Original subtitles

Previously on The Practice.

Did you murder her because she was going to break off a sexual affair? I did not

have an affair with her and I did not kill her. You're going down for murder

now, you get that?

It was Steven, your son Steven.

I saw the door close on him when he left. Why haven't you told anybody this?

Because I don't want him to spend the rest of his life in jail for something I

drove him to.

Let me go to the DA. Absolutely not. This is between you and me. You gave me

your word. We find the defendant guilty.

I didn't do it.

I didn't do it.

Jimmy, are you okay?

What?

Oh, I was just thinking about something the doctor said.

What are you looking for?

Evidence in connection with the attempted murder of Lindsay Dole. What?

what basis do you get such a wallet?

I'm sorry.

I saw the picture of Bobby and Lindsay with their face all scratched. My brain

just started going sideways.

Lindsay! Lindsay, I was... Oh, sorry.

Yes, Brian? sure you just start right in with morning breath helen never mind i

just got called to a crime scene so i gotta go okay well thanks for coming in

tell me sorry again she's not sorry she likes doing that

i'll get a lock never mind a lock

move in with me bobby why do we have to

wait till we're married we haven't even set the date yet you can still wear

white if we live together first

Tell that to my father.

I mean, what about Helen? She can't afford this place by herself.

That's the real issue, isn't it?

You don't want to bail on Helen.

You know, we go back and forth just to collect clothes. This is ridiculous.

Big ticket. The suspect's the president of Boston Liberty Bank, Pierce Stanton.

This is Officer Henderson, Helen Gamble, District Attorney.

Okay, let's go take a look.

I pulled him over for a traffic violation.

He ran a stop sign.

I haven't touched anything.

And he confessed?

Just started crying and said he strangled her.

Mr. Stanton, I'm Helen Gamble from the district attorney's office. We're going

to take you down to the police station, and we'd like you to make a statement

there, okay? We'll try to help you out. I think I should call my lawyer.

Okay, that's fine.

Would you call him?

His name is Bobby Donald. I'm sure he's listed.

She may have jumped the gun on the search a little. That's why I called you

down. Jumped the gun how?

Well, reasonable suspicion is iffy. She's the one he confessed to?

Yeah.

Officer Henderson.

Can you come by my office this morning?

Sure. Okay. Bye, Mike.

continue to just sit on this you gave me your word jimmy let me ask you

something henry are you sure have you talked to your son about it it's a

difficult to have a conversation from where i'm situated at the moment have

told your wife no so what we got here your son's a killer living in

your home with your wife and your 11 year old daughter Aren't you concerned

father? Of course I'm concerned, but... Then how can you stay quiet like this?

Because I can't necessarily trust Allison not to tell. She might tell. Out

concern for him, the kid needs help. I don't want to have this discussion. No,

I'm going to have this discussion!

Sir, I'll have to ask you to leave if you do that again.

Henry, you're an intelligent man.

You've got to know this is not smart.

You're in jail for a crime you didn't commit. Your son is in desperate need of

help and isn't getting it.

For God's sake, Henry.

I can't see him go to prison.

I couldn't live with that.

You trusted me once.

I know a judge I think I can trust. Let me talk to her.

And maybe my partners.

They'll keep my confidence.

I didn't plan it.

It wasn't like it was premeditated. Just tell me what happened.

We'd been fighting.

Which we'd been doing a lot of lately.

And she wasn't happy.

She kept saying she wasn't happy about this, about that.

It was building.

Everything that I did wasn't good enough.

Whether it be my personality or my sperm count or the way I rinse a damn dish.

I'd buy her a three million dollar home in Cambridge.

And every time I drive home to it, I'm afraid to go inside because I know I'm

going to get an earful of how I don't measure up.

I get sick of it, Bobby.

Calm down and tell me what happened.

Like I said, we're having an argument.

And she's saying she hates this, she hates that.

And I said to her, it's me you hate, isn't it?

It's me.

And she says maybe she does.

So then there's some more screaming.

And suddenly my hands are on her throat. Now, I don't even know what the

argument was about. But my hands are on her throat and I'm squeezing. I'm

squeezing as hard as I can.

And suddenly she goes limp.

I let her go.

Where were you going with her?

What?

With her in the trunk.

She had made plans to go shopping in town.

She had told some friends.

I was going to try to make it look like a mugging or something.

Then I ran a stop sign.

Believe it?

Okay.

How much of what you just told me did you tell that police officer?

Lindsay, what are you doing here?

I'm staying in case. Boy, it takes two to do an arraignment now. No, actually,

came to see you.

Oh.

I'm going to move in with Bobby.

Oh, when?

Well, pretty much right away.

Well, I'm there half the time anyway, so... Is this because I walked in on you

guys this morning because I'd go back on the... No, no, it's something that...

that we've been talking about okay um but i bet i'm gonna have to move out i

can't swing that place on my own you can find another roommate lindsey who am i

gonna find women don't like me men just want to sleep with me i end up wanting

to sleep with them it's a vicious cycle three two one one four commonwealth

versus pierce stanton on the charge of murder in the first degree bobby donald

for the defendant your honor wave reading plead not guilty Helen Gamble

Commonwealth opposed bail. My client has established roots in the community.

Murder one. Even so.

Bail is denied.

Move for probable cause hearing, Your Honor. Two o 'clock. Put the defendant

back in the lockup. Next case.

Any offers?

Bobby, he confessed. What kind of deal do you expect me to cut?

Jimmy.

You got a second?

I suppose.

Listen.

I know your integrity as a judge comes above anything else. And I'm here

actually to ask your help or advice.

It's kind of a grave thing.

I'm listening.

I would appreciate it if we could keep this confidential because it involves a

privileged relationship on my end.

I got a client convicted of a serious crime which he didn't commit.

His son committed it.

My client doesn't want his son to go to prison for the rest of his life.

So he's taking the fall.

I can't convince him to come forward with the truth.

Nevertheless, I got the truth.

You have evidence that the son committed the crime?

Well, just my client's word, but it's a good word.

So basically, you've got a client convicted of a crime who says he's

You expect what?

Well, I don't know, but this isn't just a case of the convicted guy saying he's

innocent. It's exactly that.

That's what happens in 90 % of the cases.

You have new evidence, you take it to the DA.

If you don't, what am I missing here?

Well, I guess I am looking for a favor, though I don't see it like that. We're

both officers of the court. An injustice has occurred.

Right now, if I go to the DA, he's just going to laugh. It's going to seem

exactly as you just said. I'm going to look like every other defense attorney

throwing a Hail Mary.

But if I go in with a judge, that might give me some credibility.

Get out.

If I could convince you that what I'm saying is true. I said get out.

You can help prevent a big miscarriage here.

This integrity of the robe thing, that's just a bunch of crap.

Hey, you think I won't hold you in contempt? Go ahead.

We'd be even.

And no matter how hard I try to change his mind, he won't budge.

The son did it?

Yes. And you knew this?

I didn't know till the day of closing arguments.

Why didn't you tell us? I gave him my word.

We're his lawyers on this case. Don't you start in on me, damn it. I gave him

word. That has to count for something. All right, let's calm down and figure

where we're going to go from here. Can we go to the DA?

Bay? Forget it. Without evidence, Bay and everybody else is going to laugh at

us. A confession is new evidence.

I say we go to the son. We can't reveal to the son what we heard from Henry.

Client privilege. You already brought privilege when you went to Kittleson.

Kittleson won't talk, and I asked you not to start in. All right. Look, go to

Henry, get his permission to talk to his son. He'll just say no. He wants to

spend the rest of his life in jail? Yes.

That's what I keep telling you.

Let me have a little chat with Henry.

How long have you been a police officer?

Two years.

Do you remember learning anything at the academy about the Fourth Amendment?

What right did you have to open that trunk?

He was acting suspiciously.

We've got a problem, officer. You had no legal grounds to conduct that search.

Unless... I see he didn't have his registration on him.

That's right.

See, I think what happened is you decided to impound the vehicle.

Once you made that decision, you then conducted an inventory search of the

vehicle.

Is that what happened?

Yes. Okay.

Well, we need to be clear on that once you get in the witness chair. Otherwise,

the contents of that trunk together with the confession will be suppressed. Are

we clear?

Yes.

He might want to get some coffee. You're on in an hour.

Roberta.

Can I speak to you in private?

First of all,

You had no right to reveal to me your client. I didn't give you names.

I can figure it out.

Give me some credit.

Now, are you sure your client is telling the truth?

Yes.

What you first need to do is get his permission to talk to the son. Eugene's

trying to do that now. Assuming he consents, you need to get the boy

I would then try to secure a written confession with counsel.

Then you take that to the district attorney and you go from there.

But the boy must have counsel.

Yeah.

The reason I got so angry.

When somebody so much as asks for special treatment on the basis of a

relationship, I consider it a professional indictment. And I take

I wasn't trying to insult you professionally, Roberta.

Everybody knows you're a great judge.

That's why I came to you.

For advice.

And maybe a little because I missed you.

You have my advice.

I pulled him over after he failed to stop for the stop sign.

He appeared to be very nervous.

What happened then?

I asked for his license and registration.

He didn't have his registration, so I decided to impound the vehicle.

I then ordered the suspect out of the vehicle, and then I searched it, upon

which I discovered the body of a deceased woman in the trunk.

What happened next?

He then basically broke down and told me he had murdered his wife and that he

was planning to dispose of the body to avoid being caught.

Thank you, officer.

You said he was acting nervously.

Very.

Did his behavior make you suspicious?

Well, I suppose it did a little.

He looked like he was hiding something.

And in your testimony, you said you ordered the suspect out of the car and

searched the trunk.

What was he a suspect of?

He wasn't a suspect at that time. He became a suspect after I opened the

Well, you said you ordered the suspect.

out of the car shall we read back your testimony well i misstated it he wasn't

suspect until after i opened the trunk okay and when you went to search the

trunk was it because you thought he was hiding something there no that was an

inventory search i had decided to impound the vehicle so i did an

search and why were you impounding the vehicle because he didn't have any

registration the car wasn't registered It turned out to be registered, but he

didn't have the registration on him. And is it your policy to impound registered

vehicles when the driver isn't in possession of the registration?

No, I didn't know it was registered when I decided to impound it. Did you call

on the plates?

No. Isn't it normal procedure to call on the plates to determine whether a car

is registered?

Many officers do that. I didn't on this occasion. I suppose I could have. You

suppose you could have.

Did you tell my client you were impounding his car when you asked him to

the trunk?

I don't recall.

Did you call a tow truck? No. Why not? I hadn't gotten to that yet. When were

you planning to get to that?

Objection. Overruled. I was going to order the tow truck after I did the

Officer Henderson, we all know how long it takes tow trucks to show up. It's

your testimony that you planned to do the search first and then call for the

truck?

Yes.

Okay.

When you went to search the trunk, you didn't tell my client you were taking

car. You didn't tell him you'd have to get picked up by somebody or hitch a

to the station?

No.

Your Honor, the defense moves to suppress the contents of the trunk

with my client's confession.

Opposed. I'll hear oral arguments tomorrow morning, 10 o 'clock.

He

says

we can't talk to the son.

So now what?

It's over.

It's not over. Jimmy, there's nothing more we can do. It can't be over.

We just don't sit back saying it's over while the wrong guy sits in jail.

I think we should confront the son anyway. Can't do that. Why not? Because

instructed you not to. You can't talk to the kid without revealing a lawyer

-client communication, so that's that.

Eugene, what are we supposed to do here? Forget about it?

Move on while an innocent man serves a life sentence? That's exactly what we

Jimmy. Now, if you want to go through the transcripts, find an appealable

do it.

But for what the client told you in confidence, you keep it in confidence.

Not what it amounts to. Jimmy, you can't do it.

RFK, premieres Sunday, August 25th, only on FX.

I'm here to see Mr. Berluti. Steven, hey.

Hey. Thanks for coming. I had no trouble getting here. No, I took the tea.

Here, let's use this office right here.

Jimmy, can I talk to you a second?

Go ahead, Steve. I'll be right in.

What are you doing? I'm going to talk to him. We didn't get permission from his

father to talk to him. I won't be revealing anything Henry said. Jimmy,

can't reveal client privilege information. There's no way to talk to

raising... I won't say what his father told me. How do you accuse him of the

crime without violating privilege?

You don't have any independent information other than what Henry told

Eugene, if I get called before the bar, I get called before the bar. I really

don't care anymore.

I'm going in there with you.

No, you're staying out here.

The officer admitted he seemed suspicious.

Thought maybe he was hiding something.

So what did she do?

She opened the trunk.

And anybody with a law degree knows she made a mistake.

This was no inventory search.

She never said she was going to impound the vehicle. The police don't seize

vehicles when the drivers don't have proof of registration.

They just call the plates into check. It takes 30 seconds.

She never called the tow truck. She said she was going to do that after police.

We all know what's going on here. They've decided to call it an inventory

to justify it. Nothing in the behavior of that police officer is consistent

police procedure on an inventory search.

It's all hinges on what Officer Henderson was thinking when she opened

trunk. We have her word that it was inventory.

versus Bobby Donald's ability to read minds.

Come on, counsel. How many officers are out there taking cars because the

drivers can't find the registration?

Maybe she was a little overzealous. She's 27 years old. Young police

get that way sometimes.

So what? She hadn't taken him into custody.

She hadn't placed him under arrest.

He wasn't any kind of suspect.

By Officer Henderson's own uncontroverted testimony, it was an

And defense counsel is standing up here asking you to read minds.

Asking you to play guessing games.

Asking you to suppress the contents of that trunk.

Anybody with a law degree knows what happens if you do.

Don't we?

It's a lie.

Is it, Steven?

Your dad saw you going out the door.

The reason he's staying quiet, he doesn't want to see you go to prison.

He loves you too much for that.

He'd rather spend the rest of his life in jail than see you get hurt.

I don't see you as some kind of monster.

A boy finds out his dad's got this sick sexual fetish.

It's got to be devastating.

Doing what he was doing.

And when you went to the office and saw the woman, I don't know, any kid would

probably go a little nuts inside.

And the court would understand this, Stephen.

They would.

However angry you might be at your dad, you're going to be more angry at

yourself one day if you let him go to prison forever.

The fact that he's willing to do it, that shows how much he loves you.

The fact that you got so hurt by his fetish thing.

That shows how much you love him.

I've known you practically your whole life.

You're a good kid.

Great kid.

You'll destroy yourself if you don't correct what's happened to you.

He's sick.

He's sick.

I know he is.

And we gotta get him some help.

But first, we gotta get him out of jail.

Will you help me do that?

You and me, roommates.

Lindsay said you needed one. I'm looking at the moment, and I thought maybe on a

temporary basis.

Helen, do you think you and I are compatible?

Well, why wouldn't we be? I have this notion of you traveling in underground

circles. Well, Helen, I wish I did, but unfortunately I work all day, and I come

home, and I work all night, and really I'm less fun than Lindsay.

Nobody's less fun than Lindsay.

I heard that.

You think Eleanor and I are a good match?

Well... Oh, look, she dates men who cut off heads. I have this thin little man.

Oh, okay, that's really funny. See, you're already bickering.

Roommates. Ellen, the judge is coming back.

Ms. Gamble is correct in her assertion. We cannot know what was in Officer

Henderson's mind when she searched that trunk.

But the court is certainly entitled to exercise common sense together with the

benefit of experience when making its guess.

She was suspicious of the driver. She admitted as much. The search of the

in the court's opinion was a result of that suspicion.

And while granted, that suspicion turned out to be extremely well -founded, it

was nevertheless legally unreasonable.

The contents of the trunk are suppressed.

The defendant's ensuing confession is therefore also suppressed as a fruit of

poisonous tree.

Ms. Gamble, I'm as disappointed as you are. This is awful, but we

both know it's not even a close call. If you can get new evidence, refile, so

long as it's independent.

Otherwise, congratulations, Mr. Stanton. For now, you get away with murder.

Adjourned.

I would hope you get some counseling, Pierce.

It doesn't seem right. I can just walk out.

Totally free.

I wouldn't book yourself on Larry King.

What are you waiting for?

Somebody to say, chin up, don't feel so bad? You should feel bad. You made a

terrible mistake.

If I hadn't opened up that trunk, we might never have known a murder even

happened. Maybe.

But because you did open up that trunk, you're pretty much guaranteed as getting

away with it.

You've never made a mistake, Miss Gamble?

No.

I'm going to go home and check on her a little. You know how she is about

losing. I should probably check up on Stan.

He hasn't even begun to deal with losing his wife yet.

How are you?

I'm okay. Why?

I don't know what's worse.

The fact that we freed another murderer or the fact that it doesn't really

bother us anymore.

You know what? I don't care.

If I broke lawyer -client privilege, I can live with it. The issue isn't

you can.

Yeah, it is, Eugene. You guys are trying to make me feel bad. I'm not gonna feel

bad. If I violated some precious lawyer rule, tough.

I wasn't about to let an innocent man... Privilege isn't just some precious...

Why you gotta be lecturing me? I left you out of it. You didn't leave me out

it. You didn't leave any of us out of it. Others... Please. Hey, you did this

us, Jimmy.

To us.

Well, then, I'm sorry.

Well, I lose my roommate. I lose my cases. I lose my cases to my roommate.

Have you given any thought to Eleanor?

Not really.

We're still going to see each other, right?

Helen. Come on, don't Helen me. I like having you in the next room.

Even gotten used to Bobby being in it with you.

We're still going to see each other all the time.

Yeah. When are you moving out?

At the end of the month, I guess.

I don't want to lose you, Lindsay.

You're not going to lose me.

Promise?

Anything else?

No. Everything else can wait till tomorrow.

Okay, I'm on my way to Pierce Stanton's house. Just gonna see how he's doing.

Then I'm probably at home.

Have a good night.

You too.

I'm not saying I don't like her. I'm just saying you two as roommates. What?

get along great.

Oil and vinegar.

I hear a phone ringing.

It would just be nice to get out of that rabbit warm. That's all I can say.

Hey, Jimmy.

It's Allison Olsen.

Allison, what's up?

Oh, my God.

When?

Oh, God.

Where are you now?

I'll be right there.

Jimmy? What's wrong?

Stephen Olsen.

He just hung himself in the garage.

He's dead?

on a three -disc DVD set and continue your collection today.

I know he wasn't upset by all this, but I never, never... Allison,

Stephen killed the woman.

What?

Your husband was taken to full fame.

I confronted Stephen on it this afternoon.

Come on, come on, come on.

Hi, this is Lindsay. I'm not home right now, but if you leave a message, I'll

call you back. Thanks.

Lindsay, call me as soon as you get this. I just saw our little friend

Stanton going to Officer Henderson's home.

I think they pulled off the perfect crime.

You killed my son. Henry.

You killed my son. I didn't kill him. He took his life out of guilt. Because you

went to him and asked him. I told you not to go to him.

I know.

And I'm sorry.

All that's left for me to do now is get you out.

I'm going to tell the DA everything that's happened.

And hopefully we can get you out.

New message. Lindsay, call me as soon as you get this. I just saw our little

friend Pierce Stanton go into Officer Henderson's home.

I think they pulled off the perfect crime.

To store message, press save.

Message saved.

This is a warrant to search your house. What?

Cynthia Henderson, you're under arrest for the murder of Elizabeth Stanton. You

have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney.

If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you.

Hello.

What?

I'll be right there.

What?

The police somehow figured it out.

They just arrested both of them.

Did he leave any kind of note? No.

Well, did he admit to anyone that he killed the woman? No, he didn't exactly

deny it, though, either, when I confronted him.

What are you asking me for?

Henry didn't do it.

I'm asking you to release him.

You're not serious.

Of course I'm serious. The guy didn't commit the crime. You think I'm going to

ask a judge to release a convicted murderer on the grounds that his defense

attorney says he's innocent?

I expect you to because he is innocent.

For all I know, the kid hung himself because his father's a killer. That

the case. Well, give me evidence.

Your word of honor doesn't buy a cup of coffee.

Richard, I'm telling you the truth here.

Look, even if I did believe you, and let's say I do,

okay? I'm inclined to. I don't trust your partner so much, but you strike me

honest.

I don't have any way of knowing that you're right. And again, even if I

you were right, you think I got any basis to try and throw out a conviction?

Even if I went to the judge, he'd throw me out on my ass.

After which, my boss would throw me out on the street.

There's nothing I can do here.

An innocent man is going to spend the rest of his life in prison for a crime

didn't commit.

Wouldn't be the first time that happened.

Case number 32345 and 32346, Commonwealth v.

Pierce Stanton and Cynthia Henderson, murder in the first degree, conspiracy

commit murder.

Bobby Donald for Pierce Stanton, Your Honor. Marcia Schultz for Cynthia

Henderson. Your Honor, this seems like harassment.

The police are frustrated at losing Mr. Stanton, so they've hatched a conspiracy

theory between Mr. Stanton and the officer who searched the trunk without

new evidence whatsoever, as far as I can tell on the incident report.

I have to admit, Ms. Gamble, I'm a little curious.

We have new evidence, Your Honor. I have an audio tape, which I'm happy to play

for the court.

Let's hear it.

Lindsay, call me as soon as you get this. I just saw our little friend

Stanton go into Officer Henderson's home.

I think they pulled off the perfect crime.

That was Attorney Robert Donald talking to Attorney Lindsay Dole. We then went

to Ms.

Henderson's home and found Mr. Stanton and Ms. Henderson together. First of

that tape!

It was a private message from me to Ms. Dole. Mr. Donnell is not the defendant.

He has no standing to assert Fourth Amendment arguments. Second, it's work

product, lawyer to lawyer. This isn't work product. It doesn't involve

How did you get this tape?

Lindsay Dole is my roommate. I pulled it off her answering machine. Which is an

invasion of privacy. You're not on trial here. They are. And they cannot argue

an invasion of your privacy as a defense. I still maintain it's work

The case was over. It doesn't apply.

Quiet. You might understand these two orchestrated that unconstitutional

of the trunk.

Yes, Your Honor, they're lovers. He kills the wife.

She is a police officer, illegally searches the trunk. The body and the

confession are thrown out. And of course, it would be nearly impossible

police to build a case independent of search and confession.

And the result, they get away with murder.

Well, aren't we clever. Your Honor, that phone message should not have come out

in. Mr. Donald, I had no choice but to set your client free the last time.

But here I am very much in charge.

As Ms. Gamble pointed out, your client has no standing to assert your privacy

rights. Nor do I find your little phone message to fall within work product.

The charges stand.

They'll be held without bail.

And that is that.

I don't want to hear it. Get out of my office. We're not getting out. Not until

you look me in the eye. I am looking you in the eye. I wasn't about to let those

two murders go free.

I didn't think it was going to jeopardize our friendship, Lindsay. I

friendship was stronger than that. It was a private message. And if the stakes

weren't so high... Come on, Helen, you of all people... You of all people what?

Was it a violation of trust?

Maybe it was, again, in the scheme of things that... And you, you traded on

inside information with me last year to much more tragic results. I can't

believe you could be standing here complaining at all.

Did you think I was going to sit on that information because you're my friends?

Come on, I'll buy you a beer.

I got a little more work to do.

There's nothing else you can do, Jimmy.

No.

I've done enough.

I should have listened to you.

Maybe that kid... The kid wasn't gonna survive this staying quiet. We both know

that. He was a murderer. Let's not forget it.

I'm gonna head home.

Need me call, okay?

It's so easy to play if I'd just done that. If I'd only said this.

You'll lose that game, Jimmy.

I'd put killers back out on the street only to have them kill again.

You can only be true to yourself and trust that.

No.

You can only be true to the rules.

You put... killers back on the street because the rules of law told you to

the rules here they said honor privilege

i broke the rules and now a kid is dead and my

client i don't have any system to cling to

You saw a terrible situation.

You tried to improve it.

Cling to that.

What if we get sued for malpractice? Do you think about that?

By a murderer? Yes, I'm sure the jury will award huge damages.

Maybe we can suppress the tape as hearsay.

I doubt it.

Declaration against interest, maybe even rest yesterday, it'll get in.

What were you thinking anyway? Lindsay. Don't Lindsay me. What, are you going to

attack me now? Yes, Bobby, because that was a stupid thing to do. I'm not even

going to listen.

You know Helen retrieves my messages for me ever since I've been sleeping here.

I call her to get them because I can't call her myself.

Oh, my God.

You know Helen retrieves my messages for me.

That phone call was for Helen.

You don't know what you're talking about.

Bobby Donald.

Lindsay, just read your book.