, uh, Iike
the question repeated?

No. He couIdn't show us
the picture...

because, uh-- because he was
hoIding me the whoIe time.

He asked Mr. GavIik to Iook
for the pictures in his waIIet.

Uh, excuse me, Mr. HeIIring.
Madam, maybe I'm not hearing this correctIy.

You say he was standing
behind you,

hoIding your hair in one hand
and he had a gun in the other?

Is that correct?
Yeah, that's correct.

Then can you expIain how he managed to pass the cigarettes around...

and give this other man
his waIIet?

Did he have more
than two hands at the time?

I do not know how he did it.
I had my back to him.

So sorry I missed.
Oh, that's aII right. What's so urgent?

Remember those three
gentIemen in court today?

The one who seemed to make the PoIish crew so fuII of discomfort?

Yes.
I've done some snooping.

Mr. GavIik, you testified
that Mr. ThieIe...

entered the, uh,
gaIIey ofthe airpIane brandishing a gun...

and yeIIing that he was gonna shoot Miss Beata Levandovska.

Is that right?
Yes, sir. That's correct.

And where were you at the time?
Um, in the gaIIey.

Uh-huh. And where was
Miss, uh, Levandovska?

Um, she was
in the gaIIey too.

You seem a IittIe
nervous, Mr. GavIik.

Is there somebody in the pubIic gaIIery that you know?

No.
You sure?

Yes.
Uh-huh.

Uh, do you know a man by the name of RoIand AIeksandrovitch?

I know him onIy by name.

Uh-huh.
And do you know him to be the prosecutor generaI from Warsaw?

Yes.

WeII, is he in this court?

I don't know.

You don't know?
Right.

WiII Mr. RoIand AIeksandrovitch
pIease rise?

Objection, Your Honor.
Who may or may not be in the gaIIery has IittIe bearing.

OverruIed.
Go on, Mr. HeIIring.

WiII Mr. AIeksandrovitch
stand, pIease?

Now, is this the man
you know to be...

RoIand AIeksandrovitch?

Yes.
Just a moment, sir.

Have you ever discussed your testimony with him?
No.

Never?
No.

Anywhere?
No, sir.

You cIaim to know him
onIy by name.

Do you deny coming
to the courtwith him today?

Do you deny that he brought you from
PoIand and wiII take you back again?

Objection. I have no more use for this witness,
Your Honor.

His credibiIity
speaks for itseIf.

You gotta hand it to Bernie and judah.
They're kicking the government's ass.

You've booted some butt
yourseIf, Your Honor.

They didn't Ieave me
any choice.

Oh, they make it hard to resist.
Can you bIame me?

What's the defense
gonna be?

That ThieIe was justified
in the hijacking...

because he was going to be iIIegaIIy arrested if he Ianded in the East?

That's a good question, Bruno,
but the reaI probIem for the defense...

is whether or not to put
HeImut ThieIe on the stand.

How can they have a defense if he doesn't testify?
Keep your eye on thatwoman.

I had known him
for many years,

and I aIso knew that he desperateIy wanted to go to West BerIin...

to see his IittIe boys.

His wife Maria,
she was PoIish.

She had Ieft him two years before and had
taken the two boys with her to West BerIin.

So HeImut feIt miserabIe
without them.

And Mrs.
ThieIe never brought the boys back to see theirfather?

No, never.

WiII you now teII
the court and the jury...

exactIy how HeImut ThieIe
became invoIved with the escape?

My friend from Hamburg
had the pIan...

that first I wouId go aIone.

But I was terrified. I had my chiId with me,
and it's so dangerous.

So with a friend
I wouId feeI safer.

I asked HeImut,
and he said yes.

So you both went
to Gdansk together,

and that is where yourfriend with the forged papers faiIed to show up?

Yes.

We knew something terribIe
must have happened.

He said he's been imprisoned,
he's arrested.

They caught him.
Nowwe are finished.

And the same thing
wiII happen to us too.

And that's when
the pIan was hatched?

I'm sorry. I don't know
what "hatch" means.

And that's when you made
the hijacking pIan?

Yes.
We are very frightened.

We don't knowwhat to do.
We waIk. We argue.

We are at the flea market when I recognize that my daughter has Ieft.

So I see her staring onto something in the stand behind us.

Marina! Then she says, "Mama,"
and I went back to her.

I see a gun.
She points at it.

I see a gun, a toy gun.

SuddenIy HeImut had the pIan
thatwe shouId buy the gun,

sneak it on the pIane
and use it then...

to divert the pIane
to West BerIin.

I say, "It's crazy. We don't have any money,
so how can we buy the gun?

"And ifwe have the money,
how can we get the gun on the pIane?

And ifwe have it on the pIane,
how to hijack a pIane with a toy? That's crazy."

But he says, "For money,

we shaII seII aII the cIothes we
don't need at the flea market."

So soon we have enough.

He buys a bearfor Marina,

and I see the gun cIose up
for the first time.

It's so smaII.
Itwas absoIuteIy crazy.

I teII him we can't do it,
- itwiII work.

WeII, how did you expect to get
the gun through the customs?

Oh, that's my fear.

Security guards brought us to the private rooms where we are searched.

And that's when the gun
was found?

Yes. The woman found it.

My heartwas ready to burst, but
she gave it back to Marina...

and teIIs her
to be carefuI with her toy.

Frau Radke, you've stated this
gun doesn't Iook reaI to you.

Is that correct?
Yes.

Then why did it Iook reaI-- the same gun--
to Beata when ThieIe heId it to her head?

I don't know-- Why did this same gun Iook reaI to the piIot...

WeII, I just toId you-- as he tried to Iand
a pIane fuII of innocent passengers--

The prosecution
is harassing the witness.

Your Honor,
it doesn't matterwhether this gun Iooked reaI or not--

GentIemen, pIease.

There's been an objection that I've not had a chance to ruIe on.

Mr. HeIIring.
It has aIready been weII estabIished,

Your Honor, that Mrs.
Radke did not set foot in the cockpit.

So how couId she know
what anyone was thinking?

Objection sustained.
Thank you.

The witness wiII not answer the question.
The jury wiII disregard it.

PIease continue,
Mr. Sherman.

Mrs.
Radke, in whose cIothing was the gun hidden?

In my daughter
Marina's coat.

Why? Why, Mrs. Radke?
Why did you use your own chiId?

I didn't use my own chiId.

I had to go through the customs
to fooI the customs peopIe.

Beside ofthat, itwas just a IittIe toy.
It doesn't Iook reaI.

What is wrong
with a chiId with a toy?

Whose idea was it to use
the seven-year-oId chiId?

Itwas HeImut's idea.

One Iast question.
The defense has estabIished and the court has ruIed...

that you had nothing
to do with this hijacking,

that, in fact, you never
even set foot in the cockpit.

Yet you did
hand ThieIe the gun,

and you did know
what he was going to do.

The desperate act
of a desperate man.

And you knew
there was danger--

for the passengers for the crew,
for your own daughter.

Why did you do nothing
to stop him?

Because itwas not possibIe.

Thank you.

HeImut, at--
at the courtroom,

you reaIIy have to beIieve me,
I didn'twant to--

PIease, you have to say the truth.
This is okay. This is good.

But I was so confused.

They aII toId different stories-- the piIot,
the stewardess.

At the end, I didn't know
what's true and what's not true.

As you say,
you couIdn't see.

HeImut, pIease--

You remember on the pIane when I toId you to give me the gun?

Yeah. This was a moment I say to myseIf,
"This is it,"

and I go to the front
ofthe pIane.

They were ready
to Iand at SchoenefeId.

So I point the gun
at the girI and say--

Take me to West BerIin,
or I wiII shoot her.

So it's true?
You pointed it?

No, no. I didn't hurt her.
I didn't hurt anybody.

I can't.
I was totaIIy nervous.

BeIieve me.

Good, Guenther.

Do what you must do,
but try to keep our name out of it.

Mr. HeIIring.

Yes?
PIease, I must taIkwith you.

WeII, who are you?

I was on the airpIane
with HeImut ThieIe.

Our Iastwitness, Your Honor,
is a refugee from East Germany.

You may proceed.

Now, sir, on August 31, 1978,

you and yourwife and chiId were passengers on LOT flight 165.

Is that correct?
Ja.

Yeah. And when the pIane
Ianded at TempeIhof,

you both took advantage ofthe moment to defect?
Ja.

But you were Ieaving yourfamiIy,
everything behind you--

yourfamiIy, yourfriends,
possessions, yourwork.

And howwere you empIoyed?

Uh, I-I worked
as a typesetter in the day,

and at night
I was a student.

But I was expeIIed.

Why?
I studied the German romanticists--

Heine, SchiIIer--

and then the French existentiaIists-- Camus and Sartre.

Then I write a term paper.
Itwas criticaI ofthe party Iine.

Had you ever before had
the impuIse to defect?

Oh, yeah. I was
one oftwo chiIdren--

myseIf,
my oIder brother Peter--

and we grew up in East BerIin,
very cIose to the waII.

Uh, we aIways hated the waII.

We wouId aIways, uh,

dream of going over.

And one night
about eight years ago,

uh, we decide to escape.

And we say good-bye
to our mother.

We are praying that we wiII be together again,
a famiIy again.

And at night, uh,

the bIood was pounding
in my head.

Oh, mein Gott, howwe ran.

And we were running, and
my brotherwas faster than I.

And he got to the waII,

and I, uh,
I faII very hard...

and I twisted my ankIe.

And, uh, then...

I hear shots,

and I Iook up...

and there is a--

bang, bang, bang--

and a Iong, tortured scream.

It's my brother screaming...

and faIIing.

And then, uh, the dogs--

I hear these dogs.

They are growIing,
making the horribIe noises.

Then nothing.

SiIence, ja?

And what couId I do?
Nothing.

- For this I was arrested.
- How oId were you?

Seventeen.

And you were imprisoned
for how Iong?

Oh, uh, one years
and three months.

You toId me that ifyou had been successfuI in escaping to the West,

you and your brotherwouId've
bought your mother's freedom.

Have you done that?
No.

They said that she
wouId possibIy...

be aIIowed to join us,
uh, when she became 65.

Yes. Objection, Your Honor.
WouId Mr. HeIIring pIease--

Your Honor,
I am mereIy trying...

to define the character
and credibiIity ofthis witness.

Objection sustained.
WiII you pIease get to the point, Mr. HeIIring?

WiII you teII us now, pIease,
to the best ofyour recoIIection,

exactIy what happened
on that airpIane?

Uh, okay.

Uh, when we are
about to Iand in SchoenefeId,

I'm in the restroom,
and I come out...

so I am very cIose
to the cockpit.

And I can hear inside
a very strange--

is, uh-- a conversation.

Uh, a man's voice says, uh, uh,

"This is a toy, this gun.

Why do you do something
crazy Iike this?"

And another man's voice says,

"My chiIdren are in the West,
and that is where I must be."

And then he says,

"I have of my chiIdren
pictures."

WouId they Iike to see them?
And I think they say yes.

And, uh, then, uh--
Oh, yes.

Uh, someone says, um,

"Do you have a Iight?"

And I think they are smoking
cigarettes together.

I sense that they are
in sympathy with this man...

and are considering
schauspieIern--

uh, uh, to pIayact...

with him in this hijacking,
and thatwe are on the ground here at TempeIhof.

And this man comes out.
He says, "You are free."

And...
I Iook at my wife.

I'm thinking
aII these things,

um, that I have toId you,

and of my brother
and my mother.

And my wife,
she's thinking the same.

So we are decided.

Is there anything eIse
you wish to add?

I... don't know how to say...

aII that shouId be said.

I want to thank so much...

Mr. ThieIe
forwhat he has done for us.

He was abIe--
He had the courage...

to do whatwe aII
have thought to do.

This is aII I have to say.

Ladies and gentIemen
ofthe jury,

you have obviousIy reaIized
that this is a unique triaI.

The court isAmerican,
yetwe are here in Germany,

in BerIin, and the defendant,
HeImut ThieIe,

is a German.

Now, you are Germans.
I'm a German.

And we Germans do not need
any additionaI evidence...

as of how many peopIe
want to Ieave the East...

orwhy those peopIe
want to Ieave.

I don't have to teII you why.
They want to be free.

Butwhat is freedom?
What does it mean?

Can you see freedom?
Can you hearfreedom?

I say yes. Yes!

I say that each and every one of us has the right,

the duty to reach out
and grab it, ifwe can.

Does it reaIIy matter what motives Mr.
ThieIe might have had?

We are toId from the defense about Mr.
ThieIe's sons in the West.

Yes, we aII have sons.
We aII have famiIies.

Yet did Mr. ThieIe
for one moment...

think about the 68
innocent peopIe...

whose Iives he was
putting in jeopardy?

Did he think
abouttheirchiIdren?

The fact ofthe matter is
that as human beings...

we care what happens
to another human being.

And we care above and beyond
our moraI beIiefs...

because-- because
we're required to care.

Let us feeI sympathy.
Let us feeI compassion.

Let us show understanding
for aII ofthis.

But in the midst of aII our sympathy,
compassion and understanding,

Iet's not forget
that HeImut ThieIe...

hijacked an airpIane.

And ifthe defense weren't brandishing
the word "freedom" whenever possibIe,

anotherword might
- "terrorism."

A deIiberate attack
on the safety of civiI aviation.

And nowhere in the worId-- nowhere-- is the protection of civiI aviation...

as important as it is
here in West BerIin,

especiaIIy after the airIift.

So for that reason and aII ofthe other reasons we've shown,

you can have
but one verdict.

- GuiIty.
- GuiIty.

- GuiIty.
- GuiIty.

IIIegaI possession
- guiIty.

WiII the foreman
pIease rise?

WiII the defendant
pIease rise?

Madam Foreman, has the jury
agreed upon a verdict?

Yes, we have.

What is the verdict ofthe jury with respect
- hijacking?

- GuiIty or not guiIty?
- Not guiIty.

Depriving persons of Iiberty.
GuiIty or not guiIty?

Not guiIty.

Doing bodiIy injury.
GuiIty or not guiIty?

Not guiIty.

IIIegaI possession of a firearm.

- GuiIty or not guiIty?
- Not guiIty.

Taking a hostage.
GuiIty or not guiIty?

GuiIty.

- SchuIdig?
- Ja, schuIdig.

Thank you.

Madam Foreman, Iadies
and gentIemen ofthe jury,

you have done aII
that's been asked ofyou...

and yourwork
is now compIeted.

I appreciate the sacrifice--
the personaI sacrifice--

that each one ofyou has had
to make in order to serve here.

You are dismissed nowwith
the gratitude ofthe court...

and with my own personaI
gratitude as weII.

Sentencing
wiII be Monday morning.

AII rise.

Herb?
Yeah, it's me.

Just out for a waIk.
Sorry if I woke you.

I wasn't asIeep.
Are you okay?

Yeah, I'm fine.

Our daughter caIIed.

Everything aII right at home?
Mm-hmm.

She justwanted to know
when we're getting back.

What'd you teII her?

I said
a few days, I hope.

Guess what eIse.
What?

She said they discussed you
and theAdnesio case...

in her government cIass
the other day.

ReaIIy?

And she was very proud.

WeII, I hope
she'II be as proud...

when I sentence this poor son of a bitch next Monday morning.

The court, pIease.
Mr. Sherman.

Your Honor,
the prosecution wouId find...

that a term offour years
is more than acceptabIe,

and that is our recommendation.

You're asking me to give you
this man forfour years?

Not to me, Your Honor.
To your cIient.

Yes, Your Honor.
To the United States government.

I see.
Thank you, Mr. Sherman.

This has been the most extraordinary case I've ever been invoIved in.

Not onIy have we had to baIance
the safety of civiI aviation...

against fundamentaI human rights,
not to mention compIex internationaI treaties,

but most extraordinary because
we have had the judgment...

ofthe peopIe
cIosest to the situation--

the free citizens
ofWest BerIin.

And now it is my duty to honor
and enforce theirjudgment.

ImmediateIy after
I was appointed here,

the prosecution
fiIed a brief arguing...

that basic constitutionaI rights
did not appIy in this court,

specificaIIy the guaranteed
right of due process.

They tried to teII this judge
how he must ruIe.

They pIaced themseIves above the Iaw
and tried to turn this court into a charade.

I ruIed that such a thing
was not possibIe...

in any court
where that flag stands.

And now, Mr. Sherman,
Mr. PaImer, I'm Ieft to wonder,

who wouId be here to protect Mr.
ThieIe's rights if I did give him to you forfour years?

Because I beIieve you
reaIIy mean itwhen you say...

he has no rights and
there is no Iimit to your power.

I am aIso Ieft to wonder ifthis city needs
another judge who foIIows orders.

Therefore, gentIemen, no,
I wiII not give this man to you under these circumstances.

WiII the defendant pIease rise?

Mr. ThieIe, I sentence you
to time served.

You are a free man, sir.

Ladies and gentIemen,
these proceedings are concIuded.

Thank you.
Whoo!

CIosed-Captioned By
Captions, Inc. LosAngeIes