Original subtitles

Previously on The Practice.

There's a head in the bag.

It's the woman I met at the bar last night. What are you doing with her head?

don't know.

Somebody put it in there.

George Vogelman, you are under arrest for the murder of Susan Robin.

Give me one reason I should speak to you.

The reason is I don't think George Vogelman killed your daughter.

Your buddy George has a little home video library, Eleanor.

This isn't that perverted. If this gets admitted to evidence, George is going to

look like a sicko. Let's mark up a motion to suppress.

Some of the tapes involve sexual scenes which border on sadomasochism. This is a

homicide case. It is not a sex crime.

I want to see the specific tapes we are talking about before I make... You

would. Eleanor, I will see the tapes in question. Then I'll make my ruling.

Anderson Pearson, my stuffed shirt professor?

He just shot somebody.

Dead. Did you think he was about to kill you or your wife when you pulled the

trigger? Well, no, not at that second, but... So you do have some memory of

you were thinking. I didn't consciously pull it. It just went off.

You're trying to squeeze in self -defense, Counsel.

We're not.

It's a nice try.

You are shutting down our whole defense.

I want our objection noted for the record.

So noted. Step back. On the charge of murder in the second degree, we find the

defendant Anderson Pearson guilty.

Possibly spread a few more papers and some places I can see the floor. It's

for a couple of days, Helen. It's not as if the floor is clean underneath.

Does the Pearson appeal?

Yep. You know, Lindsay, I don't mean to sound pessimistic. Then don't.

Okay, could you at least clean the floor a little? This is the first date

tonight. So?

So, I'm not going to bring a guy into my bedroom on the first date.

If we're going to go to town, it's going to happen right here on this rug.

Kidding. A joke.

Come on, think back to when you had a sense of humor. When was the last time

even laughed?

Probably college. I came home one night and there you were going to town with

some guy on the rug.

Kidding. I thought you swore off blind dates.

I did.

But Lisa Nicole promised I wouldn't be disappointed.

Helen?

Absolutely.

Hi Ready? Absolutely

The biggest problem is the police aren't even looking for anybody else. They

consider the case solved.

And their theory as to why I would carry around her head?

You're sick.

Not that they're offering, but would you be at all open to a plea?

What kind of plea?

Manslaughter.

I wouldn't be open to that.

Complete transcripts are expensive.

I asked for complete, Lucy. The hearing is scheduled for this afternoon.

Well, I can't listen without ears, which I won't have if you bite my head off.

What's going on? I asked for all the trial transcripts. She only got pre

It's pre -trial. Rulings were appealing. I asked for them all.

Chomp, chomp, munch, munch. Lucy.

Bobby, do you know what Jimmy's case is about? His cousin, wrongful termination.

Yes, but do you know the details?

No. He fired this worker. What's the problem, Rebecca?

The problem? It's a two -day trial, tops.

His cousin fired this woman for being Iranian.

He's being sued.

I've got to defend him. He's my cousin.

What's your defense?

My defense?

Yes. On the charge of wrongful termination, what's your defense going

She's Iranian.

It's a jury trial.

If those tapes come into evidence, the jury's going to be prejudiced, and

exactly why he wants to use them. Sexual disorders certainly may be relevant. He

has an adult video collection. That doesn't suggest a sexual disorder, and

that's exactly the kind of leap he wants a jury to make. Your client allegedly

cut off a woman's head, Mr. Young. Are you afraid the jury will think less of

him because of his film library?

The issue is whether he cut off that head.

That film library is not relevant to that issue. It's only being introduced

suggest some depravity. And it's that pattern of depravity that goes to the

issue of whether or not this man has the capacity to behead somebody.

The tapes are inadmissible.

What else?

Your Honor. They're not coming in, Counsel.

They won't let you out for the hearing.

I heard.

This is the supplemental memorandum I'm filing. Basically, we're going to argue

Judge Hiller was wrong not to let us argue self -defense.

Okay, look.

I had some of the lawyers at my firm read the brief.

They thought it was well written.

But ultimately unpersuasive.

Tell your lawyers to go to the hearing.

There's a reason we have oral arguments.

I didn't mean to be critical.

I meant thank you for fighting so hard with

so little to fight with.

There's no reason we have to give up.

I had been promoted twice within the last year, and I was going to be

to manager this January.

So things were going well at work?

Very well.

And what happened?

Well, last March I was getting ready to leave on vacation, and almost in passing

a co -worker asked me where I was going.

I told him I was going home to see my parents, and he asked me where home was.

Where is home?

Iran. I was born there.

And then what?

Suddenly I seemed to be facing kind of a cold front in the office.

About a month later, Mr. Martini came to me and said things weren't working out,

and he let me go.

Your relationship with your co -workers, you felt kind of a cold front.

Yes. In fact, you went to my client and complained about this, right?

Yes. People were being insubordinate. Isn't that the word you used?

I believe so.

Affecting your ability to be a productive manager.

Yes.

Why did you come to America, Miss Beto?

I first came as an exchange student in high school.

Then I stayed on for college.

Now I live here.

As an American citizen?

No, on a visa.

Do you plan to become an American citizen?

Not really.

You like Iran?

Yes. How do you feel about all the terrorism that... Objection!

Sustained. Mr. Baluti, let's take care.

Ms. Bader, you're a proud Iranian.

Yes.

You honor this flag?

Yes.

Thank you.

That's all I have.

I've told the police everything I know. I understand.

And, Jay, we realize how hard this must be.

Please, don't insult my intelligence. You're the guy's lawyer, so... The guy

killed your girlfriend is not George Vogelman.

We think he was framed.

By who?

That we don't know.

One question that keeps coming up is, why would Susan be alone in a bar

drinking? Why would she go to a motel with George Vogelman?

By everybody's account, this is out of her character.

It is.

Her father getting cancer, do you think she could have been depressed about

that?

Could be.

Could it be something else?

Jay, you seem like an honest guy.

We've got an innocent man looking at conviction.

Part of their case is the notion that Susan could never have gone off on some

one -nighter.

Can you think of anything that could possibly explain why she would?

Police said this wouldn't have to come out.

What?

I had been a little unfaithful to Susan.

That afternoon, she caught me.

Do you think maybe to retaliate, she could have gone home from the bar with

guy?

Is that possible?

Ms. Frock.

I've spent the last two months desperately trying to convince myself

isn't possible.

You ought to go down there and peek in that courtroom. Rebecca. It's obscene.

You want the anti -defamation league picketing our office? It's a trial.

Qualified immunity.

Well, that can't excuse it. The office is getting way too hostile for me.

Why don't you just go and... Come on, Bobby. We're late.

She was the manager, and her leadership ability was suffering.

Because she was Iranian.

I certainly don't agree with the bigotry, but I have a dry cleaners to

well, it wasn't running so well.

What about calling a meeting, telling your employees that the bigotry won't be

accepted? It wasn't so much what people were doing, so much as what they were

feeling. And I was powerless to control that.

And the feeling was anti -Iranian? Anti -Iranian, anti -Arab, basically Middle

East. And you agree that this feeling was a form of prejudice?

Of course.

But you tolerated it?

Well... You fired her, Mr. Martini. We could say you ratified the bigotry.

Well, you could.

But I had 18 workers come up and threaten to quit.

My choice basically was either discharging your client or facing

I see.

And if... Ms. Bader were black, and your workers threatened to quit because they

didn't want to work with an African -American?

Would you have fired her?

Probably not.

What's the difference?

Possibly none, but complaining about the color of a person's skin is... That's

racism, which lies in hatred and ignorance.

Here, I feel there was some patriotism involved, and I guess it wasn't quite as

repulsive to me.

He willfully withheld evidence. I did no such thing. You have a duty to turn

over all evidence. I don't listen when two people talk.

They have an absolute duty to turn over all exculpatory evidence.

Material evidence.

Let him finish, please.

The boyfriend of the victim provided the prosecution with a reason that the

victim may have gone to a bar and may have been predisposed to a one -night

stand. He did not turn that information over to us.

Why not?

We didn't consider it either material or relevant.

What's the information?

She had caught him that very day with another woman.

Mr. Tisbury, the break you catch here is that this came out before trial.

Your Honor, that statement... As of this second, I don't trust you.

You're going into trial with a judge who doesn't trust you.

So if you're going to make any more mistakes from this point on I suggest

err to their side.

There was no willful attempt to withhold evidence.

Then how unfortunate that I don't believe you.

My position is that Judge Hiller erred when she denied our right to assert self

-defense. I see no such denial in the record. If you read the transcript, she

threatened us with a bad jury instruction if we went the route of self

It wasn't a ruling.

It was tantamount to a ruling. It had the effect of shutting us down. Are you

now suggesting that it was self -defense? Because that gives me a

counsel. Which is?

At trial, you argued that the gun went off involuntarily. Your client testified

to that. And now you're saying self -defense.

Did your client commit perjury on the stand?

First of all, this hearing is about Judge Hiller's ruling, not my client's

testimony. So we should ignore the truth? Secondly, defendants can assert

alternative defenses.

We could have argued A, he shot him in self -defense, and B, it went off

involuntarily. That's permissible.

What this hearing is about is Judge Hiller denying us one of those defenses.

So basically you're saying had Judge Hiller not cut you off, self -defense

have been your theory.

Exactly. Are we all up to speed now?

Do you really mean to be snide with us, Ms. Stoll?

Actually, yes.

You wouldn't be asking these questions if you'd read my brief.

I'm discouraged to realize you haven't. I hope you at least reprimand your

clerks. Let's just address your issue, then.

She cut off self -defense because the victim wasn't posing an imminent threat.

That was wrong.

The threat to my client was both real and ongoing.

Mr. Pearson was in fear of his life at the time he pulled the trigger. The

victim had no gun.

My clerk did highlight that part.

In defining imminent, if you look at the cases, the courts basically come down

to these questions.

Was there any alternative?

Could he have used less force?

Could he have escaped?

Could he have retreated? Could he have just held him at gunpoint until the

police arrived?

In this situation, the answer seems to be yes to all of those options. But the

reality for all those options is that man would be back.

Perhaps, but as Judge Hiller noted, we weren't at that point when... And to

require him to wait till that point is unreasonable.

Are you asking us to rewrite the law?

No. Some states have recognized a kidnap exception.

Basically, if a man kidnaps somebody and tells the victim he's going to kill

them in a month, that victim doesn't have to wait a whole month until he's

allowed to use deadly force.

True. But Mr. Pearson wasn't kidnapped.

In effect, he was.

He was basically held captive. He'd gone to the police. They couldn't help. He

got a restraining order from the court. It didn't help.

The time was coming.

And we're saying Anderson Pearson should have waited until the exact moment?

Suppose Raymond Breyer came at night while they were sleeping.

There is no evidence of any direct threat to kill Mr. Pearson. It was

implied.

I could argue it was direct with the cat -mouse exchange, and whether it was

direct or not, Anderson Pearson had a reasonable belief that it was.

Well, it still seems like a reach to apply the kidnap... But we're entitled

that reach.

Before a jury.

Judge Hiller shut it down.

It's error.

Time magazine or Newsweek?

They went easier on Ricky Jewell.

Listen to this.

Hapless podiatrist whose social life consisted of pornography videos and

he met through the personals.

I was one of them.

Except you kept your head about it.

I've spoken to every one of his friends.

And?

They all used three words to describe him.

Gentle.

Kind.

Loner.

He's in trouble.

The girl's father and brother have agreed to see me tomorrow.

If they can't point us someplace... Yeah.

He's in trouble.

Did they rule?

Tomorrow. It went well. It seemed to have their attention.

Great. Let's get some dinner. No, I'm going to go back to the office, get on

Westlaw. You know there's a new case ruling like every ten minutes. Lindsay.

Take a break. I'll take a break when it's over. Is it ever going to be over?

I'll see you at home.

Hey.

She's been up till three o 'clock in the morning every night since the trial.

It's like some quest.

Ellen, she's close to him.

You know she might win.

Oh, come on.

Overturn Heather.

You should have seen her.

You went to Mr. Martini and complained.

I did.

Threatened to quit even if she worked there.

Yes. Because you didn't want to work side by side with a person of Iranian

descent.

I don't have a problem with her as a person, but... But what?

I'm not over the hostage thing. I admit it.

Mr. Hopper, that was almost 20 years ago. I really don't care.

It all comes back.

I see burning American flags.

I see Khomeini. I get all pent up with anger.

But this woman wasn't in government. How... The Iranian people... cheered

government and they never apologized.

In our government, we just forgave them because they got oil.

Well, I can't forgive them.

This woman was nine years old during the hostage crisis.

Well, she's old enough now to make a judgment.

And when she looks me in the eye and says, I'm proud to be an Iranian, I

want to work side by side with her.

Did she ever engage in any political or religious discourse at work?

No. And I'm sure she personally has never blown up an embassy.

But imagine, they're carrying signs that say death to the U .S., and here she is

in our country suing for a job.

Ask me, the turban must have been wrapped too tight.

Go ahead.

That last remark was unnecessary. You asked me to testify and tell my

Just the same. You basically stood up and declared yourself a bigot. I am

prejudiced on this, but I think this is the bigotry I'm entitled to.

You're not the person I thought I knew, Rob.

Sally, I know I'm blaming you for something that has nothing to do with

That doesn't mean I'm above it. All right.

You're represented by counsel, Miss Beta.

It's not appropriate for us to have communication.

Yes. We wouldn't want to be inappropriate, would we?

Excuse me one second.

Miss Beta, listen.

I hope you don't take it personal, the things I say. I have to put on a

You're saying I should be ashamed of my dissent, Mr. Berluti.

It's difficult not to take it personally.

I'm the lawyer. I gotta... You're a little too good.

Can I at least make you a cup of coffee?

No, no, really, I'm fine.

Really? I feel like I should at least... No.

Will lawyers work this hard?

Big case.

Call me.

I will.

Bye.

I'll see you.

Morning. You slept with him on a second date? I didn't really sleep with him. We

fell asleep watching TV, which wouldn't have happened, by the way.

If I didn't have to bring him in there to escape your command post.

What is all this?

Oral arguments are over.

This is on sentencing.

Should we lose the appeal?

Part of me hopes you do, Liz.

I'm a little afraid if you win, Lindsay, a new trial... Can you survive going

through all this again?

The trial was easy.

Losing it was hard.

I'm a little concerned about you.

I'm fine.

Withdraw. What that woman said to me, I'm having a hard time shaking it.

about to start closing arguments.

I know. I'm just not sure it's in me.

I don't want to let my cousin down, but... Jimmy, if you came to me with

case at the beginning, I would have stopped you from taking it. It's

It puts a bad light on you and the firm.

But there's no way you can bail at closings.

I mean, it's not even a question.

Yeah.

I guess.

And, Jimmy, don't phone it in.

The police discouraged us from talking to you.

As I told your dad, I'm convinced they got the wrong guy.

And if they do...

That means that this thing was either a mission to frame George Vogelman or

somebody was after your sister. And as we told the police, we don't know of any

such person who would want to harm her.

Her boyfriend, Jay?

Did you ever see any predisposition with him and your sister?

Jay? I'm grasping, Steve.

Jay's a sweet kid.

Did he ever show a temper?

What if he had followed your sister, found her with George Vogelman? Jay

couldn't have done this.

Did your sister...

Is it possible that your sister could have kept some part of her life secret?

Mr. Young, I feel I know my daughter pretty good.

Truth is, I can't believe in a million years that she'd go to some motel with a

guy she met in a bar.

Which leads me to think that your guy had to have done it. But, Mr. Robin, you

couldn't believe she would even go to a bar alone.

So it's possible that Steve helped me out.

Is there some other side to her?

If there was, I never saw it.

The only... What?

The only what?

She did spend a lot of time on the Internet talking about people she didn't

know. Would you say that in court?

I don't know.

I guess.

After careful review, we agree with Ms. Dole's position that self -defense

should have been available to the defendant at trial.

Whether the danger posed to Mr. Pearson was eminent enough to justify the use of

excessive force, it's a question of fact, which should have been offered to

jury.

We therefore rule that Judge Hiller's position was in error.

However, it is not evident on the record...

that Judge Hiller actually ruled in this matter, thereby prohibiting self

-defense. And if defense counsel's assertion is true, that her warning was

effect ruling, then the proper procedure was interlocutory appeal, which was

waived by proceeding the trial.

The conviction of Anderson Pearson, therefore, stands.

We're adjourned.

It's easy to hate Iranians, isn't it?

And Arabs.

They blow up airplanes, buildings.

When that bomb went off in Oklahoma City, we all had the same knee -jerk

reaction.

Probably some Middle East terrorist.

Let's admit it. We don't like these people.

And I understand the sentiment.

Many of us share Mr. Harper's frustration with the hostage crisis.

but deep wound.

But I take exception to his message that it's good old American patriotism to

discriminate against anyone from the Middle East.

That's not the country I know.

America stands for tolerance.

The United States rebelled against oppression, against prejudice.

Or do we?

Mr. Harper's statement, hey, she makes me angry because of Khomeini, that's

saying... Hey, the Japanese threw up these Pearl Harbor memories. Let's get

of them.

We did that here once, remember?

Rounded up all the Japanese, threw them in internment camps.

Didn't matter they were U .S. citizens. Didn't matter they were innocent. They

were of Japanese descent.

And this country, we're ashamed of that little piece of history.

Well, here we go again.

Because today's Cold War.

It's against terrorism.

And it's just so easy to hate the towel heads, isn't it?

She may have hooked up with some psycho from the Internet. Maybe he was stalking

her. Even so. What even so? Can't your guy start running that down? Eleanor,

again, off the record?

Sure. This case is pretty hot copy. The police want to mark solved on the file.

The DA's office wants to mark conviction.

If anything turns up indicating it could have been somebody else, forget about

getting a conviction.

Your guy was last seen with her. He had her head. If George Volgeman didn't do

it, he certainly represents reasonable doubt for whoever did.

What do you think?

They'd rather get a conviction than catch the right guy?

Not really, but their need for a conviction helps them to think they have

right guy.

Oh, that's great.

What's the punchline, Helen?

They're not going to reopen the investigation.

When this trial started, I got to admit, I was one of those people who sometimes

had those thoughts.

See some terrorist attack on the news, I'd say to hell with all of them.

A lot of people in this country... I think the best thing about Iranians is

they kill Iraqis.

But in Miss Bader, you saw a woman of dignity, integrity.

And not that this is relevant, but having somebody like her as the mother

children, I should be so lucky.

But this isn't about her.

It's about the actions of Peter Martini.

Was his firing of her reasonable?

Under normal times, no.

But with what's going on today, yes.

True, he could have said prejudice is prejudice and not fired her, in which

his staff might acquit and he'd be out of business.

And as for the prejudice itself, sorry, but it's not the same as bigotry against

blacks. This is different.

There's a war going on here.

Like Ms. Warden said, and the president said.

Terrorism is today's war.

Somebody who didn't look like a killer put a bomb in the World Trade Center.

We can expect more such attacks since we bombed Sudan.

And I don't mean to suggest for one second that Ms. Bader is connected in

way to anything bad.

But it is people's right to be afraid.

Our government is telling us to be afraid.

This war, the battlefields are our subways.

Buildings, airports, who knows where. And as the president said, the

too, in our fight against fanaticism, innocent people will unfortunately

be victims.

I think the question you have to ask yourselves is this.

If an Iranian or Arab came to you looking for work, would you hire them,

it would upset personnel?

If you can answer that question with an easy yes, Fine for the plaintiff.

But if your answer is probably not, all I ask is that you go back there and

be honest with yourselves.

Go home.

I would, but it cranks Helen's love life.

Lindsay.

Go home.

And do what?

Put my feet up, watch a movie while he sits in jail? You've done everything you

can.

I was in the back of that appeals court.

I've never seen a better performance by any lawyer anywhere.

You have to let go of it now.

Doesn't it bother you?

He's facing life imprisonment because of our screw -up. He's facing prison

because he shot and killed a man. No, Bobby, it's because we blew it,

you. You screwed up the most.

Me? Yes, you. That ridiculous, involuntary argument.

It was stupid, and you know why we went with it? Because it was a brainstorm.

You got all high off the idea like you always do over stunts. If it's novel,

want to try it. And because we did, a good man has lost his life.

Is that what you think?

Yes.

And we screwed up by not appealing Judge Hiller's ruling. That's what cost us

that appeal.

It was malpractice.

You know, the only upside is it gives us new grounds. What you see on this table

is research on inadequate counsel.

I've put back out there.

You got to wait here all day?

They said they're close to a verdict.

It's not like I have a job to go to.

Listen, what I said about your integrity and stuff,

I meant that.

I know you did.

And that stuff about it being reasonable to fear us, you meant that too, didn't

you?

The most discouraging part is that I can tell you're a really nice man.

Part of me hopes I lose.

You want me to what? Just what I said. This is the judicial part of the

counsel. I don't give orders to the police on how to investigate their case.

asking you to order them to investigate, period.

We have.

You haven't. Head in a handbag, that's enough.

You're afraid of investigating for fear it'll come between open and shut.

I'm offended by that, Eleanor. What have you really done? Everything.

Forensics. DNA. What about the poet? Did you go down that path?

The who?

There is a serial killer known as the Poet, Your Honor. One of our former

clients was convicted of trying to copy him. He rapes and decapitates...

Different M .O. Well, maybe he mixed things up for spice this time. We

considered the Poet. Our investigation points to George Vogelman and George

Vogelman alone. We also have evidence that the victim had contacts with people

on the Internet.

Look, Counsel, you're free to conduct your own investigation.

You want time?

I'll give it to you. We don't have any money. They have an unlimited budget. My

client is broke. Well, I can't do anything about that, and I can't order

keep looking if they're convinced they have the killer.

If their thinking is suspect, we have the device to deal with that.

We call it the trial.

Every criminal defendant has to rely on the integrity of the process.

Not just me, not just you, but the police and the DA, too.

And we have nothing but your protests to suggest they haven't done their jobs.

A shoddy investigation is a defense counsel's dream.

If you think you've got one, take advantage.

It's not that simple.

Unfortunately, it is.

That's all.

Your Honor. That's all.

Basically, I want to make a list of every noble accomplishment.

every act of charity, anybody you can think who can stand up for you at

sentencing and be effective.

Okay.

I'm still working on the other appeal.

So, um, in the meantime, you know, there's a big difference between 18

and life, so... What's your feeling?

Hiller's tough.

She's more likely to go maximum than minimum.

Any awards you've received. Things like that.

I want to know.

Okay.

I'm sorry.

We let you down.

No, you didn't, Lindsay.

I let you down.

I'll be back on Friday if I've got a lift.

You okay?

Yeah.

Foreperson, you've reached your verdict.

We have, Your Honor.

What say you?

Bader versus Martini.

On the count of wrongful termination, we find in favor of the defendant, Peter

Martini. Yes!

Thank you, Jimmy.

Sure. Quiet down, please.

As a matter of law, I set aside the jury's verdict.

I order the defendant to pay damages in the amount of $220 ,000.

I'd hope you'd reach the right result.

It would have saved us an appeal. Since you didn't, judgment is hereby entered

for the plaintiff, notwithstanding the verdict.

Let me note my disgust for the defendant on the record, for the defendant's

attorney, and finally for the jury.

Ms. Bader, please accept the apology of this court.

Adjourned.

Miss Bader.

Miss Bader.

That part about me being a nice man, I, uh... Well, I am a nice

man.

And I know this might seem... Well,

once you get on that elevator, then I might never...

Would...

Do you think you would like to have a cup of coffee with me sometime?

You're asking me out?

No.

Well, a little.

Under the circumstances, that's... That's not something I can see myself

doing.

I'm flattered.

We're better off than we were yesterday. The videotapes are out, and this

Internet thing gives us at least a crack.

Mainly, though, it's going to fall on you, George.

You've got to take the stand and convince the jury that you never could

done this.

Okay.

Okay.

I'll be in touch.

You hang in there.

Eleanor?

Give me the odds.

We're gonna do everything we can, George.

I'd be lying to you if I told you I think we were gonna win.

Sorry. I didn't mean... Forget about it.

I've just been... I hate myself for crying.

I know.

Look, this whole office is here for you.

Whatever you need.

I'm just thinking sometimes I do.