Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness (2007) - full transcript
A tragic street racing accident kills a wife and her child leaving her husband to pick up the pieces and pursue justice against the boy that killed them.
Captioning sponsored byCBS
and HALLMARK CARDS
♪
♪
♪
(keyboard-lead rock beatplaying nearby)
GIRL:Brody, Brody!
Look at me!Brody, look.
Yeah!
Take it away, Chelsea
Murakami!
(plays "Charge" riff)
(laughing):Yeah!
(continues rock beat)
WOMAN:You'll love it.
You'll be beggingfor the recipe.
Yeah, right.Whose birthday?
Miss Chelsea's.
Yeah, in a month.
Okay, maybe a teensybit obsessive.
Mm-hmm.Occasionally a lot.
Mm-hmm.Uh-huh.
(chuckling):Chelsea?
Mom! Mom, watch this.Okay.
Wow! Nice job, pal!
(laughs)
Just try and stayin the center, okay?
Okay.All right.
It's easier without your shoes.
That's okay, Mom.
All right.
Hey, Cindy, you havegot to taste this.
(keyboard rock beat continues)
Hang on.
Brody, you are a genius,
but I swear I'm puttingthat thing on eBay.
Turn it down.
Will you not sweat it?
I come here for the chaos.
Hmm.
Once they grow upand leave, you'll see.
Well, in the meantime,right now...
Cindy, two days afterShannon left for college,
without all that teenagedisorder and confusion,
I was a basket case.
Oh...
It's true what they say:it goes way too fast.
Yeah.
Mmm... I don't think so.
Oh, you hurt me.(chuckles)
Look, Tom, I can send everybodyhome if that's what you want.
Today, I'll break earlyfor lunch,
but keep me posted, all right?
You got it.
(machinery whirring)
MAN:You got it?
All right, let's go.
What's up?
Couple of investorsjust pulled out.
It's not good.I'm not goingto to tell
you guys not to sweat it,but I think
it's justa financial speed bump.
Yeah, yeah. That's all cool,but what's it mean for us?
Right now, lunch break.
Yo, Bruce, how long isthis break goingto last, man?
I mean, are wetalking Christmas?
Yeah. Rodney, we're allin the same boat, okay?
Me, I got a kid in a collegecosts me 600 bucks a minute.
I made a few phone callsand made sure that we're covered
in case this job goes down.
Hector.
Don't let anybodyleave the site.
Yeah. Bruce, man,if this job goes down,
and you can't findanything for us...
I mean, you knowmy situation.
I got you covered.
Two months, solid.
Yeah, but I didn't meanyou personally, man.
Between you and I,it is personal, okay?
Thanks, man.
(fence clanging)
Oh! Ouch!
Hi, Daddy.Hey, kiddo.
How you doing?Good. I can't believe you saw
thatone-- I've done, like,20 perfect ones.
Did I say I didn'tbelieve you?
No, I didn't, but, hey,take these off, okay?
You're goingto wear this out.
But they're my...Tut, tut, tut, tut!
(phone ringing)Shoes off.
BRODY:Hey, Dad!
I finished my composition.Want to hear?
(over phone):Bruce, good news.Hey, good-looking.
One second, Tom.What are you doing home?
Hey, Tom, how are you?
Baldwin called me back.
Okay. Well, I'll keep...Hey, Tom. Bye, Tom.
I'll keep my fingers crossed.What are you doing home?
I missedyou so bad,
I had to come home...Wait, wait, wait.
You haven't hadtime to miss me yet.
What's going on?Nothing. Everything's fine.
Hey. Hi, Melissa.
Hey, Bruce.
How are you?Excellent.
Honey, we gotanything to eat?
All right. I haveto go anyway.
Oh, you don't have to go.
I've got a mother-in-lawwith crumb issues.
Better go vacuum
the walls or something.
Oh, and David bought oneof those grills that
runs by...Convection.
Right. Can you guyscome over on Sunday?
Love to.Okay.
I'll call you later.Bye.
Bye, Melissa.Bye.
Honey, what is this?
This is a care packagefor Josh, but I can't find
his chocolate anywhere.
You know, they sellchocolate bars on campus, right?
Well, not the Dutch kind.
(chuckling):The Dutch kind?
You ate them, didn't you?
No.
Oh, you so ate them.I did not.
You're welcome to frisk me.You ate his chocolate.
If you find anychocolate on me...
(phone rings)CINDY:Is that important?
BRUCE:I'd better take it, honey.
I'd better take it.
All right. I'm goingto go to the store.
Okay.
Hey, sweet pea,have you seen
the chocolateI got for Josh?BRUCE:This is he.
Uh, that was for Josh?
(laughs)You want to comeWhat?
to the mall with me?Well, yeah!
Well, yeah! Go grab your shoes.
How about this?
How about I put half the crewon the Macklin project,
keep the other half busy
with finish workon the condos downtown?
Family rule.Hold on a second.
(over phone):Let's notthrow in the towel yet.
All right. Whatdo you think?
I really think we can get thisthing resolved with Baldwin.
Mom, can I also geta new hat, please?
Maybe a pink one;now buckle up.
(playing upbeat rock tune)
Hey, Dad.That's fantastic.
You sure they have deep enoughpockets to come in on this?
I can make a call.Why don't you do thatjust to be sure?
Call me back.
Will do.Thanks.
Got time now?
Time? For?
My new composition.
Let your mom listen to it.
(phone rings)
I'm right in the middleof something.
Hello.
Bruce...Tom. So?
We're all set.Oh!
That's great!
Oh, ye of little faith.Okay.
(laughing):No.
Oh, I never doubted youfor a second.
(laughs)
No, no, no,they're all still on site.
That's good.Yep.
I can put 'emto work right away.
Yeah, and Tom, they're goingto love you for this,
but they're still not goingto work for less.
Guess my scheme didn't work.
(laughs)Right.
All right, catch you later.
CHELSEA:Hi, Daddy.
Hey, kiddo, what are you doinganswering Mommy's phone?
She's driving.
Did you guys getthe Dutch chocolate?
Yup.
Now we're going to that mailboxplace... (line cuts off)
Chels?
Hello, Chels?
(line beeping)Ah...
(dialing)
(phone rings)
Hey, this is Cindy;leave me a message.
(beeping)
Hey, there, it's me.
I guesswe must have got cut off.
Listen, everything is back onwith work, okay, so don't worry
about anything.
I'll see you tonight.
Love you.
(fire truck horn honks,siren blaring)
(sirens wailing,indistinct police radio)
Sir, you needto stay back.
Sir!
Sir, you can'tgo over there.
Wait a minute--sir, sir! Hey.
Back it up, back up.
(siren blips nearby)
Hey, hold it! Wait, wait!
Are there two people in there?
MAN:Somebody stop that guy.
(siren wailing)
Let's go, let's go.
Get this guy-- sir?!
Let go of me!Let go of me! Wait!
My family's inside there!
No! No!
We got him!
Let's get youout of here.
Come on, this way.
(amplified breathing)
♪
♪
(fizzing)
(door opens)Dad?
Brody.
Josh.
(sniffles)
I can't believe it.
Where's Dad?
Okay.
Dad.
Josh.Hey, Dad.
Son.
(sobbing)
(sobbing continues)
(overlapping chatter)
Hey, Brody, you wantsomething to eat, sweetie?
Nah. I'll be okay.
(chatter continues)
So, uh when-when did youand Brody meet?
Brody?Hmm.
Uh, well, in the kitchenright before the funeral.
I'm-I'm herewith Josh.
Oh, I see.Yeah, she's, uh...
my girlfriend,Aunt Lena, not Brody's.Oh.
Excuse me.
(chatter continues)
Oh, this is a beautifulphotograph of the two of them.
I remember this.
This was taken rightafter you adopted her.
Yes.
I'm sorry, Bruce.Excuse me.
Should I check on him?
No. Let him go.
(sobs quietly)
(clears throat)Hey.
How are you doing?
Yeah.
You sure you want to be alone?
That's why I'm here, isn't it?
Yeah.
JOSH:Aunt Lena keptcalling me "Brody."
She losing it?
What do you think?
Maybe.
Probably.
(faucet running)
I still don't get it, Dad.
She never would've donesomething like that.
You know, I read allthe newspapers.
They all said that Mom pulledout of that parking lot
right into incoming traffic.
Josh?That's not her;you know that.
Mom puts on her turnsignal when she pulls
out of ourdriveway.I know.
So, how can theyblame it on her?
I mean, I, I don't get it.
(water sloshing in basin)
So, who hit who, Dad?
I mean, did younot even bother to ask?
I don't know who hit who,
who signaled, who turned,who didn't.
I don't know anything--all I know is your mom
and your sister are dead,so let's drop it.
(dishes clattering)
(Chelsea, man laughing)
I... hey, I see you.
(chuckles)
(leaves rustling)
MAN:Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Uh-oh.
Hey, Chels?
Come here, come here.
Come here.What's the family rule?
Always have a kisswhen you go out.
(sniffles)
(grunts softly)
(laughter)
Yeah!Congratulations, kids.
(cheering)
We love you guys!
(chuckles)
CINDY:We love you! Bye.
Bye.
(laughs)
Thank you guys so much.
We're going to miss you.
Bye.(sobbing)
(applause)
(cheering)
Bye!
♪
(fast tuning continues)
Hey.
...a ridge of high pressurecombining...Listen.
I've got a chemmidterm on Monday, so...
If you want to go, just go.
Come on, Brody.
New statistics on fatalitiescaused by
street racing releasedby the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administrationshow that these accidents
usually took place on urbanroads and were nearly six times
more likely to occur with maleteenagers at the wheel.
There is now reason to believethat the recent fatal crash
at Hillsborough Mall involvedstreet racing.
Here's whatone witness had to say.
Yeah, a kid was drivingfast in a black sports car.
Uh, weaving in andout of traffic, you know,
missing cars, like, by,you know, this much.
Uh, then theother, kind of
light brown car was going neckand neck with it, just as fast.
I mean, these kids were hauling.
When the black car hit, thatminivan didn't stand a chance.
Authorities refuse to commenton the allegation
that the 18-year-old driver wasstreet racing at the time.
Did you know this?
But among this age group,this mall at Hillsborough
is a go-to destinationfor teen cruising.
This is Wanda Rollins reporting.
No.
MAN:In other news,the mayor attended
the groundbreaking ceremonyof the long-awaited...
(overlapping chatter)
Can I help you, sir?
Yeah, I'd like to seethe police report
about the recent accidentat the Hillsborough Mall.
My wife and daughterwere the ones...
the fatalitiesin the case.
Mr. Murakami?
Sheriff Buerger.We spoke brieflyat the hospital
two weeks ago.Yeah, right, right.
Why haven't you contacted me?
About?
The morning news saidthat there was
allegations about street racing.
Is that true?Why don't we discuss this?
There was awitness who saidthat he saw
two idiots racingin and out of trafficwhen my wife was hit.
Others disputedthat account.
What others?We're a couple units short
for traffic controldown at the concert.
Break away Osborneand, uh, McGuinness.
Okay.
Sir, it isourjobto investigate
an accident thoroughly.But this kid whoplowed into them--
if he was racing and hecaused that accident,
you will arrest him, right?
Mr. Murakami, every witnessagreed your wife turned left
out of a parking...
My wife did not havea... a death wish!
Our daughter was in that car!
And another car hit them.But we cannot arrest
that driver unless we prove hisactions were reckless.I was there!
I saw what thosecars looked like!
That kind of impactonly happens
if someone is movingvery, very fast.
Mr. Murakami,
there must be hard evidence,
or else it goes on recordas an accident.
So then the kidwho killed them, he...
what, he just walks away?
Excuse me, sir.
Commissioner, I needyour okay on this.
At this point, wehave no such evidence.
Therefore, we cannotfile charges.
That simple, huh?
I understand yourfrustration, sir.
No, you don't.
You've suffereda terrible loss,
and we're gonna do everythingwe can to find out
exactly how that happened--you have my word on that.
I came herefor the police report.
Do you really wantto read that, sir?
Your accident reportis public record,
and I would like to have a copy.
Please.
Thank you.
Wha-What kind of
proof do you need?
A few more innocent women andchildren burning to death?
I mean, what-what is it gonnatake for your department
to do the right thing?
(boisterous laughter)
So, where are we, guys?(laughter stops)
Gonna do your work today?
Hey, boss, we're on lunch, man.
Yeah, I can see that--why don't you guys
pick up your trash?!Bruce, uh...
The client comes down here, seesyou guys sitting on your butts
stuffing your faces,doesn't look good.Whoa, slow down.
Hector, we are on a seriousdeadline here, okay?
And it's my reputation thatgoes down the toilet, not yours!
I know that, boss,but we're on schedule,
and... this isour lunch time.
Just wanted to make sureyou guys
weren't, uh...taking it for granted.
No, no, we're on it, boss.It's all good, man.
I just wanted to make sure...
Bruce.
I'm sorry, man.
All the guys and I...
we're really sorry.
Thanks.
MELISSA:All you have to dois choose a dinner.
Put it on a plate,cover with plastic wrap,
zap it for six minutes.
Oh, and do not coverit with tin foil,
or you'll setthe house on fire.
Got to diefrom something.
Hey...
Brody, it'sme, Melissa.
Your pal, remember?
Uh...
What are they?
Well, um, we've gotsome chicken...
and some more chicken...and, uh, something Chinese.
And I...
Honestly, I don'tknow what this is.
I'll take a pass.
Honey, you got to eatsomething.
Some protein,
something leafy and green,salad?
I walk around the housefeeling like I'm invisible.
Like a ghostor I don't know what.
(sniffles)
I get up each day...
and pretend I'm living.
Breathe...
brush my teeth, school.
Like all the timeI'm thinking...
"Why am I still hereand why are they not?"
(door opening)
Oh, hey, Bruce.
We were just comingup with some...
no-brainer dinner choices.
Where's Josh?
His car's not out front.
He had to goback to schoolfor a midterm.
No good-bye, nothing.
Great.
Sheriff's Department?
They're calling itan accident.
Blaming it on Cindy.
Case closed.
Kid got off.
There's got to besomething you can do.
Uh, no, not yet.
Not yet?
There's details in here.
Stuff you really don'twant to know about.
Oh, I get it.
Brody's not matureenough to know the truth.
Hey, Brody...Thanks, Dad.
Brody...
Bruce...
Hey, it's not about you.
It's about beinga 15-year-old boy.
And Josh.
I just don't think he
could handle anothergood-bye right now.
He should have lefta note or something.
WOMAN:It's that simple.
I had nothing to do with it.
He got off becausehe wasn't guilty.
The D.A.'s office should havedone its homework
and saved the taxpayera considerable expense.
Ms. Teller, do you feel thatthis was a fair verdict?
Well, you know, fairness doesn'talways come into it.
I believe in justice.
I will stop at nothingto get justice.
Justice has been served today.
(reporters clamoring)
Ms. Teller, what do you thinkthe legal ramifications
of this decision will be?
TELLER:Well, I think it's beena colossal waste
of our court's time.(phone ringing)
Mr. Shepherd has missed valuabletime with his family
and I said, I don't thinkit's really fair...Hello.
BOY:Hi, is Brody there?
Yeah, yeah, he is.He's upstairs.
Hold on a sec.
He got off becausehe wasn't guilty...Brody.
Mr. Shepherd will now goback to his family...Brody!
...and we can actually look for
the person who committedthis crime.
MELISSA:I just hope it's okay.
No, no, no, no,it's fine with me.
Are you sure?Yeah, if he wants tostay, that's fine.
Long as you and David don't mindhaving a moody teenager around.
Of course we don't mind.
Okay, well, thanks, Melissa;I really appreciate it.
Tell you the truth,
I'm happy I canhelp in some way.
Call me.
Okay, bye.
Josh.
Call your dad.
Yeah, okay.
Oh, whatdo you want?
Uh, latte.
Actually, you knowwhat, just a water.
(phone ringing)
Hey, Josh, how'd the midterm go?
Dad, I read the police report.
Brody faxed me a copy.
Dad, who's this witnesswho says
that the Gutierrez kidwasn't racing through that mall?
Josh, doesn't matterwhat I think, okay?
Well, don't you think it mattersthat you find out?
Can you at least do that?
(line clicks)Josh?
Josh?
(grunts)
Just like that, huh?
I got us a couple rib-eyes.
I'm not hungry.
Brody.
Brody!
Brody!
(laughter)
(fire truck horn honking)
(siren wailing in distance)
TELLER:I need to meet withMr. Gottlieb this afternoon
if that's possible.We checked hisavailability, Ms. Teller.
He's going to be inthe office tomorrow.
Okay, make sure there's copies
of the Whatley surveysand files for him and me.
And have you heardfrom Mr. Whatley?
Ms. Teller.Okay.
JUDGE:Ms. Teller, in lightof the new evidence,
your client is free to go.
Thank you, ladiesand gentlemen.
This court is adjourned.All rise.
(overlapping chatter)
Hi. Excuse me, Ms. Teller,
My name is Bruce Murakami.
And you have apolice report.
Very keen observation,
which is exactly whyI want to hire you.
Well, I'm a little tiedup at the moment, so...
Ms. Teller had 15 caseslined up back to back.
Uh... uh...
no, no, it's you I want.
I'm flattered tobe wanted, but...
Could you please justread the police report?
No. I'm trying to tellyou there's nothingI can do.
You can tell me why they won'tarrest the kid
who killed my wife and daughter.
Sir, Ms. Teller, hasalready explained...I got it, Anna.
Murakami.Okay, Mr. Murakami,
I'm a defense attorney,not a detective.
But your M.O. issmart investigation
and doing your homework betterthan your opponents.
That's why you win,that's why I wantto hire you.
Well, if there's someoneyou'd like me to defend...
How about mywife and daughter?
As I said, I just don'thave time right now.
Please if you couldjust read it...
I can't, Mr. Murakami.One good reason.
Because I could meetup with you inanother courtroom
any day now, andeasily be defending
whoever it isyou're after--Mr. Peña.
I'm not after anybody.
I just want to seethe law of the land
applied to a criminal act.
Good-bye, Mr. Murakami.
(reporters clamoring)
She's good, isn't she?
Oh, yeah.
Excuse me, Ms. Teller,do you expect an appeal?Obviously,
the district attorney'soffice wasn't fully prepared,
but you can askDistrict Attorney Peña.
I'll see you over there.Okay.
Counselor.Hello. How are you?
Oh, yeah, she'sthat, uh...Brody.
...lawyer gal.
Brody, knock it off.
...does all that commentaryon television,
right, all the time?
Defended that city commissionerin the pyramid scheme.
Smart, tough,
a real fighter.Yeah.
So what ifshe's a fighter?
I mean, what are you tryingto prove, Dad?
I mean, what's the differenceif he was street racing
or if he was eatinga cheeseburger?
Maybe the sunwas in Mom's eyes.
Maybe Chelsea jammed a CDin the CD player.
Who knows?
Who cares?
It's not going to bring'em back, is it?
Is it?!
I know.
Most of the time, thought,they actually have a file...
TELLER:Tom, we need more research,and you got to go
over the numbers,or the answer is no.
We've got the resources to takecare of this, no problem.
Okay, Tom, ball'sin your court.
Just get back to mewith something
and let's be done with it.
Okay, Erin, I'll get backto you tomorrow.
All right, Tom, bye.
Bye.
There's a Mr. Murakami here.
He's very insistent.
Mr. Murakami.
Ms. Teller,did you read it?
Yes, I did.I can't take this...
You telling meyou had no problems
with that reportwhatsoever?
Come back to my office.
I'm being told thatmy wife is responsible
for killing herselfand our daughter.
Now, I knowthat's not true,
and now you knowit's not true, right?
The police filed thecase as an accident
because they have conflictingeyewitness accounts.
Push Mr. Johnson backfive minutes.
Got it.
Without sufficient evidence,
it will be impossibleto convince
the district attorney's officeto press charges
against that driver.
Is there any legal reason whythe case can't be reopened?
Technically no, but my advice,you want someone in your camp
the D.A. actually likes.
I want the best person.
I'm not that.
That case that you won
where those two kidswere accused of arson--
you won that casebecause you cared.
That was five orsix years ago.
Things change.
So maybe I'm allwrong about you.
Maybe our case doesn't fitinto your career path,
not high-profileenough for you.
I apologize, Ms. Teller.
You're lookingat a desperate man
who really needs your help.
and has run out ofideas on how to get it.
I'll do a preliminaryinvestigation.
Whatever you need from me...
What I need from you is to keepyour hopes in check.
This is not going to be easy.
I don't expect anythingto be easy ever again.
The kid's car hit her so hard,
it pushed the minivanall the way to thisside of the road.
That's where it was struckby the SUV.
They say that most likelyChelsea died on impact.
With Cindy, theywere less sure.
All three vehicles wereon fire when they arrived.
The smoke was so thick, itjust blacked out the sky.
The police tellyou all this?
Plus what I remember.
You were here?
Five minutes too late.
Are you sure you wantto meet these witnesses?
I can do this alone.
No, I can handle it.
MAN:I don't understandwhat you're saying.
Exactly whatare you asking me?
Would you say that the car wastraveling at an unsafe speed?
Well, if you mean fast,I'd say yeah, but...
it's kind of normalthese days.
The small black car?
Well, like I told the cops,
it wasn't traveling all thatmuch faster than the traffic.
It didn't...
Now, the womanin the minivan,
she just flewin front of him.
Probably wasn'tpaying attention.
I see women whipping outof that lot every day,
doing their makeup,
talking on their cells.
Cindy wasn'ttalking on her cell...
Thank you.Thank you, Mr. Scully.
You've been very helpful.
So you were stoppedat a light...
Yep, I wassitting in my car.
Could you fill in some detail,just a little?
Uh... it was a black car
and there was a light brown car.
I see them both'cause I was in the far lane.
The drivers did this sort ofnod thing to each other.
Wait, you saw that, a nod?
Yeah. Definitely.
And then?
And then, whenthe light changed, and, uh...
vroom, they were out of there.
This brown carthat you describe,
it was not involvedin the accident?
No, no, no, that dudedropped out
when the traffic got heavier.
Wait, when you say"dropped out,"
did he stop after the accidentor keep going?
Oh, he was out of there.
But, you know,the weird thing is,
he came back.
He was parked right in that lot.
Are you sure?
Yeah, definitely.
He was watchingfrom across the street.
I was like, "Whoa,this dude's got to be
some kind of, like, pyroor something," you know?
Whatever.
There's another brown onein back there.
No, he said it was in the loton the other side of the street.
(cell phone rings)
Excuse me.
Try the wide angle.
Go ahead.
I'll call him back.
We don't mind, really.
I should've gotten my prioritiesstraight a long time ago.
What if I didn't answerthe phone on this day?
We probably wouldn'teven be sitting here.
Bruce, you have to stop lookingfor the what-ifs.
You didn't makethis happen.
You didn't lose thembecause of anything you did
or didn't do.
Channel 2 news crew is here.
Oh.I'm so sorry.
I have a commentarything I have to do.
Life goes on.
Stay as longas you like.
There it is.
Light brown car in the lotacross the street.
There.
The plate's in clear view, butyou can't quite make it out.
but we can fixthat, right?
(chuckles)
(dog barking in distance)
TELLER:Sweet ride you got here.
It's not for sale.
Bet it's fast.
Yeah, it goes pretty good.
Pretty good off the line?
It's good enough.
Why? Who wants to know?
This man's wife and daughterwere in the minivan
when you were racingat Hillsborough last month.
Remember the minivan?
You returnedto the accident,
but you neglectedto tell anyone
you were the one racingJustin Gutierrez.
It's called lying by omission.
You ever heard of that?
Hey, I didn'thit anybody, okay?
I slowed down; he startedweaving all over the road.
Oh, save it for court.
What?
Accessoryto a crime.
That's court.
Maybe evensome jail time.
I don't know,I'm just a lawyer.
Let's go.
No, no, hey, hey.
Wait. I mean...
there's got to be somethingI can do.
It's one guy's wordagainst the other.
It's not enough to grabthe D.A.'s attention.
But he admittedthey were racing.
Yes, and the Gutierrez kidwill refute that.
And we have to convincethe sheriff's department
that they might havemissed something.
What do we need then?
Hard evidence.
I'm sorry, Bruce.
I'm very latefor a meeting.
We'll pick this upagain later, okay?
Okay. Thank you.
(sighs)
There's one.
One what?
And there's another oneright there.
And there's another oneright here.
Security camera looking overthe parking lot.
And you think that...
Maybe it recorded the street,the accident in the background.
It's definitely possible.
Yeah?
We're all over this.Okay.
There were fivesecurity cameras.
Three of them show the streeton the day of the accident.
Really?Yes, really.
I had to enlarge them,so they're a little fuzzy.
But you get a very clearidea of what happened.
Please, justgive me one second.
Anna...
The surveillance video shows Mr.Gutierrez in second position.
We've been able to calculatehe was going
in excess of 80 miles per hour.
And as any judge will see,
they're obviously racing.
Here's your copy.
Let us know when youmake an arrest.
You want to, you wantto go hiking again?
Yeah, I loved it.Fine, next week,
No heels, you're not hikingin heels again.
Oh, I did nothike in heels.
What?
GIRL:Okay, I'llcatch you later.
Hey, punk.
Hey, Josh.
How'd you get here?Bus, and no,Dad doesn't know.
Great.
Dad?
Hi, Josh.Hey, listen, that's great news
about the lawyer you hired.
How'd you hear?
No, that's just it,
Brody told me all about it,for two hours this morning.
Wait. Brody's in school,isn't he?
Yeah, yeah,he's at school all right.
Sort of.
How's the music coming?
Mom always bugged meto turn it down, but...
she told me flat out that shewanted me to do the music thing.
No, high school, it just,you know, it slows me down.
The teachers are so lame.
Well, high school canget like that, you know?
You just got to,
you just got toget through it.
Nice.
Hey, boys,mind if I join you?
Hey.
(Bruce clears throat)Um...
These are good for you.
(phone ringing)
(chuckles)
I think that's you.
Actually, I'd better take this;it could be important.
Oh, what a surprise.
Yeah? Hey, Erin, what's up?
Thanks for busting me.
Brody. Brody.
Brody!
Give him a break.
That's great news, Erin.
Yeah, but do you thinkit's enough
to get the DA to take thisto court?
ERIN:I think we've gota really good shot.
Just-just call mewhen you get a response.
Will do.
Sit down.
You can't just disappear
without letting himknow where you are, okay?
He's been through a lot.Oh, and we haven't?
I just mean he doesn'tneed to go through more.
Whatever.
Come on, man.
Look, you and Dad,you guys need to talk.
Great, thanks.
He doesn't get me, Josh.He never will!
Give it up.
The only personwho gets me is dead.
Guys, you're not goingto believe this.
That lawyer that I hired--well, her two assistants
did the matchto show that it's probable
that the Gutierrez kidwasracing.
JOSH:So, they're goingto arrest him?
BRUCE:I think it looks good.
(whispering)
That's him, isn't it?
Could be.
Case 407655.
The court callstheState v. Justin Gutierrez.
JUDGE:Mr. Peterson, please approachwith the defendant.
Good morning,Your Honor.
JUDGE:You have been hiredto represent
Justin Gutierrezfor this arraignment?
PETERSON:I have, Your Honor.
And you are Justin Gutierrez?
Brody!
GUTIERREZ:Yes, Your Honor.
JUDGE:Very well.
The purpose of the proceedingthis morning
is to advise you, Mr. Gutierrez,of your rights,
advise you of the chargesagainst you,
and to set conditions for bail.
Mr. Gutierrez,you are charged
with two countsof vehicular homicide.
Each count carries with ita potential 15-year sentence.
If convicted, you could faceup to 30 years in prison.
Do you understand the chargesagainst you,
Mr. Gutierrez?
Yes.
And how do you plead?
Mr. Gutierrez, how do you plead?
Not guilty.
(gavel banging,attendees murmuring)
We expected it.
Dad, Mom, I don't knowwhat I'm saying.
Justin, please, son,keep it together.
I can't say that.
Justin,we need to be focused.
The issue is bailright now, okay?
Okay, I'll getback to you.Thanks.
I can't believe he getsto just stroll on out of here
like nothing happened.The judge seta low bail,
because he doesn'thim to go very far.And it's a first offense.
He's never been in trouble.Yeah, yeah, we heard.Save it.
They want to plea bargain?Is that what that was about?His lawyer wants to talk.
He wants to changehis plea, right?
Why would he change the plea?
Pleads guilty in exchangefor a concurrent sentence.
Meaning what?
He'll serve both sentencessimultaneously.
So what, he-he serves15 years, not 30?That's correct.
Oh, not necessarily.
With time off for good behavior
Excuse me, Ms. Teller,I'll take over
from here.Must be hard to wrapyour head around
the idea we're sittingat the same table on this one.
If this goes totrial, you will not be
sitting at my table.Wha-What do you mean, if?Okay, we did not come this far
to plea bargain thisor whatever it isthat you call it.
Okay, we wantto see justice done.
Then we proceedto trial.Great.
(rock music playingover headphones)
(gasps)Hey!
Get off him!
Help us!
Stop it!
WOMAN:Help us!
Stop it!
(soft, rhythmic clinking)
That's not the wayto solve anything.
We all get angry, butthere's a big difference
between being angry anddoing something stupid.
What were you thinking?
The good news isthey're not pressing charges.
And they could--you know that, right?
He knows, Bruce.
And what's the matterwith my lasagna?
No, it's good.It's great. Thank you.
No, I didn't thinkthat was the problem, either.
I think the problem is you.
All of you.
You know, you might trytalking to each other.
It's a concept.
(sighs)
Letting each other knowhow you feel.
I mean, what would Cindy thinkif she could see...
Sorry.
PAUL:Right now, the important thingis Justin be found innocent.
We can't do or say anythingthat might raise an eyebrow.
And we have to makesure that he keeps histhoughts to himself.
Whoa, Paul, that's our sonyou're talking about.
He's told the truthhis whole life.
That's how we raised him.
It's not a lie to sayit was an accident.
Justin will tell the truth,and the truth is
he did not leave this housewith the intention
of hurting anyone, let alone...
Explaining everythingthat happened
could very easilyput him in prison.
Is that what you want?
How about what I want?
Does that count?
Of course it does, honey.
Your mother andI are afraid...
Afraid?
That's funny-- I mean,you guys thinkyou'reafraid.
Which is why we haveto be very carefulabout what we say.
The prosecution could use...
Right now, Dad,I don't care about
what the prosecution does...or says or any of it.
That's not whatI'm afraid of.
You want to knowwhat I'm afraid of?
I'm afraid thatfor the rest of my life,
I'm never gonna be ableto be happy again.
Or do anything normal
without rememberingwhat I did...
and how stupid I was.
When all the facts are in,
the judge could see itvery differently.
I don't carehow the judge sees it, Dad.
I care howIsee it...and howIdeal with it.
Baby...
(overlapping chatter)
All rise.
The Honorable JudgeRoarke now presiding.
BAILIFF:Case 407655,The State v. Justin Gutierrez.
PEÑA:In the next few days,
I'm going to ask you to bearwitness to a terrible tragedy.
A fiery wreckat Hillsborough Mall destroyed
the Murakami family.
♪
A mother and daughtersenselessly killed by a callous
and uncaring young man.
Gone as a resultof Mr. Gutierrez's
intentionally reckless decisionto race.
Do you swear to tellthe truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth,so help you God?I do.
PEÑA:When the defendant made hisdecision to race,
he turned his vehicle into ahigh-powered weapon, killing...
Your Honor, you've heardthis story before.
...in the collision,
the impact propelledthe Murakamis' minivan
into the southbound traffic,
instantly killing12-year-old Chelsea.
When the vehicle exploded,Cindy perished as well.
Numerous surveillance videocameras captured criminal intent
of Mr. Gutierrez's driving.
I ask you
to look over hereat Mr. Murakami and say...
♪
This family deserves justice.
♪
...and make no mistake about it.
♪
...he made his decisionto commit homicide!
As Justin flew through trafficat 80 miles per hour,
they never stood a chance.
He sealed their fates.
Justin Gutierrezwas caught on camera.
♪
(echoing):...caught on camera,caught on camera...
senselessly, senselessly,senselessly killed...
by an uncaring, uncaring,uncaring young man....
young man, young man,young man...
(tires screeching)
(gasps)
(sighs)
(panting)
I just can't sit in thatcourtroom another minute
without knowing who thisguy is, what he's made of.
I want to sit across fromhim, look him in the eye,
and hear what he hasto say for himself.
No lawyers, no coaching--just the two of us.
Is that too much to ask?
(panting)
(door opens)
Please.
Please.
(crying)
Mr. Gutierrez...
the reason I askedfor this meeting isI want to hear...
what you have tosay for yourself.
Just you and me.
(crying quietly, sniffling)
You do have somethingto say for yourself?
(continues crying, sniffling)
(crying, stammering)
I want... to say...
I want to say I'm sorry.
(continues crying)
I'm so sorry,I'm so sorry.
(sobbing)
♪
MAN:Justin Gutierrez
is a good kidfrom a good family.
Your Honor, I want to...
remind you
he's not a criminal.
To Mr. Peña and to their, uh,distinguished counsel...
It was an accident.
The law is very clear.
There is no intent.
He made a mistake.
(whispering)
ROARKE:Mr. Peterson,I am denying your request.
And we will continueas scheduled.
(reporters shouting questions)
I'll handle this--unless you want to.
No, no,have at it.
REPORTER:Ms. Teller, Ms. Teller,
why the vehicular homicide,not manslaughter?
Is this to set an example forother teenagers or to expedite
your political agenda?Wow. From our experience,such big words don't fly
on your station,do they?
(chuckles)Do I believe
that there's another motivationbehind the charges brought
against Justin Gutierrez?
Good question,Mr. Cochand,but the answer
is no.
Two innocent people are dead.
(overlapping clamoring)
TELLER:It was a great day incourt for Mr. Murakami.
The DA did a fine job.
WOMAN:What about the Brown deposition,Ms. Teller?
TELLER:I'll call him from the car.
Hey.
Bruce?
What's going on?
I'm not sure.
Listen, we got to juststay on track here,
try not to let someone'stears sway you.
You're going tosee a lot of that.
Maybe it was a mistake.
I thought...he'd be different.
Weird.Like an animal or something.
But he wasn't;he's just a kid.
It's out of our hands.He's like...
Brody or Josh...
or Chelsea.The State'sprosecuting.
Wheels are in motion.
Bruce... you wanted justice,
and now you're going to get it.
HECTOR:So, how'sthe trial going, man?
Me and the guys have beenwatching the news
and you have nothingto worry about.
That kid's going down.I'm pretty sure abut that.
Yeah.
Hey, uh, let's checkthese studs.
Trusses look good.
(phone rings)
Do you havethe specs on this?Yep.
Yeah?
WOMAN:Bruce Murakami, please?Yeah, this is he.
Is Brody your son?Yeah, Brody's our son, my son.
Well, he's been in a fight.
He what?
(tires squealing)
(engine revving)
(girls shouting)
Excuse me, sir,can I help you?
That's my son.
Brody?
Hey.
What happened?
Listen, I didn'tstart it.
It's not my fault, okay?
This kid, he just jumped mefrom behind
and I had to fight back.
Mr. Murakami.
Mrs. Warren.
I thought it was important for
you to knowand for Brody to know
that we have professionalcounseling available.
Well, my son assuresme that the otherboy started it.
There are two sidesto everything.
Just so you know,I'm on Brody's side.
Mr. Murakami, no matterwho was at fault here,
I believe that Brody hasan anger issue...
Anger issue?
Come on. His anger'skind of normal,
given the circumstances,don't you think?
I understand it's beenvery difficult for you.
And while you'rehere lecturing me
about how to deal with my son,
you have kids out heredriving recklessly and behaving
irresponsibly.
How come there's no security?How can you allow that?!
We do have security,Mr. Murakami,
but they havetheir hands full.
Well, somebody needs to talkto these kids,
explain to themwhat can happen.
Every spring, we havehighway patrol officers
come in, give the talk,show the video...
And let me guess:they don't listen.
Much like you, Mr. Murakami,they hate being lectured,
especially bylaw enforcement.
What exactlyare you asking me?
Simple.When he's convicted...
If he's convicted.
He'll serve 30 years.
Right.
So just keepan open mind, okay?
Okay.Hear me out.
Is it to lateto revisit the idea
of a plea agreement?
Why would we do that now?
The last timeI mentioned plea agreement...
I-I know, but if he admitshis guilt in public,
if he talks about it,it could help
a lot of people.
Can we call the D.A.?
PEÑA:Look, it's unprecedented.
That's gettingto be routine in this case.
Would they agreeto it?
Don't know.
Bruce, I have to sayI don't like it.
Why not?
Because we have workedso hard
to build a strong case,and now we have one.
I don't get it.
Trust me.
Ms. Teller wouldn't say thatif she didn't believe it,
but I'll look into it.
Thanks.
As I remember,I was hired
to represent Cindyand Chelsea.
Theyare theinnocent ones.
I know, I knowand we've proved that.
Yeah.This is whatI want to do.
It's what I needto do.
Look, Bruce,obviously it's your decision.
But I...
I think I've doneall I can do.
I... So whetheryou choose
to go on with thisor not, I...
Bruce, I think
my job's done.
Thank you, Erin.
I mean, you made
all of it happen and I,I just want to... I...
Good luck, really.
Thank you.
The videotapes are strong.
They've been ableto determine the speed,
our witnesses not holding upto the their witnesses.
Wait a minute.
What my wife askingis can you reduceit any further?
No, I don't think so.
It's very riskyto continue the trial
consideringour position.
This is a verygood agreement.
My son's not a public...
JUSTIN:Mom?
Justin.
Oh, we were just going overthings with the lawyer.
This, this new proposal.
Honey,
if you change your pleato guilty...
I serve a maximum of 15 years.
15 years.
It's still a lifetime.
It's my lifetime.
Of course. I know.
Sweetheart, the thing is,what if
you're found innocent?
I'm not innocent, Mom.
Oh, but you are, Justin.
You have no idea.
It'll be okay, Mom.
I promise.
I'm want to do this.
♪
Could you find your seatsquickly and quietly, please?
(overlapping chatter)
Quietly? Thank you.
(chatter dies down)
I would like to introduceMr. Bruce Murakami.
His son Brody is a junior here.
As many of you already know,
Brody's mother and sisterwere recently killed
in a car accident.
It was a tragic accidentthat should not have happened.
I want you all to listenvery closely to what
Mr. Murakami has to say.
Mr. Murakami.
Thank you.
I want to thankPrincipal Warren
for letting me be here.
This was my idea, not hers.
The fact is, I've never doneanything like this before.
Okay... first of all,
I want you to know thatfor weeks,
after the accident,
I've had an image in my mindof who was behind that wheel.
I'm sure all of you do as well.
But the truth of the matter ishe didn't fit that image at all.
He could be you.
(students murmuring)
Or you.
Or you.
But it wasn't.
It was you.
Your name is Justin Gutierrez.
Hello.
Hello?
When Mr. Murakami asked meto come here today,
my first thought was, "Why?"
Everybody knows the storyalready, right?
It's been all over the news.
I'm the kid that got upone morning,
and I killed two peopleI'd never even met.
I don't know why I decidedto race that day.
I guess it was a "Look at me"kind of thing.
Like, "I'm driving fast wheels.Watch what I can do."
(sniffles)So when I got the "Let's race"signal at the light,
I went for it.
I mean, it was a rush,cutting in and out
like snowboarding or skiing,but in a machine.
Man, my tireswere off the ground.
I remember, I was flying.
And then it was suddenly...boom.
It was all over.
(voice breaking):I destroyed five people's lives.
Seven, if you count my parents.
And eight if you count me.
(overlapping chatter)
Killed by streetracing? Come on.
That was so sad.
(phone ringing)
WOMAN:Hello?
Hey, Melissa, yeah, uh,look, Brody might be
a little bit upsetabout something...
He's here.He is?
Shoo
Shooti
Shooting
Shooting p
Shooting pool
Shooting pool ou
Shooting pool out
Shooting pool out ba
Shooting pool out back.Thank yo
Shooting pool out back.Thank you.
Yeah, I'll come by and get him.
All right, see you.Okay, bye.
Guys, I'm reallysorry about this.
Don't be.
We're flatteredto be his backup family.
Absolutely.
He told usabout what you did today.
Yeah, well, he didn'treact so well.
BRUCE:I'm really sorryabout this.
MELISSA:Well, you probably should haveexplained it to him.
I thought hewouldn't show up,
and I wantedhim to hear it.
DAVID:Yeah, it must havebeen difficult, though,
standing up therewith him.
I... I can't imagine...At first it was...
Hey, Brody.
Well, it was an incrediblybrave thing to do, really.
It wasn't brave-- it was lame.
Thanks, guys.
BRUCE:You thought it was lame?
Whatever.
I just thought thatthey would connectbetter with someone
their own age,somebody younger...
By the way,you didn't even tell me!
Did you tell Josh?
No.
I'm sorry.
Brody, I should have told you.
It's too late for that.
Why?
Don't you get it, Dad?
How could you go and be friendsor even do stuff
with the guy who...?!
How did this affect you?
Did this affect you deeply?
It sounds like you guyshave really learned something
from just this presentation.
So when you get home tonight,
what are you going to be sayingto your parents?
(overlapping chatter)
Is this somethingyou're still going to do
or has it changedyour viewpoint forever?
These are just someof the many positive responses
to Mr. Murakami's presentationhere at Lincoln High School.
The windowshave been sealed here.
I don't understand. Darrow?
You meananotherhigh school?
That's right,word got out about your talk,
and now their principal wantsyou and the Gutierrez boy
to do the same for his students.
WARREN:They're listening, Bruce.
(rock beat blasting)
Brody, I know it might seemkind of strange to you.
Yeah, got that right.
I understand how you feel,
but don't you thinkif doing it in another school
in some way helps stop kidsfrom ruining lives,
then it's worth it?
You know what, Dad?
I don't think you care what Ithink or feel about anything.
I mean,
You just want me to say,"Hey, it's a great idea,
and everything's goingto be fine."
But see...
I don't think that.
I won't ever think that.
Anyway, I got to practice.
That's okay. Bye. Bye.
NANCY:What? What did he say?
He wants me to come with himto another school.
What's the pointof doing that again?
You don't have to do that,Justin.
I already said I would.
That was not partof the plea agreement.
Well, I want to do it, Dad.
Justin, don't you...!Paul,
I saw how the kidsreacted to him.
Thank you, Mom.
NANCY:You need a ride?
He's picking me up.
Kind of awkward, huh?
(chuckles)
Yeah.
So, is this your highschool we're going to?
No, sir.
I went to Truman.
Truman?
I think we got aninvitation from them, too.
How would you feel aboutgoing and speaking there?
I imagine you've stillgot some friends.
Not really.
I dated a senior therefor a few months, but...
Not anymore?
We kind of drifted apart.
So what, you don't doschool anymore, cool guy?
Come here.
How you doing?
You know.
JUSTIN:It's true what they saidabout me in court.
My record's squeaky clean...
...and that's only becauseI was never caught before.
(voice breaking):The truth is,
I've raced before,
lots of times...
I even racedaround Hillsborough.
And f-for the rest of my life...
I have to livewith what I've done.
I have to live...with the hurt...
and painthat I've caused Mr. Murakami
and... with what I've taken awayforever.
And now...
I will never, ever be ableto say anything
that will make it better.
So let me get this.
They're out on some kind oflecture circuit together?
That's... Wow.
Yeah. Tell me about it.
So what'd he say?I mean, how did he explain?
He didn't.
He didn't even botherto ask me.
Just showed up with the guyto speak at my school.
I mean, I was sittingright there,
and I didn't even know about it.
What did you do?
What do you think?
The old cut-and-run?
Yeah, whatever.
So, um...
So what did the kids thinkabout what they said?
I mean, how did they react?
Who cares?!
The point, is he made me feellike a complete idiot.
And now they're goingto another one over at Darrow.
And I heard a while agothey have another one next week.
Brody...On what planet did he
think that'd be okay?!
Brody, hang on for a second,okay?
I came all the way downhere to talk about this.
I don't want to talkabout this.Well, just listen,then, okay?
Maybe, this is Dad's way ofhandling the whole thing, okay?
His way of dealing...
No, don't, please, don't!Don't!!
Don't tell me that this ishis way of dealing with it!
This is my momand my sister!
You don't turn theminto a slide show
to teach the world a lesson.
Brody, hang on a second.
Brody, hold on.
Brody, look, I think Dad isdoing this to honor them.
Okay? To turnwhat happened...
Into what,a bright and sunny day?
Singsong around the campfire?
Come on, man.What are we supposed to do,
forgivethat loser kid,Brody.
give him a big hug'cause he's writing
Brody!"I'm sorry"on a blackboarda thousand times?
Would you stop this?!
How come nobodysees this but me?Brody, watch out!
Stop!
Brody!
Brody?MAN: Is he all right?
Brody.
Mr. Hanson.
BRUCE:Man, 12 stitches!
I've never hadmore than two.(laughs)
Too badabout your arm.
Ah, it's just a fracture--no big deal.
Yeah, yeah, no big dealthere, cool guy.
So let me get this straight.
This guy plows into youas you were just zipping along?Dad...
Dad!
It was my fault.
Well, guess we got lucky, then.
All of us.
It's bizarre.
It's the same thingthat happens every morning
right when I wake up,
but before I'm, you know,actually conscious.
There's a few secondswhen the world seems good.
Everything's okay,there's no problems.
And then I blink
and I remember...
they're gone.
And... right away I feel cold,
you know, like I've sleptoutside all night, or...
I don't know what.
I hate how quiet it is.
You know, I mean...
I hate not seeing them when Iwalk through the door, you know?
I hate how they're stuck instupid little picture frames,
and we're left behind,
trying to figure outwhy it happened.
I just... I hate how I can'tget my old life back.
BRUCE:Listen, guys, I'm...
I'm sorry I've been...
I mean, for a long time,even before this all happened,
I've been doing my thing,
on the phone,making deals...
and not paying attentionto the one thing
that really is important.
That's you guys.
I haven't been there
for either one of you,
especially thegenius of the family.
Mm, thanks, Dad.
I love you guys.
And from now on,
I'm not going to makeany decisions
without talking it overwith you first.
Okay?
So, uh, that means
you're thinking somethingright now, right?
Yeah, Brody, I am.
And I meanwhat I said.
If you guysare okay with it,
if you don't thinkit's the right thing to do,
then that's the end of it.
All right? Brody...
your mom always called youthe genius of the family.
I know how much
she admired you...
loved you.
And I know how muchyou miss her.
But I can see herstanding right here,
and I can hear her voice.
And she would tell youyour dad loves you, too.
And I do, son.
And I would never let anythingget between us ever again.
I promise you.
(sniffles)
Mr. Murakami. Bruce.
It's so good tosee you again.
You too, Erin.
I've beenfollowing it all.
Yeah. Well, listen,I-I just really wanted
to come here and thank youfor all that you did,
I really appreciate it,
and for taking the timefrom such a busy schedule
I know that had to be very...
The funny thing is,I'd forgotten how.
to take the time
to listen, to...
feel, to thinkabout what justice
really means, and I have youto thank for that.
Really.
How are the boys?
We're getting there. Together.
Good.Yeah, it's good.
But?
No. No buts.
You never come here.
Well, there is one tiny...
That's what I thought.
...little thing.
And?
I want to take thisone step further.
BAILIFF:...the Honorable JudgeRoarke now presiding.
Please be seated.
This court isnow in session.
ROARKE:It seems to methis plea agreement
is fairly straightforward.
The defendant now pleads guilty
to two countsof vehicular homicide,
both counts to be servedconcurrently, for a total
of 15 yearsat the state penitentiary.
Is this your understanding
of this agreement?Yes, Your Honor.
And the State is alsoamenable to these terms?
Uh, no, Your Honor, we're not.
(spectators murmuring)
Has something transpired sincethis agreement was reached?
Your Honor,
I spent the morningwith Mr. Murakami
drafting a revisedplea agreement.
May we approach?
Now?
You're makingthis request now,
at the sentencing?
Mr. Murakami, you're inagreement with this?
Yes, Your Honor, I am,
and I've spokenwith Mr. Gutierrez
about the conditionsof the proposal.
Very well. Carry on.
As part of this new agreement,the state would like to request
permissionfor Mr. Justin Gutierrez
to address the court directly.
ROARKE:Mr. Murakami.
13 weeks ago, Ihad the chance
to sit and express
to Mr. Murakami
what I felt ever sincethis tragedy occurred.
I expressed to himthe shame that I felt
for my role in this accident.
And now,
I stand here today,publicly,
and say to his sons,
and to the rest of the world,
that I'm so sorry.
I believe Justin.
I believe he's remorseful.
I do not condone his actions,but I forgive him,
and I think he'spaying the price.
Sending Justin to prison
would only make a tragicsituation worse.
My wife and daughter's death
would not seemso senseless, Your Honor,
if Justin could continueto tell his story
on the outside.
If, if he could preventone kid, just one,
from making the same
fatal mistake he did,
I feel my family wouldhave a... a chance to heal
and justice would be served.
PEÑA:Your Honor,may I approach?
This agreement callsfor Mr. Gutierrez
to team up withMr. Murakami
to develop a program thatcombats reckless teen driving.
And in exchange, we willagree to a lesser charge
of manslaughterby culpable negligence.
Now, in addition, Mr. Murakamihas asked that the word "felon"
be removed from Justin's record.
Mr. Murakami,do you fully understand
that this would meanMr. Gutierrez
would serveno prison time at all?
Yes, Your Honor, I do.
This is a remarkable proposal
Mr. Murakami has putbefore this court.
It's an enormous breakfor you, Mr. Gutierrez.
It would mean that youwould not be
a formally convicted felon.
After consideringthis new information
and previous submissions,
I am now preparedto pass sentence.
This reduced charge will carry
a sentence of two yearsunder house arrest,
eight years of probationand 300 hours
of community service.
Mr. Gutierrez, I hope you know
what a great giftyou've been handed.
Don't waste it.
Court is adjourned.
Thanks.
I'll be right there.
Hey.
You did good.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Murakami,we want to...
(crying)
Sorry.
We can'tthank you enough
for what you've donefor our son.
For us.
Yeah.
Hey.
Your father...
What he did. You know...
Yeah.
I know.
But...
I know that you and yourbrother might not...
We agree with him.
It's the rightthing to do.
And, uh...
that time when I hit you...
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
Nice job,Mr. Murakami.Thank you.
Good luck, boys.JOSH:Thanks.
Captioning sponsored byCBS
and HALLMARK CARDS
and HALLMARK CARDS
♪
♪
♪
(keyboard-lead rock beatplaying nearby)
GIRL:Brody, Brody!
Look at me!Brody, look.
Yeah!
Take it away, Chelsea
Murakami!
(plays "Charge" riff)
(laughing):Yeah!
(continues rock beat)
WOMAN:You'll love it.
You'll be beggingfor the recipe.
Yeah, right.Whose birthday?
Miss Chelsea's.
Yeah, in a month.
Okay, maybe a teensybit obsessive.
Mm-hmm.Occasionally a lot.
Mm-hmm.Uh-huh.
(chuckling):Chelsea?
Mom! Mom, watch this.Okay.
Wow! Nice job, pal!
(laughs)
Just try and stayin the center, okay?
Okay.All right.
It's easier without your shoes.
That's okay, Mom.
All right.
Hey, Cindy, you havegot to taste this.
(keyboard rock beat continues)
Hang on.
Brody, you are a genius,
but I swear I'm puttingthat thing on eBay.
Turn it down.
Will you not sweat it?
I come here for the chaos.
Hmm.
Once they grow upand leave, you'll see.
Well, in the meantime,right now...
Cindy, two days afterShannon left for college,
without all that teenagedisorder and confusion,
I was a basket case.
Oh...
It's true what they say:it goes way too fast.
Yeah.
Mmm... I don't think so.
Oh, you hurt me.(chuckles)
Look, Tom, I can send everybodyhome if that's what you want.
Today, I'll break earlyfor lunch,
but keep me posted, all right?
You got it.
(machinery whirring)
MAN:You got it?
All right, let's go.
What's up?
Couple of investorsjust pulled out.
It's not good.I'm not goingto to tell
you guys not to sweat it,but I think
it's justa financial speed bump.
Yeah, yeah. That's all cool,but what's it mean for us?
Right now, lunch break.
Yo, Bruce, how long isthis break goingto last, man?
I mean, are wetalking Christmas?
Yeah. Rodney, we're allin the same boat, okay?
Me, I got a kid in a collegecosts me 600 bucks a minute.
I made a few phone callsand made sure that we're covered
in case this job goes down.
Hector.
Don't let anybodyleave the site.
Yeah. Bruce, man,if this job goes down,
and you can't findanything for us...
I mean, you knowmy situation.
I got you covered.
Two months, solid.
Yeah, but I didn't meanyou personally, man.
Between you and I,it is personal, okay?
Thanks, man.
(fence clanging)
Oh! Ouch!
Hi, Daddy.Hey, kiddo.
How you doing?Good. I can't believe you saw
thatone-- I've done, like,20 perfect ones.
Did I say I didn'tbelieve you?
No, I didn't, but, hey,take these off, okay?
You're goingto wear this out.
But they're my...Tut, tut, tut, tut!
(phone ringing)Shoes off.
BRODY:Hey, Dad!
I finished my composition.Want to hear?
(over phone):Bruce, good news.Hey, good-looking.
One second, Tom.What are you doing home?
Hey, Tom, how are you?
Baldwin called me back.
Okay. Well, I'll keep...Hey, Tom. Bye, Tom.
I'll keep my fingers crossed.What are you doing home?
I missedyou so bad,
I had to come home...Wait, wait, wait.
You haven't hadtime to miss me yet.
What's going on?Nothing. Everything's fine.
Hey. Hi, Melissa.
Hey, Bruce.
How are you?Excellent.
Honey, we gotanything to eat?
All right. I haveto go anyway.
Oh, you don't have to go.
I've got a mother-in-lawwith crumb issues.
Better go vacuum
the walls or something.
Oh, and David bought oneof those grills that
runs by...Convection.
Right. Can you guyscome over on Sunday?
Love to.Okay.
I'll call you later.Bye.
Bye, Melissa.Bye.
Honey, what is this?
This is a care packagefor Josh, but I can't find
his chocolate anywhere.
You know, they sellchocolate bars on campus, right?
Well, not the Dutch kind.
(chuckling):The Dutch kind?
You ate them, didn't you?
No.
Oh, you so ate them.I did not.
You're welcome to frisk me.You ate his chocolate.
If you find anychocolate on me...
(phone rings)CINDY:Is that important?
BRUCE:I'd better take it, honey.
I'd better take it.
All right. I'm goingto go to the store.
Okay.
Hey, sweet pea,have you seen
the chocolateI got for Josh?BRUCE:This is he.
Uh, that was for Josh?
(laughs)You want to comeWhat?
to the mall with me?Well, yeah!
Well, yeah! Go grab your shoes.
How about this?
How about I put half the crewon the Macklin project,
keep the other half busy
with finish workon the condos downtown?
Family rule.Hold on a second.
(over phone):Let's notthrow in the towel yet.
All right. Whatdo you think?
I really think we can get thisthing resolved with Baldwin.
Mom, can I also geta new hat, please?
Maybe a pink one;now buckle up.
(playing upbeat rock tune)
Hey, Dad.That's fantastic.
You sure they have deep enoughpockets to come in on this?
I can make a call.Why don't you do thatjust to be sure?
Call me back.
Will do.Thanks.
Got time now?
Time? For?
My new composition.
Let your mom listen to it.
(phone rings)
I'm right in the middleof something.
Hello.
Bruce...Tom. So?
We're all set.Oh!
That's great!
Oh, ye of little faith.Okay.
(laughing):No.
Oh, I never doubted youfor a second.
(laughs)
No, no, no,they're all still on site.
That's good.Yep.
I can put 'emto work right away.
Yeah, and Tom, they're goingto love you for this,
but they're still not goingto work for less.
Guess my scheme didn't work.
(laughs)Right.
All right, catch you later.
CHELSEA:Hi, Daddy.
Hey, kiddo, what are you doinganswering Mommy's phone?
She's driving.
Did you guys getthe Dutch chocolate?
Yup.
Now we're going to that mailboxplace... (line cuts off)
Chels?
Hello, Chels?
(line beeping)Ah...
(dialing)
(phone rings)
Hey, this is Cindy;leave me a message.
(beeping)
Hey, there, it's me.
I guesswe must have got cut off.
Listen, everything is back onwith work, okay, so don't worry
about anything.
I'll see you tonight.
Love you.
(fire truck horn honks,siren blaring)
(sirens wailing,indistinct police radio)
Sir, you needto stay back.
Sir!
Sir, you can'tgo over there.
Wait a minute--sir, sir! Hey.
Back it up, back up.
(siren blips nearby)
Hey, hold it! Wait, wait!
Are there two people in there?
MAN:Somebody stop that guy.
(siren wailing)
Let's go, let's go.
Get this guy-- sir?!
Let go of me!Let go of me! Wait!
My family's inside there!
No! No!
We got him!
Let's get youout of here.
Come on, this way.
(amplified breathing)
♪
♪
(fizzing)
(door opens)Dad?
Brody.
Josh.
(sniffles)
I can't believe it.
Where's Dad?
Okay.
Dad.
Josh.Hey, Dad.
Son.
(sobbing)
(sobbing continues)
(overlapping chatter)
Hey, Brody, you wantsomething to eat, sweetie?
Nah. I'll be okay.
(chatter continues)
So, uh when-when did youand Brody meet?
Brody?Hmm.
Uh, well, in the kitchenright before the funeral.
I'm-I'm herewith Josh.
Oh, I see.Yeah, she's, uh...
my girlfriend,Aunt Lena, not Brody's.Oh.
Excuse me.
(chatter continues)
Oh, this is a beautifulphotograph of the two of them.
I remember this.
This was taken rightafter you adopted her.
Yes.
I'm sorry, Bruce.Excuse me.
Should I check on him?
No. Let him go.
(sobs quietly)
(clears throat)Hey.
How are you doing?
Yeah.
You sure you want to be alone?
That's why I'm here, isn't it?
Yeah.
JOSH:Aunt Lena keptcalling me "Brody."
She losing it?
What do you think?
Maybe.
Probably.
(faucet running)
I still don't get it, Dad.
She never would've donesomething like that.
You know, I read allthe newspapers.
They all said that Mom pulledout of that parking lot
right into incoming traffic.
Josh?That's not her;you know that.
Mom puts on her turnsignal when she pulls
out of ourdriveway.I know.
So, how can theyblame it on her?
I mean, I, I don't get it.
(water sloshing in basin)
So, who hit who, Dad?
I mean, did younot even bother to ask?
I don't know who hit who,
who signaled, who turned,who didn't.
I don't know anything--all I know is your mom
and your sister are dead,so let's drop it.
(dishes clattering)
(Chelsea, man laughing)
I... hey, I see you.
(chuckles)
(leaves rustling)
MAN:Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Uh-oh.
Hey, Chels?
Come here, come here.
Come here.What's the family rule?
Always have a kisswhen you go out.
(sniffles)
(grunts softly)
(laughter)
Yeah!Congratulations, kids.
(cheering)
We love you guys!
(chuckles)
CINDY:We love you! Bye.
Bye.
(laughs)
Thank you guys so much.
We're going to miss you.
Bye.(sobbing)
(applause)
(cheering)
Bye!
♪
(fast tuning continues)
Hey.
...a ridge of high pressurecombining...Listen.
I've got a chemmidterm on Monday, so...
If you want to go, just go.
Come on, Brody.
New statistics on fatalitiescaused by
street racing releasedby the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administrationshow that these accidents
usually took place on urbanroads and were nearly six times
more likely to occur with maleteenagers at the wheel.
There is now reason to believethat the recent fatal crash
at Hillsborough Mall involvedstreet racing.
Here's whatone witness had to say.
Yeah, a kid was drivingfast in a black sports car.
Uh, weaving in andout of traffic, you know,
missing cars, like, by,you know, this much.
Uh, then theother, kind of
light brown car was going neckand neck with it, just as fast.
I mean, these kids were hauling.
When the black car hit, thatminivan didn't stand a chance.
Authorities refuse to commenton the allegation
that the 18-year-old driver wasstreet racing at the time.
Did you know this?
But among this age group,this mall at Hillsborough
is a go-to destinationfor teen cruising.
This is Wanda Rollins reporting.
No.
MAN:In other news,the mayor attended
the groundbreaking ceremonyof the long-awaited...
(overlapping chatter)
Can I help you, sir?
Yeah, I'd like to seethe police report
about the recent accidentat the Hillsborough Mall.
My wife and daughterwere the ones...
the fatalitiesin the case.
Mr. Murakami?
Sheriff Buerger.We spoke brieflyat the hospital
two weeks ago.Yeah, right, right.
Why haven't you contacted me?
About?
The morning news saidthat there was
allegations about street racing.
Is that true?Why don't we discuss this?
There was awitness who saidthat he saw
two idiots racingin and out of trafficwhen my wife was hit.
Others disputedthat account.
What others?We're a couple units short
for traffic controldown at the concert.
Break away Osborneand, uh, McGuinness.
Okay.
Sir, it isourjobto investigate
an accident thoroughly.But this kid whoplowed into them--
if he was racing and hecaused that accident,
you will arrest him, right?
Mr. Murakami, every witnessagreed your wife turned left
out of a parking...
My wife did not havea... a death wish!
Our daughter was in that car!
And another car hit them.But we cannot arrest
that driver unless we prove hisactions were reckless.I was there!
I saw what thosecars looked like!
That kind of impactonly happens
if someone is movingvery, very fast.
Mr. Murakami,
there must be hard evidence,
or else it goes on recordas an accident.
So then the kidwho killed them, he...
what, he just walks away?
Excuse me, sir.
Commissioner, I needyour okay on this.
At this point, wehave no such evidence.
Therefore, we cannotfile charges.
That simple, huh?
I understand yourfrustration, sir.
No, you don't.
You've suffereda terrible loss,
and we're gonna do everythingwe can to find out
exactly how that happened--you have my word on that.
I came herefor the police report.
Do you really wantto read that, sir?
Your accident reportis public record,
and I would like to have a copy.
Please.
Thank you.
Wha-What kind of
proof do you need?
A few more innocent women andchildren burning to death?
I mean, what-what is it gonnatake for your department
to do the right thing?
(boisterous laughter)
So, where are we, guys?(laughter stops)
Gonna do your work today?
Hey, boss, we're on lunch, man.
Yeah, I can see that--why don't you guys
pick up your trash?!Bruce, uh...
The client comes down here, seesyou guys sitting on your butts
stuffing your faces,doesn't look good.Whoa, slow down.
Hector, we are on a seriousdeadline here, okay?
And it's my reputation thatgoes down the toilet, not yours!
I know that, boss,but we're on schedule,
and... this isour lunch time.
Just wanted to make sureyou guys
weren't, uh...taking it for granted.
No, no, we're on it, boss.It's all good, man.
I just wanted to make sure...
Bruce.
I'm sorry, man.
All the guys and I...
we're really sorry.
Thanks.
MELISSA:All you have to dois choose a dinner.
Put it on a plate,cover with plastic wrap,
zap it for six minutes.
Oh, and do not coverit with tin foil,
or you'll setthe house on fire.
Got to diefrom something.
Hey...
Brody, it'sme, Melissa.
Your pal, remember?
Uh...
What are they?
Well, um, we've gotsome chicken...
and some more chicken...and, uh, something Chinese.
And I...
Honestly, I don'tknow what this is.
I'll take a pass.
Honey, you got to eatsomething.
Some protein,
something leafy and green,salad?
I walk around the housefeeling like I'm invisible.
Like a ghostor I don't know what.
(sniffles)
I get up each day...
and pretend I'm living.
Breathe...
brush my teeth, school.
Like all the timeI'm thinking...
"Why am I still hereand why are they not?"
(door opening)
Oh, hey, Bruce.
We were just comingup with some...
no-brainer dinner choices.
Where's Josh?
His car's not out front.
He had to goback to schoolfor a midterm.
No good-bye, nothing.
Great.
Sheriff's Department?
They're calling itan accident.
Blaming it on Cindy.
Case closed.
Kid got off.
There's got to besomething you can do.
Uh, no, not yet.
Not yet?
There's details in here.
Stuff you really don'twant to know about.
Oh, I get it.
Brody's not matureenough to know the truth.
Hey, Brody...Thanks, Dad.
Brody...
Bruce...
Hey, it's not about you.
It's about beinga 15-year-old boy.
And Josh.
I just don't think he
could handle anothergood-bye right now.
He should have lefta note or something.
WOMAN:It's that simple.
I had nothing to do with it.
He got off becausehe wasn't guilty.
The D.A.'s office should havedone its homework
and saved the taxpayera considerable expense.
Ms. Teller, do you feel thatthis was a fair verdict?
Well, you know, fairness doesn'talways come into it.
I believe in justice.
I will stop at nothingto get justice.
Justice has been served today.
(reporters clamoring)
Ms. Teller, what do you thinkthe legal ramifications
of this decision will be?
TELLER:Well, I think it's beena colossal waste
of our court's time.(phone ringing)
Mr. Shepherd has missed valuabletime with his family
and I said, I don't thinkit's really fair...Hello.
BOY:Hi, is Brody there?
Yeah, yeah, he is.He's upstairs.
Hold on a sec.
He got off becausehe wasn't guilty...Brody.
Mr. Shepherd will now goback to his family...Brody!
...and we can actually look for
the person who committedthis crime.
MELISSA:I just hope it's okay.
No, no, no, no,it's fine with me.
Are you sure?Yeah, if he wants tostay, that's fine.
Long as you and David don't mindhaving a moody teenager around.
Of course we don't mind.
Okay, well, thanks, Melissa;I really appreciate it.
Tell you the truth,
I'm happy I canhelp in some way.
Call me.
Okay, bye.
Josh.
Call your dad.
Yeah, okay.
Oh, whatdo you want?
Uh, latte.
Actually, you knowwhat, just a water.
(phone ringing)
Hey, Josh, how'd the midterm go?
Dad, I read the police report.
Brody faxed me a copy.
Dad, who's this witnesswho says
that the Gutierrez kidwasn't racing through that mall?
Josh, doesn't matterwhat I think, okay?
Well, don't you think it mattersthat you find out?
Can you at least do that?
(line clicks)Josh?
Josh?
(grunts)
Just like that, huh?
I got us a couple rib-eyes.
I'm not hungry.
Brody.
Brody!
Brody!
(laughter)
(fire truck horn honking)
(siren wailing in distance)
TELLER:I need to meet withMr. Gottlieb this afternoon
if that's possible.We checked hisavailability, Ms. Teller.
He's going to be inthe office tomorrow.
Okay, make sure there's copies
of the Whatley surveysand files for him and me.
And have you heardfrom Mr. Whatley?
Ms. Teller.Okay.
JUDGE:Ms. Teller, in lightof the new evidence,
your client is free to go.
Thank you, ladiesand gentlemen.
This court is adjourned.All rise.
(overlapping chatter)
Hi. Excuse me, Ms. Teller,
My name is Bruce Murakami.
And you have apolice report.
Very keen observation,
which is exactly whyI want to hire you.
Well, I'm a little tiedup at the moment, so...
Ms. Teller had 15 caseslined up back to back.
Uh... uh...
no, no, it's you I want.
I'm flattered tobe wanted, but...
Could you please justread the police report?
No. I'm trying to tellyou there's nothingI can do.
You can tell me why they won'tarrest the kid
who killed my wife and daughter.
Sir, Ms. Teller, hasalready explained...I got it, Anna.
Murakami.Okay, Mr. Murakami,
I'm a defense attorney,not a detective.
But your M.O. issmart investigation
and doing your homework betterthan your opponents.
That's why you win,that's why I wantto hire you.
Well, if there's someoneyou'd like me to defend...
How about mywife and daughter?
As I said, I just don'thave time right now.
Please if you couldjust read it...
I can't, Mr. Murakami.One good reason.
Because I could meetup with you inanother courtroom
any day now, andeasily be defending
whoever it isyou're after--Mr. Peña.
I'm not after anybody.
I just want to seethe law of the land
applied to a criminal act.
Good-bye, Mr. Murakami.
(reporters clamoring)
She's good, isn't she?
Oh, yeah.
Excuse me, Ms. Teller,do you expect an appeal?Obviously,
the district attorney'soffice wasn't fully prepared,
but you can askDistrict Attorney Peña.
I'll see you over there.Okay.
Counselor.Hello. How are you?
Oh, yeah, she'sthat, uh...Brody.
...lawyer gal.
Brody, knock it off.
...does all that commentaryon television,
right, all the time?
Defended that city commissionerin the pyramid scheme.
Smart, tough,
a real fighter.Yeah.
So what ifshe's a fighter?
I mean, what are you tryingto prove, Dad?
I mean, what's the differenceif he was street racing
or if he was eatinga cheeseburger?
Maybe the sunwas in Mom's eyes.
Maybe Chelsea jammed a CDin the CD player.
Who knows?
Who cares?
It's not going to bring'em back, is it?
Is it?!
I know.
Most of the time, thought,they actually have a file...
TELLER:Tom, we need more research,and you got to go
over the numbers,or the answer is no.
We've got the resources to takecare of this, no problem.
Okay, Tom, ball'sin your court.
Just get back to mewith something
and let's be done with it.
Okay, Erin, I'll get backto you tomorrow.
All right, Tom, bye.
Bye.
There's a Mr. Murakami here.
He's very insistent.
Mr. Murakami.
Ms. Teller,did you read it?
Yes, I did.I can't take this...
You telling meyou had no problems
with that reportwhatsoever?
Come back to my office.
I'm being told thatmy wife is responsible
for killing herselfand our daughter.
Now, I knowthat's not true,
and now you knowit's not true, right?
The police filed thecase as an accident
because they have conflictingeyewitness accounts.
Push Mr. Johnson backfive minutes.
Got it.
Without sufficient evidence,
it will be impossibleto convince
the district attorney's officeto press charges
against that driver.
Is there any legal reason whythe case can't be reopened?
Technically no, but my advice,you want someone in your camp
the D.A. actually likes.
I want the best person.
I'm not that.
That case that you won
where those two kidswere accused of arson--
you won that casebecause you cared.
That was five orsix years ago.
Things change.
So maybe I'm allwrong about you.
Maybe our case doesn't fitinto your career path,
not high-profileenough for you.
I apologize, Ms. Teller.
You're lookingat a desperate man
who really needs your help.
and has run out ofideas on how to get it.
I'll do a preliminaryinvestigation.
Whatever you need from me...
What I need from you is to keepyour hopes in check.
This is not going to be easy.
I don't expect anythingto be easy ever again.
The kid's car hit her so hard,
it pushed the minivanall the way to thisside of the road.
That's where it was struckby the SUV.
They say that most likelyChelsea died on impact.
With Cindy, theywere less sure.
All three vehicles wereon fire when they arrived.
The smoke was so thick, itjust blacked out the sky.
The police tellyou all this?
Plus what I remember.
You were here?
Five minutes too late.
Are you sure you wantto meet these witnesses?
I can do this alone.
No, I can handle it.
MAN:I don't understandwhat you're saying.
Exactly whatare you asking me?
Would you say that the car wastraveling at an unsafe speed?
Well, if you mean fast,I'd say yeah, but...
it's kind of normalthese days.
The small black car?
Well, like I told the cops,
it wasn't traveling all thatmuch faster than the traffic.
It didn't...
Now, the womanin the minivan,
she just flewin front of him.
Probably wasn'tpaying attention.
I see women whipping outof that lot every day,
doing their makeup,
talking on their cells.
Cindy wasn'ttalking on her cell...
Thank you.Thank you, Mr. Scully.
You've been very helpful.
So you were stoppedat a light...
Yep, I wassitting in my car.
Could you fill in some detail,just a little?
Uh... it was a black car
and there was a light brown car.
I see them both'cause I was in the far lane.
The drivers did this sort ofnod thing to each other.
Wait, you saw that, a nod?
Yeah. Definitely.
And then?
And then, whenthe light changed, and, uh...
vroom, they were out of there.
This brown carthat you describe,
it was not involvedin the accident?
No, no, no, that dudedropped out
when the traffic got heavier.
Wait, when you say"dropped out,"
did he stop after the accidentor keep going?
Oh, he was out of there.
But, you know,the weird thing is,
he came back.
He was parked right in that lot.
Are you sure?
Yeah, definitely.
He was watchingfrom across the street.
I was like, "Whoa,this dude's got to be
some kind of, like, pyroor something," you know?
Whatever.
There's another brown onein back there.
No, he said it was in the loton the other side of the street.
(cell phone rings)
Excuse me.
Try the wide angle.
Go ahead.
I'll call him back.
We don't mind, really.
I should've gotten my prioritiesstraight a long time ago.
What if I didn't answerthe phone on this day?
We probably wouldn'teven be sitting here.
Bruce, you have to stop lookingfor the what-ifs.
You didn't makethis happen.
You didn't lose thembecause of anything you did
or didn't do.
Channel 2 news crew is here.
Oh.I'm so sorry.
I have a commentarything I have to do.
Life goes on.
Stay as longas you like.
There it is.
Light brown car in the lotacross the street.
There.
The plate's in clear view, butyou can't quite make it out.
but we can fixthat, right?
(chuckles)
(dog barking in distance)
TELLER:Sweet ride you got here.
It's not for sale.
Bet it's fast.
Yeah, it goes pretty good.
Pretty good off the line?
It's good enough.
Why? Who wants to know?
This man's wife and daughterwere in the minivan
when you were racingat Hillsborough last month.
Remember the minivan?
You returnedto the accident,
but you neglectedto tell anyone
you were the one racingJustin Gutierrez.
It's called lying by omission.
You ever heard of that?
Hey, I didn'thit anybody, okay?
I slowed down; he startedweaving all over the road.
Oh, save it for court.
What?
Accessoryto a crime.
That's court.
Maybe evensome jail time.
I don't know,I'm just a lawyer.
Let's go.
No, no, hey, hey.
Wait. I mean...
there's got to be somethingI can do.
It's one guy's wordagainst the other.
It's not enough to grabthe D.A.'s attention.
But he admittedthey were racing.
Yes, and the Gutierrez kidwill refute that.
And we have to convincethe sheriff's department
that they might havemissed something.
What do we need then?
Hard evidence.
I'm sorry, Bruce.
I'm very latefor a meeting.
We'll pick this upagain later, okay?
Okay. Thank you.
(sighs)
There's one.
One what?
And there's another oneright there.
And there's another oneright here.
Security camera looking overthe parking lot.
And you think that...
Maybe it recorded the street,the accident in the background.
It's definitely possible.
Yeah?
We're all over this.Okay.
There were fivesecurity cameras.
Three of them show the streeton the day of the accident.
Really?Yes, really.
I had to enlarge them,so they're a little fuzzy.
But you get a very clearidea of what happened.
Please, justgive me one second.
Anna...
The surveillance video shows Mr.Gutierrez in second position.
We've been able to calculatehe was going
in excess of 80 miles per hour.
And as any judge will see,
they're obviously racing.
Here's your copy.
Let us know when youmake an arrest.
You want to, you wantto go hiking again?
Yeah, I loved it.Fine, next week,
No heels, you're not hikingin heels again.
Oh, I did nothike in heels.
What?
GIRL:Okay, I'llcatch you later.
Hey, punk.
Hey, Josh.
How'd you get here?Bus, and no,Dad doesn't know.
Great.
Dad?
Hi, Josh.Hey, listen, that's great news
about the lawyer you hired.
How'd you hear?
No, that's just it,
Brody told me all about it,for two hours this morning.
Wait. Brody's in school,isn't he?
Yeah, yeah,he's at school all right.
Sort of.
How's the music coming?
Mom always bugged meto turn it down, but...
she told me flat out that shewanted me to do the music thing.
No, high school, it just,you know, it slows me down.
The teachers are so lame.
Well, high school canget like that, you know?
You just got to,
you just got toget through it.
Nice.
Hey, boys,mind if I join you?
Hey.
(Bruce clears throat)Um...
These are good for you.
(phone ringing)
(chuckles)
I think that's you.
Actually, I'd better take this;it could be important.
Oh, what a surprise.
Yeah? Hey, Erin, what's up?
Thanks for busting me.
Brody. Brody.
Brody!
Give him a break.
That's great news, Erin.
Yeah, but do you thinkit's enough
to get the DA to take thisto court?
ERIN:I think we've gota really good shot.
Just-just call mewhen you get a response.
Will do.
Sit down.
You can't just disappear
without letting himknow where you are, okay?
He's been through a lot.Oh, and we haven't?
I just mean he doesn'tneed to go through more.
Whatever.
Come on, man.
Look, you and Dad,you guys need to talk.
Great, thanks.
He doesn't get me, Josh.He never will!
Give it up.
The only personwho gets me is dead.
Guys, you're not goingto believe this.
That lawyer that I hired--well, her two assistants
did the matchto show that it's probable
that the Gutierrez kidwasracing.
JOSH:So, they're goingto arrest him?
BRUCE:I think it looks good.
(whispering)
That's him, isn't it?
Could be.
Case 407655.
The court callstheState v. Justin Gutierrez.
JUDGE:Mr. Peterson, please approachwith the defendant.
Good morning,Your Honor.
JUDGE:You have been hiredto represent
Justin Gutierrezfor this arraignment?
PETERSON:I have, Your Honor.
And you are Justin Gutierrez?
Brody!
GUTIERREZ:Yes, Your Honor.
JUDGE:Very well.
The purpose of the proceedingthis morning
is to advise you, Mr. Gutierrez,of your rights,
advise you of the chargesagainst you,
and to set conditions for bail.
Mr. Gutierrez,you are charged
with two countsof vehicular homicide.
Each count carries with ita potential 15-year sentence.
If convicted, you could faceup to 30 years in prison.
Do you understand the chargesagainst you,
Mr. Gutierrez?
Yes.
And how do you plead?
Mr. Gutierrez, how do you plead?
Not guilty.
(gavel banging,attendees murmuring)
We expected it.
Dad, Mom, I don't knowwhat I'm saying.
Justin, please, son,keep it together.
I can't say that.
Justin,we need to be focused.
The issue is bailright now, okay?
Okay, I'll getback to you.Thanks.
I can't believe he getsto just stroll on out of here
like nothing happened.The judge seta low bail,
because he doesn'thim to go very far.And it's a first offense.
He's never been in trouble.Yeah, yeah, we heard.Save it.
They want to plea bargain?Is that what that was about?His lawyer wants to talk.
He wants to changehis plea, right?
Why would he change the plea?
Pleads guilty in exchangefor a concurrent sentence.
Meaning what?
He'll serve both sentencessimultaneously.
So what, he-he serves15 years, not 30?That's correct.
Oh, not necessarily.
With time off for good behavior
Excuse me, Ms. Teller,I'll take over
from here.Must be hard to wrapyour head around
the idea we're sittingat the same table on this one.
If this goes totrial, you will not be
sitting at my table.Wha-What do you mean, if?Okay, we did not come this far
to plea bargain thisor whatever it isthat you call it.
Okay, we wantto see justice done.
Then we proceedto trial.Great.
(rock music playingover headphones)
(gasps)Hey!
Get off him!
Help us!
Stop it!
WOMAN:Help us!
Stop it!
(soft, rhythmic clinking)
That's not the wayto solve anything.
We all get angry, butthere's a big difference
between being angry anddoing something stupid.
What were you thinking?
The good news isthey're not pressing charges.
And they could--you know that, right?
He knows, Bruce.
And what's the matterwith my lasagna?
No, it's good.It's great. Thank you.
No, I didn't thinkthat was the problem, either.
I think the problem is you.
All of you.
You know, you might trytalking to each other.
It's a concept.
(sighs)
Letting each other knowhow you feel.
I mean, what would Cindy thinkif she could see...
Sorry.
PAUL:Right now, the important thingis Justin be found innocent.
We can't do or say anythingthat might raise an eyebrow.
And we have to makesure that he keeps histhoughts to himself.
Whoa, Paul, that's our sonyou're talking about.
He's told the truthhis whole life.
That's how we raised him.
It's not a lie to sayit was an accident.
Justin will tell the truth,and the truth is
he did not leave this housewith the intention
of hurting anyone, let alone...
Explaining everythingthat happened
could very easilyput him in prison.
Is that what you want?
How about what I want?
Does that count?
Of course it does, honey.
Your mother andI are afraid...
Afraid?
That's funny-- I mean,you guys thinkyou'reafraid.
Which is why we haveto be very carefulabout what we say.
The prosecution could use...
Right now, Dad,I don't care about
what the prosecution does...or says or any of it.
That's not whatI'm afraid of.
You want to knowwhat I'm afraid of?
I'm afraid thatfor the rest of my life,
I'm never gonna be ableto be happy again.
Or do anything normal
without rememberingwhat I did...
and how stupid I was.
When all the facts are in,
the judge could see itvery differently.
I don't carehow the judge sees it, Dad.
I care howIsee it...and howIdeal with it.
Baby...
(overlapping chatter)
All rise.
The Honorable JudgeRoarke now presiding.
BAILIFF:Case 407655,The State v. Justin Gutierrez.
PEÑA:In the next few days,
I'm going to ask you to bearwitness to a terrible tragedy.
A fiery wreckat Hillsborough Mall destroyed
the Murakami family.
♪
A mother and daughtersenselessly killed by a callous
and uncaring young man.
Gone as a resultof Mr. Gutierrez's
intentionally reckless decisionto race.
Do you swear to tellthe truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth,so help you God?I do.
PEÑA:When the defendant made hisdecision to race,
he turned his vehicle into ahigh-powered weapon, killing...
Your Honor, you've heardthis story before.
...in the collision,
the impact propelledthe Murakamis' minivan
into the southbound traffic,
instantly killing12-year-old Chelsea.
When the vehicle exploded,Cindy perished as well.
Numerous surveillance videocameras captured criminal intent
of Mr. Gutierrez's driving.
I ask you
to look over hereat Mr. Murakami and say...
♪
This family deserves justice.
♪
...and make no mistake about it.
♪
...he made his decisionto commit homicide!
As Justin flew through trafficat 80 miles per hour,
they never stood a chance.
He sealed their fates.
Justin Gutierrezwas caught on camera.
♪
(echoing):...caught on camera,caught on camera...
senselessly, senselessly,senselessly killed...
by an uncaring, uncaring,uncaring young man....
young man, young man,young man...
(tires screeching)
(gasps)
(sighs)
(panting)
I just can't sit in thatcourtroom another minute
without knowing who thisguy is, what he's made of.
I want to sit across fromhim, look him in the eye,
and hear what he hasto say for himself.
No lawyers, no coaching--just the two of us.
Is that too much to ask?
(panting)
(door opens)
Please.
Please.
(crying)
Mr. Gutierrez...
the reason I askedfor this meeting isI want to hear...
what you have tosay for yourself.
Just you and me.
(crying quietly, sniffling)
You do have somethingto say for yourself?
(continues crying, sniffling)
(crying, stammering)
I want... to say...
I want to say I'm sorry.
(continues crying)
I'm so sorry,I'm so sorry.
(sobbing)
♪
MAN:Justin Gutierrez
is a good kidfrom a good family.
Your Honor, I want to...
remind you
he's not a criminal.
To Mr. Peña and to their, uh,distinguished counsel...
It was an accident.
The law is very clear.
There is no intent.
He made a mistake.
(whispering)
ROARKE:Mr. Peterson,I am denying your request.
And we will continueas scheduled.
(reporters shouting questions)
I'll handle this--unless you want to.
No, no,have at it.
REPORTER:Ms. Teller, Ms. Teller,
why the vehicular homicide,not manslaughter?
Is this to set an example forother teenagers or to expedite
your political agenda?Wow. From our experience,such big words don't fly
on your station,do they?
(chuckles)Do I believe
that there's another motivationbehind the charges brought
against Justin Gutierrez?
Good question,Mr. Cochand,but the answer
is no.
Two innocent people are dead.
(overlapping clamoring)
TELLER:It was a great day incourt for Mr. Murakami.
The DA did a fine job.
WOMAN:What about the Brown deposition,Ms. Teller?
TELLER:I'll call him from the car.
Hey.
Bruce?
What's going on?
I'm not sure.
Listen, we got to juststay on track here,
try not to let someone'stears sway you.
You're going tosee a lot of that.
Maybe it was a mistake.
I thought...he'd be different.
Weird.Like an animal or something.
But he wasn't;he's just a kid.
It's out of our hands.He's like...
Brody or Josh...
or Chelsea.The State'sprosecuting.
Wheels are in motion.
Bruce... you wanted justice,
and now you're going to get it.
HECTOR:So, how'sthe trial going, man?
Me and the guys have beenwatching the news
and you have nothingto worry about.
That kid's going down.I'm pretty sure abut that.
Yeah.
Hey, uh, let's checkthese studs.
Trusses look good.
(phone rings)
Do you havethe specs on this?Yep.
Yeah?
WOMAN:Bruce Murakami, please?Yeah, this is he.
Is Brody your son?Yeah, Brody's our son, my son.
Well, he's been in a fight.
He what?
(tires squealing)
(engine revving)
(girls shouting)
Excuse me, sir,can I help you?
That's my son.
Brody?
Hey.
What happened?
Listen, I didn'tstart it.
It's not my fault, okay?
This kid, he just jumped mefrom behind
and I had to fight back.
Mr. Murakami.
Mrs. Warren.
I thought it was important for
you to knowand for Brody to know
that we have professionalcounseling available.
Well, my son assuresme that the otherboy started it.
There are two sidesto everything.
Just so you know,I'm on Brody's side.
Mr. Murakami, no matterwho was at fault here,
I believe that Brody hasan anger issue...
Anger issue?
Come on. His anger'skind of normal,
given the circumstances,don't you think?
I understand it's beenvery difficult for you.
And while you'rehere lecturing me
about how to deal with my son,
you have kids out heredriving recklessly and behaving
irresponsibly.
How come there's no security?How can you allow that?!
We do have security,Mr. Murakami,
but they havetheir hands full.
Well, somebody needs to talkto these kids,
explain to themwhat can happen.
Every spring, we havehighway patrol officers
come in, give the talk,show the video...
And let me guess:they don't listen.
Much like you, Mr. Murakami,they hate being lectured,
especially bylaw enforcement.
What exactlyare you asking me?
Simple.When he's convicted...
If he's convicted.
He'll serve 30 years.
Right.
So just keepan open mind, okay?
Okay.Hear me out.
Is it to lateto revisit the idea
of a plea agreement?
Why would we do that now?
The last timeI mentioned plea agreement...
I-I know, but if he admitshis guilt in public,
if he talks about it,it could help
a lot of people.
Can we call the D.A.?
PEÑA:Look, it's unprecedented.
That's gettingto be routine in this case.
Would they agreeto it?
Don't know.
Bruce, I have to sayI don't like it.
Why not?
Because we have workedso hard
to build a strong case,and now we have one.
I don't get it.
Trust me.
Ms. Teller wouldn't say thatif she didn't believe it,
but I'll look into it.
Thanks.
As I remember,I was hired
to represent Cindyand Chelsea.
Theyare theinnocent ones.
I know, I knowand we've proved that.
Yeah.This is whatI want to do.
It's what I needto do.
Look, Bruce,obviously it's your decision.
But I...
I think I've doneall I can do.
I... So whetheryou choose
to go on with thisor not, I...
Bruce, I think
my job's done.
Thank you, Erin.
I mean, you made
all of it happen and I,I just want to... I...
Good luck, really.
Thank you.
The videotapes are strong.
They've been ableto determine the speed,
our witnesses not holding upto the their witnesses.
Wait a minute.
What my wife askingis can you reduceit any further?
No, I don't think so.
It's very riskyto continue the trial
consideringour position.
This is a verygood agreement.
My son's not a public...
JUSTIN:Mom?
Justin.
Oh, we were just going overthings with the lawyer.
This, this new proposal.
Honey,
if you change your pleato guilty...
I serve a maximum of 15 years.
15 years.
It's still a lifetime.
It's my lifetime.
Of course. I know.
Sweetheart, the thing is,what if
you're found innocent?
I'm not innocent, Mom.
Oh, but you are, Justin.
You have no idea.
It'll be okay, Mom.
I promise.
I'm want to do this.
♪
Could you find your seatsquickly and quietly, please?
(overlapping chatter)
Quietly? Thank you.
(chatter dies down)
I would like to introduceMr. Bruce Murakami.
His son Brody is a junior here.
As many of you already know,
Brody's mother and sisterwere recently killed
in a car accident.
It was a tragic accidentthat should not have happened.
I want you all to listenvery closely to what
Mr. Murakami has to say.
Mr. Murakami.
Thank you.
I want to thankPrincipal Warren
for letting me be here.
This was my idea, not hers.
The fact is, I've never doneanything like this before.
Okay... first of all,
I want you to know thatfor weeks,
after the accident,
I've had an image in my mindof who was behind that wheel.
I'm sure all of you do as well.
But the truth of the matter ishe didn't fit that image at all.
He could be you.
(students murmuring)
Or you.
Or you.
But it wasn't.
It was you.
Your name is Justin Gutierrez.
Hello.
Hello?
When Mr. Murakami asked meto come here today,
my first thought was, "Why?"
Everybody knows the storyalready, right?
It's been all over the news.
I'm the kid that got upone morning,
and I killed two peopleI'd never even met.
I don't know why I decidedto race that day.
I guess it was a "Look at me"kind of thing.
Like, "I'm driving fast wheels.Watch what I can do."
(sniffles)So when I got the "Let's race"signal at the light,
I went for it.
I mean, it was a rush,cutting in and out
like snowboarding or skiing,but in a machine.
Man, my tireswere off the ground.
I remember, I was flying.
And then it was suddenly...boom.
It was all over.
(voice breaking):I destroyed five people's lives.
Seven, if you count my parents.
And eight if you count me.
(overlapping chatter)
Killed by streetracing? Come on.
That was so sad.
(phone ringing)
WOMAN:Hello?
Hey, Melissa, yeah, uh,look, Brody might be
a little bit upsetabout something...
He's here.He is?
Shoo
Shooti
Shooting
Shooting p
Shooting pool
Shooting pool ou
Shooting pool out
Shooting pool out ba
Shooting pool out back.Thank yo
Shooting pool out back.Thank you.
Yeah, I'll come by and get him.
All right, see you.Okay, bye.
Guys, I'm reallysorry about this.
Don't be.
We're flatteredto be his backup family.
Absolutely.
He told usabout what you did today.
Yeah, well, he didn'treact so well.
BRUCE:I'm really sorryabout this.
MELISSA:Well, you probably should haveexplained it to him.
I thought hewouldn't show up,
and I wantedhim to hear it.
DAVID:Yeah, it must havebeen difficult, though,
standing up therewith him.
I... I can't imagine...At first it was...
Hey, Brody.
Well, it was an incrediblybrave thing to do, really.
It wasn't brave-- it was lame.
Thanks, guys.
BRUCE:You thought it was lame?
Whatever.
I just thought thatthey would connectbetter with someone
their own age,somebody younger...
By the way,you didn't even tell me!
Did you tell Josh?
No.
I'm sorry.
Brody, I should have told you.
It's too late for that.
Why?
Don't you get it, Dad?
How could you go and be friendsor even do stuff
with the guy who...?!
How did this affect you?
Did this affect you deeply?
It sounds like you guyshave really learned something
from just this presentation.
So when you get home tonight,
what are you going to be sayingto your parents?
(overlapping chatter)
Is this somethingyou're still going to do
or has it changedyour viewpoint forever?
These are just someof the many positive responses
to Mr. Murakami's presentationhere at Lincoln High School.
The windowshave been sealed here.
I don't understand. Darrow?
You meananotherhigh school?
That's right,word got out about your talk,
and now their principal wantsyou and the Gutierrez boy
to do the same for his students.
WARREN:They're listening, Bruce.
(rock beat blasting)
Brody, I know it might seemkind of strange to you.
Yeah, got that right.
I understand how you feel,
but don't you thinkif doing it in another school
in some way helps stop kidsfrom ruining lives,
then it's worth it?
You know what, Dad?
I don't think you care what Ithink or feel about anything.
I mean,
You just want me to say,"Hey, it's a great idea,
and everything's goingto be fine."
But see...
I don't think that.
I won't ever think that.
Anyway, I got to practice.
That's okay. Bye. Bye.
NANCY:What? What did he say?
He wants me to come with himto another school.
What's the pointof doing that again?
You don't have to do that,Justin.
I already said I would.
That was not partof the plea agreement.
Well, I want to do it, Dad.
Justin, don't you...!Paul,
I saw how the kidsreacted to him.
Thank you, Mom.
NANCY:You need a ride?
He's picking me up.
Kind of awkward, huh?
(chuckles)
Yeah.
So, is this your highschool we're going to?
No, sir.
I went to Truman.
Truman?
I think we got aninvitation from them, too.
How would you feel aboutgoing and speaking there?
I imagine you've stillgot some friends.
Not really.
I dated a senior therefor a few months, but...
Not anymore?
We kind of drifted apart.
So what, you don't doschool anymore, cool guy?
Come here.
How you doing?
You know.
JUSTIN:It's true what they saidabout me in court.
My record's squeaky clean...
...and that's only becauseI was never caught before.
(voice breaking):The truth is,
I've raced before,
lots of times...
I even racedaround Hillsborough.
And f-for the rest of my life...
I have to livewith what I've done.
I have to live...with the hurt...
and painthat I've caused Mr. Murakami
and... with what I've taken awayforever.
And now...
I will never, ever be ableto say anything
that will make it better.
So let me get this.
They're out on some kind oflecture circuit together?
That's... Wow.
Yeah. Tell me about it.
So what'd he say?I mean, how did he explain?
He didn't.
He didn't even botherto ask me.
Just showed up with the guyto speak at my school.
I mean, I was sittingright there,
and I didn't even know about it.
What did you do?
What do you think?
The old cut-and-run?
Yeah, whatever.
So, um...
So what did the kids thinkabout what they said?
I mean, how did they react?
Who cares?!
The point, is he made me feellike a complete idiot.
And now they're goingto another one over at Darrow.
And I heard a while agothey have another one next week.
Brody...On what planet did he
think that'd be okay?!
Brody, hang on for a second,okay?
I came all the way downhere to talk about this.
I don't want to talkabout this.Well, just listen,then, okay?
Maybe, this is Dad's way ofhandling the whole thing, okay?
His way of dealing...
No, don't, please, don't!Don't!!
Don't tell me that this ishis way of dealing with it!
This is my momand my sister!
You don't turn theminto a slide show
to teach the world a lesson.
Brody, hang on a second.
Brody, hold on.
Brody, look, I think Dad isdoing this to honor them.
Okay? To turnwhat happened...
Into what,a bright and sunny day?
Singsong around the campfire?
Come on, man.What are we supposed to do,
forgivethat loser kid,Brody.
give him a big hug'cause he's writing
Brody!"I'm sorry"on a blackboarda thousand times?
Would you stop this?!
How come nobodysees this but me?Brody, watch out!
Stop!
Brody!
Brody?MAN: Is he all right?
Brody.
Mr. Hanson.
BRUCE:Man, 12 stitches!
I've never hadmore than two.(laughs)
Too badabout your arm.
Ah, it's just a fracture--no big deal.
Yeah, yeah, no big dealthere, cool guy.
So let me get this straight.
This guy plows into youas you were just zipping along?Dad...
Dad!
It was my fault.
Well, guess we got lucky, then.
All of us.
It's bizarre.
It's the same thingthat happens every morning
right when I wake up,
but before I'm, you know,actually conscious.
There's a few secondswhen the world seems good.
Everything's okay,there's no problems.
And then I blink
and I remember...
they're gone.
And... right away I feel cold,
you know, like I've sleptoutside all night, or...
I don't know what.
I hate how quiet it is.
You know, I mean...
I hate not seeing them when Iwalk through the door, you know?
I hate how they're stuck instupid little picture frames,
and we're left behind,
trying to figure outwhy it happened.
I just... I hate how I can'tget my old life back.
BRUCE:Listen, guys, I'm...
I'm sorry I've been...
I mean, for a long time,even before this all happened,
I've been doing my thing,
on the phone,making deals...
and not paying attentionto the one thing
that really is important.
That's you guys.
I haven't been there
for either one of you,
especially thegenius of the family.
Mm, thanks, Dad.
I love you guys.
And from now on,
I'm not going to makeany decisions
without talking it overwith you first.
Okay?
So, uh, that means
you're thinking somethingright now, right?
Yeah, Brody, I am.
And I meanwhat I said.
If you guysare okay with it,
if you don't thinkit's the right thing to do,
then that's the end of it.
All right? Brody...
your mom always called youthe genius of the family.
I know how much
she admired you...
loved you.
And I know how muchyou miss her.
But I can see herstanding right here,
and I can hear her voice.
And she would tell youyour dad loves you, too.
And I do, son.
And I would never let anythingget between us ever again.
I promise you.
(sniffles)
Mr. Murakami. Bruce.
It's so good tosee you again.
You too, Erin.
I've beenfollowing it all.
Yeah. Well, listen,I-I just really wanted
to come here and thank youfor all that you did,
I really appreciate it,
and for taking the timefrom such a busy schedule
I know that had to be very...
The funny thing is,I'd forgotten how.
to take the time
to listen, to...
feel, to thinkabout what justice
really means, and I have youto thank for that.
Really.
How are the boys?
We're getting there. Together.
Good.Yeah, it's good.
But?
No. No buts.
You never come here.
Well, there is one tiny...
That's what I thought.
...little thing.
And?
I want to take thisone step further.
BAILIFF:...the Honorable JudgeRoarke now presiding.
Please be seated.
This court isnow in session.
ROARKE:It seems to methis plea agreement
is fairly straightforward.
The defendant now pleads guilty
to two countsof vehicular homicide,
both counts to be servedconcurrently, for a total
of 15 yearsat the state penitentiary.
Is this your understanding
of this agreement?Yes, Your Honor.
And the State is alsoamenable to these terms?
Uh, no, Your Honor, we're not.
(spectators murmuring)
Has something transpired sincethis agreement was reached?
Your Honor,
I spent the morningwith Mr. Murakami
drafting a revisedplea agreement.
May we approach?
Now?
You're makingthis request now,
at the sentencing?
Mr. Murakami, you're inagreement with this?
Yes, Your Honor, I am,
and I've spokenwith Mr. Gutierrez
about the conditionsof the proposal.
Very well. Carry on.
As part of this new agreement,the state would like to request
permissionfor Mr. Justin Gutierrez
to address the court directly.
ROARKE:Mr. Murakami.
13 weeks ago, Ihad the chance
to sit and express
to Mr. Murakami
what I felt ever sincethis tragedy occurred.
I expressed to himthe shame that I felt
for my role in this accident.
And now,
I stand here today,publicly,
and say to his sons,
and to the rest of the world,
that I'm so sorry.
I believe Justin.
I believe he's remorseful.
I do not condone his actions,but I forgive him,
and I think he'spaying the price.
Sending Justin to prison
would only make a tragicsituation worse.
My wife and daughter's death
would not seemso senseless, Your Honor,
if Justin could continueto tell his story
on the outside.
If, if he could preventone kid, just one,
from making the same
fatal mistake he did,
I feel my family wouldhave a... a chance to heal
and justice would be served.
PEÑA:Your Honor,may I approach?
This agreement callsfor Mr. Gutierrez
to team up withMr. Murakami
to develop a program thatcombats reckless teen driving.
And in exchange, we willagree to a lesser charge
of manslaughterby culpable negligence.
Now, in addition, Mr. Murakamihas asked that the word "felon"
be removed from Justin's record.
Mr. Murakami,do you fully understand
that this would meanMr. Gutierrez
would serveno prison time at all?
Yes, Your Honor, I do.
This is a remarkable proposal
Mr. Murakami has putbefore this court.
It's an enormous breakfor you, Mr. Gutierrez.
It would mean that youwould not be
a formally convicted felon.
After consideringthis new information
and previous submissions,
I am now preparedto pass sentence.
This reduced charge will carry
a sentence of two yearsunder house arrest,
eight years of probationand 300 hours
of community service.
Mr. Gutierrez, I hope you know
what a great giftyou've been handed.
Don't waste it.
Court is adjourned.
Thanks.
I'll be right there.
Hey.
You did good.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Murakami,we want to...
(crying)
Sorry.
We can'tthank you enough
for what you've donefor our son.
For us.
Yeah.
Hey.
Your father...
What he did. You know...
Yeah.
I know.
But...
I know that you and yourbrother might not...
We agree with him.
It's the rightthing to do.
And, uh...
that time when I hit you...
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
Nice job,Mr. Murakami.Thank you.
Good luck, boys.JOSH:Thanks.
Captioning sponsored byCBS
and HALLMARK CARDS