Silk (2011–2014): Season 1, Episode 1 - Episode #1.1 - full transcript
With female Q.Cs or 'silks' in a tiny minority, barrister Martha Costello,of the Shoe Lane chambers,is anxious to join that elite number by progressing through the courts. Following a ...
Have the jury reached a verdict
upon which all of you are agreed?
Yes.
On count one of the indictment,
do you find the defendant
guilty or not guilty of murder?
Not guilty.
He's part-heard.
Brian, what can I do? Well...
Hang on, Brian.
Of course
I've got somebody else for you.
Hang on for a second, will you, Brian?
- Guess what, Jake?
- Hello, miss.
My murder...
Um, um... I'd better... Cheers.
Sorry. Hello?
Jake, Jake. Has she finished yet?
- Has your trial finished, miss?
- Yes.
- Yes.
- Good! Brian.
Thanks, miss. Cheers. Sorry, Miss.
That sounds fantastic.
Well, you know what they say, Brian.
First rule of clerking,
always put the girls
in with the psychopaths.
All right? I'll call you back.
Harry, how are you? Yeah.
Uh, listen, I need a ginormous favour.
So, I'm 35 years old,
I'm a date rapist...
Hello, Martha.
Spiked drinks, back to my hotel room,
she's comatosed and I pop.
I've lost my marriage, I lose my job.
Because not only am I a rapist
but I'm also a police officer.
So, what do you think?
- What do I get?
- Eight?
- On a fight?
- Ten.
- Four.
- Four!
- Brilliant.
- Brilliant.
- In court today, Martha?
- Yes.
- Trial?
- Mmm-hmm.
Anything interesting?
Hi, Mum.
It's me. Um, did I tell you about
the murder trial I was doing?
Anyway, it doesn't matter. Bye, Mum.
- Tomorrow.
- What?
Aggravated burglary.
- What's the aggravated bit?
- Torture of an old-age pensioner.
Tied him up,
nearly punched his head off.
And don't tell me.
You think a woman
will go down better with a jury.
It's got nothing to do with me.
Solicitor's after you.
- And what's he like?
- The solicitor or the client?
- The client.
- He's, um...
You'll be fine.
- A backsheet and a DVD?
- I'll bike the rest over.
You'll be fine. Trust me.
Fine.
Where's the brief, Billy?
Where's this cab? Where's this cab?
- The drugs. He's going to plead.
- You sure?
- And you're in front of Judge Ladd.
- Excellent.
So a reference for your
silk application, I was thinking, sir.
I love it when you think, Billy.
- Do you reckon he'll get silk?
- There's the problem.
More than one application
from a young set of chambers like us
is not a good idea.
- We've got two applications?
- His and hers.
There's not much we can do about that,
is there?
Is there?
- Hiya.
- Why are you here?
- They were too big for a bike.
- They?
- Yeah.
- Come in.
Top two-and-a-half feet
is aggravated burglary,
and the bottom six inches
is a drugs mule.
Two briefs?
Don't worry about the drugs,
it's a five-minute mention
and nothing's going to happen.
I need the judge to see your face
because he could be a reference
for your silk application.
Saw that in your pigeonhole.
And they're both listed
in the same court, right?
Court Nine
is first up at 10:00 for the drugs.
And then Court One
for the burglary trial at 10:30,
behind a bail app.
I don't want my defendant
in the burglary short-changed, Billy.
Fifteen years you've been doing this
and you still believe, don't you?
Innocent until proven guilty.
I've been watching you all that time
and you never waver, do you?
If you don't have that,
then you're dead.
Cheers.
Good night, Billy.
Mr. Reader, sir,
forgot to mention. The drugs,
Martha Costello will be
co-defending with you.
Damn. Damn.
Your laptops.
- Do you want a hand?
- No.
Will all parties please
go to Court One for debriefing?
Sorry, sir, have you got anything
in your pockets? Loose change, keys...
How do I find the barrister
who's looking after me?
Look on the court lists,
see which court you're in,
and they'll come and find you there.
Sorry. Can you not talk to me?
I've got to have complete focus.
The aggravated burglary,
I'm prosecuting it.
- Oh.
- Nice man, your client.
That's what you say
about everyone you prosecute.
He's here, he's standing trial.
That means the CPS, the police
and me all think he did it.
What does that tell you?
That he very badly needs me
fighting his corner.
Up-to-date list of previous.
Yes, sorry. Could you get
the solicitor in the case of...
Mercedes Cordoba to come to reception
right now, please?
- You up to speed on this one?
- Yes.
- Are you co-defending?
- Yeah. Big softie, this judge.
Let's go for it, you and me together,
eh, Martha?
- Plead?
- No. You want to?
Well... I've got a big trial in...
Court One in half an hour.
Yeah, well, I've got no mitigation
to speak of
and you're poor,
vulnerable and pregnant.
How hard can it be?
We'll be 20 minutes, tops.
Stop saying "tops" like you're someone
normal, Clive. You went to Harrow.
- You're Martha Costello.
- I'm not representing you.
- No, I'm your new pupil.
- Oh.
Sorry.
- Don't ever do this.
- What's that?
See a client
without a solicitor's rep present.
- Why not?
- Protection.
In case a difficult client wants to say
you've given bad advice.
Barristers can be sued now.
Even baby ones.
- Is this client difficult?
- Oh, yes.
So don't speak. Don't say a word.
- Leave it all to me.
- Cells.
Brief for Gary Rush.
I just wanted to say,
I haven't got a wig and gown yet.
Is that all right?
I'll let you in to a secret.
Putting one of these on
and one of these on your head so helps.
It's like Superman
coming out of the phone box.
Okay. Gary Rush.
The victim is 85 years old,
which makes this,
well, a bad, bad thing,
which is why it matters
that the right man goes down for it.
One big question.
Can a terrified 85-year-old
be relied upon
to identify his balaclava'd
attacker correctly?
- Are you here for Gary?
- Yes.
- DS Scarrow.
- Thank you.
Word of advice. Don't be alone with him.
You don't intimidate me.
I'm concerned for your safety,
that's all.
Right. We haven't got time
to talk to him properly,
- so think like a waitress.
- What?
Get the bread on the table,
the drinks out fast
and they're happy to wait for the food.
- Are you for me?
- Yes.
- Who's the boy?
- This is...
He's my pupil.
Are you good?
Look, give me a few minutes
and then we'll talk properly.
I'll be going to prison.
And for a very long time,
if I'm convicted of this.
I've never met you before
but from where I'm standing,
you look a bit lightweight, frankly.
So I think you should
answer my question now.
I'm good.
- But you're not a QC.
- Not yet.
Are you not going to come in
and talk to me?
I'm short of time, Mr. Rush.
- Is this one difficult?
- No.
Here.
Mercedes Cordoba?
I'm Martha Costello, your briefer.
You swallowed
12 condoms filled with cocaine?
Yes.
- When's the baby due?
- Eight weeks.
Do you know what would have happened
if the condoms had
broken open inside of you?
- You'll die.
- And your baby?
I know.
- You've got children already?
- Yes.
- How many?
- Five.
How old are you?
Twenty-six.
And how old were you
when your first child was born?
Seventeen.
Is there anything you want to say
about your co-defendant?
What about the people
who asked you to carry the drugs?
No.
If you plead guilty now,
you'll get maximum credit.
Which means about a third
or a quarter of your sentence.
You know that
whatever sentence you do get
will be too long for the baby
to stay with you in prison.
You don't have to plead guilty now.
But this judge is all right.
And you might not get
the same judge next time.
I understand.
Okay.
Okay, I need you to sign
the front of my brief.
This just makes clear
that I have not put any pressure on you.
Do you understand?
Okay.
Just there.
You're on. Let's go.
Okay.
- How old are you?
- Thirty-five.
How long have you been 35?
Couple of years.
- Is it hard to get silk?
- Everything changes.
You get to choose your cases.
Take time off when you want to.
Ask leading questions
and get away with it.
I'm from Camp Frogett
for the Rush trial.
- Oh! Where the hell have you been?
- I had a casting.
I'm an actor.
This is what I do when I'm not working.
- What was the casting for?
- Head and Shoulders.
The shampoo giant?
Thanks, mate.
- Oh. There. Yes.
- Pleading?
Who's that?
Two new pupils in chambers.
Billy gave me first choice,
so I plumped for the girl.
Ah. Did you, really?
On what basis?
On the basis that she's got
a really useful brain.
Nick Slade.
Oh, right. You're the other one.
The other one?
Sorry, that came out a bit wrong.
I'm the other new pupil. Niamh.
Well, shouldn't we
shake hands or something?
Oh, barristers don't shake hands.
It's kind of a rule.
Right.
How do you know that?
Father's a judge.
Oh. Right.
All rise.
Billy said this judge might be
a reference for my silk application.
- He said that to me, too.
- We can't both ask him.
Let's see how we go, shall we?
Mercedes Cordoba is poor.
She comes from Ciudad Bol?var in Bogot?,
which means her poverty is extreme.
She was classically vulnerable
to the approach from the drug cartel,
who exploited her
with the offer of money
for travelling on a hot flight
to London with drugs in her belly.
She has shown great courage
in pleading guilty.
She knows that
she will lose her baby into care.
And we can only imagine
how hopeless her situation must be
to agree to swallowing
condoms filled with cocaine,
knowing the damage they could cause
to you and your baby.
Mercedes Cordoba is not heartless,
not evil.
She's just desperate.
She will pay for what she's done.
She knows that.
But I ask your honour to pass a sentence
which reflects her sad life
and gives her the hope for a better one.
Do you want to address me
on the relative status positions
of the two defendants?
I think it's already there
in everything I've said, Your Honour.
Mr. Reader.
I'm surprised that my learned friend
has chosen not to talk about
where her client is in the hierarchy
compared with mine.
Your Honour has seen the notices
of additional evidence?
Mercedes Cordoba is
an experienced trafficker.
She uses her repeated pregnancies
to throw off Customs.
What she didn't know was that
she was being watched by Customs
over a period of years.
She's pregnant every time she travels.
It's her protection
against being stopped.
Nuns, girl guides, pregnant women,
they just get waved through.
Now, Angel Valera, my client,
is the driver.
He met her at the airport.
There's no evidence that he's ever done
anything like this before.
He's at the bottom of the ladder
in terms of his position
in the hierarchy.
A good many rungs below that
of his cunning, pregnant co-defendant.
No second bite of the cherry,
Miss Costello.
Stand up, both of you.
I have to establish in my own mind
where each of you stands
in the ranks of this evil organisation
that brings misery into our country.
I have no doubt that you,
Mercedes Cordoba,
are a good way up it,
whatever your counsel says.
You'll go to prison for 14 years.
Angel Valera, you have
the dubious good fortune
to be a long way down the pecking order
in this obscene organisation.
And I have to reflect that
in your sentence.
You will go to prison for eight years.
Take them down.
All rise.
- I'll be down at lunchtime to see you.
- Okay. Okay.
Lunchtime.
You set me up, you bastard.
What was I supposed to do?
Tell you in advance?
You knew you were going to
cut my throat.
Doing my job. Representing my client.
Reading the brief.
Don't take it personally, Martha.
Where would we all be
if we took things personally?
Don't patronise me.
Why not? You're behaving like a child.
You clearly hadn't read the NAEs.
Let me guess. Still at home,
in an unopened file
lying on the floor somewhere?
You didn't do your job properly.
You know it. That's why you're cross.
She's just got 14 years, for God's sake.
Whose fault's that?
Where are you going?
To ask the judge for a reference.
No, of course
I don't take things personally.
Will Miss Costello and counsel...
- What?
- No.
What?
- Hello.
- Billy, the drugs mules.
I got eight, she got 14.
- Reference, sir?
- Reference to die for, I think.
Very good, sir.
245 women silks ever.
Ever.
Out of tens of thousands.
Now, boys, you've got to respect
a statistic like that, huh?
And it's still 12 male QCs
to every Doris.
I mean, what are the odds? Jake? Hmm?
I've got no record of that payment
coming in whatsoever.
Kind of you to grace us
with your presence, Miss Costello.
I'm sorry, my lord,
I was detained in another court.
Nice little earner before the main act?
Ah, about ?90, minus clerks' fees,
chambers rent, travel tax, VAT.
So, that leaves about ?12.50.
So, not much of an earner, really,
but entirely my fault I'm late.
Good result yesterday.
Against the odds.
Ah! The jury's always right.
Let's swear one in, shall we?
Actually, I haven't had a chance
to speak to the defendant.
Five minutes.
A little longer?
Four-and-a-half and counting.
Just confirm for me 100%
you weren't there,
you've never been there,
it wasn't you.
Look, yes or no?
It wasn't me.
You didn't do this?
So he was mistaken when he
picked you out in a video ID?
Look, I know what you're doing.
You're up against it,
you're out of your depth,
so you're leaning on me to plead guilty.
I don't do that.
You tell me you didn't do this,
and I will fight for you.
What time did you get this brief?
Late last night.
We all perform better under pressure.
Take as much time
as you need, Mr. Dodd.
He hit me three times.
Every three minutes he'd just
walk over to me, tied up in me chair,
and punch me in the face.
Wasn't in any hurry.
Have you been able to establish
what was stolen?
My late wife's jewellery.
My wedding ring.
I can't wear it any more
'cause of this arthritis.
?55 in a drawer. Uh, my watch.
My Distinguished Conduct Medal.
He stole my medal!
- How did you win the medal?
- Normandy.
The night of June the 4th, 1944,
we dropped in to occupied France
ahead of the beach landings and I...
I, uh... brought a wounded comrade in.
How much time did you get
to look at the intruder?
Thirteen minutes.
How are you able to be so precise?
There was a clock on the wall.
The police like to know about
the time of everything, don't they?
So, I thought I should
keep an eye on it.
What was the intruder wearing?
He had a motorcycle helmet on,
then he took it off.
He had
a sort of balaclava on underneath.
Like the ones the Formula One drivers
wear under their helmets.
And he kept that on.
Five minute break.
All rise.
- Lots of form for burglary.
- Yes.
- So, that's...
- Yes, Nick.
So, just because he's done
this kind of thing before,
it doesn't make him guilty this time.
Innocent until proven guilty.
Four words to live by.
What do you think?
- It'll happen to you.
- What will?
Well, all defence counsels know
when a defendant's guilty.
But when halfway through a trial,
they always forget.
...in the case of Rush
please go to Court One.
- How good is your eyesight?
- It's fine.
You attended an ID procedure
at the police station,
and during that procedure,
you made a request
to sit nearer to the screen.
I wanted to look at the eyes.
The shape, the colour.
When he was in the flat, I thought,
"You're good.
You're not giving me anything here,
"but for one thing, your eyes.
"I'm going to get you on that."
You pride yourself
on being sprightly for your age.
Well...
You might not be very good at admitting
that your faculties are working
less well now than they were.
You're raging against
the dying of the light.
My light is not dying, Miss Costello.
That was the man in my flat
and I'm not mistaken about it.
How's your hearing, Mr. Dodd?
Oh, he didn't speak, not once.
Really?
Will you look at your witness statement?
It's three lines
from the bottom of the second page.
- What does it say?
- It says...
"The intruder had no particular accent."
Well, you've just told this jury
that he didn't speak, Mr. Dodd.
So, how do you know what accent
the intruder actually had?
He hummed.
The whole time he was in my flat.
He only stopped humming
when he was hitting me.
Well, is that in your witness statement?
No.
The whole point of a witness statement
is to tell the whole truth
to the police, isn't it?
So, why didn't you mention
he was humming?
I didn't want him to seem
like he was mad.
Beg your pardon?
I'd like him to go to a proper prison.
Oh, I see. So, no soft option
for the man you believe did this to you.
I don't want him going
into a home for the mentally ill.
The police have made an arrest,
and you've assumed
they've got the right man. Yeah?
And now,
you want to make sure he's convicted
and above all, punished.
Is this a question or a speech,
Miss Costello?
This defendant wasn't there.
You've got the wrong man, Mr. Dodd.
My wife died
in a home for the mentally ill.
She had to wear nappies at the end.
When she died, her nappy
hadn't been changed for three days.
I wanted to do it for her,
but she wouldn't let me.
"You're my husband," she said.
The last time I visited her,
there was a new sign up in the room
where they sat
to watch the television in.
It said, "No dancing."
I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Not even my worst enemy.
Lunch.
Is she coming?
You okay?
How do you mean?
Um...
Emotional detachment.
Any barrister worth their salt has it.
Like you?
- This afternoon...
- I'm really busy, Nick.
Does sir know his head size?
- Hmm?
- Shall we find out?
Oh, yeah.
And shall we say two spare collars,
six bands and a dozen studs?
Great.
How much?
?1,759 plus VAT.
- Do you do secondhand?
- Yes, sir.
- Are wigs from dead barristers?
- Yes, sir.
Well, could I look
at the secondhand, then, please?
A strange man in your flat
in a balaclava in the middle
of the night.
You must have been terrified.
Well, I was scared,
but I didn't want him to know that.
And he hit you, didn't he?
Yes.
Three times.
I tried very hard to look at him.
Each time he hit me,
I tried to look at him.
Show him he wasn't winning.
You've been incredibly precise
about the actions of the intruder
inside your flat.
Three minutes between each time
he hit you.
Well, it's funny,
but making myself focus
exactly on what he was doing,
I think it helped.
I mean, it stopped me
from being quite so frightened.
You were in the parachute regiment
during the war.
Yes.
Tell us about jumping out of aeroplanes
at night under fire.
Well, you just do it.
Wait for the light.
One alligator, two alligator,
three alligator,
go!
Some people do crocodiles.
I do alligators.
So you know about thinking straight
under pressure.
Well, I suppose so.
- He was wearing gloves?
- Yes.
- Did he cough?
- No.
- Sneeze?
- No.
- Scratch his nose?
- No.
Relevance, Miss Costello?
I'm struggling, I'm sure the jury are.
He yawned.
Just as he was leaving, he...
stood at the door looking at me
and he yawned.
Then he put his hand up
to cover his mouth.
I thought, "How strange."
A burglar with no emotion
but very good manners.
Then he put his hand on the door handle,
looked at me,
opened the door
and walked out.
What do you think?
That yawn put about another year
on his sentence?
- How's it going?
- Should have got a secondhand one.
Virgin white wig makes you look
like you don't know what you're doing.
Well, actually, I nicked it.
Very funny.
Where the hell is my barrister?
Where's my brief? I'm going to get
sent down for this! You...
Who do you want first?
Can I do Gary Rush for two minutes
and then Mercedes Cordoba?
You know, I don't think you know
what you're doing.
I'm going to get you off.
- Mercedes Cordoba.
- Your client's gone.
What?
I told you I was going to be
two minutes.
There's no point shouting about it.
She's gone.
You'll have 14 years to talk to her.
Get the number for the prison
and I'll call them.
Touting party.
Touting?
Billy invites lots of judges
and all the solicitors
we're supposed to suck up to,
and we do lots of sucking up.
Touting or tarting party?
First impressions, Nick.
Make them like you.
Is there a VO for a legal visit?
Mercedes Cordoba.
Why not?
You should have received
a request for one.
Look. She's pregnant, she's vulnerable
and she's about to start
a 14-year sentence tonight.
I need to see her.
Hello?
Hello?
Excuse me.
Ah.
Brian Frogett,
senior partner from Camp Frogett,
rang to remind us he's too important
to come to this kind of do,
but he says he's making an exception
because he heard
about your performance today,
and he'd like to meet you.
What kind of question was that?
- Sorry?
- Oh, what? You've forgotten?
About the worst question asked
of anyone in the witness box ever.
"I know, let's see
if the burglar yawned, shall we?
"Tell me. Did he yawn at all
after beating the crap out of you?"
- You don't understand that...
- Aggravated doesn't cover it, does it?
We're going to have to invent
a new term for this.
How about psychopath burglary?
Will that do it?
- Who told you?
- Another stupid question. Peter told me.
Or was he wrong?
I told you.
You don't understand.
And, uh...
who's Peter?
The outdoor clerk
who's been with you all day.
Hardly.
He spent most of his day at a casting
or on the phone to his agent.
Maybe if you had an outdoor clerk
who knew how to read a trial properly...
Was it him asking the suicidal questions
or was that the brainless woman
in the wig?
I think you'd better leave.
What did you just say?
No one ever talks to her like that.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
Jake, clear this up, please.
Clear this up.
Get this cleared up, boys.
It's called unconditional love.
I'd do the same for any one of you.
Can be a liability, love.
- What are you saying?
- Brian Frogett is a big, big solicitor.
He hates us, we lose work,
we lose money.
What does love get you?
- You all right, miss?
- Yes.
- Sorry about that.
- Thank you.
Hello, Mum, it's me.
You're not there, so I...
How is she, your mum?
How dare you?
- Oh, Martha.
- You hypocrite.
It should be you that goes to prison
for 14 years, not her.
Why don't you just get off your...
Jesus Christ, Martha.
That's why people like Mercedes Cordoba
get screwed by everybody,
so you can stick coke up your nose
after a hard day in court.
- Was it the wrong result?
- You make me sick.
Was it the wrong result?
Now, maybe you're just getting
too close sometimes, Martha.
What are you doing?
- What the hell are you doing?
- I'm calling the police.
Give me the phone.
Just give me the phone.
Give me the phone.
- What's going on?
- Who are you?
- Give her the phone.
- Who the hell are you?
Give her the phone back.
Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake.
Call an ambulance.
Um, ambulance, please.
Address, Shoe Lane Chambers,
Shoe Lane, Middle Temple...
- You okay?
- Mmm.
You do emotional detachments
incredibly well.
How old are you?
Nearly 23.
- When?
- Couple of years' time.
He slipped, Clive.
We all saw it.
Yeah, but the question is
how is anyone going to want me and him
in chambers together?
- I'm finished, aren't I?
- No, I promise you. You're not.
We'll work on it.
Here, take a cab home.
I'm going to look at the unused.
Now you're impressing me.
Thank you.
What do you want?
Oh, I was just... I was just working.
Uh, but now I'm...
I'm going.
I'm Martha Costello's new pupil.
Your her knight in shining armour,
by all accounts.
She's great, isn't she?
Yes.
Um, are you all right?
I'm fine.
Look, can I ask you a question?
- Mmm-hmm.
- Do you think she'll get silk?
Yes.
See you.
One alligator, two alligator,
three alligator, four...
One alligator, two alligator,
three alligator, four alligator,
five alligator.
Hello.
Get over here. No.
There is no one else. Must be you.
Right, what have you got for me?
You've never met Gary Rush?
- No.
- Watch this.
- Why am I...
- Just watch it.
The defendant may or may not be present
in the DVD you're watching.
Which one is he?
Four. It's number four.
- Why?
- I don't know.
I come in three times a day.
I help Mr. Dodd to get dressed
in the morning,
I give him his lunch and then I help him
to get to bed at night.
And when you left him that evening,
he was in bed
- and everything was as it should be?
- Yes.
Uh, no questions.
Actually, sorry, sorry...
Did you close the door behind you?
Yes, of course.
Thank you.
The defendant lives a short distance
away from the scene of the crime
and you arrested him because there's
CCTV footage of a man on a Vespa
leaving from outside
Mr. Dodd's home address
just after the burglary took place.
The defendant owns a Vespa.
The footage isn't good enough
for us to identify it 100% but...
Grounds for suspicion,
grounds for arrest.
Yeah.
Was any of the stolen property
- recovered from the defendant's flat?
- No.
Any paraphernalia
associated with burglary?
These things are easily disposed of.
Stick to the evidence, officer,
not supposition.
It's supposition
based on 25 years of experience.
Then came the ID parade and slam dunk.
You haven't been in court until now,
so you won't know what Mr. Dodd said
in the witness box.
But you will have heard
about the "yawn moment".
It's... It's chilling.
To torture an old man and then yawn.
Well, was he bored? Tired?
And this is the kind of behaviour
you'd expect from this defendant?
Do you have any idea
what you're doing, Miss Costello?
Is it right that this defendant
has previous convictions?
Including three previous convictions
for burglary?
- Yes.
- And, well,
can you tell us about the sentences
Mr. Rush received for those offences?
Probation the first time,
80 hours community service
the second time,
followed by six months in prison.
In 25 years of experience,
how do you feel about those sentences?
Too short.
In 25 years of experience,
if a man yawns
and puts his gloved hand
up to his mouth,
then with the same hand
opens the door using the handle,
what will we find on the handle?
DNA. Where is it?
Who was the first officer
to arrive on the scene of the crime?
- I was.
- And this was before SOCOs,
long before Forensics
had got to the flat.
When the door handle was tested,
were any fingerprints found?
No.
So... None?
A door handle
with nobody's prints on it?
Not Mr. Dodd's? Not the social worker
from an hour before?
See, Mr. Dodd couldn't have been clearer.
"The intruder yawned.
"He put his gloved hand up to his face
to cover his yawn.
"He opened the door with the same hand
using the handle."
Gather up all your experience, officer.
Bring it to the front of your mind
and park it next to your anger
and tell this jury that someone
didn't wipe the handle clean
before it was tested.
You fitted up this defendant
because you don't like him.
He's got form.
And in your policeman's mind,
he hasn't been properly punished.
So how did Mr. Dodd
pick him out, then? Eh?
If it wasn't him.
One alligator, two alligator,
three alligator, four alligator.
One alligator, two alligator,
three alligator,
four alligator, five alligator, six.
That was something. That was...
That was really something.
You've seen the DVD
of the ID procedure.
You've heard the victim count
in his very own, very particular,
very precise way,
the fact that Gary Rush
is on that screen for two seconds,
or alligators,
longer than everyone else.
You've seen the black screen either side
of only one image on that video.
The only evidence
this prosecution relies on
is Mr. Dodd picking out the defendant
on an ID parade.
Not only is there no forensic evidence,
there's evidence of there being
no forensic evidence,
which, frankly, is impossible.
If Gary Rush was in that flat
and he yawned,
then his DNA would be
on that door handle.
Is it safe to convict this man
on this evidence?
You as a jury have a sacred task.
It is your job to apply
the one basic principle
on which everything
in our justice system turns.
The prosecution have to prove
beyond all reasonable doubt
that a defendant is guilty.
Go back to your jury room
and apply that principle to these facts
and come back
with the only proper verdict.
Gary Rush is not guilty.
- Three convictions for burglary.
- We've had this conversation.
But obviously his acquittal
last year for another burglary
isn't on the list of previous,
but it is in the unused.
That's because it's an acquittal, Nick.
Or because the victim was punched
three times in the head
and bawled out of giving evidence
at the last minute.
What does that tell you?
That DS Scarrow has a classic motive
for fitting up Gary Rush.
That he walked into this crime
and removed any possibility
from his mind
that Rush might not be the right man.
It's about integrity of justice, Nick.
It's about people getting a fair trial.
And that's all there is.
And it matters so much.
Miss Costello.
Verdict?
Will the defendant
please stand?
Will the foreman please stand?
Have you reached a verdict
upon which all of you are agreed?
Yes.
Do you find the defendant guilty
or not guilty of aggravated burglary?
Not guilty.
Yes!
These two things are true.
Gary Rush is a horrible man.
And it's right that he gets off.
They're not mutually exclusive.
Let's go and see Mercedes Cordoba.
Come on.
They raped me.
Every time.
Several men.
Always all of them.
So that when I was pregnant,
they wouldn't know who the father was.
When my belly grew bigger,
they made me swallow the drugs
and I flew to London.
Where are your children?
Every time the baby was born,
they took the baby away.
Three boys.
Two girls.
Then they raped me again.
I don't know where my babies are.
Why didn't you tell me this?
I could have used it.
I wanted a long sentence.
Here, I'm safe.
I'm away from them.
There is a ground for appeal.
Why can't you hear me?
I do not want an appeal.
Thank you.
What was the ground for appeal?
Me. Me being hopeless.
Gary Rush doesn't think you're hopeless.
- Who delivered this?
- Bike.
- Did he take his helmet off?
- No. Why, miss?
Twenty years since I delivered
a brief by hand.
Kidnapping, at the Bailey tomorrow.
There you go, miss.
Gary Rush is a free man,
you've prevented
a miscarriage of justice,
Camp Frogett love you,
a day in the life of Martha Costello.
Forget trials
and rules of evidence
and conviction rates and whatever.
Women do invent rapes
that never happened.
Win a rape trial in front
of the most influential judge
in the southeastern circuit
and you go straight to silk.
- Do not pass go.
- What makes you think it's winnable?
- What are my chances?
- Fifty-fifty.
But if I had to choose anyone
to cross-examine you,
it would be Martha Costello.
She won't go for you.
Her heart isn't in it.
Say hello to Martha Costello.
Tell her she's the girl for me.
There will be nothing on that medal
to link Gary Rush to it.
So, you do nothing.
Hello?
We need to modernise.
But Billy...
We're not sure how he fits in.
Never underestimate what I know, John.
I'm your client. And I need more
from you than you're giving.
I'm telling the truth.
You're the liar here, not me.
upon which all of you are agreed?
Yes.
On count one of the indictment,
do you find the defendant
guilty or not guilty of murder?
Not guilty.
He's part-heard.
Brian, what can I do? Well...
Hang on, Brian.
Of course
I've got somebody else for you.
Hang on for a second, will you, Brian?
- Guess what, Jake?
- Hello, miss.
My murder...
Um, um... I'd better... Cheers.
Sorry. Hello?
Jake, Jake. Has she finished yet?
- Has your trial finished, miss?
- Yes.
- Yes.
- Good! Brian.
Thanks, miss. Cheers. Sorry, Miss.
That sounds fantastic.
Well, you know what they say, Brian.
First rule of clerking,
always put the girls
in with the psychopaths.
All right? I'll call you back.
Harry, how are you? Yeah.
Uh, listen, I need a ginormous favour.
So, I'm 35 years old,
I'm a date rapist...
Hello, Martha.
Spiked drinks, back to my hotel room,
she's comatosed and I pop.
I've lost my marriage, I lose my job.
Because not only am I a rapist
but I'm also a police officer.
So, what do you think?
- What do I get?
- Eight?
- On a fight?
- Ten.
- Four.
- Four!
- Brilliant.
- Brilliant.
- In court today, Martha?
- Yes.
- Trial?
- Mmm-hmm.
Anything interesting?
Hi, Mum.
It's me. Um, did I tell you about
the murder trial I was doing?
Anyway, it doesn't matter. Bye, Mum.
- Tomorrow.
- What?
Aggravated burglary.
- What's the aggravated bit?
- Torture of an old-age pensioner.
Tied him up,
nearly punched his head off.
And don't tell me.
You think a woman
will go down better with a jury.
It's got nothing to do with me.
Solicitor's after you.
- And what's he like?
- The solicitor or the client?
- The client.
- He's, um...
You'll be fine.
- A backsheet and a DVD?
- I'll bike the rest over.
You'll be fine. Trust me.
Fine.
Where's the brief, Billy?
Where's this cab? Where's this cab?
- The drugs. He's going to plead.
- You sure?
- And you're in front of Judge Ladd.
- Excellent.
So a reference for your
silk application, I was thinking, sir.
I love it when you think, Billy.
- Do you reckon he'll get silk?
- There's the problem.
More than one application
from a young set of chambers like us
is not a good idea.
- We've got two applications?
- His and hers.
There's not much we can do about that,
is there?
Is there?
- Hiya.
- Why are you here?
- They were too big for a bike.
- They?
- Yeah.
- Come in.
Top two-and-a-half feet
is aggravated burglary,
and the bottom six inches
is a drugs mule.
Two briefs?
Don't worry about the drugs,
it's a five-minute mention
and nothing's going to happen.
I need the judge to see your face
because he could be a reference
for your silk application.
Saw that in your pigeonhole.
And they're both listed
in the same court, right?
Court Nine
is first up at 10:00 for the drugs.
And then Court One
for the burglary trial at 10:30,
behind a bail app.
I don't want my defendant
in the burglary short-changed, Billy.
Fifteen years you've been doing this
and you still believe, don't you?
Innocent until proven guilty.
I've been watching you all that time
and you never waver, do you?
If you don't have that,
then you're dead.
Cheers.
Good night, Billy.
Mr. Reader, sir,
forgot to mention. The drugs,
Martha Costello will be
co-defending with you.
Damn. Damn.
Your laptops.
- Do you want a hand?
- No.
Will all parties please
go to Court One for debriefing?
Sorry, sir, have you got anything
in your pockets? Loose change, keys...
How do I find the barrister
who's looking after me?
Look on the court lists,
see which court you're in,
and they'll come and find you there.
Sorry. Can you not talk to me?
I've got to have complete focus.
The aggravated burglary,
I'm prosecuting it.
- Oh.
- Nice man, your client.
That's what you say
about everyone you prosecute.
He's here, he's standing trial.
That means the CPS, the police
and me all think he did it.
What does that tell you?
That he very badly needs me
fighting his corner.
Up-to-date list of previous.
Yes, sorry. Could you get
the solicitor in the case of...
Mercedes Cordoba to come to reception
right now, please?
- You up to speed on this one?
- Yes.
- Are you co-defending?
- Yeah. Big softie, this judge.
Let's go for it, you and me together,
eh, Martha?
- Plead?
- No. You want to?
Well... I've got a big trial in...
Court One in half an hour.
Yeah, well, I've got no mitigation
to speak of
and you're poor,
vulnerable and pregnant.
How hard can it be?
We'll be 20 minutes, tops.
Stop saying "tops" like you're someone
normal, Clive. You went to Harrow.
- You're Martha Costello.
- I'm not representing you.
- No, I'm your new pupil.
- Oh.
Sorry.
- Don't ever do this.
- What's that?
See a client
without a solicitor's rep present.
- Why not?
- Protection.
In case a difficult client wants to say
you've given bad advice.
Barristers can be sued now.
Even baby ones.
- Is this client difficult?
- Oh, yes.
So don't speak. Don't say a word.
- Leave it all to me.
- Cells.
Brief for Gary Rush.
I just wanted to say,
I haven't got a wig and gown yet.
Is that all right?
I'll let you in to a secret.
Putting one of these on
and one of these on your head so helps.
It's like Superman
coming out of the phone box.
Okay. Gary Rush.
The victim is 85 years old,
which makes this,
well, a bad, bad thing,
which is why it matters
that the right man goes down for it.
One big question.
Can a terrified 85-year-old
be relied upon
to identify his balaclava'd
attacker correctly?
- Are you here for Gary?
- Yes.
- DS Scarrow.
- Thank you.
Word of advice. Don't be alone with him.
You don't intimidate me.
I'm concerned for your safety,
that's all.
Right. We haven't got time
to talk to him properly,
- so think like a waitress.
- What?
Get the bread on the table,
the drinks out fast
and they're happy to wait for the food.
- Are you for me?
- Yes.
- Who's the boy?
- This is...
He's my pupil.
Are you good?
Look, give me a few minutes
and then we'll talk properly.
I'll be going to prison.
And for a very long time,
if I'm convicted of this.
I've never met you before
but from where I'm standing,
you look a bit lightweight, frankly.
So I think you should
answer my question now.
I'm good.
- But you're not a QC.
- Not yet.
Are you not going to come in
and talk to me?
I'm short of time, Mr. Rush.
- Is this one difficult?
- No.
Here.
Mercedes Cordoba?
I'm Martha Costello, your briefer.
You swallowed
12 condoms filled with cocaine?
Yes.
- When's the baby due?
- Eight weeks.
Do you know what would have happened
if the condoms had
broken open inside of you?
- You'll die.
- And your baby?
I know.
- You've got children already?
- Yes.
- How many?
- Five.
How old are you?
Twenty-six.
And how old were you
when your first child was born?
Seventeen.
Is there anything you want to say
about your co-defendant?
What about the people
who asked you to carry the drugs?
No.
If you plead guilty now,
you'll get maximum credit.
Which means about a third
or a quarter of your sentence.
You know that
whatever sentence you do get
will be too long for the baby
to stay with you in prison.
You don't have to plead guilty now.
But this judge is all right.
And you might not get
the same judge next time.
I understand.
Okay.
Okay, I need you to sign
the front of my brief.
This just makes clear
that I have not put any pressure on you.
Do you understand?
Okay.
Just there.
You're on. Let's go.
Okay.
- How old are you?
- Thirty-five.
How long have you been 35?
Couple of years.
- Is it hard to get silk?
- Everything changes.
You get to choose your cases.
Take time off when you want to.
Ask leading questions
and get away with it.
I'm from Camp Frogett
for the Rush trial.
- Oh! Where the hell have you been?
- I had a casting.
I'm an actor.
This is what I do when I'm not working.
- What was the casting for?
- Head and Shoulders.
The shampoo giant?
Thanks, mate.
- Oh. There. Yes.
- Pleading?
Who's that?
Two new pupils in chambers.
Billy gave me first choice,
so I plumped for the girl.
Ah. Did you, really?
On what basis?
On the basis that she's got
a really useful brain.
Nick Slade.
Oh, right. You're the other one.
The other one?
Sorry, that came out a bit wrong.
I'm the other new pupil. Niamh.
Well, shouldn't we
shake hands or something?
Oh, barristers don't shake hands.
It's kind of a rule.
Right.
How do you know that?
Father's a judge.
Oh. Right.
All rise.
Billy said this judge might be
a reference for my silk application.
- He said that to me, too.
- We can't both ask him.
Let's see how we go, shall we?
Mercedes Cordoba is poor.
She comes from Ciudad Bol?var in Bogot?,
which means her poverty is extreme.
She was classically vulnerable
to the approach from the drug cartel,
who exploited her
with the offer of money
for travelling on a hot flight
to London with drugs in her belly.
She has shown great courage
in pleading guilty.
She knows that
she will lose her baby into care.
And we can only imagine
how hopeless her situation must be
to agree to swallowing
condoms filled with cocaine,
knowing the damage they could cause
to you and your baby.
Mercedes Cordoba is not heartless,
not evil.
She's just desperate.
She will pay for what she's done.
She knows that.
But I ask your honour to pass a sentence
which reflects her sad life
and gives her the hope for a better one.
Do you want to address me
on the relative status positions
of the two defendants?
I think it's already there
in everything I've said, Your Honour.
Mr. Reader.
I'm surprised that my learned friend
has chosen not to talk about
where her client is in the hierarchy
compared with mine.
Your Honour has seen the notices
of additional evidence?
Mercedes Cordoba is
an experienced trafficker.
She uses her repeated pregnancies
to throw off Customs.
What she didn't know was that
she was being watched by Customs
over a period of years.
She's pregnant every time she travels.
It's her protection
against being stopped.
Nuns, girl guides, pregnant women,
they just get waved through.
Now, Angel Valera, my client,
is the driver.
He met her at the airport.
There's no evidence that he's ever done
anything like this before.
He's at the bottom of the ladder
in terms of his position
in the hierarchy.
A good many rungs below that
of his cunning, pregnant co-defendant.
No second bite of the cherry,
Miss Costello.
Stand up, both of you.
I have to establish in my own mind
where each of you stands
in the ranks of this evil organisation
that brings misery into our country.
I have no doubt that you,
Mercedes Cordoba,
are a good way up it,
whatever your counsel says.
You'll go to prison for 14 years.
Angel Valera, you have
the dubious good fortune
to be a long way down the pecking order
in this obscene organisation.
And I have to reflect that
in your sentence.
You will go to prison for eight years.
Take them down.
All rise.
- I'll be down at lunchtime to see you.
- Okay. Okay.
Lunchtime.
You set me up, you bastard.
What was I supposed to do?
Tell you in advance?
You knew you were going to
cut my throat.
Doing my job. Representing my client.
Reading the brief.
Don't take it personally, Martha.
Where would we all be
if we took things personally?
Don't patronise me.
Why not? You're behaving like a child.
You clearly hadn't read the NAEs.
Let me guess. Still at home,
in an unopened file
lying on the floor somewhere?
You didn't do your job properly.
You know it. That's why you're cross.
She's just got 14 years, for God's sake.
Whose fault's that?
Where are you going?
To ask the judge for a reference.
No, of course
I don't take things personally.
Will Miss Costello and counsel...
- What?
- No.
What?
- Hello.
- Billy, the drugs mules.
I got eight, she got 14.
- Reference, sir?
- Reference to die for, I think.
Very good, sir.
245 women silks ever.
Ever.
Out of tens of thousands.
Now, boys, you've got to respect
a statistic like that, huh?
And it's still 12 male QCs
to every Doris.
I mean, what are the odds? Jake? Hmm?
I've got no record of that payment
coming in whatsoever.
Kind of you to grace us
with your presence, Miss Costello.
I'm sorry, my lord,
I was detained in another court.
Nice little earner before the main act?
Ah, about ?90, minus clerks' fees,
chambers rent, travel tax, VAT.
So, that leaves about ?12.50.
So, not much of an earner, really,
but entirely my fault I'm late.
Good result yesterday.
Against the odds.
Ah! The jury's always right.
Let's swear one in, shall we?
Actually, I haven't had a chance
to speak to the defendant.
Five minutes.
A little longer?
Four-and-a-half and counting.
Just confirm for me 100%
you weren't there,
you've never been there,
it wasn't you.
Look, yes or no?
It wasn't me.
You didn't do this?
So he was mistaken when he
picked you out in a video ID?
Look, I know what you're doing.
You're up against it,
you're out of your depth,
so you're leaning on me to plead guilty.
I don't do that.
You tell me you didn't do this,
and I will fight for you.
What time did you get this brief?
Late last night.
We all perform better under pressure.
Take as much time
as you need, Mr. Dodd.
He hit me three times.
Every three minutes he'd just
walk over to me, tied up in me chair,
and punch me in the face.
Wasn't in any hurry.
Have you been able to establish
what was stolen?
My late wife's jewellery.
My wedding ring.
I can't wear it any more
'cause of this arthritis.
?55 in a drawer. Uh, my watch.
My Distinguished Conduct Medal.
He stole my medal!
- How did you win the medal?
- Normandy.
The night of June the 4th, 1944,
we dropped in to occupied France
ahead of the beach landings and I...
I, uh... brought a wounded comrade in.
How much time did you get
to look at the intruder?
Thirteen minutes.
How are you able to be so precise?
There was a clock on the wall.
The police like to know about
the time of everything, don't they?
So, I thought I should
keep an eye on it.
What was the intruder wearing?
He had a motorcycle helmet on,
then he took it off.
He had
a sort of balaclava on underneath.
Like the ones the Formula One drivers
wear under their helmets.
And he kept that on.
Five minute break.
All rise.
- Lots of form for burglary.
- Yes.
- So, that's...
- Yes, Nick.
So, just because he's done
this kind of thing before,
it doesn't make him guilty this time.
Innocent until proven guilty.
Four words to live by.
What do you think?
- It'll happen to you.
- What will?
Well, all defence counsels know
when a defendant's guilty.
But when halfway through a trial,
they always forget.
...in the case of Rush
please go to Court One.
- How good is your eyesight?
- It's fine.
You attended an ID procedure
at the police station,
and during that procedure,
you made a request
to sit nearer to the screen.
I wanted to look at the eyes.
The shape, the colour.
When he was in the flat, I thought,
"You're good.
You're not giving me anything here,
"but for one thing, your eyes.
"I'm going to get you on that."
You pride yourself
on being sprightly for your age.
Well...
You might not be very good at admitting
that your faculties are working
less well now than they were.
You're raging against
the dying of the light.
My light is not dying, Miss Costello.
That was the man in my flat
and I'm not mistaken about it.
How's your hearing, Mr. Dodd?
Oh, he didn't speak, not once.
Really?
Will you look at your witness statement?
It's three lines
from the bottom of the second page.
- What does it say?
- It says...
"The intruder had no particular accent."
Well, you've just told this jury
that he didn't speak, Mr. Dodd.
So, how do you know what accent
the intruder actually had?
He hummed.
The whole time he was in my flat.
He only stopped humming
when he was hitting me.
Well, is that in your witness statement?
No.
The whole point of a witness statement
is to tell the whole truth
to the police, isn't it?
So, why didn't you mention
he was humming?
I didn't want him to seem
like he was mad.
Beg your pardon?
I'd like him to go to a proper prison.
Oh, I see. So, no soft option
for the man you believe did this to you.
I don't want him going
into a home for the mentally ill.
The police have made an arrest,
and you've assumed
they've got the right man. Yeah?
And now,
you want to make sure he's convicted
and above all, punished.
Is this a question or a speech,
Miss Costello?
This defendant wasn't there.
You've got the wrong man, Mr. Dodd.
My wife died
in a home for the mentally ill.
She had to wear nappies at the end.
When she died, her nappy
hadn't been changed for three days.
I wanted to do it for her,
but she wouldn't let me.
"You're my husband," she said.
The last time I visited her,
there was a new sign up in the room
where they sat
to watch the television in.
It said, "No dancing."
I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Not even my worst enemy.
Lunch.
Is she coming?
You okay?
How do you mean?
Um...
Emotional detachment.
Any barrister worth their salt has it.
Like you?
- This afternoon...
- I'm really busy, Nick.
Does sir know his head size?
- Hmm?
- Shall we find out?
Oh, yeah.
And shall we say two spare collars,
six bands and a dozen studs?
Great.
How much?
?1,759 plus VAT.
- Do you do secondhand?
- Yes, sir.
- Are wigs from dead barristers?
- Yes, sir.
Well, could I look
at the secondhand, then, please?
A strange man in your flat
in a balaclava in the middle
of the night.
You must have been terrified.
Well, I was scared,
but I didn't want him to know that.
And he hit you, didn't he?
Yes.
Three times.
I tried very hard to look at him.
Each time he hit me,
I tried to look at him.
Show him he wasn't winning.
You've been incredibly precise
about the actions of the intruder
inside your flat.
Three minutes between each time
he hit you.
Well, it's funny,
but making myself focus
exactly on what he was doing,
I think it helped.
I mean, it stopped me
from being quite so frightened.
You were in the parachute regiment
during the war.
Yes.
Tell us about jumping out of aeroplanes
at night under fire.
Well, you just do it.
Wait for the light.
One alligator, two alligator,
three alligator,
go!
Some people do crocodiles.
I do alligators.
So you know about thinking straight
under pressure.
Well, I suppose so.
- He was wearing gloves?
- Yes.
- Did he cough?
- No.
- Sneeze?
- No.
- Scratch his nose?
- No.
Relevance, Miss Costello?
I'm struggling, I'm sure the jury are.
He yawned.
Just as he was leaving, he...
stood at the door looking at me
and he yawned.
Then he put his hand up
to cover his mouth.
I thought, "How strange."
A burglar with no emotion
but very good manners.
Then he put his hand on the door handle,
looked at me,
opened the door
and walked out.
What do you think?
That yawn put about another year
on his sentence?
- How's it going?
- Should have got a secondhand one.
Virgin white wig makes you look
like you don't know what you're doing.
Well, actually, I nicked it.
Very funny.
Where the hell is my barrister?
Where's my brief? I'm going to get
sent down for this! You...
Who do you want first?
Can I do Gary Rush for two minutes
and then Mercedes Cordoba?
You know, I don't think you know
what you're doing.
I'm going to get you off.
- Mercedes Cordoba.
- Your client's gone.
What?
I told you I was going to be
two minutes.
There's no point shouting about it.
She's gone.
You'll have 14 years to talk to her.
Get the number for the prison
and I'll call them.
Touting party.
Touting?
Billy invites lots of judges
and all the solicitors
we're supposed to suck up to,
and we do lots of sucking up.
Touting or tarting party?
First impressions, Nick.
Make them like you.
Is there a VO for a legal visit?
Mercedes Cordoba.
Why not?
You should have received
a request for one.
Look. She's pregnant, she's vulnerable
and she's about to start
a 14-year sentence tonight.
I need to see her.
Hello?
Hello?
Excuse me.
Ah.
Brian Frogett,
senior partner from Camp Frogett,
rang to remind us he's too important
to come to this kind of do,
but he says he's making an exception
because he heard
about your performance today,
and he'd like to meet you.
What kind of question was that?
- Sorry?
- Oh, what? You've forgotten?
About the worst question asked
of anyone in the witness box ever.
"I know, let's see
if the burglar yawned, shall we?
"Tell me. Did he yawn at all
after beating the crap out of you?"
- You don't understand that...
- Aggravated doesn't cover it, does it?
We're going to have to invent
a new term for this.
How about psychopath burglary?
Will that do it?
- Who told you?
- Another stupid question. Peter told me.
Or was he wrong?
I told you.
You don't understand.
And, uh...
who's Peter?
The outdoor clerk
who's been with you all day.
Hardly.
He spent most of his day at a casting
or on the phone to his agent.
Maybe if you had an outdoor clerk
who knew how to read a trial properly...
Was it him asking the suicidal questions
or was that the brainless woman
in the wig?
I think you'd better leave.
What did you just say?
No one ever talks to her like that.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
Jake, clear this up, please.
Clear this up.
Get this cleared up, boys.
It's called unconditional love.
I'd do the same for any one of you.
Can be a liability, love.
- What are you saying?
- Brian Frogett is a big, big solicitor.
He hates us, we lose work,
we lose money.
What does love get you?
- You all right, miss?
- Yes.
- Sorry about that.
- Thank you.
Hello, Mum, it's me.
You're not there, so I...
How is she, your mum?
How dare you?
- Oh, Martha.
- You hypocrite.
It should be you that goes to prison
for 14 years, not her.
Why don't you just get off your...
Jesus Christ, Martha.
That's why people like Mercedes Cordoba
get screwed by everybody,
so you can stick coke up your nose
after a hard day in court.
- Was it the wrong result?
- You make me sick.
Was it the wrong result?
Now, maybe you're just getting
too close sometimes, Martha.
What are you doing?
- What the hell are you doing?
- I'm calling the police.
Give me the phone.
Just give me the phone.
Give me the phone.
- What's going on?
- Who are you?
- Give her the phone.
- Who the hell are you?
Give her the phone back.
Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake.
Call an ambulance.
Um, ambulance, please.
Address, Shoe Lane Chambers,
Shoe Lane, Middle Temple...
- You okay?
- Mmm.
You do emotional detachments
incredibly well.
How old are you?
Nearly 23.
- When?
- Couple of years' time.
He slipped, Clive.
We all saw it.
Yeah, but the question is
how is anyone going to want me and him
in chambers together?
- I'm finished, aren't I?
- No, I promise you. You're not.
We'll work on it.
Here, take a cab home.
I'm going to look at the unused.
Now you're impressing me.
Thank you.
What do you want?
Oh, I was just... I was just working.
Uh, but now I'm...
I'm going.
I'm Martha Costello's new pupil.
Your her knight in shining armour,
by all accounts.
She's great, isn't she?
Yes.
Um, are you all right?
I'm fine.
Look, can I ask you a question?
- Mmm-hmm.
- Do you think she'll get silk?
Yes.
See you.
One alligator, two alligator,
three alligator, four...
One alligator, two alligator,
three alligator, four alligator,
five alligator.
Hello.
Get over here. No.
There is no one else. Must be you.
Right, what have you got for me?
You've never met Gary Rush?
- No.
- Watch this.
- Why am I...
- Just watch it.
The defendant may or may not be present
in the DVD you're watching.
Which one is he?
Four. It's number four.
- Why?
- I don't know.
I come in three times a day.
I help Mr. Dodd to get dressed
in the morning,
I give him his lunch and then I help him
to get to bed at night.
And when you left him that evening,
he was in bed
- and everything was as it should be?
- Yes.
Uh, no questions.
Actually, sorry, sorry...
Did you close the door behind you?
Yes, of course.
Thank you.
The defendant lives a short distance
away from the scene of the crime
and you arrested him because there's
CCTV footage of a man on a Vespa
leaving from outside
Mr. Dodd's home address
just after the burglary took place.
The defendant owns a Vespa.
The footage isn't good enough
for us to identify it 100% but...
Grounds for suspicion,
grounds for arrest.
Yeah.
Was any of the stolen property
- recovered from the defendant's flat?
- No.
Any paraphernalia
associated with burglary?
These things are easily disposed of.
Stick to the evidence, officer,
not supposition.
It's supposition
based on 25 years of experience.
Then came the ID parade and slam dunk.
You haven't been in court until now,
so you won't know what Mr. Dodd said
in the witness box.
But you will have heard
about the "yawn moment".
It's... It's chilling.
To torture an old man and then yawn.
Well, was he bored? Tired?
And this is the kind of behaviour
you'd expect from this defendant?
Do you have any idea
what you're doing, Miss Costello?
Is it right that this defendant
has previous convictions?
Including three previous convictions
for burglary?
- Yes.
- And, well,
can you tell us about the sentences
Mr. Rush received for those offences?
Probation the first time,
80 hours community service
the second time,
followed by six months in prison.
In 25 years of experience,
how do you feel about those sentences?
Too short.
In 25 years of experience,
if a man yawns
and puts his gloved hand
up to his mouth,
then with the same hand
opens the door using the handle,
what will we find on the handle?
DNA. Where is it?
Who was the first officer
to arrive on the scene of the crime?
- I was.
- And this was before SOCOs,
long before Forensics
had got to the flat.
When the door handle was tested,
were any fingerprints found?
No.
So... None?
A door handle
with nobody's prints on it?
Not Mr. Dodd's? Not the social worker
from an hour before?
See, Mr. Dodd couldn't have been clearer.
"The intruder yawned.
"He put his gloved hand up to his face
to cover his yawn.
"He opened the door with the same hand
using the handle."
Gather up all your experience, officer.
Bring it to the front of your mind
and park it next to your anger
and tell this jury that someone
didn't wipe the handle clean
before it was tested.
You fitted up this defendant
because you don't like him.
He's got form.
And in your policeman's mind,
he hasn't been properly punished.
So how did Mr. Dodd
pick him out, then? Eh?
If it wasn't him.
One alligator, two alligator,
three alligator, four alligator.
One alligator, two alligator,
three alligator,
four alligator, five alligator, six.
That was something. That was...
That was really something.
You've seen the DVD
of the ID procedure.
You've heard the victim count
in his very own, very particular,
very precise way,
the fact that Gary Rush
is on that screen for two seconds,
or alligators,
longer than everyone else.
You've seen the black screen either side
of only one image on that video.
The only evidence
this prosecution relies on
is Mr. Dodd picking out the defendant
on an ID parade.
Not only is there no forensic evidence,
there's evidence of there being
no forensic evidence,
which, frankly, is impossible.
If Gary Rush was in that flat
and he yawned,
then his DNA would be
on that door handle.
Is it safe to convict this man
on this evidence?
You as a jury have a sacred task.
It is your job to apply
the one basic principle
on which everything
in our justice system turns.
The prosecution have to prove
beyond all reasonable doubt
that a defendant is guilty.
Go back to your jury room
and apply that principle to these facts
and come back
with the only proper verdict.
Gary Rush is not guilty.
- Three convictions for burglary.
- We've had this conversation.
But obviously his acquittal
last year for another burglary
isn't on the list of previous,
but it is in the unused.
That's because it's an acquittal, Nick.
Or because the victim was punched
three times in the head
and bawled out of giving evidence
at the last minute.
What does that tell you?
That DS Scarrow has a classic motive
for fitting up Gary Rush.
That he walked into this crime
and removed any possibility
from his mind
that Rush might not be the right man.
It's about integrity of justice, Nick.
It's about people getting a fair trial.
And that's all there is.
And it matters so much.
Miss Costello.
Verdict?
Will the defendant
please stand?
Will the foreman please stand?
Have you reached a verdict
upon which all of you are agreed?
Yes.
Do you find the defendant guilty
or not guilty of aggravated burglary?
Not guilty.
Yes!
These two things are true.
Gary Rush is a horrible man.
And it's right that he gets off.
They're not mutually exclusive.
Let's go and see Mercedes Cordoba.
Come on.
They raped me.
Every time.
Several men.
Always all of them.
So that when I was pregnant,
they wouldn't know who the father was.
When my belly grew bigger,
they made me swallow the drugs
and I flew to London.
Where are your children?
Every time the baby was born,
they took the baby away.
Three boys.
Two girls.
Then they raped me again.
I don't know where my babies are.
Why didn't you tell me this?
I could have used it.
I wanted a long sentence.
Here, I'm safe.
I'm away from them.
There is a ground for appeal.
Why can't you hear me?
I do not want an appeal.
Thank you.
What was the ground for appeal?
Me. Me being hopeless.
Gary Rush doesn't think you're hopeless.
- Who delivered this?
- Bike.
- Did he take his helmet off?
- No. Why, miss?
Twenty years since I delivered
a brief by hand.
Kidnapping, at the Bailey tomorrow.
There you go, miss.
Gary Rush is a free man,
you've prevented
a miscarriage of justice,
Camp Frogett love you,
a day in the life of Martha Costello.
Forget trials
and rules of evidence
and conviction rates and whatever.
Women do invent rapes
that never happened.
Win a rape trial in front
of the most influential judge
in the southeastern circuit
and you go straight to silk.
- Do not pass go.
- What makes you think it's winnable?
- What are my chances?
- Fifty-fifty.
But if I had to choose anyone
to cross-examine you,
it would be Martha Costello.
She won't go for you.
Her heart isn't in it.
Say hello to Martha Costello.
Tell her she's the girl for me.
There will be nothing on that medal
to link Gary Rush to it.
So, you do nothing.
Hello?
We need to modernise.
But Billy...
We're not sure how he fits in.
Never underestimate what I know, John.
I'm your client. And I need more
from you than you're giving.
I'm telling the truth.
You're the liar here, not me.