The Practice (1997–2004): Season 2, Episode 3 - The Blessing - full transcript

Reckless endangerment.
Suspend time. Let's go home.

Funny.
Excuse me?

I said, "funny."
Come back with
something then.

I did come back.
With "funny"?

Funny.
Helen.

Bobby.
This man is not just a respected
doctor. He's beloved.

Which makes his crime
more offensive.

If he's a role model,
I have to worry about
the example he sets,

as well as the crime,
which is murder,
by the way.

You're never gonna get
a murder conviction on this.

The Supreme Court even
considered legalizing
doctor-assisted suicides.



Not for long. 9-zip.
You're in the ladies' room,
by the way.

I'll win this.
Bobby.

Helen.
It would be inappropriate to
hike up my skirt and bend over.

But if I did, you'd see
a huge bug up my--
Helen.

Bobby.

What your guy committed
was murder.

It's "pay the piper" time.

[ Line Ringing ]

[ Cell Door Opens, Closes ]

[ Sirens Wailing ]

Rebecca, pack the bag.
We're going to trial.

She wouldn't take the plea?
Bug up her ass.
Where's Lindsay?

In with Mr. Malzone.
Notify the witness.
Call the client.

1:00? I can't believe it.
She turned down manslaughter?



I can't go to jail.
My wife don't work.

I got grandkids.
I can't go to jail.

Mr. Malzone, if we don't
take the deal and we lose,
which we definitely will,

you're gonna go away
for a lot longer.

I don't understand.
He hasn't hurt anybody.
Why do they wanna put him jail?

They don't really. They're going
after some of the higher-ups,
and they want Carl to help them.

[ Knocking ]
Lindsay.

- My husband never hurt nobody.
- Unfortunately,
they don't care about that.

- I got grandkids.
- Your friend Helen,
how well do you know her?

- Why?
- Why? Because she's taking
a hard line on Dr. Richards.

Any other D.A. would plead
this out, but she's pressing
for at least murder two.

She's a conservative D.A.
pretty much, but I don't know.

Maybe she's mad at you
over losing the last one.

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of.
Anyway, I gotta steal Ellenor.
Okay.

Oh, I can jump in.
My desk is clear.

Yeah, thanks, Jimmy,
but Ellenor's more
up to speed on this.

Eugene, how'd you like to do
the Malzone case with me?

The bookie?
We lost the entrapment hearing.

Best we can chip it down to
is 18 months, unless
he agrees to turn state.

- I can jump in.
- This is more Eugene.

Ellenor and I were thinking
"United States of America."
For a two-bit bookie?

It's all we got. Come on.
I'll cover your child molester.

Oh, he jumped bail.
Don't you start tomorrow?

Facts are simple. Completely
guilty. We have absolutely
no defense whatsoever.

- It's right up your alley.
- Meaning?

Come on, Eugene.
For your country?

And I repeated that I thought
the dosage would be fatal.

[ Helen ]
What did the defendant
say then, Ms. MacKenzie?

He said, "Nurse, when I give
you an instruction, it's not
your function to question it."

What happened then?
Well, I did question it,
and I refused to do it.

I don't kill my patients.
[ Groans ]
Objection.

- Sustained.
- [ Helen ]
What happened next?

He stepped in and he turned up
the morphine drip himself--

2,000 milligrams.

Three hours later,
she was dead.

Did Dr. Richards say anything
when he turned up the drip?

He said, "She's suffered enough,
and it's time for God
to take her."

Thank you, Ms. MacKenzie.

Mr. Donnell.

The patient suffered
from ovarian cancer,
isn't that right, Ms. MacKenzie?

It was morphine that killed her,
not cancer.

Ma'am, I think we all
understand that you're
taking a position in this.

What I would like is for you
to answer my questions without
trying to be an advocate.

Is that fair?
[ MacKenzie ]
Yes.

- [ Bobby ] Fine.
- Except one thing.
I know what you lawyers do.

You're gonna try to beat up
on me, and I'm telling you
right now I won't take it.

So proceed against me
at your own risk.

Ms. MacKenzie, I have a bladder
the size of a small cashew.

Let's cut down the nonsense.
Just answer his questions.

Jane Crewson's cancer
was terminal, wasn't it?

- Yes.
- And she was in
considerable pain.

- That's true too, isn't it?
- We don't go around killing
everyone in pain, counsel.

There was a man in the next room
screaming over a kidney stone.

Should we put him
out of his misery?

Ma'am, that's Jane Crewson's
family sitting right there.

That's her husband, her son
and her two daughters.

Are you telling them
that you equate her cancer
with a kidney stone?

- I didn't say that.
- Yeah, you did. That's exactly
what you just did.

And if that's the sensitivity
you lend to your patients,

then let's all
add to this tragedy
that on top of cancer...

Mrs. Crewson had a nurse
with zero compassion!

- Objection! Objection!
- This man did see her pain!

This man did see
the difference between
cancer and a kidney stone.

- Objection!
- All right, quiet!

[ Clears Throat ]
Ms. MacKenzie,

if you wanna fight the dog,
I have no choice
but to unleash him.

I suggest you answer
the questions, and that's it.

Fine.

Jane Crewson... wanted...

to die, did she not?

She suffered from dementia.

[ Judge ]
Now hold on. Do you feel...

that you really answered
the question he just asked?

No, Your Honor.
You hold on.

I beg your pardon?

The question assumed
Jane Crewson's capacity
to make a competent decision.

The witness correctly took issue
with that assumption.

Ms. Gamble, take your seat.

Mr. Donnell, take yours.
I'm not finished yet.

Indulge me.

At the risk of both parties
moving for a mistrial,

which I won't grant,

let me save us all
a lot of time.

The prosecution put
this delightful personality
up here...

to establish that
the victim died...

as a result of the defendant
turning up the morphine drip.

The defense doesn't dispute
any of this.

There really was no point
in Nurse MacKenzie
even testifying...

other than to get in
her condemnation.

To counter that condemnation,
the defense wants
to establish...

that the victim was terminal,
in severe pain...

and that her family
sitting there requested
that she be allowed to die.

The prosecution doesn't
dispute any of that.

You see, the facts being offered
by this witness are a given.

This is all about presentation.

I just saved you a full day.

The problem is she got
to make her presentation.
I didn't get to make mine.

As if I care.
I don't know what you're
complaining about.

- I'm the one that got hurt.
- What?

[ Judge Pratt ] How?
You were hostile
to my chief witness.

You basically
discredited her.
She was the hostile one.

- Give me a break.
- Excuse me. Could I speak?

Your witness got to tell her
story. I didn't get my cross.
Maybe dismiss all witnesses...

and make the trial about you.

[ Judge Pratt ]
Hey. You see what
I'm talking about?

Here are my rules.
We're gonna try this case
with no crap.

No argumentative
grandstanding.

None of that stuff you typically
pull that makes people call you
what they call you.

- Uh, what do they call us?
- Lawyers.

We're gonna march into
that room, and we're
gonna try something new.

We are going to limit
this case...

to this case.

[ Elevator Bell Dings ]

He's a blowhard.
Big one.

Look, how could you
not plead this?
Because I can't.

So you'd rather
lose?
Yep.

Fine. You will.
Fine.

Fine.
Fine.

[ Lindsay ]
You're prosecuting?
[ Man ] Lucky me.

Chris and I used to date.
Then lucky us.
That's grounds for dismissal.

Right.
Chris, come on.
He's a small-time bookie.

And if he gives up
the big-time bookie,
he goes completely free.

You know that's not
an option for him.

Mr. Kelton, this isn't
the guy you want. He can't
give you the guy you want.

And that sticks us all between
a rock and a hard place...

with a case none of us
want to try.

Kick this one
and we'll owe you.

You'll owe me?
Yes.

- Owe me what?
- A favor.

Everything goes around here.
One day you'll need
a favor from us.

And when the time comes,
think how relieved you'll be
that we owe you.

That's not the way I operate,
Mr. Young.

Mmm. One day you will.

Think I'll try the case.

Oh, that didn't work, Eugene.
I didn't ask you
to intimidate him.

I didn't, obviously.

[ Jimmy ] You think he's
ever gonna give me a case?
Excuse me?

Bobby.

I just sit around here
countin' paper clips.

I-It's not like
we ain't busy, Rebecca.

We got about a hundred cases.

I mean, that's like
15 per lawyer.

And how many
per paper clip?

- Why won't he give me a case?
- Jimmy, Bobby knows
you're a good lawyer.

Right. Why won't
he give me a case?

Why don't you
think about it?

She didn't want her body
and her mind to go on
disintegrating.

She didn't want
her children to see.

This was a very vibrant woman,
a proud--

Was it her decision to die?

Yes.

And as her legal guardian,
you concurred?

She was in pain.

There was no quality to her life
anymore. She was slipping
in and out of comas.

It was too hard on her.
It was too hard on my children.

And when you approached
Dr. Richards a-about--

What-What did he tell you?

He said that, legally speaking--

that... he couldn't
euthanize her,

that all he was permitted
to do was increase
her pain medication,

but that the likely
consequence of that would be
that she would die.

And what did you say
to that, sir?

Sir?

I said, "Do it."

It was a blessing.

She did suffer from dementia,
right?
Off and on.

Some days she'd be
remarkably coherent.

She wanted to die.

Three months prior
to her death,

you petitioned the court
for guardianship, right?
Yes.

You cited as a reason she was
no longer mentally competent
to make decisions in her life.

She was of clear mind
in her wish to die.

I was married to her
for 22 years.
I would know.

I would know.

The court did find her
mentally incompetent,
isn't that correct, sir?

- That was a legal ruling.
- Yes. And legally,

since she was in fact
judged incompetent,

this had to be your decision
to let her die.

Isn't that right, sir?
Yes.

You spoke of your pain...

having to watch your wife
deteriorate this way.

Would it be fair to say
this pain was immense for you?
It would be fair.

Have you ever been through
anything more painful?

No.

I hate to ask this, sir,

but can we really be sure
you were of sound mind
through all this?

Let's make it quick.
I'm a busy man.

Twenty times on the Patriots,

times two on the Steelers,
Cowboys and Dolphins each,

10 times on
the Raiders.

Detective, does that videotape
accurately reflect the events
of December 19, 1996?

It does.
You placed bets
with Mr. Malzone...

on national league
football games?

I did.

Yours.

You actually put money
on the Raiders?

Well, it wasn't about trying
to win the bet, counsel.

Clearly.

[ Laughing ]

Did Mr. Malzone solicit you in
any way to make these wagers...

- or did you go to him?
- I went to him.

Part of a big sting
to get big fish in
a big organized gaming mob.

- Wasn't that it?
- Basically.

And is this the fish you were
looking to get, or were you
looking to trade up?

The latter.

There's no point putting
the daughter up.
You don't know what I'll ask.

I know you'll be putting
the law on trial.

Her testimony will go to
the facts of this case.

It'll be a tearjerk fest,
we all know that,
with nothing relevant.

Say that to the jury. "Nothing
relevant" to the daughter
whose mother died of cancer.

That's exactly the type
of pandering--
Quiet now.

I have a question.
You ever talk?

Do I need to?

Look, the witness has
no relevant testimony
which goes to the issue.

I'd ask you to rule not
from your heart but your head.
I'd settle for your bladder.

Cute.

Look, she's right.
This is a reach.

This is a criminal case.

- I should get some rope.
- Don't hang yourself with it.

- I won't.
- Short leash.

The daughter can testify.

The bladder crack cost you.

What?

You seem a little crisp.

Know what? All these
murder trials we're gettin',

they started pourin' in
after we got Gerald Braun off.

That made Bobby the hot lawyer
in town for gettin' people off.

It all started with
the Braun trial.

So?
So it was my strategy.

I had the idea for
jury nullification--

Same strategy he's usin'
on this doctor trial.

So?
So I shouldn't be treated like
I'm some second-class lawyer.

You came here after
getting fired from a bank
for falsifying loan documents.

For this office.
To help people here.

Last week you were arrested
for picking up a hooker.

For which I was cleared.
I was innocent.

Yeah. Details.

Jimmy, this is Boston.

Half of what you are as
a lawyer is what the judge
and other lawyers think of you.

Jimmy, right now
they think you're a hack.

Bobby knows you're
a good lawyer.

You have to lay low
a little longer.

[ Sighs ]

I'd run some numbers--
small-time.

Football, boxing--
I usually do good.

Mr. Malzone,
let's cut to it.

Do you work for a larger
gaming organization?

Not really.
I-I-I'm kind of retired.

They allow me to work
to pick up some money.

Most of my clients
are longtime friends.

So, who are the people
you work for?

I can't tell you that.
Why not, sir?

Because there's
a code of loyalty.

These people have
been loyal to me.

I stay loyal to them.

[ Stammers ]
We're family.

And that's why you won't
reveal their identity,
because of loyalty?

That, and they'd kill me.

[ Laughs, Clears Throat ]

[ Lindsay ]
He's so cute.
Why can't you kick him?

Oh, 'cause it sends the wrong
message to all the other
cute bookies out there.

You bet on football, Chris.
Come on.

[ Sighs ]

Okay. Tell you what.

This is unorthodox, but if
you're willing to go for it--

What?
One kiss.

Excuse me?
Yeah, for old times' sake.

One kiss-- a good kiss--
the case melts away.

[ Laughs ]

Grow up.
I'm serious.

Lips and deal have
to stay sealed though.

You're serious?
You'd actually kick this
if I kissed you?

No. I'm not serious.

But you considered it. I saw
it in your eyes. So why don't
you just kiss me for free,

and then you don't have to think
of yourself as for sale?

You just think you're too cool,
don't you?

[ Laughs ]
I can't drop the case.
I've got marching orders.

What is up with your office?
You're going after
a small-time numbers guy,

prosecuting a doctor for
turning up a morphine drip.

That's Gamble, not the office.

In fact, they suggested
she pull back on that,
and she refused.

- Really? Why?
- You know her better than I do.

Blow!
It is my birthday.

[ All ]
Blow!

Oh!
[ Ellenor ]
That was four years ago?

Yes, her 45th.

Happy birthday.

I love you.

[ Woman ]
That was about a week
before she died.

[ Ellenor ] Julie, can you tell
us a little bit about the day
your mother passed away?

Well, she knew it was
probably one of her last.

She wasn't completely alert.

But she could recognize
all of us.

Can you talk about
the last few hours?

Well, we had put up pictures--

large blown-up photographs
all around the room.

Pictures of when we were
little and so forth.

The, uh--

The doctor came in around noon,
and we all had to, uh--

He wanted to make sure
that we were all sure.

[ Ellenor ]
We can take a break
anytime you want.

No, I'm okay.

After he turned up the morphine,

we knew she had about
an hour left of consciousness.

We all held hands.

My sister and I sang.

She used to love it when we--

We all held hands. We told her
how much we loved her.

She told us how much
she loved us.

And then she faded off
into sleep.

Julie, the prosecution
is trying to convict
Dr. Richards of murder.

Yeah, which to me is sick.

My mother had a good death.
It was peaceful.

I mean, she could've gone out
with pain and bedsores,

and instead she died
without hurt.

She died with her family there
loving her.

And with her knowing that,
it was a good death.

And I am so grateful,
and so was my mother.

We put Dr. Richards up.
That should be it.
Where are we on Malzone?

Dead in the water.
They got it on tape.
Carl won't plead.

Well, you better make him plead.

Jimmy, everything okay?

Sure. I'm just sitting here
doing nothing. It's my niche.

- Well, maybe we could
talk about it later.
- Oh, sure.

I can pencil "later"
into my schedule.

Okay, Ellie, let's go.
Make him take the plea.

The term we use for it
is "managed death."

- Does that mean
you cause the death?
- No.

It means that faced with
an inevitable death,

managing it
to relieve suffering.

And in the case of Jane Crewson,
that meant turning up
the morphine drip?

Yes.
To a potentially
lethal dosage?

Yes.

- And the patient consented?
- That's correct.

As did her family?
Yes.

- Did you clear this decision
with the hospital authorities?
- No, I did not.

Really? Isn't this kind of
a big thing, hastening
a patient's death?

Of course it is.
It is also a privacy issue.

Even so, you'd think
the hospital might have
something to say on this.

Well, I hate to be blunt
to the point of sounding cold,

but if hospitals took time out
to review every decision
that was made...

to let a patient die,
the system would choke.

[ Ellenor ]
So you mean this goes on a lot?

Seventy percent of all deaths
in hospitals...

are due to decisions
to let the patient die.

[ Ellenor ] Seventy percent?
Most deaths aren't
that dramatic.

It's doctor and patient
and family deciding it's time.

And in your medical opinion,
sir, it was time
for Jane Crewson?

No. The medical opinion
was that all we could do...

was prolong her life
with various treatments--
prolong her suffering.

Her personal decision,
supported by her family,
was that it was time.

Now, given the law against
euthanasia, Doctor,

weren't you tempted
to deny their request?

Again, the morphine drip was
not meant to euthanize her.

It was meant to relieve pain.

But you did know that--
The likely result, yes.

But legally, I believe
I stayed within bounds.

And morally, when a terminal
patient in severe pain...

asks that she be allowed to die
with a modicum of decency,

I listen.

And I listened to Jane Crewson.

Thank you.

I got it down to a year.
That's pretty good, Carl.

A year in jail,
at my age?

That could be
a death sentence.

- It won't be a death sentence.
- What will I do?

Mrs. Malzone,
we have to consider
the lesser of two evils.

What do you think, Eugene?

Well, it's tough.
If you lose, you're looking
at three to four.

This isn't even a close call.
They had you on videotape.

It's your third time.
The jury knows that.

Take the plea.

I wanna hear you say it.

- Let's roll the dice.
- Eugene.

Could I speak to you
in private a second?
Excuse us.

Hey!
Are you nuts?

I think we got a shot.
With "United States
of America"?

How?
It was your idea.

Yes, because we're so desperate,
it's malpractice
not to take the plea.

I think I can win it.
You can't.

I can.
You know what?

This is-- This--
You're all goosed
over the challenge.

Th-This is fun for you.
You're not thinking of him.

This about how deep a hole
you think you can jump out of.
Hey.

No, you "hey."
No, you "hey."
You brought me in.

You asked me to try it.
I think I can win it.
In fact, I know I can.

Funny. I had planned to
cross-examine you with,

"Hey, if we let you do it,
what's to stop all the other
doctors from doing it?"

But you said
they're already doing it.

Seventy percent of
all hospital deaths.

That's not my statistic. It
comes from theJournal of the
American Medical Association.

Yes, and you used
that statistic to say
you're right,

where I'd use it to say
I'mright.

This is what happens
when you let doctors start
killing their patients.

- [ Bobby ]
Objection.
- Sustained.

Tell me, Doctor.
I have a shooting homicide
next week.

If the defendant correctly
points out that the leading
cause of death...

in teenage boys is gunshots,

should that excuse
his pulling the trigger?

[ Together ]
Objection.
Sustained.

No, I'd like to respond.
For you to equate what I did to
a shooting homicide sickens me.

Well, if you're sick,
please don't go to a doctor
who's quick with the morphine.

- [ Bobby ] Objection!
- Sustained. Please take
your seat, Dr. Richards.

You seem impulsive.
You make decisions on impulse?

- [ Together ]
Objection!
- The cashew beckons.

I'll see lawyers
in chambers, please.

- What's going on?
- What?

Attack dog isn't
your style, Helen.

And you've looked ripe for
a fight since we've started.

I don't know what
you're talking about.
Don't feed me that.

Both of you are
too loaded for bear.

What am I missing?
Nothing from me.

- Nothing from me.
- Must be me.

Or not.

Aside from the fact that
your hostility is borderline
contempt, it's bad lawyering.

Tough to convince
a jury of anything
when they don't like ya.

Whatever's going on,
dial it back.

[ Door Opens ]

More than words,
seeing is believing.

Thanks to that videotape,
you're all eyewitnesses.

You saw the defendant engage
in illegal gaming activities.

Usually, I stand before
the jury at the end, and I say,
"Trust what I tell you."

Today, I'll only ask you
to trust yourselves.

You saw it.

Better be good.

Most criminal trials,
the key testimony
comes from the victim.

Uh, but they didn't put
a victim on the stand here,
did they?

Because there is no victim.

Nobody to come forward
to complain, "I've been hurt,"

because nobody got hurt.

Oh, they'll say,
"Society suffered."
"It's against public policy."

"Gambling is against
who and what we are."

But that's a lie.
Isn't it?

I mean, welove gambling.

I could run down
the street right now
and buy a lottery ticket.

Take a cab to Suffolk Downs,
lay some money on a horse.

Hop on a plane to Las Vegas,
Atlantic City.

Maybe even take one
of those cruises with
the big casinos on it.

Kathie Lee might even hug me.

- [ Laughing ]
- Gambling is in the fabric
of this country.

Even the word itself--
"The man gambled."

"He went for it."
"He defied the odds."
"He rolled the dice."

These are terms we use
to describe heroes
in this country-- Heroes.

This is America,
and gambling is in our blood.

Now, what bothers me most
about this trial,

is the blatant hypocrisy
of it all.

'Cause we don't just tolerate
gamblers in this country--
We breed them.

Flip open a sports page,
and you'll see the morning line.

Turn on the tube
to watch the NFL.

You got special commentators
to give you the point spread,
their picks,

and they'll help you
make that bet,
and that's on a Sunday.

We spend millions of dollars--
No, no. No, no, no.

Make that a billion dollars
advertising lottos.

The government encourages
you to bet. Massachusetts
is in the business of gambling.

They use the lottery to raise
money to lower your taxes.

And they're coming after him
because he helped somebody put
a nickel down on the Patriots.

The hypocrisy.

Now they're only going
after Carl Malzone...

because they're trying to
extort him to fork over
somebody bigger.

And the gaming charge is
the only card they have to play.

It stinks.

This man is a grandfather...

who's never hurt anybody.

And they're trying
to put him in prison.

It stinks terrible.
And not just because of what
they're trying to do to him,

but because they're trying to
do it here in this very room--
a courtroom--

a courtroom in
the United States of America.

This is a forum for justice.

It is not a prosecutorial tool
to extort people.

And if you let them
do this here,

if you let them use
our justice system as a weapon
to oppress, then what's next?

What is next?

That's not what
a courtroom is for,

not in
the United States of America.

How many patients would you say
you have on the average,
Dr. Richards?

On average?
Well, maybe a hundred.

A hundred. And did you know
Jane Crewson more or less
than the other hundred?

Maybe a little more,
but my relationship with her
was fairly typical.

- You weren't
her primary physician?
- No. I'm an oncologist.

Did you know what Jane Crewson
did for a living?

Objection. I don't see
the relevance in this.

I have to admit, counsel,
I don't either.

I'm trying to get a sense
of how well the doctor
knew his patient.

He made a judgment that
Jane Crewson was competent to
make a pretty big decision here.

Legally, the decision was made
by Mr. Crewson, since legally
he was the appointed guardian.

Okay, fine. How well
did you know Mr. Crewson?

- Objection.
- No, no, no, no. Go ahead.

[ Helen ]
Did you know Mr. Crewson
more or less than you knew Jane?

- Less, obviously.
- About how many hours in total
did you spend with him?

I don't know.
Less than 10?

Yes.
Less than five?

I would say,
over the various meetings,
about five hours.

-Did you know he was in therapy?
-No, but it doesn't surprise me,
considering.

- You mean the pain and all?
- Yes. His wife was dying.

Yes, I'm sure that could
cause some emotional havoc,
couldn't it?

- Of course.
- And if a person were making
serious decisions...

while in the middle of
emotional instability--

- Objection.
- Overruled.

It was my belief that
Mr. Crewson was of
completely sound mind.

Did you ever speak
with his therapist?
No.

- So you made this
determination yourself?
- Yes.

Based on your history with him
going back five hours.

Objection.
Objection. She's doing nothing
but ridicule the witness.

Your Honor, this is the man
that flipped the switch.

He's saying it was
Jane Crewson's decision
and her husband.

How well he knows these people
is certainly relevant
to his ability to judge...

their capacity for competence.

- I'm going to allow it.
- What did you know of Mr.
Crewson's insurance situation?

- Nothing.
- Nothing?

Would it surprise you to know,
had Jane Crewson
continued to live,

it would have a worked
a severe financial hardship
on her husband?

- [ Together ]
Objection.
- Overruled.

- Your Honor.
- I've ruled.

Did you ever make
any attempt to examine
Mr. Crewson's motives...

for wanting his wife to die?

I didn't have to.
You didn't?

He says, "Time's up,"
and you just take
his word for it?

Move to strike that.
Overruled.

It's a nasty question,
but it's a fair one.

[ Dr. Richards ] I weighed
this man's capacity for
competence as I did with Jane.

And I determined
that they were able
to make the decision.

Yes. And I suppose...

if a hospital were to stop
and ask questions...

every time one family member
wanted to kill another,

the system would choke.

[ Man ]
Ms. Gamble--
No comment.

How much time--
Do you understand English?
I said no comment.

- Haven't you said enough,
Helen?
- Please excuse me.

I won't excuse you.
Bobby.

You went over the line.
What office are
you running for?

Get that mike out of my face.
There's basic decency.

- Maybe you could show some.
- They lost a person they love.

You go after 'em
like criminals!
Bobby, calm down.

- They are criminals!
They murdered a woman!
- Why don't you go to hell?

Mr. Donnell!
Ms. Gamble!

[ Clamoring ]

What the hell is going on?
I wasn't gonna let her
get away with that.

You made a giant-sized ass of
yourself with cameras clicking!
Shut up!

Just shut up, Ellenor.

[ Sighs ]
I'm sorry.

This may be an emotional case,
Bobby,

but there is nothing--
nothing--to excuse what
just happened out there...

and nothing to excuse you
talking to me like that!

I apologize.

My God, Bobby.
You'd think it was you
on trial here.

Oh, hey. Verdict?
Jury's coming in at 10:00.
They deliberated 40 minutes.

- What do you think?
- We might have a chance.

Eugene broke out
the golden shovel.
I heard that.

- How you doing?
- He's about to get up.

What he'll say, who knows?
He's just gone totally
into orbit on this one.

Technically, I could argue
he only acted to relieve pain.

It was just coincidental
that she died.

But nobody's kidding anybody
here about what's going on.

We are putting
a law on trial here
more than a man.

This is just as much
about you and me
as it is about him.

And I don't the district
attorney will think me
too out-of-bounds...

if I tell you--

[ Sighs ]

I knew a woman who
was dying of cancer.

And when this cancer
seeped into her brain,

she couldn't even
recognize her husband,

her son.

She was only 61.
She was dying,

in pain.

The doctor--

It was agreed
that the respirator
would be turned off--

should be turned off.

And he wouldn't do it.

It fell to the husband.

And the husband--

You see, he-- he just couldn't
bring himself to do it.

So he asked his son.

And the son,

to spare both
his dad and his mom,

reached out to end
their suffering.

And his-his-his hand
started to--
started to shake...

to the point where he--
he couldn't even feel that
it was connected to his arm.

And he remembers thinking...

God has his hand now.

The hand, it finally did
turn off the respirator.

And shortly after,
his mother was at peace,

and the son--

The son was just--

He was just glad that
the suffering was over.

And till this day,
he knows he did the right thing.

But, uh,

also, to this day,

he wishes that he had
a doctor like that one.

My mother said sometimes--

sometimes the hardest
thing to do...

is an act of kindness.

My client,
ladies and gentlemen,

is a very kind man.

The closing argument
you just heard...

was wholly, totally
objectionable.

The reason I didn't object
is because I agree with
the defense counsel...

that this trial is not
just about Dr. Richards--

It's about all of us.

Mr. Donnell had a story.
I'm sure we all do.

Sarah Washington Gamble,
my grandmother.

Cause of death:
Respiration failure brought on
by the morphine drip.

She had Alzheimer's,

and she was suffering from
both pain and dementia.

And according to her,
the doctors and most
of her family,

she wanted to die.

But she didn't.

See, I was the granddaughter
that spent every summer
with her,

the one who lived with her
when I was in law school.

And though she said
she wanted to die,

what she really felt
was it was her duty.

She didn't wanna be a burden
on her family anymore.

Sure as she said
she wanted death,

as sure as I stand
before you now,

she still wanted to live.

I know it.

See, the problem with
going down this slope...

is you make suicide permissible,
then acceptable,

then possibly
in some people's minds
the right thing to do.

You plant the idea
with the elderly.

It's selfish to hang on,
to cling to life,

exhausting financial resources,

having to make the children
look at a sick person,

having to empty a bedpan.

It's selfish to impose that
on someone you love.

I'm sure someday...

I'll meet someone I love
as much as I loved
my grandmother.

But for now,

I wish I could be
emptying her bedpans.

She didn't have long
in the end. I know.

But she had another day,

and probably another day
after that one...

and after that one.

The doctor, he had no way
of really knowing her.

He had possibly
a hundred patients.

He was a very kind man.

But his act of kindness,
it wasn't a blessing.

It hastened the death
of a person I know
wanted to cling...

just a little longer.

This trial is going
to send a message.

I hope the message you send...

is there is a sanctity to life.

Let's not send the message
that suicide,

or assisted suicide,
is noble.

That message may
cost you dearly.

You can trust me on that.

Will the defendant
please rise.

The jury has reached
a unanimous verdict?

We have,
Your Honor.
Let's have it.

[ Woman ] In the matter
of theCommonwealth
versus Carl Malzone...

on the charge of gaming
prohibited under Chapter 269,
Section 14,

we find the defendant
not guilty.

- [ Sighs ]
- [ Spectators Chattering ]

[ Judge Scannal ]
The jury is dismissed with
the thanks of the court.

[ Gavel Raps ]
Thank you very much.

You're welcome.

You owe me.
I owe you.

I'd like to thank you too
as an American citizen.

- Hey, no problem.
- And just to show you
I'm a good sport.

You're lucky
you didn't touch lip.
I would've brought you up.

Your Honor.
Counsel.
Going down?

Well, you tell me.

Can I ask a question,
at the risk of ex parte?

Sure.

Worst case scenario,
I jail you.
[ Elevator Bell Dings ]

You know, you let a lot in
that had nothing to do
with this case.

That depends on
what you thought
this case was about.

It was supposed to be about
whether or not a defendant
committed a crime, nothing more.

Yeah, well, you really think
I should leave...

legislative policy up to
the legislature?

The book on you is that
you study up a little on
your lawyers before they appear.

Yeah. Book got pictures?

You knew, didn't you?
Bobby's mother?
Gamble's grandmother?

- You knew.
- All I knew was we'd have
an exciting trial.

[ Pager Beeping ]

[ Elevator Bell Dings ]
But I certainly never knew
we'd have a verdict today.

Is this good?

I don't know.

Have you reached
a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.

Will the defendant please rise.

Read it to the court,
please.

Commonwealth versus
Dr. Henry Richards,

on the charge of murder
in the second degree,

we find the defendant guilty.

[ Spectators Chattering ]
I don't believe it.

- I don't believe it.
- We got a lot of grounds.
Quick deliberation is one.

[ Judge Pratt ] The jury's work
is completed. You're done.
You can go. We thank you.

Ask personal recognizance
pending appeal, Your Honor.

Granted. We're adjourned.

[ Clamoring ]

[ Woman ]
Doctor, will you
make a statement?

Ten hours community service.
No time.

She just told me no jail.

No jail.

Finally, a victory against
jury nullification.
Way to go, Helen.

Thanks.
Good win, Helen.
Great job.

Oh, yeah.
Get out of here.
[ Laughs ]

[ Sighs ]

[ Woman ]
You stinker!