Criminal Justice (2008–2009): Season 1, Episode 4 - Episode #1.4 - full transcript

Don't throw it away in court,
because of here.

That's what they want.

So, is there anything that
I should know about Ben?

Anything inconvenient, I mean.

It's best I know, so we can deal
with it if they bring it up.

I hate surprises.

No, no, there's nothing.

Do you believe he didn't do it?

99% of the clients I represent...

I am 100% sure

committed the crimes
they're charged with.



I can't say the same about your son.

- That's not a proper answer.
- Yes, it is.

It absolutely is.

Reasonable doubt, Mrs Coulter,
that's all I'm after.

That's all I need.

It's all any of us need.

Of course I'm not nervous.
This is one more day in court,

just like any other.

Who's the other one? The one
who isn't the petrol-station guy?

The neighbour who called the policeon the night.

He's not even a fully-bound witness?

His statement was read?

So why is he here? Voyeur.

Hasn't he got better things to do?
Vultures, the both of them!



Is your rant nearlyover?

What?

Can we have a word?

- We need Ben to give evidence.
- But do we?

We've already established that
the senior police officer in this case

has taken evidence away
from the crime scene.

How often do you get
something as good as that?

It's not enough.

What's he going to say, Frances?

"I can't remember what happened.
It's all a bit of a blur."

- How's that going to make it better?
- It's not about what he says.

Ben couldn't killanyone, *but the jury ignore it
cos they haven't had a good look at him.

Him being a nice kid isn't gonna count
for anything when Painter cross-examines

his convenient amnesia into the ground.

Juries don't like it
when a defendant hides.

Listen to me.

Almost all of my clients

are guilty.

But at least half of them get off.
Why?

Because the prosecution has to come up
with such a high standard of proof,

- beyond all reasonable doubt.
- I'm in charge in court.

Tomorrow,
I want evidence to support him.

Go and get it.

You know what people say...

When you're being cross-examined,
it's a prosecutor's job

to get under your skin
and make you lose your temper.

It's very important that you stay calm
and just answer the questions.

Wrong.

Why?

A man in a wig you've never met before
is going to suggest you're a murderer.

There'd be something badly wrong
with you if you didn't fight back.

Be yourself, Ben.

Where is Stone?

- He's working.
- Did you speak to him?

He thinks you'll be great.

My barrister thinks you're a voyeur.

I don't agree.

You are a witness in a murder trial,
that's a really important thing.

But nobody has disputed
anything you told the police,

so your witness statement is just

read out to the jury.

And you don't get
your 15 minutes in the limelight.

And your sense
of helping the justice system,

of being a good citizen, it...

dissolves.

And you don't feel nearly as wanted
as you thought you were going to be.

Am I right?

Had you gone into the witness stand,

what else would you've said,
Mr Wallace,

given the chance?

I woke up.

The knife was on the table.

And there was blood on it.

Then what?

I went back upstairs.

What did you see?

She was there, on the bed.

Do you have any memory of any kind
about how she died?

No.

But I know that I'm
not the kind of person

that could do a thing like that.

I want to end by asking
a difficult question.

What did you make of Melanie Lloyd?

I thought that she was funny

and interesting, and...

unusual.

And she caught me off guard.

I thinkShe probably did that
to a lot of people.

- Stop talking about her!
- Mr Lloyd!

I can't tell you how sorry I am
that your daughter is dead.

Liar!

Are you dishonest?

No.

People can rely on you
to tell the truth?

- Yes.
- You're not the kind of person

who tells lies to get what he wants?

No.

On the night that you met Melanie Lloyd,

did you ask your father's permission
to drive his black cab?

- No.
- Were you insured to drive it?

So you were breaking the law.

You don't have to answer any question

which might incriminate you
in another offence.

What's funny?

It's...

No insurance.
It doesn't seem like a...

big problem in the scale of things.

Are you the kind of person

who acts in such a way
that the lives of others

are put at serious risk?

No.

Is driving under the influence
of Class A drugs

a risk to others?

- Not that kind of a person?
- Same warning.

You don't have to answer.

What has happened to your father's cab?

I crashed it.

Does he have a means
of making a living without it?

Did you think about any of that
before you took his cab?

This...

This is just trivial stuff.

Well, you brought it up, Mr Coulter.

Brought what up?

What kind of a person you are.
I'm very interested

in exploring that question.

Why did you pick up Melanie
Lloyd in your father's taxi?

- She just got in.
- Did you ask her to get out?

- No.
- Why not?

- I don't know.
- What if she'd been a man?

- What do you mean?
- Would you have allowed a strange man

to get into the cab?

And then agree to drive him 50 miles

to the seaside?

No.

So, why with Melanie?

Was it because
you wanted to have sex with her?

- I don't do that kind of thing.
- But you did do exactly

that kind of thing. Didn't you?

On your own admission,
you had sex with Melanie

hours after her picking her up.

When did you decide
you wanted to have sex with her?

- I know what you're doing.
- What's that, Mr Coulter?

You're trying to find ways to make
me look like someone that I'm not.

What kind of sex?

- What do you mean?
- Don't be coy, Mr Coulter.

This is a murder trial.

It was...

It wasn't...
It was just over very quickly.

It was short.

- Yes.
- Brutish?

Is that your usual way?

Why do you want everything to be
packaged and labelled?

Life isn't like that.
Sometimes things just...

come along and happen,
and it's not normal,

and it's not the usual way, it just is.

No foreplay?

No, not really. It was...

She wanted...

What did she want?

She was...

- asking for it to be like that.
- Melanie was asking for it?

I tried to kiss her.

- Yes?
- But she wouldn't let me.

She withheld her consent?
She said no to you kissing her?

And you want us to believe she went on
to consent to sexual intercourse?

I'm telling the truth.

The truth is you saw
this vulnerable girl as sexual prey.

Melanie believe you were
a genuine cab-driver,

and she ended up dead
because she misread your whole,

very plausible, character.

She thought you were Mr Normal,
and that cost her her life.

Lunch.

Massive, massive problem.

Whole trial blown out the water.

First, a disappearing inhaler

and now non-disclosure of evidence.

The neighbour called the police

about a big fracas involving Dad

and an angry boyfriend,
and you chose not to disclose it to us.

It's not relevant.

Three days before the
murder, Box. Not relevant?

Now, you know the rules.

I could kick up
a massive fuss about this, or...

you can give me the name of the boy

screaming his head off at Robert Lloyd.

What the hell's going on?

It's fine.

Why their solicitor thinks he's gonna
blow the case right out of the water?

He had a problem with
non-disclosure. It's gone away.

I do not want to be embarrassed by this.
I want you to tell him exactly what's going on

and then I want to know whether
this prosecution is safe to go on with.

- It's safe.
- Is it?

Are you?

- I thought we were on the same side, sir.
- We picked up a car thief last night

in the Stockhill Estate.
He was off his face.

He wasn't half chatty.
You know what he said?

Everyone knows
who did the Stockhill murder.

Why don't you, Box?

Nobody talks.

I thought old-school coppers
were meant to get results,

I thought that was the whole
point of breaking the rules.

This prosecution is safe.

Mr Stone will not be blowing
anything out the water.

I want results on both cases, Box.

We didn't like each other in school,
Mel and me.

Then, in the last year, we did.

- And by the end, we were best friends.
- Tell me about the boyfriend.

Lizzie?

Put it this way.

Stuart wasn't the kind of boyfriend
her dad would have wanted her to have.

Can I write this down?

Look, I don't want to hurt anybody.

You know, all my life,

I've seen the way people look at me
when I tell them I'm a lawyer.

You know what that look says?

It says, cynic.

They think I'm a man of no principle
and I'm not.

I am a man with one principle.

To serve the single

greatest democratic institution

ever invented.

My whole reason for being

is to give the jury everything I can

to help them do what they do.

I trust them.

So should you.

Good sleep?

What?

Over the lunch break, did you...

Did you have a good sleep?

What has this got to do with the case?

I'm interested
in what kind of a man goes to sleep

halfway through giving evidence
in a murder trial.

I'm wondering how the two things fit.

Have you any idea

how I feel?

Do you know what this is like?

What happened to you last night?

Did you go to bed with your wife?

Mr Coulter...

What? They can't hear this?

They want to look at me.

They judge me. How can they do that if
they don't know what's happening to me?

I'm very tired.

I'm tired because
I'm trying to stay alive.

Shall we continue with the trial,

- Mr Coulter?
- My name is Ben.

I have never been called
Mr Coulter in my life.

All along,
I've tried to tell you the truth.

I just want you all to listen.

You weren't trying to tell the truth
at the police station, were you?

- What do you mean?
- "No comment.

"No comment, no comment."

157 times in interview.

My solicitor told me to do it.

You did manage,
at one stage, to break free

of the tyranny of silence
imposed on you by your solicitor

and you started to answer questions.

I didn't feel comfortable
about saying "no comment" all the time.

Didn't last, did it?

You went back to "no comment"
when the going got tough.

That's what you do, isn't it?

You make a big noise when you can,
and when things get difficult,

you clam up.

That's what you're doing now.

When Ben Coulter
can't explain something,

he looks at the floor and says nothing.

And you can't explain the death
of Melanie Lloyd, can you? Why?

Because you killed her.

How can I help?

Do you have any Nurse With Wound?

No, sorry.

Melanie Lloyd?

You didn't go to the funeral.

No.

Why not?

You and the dad not get along?

Who've you been talking to?

You lost your temper with him
a few days before Melanie's murder.

- You've got that the wrong way round.
- What's the wrong way round?

He works nights.

He came home early.

He went for me.

Melanie's dad?

- Yep.
- Oh, that's interesting.

See, I've been asking around

and it seems
you're the one with form for violence.

And a spot of credit-card fraud.

So that makes you...

a violent liar?

You need me to be some kind of low life,

don't you?

Sorry.

No criminal convictions.

In your version of events,

you woke up,

you went to the bedroom
and you discovered Melanie dead.

You ran out, you got in the cab
and you drove away.

- Yes.
- Fast.

The blind panic of somebody who's just
seen something truly terrible?

Yes.

And then you went back.

In your blind panic,

you turned the taxi around

and you drove back to the place you'd
just been so desperate to get away from.

I didn't know what I was doing.

The wiping of blood
from cupboard handles.

The retrieval
of the jacket you'd left behind.

The wiping down of the walls.

The removal and concealment of the knife

which tests have now established
was used to kill Melanie.

All panic?

I knew how it looked.

You know how it looks to me?

It looks like a cold-blooded,
calculated attempt

to get rid
of deeply-incriminating evidence.

I'm not cold-blooded.

Right aAt the very start
of this cross examination,

I asked you if you could be relied upon
to tell the truth. Do you remember?

- Yes.
- And you told this court

you were an honest person.

- Yes.
- Do you want to change that answer?

- No.
- Are you sure?

Yes.

How long have you been at university?

Who are you looking at?

My mum and dad.

Why?

I dropped out...

of uni.

When?

Seven months ago.

I'm sorry?

Seven months ago.

Did you tell your mother?

- No.
- Your father?

No.

You lied to them for all that time?

I'm asking you a question.

I can't hear you.

Did you leave the housein the morning,

pretending
that you were going to lectures?

Did you talk about your day

with your parents
when you got back in the evening?

If you don't answer,
I'm very happy to call

your mother and father to tell us.

Months and months of lying.

You're not an honest person, are you?

When you were
in the back of the police car,

you asked a question.
"Is she dead?" Did you say that?

I hoped that maybe I was wrong...

and that she was still alive.

Did you bother to call an ambulance?

- No.
- Why not?

- I was scared.
- Of what?

That it looked like me who'd done it.

You put your own self interest

ahead of saving her life, didn't you?

- That's how it looks.
- It is how it looks.

What did you do instead?

You tried to run away, didn't you?Attention CP non detect?, d'ou la coupe

- Yes.
- You ran away

with the murder weapon
in your possession.

The knife you claim
that earlier on in the night

you'd stuck
in Melanie Lloyd's hand, as...Attention CP non detect?, ?ventuellement faire passer le "as" dans la suite... (en tout cas en VF)

part of a game?

What did that feel like?

I don't know.

Come on. This is your version of events.
What did it feel like

to put a knife...

in another human being?

It was a game.

It went too far.

How far?

Do you remember?

How far?

You've been in the witness box
for a very long time.

You've had...

your evidence,

your past, your character,
everything about you

tested and tested and tested.

What I want to know from you is simple.

Did you kill Melanie?

Ben?

Closing up now.

You blew it.

- What?
- In the witness box.

How bad was it?

On a scale of one to ten?

Right, well, water under the bridge.

Unless he actually confessed
to the murder.

All right. So we move on.

- With what?
- With tThe best that we have at the moment,

Lizzie Smith.

She can tell us all about Melanie's

jealous, violent boyfriend, Stuart,
and the fight he had with Melanie's dad.

- She saw it?
- No,

but Melanie told her about it.

I've just been to see the boyfriend.

And...?

Disappointing.

But there's mud to be thrown,
and where there's mud, there's hope.

So chin up.

You like being proved right, don't you?

I like getting my clients off.

Good shower?

Hello, Ben!

Is there anything you want to tell me?

No.

Are you sure?

Yeah.

Look at me.

What do I need to know?

Is there anything

you want to tell me?

You've betrayed me.

Come on...

- It was just his phone.
- Don't insult my intelligence.

Don't insult your own intelligence.

I want...

your disagreements with this man

to end.

Come on!

Come on! Go on!

Get him!

So, what?

You're the good guy, Hooch!

Daddy Hooch!

Who took the phone, Hooch?

Tell him.

Tell him!

It was me.

You...

You set this up?

You're his!

You see, my friend Hooch here?

He's a very good listener.

I trusted you.

You're a liar.

I didn't see anything.

There's nearly 300 prisoners on this wing,
and two of us on duty tonight.

What do you think's going to happen
if we start seeing things?

We are the custodians of law and order.

That means letting the number one
run things his own way. Right?

Get me out of here. Please.

My name's Gordon.

Ben.

You're safe now.

Have the prosecution
drawn attention to the bruises?

Did their expert made a big deal of it?

No.

How tall's your client?

5ft 7, maybe.

Build?

No, no, he's a skinny kid.

Thank you.

So,

what are the chances
of the judge allowing it in?

This late in the day? 50/50 maybe.

It's really good.

Well, you'll need time to digest it.

Judy Garland!

She used to say it was

impossibly hard to sing
in front of thousands of people

and then stop and do nothing.

Play Carnegie Hall,

standing ovations, empty hotel rooms.
She couldn't do it. She couldn't...

come down.

Are you trying to tell me

that my report on this dead body

is your very own version
of Over The Rainbow?

And now you need a little company?

Or am I completely wrong?

I love her.

That's what none of them understand.

They want to make it ugly and bad.

But it wasn't.

Are you awake?

I said goodbye to her.

Nobody knows this, but...

... I got my flowers to her.

Eight yellow roses.

One for every year of her little life.

Leave me alone.

You're not alone, Ben.

You'll be all right with us.

We look after our own here.

I'm a follower of Mr Graham.

Open your heart,

let him in.

They've got to be joking.

You can't hand over an expert report
two-thirds of the way through a trial.

We haven't got time to digest it,
analyse it,

instruct our own expert
to deconstruct its findings.

Miss Kapoor?

He's right.

If I were him, I'd be ranting
and raving about unfairness.

But it's a short report.

Any barrister in his right mind
should be able to...

digest, analyse
and deconstruct what it says.

And this is a murder trial.

The stakes could not be higher.

Any judge in their right mind

should never let mere inconvenience
get in the way of justice in the round.

Mr Painter.

You've been in this job a long time,
and so have I.

Whether either of us
is in our right mind or not,

I'm sure we can cope
with a surprise late in the day.

Mr Painter. You'll want
Professor Callaghan sitting behind you

so he can hear what is said
and give you assistance.

They are not defence wounds.

Why do you say that?

People who are trying
to defend themselves in a knife attack

don't usually try and parry blows.

- What do they do?
- They try to grab the knife.

In which case, there will be
longitudinal cuts on the palm.

More than one
if it's a double-edged blade.

The wound she sustained was a puncture wound
caused by the point of the knife.

- She didn't try to grab the knife.
- What if she were the exception?

What if she were trying
to parry the blows, fend them off?

That'd result in the injuries described?

No. The nature of the wound
would be completely different.

How?

The tip of the knife is not very sharp.

For the blade to have entered her palm

and to have penetrated
to the depth of wound here,

her hand would have had
to be against something.

If she was holding her hand in the air,
so as to deflect the knife

during an attack upon her,
it would be impossible for a wound

of this type and depth to have resulted.

If Melanie,
in the hours before her death,

had held her hand palm
upwards on the table

and the knife had been brought down
on the palm...

That would be entirely consistent
with the wound on her palm.

What about the vaginal injuries?

As a medical finding,
absolutely neutral.

You get injuries
to the posterior fourchette

in both consensual
and non-consensual sex.

The heart?

There is no question that the knife
entered her heart and caused her death.

But it would not have been
instantaneous.

It's a common misconception
that people die straight away

from violent trauma to the heart.
It's not true.

And it isn't painless.
In some cases,

it can take upto two minutes to die.

Is there any evidence of that here?

The stab wound was through the left
ventricle, which is more muscular

and can contract and therefore postpone
the fatal haemorrhage for a while.

And the grip marks on her upper arms
suggest that she was held down.

That she struggled desperately

and had to be restrained
during the time it took her to die.

What conclusions, if any,
can you draw from the bruises?

They were caused by someone
with large hands.

Could the defendant
have left those marks?

No.

When were you instructed by defence
solicitors to look at this case?

48 hours ago.

What's the normal amount of time
you'd expect to be given in a murder case

such as this to arrive at your findings?

Months.

- You weren't able to look at the body of the victim?
- No.

You were at a disadvantage

compared with Professor Callaghan.

I had the postmortem report
and the report of your expert.

"Your expert" is a curiously
personal way of putting things.

Experts have a duty to the court
as professional witnesses.

They don't belong to anyone.

The expert upon whom
the prosecution rely.

When you were approached so late
in the day to take on this work,

did you ask if the defence had approached
another expert earlier on the process?

The defendant's solicitor, Mr Stone,
had sounded out other experts

- but decided not to instruct them.
- Why not?

I don't know.

If I did know, I wouldn't tell you because
it would be privileged information.

Do you and Mr Stone...

have a special relationship?

- We go back a long way.
- I won't dig any deeper.

We slept with each other last night.
Is that what you wanted to know?

So, the 48 hours to complete
your work on this case

was reduced by the time you spent

in bed with
your instructing solicitor?

You took this work on because
you wanted to please Mr Stone, didn't you?

Quite the opposite.
I didn't want to do it.

He seemed to be behaving
in an a very unprofessional manner,

but I was persuaded.

By his undoubted charm.

I took the case on
because I have concerns

about the quality of the prosecution
medical evidence.

And because I know

a jury is very unlikely to ignore
the evidence of an expert witness

when he stands unopposed.

You're very certain
of your conclusions

in what is an inexact
and interpretative science.

And I have no doubt, had I not come here
and said what I have said,

you would have made
a closing speech to this jury

about the quality of your expert's

unchallenged opinion

and the weight
they should give to it and to him.

You're the witness.
I'm asking the questions.

And you are not behaving as
a professional witness should.

Whether the defendant is convicted
or acquitted is of no consequence to me.

I am here to tell the jury

Mr Callaghan could be wrong

and I could be right.

The jury will decide between us.

Nightmare.
Might as well have been Audrey Hepburn.

Nightmare!

It's me first.

I'll ask you about Stuart Napier
and how he was with Melanie.

All I need you to do is look at me
and tell me what you told Stone.

Then I get cross-examined?

Yes.

I'm going to ask you
some more questions.

You had very limited access
to this relationship.

You mean I didn't see much
of Melanie and Stuart together?

- No.
- You heard things,

you picked up bits and pieces here
and there about how they got along?

Yes.

You didn't know what was happening
between Melanie and Stuart, say,

- a month before she died?
- Not really.

Or a week before?

- No.
- Or even the day before?

- The day before, absolutely.
- You have only a very

- generalised outsider's view.
- Wait. Don't do that!

I haven't finished. You cut in on me.

You'd better tTell us what were you going to say.

The day before she died,

I went round to the house.

When I got to the door, I could hear
her dad yelling at her about Stuart.

What did he say?

He was going mad.

He kept saying, "You're not to see
that man. I won't let you go."

He was going spare.

But he was like that.

Like what?

Ever since her mum died,

he kept Melanie really close.

He vetted everybody.

In some ways,
it was hard to be her friend.

He was possessive?

Yes.

Obsessive possessive?

- I'm not an expert.
- No, you're not.

And Miss Kapoor should not
be asking you questions

which suggest that you are.

But my non-expert commonsense view
is that she's right, yes.

Obsessive possessive.

You haven't mentioned
any of this before.

I wonder why.

Because nobody asked me.

Lizzie turned out to be a gift.

Helen's made a real dent
in the pathologist.

What?

Big hands, violent temper,
access to the house.

The last time he found
a boyfriend at home, he beat him up.

I'm calling Robert Lloyd.

We're going after Dad.

I really thought that you were somebody
who was surviving in here.

Outside of the rules.

Being a listener in this place
is like being a priest.

People talk to me like they've never
talked to anybody else before.

It gives them hope.

Some of them, I'm keeping alive.

And when Graham

informs me that I have
to tell him everything I heard,

- what am I supposed to do?
- You could have said no.

You still don't get it, do you?

Freddie Graham runs this place.

If I'd have said no, my listener's job
would have disappeared like that.

I love what I do.

It's what I am in here.

But you betray them.

No!

I don't tell Graham
every single thing I hear.

So they carry on
thinking you're their best friend,

- which makes it easy for you?
- Easy?!

There's not a day goes by
without me despising the role I took.

The corrupting...

It happens...

so fast.

And once I'd started...

I couldn't go back.

I'm not confessing.

I don't want your forgiveness.
I don't want anyone's forgiveness.

What do you want?

What?

He knows about what's happening
in the trial.

That's not me.

Where does it come from, then?

I don't know.

Don't do it. Don't call the dad.

Suddenly you want to reverse
the burden of proof.

We don't have to prove anything,
remember?

Don't patronize me.

- It's the right thing to do.
- Right? What do you know about right?

You're 26 years old, you've never been
near a case this serious in your life.

- Don't do this!
- Ben didn't murder Melanie Lloyd.

If he didn't, who did?

That's the wrong question!

You're 46 years old, you've spent
more than half your life being a lawyer.

What do you know about wrong?

I've had enough of this.

I will not run a murder trial
as a series of defence whims.

Now,

what the hell do you think
you're playing at?

Straight answer!

I want to call Robert Lloyd.

The victim's father?

No property in a witness,
I can call anyone I like.

He's been in court the entire time.
He's heard the whole trial.

Then we'll all have to be very careful about
the weight we give to his evidence.

Is the defence case

that Robert Lloyd murdered his daughter?

I want to explore that possibility.

I'm not having you going on a
fishing expedition with this man.

Yes or no?

Are you saying that Robert Lloyd
murdered his daughter?

Yes.

Were you arguing with Melanie
the day before she was murdered?

You shouted at her.

You told her
you would never let her go.

Do you remember saying that?

She used to tell me everything.

And then she stopped.

What were you afraid of, Mr Lloyd?

Three years ago, I lost my wife.

Before she died she made me promise
to keep up certain standards with Mel.

Stuart Napier,
Melanie's last boyfriend.

Was he up to standard?

What did you do when you came home one
night and found him there with Melanie?

- I made him leave.
- How?

With force.

You attacked him.

He was bad for her.
I got rid of him.

Where were you on
the night she died?

I was at work.

You work as a security guard
on a building site?

Yeah.

Do you every leave work early?

Mr Lloyd, you have to answer
the question.

Yes, you know that.

What about that night?

Yes.

You came home and let yourself in.

And you found a stranger
asleep at the kitchen table.

Half naked, passed out, drunk.

- No.
- You lost control.

- This is ridiculous.
- You couldn't stand it.

Your daughter having sex

with a stranger in your house,
how could she do this to you?

How far below her mother's standards

- could she go?
- Enough!

- Dock officers!
- Leave us alone!

Us?

- Mr Lloyd, please retake the stand.
- Us? Your daughter is dead, Mr Lloyd.

- This is wrong!
- Wait.

- Show the jury your hands.
- This is not acceptable!

Please return to the witness box,
Mr Lloyd.

You have to put it, Ms Kapoor.

You have to put the allegation
directly to the witness.

You murdered her.

You killed Melanie.

I killed her?

If you believe

that I put a knife
in my own daughter...

then I feel very, very sorry
for you, young lady.

God help you.

Kill her?

Are you mad?
Has the world gone mad?

This is upside-down justice.

He's the killer.

Explosive, righteous anger.

Complete loss of control.
Violence under pressure.

Who's that, Mr Lloyd?

Him

or you?

I did leave work early that night.

But I never made it home.

There was a woman.

Her car had broken down
right near where I work.

She was scared.
It was dark.

If I'd have gone home,

Mel wouldn't be dead.

I could have saved her.

Two Notices of Additional Evidence
coming your way.

One from the good lady
whose Volvo broke down,

and one from the gentleman representing
the fourth emergency service.

Both will tell us of the Good Samaritan
and what he was doing

at the time you suggest,
he was murdering his own daughter.

We'll adjourn for the day,
resume tomorrow at 10 o'clock.

Members of the jury,
please remember that it is vital

that you do not discuss this case
with anyone outside your number.

Speeches in the morning.

Mum...

about uni...

No, we don't need
to talk about that now.

Your dad and I, we...

We want you to know
how much we love you.

And...

We want you to know
that there's nothing,

nothing that you could do
that would make us love you any less.

Do you remember our little kitten?

You were about 12.

You didn't see me, but I saw you
coming out of the house

carrying something in your arms,
and you...

you laid it out in the middle
of the road then you went back inside.

And later,

you told us how you'd heard
the screeching of the brakes...

and that you'd run outside
and found it

in the middle of the road.

There were no signs

that the kitten had been run over,
but you stuck to your story.

Mum, that was an accident.

Of course it was an accident.

You just panicked.

You think I killed her.

I'm saying I love you, Ben.

And nothing will change that.

What standard of proof
does the prosecution need to reach

before you can convict

this defendant?

You must be sure,

beyond all reasonable doubt.

I think you're going down.

I want you to get used to that idea.

What you are about
to do now is probably

the single most important duty
you'll ever be asked to perform.

You did not commit this murder.

Why are you doing this?

The stakes could not be higher.

Now go and consider your verdict.