The Practice (1997–2004): Season 7, Episode 3 - Of Thee I Sing - full transcript

DONNELL:
Previously on The Practice...

WEST: I am bound by the statute
to sentence you

to the Framingham
Correction Facility

for the remainder
of your natural life.

WASHINGTON: The emotional
undercurrents of a case

play a part.

Give me this appeal.

I'll bring your wife home.

QUINCY: Basically,
you took your shot,

and you're here because

you don't like the result.



I'm here because of something

called the Fifth Amendment.

I'm here because of something
called the Sixth Amendment,

basic constitutional rights

belonging to Lindsay Dole

that the prosecutor
blatantly trampled.

Mr. Walsh showed contempt

for the constitution.

The jury heard all the evidence.

They were properly instructed,

and they made
their unanimous finding.

Ms. Dole lost.

And this court
cannot disregard a verdict

merely because
it disagrees with it.



Lindsay's conviction
has been reversed.

They've ordered a new trial.

I don't give a damn.

That isn't true.

WALSH: Truth be told,
I hate that firm so much

suddenly there's something
to get juiced for.

You watch,
they'll come crawling,

looking to plead.

(music playing)

(door opens)

Hey.
DOLE: Hi.

DONNELL: How you doing?

DOLE: I'm good.

And you?

I'm fine.

(sighs)

Everyone agrees.

I was the last holdout,

but I was finally won over.

We should try to plead,

voluntary manslaughter.

There's just too much evidence,

your threat that
you'd shoot him hours before,

he was unarmed,

stationary,

your testimony
from the first trial,

it's too much.

We'll lose.

It'll likely be eight years.

Good behavior...

you'll be out in three.

The alternative...

is life.

We just can't risk that.

Has the prosecution
agreed to it?

We plan to take it
to them in the morning.

They should go along.

Three years in prison?

It's the best result.

I wish there were another way.

We should plead, Lindsay.

Okay.

(music playing)

STRINGER:
What do you mean trial? Today?

BERLUTI:
If you can't plead it,

which I highly recommend.

The guy's got two priors.

Lewd and lascivious.

What did he do?

Flashed some teenagers.

It's a dog.

Look, if you don't want it--

Oh, no, no, no.
I do. I do.

It's just it's not much time
to prepare.

BERLUTI: Just dump it
best you can.

It's a court appointment.

HATCHER: Six months suspended
is how it should go.

Right.

Have you got the pleadings?

Any pretrial motions,
suppression hearings?

Bobby met the guy
at arraignment.

A trial date was set.

You're up to speed.

Got it.

(sighs)

He's making us wait
on purpose.

He's having his fun.

How long has it been?

Fifty minutes.

I'm giving him 10 more.

We can't leave.

I'm not sitting here all day,
Bobby.

He'll be here.

(door knob clicks)

Gentlemen...

(clears throat)

I'm sorry to keep you.

(sighs)

I've, uh reviewed
your plea offer.

It's rejected.

What?

Why?

Why?

Because your wife
committed first-degree murder.

The only thing
that would impel me

to plead down
to manslaughter

would be
a perceived difficulty

of prevailing at trial.

I don't have such
a perception.

I feel confident the jury
will reach the right result,

as they did the first time.

Accordingly,
your offer is rejected.

Anything else to discuss?

This was a manslaughter.

You know it was a manslaughter

and you're an officer
of the court.

Thank you, Eugene.

I always value outside input.

Would you like to know
the particular value

I place on yours?

Are you cocky, Kenneth?

Maybe you need to review
your track record against us.

Haven't got the time,

but I'll tell you what,

I'll go over
the last matchup.

You gonna take
the stand again, Bobby?

That went real well,
didn't it?

By the way,
who's gonna try it this time?

Jimmy?

Eugene?

Ellenor was a good choice,
wasn't she?

Have a good day, boys.

What do we do now?

DONNELL:
We prepare to try it.

Jimmy, you and Bec,
I want research.

See if there's any grounds
to suppress Lindsay's testimony.

How?
DONNELL: I don't know.

Go through the transcript.

See if Walsh made
any allusion up front

to Lindsay not talking
to the police.

Maybe we can argue
she was coerced

into testifying by the D. A.

Bobby...
DONNELL: It's worth a shot.

Ellenor, the victim
was seeing a shrink.

Maybe he told the shrink
he planned to kill Lindsay.

Privilege doesn't survive
the patient.

I interviewed his therapist.
It was a dead end.

DONNELL: Well,
subpoena his records.

Maybe there's something
in his note.

FRUTT: Bobby, the victim's
state of mind isn't relevant.

You're thinking like a loser!

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean that.

Look, obviously,

whatever we come up with

is going to be desperate.

Eugene?

I'm interviewing
potential experts

on post-traumatic stress.

Hopefully,
we can find somebody

to label her insane.

DONNELL: Good. Okay.

We all have work to do.

Let's go at it.

Ellenor...

can I talk to you a second?

Actually, I think I better
get going on this research.

I was pissing.

Pardon my Frenchiness,
but that's what I was doing.

I had a bladder infection.

STRINGER: And you didn't use
the restroom because?

I couldn't get there
fast enough.

I swear I was not flashing
those girls,

though they totally wanted it.

Jamie Stringer?

Yes, hello.

I wasn't wanking.

Yes.

(clears throat)

ALEXANDER: Can we talk?

Sure.

Three months, we're happy.

How about six months,
but we suspend it?

Can't.

Third offense.

With a conviction,
he could get a year.

Does he know that?

He claims he's innocent.

Yeah, I just heard,

and his eloquence
gives me pause.

But I'm still holding out
for time.

Then I think we have a trial.

HATCHER: You were supposed
to dump it.

What could I do?

The client wanted his day
in court.

HATCHER: He's gonna get his day
in prison, Jamie,

lots of them.

He says he's innocent.

They all say they're innocent.

Bobby's expecting you
to be freed up

to work on Lindsay's case.

It should be a one-day trial.

(scoffs)

You were supposed to dump it.

Buy a girl a drink?

(sighs)

Come on, Helen,
they're your friends.

Okay.

let's discount
my friendship,

your hatred,

and just objectively look
at what Lindsay did.

It's manslaughter.

(chuckles)

Your opinion, not mine.

Come on.

A woman vows to kill somebody,

shoots an unarmed man
after saying,

"See you in heaven."

That's not a murder?

I'm supposed to let her
get away with this

because she has a friend
in our office?

Nobody's saying
she should get away with it.

(sighs)

Did you read their brief
to the S. J. C., Helen?

It wasn't about the law

or the merits,

as much as it was
an attack on me.

In open court,
they attacked me.

Because prosecutorial
misconduct

was their best
legal strategy,

and you know that.

You know what I know?

Twenty-five years ago,

there could have been
a defense attorney

on that stool
drinking with me.

End of the day,
we were friends.

And you know why?

We were all in it
for the same thing.

We were players
in a justice system.

Fair representation.

Somewhere along the line,
it changed.

The goal for defense attorneys
became to beat it,

beat the rap.

"We can beat it."

Let me tell you something,
Helen.

Lawyers like Bobby Donnell,

they've destroyed
the criminal justice system.

They hide the truth.

They intimidate witnesses.

They offer lies in court.

And in the process,

they've destroyed
people like me,

and that's why I hate them.

In order to have half a chance
at getting a conviction,

I have to compete
with the same dirty tactics.

They've sapped us
of any dignity,

along with the courts,
and I hate them for it.

We no longer go to work

at an honorable place, Helen.

And you should hate them, too.

Okay. Well,

without disagreeing
with all that,

and I don't,

my point is the facts
of this case

suggest manslaughter,
not murder one.

You didn't hear a thing
I just said.

Yes, I did, but you--

You know why Lindsay
pumped that guy

with three bullets?

For the same reason
my dog licks his balls,

because he can.

She's gotten so many guys off
for crimes she knows they did,

she figured
she'd easily get herself off.

She'd be able to beat it.

And I saw the same
cocksure look on their faces

in the courtroom, Helen.

They can beat it.

Well, they're not
gonna beat it.

They may have the resources

to swing 7 S. O. B. s
on the Supreme Court,

but eventually,
it comes back to the jury.

It comes back to me,

and I'm telling you
they're not gonna beat it.

How did you get like this?

Last week,
you lied to a suspect

in order to trick her
into a confession,

a false confession.

There's a reason I'm hard
to look at, Helen.

You see yourself.

DONNELL: After midnight.

I'm just about to go home.

(sighs)

What I said...

about you
thinking like a loser,

that just came out
of frustration.

You have to know
I don't blame you.

I blame myself, Bobby.

Come on...

we win trials.

We lose trials.

We excel.

We don't excel.

Sometimes...
This...

was Lindsay.

DINA: We were waiting
for our bus,

and then we, like, saw him.

Him being?

Pervman.

Objection.

Sustained.

You saw the defendant?

DINA: Yes.

And what was he doing?

First, we saw him stare at us.

Then we all
kind of commented on it,

because we thought he was,
like, a total creep-o.

Am I allowed to say that?

Then what?

Then, about 30 seconds later,

I turn around,
and he's got his fly down,

and he's holding out
his big unit,

offering it to us
like it's a Krispy Kreme.

It was totally gross.

ALEXANDER: And could you see
what he was doing with his--

He was just kind
of wagging it for us,

like we were dogs or something,

and we wanted to play fetch.

It was totally foul.

Thank you, Dina.

STRINGER: It must have been
kind of shocking

to see what you refer to as,

"The big unit."

Yeah, it freaked us all out.

And how far away from you
was Mr. Pender standing?

He was on the other side
of the street.

Was it a busy street?

Do you remember?

Fairly busy.
It was around rush hour.

Lots of cars and so forth?

DINA: I guess.

And were you and the girls
interested in looking at him?

Hello? No.

Well, how long
did you look at him?

A few seconds at most.

I'm so sure.

Okay. Thanks, Dina.

(clears throat)

(phone ringing)

Donnell, Young, Dole,
Frutt, and Hatcher.

What? Didn't you hear?

Oh, no, I'm sorry, sir.

We can't do that today.

Perhaps another time?

Okay, yeah, great.
Thanks for your call.

Who was that?

HATCHER: Another whacko angry
over the reversal.

He asked if we could all
shrivel up and die.

We've been getting
a lot of hate mail, too.

People who think the conviction

shouldn't have been overturned.

Ellenor.

FRUTT: What?

This just came
through the fax.

Who sent this?

HATCHER: I don't know.

"Likely moving forward
at the time of impact."

Their witness testified

the victim
was likely stationary.

Look, I've got the transcript.
I underlined it.

This isn't the same analyst
who testified.

FRUTT: I called the lab.
It was a junior guy.

It's obviously
a preliminary report,

and probably Walsh
had them redo it.

The point is,
we never got it,

and it's exculpatory.

Eugene, talk to this
Mr. Hallbrenner.

Ellenor, I want you
to start preparing a Rule 30.

Who sent us this?

I don't know.

Lucy found it in the fax.

(door opens)

Mr. Hallbrenner?

Uh-hmm?

Hi, I'm Eugene Young.

I represent Lindsay Dole.

I believe
you investigated the murder

for which she was charged.

Who told you that?

I'm not sure. Why?

Is it supposed to be a secret?

Mr. Young, I'm quite busy.

If you'd like to make
an appointment,

I'd be happy to give you
whatever information I can.

I'm looking more
for you to give me

the information you can't.

Are we being cryptic now?

I'm sorry.

Let me be more clear.

Is this your report?

Where'd you get this?

The point is I have it.

Did you write it?

Yes.

Who'd you give it to?

I'm afraid you'll have to make
an appointment, Mr. Young.

Did Kenneth Walsh
get this report?

I don't know.
I'm very busy.

You'll have to excuse me.

I direct the court's
attention to Rule 30

of the Massachusetts
Criminal Law Code,

which calls for a dismissal,

with prejudice,
of the indictment

where there is egregious

prosecutorial misconduct.

WALSH: There's been
no misconduct.

Ms. Frutt is simply--
FRUTT: I direct

the court's attention
to exhibit one,

attached to our motion.

WALSH: It's kitchen sink time.

FRUTT: This isn't
a kitchen sink, Mr. Walsh.

It is an internal memorandum,

which says the victim
was likely moving

towards Lindsay Dole.

WALSH: First of all,
that memorandum is incorrect.

Second, it's work product.
It's exculpatory.

WALSH: It's part
of our internal investigation.

It's work product.

We have many lab analysts.

The report says,

"The victim was likely
moving forward."

WALSH: But that was not
the final conclusion

of our analyst.

This is not a fifth grade
math test.

We don't have to show you
our work.

We have to give you
our findings.

That's our obligation
under the rules,

and that's what we did.

Your Honor,
we would like to conduct

an evidentiary hearing.
Of course you would.

You'd like to drag this out
into perpetuity.

But the law does not allow--

FRUTT:
This was exculpatory evidence.

I object to his smugness.

He had a duty
to turn it over to us.

Not if it's work product.

At a minimum,

we are entitled to a hearing.

WEST: Who do you want
to question?

FRUTT: The analyst
who authored the report.

You will be stunned to learn

he isn't volunteering
his candor.

WALSH: Of course not.
He's probably worried

you'll plan "B" him
and accuse him of murder.

WEST: All right.

I'm gonna let you question
this analyst.

But turn it into a circus,

and I'll shut it down.

We're going to have a hearing?

Yes, we are, Mr. Walsh.

Would that be all right?

Your Honor, since evidence
will be presented,

we'd like Ms. Dole
to be here.

10:00 tomorrow morning.

(gavel bangs)

(phone ringing)

You gave them that report.

Why didn't you at least
have the integrity

to be up-front about it?

Is that your style,

to be up-front?

The reason I did it anonymously,

I'm one of your lieutenants

not withstanding
a few skirmishes,

a pretty loyal lieutenant.

What would become
of your reputation,

not to mention your credibility
in the courtroom,

if one of your minions
betrayed you?

This wasn't about
attacking you.

It was about
giving defense a document

they're entitled to have.

It's about following
the rules, Ken.

That's where I locate
my integrity in all of this.

GAMBLE: Look,

before you add me
to a list of people

that are out to get you,

when I started here,

I wanted to be you.

That's how much
I admired you.

(music playing)

DONNELL: I have never seen
a person demolish a hamburger

at 9:30 in the morning.

Once you do time,
you'll understand.

Hey.
Hey.

How are you?

I'm good.

Pardon the onions.

Hi, Bec.
Hi.

Thanks for coming, Eugene.

You holding up?

Yeah.

Getting out
even for a day.

We ready?

All set.

Eugene's taking the witness.

I'll argue after.

You ready?

Yes.

PENDER: I saw them
standing there,

waiting for a bus
or something.

And what were you doing
at the time?

I was looking
for a bookstore.

I'm a voracious reader.

You were looking
for a bookstore?

PENDER: Yes.
Yes, and, uh,

and then I noticed them.

They were all
smoking cigarettes.

(scoffs) It was disgusting.

Cigarettes are a leading cause

of cancer and death.

To see young people
killing themselves,

I couldn't stand it.

Did you have to go
to the bathroom?

PENDER: No, no, no,
I exposed my swordsman

because I had written on it,

"Smoking causes death."

You had that written on...

PENDER: Well,
it's no secret sex sells.

I mean, advertisers use it
all the time.

I just figured the best way
to put my message across

was to put it on my penis.

Thank you, Mr. Pender.

You told the police
you were urinating.

Well, I didn't wanna tip
my defense.

ALEXANDER: I see.

You were arrested twice before

for exposing yourself,
were you not, Mr. Pender?

PENDER: Yes, yes.
Both examples

of blaming the messenger.

Oh, you had things
written on your penis

on those occasions?
Yes, I did.

The first time,

I was protesting world hunger.

And the second one

was during the election.

It said, "Gore."

I think the police
mistook it for a verb.

You humiliated me!

Hey, it's my life. I'm the one
looking at jail here.

Well, why didn't you tell me
what you planned to say?

PENDER: I didn't know.
I just decided

to call an audible
on the line.

You know,
the thought of you arguing

that it was a bad traffic day

didn't make me squiggle
with confidence.

You listen to me,

I graduated high school
in three years.

I graduated Yale with honors.

I made law review at Harvard.

I excel at everything I do.

I'm even pretty.

I will not have you
wreck my law career

by making me look bad
in court.

I'm supposed
to get up in court now

and blame it on big tobacco?
You suck!

I'm not bringing you any more
of my business.

We disagree internally
all the time.

It's called debate.
YOUNG: Yes,

but your expert opinion

was that Lawrence O'Malley
was likely moving forward.

That was my initial conclusion.

Upon consultation
with other analysts,

I changed my position.

He was likely stationary.

YOUNG: Did you issue
another report?

HALLBRENNER: No.

YOUNG: In fact,

this letter is your only
recorded finding,

isn't it, Mr. Hallbrenner?
HALLBRENNER: Yes.

YOUNG: So, when you changed
your position,

you didn't issue a new report.

No, the case was taken over
by my supervisor.

YOUNG: Your supervisor?

That would be Joshua Illitch?
Correct.

So he took over the case,

issued another report
saying that the victim

was likely stationary?
HALLBRENNER: Correct.

YOUNG: And it was Mr. Illitch
who testified at trial?

Correct.

While they kept you
in a back room out of sight?

Objection.
Sustained.

Mr. Hallbrenner,
after you issued your report,

did anybody ask you
to change your mind?

People argue
their points of view

in order to get people
to change their minds.

That happened here.

Nobody forced me.

People argued
their points of view,

you mean other analysts?

Correct.

Did Mr. Walsh

ever argue
his point of view to you?

Yes.
YOUNG: So, he read your report.

HALLBRENNER: Yes.
And he disagreed with it?

Yes.

Did he ask you to alter
your findings?

He disagreed with my report.

YOUNG: That wasn't my question,
Mr. Hallbrenner.

Did he ask you

to alter your findings?

Yes.

YOUNG: And your response?

I refused.

And at that point,

your supervisor
took over the case,

and a subsequent report
was issued

contradicting your findings.

Is that what happened,
Mr. Hallbrenner?

Something like that.

YOUNG: Thank you,
Mr. Hallbrenner.

WALSH: (clears throat)

You said I asked you

to reissue a report.

Did I force you to?

No.

And was I the only one

who disagreed
with your findings?

No.

WALSH: Other analysts

looked at the same
evidence you did

and reached
a different conclusion.

Am I right?

You are.

In fact,

three analysts senior to you,

isn't that right?

It is.

More experienced analysts?

Yes.

In fact, the consensus
of your department

was that Mr. O'Malley
was likely standing

in a stationary position

at the time Lindsay Dole

shot him three times.

Wasn't that the consensus?

Yes.

Thank you, Mr. Hallbrenner.

That's all I have.

WEST: The witness may step down.

Mr. Walsh, if you have anything
to say, I'll hear it now.

Then I'll give defense an
opportunity to sum up, as well.

WALSH: Thank you, Your Honor.

As I said earlier,

this was a preliminary

internal memorandum,

which clearly falls
within the definition

of work product.

It wasn't evidence.

Certainly,
we are required to share

with defense our findings,

but not our thinking
or consultations

which lead to those findings.

Mr. Hallbrenner's report

represents a minority
point of view,

which we deemed neither accurate

nor relevant to our prosecution.

It was not relied on.

It was not a factor.

Moreover, Your Honor,
even should you find

that we should have turned

this preliminary report over,

what's the harm?

This case never turned

on whether or not
the victim was moving forward.

Lindsay Dole never maintained

the victim
was coming towards her.

In their testimony,

in their statements
to the police,

Lindsay and Bobby Donnell
never even suggested

that the victim
was coming towards her.

They didn't argue self-defense.

They alleged

battered-woman syndrome.

The victim's position
or forward movement

has nothing to do
with that defense,

nor did they
ever suggest it did.

What we have here

is a desperate ploy
from a convicted murderer

who finds herself
all out of appeals.

It's nonsense.

It's an insult to this court,

to our system
of criminal justice,

and Your Honor
shouldn't indulge it further.

Thank you.

He had in his hands

a report that was exculpatory.

He had a duty
to give it to us.

He didn't.

That is black-and-white

prosecutorial misconduct.

We were forced to defend
our entire case

without knowing
the crime lab findings

were in dispute
as to whether the victim

was standing still.

That dispute was kept from us.

Nobody, nobody
can make an argument

that that wasn't relevant.

Now Mr. Walsh

has the temerity
to actually argue

that the victim's
forward movement,

or lack of it, was a nonissue

when all through the trial,
he hammered it.

He put up witnesses to say

that Mr. O'Malley
was stationary.

In his closing, he said it

over and over and over again.

Look at the transcript.

"He was not moving towards her,

never made a movement,

standing still."

He repeated it.

He drove it home

as the linchpin of his case,

and he stands before you today

as a bald-faced liar

saying that it was a nonissue.

Well, it wouldn't
have been a nonissue

to the jury.

This man

has systematically committed

prejudicial misconduct
in this case,

during discovery,
during the trial,

and it constitutes a gross

and egregious violation
of Rule 30,

and we ask the court
to dismiss this indictment

with prejudice,
or, in the alternative,

to strike the record
of the first trial,

the entire record,

including all testimony.

WALSH: There's no authority
for that.

Our argument
to the jury

would've changed
had we known the existence

of this report.

Lindsay Dole was prejudiced

by Mr. Walsh's nondisclosure.

That prejudice can only be cured

by the court's expunging
of the first trial

in its entirety.

Your Honor--
FRUTT: I am not finished!

WEST: You're both finished.

It's in my yard now.

I'll take this under advisement.

I'll call you this afternoon
when I reach my decision.

We're adjourned.
(gavel bangs)

How did it even get this far?

Because he wanted
his day in court.

He told me
he was urinating.

He never said it was
an anti-smoking campaign.

What do I do?

YOUNG: What do you do?

You argue it.
Argue it?

Yes. He says
he's a political activist.

You have no proof he isn't.
You argue it.

You play the hand
you're dealt, Jamie.

Now get in there and close.

Right.

Right.

Hey, I told you to dump it.

What, are you stalking me?

Kind of early, isn't it?

It's after lunch.

How'd I do?

Well, I thought
you did a good job,

but so did Ellenor.

If he expunges
the first trial,

you have to plea.

I'll drive off that bridge
when I come to it.

It wasn't my paranoia, Helen.

You heard her.

She attacked me.

She called me a liar, a--

it was an attack.

And the papers will print
what she said,

and my kids
will have to read it.

Again, it's legal strategy.

But...

when this is over,

you really need to take
a long walk

and ask yourself
what you did

to incur the attack.

Hey,

some of the stuff
I've been doing,

I'll take the walk with you.

ALEXANDER: I don't think
we need to waste

any more of your time here.

Three witnesses
saw the defendant

expose and grope his genitalia

in a lewd and lascivious manner.

Their testimony
stands uncontroverted,

unblemished for that matter.

Mr. Pender has twice
before been arrested

and convicted

for this very
obscene behavior.

To the police,
he says he was urinating.

Then on the stand,
he suddenly claims

that he was trying to dissuade
these three women

from smoking.

Obviously, he doesn't take
this seriously.

I think we need
to impress upon him

that we do.

Free speech is something
that we hold dear

in the United States of America.

We don't punish somebody
for exercising

their First Amendment right

simply because we don't like

the way the message
was delivered.

Political protest
in this country

has often been shocking,

provocative, even offensive.

It's to get attention,

whether it's nudity

or burning draft cards,

the American flag.

Dissidents have
historically chosen

antagonistic methods

to convey political beliefs

that they consider...

precious and--

(gasps) Oh!

Your Honor!

McGOUGH: Bailiff!
Get that man's pants on!

(gavel bangs)

McGOUGH: Get his pants on now!

Save the rain forest?

It was written right across--

YOUNG: So what happened?

Well, the judge
called a mistrial,

then set the retrial
for next July,

then held him with no bail,
which means effectively

he got 10 months of time.

I offered to plead out
at six months.

The D. A. said, "Okay."

That was good.

Good decision.

But the client
won't sign off.

What?

He wants to appeal.

Jamie, you make him sign off.

You go back there right now.

You get tough with him,

and you make him sign off.

Now, go.

Nothing from the clerk's office?

He's still in chambers.

It's almost 3:30.

Which means
he's really considering.

We have a chance.

Ellenor,

I thought
you nailed it in there.

Seriously.

(music playing)

I want to appeal!

STRINGER: You need
to appeal to a shrink.

You ruined my first
closing argument.

I was trying for a mistrial,
which I got.

Yes, but you weren't
counting on no bail,

were you,
Mr. Free Speech?

Six months is the deal.

He can't deny bail.

I haven't been proven guilty.

STRINGER: He can. He did.

You wanna write
your congressman, fine.

But since you can't deliver
the message personally,

you might wanna consider
stationery.

Take the six months,

and be done with it.

(music playing)

He's coming in.

(music playing)

Judges always hate it
when they're asked

to consider the big picture.

It usually means

that justice,
in the short run,

has to take a beating.

Here, the big picture

is the integrity

of the judicial process.

It's a truism that any system

can only be as dignified

as its players,

which means,
for criminal justice,

the truth is indeed ugly.

Defense attorneys long ago
began slithering

under the bar.

Prosecutors soon followed.

By now, we've come to expect it.

But, Mr. Walsh,
that doesn't mean

we must always bring ourselves
to accept it.

The Supreme Judicial Court

has found that you
willfully violated

Ms. Dole's
Fifth Amendment rights,

that you willfully violated

her Sixth Amendment rights.

And now we learn

that you had an exculpatory
report in your hand,

which you were duty-bound
to reveal,

and you squashed it.

That other prosecutors
might do this

only further persuades me

that the big picture
needs adjusting.

I find your misconduct

to be deliberate, egregious,

and outrageous.

I am granting defense counsels
Rule 30 motion

for post-conviction relief.

I am dismissing the indictment

with prejudice.

The defendant

is to be released immediately.

We're adjourned.

(gavel bangs)

I can't believe it.

What happened?

It's over.

I wanna go home.

Take me home, please.

(music playing)

WALSH: It's a sad
but all too familiar comment

on our society,

where in the end,

money talks.

Money!

Enron, Tyco, WorldCom,

the corruption of greed.

People use our courts today.

The Lord is my shepherd.

I won't walk in the shadow
of the valley of...

money.

I stand tall today.

I'll sleep tonight.

People can kill,

murder,

get off on a technicality,

but God forbid

the murderers' civil rights.

The Lord...

will be my truth.

If Lindsay Dole had been a...

black welfare prostitute

from Roxbury,

you think we'd be here?

Sweet land of liberty,

of thee I sing.

But justice didn't sing today.

Justice doesn't sing

in these halls anymore.

Justice has gone mute.

(music playing)

YOUNG: Next on The Practice.

GAMBLE: It makes
the most sense to simply delay

the criminal trial
until after she gives birth.

DONNELL:
It makes no sense to do that

given there's no basis to take
Wendy Hubert into custody.

Section 12, chapter 123,
read the law.

Are you against that
on principle?

You're gonna lecture me
on rules?

GAMBLE: I need you
to think of something.

That baby could be in danger.

FRUTT: He's saying
there's a presumption

of psychiatric infirmity
for any Christian Scientist.

I am not saying that.

You most certainly are.

Are we supposed
to let this baby die?

And then say "Hey,

but at least we didn't trample

the civil liberties
of mommy dearest."

That's crap and I'll say so.

(music playing)

WOMAN: You stinker!

(music playing)