Original subtitles

We're here.

Tomorrow we start.

Are we ready?

As ready as we're going to get, I think.

The DA offered murder, too, this afternoon, just like we thought he

he turned it down? Yes.

Tell me something good, Rebecca.

I need to hear something good.

Well, it won't be long till we know what's going to happen.

That's good.

My sister came to visit.

She doesn't want to get up there.

Can they make her? She doesn't want to.

Unfortunately, siblings can be forced to testify against each other.

There's no privilege.

What if she says she forgets? That won't do us any good, Jan.

She has to tell the truth.

Plus, they already have her statement to the police.

We're not trying to hide what happened.

We just have to explain why.

Why I killed my mother.

Yes Tell me something good I need to hear something good

You're nervous.

It has got nothing to do... Rebecca.

They sell coffee on the way to the courthouse. They sell it at the

You'll get your coffee.

That's not the point.

What's the point?

Never mind.

Ready? All set?

She just swooped in and chugged it.

Allergic. And she got upset.

Angry with Mom.

And then Mom got defensive. She said she just remembered that there was

something about chocolate cake, German chocolate cake, that she thought it

be Jan's favorite cake.

Well, that just spiraled into one of their fights.

They started screaming at each other.

And I couldn't stay and listen to them.

One of their fights. What were they fighting about?

Jan claims that my father sexually abused her.

For years.

She thinks Mom knew and looked the other way.

Was it true?

Did your father sexually abuse your sister? Objection. Foundation.

Sustained. Did you ever see your father abuse her?

No. Did Jan ever tell you she was being abused by her father? Not back then.

Only later.

A few years ago, after he had already died.

Did you believe her?

Objection relevant.

Sustained. Did you ever see any evidence that supported your sister's contention

that she had been sexually abused?

No. All right, back to that night.

What did you do while your mother and sister were arguing?

I just left.

I told them I wouldn't be a part of it.

I went out to my car and sat there crying, actually.

And then what happened?

I heard screaming.

I ran inside and I saw the blood all over the place.

And I found Jan in the kitchen.

She couldn't move. She was just sitting there like in a haze.

And my mother was lying on the kitchen floor.

The knife still in her.

Jade.

Jade killed mom.

Oh, my God.

It's beautiful.

You like it? I like it. Lindsay, you're the most beautiful.

Oh, my God. No, no, no. Oh,

I'm so sorry. She's just so beautiful.

Oh, God.

You look like a princess.

When you picked your sister up at the airport and drove her to your mother's

house, did she seem different to you in any way?

No. And you said the dinner was uneventful until your mother brought out

birthday cake?

Yes. So before the cake was served, it would have been unthinkable for your

sister to attack your mother?

Objection. Sustained.

Prior to that dinner, had you any reason to think your sister might be a violent

person? No.

Jan's always been a quiet person.

A gentle person.

And when you found your sister in the kitchen, you said she was, quote, in a

haze. Did you say anything to her?

Yes, I was screaming at her, asking what happened.

Did she respond?

No, she just sat there like a zombie.

Like a zombie?

That's what you were going to say?

Yes.

Thank you.

That's all.

I thought that went well.

You did.

Well, she didn't say anything that damaging, at least not... Beck, that was

sister. The jury's gonna go back in that room and say her own sister testified

against her.

Plus, to make insanity, we gotta prove that she was having a flashback of some

prior abuse.

Well, we can't even really seem to prove the abuse happened in the first place.

Now, are you ready with the doctor?

I'm ready.

It's bad luck for you to see me in it first.

But I just want to give you a peek at the material. It's so great.

Material of what?

Isn't it gorgeous?

That's it.

What's this?

My wedding dress.

You know, things brides wear at the ceremony.

Lindsay, I thought you were going to wear my mother's wedding dress.

What? We talked about this.

We talked about me wearing your mother's wedding dress?

Yes.

The very night I proposed, I said you walked down the aisle wearing my

wedding dress. I've been saving it.

I don't remember you saying anything about Greg. I talked about how beautiful

is. I don't remember.

And how great you look in it. Bobby, I don't remember. How could you not

remember? I'd just been stabbed, and then you proposed, and I don't remember

saying anything about it. Okay, never mind.

This is beautiful.

I'm sure they'll take it back.

Take it back?

The detective will be quick.

Then we'll put up Dr. Starger.

And then you, Jan.

Okay.

Should we go over my testimony again?

Actually, I would prefer not to. I don't want you sounding too rehearsed.

But Jan, you have to tell your story.

No matter how painful it is.

If you close down up there, we're in trouble.

Okay.

It's going well so far, right?

It's going well.

It's a little too soon to tell.

Here's mother.

Yes, he expects me to wear the dress that she wore. I've seen a picture of

mother. She was built like a dump truck.

Helen. You cannot not wear the dress you had made.

It's a big deal to him. You know him and his mother. He gets very emotional.

Have you seen what she wore? No. I'm sure it's hideous. All right, let's

about this.

He's been saving it since she died.

Okay, here's how you play it.

Honey, I'd love to wear your mother's dress. And when you see it, for whatever

reason, it just won't work.

Lie to him? Yes, on this, absolutely.

See the dress, love it. You'd die to wear it. But since the last one who did,

did. Helen, you know what I mean.

Make the gesture, it'll make him happy. Then wear the gorgeous one you had made.

Jan came to see me about two years ago, just after the death of her father.

She was feeling sleepy and sad.

She was having health problems that were interfering with her work.

And she also complained about not being able to keep relationships with men.

Anything else, doctor?

Yes. There were periods of time that she couldn't account for.

Sometimes minutes, but other times she lost hours.

I found her to be suffering from PTSD.

PTSD.

Post -traumatic stress disorder.

Could you tell the jury what that is? Certainly.

Basically, it's a complex set of reactions to a traumatic event. In this

Jan was experiencing...

A flashback.

Flashback? Yes. We see it often in Vietnam vets, rape victims, plane crash

survivors. These flashbacks are short but intense and extremely real to the

patient. You mean like a hallucination?

Yes, but even more real.

It's as if they are living inside of the memory, like it's happening at that

very instant.

And specifically, what memory are we talking about with Jan?

Her being sexually abused by her father.

Did you determine what triggers these flashbacks with Jan? It could be almost

anything. A sound, a smell, an anniversary of the event.

What about a birthday party? That's certainly possible.

Doctor, did you interview Miss Carlson after she killed her mother?

Yes. I spent several hours with her.

Did you form a medical opinion as to what happened that night?

Yes, I did.

Could you state it? In my opinion...

Jan Carlson experienced a post -traumatic stress flashback. And while

living inside of the memory of that sexual abuse, she lashed out at the one

person that she then considered to be her most imminent threat.

But her mother wasn't the one abusing her. At that moment, it could have been

anyone in the room.

Jan Carlson killed her mother without even knowing it.

It's beautiful.

But it's a little short. I think it's going to be too short. And what a shame.

I'm told it can be lengthened no problem.

Oh.

Oh, great.

Wow.

Is it from the 1800s? I think it's Edwardian. Lindsay, you are going to

so beautiful. And, I mean, I feel like I'm going to cry just seeing you stand

next to it.

Me too.

You know, I wish I could see it on. I mean, without having to alter the... I

mean, it's just so perfect. I would hate to do anything to it. Lucy, would you

try this on?

Over my dead body?

I mean, Bobby, I wouldn't want to insult your mother's dead body. Oh, please.

It'll take you two seconds.

What's wrong?

Nothing.

I'm just so moved.

You say that in one of these flashbacks, the person has no control over his or

her actions.

No conscious control.

That's right. Would a person have enough control over their actions to open a

cabinet drawer, search for a knife from among a dozen other kitchen tools, then

pursue a victim throughout the house?

Objection. There's been no evidence of pursuit.

Objection sustained.

Can you tell us for a fact that Jan Carlson experienced one of these

the night she murdered her mother.

Objection to the term murder. Murder involves a culpable state of mind. We're

drawn. Can you tell us for a fact she suffered from a flashback the night she

killed her mother?

That would be impossible to know.

Have you ever seen the defendant experience a flashback?

No. So for all you actually know, Jan Carlson may have made up these stories

about flashbacks and sexual abuse.

Look, I have been treating her for a very long time.

Has she ever offered you any proof that she was sexually abused by her father?

A diary, a doctor's note, a police report, anything.

I don't cross -examine my patients.

You took her at her word. I feel that I can usually tell when a patient is

feigning their symptoms. You took her at her word.

Yes, I did.

Thank you, Dr. Stocker.

Don't say a word to me.

I think you look great.

Never mind.

You know, Bobby, it's a beautiful, beautiful dress. But, you know, it's

designed to be worn by a shorter person. I mean, plus, I don't know, I mean, the

pressure of living up to your mother's memory. She hates the dress.

I don't hate it. Why don't you just tell him? It looks like wallpaper.

Eleanor! It looks more like a doily to me. Jimmy!

You know those things you put on the arm of the chair.

Yeah, I know what a doily is, but it doesn't look like that, Bobby.

It's beautiful.

Well, Lindsay, why don't you want to wear it if we can have it altered?

She hates it. I don't hate it. Lindsay, do you hate it?

Well, I would just rather wear the other one.

No, I want you to wear this one.

With all due respect to your mother, the decision of what I wear, it really

should be my decision.

Lindsay, this is very personal to me. I get that.

I really do.

But a wedding dress, it's very personal to the bride, too.

Lindsay, I don't ask for much. One concession... You don't ask for much?

You insist on a Catholic wedding.

I'm Catholic. Well, I'm not. You picked out where we'd have the reception.

It's a place near the church. What we'd eat. You said you didn't care. On the

dress, I do care. I can't believe you're doing this.

Bobby, is this a partnership or do you just dictate everything? I'm not

dictating. I'm asking for one damn thing. This is not one thing. Oh, it's

typical you'd be so stubborn.

You have made every decision without consulting me. Now you're telling me

have to wear your dead mother's doily? Well, I'm not.

I'm wearing the dress that I picked out. If I have to eat communion, you can

swallow this.

Can you describe these flashbacks for the court?

Well, the most common one, I'm in my bed

looking up at the ceiling at where my mother painted clouds in a

blue sky.

And then the door opens quietly and I know, I know it's my father.

I keep staring at the clouds, imagining myself high above everything.

I don't look down.

I never look at him.

But I feel him.

And then he's inside me.

And it burns.

I tell myself to think about the clouds, think about heaven, how much better

it'd be up there.

Then I hear a mother's footsteps stopping right outside my door.

I scream, but nothing comes out.

I try to punch and kick, but my arms and legs won't move.

There's nothing I can do.

And then the footsteps fade away.

And I'm there, alone with him again.

Jan, did you hate your mother?

No.

I loved her.

I wanted her to love me, to save me. And when she didn't?

I don't know.

I never wanted to kill her.

I just wanted her to love me.

The night your mother was killed, do you remember anything?

I remember her bringing out the cake.

There were candles.

You don't remember picking up a knife?

No.

One second there's a cake.

The next, she's dying.

I have no memory of what happened.

Was there something about the cake that could have triggered these old memories?

I hated my birthdays.

He'd always come in on my birthdays.

You used to work as a draftsperson.

for a firm called Madison and Company.

Yes. And in 1995, you quit.

Could you tell us why?

Their office had fluorescent lighting that gave me migraines, which ultimately

became incapacitating.

You spent the next three months working for the architect Dylan Wolfe.

Freelance. And according to records there, you left because you feared

developing an ulcer.

I was working 18 hours a day. It was extremely stressful.

I was worried about an ulcer.

And three months ago, you filed a workman's compensation claim against

employer, Baxter Design Corporation.

You couldn't work because you hurt your arm and shoulder. It's called thoracic

outlet syndrome. It happens to architects, too. But in fact, Miss

were about to be fired by Baxter Design.

No. You went to three specialists, and none could find a medical reason for

pain. Objection. What's the relevance of this? It goes to pattern. Every time.

The defendant is held responsible for her behavior. She develops a mysterious

medical condition to blame. Objection. Move to strike that. Get fired from the

job. Blame thoracic outlet syndrome.

Murder your mother in cold blood. It's post -traumatic stress disorder.

Objection. Sustained.

Your mother left an estate valued at $2 .3 million.

Are you a beneficiary of that inheritance?

Yes.

It's all consistent with abuse of survivors, ulcers, migraine.

I say we recall Dr. Starger. It won't matter. It looks like she's making

excuses. What about her pediatrician? Her pediatrician? We've got to show

occurred. But he never reported anything.

Because they didn't in those days. But there's evidence of symptoms in her

medical records. Look, she has urinary infections, weight loss. Those symptoms

don't conclude abuse. And the pediatrician will just testify he didn't

anything to report.

Excuse me, Miss Washington.

My name is Stephen Hatfield. I'm Brianna's husband.

She's your client's sister?

Yes, I know. How can I help you?

Well, I'm not very comfortable coming to you like this.

But I understand that Brianna testified that her father never abused her.

Yes?

I believe that to be a lie.

I don't think it's deliberate.

I think that she's been lying to herself.

About her being abused as a child? Yes.

I knew her, Dad.

A nicer guy you couldn't want. And I didn't want to believe Jan's accusations

about the guy.

But it got me thinking about some of the problems Brianna and I had had.

What kind of problems?

In the bedroom.

Every time I would try to bring the subject up, she'd shut me down.

It got to a point where she wouldn't even let me touch her.

Then about six months ago, she filed for divorce.

Mr. Hadfield, there could be a lot of reasons why you and your wife had sexual

problems. Yes.

But she had this reflex to being touched.

Sitting in a chair or lying in bed next to me, if she saw that I was about to

touch her, she'd be okay.

Not relaxed, but okay.

But if I ever... came up on her from behind or touched her when she didn't

it coming, even a touch on the arm, her whole body would contract.

I always thought it was possible she might be the victim of some abuse, and I

tried to get her to talk to me about it, but she wouldn't go there.

He's lying.

He's trying to get back at me or something.

What motive would he have to make this up? I don't know, but he's lying. It

never happened.

Brianna. Did it?

No, Jan, he's lying.

Brianna? Jan, you know Stephen.

He's got to find blame for everything.

It's just his way of saying that the marriage failed because of me.

You know Stephen.

I don't believe her. I believe her, but maybe she's repressed it.

What if you hypnotized her? Could that bring out... That doesn't sound like she

wants to be treated, and if so, I certainly can't force her. But we can

her to testify.

Well, what good would that do? She would just deny it. How convincing did you

just find her? I don't want you to be brutalizing my sister.

Jan, her testimony stands to convict you. She had to testify. She was

subpoenaed. Doesn't matter. What she said was damaging. Plus, this is no time

be protecting her. We gotta recall her.

And do what?

Whatever we can.

He didn't have to get anti -Catholic. I wasn't anti -Catholic. I was referring

to the length of the ceremony, which I wanted to be sure. Still, you take shots

at his mother and his religion?

Don't you have work to do?

Why is it no one ever wants my counsel?

Lindsay, in my office?

No.

Excuse me?

I said no.

This is a personal matter. You don't order me around on personal matters.

what you need to get, Bobby.

Well, you want to...

Talk about a personal matter in front of everybody else?

No, but I don't want to be ordered.

Why don't we pick a neutral... Stay out of this.

I'd love to. Tell me where's a good spot.

Jimmy, shut up. You think you're funny? Hey, hey, don't jump on him. You stay

out of it too, Eleanor.

Look, we don't want to be in it, so take this to another room. I tried to. Yeah,

but you ordered her.

Quiet! By the way, I'm leaving.

Oh, there's a mature response.

Just... Leave.

Do you know what the expression loss of consortium means?

I suppose.

Your husband, Stephen Hadfield, claims your marriage failed because of loss of

consortium. You wouldn't have sex with him.

Is that true?

No, it isn't.

In the three years since your father died, about how often did you have sex

your husband?

Do I have to answer these questions?

I'm sorry, you do. How often?

I don't know, every few weeks.

Objection. I am trying to establish a history of sexual dysfunction. It isn't

true. I understand you don't want to believe it. I don't want to believe it,

Counselor, because it isn't true.

Do you consider your sister to be an honest person, Brianna?

Yeah.

Ever known her to lie?

No, except for this.

This being her claim that she was sexually abused by your father?

Yes. And why would she lie about this? I have no idea.

No motive to your knowledge?

No. Did you ever think, well, maybe it happened?

No.

It ever happened to you?

No. He never opened your door and came into your room? No, he didn't. He never

crawled into your bed? No.

Because if he did, and you never said anything, I guess you'd feel a little

responsible for him moving on to your younger sister. He never did that.

Did what? Come into your room or Jan's? Either.

It never happened.

You know for a fact it didn't happen with Jan. Now, how do you know that for

fact? I don't believe that it happened.

So it's possible?

No, it's not possible.

So you know for a fact again?

I know for a certainty.

And that's different than for a fact? Your Honor.

All right, Miss DeYoung.

Miss Hatfield, previously you testified that when your mother and Jan started to

argue, you fled the house.

Why? I just didn't want to hear them fighting.

So you didn't want to stay in the house and listen to talk about your father

sexually abusing Jan?

That's right.

So you just ran out of the house, didn't want to deal with it?

No.

Do you love your sister Jan?

Of course I do.

Somebody you love claims she was sexually abused and you don't even want

about it. You run from the discussion.

I don't believe she was sexually abused.

Well, did you ever counsel her to get help?

I mean, if she thinks she was sexually abused or lies about it, somebody you

love, did you ever try to help her or see that she got help?

No.

Truth is, you didn't want to go near this subject, did you, Brianna?

You had to run out of this room every time it happened because he touched you.

No, he didn't. Just like you want to run out of the room now. He never touched

me. She's on trial for murder here and you're going to let her go down just

you let him go into a room. Stop it. Why can't you admit it happened?

Why didn't you make him stop? You made daddy stop. Enough.

I didn't have to feel alone.

You gave your sister to him, Brianna. No, I didn't. You gave her to him. I

didn't do anything. You let him crawl into her bed just the way he crawled

yours. Get away from me.

You get away.

Look

at

your sister, Brianna.

You can't even look at it She needs you to remember

It's a dress.

Exactly. So what's the big deal about me wearing it? Well, that's my question.

What's the big deal to you about wearing it when you know how important it is to

me? Why the hell isn't it important to you how I feel on my wedding day?

Did you ever stop to consider that, Bobby, that it's my day, too, or is it

your day, like it's only your marriage?

What's that supposed to mean? It means that you don't look at this like a

partnership, or if you do, you consider yourself a senior partner. Well, if it's

going to be that, Bobby... Leslie, what is wrong with you?

What's wrong with me? Yes, you're acting like a crazy person.

I mean, is this just stress? Don't lay this on stress or PMS. Look, I'm just

trying to talk to you and you're screaming at me. I hate the way you

me.

It came out of trauma.

And that's... I...

You're so guarded, so... You keep your emotions

in a vault.

It took some catastrophe to set them loose when I got stabbed, but that was

a fluke.

Do I have to get on a deathbed for you to unlock... Lindsay, what is going on?

When you lost your mother... I don't know, I mean...

It must have been some kind of pain.

From what I gather, you two...

I don't think you'll ever risk getting

hurt like that again. I don't think you'll ever let somebody become the

of your life.

You'll lose too much control or something.

What are you telling me?

You don't want a partner. You want an accessory to complement your life,

I

don't want in on that.

I don't want to end up marooned on your island.

Maybe we should call this off.

You don't want to... You don't want to get married?

No.

Imagine you're nine.

It's your birthday.

And your mother brings out your birthday cake and tells you to make a wish.

before you blow out the candles.

Do you wish for a new bike?

A doll you saw at a toy store?

Jan Carlson wished her father would stop forcing her to have sex with him.

She prayed for someone to protect her from this nightmare.

But not long after she blew out the birthday candles, her father would creep

into her bedroom with one last gift to give her.

So, she picks up a knife and murders her mother.

Not her father.

The one who supposedly committed these horrific acts. Her mother.

And then trots out, hey, I was abused as a child.

Post -traumatic stress disorder.

And that's a good one.

We see all kinds of imaginative defenses these days.

We have rape trauma syndrome.

Battered wives syndrome.

steroid rage, Prozac defense.

There are as many disorders as there are crimes these days, and they all amount

to the same thing, escaping responsibility.

This isn't something she invented.

You heard the expert medical testimony.

Jan Carlson's mind was gone that night. She was suddenly reliving an awful

memory, a horrible memory.

of sexual abuse.

You listened to Jan.

You listened to Dr. Starger.

And you listened to her sister Brianna, didn't you?

The power of a mind to fight off a memory.

For three years, Bernard Carlson entered Jan's room.

For three years, her mother knew and did nothing.

And on February 9th,

Jan's mind caught in that memory just snapped.

She snapped.

And after snapping, she stands to inherit more than a million dollars.

She either did it for the money or she did it for revenge.

Either way, it's murder one.

Where's Bobby?

He's in his office. Tom, I'm here.

What are you going to do?

Who said it was your business? My friend, my business. What are you going

Helen, she left me. There's nothing I can do. Listen to me.

When you and I were dating, I got the sense that you had it all figured out,

life would be, how it should be. And when you found somebody who fit nicely

your little life plan, you'd get married.

Now... I knew I would never be the one to just fill that slot. Thank you,

I'm not interested in... Bobby, would you listen to me? I might not have

chance to interfere, okay?

Lindsay's not going to slide into any slot either.

And your life might not fit her any better than your mother's dress.

But if you love her... Helen, if you don't let go of me... Bobby, you want to

spend the rest of your life alone?

As much as I love her, she's not the one I'm worried about.

She's the greatest woman I know.

She'll find somebody probably better than you.

Thank you.

But you're not going to find anybody better than her.

I know it and you know it.

Let her be your partner, Bobby.

Not just because it's what she wants.

It's what you need.

How much longer?

We don't know.

There's no way of telling.

Tell me something good, Rebecca.

I need to hear something good.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry I made you feel so alone.

Do you remember?

I don't know, Jan.

But I think I need someone to help me.

You remember.

I'm sorry, Danny.

Jerry's back.

Will the defendant please rise?

Mr. Foreman, have you reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

What say you?

On the count 4 -2 -1 -1 -3, murder in the first degree, we, the jury,

find the defendant, Jan Carlson, not guilty.

On the count 4 -2 -1 -1 -4, murder in the second degree,

We, the jury, find the defendant, Jan Carlson, not guilty.

The defendant is released.

The jury is dismissed for the thanks of the court. We are adjourned.

I haven't totally figured out how to let people in my life.

Everything you said, the things you fear, probably

all true.

But this idea that I don't want to share my life, that I don't

want a partner, that I reject.

Whatever I have to do to convince you of that.

To earn the right to go on loving you for the

rest of my life.

I'll do it.

Marry me

I

won't wear

that dress

have to let me in.

What happened?

They picked up some food for dinner. Brianna came out of the restaurant,

walking to the car, and she says she saw her father and just gunned the

accelerator.

Ten people witnessed it.

She ran over Brianna.

Congratulations.

She really does have a disorder.

You got her off.

You couldn't have got her to smell.

Jan? I don't remember.

I saw him. Is it really Bree?

Yeah.

Is she going to be okay?

She's going to be okay, right?

Tell me something good, Rebecca.

I need to hear something good.

Tell me something good.

Tell me something good.