The Practice (1997–2004): Season 3, Episode 3 - Body Count - full transcript

LINDSAY:
Previously, on "The Practice"...

Anderson Pearson,
my stuffed shirt professor,

he just shot somebody dead.

- I'd like to go self-defense.
- The man was unarmed.

- In talking to your wife,
you two felt like this man

might end up
hurting you one day.

- But we weren't at that point
when your client shot him.

You don't want
to be arguing self-defense.

- You can't limit our defense--

- I can refuse an instruction,
Ms. Dole.

- Do you think you were acting
in self-defense



or do you think you
involuntarily

just started squeezing?

- I don't remember
pulling the trigger.

- Good.

- Ellenor?
- Yeah?

- Do you don't know
anything about this single,

white, female attorney, 30-ish?

- Where did you get this?

- Podiatrist, 40-ish,
loves movies and Maine.

Spoke to him for an hour
on the phone last night.

- I am not gonna lie,

I was so nervous
about meeting you.

- You're rejecting him
because of his looks.

- It just wasn't there,
Rebecca, the chemistry.



- You filed a lawsuit
here over a broken date.

I'm asking you
why did this hurt

more than the other times
you've been rejected?

- She's not like the others.
She's not pretty.

- I've decided
to drop the lawsuit.

I wish you well in life,
Ellenor.

- I wish you well too,
George.

- I thought it would be
one thing if I read all these.

HELEN:
Well, it looks good, anyway.

Like we read.

- What the--

Are these yours?

- Yeah, I like shoes.
- Like them?

These are expensive.

How--
- I like shoes.

- How do you afford them
on a DA's salary?

- Oh, no,
don't tell me

you're going to be one
of these roommates who questions

all living expenses.
- Look.

MAN: In other news, Harvard Law
Professor Anderson Pearson,

also of council at
the prestigious Finley Hogue,

was recently arraigned
on second-degree murder charges

in connection
with the shooting death

of an alleged stalker,

who first encountered
the professor

in a traffic incident
involving the two men.

- [sighs]

Why is this getting
so much attention?

- Mm, isn't every day

a Harvard professor
commits murder.

- He didn't commit murder.

- Oh, right,
the gun just went off

by mistake five times.

- You know Anderson Pearson,
you think he'd kill?

- We'd all kill.

It's just the circumstances
that vary.

- Oh, there's a proverb.

- How much time
are we talking about?

- 4 years.
- 4 years?

- If you get convicted--

- But I didn't go through
with it--

- Well, if they can prove

you went past
a point of no return--

- I didn't.
- Fine.

But if a jury
doesn't believe you,

attempted murder,
you get convicted,

you'll be looking at 20 years.

- I swear, Jimmy,
I would never have killed her.

I could never kill anybody.

[upbeat dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- The victim was being treated.
- Shrink?

- Dr. Walter Matthews diagnosed
him as a schizophrenic.

This is good.

- We need to meet with him.
Get his testimony.

You check out Pearson?

- He's holding up.

But the faster the trial,
the better.

What about a mock jury?

- Nah, I don't get much
out of that.

I say no.
- Bobby...

we're gonna argue
he involuntarily

pulled the trigger five times,

killing a man he had just

coincidentally
threatened to kill?

- What else can we do?
The problem is Judge Hiller.

If we go near self-defense,
she'll sink us.

We got to stick
with automatic pilot.

[door opens]

- Can I help you?
- Ellenor Frutt, is she here?

- Do you have an appointment?
- No, but this is an emergency.

I need to talk to someone.

- George?
- Ellenor.

I need to talk to you.

- Okay, what's the matter?

- Can we go someplace private?
- Sure, sure.

- Take my office.
- Okay. Come on.

Come on.
- I don't know what--

Ellenor,
I don't know what happened,

it doesn't make any sense.
- Okay, okay.

Take it easy.
- I just--I can't figure it.

- Come and in here
and tell me what's wrong.

- I still don't know.
I just--

I don't know who else
to come to.

- All right, listen,
I want you to calm yourself down

and just talk to me.
- Okay.

I went to a bar last night,
I met a woman.

For the first time
in my life, I--

We went to a motel.

We had sex.

- For the first time
in your life you had sex?

- No.

A one night stand, I--
Oh, my God.

- Okay, all right.
Just calm down. Relax.

I want you to tell me
what happened, George.

- This morning, I drove to work,

went into my office
carrying my medical bag.

About an hour ago I opened it--
[hyperventilating]

- Okay,
maybe you should sit down.

I think you should sit down.

George! George!

[door opens]

He fainted.
George.

- I have smelling salts.
- Get 'em.

What's the deal?
- I don't know.

He said something
about a one night stand

and then he opened up
his medical bag

and then he fainted.

- Don't get up.
Just stay there a second.

- Open it.
- What?

- My bag.
Open it.

- Okay.
- Not you.

Him.

Don't you look.

- [screams]

- What?

- There's a head in the bag.

- What?!

[screams]

- What's the matter?

- There's a human head
in that bag.

- What?

- It's the woman
I met at the bar last night.

- What are you doing
with her head?

- I don't know.

Somebody put it in there.

[dramatic music]

- Oh.
- [gasps]

♪ ♪

- He told me he was working
on a sculpture.

- A sculpture?

- That he was making me
for our anniversary.

He said I was to stay
out of the attic

'cause that's where
the surprise was.

- But at some point
you did go up into the attic?

- Yes, I went up one day
when he was out of the house.

- And what did you see?

- Well, first, I saw all these

criminal investigation books

and forensics.

All these police research books,

and I thought to myself,
"Was he sculpting a corpse?"

- Anything else?
- Yes, pictures.

A series of pictures
like cartoons,

showing a woman on a stool.

She falls back off the stool

and hits her head
on the edge of the table.

And one of the books is open
to fatal head injuries,

and I start reading
some stuff

he's written on the back
of the drawings,

and it started to dawn on me.

- What dawned on you?

- That he was planning
to kill me

and make it look
like an accident.

- And what did you do next,
ma'am?

- I called my son, Josh.

He's so close to Jesse,

I thought
maybe he'd know something.

He came over,
looked at everything.

- And then what happened?

- Well, the idea--

We couldn't be sure
it was true.

- But at some point
you really did come to believe

that he was
very serious about this?

- Well, both Josh and I
couldn't ignore what we saw.

- Thank you.

[gallery murmurs]

- You've been married,
how long, ma'am?

- 42 years.

- To your knowledge,
had your husband ever

planned to kill you before?
- No.

- But,
given this recent discovery,

can you say
you know for a fact

that he didn't ever
plan to kill you before?

- Well, I guess I can't say
I know for a fact.

- So, it's possible.

Over the years,
it's possible

he could have planned to
kill you fifty different times.

That's possible, right?

- Maybe.

- And here you sit.

Very much alive.

- We got to call the police.

- Just give me a second
so I can figure out--

- I don't think we do.
We can't conceal evidence,

but we don't have
to collect it either.

Ask me, the sooner he leaves
with it, the better--

- We can't just
let him leave with it.

LUCY: Does this happen a lot
around here,

people bring in heads?

ELLENOR:
Look, before we do anything,

I'm going to go get
the whole story.

BOBBY:
Eugene, go with her.

- He brought in a head.
- Lucy.

- You left the motel when?

- 1:30, 2:00.

- And you drove straight home?
- Yes.

I went to bed.
I got up.

- Your medical bag
was left the car overnight?

- Yes.
I swear I didn't do this!

- Do you know her name?

- Susan.

That's all she told me.
Susan.

- Well, Susan
must have had some enemy

who followed you home.

- What do I do?

- We need to discuss internally
our legal obligations,

and as for--

Look, certain things
may not be privileged

and it is possible
that we are going to have

to report this to the police.

- What if they think
I killed her?

- You don't know if the body's
been discovered yet.

- No!
I don't know anything.

- Now, George,
I want you to listen to me,

and this is privileged,

what we do next is very,
very tricky.

If we march
into that police station

with this woman's head,
you are going to be a suspect.

And if you did it,
I hesitate to offer you up,

since they are likely going
to find much more evidence,

and if you didn't do it,

it is my instinct that we start
cooperating immediately.

So, for your sake, George,

I want you to come clean
with us right now,

are you involved
in this woman's death?

- No.

I swear to you, Ellenor.

No.

♪ ♪

- Just hold on.
I don't think that

calling the police is
the right thing.

- Well, what if we don't
and he's eventually picked up?

By not going forward, he makes
himself more suspicious.

- Uh, excuse me.

Wouldn't he be tapped out
on suspiciousness?

He's got the victim
from the neck up.

Okay, could you could just
get the phones?

- Ellenor, we got
to talk about this.

- How long
before it'll start to stink?

- Lucy.
- Would you be quiet?

- Look, we got
to make a call here.

- Yes, we do.
I don't think we're under

any legal obligation
to notify the police

and if we advise
this man to do that,

it could be malpractice.
Especially--

- Malpractice?
- If he gets arrested,

goes to jail,
based on our counsel--

- I agree,
we got to be careful here.

- Why don't you just
tell them where the body is?

You can hold the head
back as leverage.

- Lucy, I'd appreciate
you staying out of this.

- Look, this man is gonna
have a coronary in there.

- Can I make a suggestion?

I'm meeting with
Professor Pearson in 20 minutes.

He teaches legal ethics.

The bar consults him
on this kind of stuff.

Let me ask him
what we should do.

- We can't share privileged
information with a man--

- If I consults him as a lawyer,
privilege extends to him.

Whatever we advise this guy,
it's probably smart

to get an outside opinion
anyway, to cover us.

- Meet with him.
Meanwhile, I'm off to meet

with the psychiatrist
of the guy he shot.

- Should I be sending out
for some ice?

[door closes]

- The photocopies he made were
all on skull fractures,

specifically
to the back of the head.

- And what else did you find?

- Well, we found
this piece of wood.

Exhibit 21.

- Now,
why is this significant?

- He made that kitchen table
about six months ago.

Same material,
same finish as this.

Now, if you look
at his little storyboard,

you see that,
uh, he has the woman

falling off her stool,

her head hitting
the edge of the table,

fatally fracturing her skull.

Well, our theory is:

that he planned to hit
the woman

from behind with this.

That way, any wood fragments
found on her

would appear to have come
from the kitchen table.

- This was pretty well
thought out.

- Oh, yes.

- Now, Detective, you also
found this man's journal.

- Yes. After getting a warrant,
we searched the premises

and located a journal containing
entries in his handwriting.

- Okay, I'm gonna ask you to
read some of

those entries in a second,
but first,

could you
give us a brief summary?

- He describes,
in minute detail,

his plan to murder his wife.

- Okay, let's start with...
June 14, 1998.

This clipped page right here,

could you please read
that for us?

- Yes.

"Even the coffee
smells better knowing

"that soon I'll be able
to drink it alone.

"I feel sanguine.

"Maybe it's a feeling
that her death

"will make the world
a more peaceful place.

For sure,
my world will get better."

- Good writing.

[door buzzes]
- Bobby's meeting

with the guy's shrink
as we speak.

Good news is this was
court-ordered

impulse control therapy.

He has a history
of road rage and assaults.

That's actually great news.

- We're still set for
a trial in three weeks?

- Yes.

We're meeting with some firearms
experts today, as well.

I'll let you how that goes.

Now, it's pretty obvious,

to convince the jury

that you involuntarily
pulled the trigger,

you're gonna have to testify.

- Of course.

- Is there any skeleton
we need to know about?

- No.

- I want you to keep
asking yourself that question.

Anything.

An old girlfriend in high school
who says you hit her,

screaming at an umpire
or a coach

at your kid's
little league game, whatever.

Anything you can think of
that the DA

might cross you with,
we got to know about it.

- I think I'm pretty clean,
Lindsay.

- Okay.

You holding up okay?
- Oh...

[clears throat]
Well, I've been better,

but...
[chuckles]

- Listen, on another matter,

I'd like to consult you
on a case

my firm is handling.
- Oh.

- A client has come
into our office,

apparently framed for a murder
he didn't commit,

and, in--in the course of
attorney-client communication,

he opened a bag revealing
the victim's severed head.

Now,
do we have any formal duty

to tell the police
that a murder has occurred,

or, in--in the alternative,

that we have knowledge
of the head's whereabouts?

- Things I learn in therapy,
they're privileged.

Surely you appreciate that.
- I do,

but that privilege
doesn't survive the patient.

- Well, I like my patients
to feel that

should I outlive them,

I won't be violating
their confidence--

- This case involves a murder,
Doctor.

- I'm happy
to stipulate by affidavit

that Mr. Breyer was diagnosed
paranoid schizophrenic,

with a propensity
towards violence.

- I appreciate that,
but...

you see, my client
is--is charged with a homicide.

Affidavits don't play well
dramatically in a courtroom.

I really need your testimony.

- [scoffs]
I can't give you that.

- I could to subpoena you,
in which case you'd have to--

- Well, I certainly don't think
you'd want to do that.

My demeanor might not
favor your defense.

- Well, certainly,
you would tell the truth?

- Yes, but, remember,
your client murdered mine.

A bias on my part
would be understandable.

- You know,
I'm really confused here,

is it that testifying
would be an inconvenience?

- I don't like the idea

of doctors being brought
into court

to give testimony
against their patients.

If the people
who come through my door

have to worry about
whether I'm going to reveal

what they say,

that can only have a chilling
effect on their therapy.

- Well, you're looking
at a big picture,

I'm dealing with a small one,

my client's life

and where he gets to spend
the rest of it.

- I sympathize
with your problem,

but, uh, it's not mine.

- Well, I'll make it yours...
if I have to.

- I'm sorry?
- We'll get your records.

Records which will very likely

reveal Mr. Breyer's contempt
for Mr. Pearson,

and there's probably
a few threats in there.

If a psychiatrist
has knowledge

that his client
is about to commit bodily harm

and he stays silent?

- My client did not commit
bodily harm. Yours did.

- Which you
may have played a role in

by not intervening.
- Oh, good-bye, Mr. Donnell.

- Dr. Matthews.

Violence happened here.

Somebody died.

If you had reason
to see this violence coming,

you could be exposed.

Now, you want to read that
as a threat?

Feel completely free.

- Obviously, I was shocked.

I still am.

My father,
about to kill my mother?

I still can't believe it.

- Josh, you love your dad;
do you not?

- Very, very much.

- And would you
consider yourself close to him?

- Yes.
- I object to this.

I don't see the point.

- Your Honor, the point--

I'm simply trying to show

that this is not some
family split

where people are taking sides.

The witness is very devoted
to the defendant.

- Why do we need a witness
to say all this

when you seem happy
to say it yourself?

- All right.
- Sidebar, Your Honor.

This witness isn't up here
to offer anything new.

She put him up to get in
that he thought his father

was gonna kill his mother--
good try--

but what he believes
isn't relevant,

unless he's got some foundation
as a mind reader.

- He's got foundation
as his son, and his beliefs--

- Isn't relevant,
what he believes.

Can't be introduced
as evidence.

- Ms. Ward, he's right.

- Your Honor,
I'm simply trying to establish--

- I know what you're trying
to establish.

If his own son thinks so,
it must be true.

No go.

- Josh, did it hurt

to turn your own father in
for attempted murder?

- Objection.
- Offered to show lack of bias.

- Objection overruled.

- Did it hurt?

- Of course it did.

- Thank you, sir.

That's all.

- You said you and your father
have always been close.

- Yes.

- As much as you love him,

have you ever admired him?

- Well,
I-I-I don't understand.

- Well, has he ever
done anything extraordinary?

Ever been proud
of something he's done?

- I'm sure I have.

- Can you tell me what?

- [scoffs]
Well, I ju--

I can't think of something
right this second.

- Ever say to him
in an argument,

"Dad, you've never done
a damn thing

in your whole life
and you never will?"

You say that?

- Yes.

- So, despite all this
planning here,

you think it's possible,
in the end,

he wouldn't have
done anything here, either?

That possible?

- [sighs]
Yes.

- Thank you.

That's all.

[gallery murmurs]

- Pearson says
we don't have to tell.

- Really?
- Past crime, no duty.

We can't advise him
to conceal evidence, though.

- That we know.

- All right,
so what's going on?

- Pearson says it's a strategic
decision, not a legal one.

- That guy's going to flip out
if we don't do something.

- My opinion is we move forward

and we get the police
involved right away.

- Ellenor, you better be sure
he didn't do it.

- Look, I don't know
the guy that well,

but there's no way
he could have cut someone--

Eugene,
it is not in his character.

It just isn't.

- Let's call Helen.
- Helen Gamble?

- We got to do this right.

We'll have more
credibility with her,

and we'll get more trust
from the police

if we come in with a DA.

- Ellenor,
I can't keep waiting,

I can't just sit in there
and do nothing.

- Okay, George,
here is the plan.

We have a relationship
with the district attorney,

and we're going to go to her--
- Will I be arrested?

- I don't think so...

Okay, maybe.
- What?

- Can we just call her?
- Tell her over the phone?

- Just get her down here
and then--

- She's not going
to come down here--

- Get her here, Lindsay.
- All right.

Call Helen.

[phone dialing]

[door opens]

- Helen, thanks for coming.
- What's the big secret?

- Can you just join us
in Eugene's office, please?

- Was going on, Ellenor?
- Nothing fun, Helen. Come on.

- Lindsay?

- Fly on the wall.

What I wouldn't give.

- Then I left the motel
and went home.

- And you went back?

- No, never.

- Well,
how do you know she's dead?

- When he got to his office,
he opened up his medical bag,

and the woman's head
was inside.

Look, I wish
I were making it up,

but it's in the bag.

HELEN:
Is this a joke?

- No.
- No joke.

- There's a head in that bag.

- Yes.
- A human head?

- Helen,
we got a situation here.

This man has been framed
for murder.

- There's really--

[screams] Oh, God!
God, what?

- Gee, what could've happened?
HELEN: God! God!

Oh, jeez. Oh!

Oh, what the hell is this?

- Helen.
- Is it real?

- Helen, we came to you
because we trust you.

HELEN:
Oh, thank you, thank you!

Next time, trust somebody else,
for God's sakes!

Nice, Lindsay!

For God's sakes!

- Calm down.
- You calm down!

What the hell is wrong
with you people?

Dear God!

- How long had you been planning
to kill your wife?

- Since 1986.
- 12 years.

- But I never really
would have done it.

- Well, Mr. Manning, you bought
these forensic science books,

you studied up
on cause of death,

you drew these pictures
of how it would happen.

- It was a hobby.
- A hobby?

- I started thinking one day,

"How hard would it be
to get away with murder?"

Then I started daydreaming
about the perfect crime.

- Killing your own wife?

- I do love her.

I wish
we were still together...

but she--

she could also
be very hard on me.

For 42 years,
I never stood up to her.

Sometimes it was a--
a happy, little delusion

to imagine her dead,

even to imagine me doing it.

It made me feel stronger.

- But when you go out
and buy these books

and build a kitchen table
as a murder weapon,

this went beyond
a happy, little daydream.

- The more I thought about it,

the more I came to believe,

"I might really be able
to get away with this."

That's when
I bought the books,

and I made that table.

It was the--

It was the most fun
project I ever had.

I'd go up into that attic
and I'd lose myself.

It made me feel powerful,

sinister even, you know?

Things I never feel
in real life.

But--but it was just
make-believe,

it was just a game.

I never--never would have gone
through with it.

- Your wife
thinks you were going to.

[dramatic music]

- Well, I suppose it's hard

to plan the murder of somebody

and then expect them still
to trust you.

♪ ♪

Now, I-I said this
to you before,

I'll say it now,

this was just
a make-believe world

where I was
an interesting person,

you know,
someone to be feared...

[stammers]
Someone to be respected.

♪ ♪

I would never, ever...

have really harmed you.

♪ ♪

- I-I can't promise anything.

There has to be
a full investigation.

- Of course.

HELEN: I need the name
and the address of the motel.

I'd also be asking
for a polygraph

before I could even
begin to support you.

- A lie detector?
- Yes.

- That's fine.

Listen, is there any way
we can keep this quiet?

I'm a podiatrist,
I don't need--

Well...

- We'll try,
but, uh...

I have to be
honest with you, Doctor,

it looks like a news item.

[gun clicks]
- Yeah, that's a nice gun.

- The trigger is light.

- Yeah, but you got to pull it.

It doesn't just go off.

- But if his hand
did kind of convulse,

wouldn't it keep firing?

- No, you'd have to have
some kind of a release.

With an automatic, yes.

It could,
uh, empty the magazine

if you kept squeezing
the trigger,

but the semiautomatic--

BOBBY:
But with the auto recoil,

it is possible
that with one squeeze--

- Well...
LINDSAY: Mr. Schramm,

let's cut through it.

We need an expert to take
the stand and basically

testify that
between the light trigger

and the automatic recoil,

it is possible for a man
to just sort of squeeze

and have the entire
magazine empty.

We're gonna find that expert.
He's out there somewhere.

The question is,
have we found him yet?

- What's the fee?

- 1500 a day.

- Let me think about it.

[door opens]

- So, this was just one happy,
little daydream?

- Yes.

- And you still love your wife?

- I do.

- Did you ever tell anyone
that you hated her?

- I'm sure I told Josh that.

- Told him with a twinkle
or did you mean it?

- My wife could be

a very abusive woman
at times.

She used to belittle me
for being a failure,

for not making enough money,
and...

I-I know it was just

her own frustration talking,

but, no,

I don't think
I ever truly hated her.

Many times I felt
anger toward her, yes.

- Now, Mr. Manning,

between the books
and the wood,

um,
and the art supplies,

you spent over $1,000
on all this stuff, didn't you?

- Well, I don't know.
I didn't keep receipts.

- No, you didn't.
You always paid with cash.

You never used a credit card.
You never wrote a check.

- [stammers]
Well, if the fantasy is

to have a perfect crime--

- You were gonna
kill your wife;

weren't you, Mr. Manning?

- I would never
have gone through with it.

- Could you please read
page 103?

- This is just
idle fiction, Ms. Ward.

- Yes. Could you read
the idle fiction on page 103?

- [exhales]

[sighs]

"When I close my eyes,

"I can hear the sound
of wood hitting skull,

"like the crack
of a baseball bat.

"I keep playing it
over and over in my mind.

"It sounds like music.

"Soon, I will hear the music

and she will be gone."

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter]

- Excuse me, Mrs. Manning.

Mrs. Manning.

All this preparation aside,
we wouldn't be here

right now if you didn't go
to the police,

which is okay,

but you don't know
he would have done this, do you?

- What you want me to do,
Ms. Washington?

Take the stand and say
there's reasonable doubt?

- Well, there is.

Isn't there?

- And what a consolation that is
after 42 years.

Either he was
going to kill me,

or there's reasonable doubt.

[indistinct chattering]

[elevator bell dings]

- Jimmy,
can I close?

- Closing argument?

- I have a read
on this whole thing.

I can make the jury
understand.

[police sirens wailing]

[radio chatter]

MAN:
It's this one right here.

[indistinct chatter]

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

- Let's take some pictures.

♪ ♪

- Your favorite color is blue?

- Yes.

- Your name is George Vogelman?

- Yes.
[soft knock on window]

- Did you first meet the victim
the night she was killed?

- Yes.

- Were you physically attracted
to the victim?

- Yes.
- Girl's name was Susan Robin.

Northeastern student,
no record, good kid.

The bad news is she comes
from a wealthy family.

There's going to be some heat.
- [sighs]

Is there anything
from the crime scene?

- I haven't heard yet.

- Is it strange he went so far
as to buy books,

sketch it out,
make the murder weapon?

Of course it is.

It's even deranged.

But, simply put,

it's not a crime
to think deranged thoughts.

It isn't.

Now, I think we could all see
that this is a sad man,

even pathetic, maybe,

and that's why
he'd go up to his attic

day after day
and enter his little

Walter Mitty world
where he could pretend

to be sinister and--
and powerful,

this mastermind
of a great and terrible crime,

and he'd go a little further
with the plan each day,

because the further he went,

the more he could
convince himself

that he was capable,
and that made him feel good;

that he was
capable of anything.

But, in the end,
he never does anything.

He never will.

This is an ordinary,
little man,

who retreats
to his own inner world

where he can feel
like something more.

Now, we--we all
have our fantasies.

I'm sure some
even involve deviance,

but if
they're just fantasies,

and you don't do anything,

you can't send a man
to prison

for what he's thinking.

And that's what's going on here,
ladies and gentlemen.

So, let--let him have

his little, pretend world.

It seems to be all he's got.

[gallery murmuring]

- He made the weapon.

He researched how to do it.

Now, what are we
supposed to do?

Wait until he's
in full backswing with the wood

before we place him
under arrest?

What if he had killed her?

Wouldn't we all
feel silly saying,

"Hey, we thought
it was only a game?"

Made the weapon.

Studied forensics.

Made a storyboard
of the crime.

How far are we
going to let him take it?

Go back to that room

and read page 103
in his journal

and note
his anticipated delight

of wood hitting skull,

of her being gone.

This is not a zealous police
force at work here, people.

His own son,

somebody who loves him,

had to step in.

This is a murder
waiting to happen,

ladies and gentlemen.

You can either prevent it...

or not.

[gallery murmuring]

- We got our firearms expert,
and he's pretty much

considered the best.

The psychiatrist
wasn't too friendly,

but he will testify.

It figures to be
a very short trial.

- How short?
- It could even be two days.

We're stipulating as to as much
of their case as possible.

Now, the fewer witnesses
they put on,

the thinner their case
will seem psychologically,

and the whole thing will turn
on your testimony.

- Well, we're putting up some
psychology experts, aren't we?

How panic can trigger
a reaction such as mine?

Or anger?
- We don't want to.

It could play like a rich
defendant paying for science.

That could
alienate the jury.

We'd rather have you
just tell them.

- Well, I--are you sure?

I mean, we've stipulated most
of their case,

and what, we're putting up
just three witnesses?

- Four, if we call your wife,
which we probably will.

[stammers]

- A two-day trial
to determine...

the rest of my life.

- Professor,

we're good at this.

- [stammers]
Well, I know, uh--

Thank you, Lindsay.
I--

- Mere preparation
is not enough.

You must find
the intent to kill

plus some overt act.

What constitutes that
overt act is the question.

Is making the weapon enough?

Drawing the sketches?

What you must determine when
you go back into that room

is this:
Had it gone so far,

that if the police
had not stepped in,

it would have resulted
in the full consummation

of the crime?

If yes,
you find him guilty.

If no,
you must acquit.

Had he crossed the line

of simply planning it?

That's what you must decide.

- Donnell, Young, and Frutt.

Please hold.
Ellenor, Helen Gamble.

- You leave out Dole.
- Excuse me?

- You always say Donnell,
Young, and Frutt.

You leave out Dole.
- Oh, do you mind?

The rhythm's better.

- I'd kind of like you
to say Dole.

- No problem.
ELLENOR: Helen, come on.

Even so, this is premature.
Why can't we wait and--

Oh, God.

Can we surrender him here?

Look, I just don't--

Yeah, sure.

Okay.
Thanks.

Polygraph was inconclusive,
the only prints found

on the scene were the victim's
and George's.

It's hitting the press.
They're gonna arrest him.

- On what?
- On what?

Last seen with her,
has her head.

They've made arrests on less,
Lindsay.

- So, what's happening?

- She agreed
to let me surrender him.

[groans]

Will you call him?
- I'm not calling him.

You call him.
[phone rings]

- Donnell, Young,
and Frutt.

And Dole.

Yes, sir,
I'll tell him.

Your closing was either
really good or really bad.

- Excuse me?
- The jury's back.

- What?

REBECCA: Is this good?
JIMMY: I don't know.

They're not looking over.
- What?

- The jury,
when they acquit,

some of them usually
give a look over.

Heads are down.
- Oh, God.

- Just hang in there.
It might not mean nothing.

JUDGE GERSH:
Jury reach a verdict?

- We have, your Honor.
- Defendant will rise.

What say you?

- "On the matter of the
Commonwealth versus Manning,

"on the charge
of attempted murder,

"we find the defendant,
Jesse Collins Manning,

not guilty."
- Oh, thank God.

JUDGE GERSH: The jury is
dismissed with the thanks

of the court,
and we are adjourned.

[gavel bangs]
[crowd murmurs]

- Thank you.

Thank you.

- Find a new hobby,
Mr. Manning.

- Oh, yeah.

- Excuse me.

- Did you ever
dream about killing me, Dad?

[dramatic music]

- No, son.

♪ ♪

Tell your mother
I miss her.

- Yeah.

♪ ♪

- Helen said
we could arraign him tonight.

I'd like to try for bail.
- For a homicide?

- We'd like to try.

MIKE: George Vogelman.

You are under arrest
for the murder of Susan Robin.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you say can
and will be used against you

in a court of law.

You have the right to talk
to an attorney and have him...

MAN: Sources described him
as a private man

with a history of meeting women
through the personals.

Reportedly, he carried the head
of the victim around all day.

The police found the body
of the victim

at a motel
on East Lazarus Street,

near the bar where Vogelman
allegedly first met the victim.

- I'll say this, whoever framed
him did a pretty good job.

- Do you think
he could get convicted?

- Well, they can't come up
with a suspect.

MAN: This same firm
of Donnell, Young, and Frutt

is also representing
Anderson Pearson

in his murder trial.
- Look--

- Why does
everybody leave out Dole?

What am I, a pineapple?

MAN: To impanel a jury
by the end of the month.

Mr. Pearson, you'll recall,
is charged with

second-degree murder
after he shot and--

[TV clicks off]

- [sighs]

- Seems we've suddenly
drifted into homicides again.

- Yeah.

- You okay?

- I--

The way we strong-arm witnesses,

I mean, I know we had to
a little, but--

- Lindsay,
I can put Eugene on this.

- No.
I want to be on this case.

- Why?

- Good question.

- Something tells me
you know the answer.

- Remember when I was up against
Pearson in the tobacco case?

You accused me
of not being tough enough.

- I did?

- You thought I might be looking
for approval in his eyes.

And you were right.

I mean, every time
I've looked at this firm

through his eyes,
I've felt--

I don't know,
I--

I mean, sleazy isn't
the right word, but--

- It's the one
that comes to mind.

- I was his best student.

He was my favorite professor.

I would see
his disappointment and--

And now,
the chance for me and...

this firm to fight for him,
to rescue him,

it feels like...this chance
to ratify what we are,

and yet, the things I've been
doing to help save him...

To get that approval.

[sighs]

I've been everything
he accused me of becoming.

- And what is it
you've become?

- Some lawyer
who gets people acquittals.

[soft music]

- You're a lot
more than that, Lindsay.

In his eyes,

and everyone else's.

♪ ♪

- I hope.

♪ ♪

[upbeat dramatic music]

♪ ♪