Original subtitles

Everybody else is going. I don't care about everybody else. You're not.

Dad? No, never mind, Dad. You are not going on an unsupervised camping trip.

a backyard, Mom. A large backyard.

Billy's older brother is going to watch. Billy's older brother is 15.

That is not supervision for nine 13 -year -olds. I'm sorry.

Is it just overnight?

Girls and boys. No, I am sorry.

I'm so sick of never being able to.

She treats me like I'm 10. I'm treating you like you're 10.

Don't speak to me in that tone of voice, young man.

Benny Ray is going.

Kyle Tanner is going. Kevin, I don't care what they're doing.

If Kyle Tanner jumped off a bridge, would you? Shut up, Carol.

Unacceptable. The other kids think I'm a joke. We're not talking about other

kids. Why do I have to? That is enough. You don't talk to your mother that way.

It's a bunch of kids in an overnight tent. Is it really that big a deal? Yes,

they're not old enough. Will the parents be home inside? John, support me,

please. What message do we send?

If you stomp away from the table, you get what you want?

Mommy's big on messages.

All right, Carol.

Kevin told me to shut up, and that's unacceptable.

Yes, it is.

I think maybe we have to explain the reason, and not always hit him with no.

Well, honey, I did give him a reason. He just can't accept it because all his

friends are going.

Where did you get the gun?

The safe.

I keep it in a safe upstairs.

Kevin knew the combination in case...

You

say you didn't want to kill her?

What did you think would happen if you shot her?

I was just so mad.

I don't know.

What have you done?

A little facelift, that's all.

What's this?

What's that?

None of it works, but it looks like it does.

And the point being?

The point being, any new client who comes in here will feel confident that

have all the resources.

I'm afraid of computers.

Where's my stuff? Where's my photos?

I have a meeting with John Monaghan of Crutcher & Dunn.

He's exploring the idea of using us for their class action asbestos.

Really? They heard about our tobacco case.

Asbestos? Plainton.

We'd be on the side of merit, Eleanor.

And the case is huge.

You'd be able to fill your other ear with metal.

Funny. But we're never going to land them unless we look like we're up to it.

that what this is about?

Partly. They want us to actually try the case?

They want a meeting.

But I think that's what it's about.

I go into appeals this afternoon.

You got the video?

We got it.

So we have a chance.

With the video, we got a shot, right?

I'd go so far as to even say a good chance.

But... Courts don't like to put killers back on the street.

But the Constitution, that's, like, sacred to those judges, right?

Sacred? I don't know.

But, yeah, most of them have read it.

Mr. Gamble, this boy's an honors student. He's never been caught in the

without a pass.

This is a book report he wrote about some poetry last fall.

Just take a second and read it.

He's a good kid.

Mr. Larson, you're a friend of the family?

That's right. I know your firm, it's as good as any in this town, but you're

primarily a civil litigator, right?

I mean no offense, but... Well, sometimes friends of the family lawyers

more harm than good. This boy's in a lot of trouble.

He needs an experienced criminal defense attorney.

I appreciate your candor.

I do plan to find someone. You should have been in this room from the

Do you know Bobby Donald?

Certainly heard of him and not all good.

For this stuff, there's nobody better.

What's more, he doesn't phone it in.

Call him.

First thing, I'd like to speak to him and his dad.

Good.

No problem.

The boy who shot his mother. Oh, God.

The paper said it was because he couldn't go on some camping trip or

Where did these kids come from? I mean, how did they get his own mother?

Oh, man, what happened up in here? Getting ducked. He got kicked out of

Teacher conference.

Half day. Oh, man.

Hey, what's up, play? What's up, man? My mom's out of town. I'm a menace, right,

Dad? Oh, and the cat's away.

Red sides tomorrow night.

Man, this place is the bomb. Who did it? Do I hear Kendall, or do we have

another rat?

Lancey, how you doing?

Oh, how are you?

Uh, Becky, mind me leaving him here for the afternoon?

I got a bit of pills, quite a two.

No problem. Pills for what?

Surely. A shoot -on on teenagers?

Really? What's the grounds?

Bad confession.

Oh, it was bad, too.

Oh, uh, the videotape is on you, Dad. Call Pewter.

Uh, thanks.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I don't know how you could fight to

turn that guy loose.

He killed two innocent teenagers.

My dad could get anybody off.

Right, Dad?

Son, I argue legal rights.

And you get the guy off, right?

Look here, Chief.

Meet me in the conference room, okay? I'll be right in.

What's going there?

I'm sorry. I didn't mean for him to hear.

7 -2 -3 -2 -6.

Commonwealth versus Kevin Blair. Minor. Murder in the second degree.

Robert Donald for the defendant, Your Honor. Ellen Gamble for the

We ask pending trial that Kevin be committed to the custody of his father,

Blair. Given it's a murder, Your Honor, the Department of Youth Service... In

the interest of Kevin, Your Honor... I'm sending him to DYS for now.

Let's conference this afternoon and make a plan.

Thank you, Your Honor.

Thanks for taking that.

Why me?

I think the media's going to go nuts.

He is a pretty good kid. I'd like to work it out quickly and quietly.

What happens now? He'll meet with the court psychiatrist. I'll be there for

that. Then we'll sit down with the judge. The big decision is whether he

tried as an adult or a juvenile.

Adult? He's 13.

I understand.

But when it's murder, this isn't Arkansas. The political pressure to go

adult will be huge.

Oh, God.

Fortunately, Helen Gamble, the DA, isn't leaning that way. We also caught a

break getting that judge. He is completely impervious to politics.

I love my son.

He killed my wife.

It's hard for me to look at him.

Mr. Pallero, obviously this is the worst thing you'll ever go through.

And I know he probably needs me to hold him, hug him.

I can't bring myself to.

Would you please tell him how much I love him?

You know what criminal lawyers do.

We make sure that everybody gets their right to a fair trial.

That's what I do. You know that?

I know.

I'm not in the business of getting murderers off.

But you do sometimes.

It's my job.

To make sure that the government can prove their case. Because if they don't,

they can't, then they shouldn't be able to put people in jail.

I know.

You know?

Yeah.

If somebody kills somebody, you keep the police from proving it and you get the

guy off.

I got so mad.

I went running to get the gun.

Were you thinking you'd shoot her when you got the gun?

I don't know.

Maybe a little.

Maybe a little.

Tell me what you're thinking right now.

I want that to be a dream.

And I will remind the court this tape wasn't available to the defense at the

time of the trial.

Now, we understand that, counsel.

Are you saying your client would not have been convicted but for this

confession? There's no question about it. The state had no witnesses, even

though they lied to my client, as you'll see in this tape.

Let's roll it.

We all know you were the shooter, Brad.

This really isn't about that.

But if you help me out here...

Maybe there's something I can do for you.

Shouldn't I get a lawyer or something?

I think I need my lawyer.

Cigarette? No.

If you get a lawyer, he instructs you not to talk. This thing gets all

adversary.

You've been here before.

They'll send in some rookie public defender who cares more about covering

own ass.

You get your life sentence.

But hell, by telling you to keep quiet, His balls stay protected.

You gotta think about a few things here, Brad.

We have two eyewitnesses fingering you as the shooter.

No PD's gonna change the result.

And the other?

These were teenagers you killed.

You're facing double life.

The only friend in life you got right now is me.

I'm the only one that can help you.

Why do you want to help me?

You didn't go there to shoot them kids, did you?

You only wanted their car.

The shooting was something you didn't mean to happen.

I'm right, aren't I?

I know those kids weren't angels.

And I know that you're not a cold -blooded kind of person.

They fought back, didn't they?

You just wanted their car.

They fought back.

Three hours and 13 minutes later, my client confessed to killing Wanda and

Stephen Simmons.

And your claim is that this confession is unconstitutional?

He asked for his lawyer. As soon as that happened, the interrogation by law has

stopped. That tape made clear. The defendant never asked for his lawyer.

serious? He only said he never officially asked. He said at the very

Maybe he should get a lawyer, but he never directly asked. I think I need my

lawyer. I have to admit, Mr. Coffey, you're splitting hairs.

If a suspect says, I think I need my lawyer, his intent obviously... He

his mind. He's not allowed to change his mind.

He's not allowed to change his mind?

His mind can't be changed by the police officer. No, it can't. As soon as a

suspect asks for his lawyer, discussion stops.

Here, it didn't.

Sounds cliche, but normal kid.

Who killed his mother?

Yes. Normal 13 -year -old boy. They don't... I understand.

What I'm saying is I found no psychosis, no schizophrenia.

And why?

He lost his temper, and the gun was handy.

Do me a favor, Doctor, and have the decency to not sound casual about this.

This boy, he was close to his mother.

They had a very good relationship.

He seems stunned that she isn't coming back.

Doesn't that suggest some sort of diminished capacity? He shoots her, but

can't understand why she's not living?

It isn't that.

Cognitively, he knows.

But emotionally, he's experiencing deep grief.

And there's nothing in his history.

I've only spent a couple of hours so far, but so far I've found nothing.

Well, boys just don't shoot their parents. Give me something.

You want a reason, Judge? Turn on the news.

Nightline will put on experts. They'll talk about family values, bad parenting.

Pick up a newspaper.

You'll see articles about too much television. Maybe he got dropped on his

at birth.

There's no shortage of opinions.

And you can throw them all out.

There must be a sign.

Sure, there's a sign. In Little League, he threw his bat a few times. He fought

at recess on occasion.

If you're desperate for a sign, cling to those.

But... There simply is nothing overt to explain why this kid had an impulse to

kill. No reason as to why he couldn't control that impulse.

You want it to be comprehensible.

We all do.

It may never be.

Thank you, Doctor. Thank you.

So, what are you going to do?

I think I have to charge him as an adult.

That is not the way to go, Helen.

You said yourself quickly and quietly.

I understand, but I'm looking at a pretty mature, well -adjusted kid here.

gets served?

The reason you brought me in is because this case is different.

It's not about win -lose.

Now, what gets served?

That's what I keep asking. What gets served?

Well, let's make a decision.

I'm afraid it's going to have to be made by you, Your Honor.

Fine.

I'll set the hearing for tomorrow.

This kid is going to lose his life.

Part of me hopes you win this.

But that question, who gets served?

For my duty life, I gotta go adult.

I don't like it.

I don't even know what it is.

It's a painting.

But it's all jumbled.

What kind of message does that send?

You teach kids to color inside the lines. They come in and see that.

The message it sends is slush is expensive.

Lindsay bought it? Got it on loan. She wants it here when our expensive clients

come in. Oh, please.

Oh, please.

You know it works.

Clients just glance at our track record. What matters to them are the cars we

drive. If they're expensive...

We must be good. If we look rich, we must be winners.

You really think we could get this trial?

Hey, we've got an interview.

Tommy couldn't be better. We're hot off of beating the tobacco industry. Bobby's

name is in all the papers with this kid shooting his mother.

What are we talking about here?

Class action.

A thousand -plus plaintiffs. Even if we split the contingency, we're looking at

seven figures minimum.

Seven for us?

For us.

I love that painting.

Think they'll win it this year, the Sox?

Next year.

Every year's next year for the Red Sox.

Yeah, must be tough playing in this town.

Fans have a million years of frustration pent up.

Wonder how they managed to play at all.

I can't feel sorry for ballplayers.

Making that kind of money to play a game in the summer and take the winners off?

They don't get my sympathy.

You're that lawyer for that killer, aren't you?

Surely. That guy who killed those two teenagers.

You're his lawyer?

Yeah.

Can I ask you something?

How do you do that?

I mean, isn't it hard to, you know, people like that?

Every man and woman gets his day in court.

I understand.

This guy's pure scum, isn't he?

He's a human being.

Those teenagers, they were my kids.

You like what you do for a living, Mr. Young?

It's nice to see you do draw lines.

You'd never sympathize with a ballplayer.

It went okay.

I didn't think the DA came back much.

So?

We could win?

We should win, Brad, unless they want to rewrite the law.

But there is no time limit. My bet is they're going to sit on this case a

long time.

And what, not do anything?

You got to understand, us winning means turning you loose.

You killed two people.

Setting you free isn't going to be on anybody's list of priorities.

That went good.

I think it did.

Yes.

When I was assigned this case, every instinct was, let's not make this a

tragedy than it already is.

But he committed a very adult crime. It was knowing.

He walked upstairs, turned the combination on a safe to the left,

to the right, and back to the left.

He loaded bullets into a revolver.

He walked back downstairs and executed a human being.

If he is tried as an adult, he receives a life sentence.

Let's not dance around that reality.

He's got no defense to the crime itself.

As an adult, second -degree murder carries an automatic life sentence. We

to face that.

We also have to face what he did.

He's 13 years old.

If he had...

impregnated his teacher.

The teacher would go to jail, and the world would be saying he's a child. But

because of the politics and outrage of murder, the world says adult.

Treat him as an adult.

Don't be soft.

As much as I feel for this boy, and I do, I can't escape.

I can't look at him and say he's just a kid.

You can say that, Helen.

Because he is a kid.

And if you're saying there's no chance of rehabilitation with a 13 -year -old,

then you're saying rehabilitation shouldn't even exist as a concept.

He didn't steal a car, Bobby.

I'll take this under advisement.

How you doing, Kim?

We'll, uh... We're gonna get through this.

Sorry, Dad.

It's bestest clients.

Showtime. Here they come.

Here they come.

Okay, so you're going to buzz me. What do I say? Anything you want to stand on

and talk. It's so ridiculous.

There's no need to panic. I'll walk you through it.

John, if you go into a courtroom oozing anxiety, the judge will see that.

Okay, you're going to do exactly as I say. We're looking for Lindsay Dole.

Hold on.

Hi, Mr. Monaghan?

It's me.

Let's go into the conference room. Rebecca, could you show them?

Of course.

The reason I'm not panicked is the 12V6 isn't just viable. It will win. You

know, I have a meeting. I'm going to have to call you back.

Two minutes. You buzz me.

I'm sorry it's a little crazy. I've got a panicked health council in Detroit.

Well, we appreciate your agreeing to the meeting.

My pleasure.

Cutting to it.

You're a success against the tobacco company.

Has our interest peaked, especially since... Well, going up against the

industry, we're facing a comparable Goliath.

How many in the class?

We're up to almost 1 ,300.

Certified? We've already survived a motion to decertify.

Most of the discovery is done.

We have a September trial date.

I'm sorry.

Yes? Hey, Lindsay.

Been to any wild orgies lately?

What? Calm down, John. John.

Listen, who's the judge?

Albright.

Albright.

Albright. Okay, I've got him. Has a reputation for being colloquial. I

definitely want local counsel.

Oh, good news. He's spoken at seminars on frivolous litigation.

He'll be receptive to the 12B6 and our Rule 11.

Now, I don't want to file till July, however.

I'm just curious. You ever tried mud wrestling?

The reason is he has a summer home on Lake Ontario.

He puts in a three -day work week. He likes to keep his docket down.

Statistically, he kicks 30 % more cases in July and August.

John? John, I have to call you back. I'm in a meeting with clients, okay?

Okay. Bye -bye.

I'm very sorry.

You've never done an asbestos litigation, have you?

No, but that's not the problem.

Can I cut to what I do perceive as a problem?

Absolutely. I had a chance to look over some of the pleadings and witness lists.

Public record. Sorry.

We may have a difference in trial philosophy.

Which would be? You seem to be emphasizing causation. On these kinds of

we tend not to. How do you prove a case without causation? Well, I'm not saying

ignore it. But when proving it depends on science, you're putting two heavy

burdens on a jury.

One, you're asking them to understand it. Two, you're asking them to stay

Anything they don't understand, they get suspicious of. And with asbestos, just

like tobacco, you have a presumption.

They already know it killed.

The defense can't pick apart that premise.

They can pick apart science.

I'm worried, leaving evidence out.

Yeah, that's what I figured.

We're probably not the right firm for you.

Be seated.

Under Minnick v. Mississippi, the law is quite clear.

When a suspect asks for his attorney, all further interrogation must stop.

The tape here was very disturbing.

Seeing the police lie about having witnesses, misrepresenting information.

Nevertheless, this kind of police conduct is entirely permissible.

And since we find the defendant stopped short of directly asking for counsel...

We unanimously find the confession to be admissible.

The conviction, therefore, stands.

Adjourned.

Permission to address this court.

Proceed.

You people just ignored the law.

We've made our ruling. I heard your ruling.

The other day I had to explain to my 10 -year -old how I could come into this

room and fight for a man who killed two people.

Yesterday, I had to look this man in the eye. Counsel. Counsel what?

You're going to give me a speech, Judge?

Tell me how the Bill of Rights, how the Constitution has to count for something?

I gave that speech to my kid.

I told myself that while having to look at the father of two dead teenagers, two

kids my client shot.

Mr. Young. Permission to address this court.

Ten years I've been putting them back out there.

Criminals, sometimes rapists, sometimes murderers. Ten years. All the time

telling myself there's a reason.

You're ten seconds from a contempt order. Do it.

There are rules.

Rules, damn it. We don't let the police cause confessions. We don't let them

beat down doors without warrants. We don't let them grill suspects after they

ask for their lawyers. My client damn well asked for his lawyers, and all

of you sitting up there, you know it. You're out of order. You're out of

You disgrace the bench, this room. You just raped the Sixth Amendment. I hold

you in contempt. I hold all three of you in contempt. Take him and put him in

lockup.

I'll rot in that cell if giving you respect is a condition for my getting

I'll rot.

Dad, did you hear somebody?

No. How long?

Till morning.

I argued a cold strike.

They'll let him visit for an hour and I'll keep him with me tonight.

He belongs in here with me.

I'll be back.

Thanks again.

So what happened?

Sit down, bud.

You heard me talk with your Uncle Curtis.

Your Uncle Curtis?

Yeah. You remember what he went to jail for?

They thought he knocked over a liquor store and capped somebody.

But he didn't, right?

Yeah.

Now, the reason he ended up in prison is that he fit the description of whoever

did do it, and the police arrested him.

They kept him in a room for 20 hours.

Kept making him drink coffee and not letting him go to the bathroom.

Kept telling him that he would just confess.

that everything would go better.

And that if he didn't confess, that they'd arrest my sister, that they'd

get the death penalty.

Told him if he cooperated, he could leave.

And after 20 hours, they had him to the point where he would say anything

just to go home.

And he signed a confession.

To a crime he didn't commit.

You hate the police, don't you?

I don't hate the police.

Most of them are good people.

Kendall, most of my clients did the crime.

I won't lie to you about that.

The reason I fight for them is as soon as we allow the police to use illegal

methods, sure, more guilty people will be convicted.

But more innocent people will, too.

That's what I fight for.

Here he comes. Stay calm, everybody calm. Look busy. File.

Are they hiring us? I don't know. Stay calm.

Calm? You stay calm.

Hi.

Mr. Monaghan.

Thank you for letting me drop by on such short notice.

Sure.

Listen, we've thought about it.

We would like to hire you.

Really?

I am serious about our trial philosophy.

I understand. We're on board with it. You obviously get results.

Fine. Files will be delivered? Today, I'd like to schedule a coordination

conference for next week, if possible.

We can do that.

Great.

I'll be in touch.

Good.

Let him get in the elevator.

Four, three, two...

Be

seated.

In the past several days, I've felt compelled to blame.

Easy access to guns, television, movies, brainwashing

children with violence, all disgustingly denying any accountability.

Blame.

But in this room, young man, it comes down to your accountability.

I doubt that you...

or anybody else in this room will ever make sense of why you killed your

There's no rhyme, no reason, and ultimately no

excuse.

You ended your own childhood.

I'm granting the district attorney's petition to charge you as an adult.

Adjourned.

We all fall where we fall on this, Mr. Donald.

Nobody's right, nobody's wrong. We all fall where we fall.

Yeah, but you're the judge.

Yeah, that's right.

I'm the judge.

You want to swap places?

You could have opted for hope instead of... What makes you think I didn't?

You know, I sit on that bench every day, seeing the evil in people.

Hope for me lies in the child.

Hope won't allow me to see the child in him.

He murdered his own mother.

That doesn't sound like legal reasoning to me.

Well, legal reasoning can only deal with the consequences of what he did.

And I'll be damned if I'm going to send that message to the next 13 -year -old

with a gun. This was about one 13 -year -old.

With the power to make you hate God.

I have to believe a child couldn't do that.

If a child could, then that surely is the death of hope.

An apology lets you out.

You don't get it.

Did you really think we would set him free?

I'm naive enough to believe the Sixth Amendment means something.

Liberty doesn't lie in the Constitution, Mr. Young.

It doesn't lie in the law or the courtroom.

It lies in a man's heart.

And in my heart, I wasn't going to turn loose a man who I knew would kill again.

The spirit of liberty is a spirit which is not sure it's right.

You're going to quote Leonard Hand.

Try to remember the essence of his speech.

And the spirit of your ruling, Judge, is that you knew you were wrong.

We have to be able to sleep at night, too.

And you didn't sleep last night, did you?

I congratulate you on your righteousness.

I salute your ability to look at death and feel nothing but patriotism for

playing your part.

We all signed up to do our jobs, Judge. You betrayed yours.

And I will not stand here.

And let you tell me what's in my heart.

There's no crime to being a coward. It just shouldn't be cloaked in a robe.

Asbestos cliff action.

Lindsay's backing up a threat to make us flush.

I'd probably celebrate more if I were a partner.

You will be, Jimmy.

How you feeling?

Your wound feeling up okay?

Yeah.

Yours?

You mean Spivak?

No.

Yeah.

I'm fine.

Just a guy.

Another one will come along.

Plenty of fish.

I've had judges look the other way before, but... But what?

Some of the disgust is my own.

And my son said my dad can get murderers off, he can get anybody off.

It hit me like a train.

Since I've been looking at myself through his eyes, what

I do, what I am.

I needed that appeals court for some kind of validation.

Eugene, the disgrace of that ruling belongs to those judges, not to you.

Explain that to my boy, could you?

Because they want to put a killer back out there, I did. Explain to him how I'm

the good guy, huh?

Look, it's not always a meritocracy.

I mean, judges rule for the wrong reasons sometimes.

Clients choose you because of paint jobs.

Lindsay landed a coup with fake computers, and you know what?

That case she got, every firm in town would drool over it. It could make us a

lot of money.

But what I'll go home and celebrate a little tonight is that you and I spent

last few days fighting for people no firm in this town would touch.

I mean, both of us.

Maybe it's right we lost I don't know But what I do know What

makes the courtroom a noble place is that people like you go in there and

sometimes on principle alone I Don't know how long I can keep doing it

Come and touch the things you cannot feel

and close your fingertips and fly

away.

Let the sun rain fall and let the dewy clouds enfold you.

That maybe you can sing to me the words I just told you.

If all the things you feel ain't what they seem.