Original subtitles

Voluntary? With good behavior and time served, you could be out in seven. It's

good deal.

Not a chance. Take the deal, Ed. We are not doing well in there. They have

pictures, they have the murder weapon, and we have nothing. Two witnesses

testified that you told them you were going to kill the victim.

It was self -defense. You said it in there.

You stabbed him seven times.

Did you take a look at that, jury?

Why the hell should I?

Look at me.

With this deal...

I can lobby for a lower security facility, maybe even conjugal visits. In

opinion, the DA is offering you better than you deserve.

Someone's got to get that bony -ass bitch.

Look, I've about had it with you.

Good. Then you can get your not -so -bony -ass self out of here. Eddie!

I ain't taking voluntary. I paid you 90 ,000 bucks. Which is probably drug

money. You took it, like you always have.

Now why don't you take 20 of it and go buy a juror? I don't care.

Just get me off.

Health fitness water with flavor and vitamins. It's how Gatorade does water.

Propel.

What's it say here you offered that cokehead manslaughter?

Relax, Richard.

It was first degree, Helen. Is this the Christmas spirit?

You turned the deal down.

Excuse me? The cokehead's speaking to self -defense.

What?

That means I'll have to testify.

No problem. I testify.

Yeah, there is a problem. Once you take the stand, they could introduce all your

felonies to impeach you. Drug felonies. I never killed anybody before. Right,

Jeannie? Well, I've never killed anybody before either. You call me Jeannie one

more time, that could change.

Look, just ask me the questions and I'll say what happened.

Look, you've seen enough of Helen Gamble to know she's going to be aggressive.

Let her come.

Bobby, he's hot. We can't let him take the stand like that. Stay out of this,

Jeannie. Your second chair.

Eugene, excuse us for a second, would you please?

You want your 90 grand back, Eddie, because I'll write you a check with

right now and walk away. Business is good, huh, Bobby?

You wouldn't walk away from my money 10 years ago.

Makes me sick here.

So I helped build your firm.

Over 10 years, I poured a million bucks in and out of your place, and you took

it. You took it. You took it. Knowing exactly where it came from. Knowing

exactly how I got it. You took it. I'm not going to listen. Hey, maybe you

didn't break any laws, Bobby.

But you and I both know you laundered my money.

I give you a big retainer, you give me half back after the case was over.

You laundered drug money.

Now, you judge me.

You stride in here in your fancy suit.

You moved up.

Now you judge me?

Don't you lump me into what you are. I was never what you were. I'll never be

what you are. I was a lawyer representing Scum Bay, which I'm

doing today. You stabbed a person seven times, Eddie. You're a murderer.

That's how I judge you. Hey, counselor.

It was self -defense.

Step back, Eddie.

I'd sold him some heroin three days before.

The victim?

Yes. Then he shows up at my house rambling about how the stuff wasn't

could tell he was wired.

On heroin?

Or something.

Anyway, he starts going on about how he's going to mess me up.

He came at me.

We get into a struggle, and suddenly he's got me by the throat.

That's when I reach for my knife.

Where was the knife?

In my pocket. It was a switchblade.

He had me by the throat.

I wasn't getting any air. I'm thinking that I'm dying.

And then I got my knife out and just started stabbing. How many times did you

stab him with the knife, Eddie?

I didn't know at the time. They tell me seven.

I just kept stabbing at the guy until he fell off of me.

Eddie, why didn't you call the police?

Because I'm a drug dealer, Mr. Donald. I sell heroin.

I didn't figure the police to be too sympathetic.

But I acted in self -defense that night.

I'm no model citizen, I admit.

But I'm no murderer.

Seven times you stabbed him before he fell off you?

That's right.

Because he was strangling you?

Yes. How much do you weigh, Mr. Wick?

Around 175.

Do you know how much the victim weighed? No.

Would it surprise you to learn he weighed 135 pounds, 40 pounds less than

When a guy has you by the neck, size doesn't matter too much. Doctors find

bruising around your neck?

No. Did the victim owe you money, Mr. Wicks?

Yes. How much?

Around $60 ,000.

This debt was incurred through past drug sales?

Yes. You've been convicted three times for selling and possessing drugs? I'm a

drug guy. I said it. But I'm not a killer.

Did you tell Mr. Olsen you'd kill him if he didn't satisfy his debt?

I had previously threatened him, yes, but this incident here was self

You said the victim just showed up at your house.

Did you call him shortly before he came?

Yes, to discuss his outstanding account.

You didn't invite him over so you could kill him?

Objection. Sustained.

Ever stab anybody else with a switchblade, Mr. Wicks?

Drug trafficking is a tough trade, Miss Gamble.

Sometimes I've had to use my knife.

But this instance here was self -defense.

That's a yes. You have used your knife to stab people before.

Yes.

This trial, because of the expression on my face, you all but told the jury not

to believe him. I didn't know such thing.

You were so obviously rejecting his testimony. Forget it, Your Honor.

First of all, I was not shooting any look.

Second, I wouldn't be conveying that kind of a look anyway because I don't

necessarily believe that your little scum -sucking, lying, murdering client

guilty. He could have just been temporarily insane and under the

he was stabbing his own mother.

You think that's funny?

Who do you think you're kidding?

You're in here looking for a mistrial because you know, just like I know, what

the verdict is going to be.

Let me tell you, counsel, I don't play those games.

And just for asking, I'm hitting you with a $500 fine.

Appealed. So noted.

Mistrial.

He actually moved for a mistrial? You know, Bobby, if things are desperate,

he'll try anything.

Suppose if I ever killed anybody, he'd be the guy I'd call.

Helen, I noticed you had a little mistletoe hanging.

Where?

Oh, God.

Maintenance must have done that. Even so.

Don't harass me, Richard.

You liked my kiss. You said so. I said it was nice. That doesn't mean I

use a little work.

Oh, now you're hurt.

What was wrong with it?

It was lovely.

No, no, don't patronize me, Helen. Just tell me.

Okay, well, your little tongue was shooting around everywhere like a lizard

trying to catch a fly.

That's a technique.

Richard, it was darting in and out.

All right, look.

That's what a good kiss is like. The tongue should know what it's doing.

He got to you, didn't he?

Well, he had a point.

I half built this place doing drug cases.

Should I give you the speech you always give me?

Drug cases subsidize... No, I don't need the speech.

I went a little beyond that with Eddie.

What do you mean?

We were friends.

You know, I'd hang out with him after the case was over.

I'd suppress the evidence, he'd throw a little party, and I'd celebrate with

him. You know, he was the client, and a good businessman caters to the client.

I think I always led him to believe that I really liked him.

Did you?

Maybe I did.

I think when someone's buttering your bread, you want to like them.

Did he launder money through this place?

Probably.

It was never said, but, you know, he'd give me a $25 ,000 cash retainer for a

two -day trial, and I'd pay him back the unused, yeah.

It was probably the equivalent of laundering.

I guess I was dirty too, Lindsay.

That's why he can't bear me passing judgment on him today.

Bobby, you were in a legitimate business. He wasn't. He sees all that

accomplished and how he stayed in the same place, and he's angry.

No, he's angry because when I needed his money, I liked him.

And now that I don't... I don't.

Well...

It's all about over anyway.

He'll get murdered too at best. He's looking at a life sentence.

Consider him lost business.

I haven't lost yet.

Are you saying we got no shot? I'm saying it's a long shot. We can argue

elements, but in my opinion, the jury has already made up its mind. I've paid

you enough money. Will you stop with the money?

You can't buy acquittals. How about you, Jeannie?

Would you like me to take your head off?

What, do you think if a lawyer attacks his client, he buys him a mistrial or

something? Would it?

Look, Eddie, manslaughter is our best bet. I take a manslaughter. You want

murder two or murder one? Hey, hey, hey.

You want a piece of me, Eddie?

Huh? You haven't got your knife now, and I weigh more than a buck forty. I

wouldn't need my knife. I could pay you to play dead. All right.

Go in there and argue the element.

Just argue the element.

It's absolutely impossible.

Are you sure, Doctor? For the victim to continue strangling with seven stab

wounds? The loss of blood alone would have dropped him. Plus, the knife hit

major arteries in both the heart and neck.

This was not self -defense.

Objection. Sustained. Just give us the medicals, Doctor.

Dr. Foster, were you able to make a determination as to the order of the

Well, first, the wounds on the hands looked to be defensive in nature, as if

had his palms up to block. The idea that his hands were on the defendant's neck

at the time he received them, also impossible.

Is he testifying to the order here? I'm about to, Counsel.

Then please do so, Doctor.

The hands came first.

The jugular vein in the neck was then severed, and while the victim was

clutching his neck, he was then stabbed in the arm, then the heart.

The wound to the atrium of the heart was the fatal one.

Now, it's your medical opinion that the victim's hands were not on the

defendant's neck at the time he received the fatal wound to the heart?

That is my medical opinion, yes.

Helen. You're still breathing. Get an ambulance.

Get an ambulance.

I'm okay. Lie still, Helen. I can get up. Lie still. Let me through.

Stay back, sir. She's my girlfriend. Let me through. I'm not your girlfriend.

Helen. One day, Richard.

Helen. Bobby, I'm okay.

He goes to the hospital to get checked out. I'm not his girlfriend.

Is she okay?

What'd I gather?

What hospital? Mass General. I'm going. Wait, she's being released already. It

was just a concussion. He just mugged her in the courtroom.

That's what Bobby said.

Now what happens?

You gotta be kidding.

Do I look like I'm kidding?

There's no way this trial could possibly go on after that. You think I'm going

to reward this bastard with a mistrial after he jumps the DA?

That's exactly why he did it. Whoa, whoa, whoa. The jury is not going to be

impartial. I will instruct the jury to disregard the assault on the DA.

Disregard? We don't even have a district attorney to prosecute right now. We'll

get a new one. Oh, you can't be serious. Come on, come on. Listen to me, both of

you. The Commonwealth has already spent $100 ,000 on this piece of dirt.

Now, I'm not about to start all over again and waste the taxpayer's money,

especially when I think that the motive for this attack was to get a mistrial.

Any conviction will just get thrown out on appeal. Maybe it will, maybe it

won't. But with a conviction, the state will have something to bargain with,

won't they?

Maybe this thing will plead out, which it should have done to begin with.

Except that your coked -up, murdering scumball's brain was too scrambled to

the wisdom of that.

So you expect just to continue on like nothing happened?

I will give an instruction.

No, Judge, in his right mind, we'll let this continue. Oh, too bad. You got me.

I won't do what I want off.

Denied. Helen Gamble is a friend of mine, and I won't continue defending the

man. Yes, you will. I'll throw it away.

Then I'll put you away.

Do it. I will do it. I will defend the man who did this. You will defend him,

I'll put you in lockup right now.

What kind of judge are you?

The best kind.

Old, crazy, and fed up.

This trial goes on.

It's going forward.

I'll take over. How can he not call a mistrial? The guy attacked me. It's

Swackheim. Look, just get me the file. I can do it, Richard.

Helen. It was a concussion. I took an Advil. Well, if you have headaches...

not going to let that dirtbag scare me off.

Well, I'm sitting second chair. You're at least getting backup.

Richard?

What was that she's my girlfriend stuff?

Do we need to have a conversation?

They wouldn't let me through. I just wanted to get through.

But don't worry, you certainly set the record quite straight.

I'm sorry the idea is so offensive to you.

I hurt your feelings.

I asked for it.

If you think you can't separate what happened in this room

from the case we're trying...

Just say so.

I'll take you off.

But if you continue on as jurors, you damn well better consider the two events

separate.

One's got nothing to do with the other.

And if you let his attack on the district attorney color your

the murder charge, you're mentally deficient thugs.

You get that?

He took an oath to listen to the evidence and to rule on it.

And if any of you go back there and consider anything except the evidence

properly admitted, and I find out about it, I'll hold you in

contempt.

What do we have on the medical exam?

Here's what we have so far. He had a reputation in Los Angeles for being

I found three prosecutors who blamed him for losing convictions, although they

say he makes for a very good witness, which I guess you already know.

Is that why he got fired, for sloppiness? Oh, no, no, no. You are

this. He was surprised one night in his examining room while he was sexually

gratifying himself.

Excuse me? Alone, with a dead body.

That's why he got fired? Not the reason given, but I'm told it was an election

year for the DA, and that was the factor.

What else? That's all so far.

He supposedly had a brief affair with another medical examiner in L .A., but

other than that, he's clean.

Okay, Eugene, you take him on the medicals.

I'll do the other.

Well, it sounds like we're crossing the line a little. It's murder.

It's also personal. You and Swackheim, it's personal. He thinks he can push us

around.

We'll see.

You ready?

Ready as I'll get.

Nothing to lose in there, Eugene.

Let's just go for it.

Nothing to lose.

Except the usual, our reputations.

That judge has turned this thing into a free -for -all.

Let's just swing wild.

Like I said, I'm ready.

Dr. Foster, I call your attention to the homicide prosecution of Lauren Shields

two years ago in Los Angeles.

You were the M .E. involved in that prosecution?

Yes. Mr. Shields was convicted in large part due to your testimony?

Yes. And Mr. Shields' conviction was subsequently overturned because the

of death attested to by you turned out to be incorrect.

Objection. What's that got to do with... After two impeaches, the doctor has

been wrong many times before, botching prosecution.

Objection. Sustained.

This man was fired in Los Angeles because he repeatedly screwed up

investigations. Objection! I know they'd like to keep it quiet, Your Honor, but

you should be concerned.

Objection! Mr. Young, that's enough.

We will not be going through other cases.

I'm sure you've made mistakes before as well.

None of mine sent a man to jail. Are you suggesting your client did not stab the

man, Counsel? I'm suggesting it didn't happen like you said it did. I'm

suggesting all those absolutes you threw out may not be quite so absolute.

Argumentative. Sustained.

Doctor, you testified the victim was stabbed in the jugular vein, did you

I did. But in your initial report, you said the victim was stabbed in the

carotid artery.

This was never officially listed. I first thought the carotid, but it was

jugular. And if a person was strangling somebody and he was stabbed in the

jugular, it would be an absolute medical impossibility for him to keep

squeezing. Is that your medical testimony? It would be extremely

Doctor, I asked you if it would be impossible.

I suppose it's not an impossibility. Well, those were your words yesterday.

Absolute impossibility.

Did you overstate it? The odds of somebody... Did you overstate it? I

have said absolute impossibility. You overstated it.

Yes. So to restate it, it would be possible for the victim to be

receive a wound to the throat, and yet be able to continue strangling. Not for

very long.

Seconds? Yes, seconds.

And, Doctor, what about the wounds on the hands?

Is it possible that they were sustained by Mr. Wicks sticking the knife under

the victim's hands, trying to pry them off his neck? Again, likelihoods. I'm

talking likelihoods, Doctor. I'm talking possibility.

Anything's possible, Counsel, but I don't... How long did you examine the

I don't really remember.

Well, in the medical report, you make no analysis of the hand wounds.

Well, they weren't the fatal wounds.

Doctor.

You look at arterial spurt patterns to help determine the order of wounds, do

you not?

That's correct. Did you look at the spurt patterns in this case? Yes, I did.

looked at pictures of the floors and the wall as well as photos. Pictures?

You didn't go to the scene?

No, I did not.

Doesn't the ME go to the scene of the crime?

Typically, yes. On this case, I did not.

Well, why is that?

Well...

The case wasn't much of a mystery, counsel, Mr. Wicks, admitting to

Doctor, you were fired from your position as medical examiner in Los

Objection! Those are this man's pattern of sloppy investigative work. Mr. Young,

try. Sustain.

He's not the one on trial here, Mr. Young. This man's testimony, and his

testimony alone, is the only evidence to contradict Mr. Wicks' eyewitness

account of what happened. His testimony is based on his examination, and any

evidence of his ineffective, sloppy work history certainly speaks to that.

Mr. Young, try the whole speech. Sustain.

Mr. Young, knock it off.

I'm just getting started.

Oh, no, you're not. You'll stick to the relevant facts or I'll shut you down.

I'll shut you down, you fat piece of crap.

Why don't you come running right up here and attack me, you scumbag?

That's it. How can you let me? Keep talking and I'll throw you out. Why

you and Judge Judy go off and make a discovery that you are more

to be the judge than you already are? Get in my chambers.

You're a joke.

You're a miserable, jaded joke who doesn't care about the integrity of that

room. And you do. It is an outrage to let this trial continue.

It's an outrage to let defendants manufacture mistrials when they don't

way things are going, which is exactly what we have here. He mugged her to stop

the trial. And he just called me... What did he call me?

A fat piece of crap.

Again to get a mistrial. Well, he does so at his own peril. And you should have

advised him accordingly.

The trial goes on. He can call me fat.

He can assault anybody he chooses. But the trial goes on. Then let it go on.

Let us cross -examine the M .E. without you shutting us down.

Fine. Fine.

Doctor, do you have any psychological problems that the court should know

No, I do not. Do you have any perversions that compromise your work?

No. I imagine you often have to examine murder victims that have also been

raped. Certainly.

Check the victim for semen, that sort of thing.

Of course. Ever find your own semen?

I asked you a question. I heard the question, counsel. I'm offended by it.

One of the reasons you were fired from your job in Los Angeles... Objection!

court has already ruled. Can't the court fake it and offer the illusion of a

fair trial? I object to that.

So do I. This is the man who stands to put my client away. Do I get to question

him or not?

I'll give you a short leash.

I don't want a short leash, Judge. I demand the right to question this

A defendant in a criminal trial has the right to confront his accuser, and I

would like to exercise my client's right and confront this witness.

Go ahead.

Dr. Foster, what are the reasons for your discharge?

An employee walked into the examining room to discover you gratifying yourself

over a corpse.

No, it did not happen. That did not happen. It didn't happen? No.

Shall I remind you that you're under oath?

I wasn't on or over a corpse. It happened in the privacy of that room. A

was in the room. Was there some concern in the district attorney's office that

you were being sexually aroused by dead bodies?

No, that was a lie. It was a lie.

I'm sorry, sir, but I have to ask the question.

Have you ever had sex with a cadaver?

No, I have not.

And if I were to proper witnesses who claimed you had sex with cadavers, they

would be liars? Yes, they would.

You are telling the truth?

Yes, I am, counsel. Is this what it's come to?

Medical examiners get crucified?

All right, doctor.

Where the hell are you? Doctor!

You don't object to questions like that. Where the hell are you? Doctor! That's

enough!

Have you anything else, counsel?

Have you ever had extramarital affairs?

Objection. Character evidence. By taking the stand, this man puts his reputation

for truthfulness in issue.

Have you ever lied to your wife, sir?

All right.

Settle down.

I won't settle down. That was obscene. Dr. Foster.

What the hell has this come to? I was just sacrificed up there. It has nothing

to do with this case.

I'm a good Emmy. This is disgusting. It's disgusting.

Why would anybody ever testify if they can? This is disgusting.

Unfortunately, personal lives are becoming more and more fair game.

Then why would any witness in his right mind ever come forward or do my job?

Well, if he chooses to do your job, he should certainly think twice about

his shrew with a corpse handy. Oh, you think that's funny? It's not funny, but

we might need to explain. It happened in the privacy of my office. Again, having

a cadaver nearby.

Shut up!

I'd say we don't rehabilitate. There's no point. Let's go to closings. I don't

think they really shook you on anything relevant. You don't think they shook me,

Ms. Gamble? I resign.

You can't resign now. I don't ever want to be a player in this system. You can't

resign now. At least wait till after the trial.

I was raped in there.

I was humiliated. I was... Hail, hail to our great justice system.

Well, we better work on the closing.

Ms. Gamble?

You know, ever since the O .J. Simpson trial, I've had a hard time defending

this process to non -lawyers.

The way I try to explain it is that that was just an aberrant runaway proceeding

with renegade unscrupulous lawyers, a judge who couldn't control his room,

combined with total and utter disregard for integrity.

And I promise, my friends, that that is just not the way it is.

But every once in a while, you get a case that is every bit as disgusting as

televised debacle would have the public believe.

We certainly witnessed it here, didn't we?

The defendant physically attacked me, the judge went off his medication, and

defense lawyers were blatantly despicable.

Objection. Sustained.

One thing the judge did right, however,

was to forcefully remind you that this case is only about evidence.

It has nothing to do with whether a medical examiner sexually gratified

It has nothing to do with cases that took place in Los Angeles or whether

somebody cheated on his wife.

The defense would love to have you focus on that. But this case is about who

killed Philip Olson.

And we know who did.

The defendant admitted he stabbed the man seven times.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. He stabbed the man

seven times with a knife. That is not in dispute, ladies and gentlemen.

Uncontested.

But since a conviction means an automatic life sentence, defendants

the dice.

And why shouldn't they?

What do they have to lose?

Might as well make something up. There's no reward for telling the truth. The

life sentence is automatic.

In this case, defabrication is self -defense.

Self -defense.

He stabbed the man seven times, including once in the heart and once in

throat.

Self -defense.

No bruising on the defendant's neck, which an attempted strangulation most

certainly would have left.

He's threatened to kill the victim before.

He's a convicted drug dealer who has stabbed people before. But hey, self

-defense.

Even they know how ridiculous that theory sounds.

That's why Mr.

Wicks decided to go for a mistrial.

mug the DA, have the lawyers jumping up and down, turn the whole proceeding into

a giant circus, and the judge might put a stop to the whole thing.

At a minimum, he guarantees himself a new trial on appeal.

And hey, if he happens to be so lucky as to get that one

gullible juror, who knows?

And that's today's Judicial system, ladies and gentlemen. Words like justice

honor and respect, they don't apply.

Lawyers don't get hired today because they're dignified or well thought of.

winning and losing.

Like every business, it comes down to winning and losing.

And I'm ashamed to be a part of it.

I'm embarrassed to be a practitioner of what trial law has become, which is a

joke.

Criminal trials are a joke.

Maybe one day I'll go on to teach.

And I'll say that.

Some student will raise his hand and ask me to give an example. I'll say, sir,

once I had a case where the defendant stabbed an unarmed man seven

times, then walked into court claiming self -defense.

It's all a joke.

It's a joke we've gone this far, isn't it?

Like Ms. Gamble says, seven times he stabbed him. That tells the story.

It's a joke we've wasted all your time.

The judge's time.

Over $100 ,000 of the taxpayer's money. That's a joke.

On the easy ones, we should be able to skip the carnival of a trial and just

send the guy to prison.

He stabbed him seven times.

How simple can it be?

That's why the medical examiner didn't even go to the scene.

That's why he didn't spend much time examining the victim's hand.

How much more simple can a case get? Why the hell are we even bothering with a

trial?

Drug dealing scum. Why even bother?

Hey, look at me.

Am I disturbing you? You got a problem listening to this? Tell the judge and

he'll let you off. Mr. Donald, do not address the jurors. Don't address the

jurors. This is my closing argument. Who should I be talking to? The wall?

You know what I mean.

Maybe I should talk to the wall.

Drug dealing, stabbing client.

Maybe I have a better chance of moving the wall. This case is like pounding up

against the wall.

Mr. Donnell. The reason we bother to go through a trial is because sometimes

things aren't as they seem.

Sometimes things aren't so obvious. The victim tried to strangle him.

The prosecution doesn't want to believe that. You may not want to believe that.

But you at least have to ask yourself, if Eddie Wick planned to kill Philip

Olsen, would he really invite him over to his own house?

Would it happen in such a messy, unplanned way?

The victim owed him over $60 ,000, which he was working on paying back.

Now, most drug dealers tend to like money more than murdering people.

Why would he kill the guy and say goodbye to the money?

Did the prosecution address that?

Did they offer any real motive here?

No. They just count stab wounds. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and

hope you skip over the motive part.

Now, she talks about winning and losing, how disgusting it's become. You don't

think they've tried to win?

They put up a medical examiner who listed off a series of absolute

impossibilities to things that were possible.

It was, in fact, possible for a man to get stabbed in the neck and yet continue

to strangle.

That is possible.

Dr. Foster testified that it was impossible at first. Was he mistaken?

Did he lie? Or did he just overstate it as he said?

He's up here looking for a win, ladies and gentlemen. You can count on that.

One function of the medical examiner's job is to be able to get on this witness

stand and be a persuasive prosecutorial witness and help them secure

convictions, help them win.

And that's what he was doing.

Now, the district attorney says she's ashamed to be a part of it.

Right now, there are over 100 people sitting on death row for crimes they

commit. And if Eddie Wicks were convicted in California, the state that

Dr. Foster for being too sloppy, he would also be on death row.

And how many times have we seen after the man sitting on death row is cleared,

after the guy sitting 30 years in prison is cleared on newly discovered DNA

evidence, or after the wrong man is executed, how many times have we seen

say, I'm ashamed to be a part of the process?

They just say, mistakes happen.

Well, that's right.

Mistakes happen. And even when it seems so obvious.

Mistake happened. And nobody, not her, not him, not you, nobody can be sure

a big mistake isn't happening right here, right now.

It could have gone down exactly the way my client said it did.

Medical examiner knows it.

You heard him admit on cross, under oath, possible.

Possible it happened just like Mr. Wick said possible.

The prosecution is wrong.

And I am not ashamed to stand before you and say you cannot send a man to prison

for the rest of his life when there's a chance the prosecution is wrong.

This is why we have trials, ladies and gentlemen. This is why we bother.

And I am not ashamed to be a part of it. I am proud to be a defense attorney.

I am proud to be the one jumping up and down, even on cases where everything

seems so obvious.

I am proud to be the one making this state prove its burden.

Beyond all reasonable doubt, before taking a man's life away forever.

And I do not think it's a joke.

Now you have two choices. You can go back there and say, drug dealing scum,

let's lock them up anyway.

Or you can admit there was doubt.

Admit the state put on nothing.

to contradict Eddie Wick's testimony and do the job you were sworn to do when

you signed on as jurors.

But if you choose to ignore that obligation, if you choose to say, forget

reasonable doubt, forget the state's burden of proof, and convict him anyway,

well, then Miss Gamble's right after all.

A joke.

He was good.

All he needed to do was persuade one lone imbecile, and he's got the whole...

He's not going to persuade.

Helen, you said it yourself. One idiot beats a conviction. He just delivered a

damn good closing argument.

So maybe they'll beat murder one.

Even with murder two, they've got an appeal.

But Swackheim's right. With a murder two conviction in the bank, they'll have to

plead out on manslaughter.

You believe that?

Guy stabbed somebody seven times. We're sitting here looking at manslaughter as

a victory.

Something I said?

It's not that I believe in you, Eddie.

It's more like... I need to believe in me.

That, and you're not positive I'm guilty.

And there's that.

The judge wants to see you.

As soon as we get our verdict, you will be proceeding directly to jail, whether

your client does or not.

Why? Because I'm holding you in contempt.

The only reason I didn't do it earlier is because I didn't want to prejudice

case. But the disrespect you have shown me in this trial will not go unpunished,

Counselor. Look, I know you're out of your mind. Keep talking. You say you

want to prejudice the case. You call my client scum in open court.

The fact that you even let this thing continue, any disrespect I showed to you

was well earned. Trust me. You should at least have the integrity to hold

yourself in contempt.

You were a blight on that room.

You should have your robes stripped away. And when this case is over, in

addition to all my appeals on record, I will be bringing a motion to have you

removed. And I hope you win. Judges like you are a cancer.

You're a dead rock. This is the most any chance I've ever worked with you as a

client. People have no right to be judges. And you would be on the top of

list. You are disgraceful. You are arrogant.

You bring the state son of a bitch. Bring it right into the cell with you.

is all your fault. All of it.

Fury's back.

The defendant will please rise.

Mr. Foreman, the jury has reached its verdict.

We have.

What say you?

3 -2 -6 -4 -4 -7, Commonwealth versus Edward Wicks. On the count of murder in

the first degree... we find the defendant, Edward Wicks, not guilty.

326 -448, on the count of murder in the second degree, we find the defendant,

Edward Wicks, not guilty.

What?

Members of the jury, this completes your service.

You call that service? Ms. Gamble. What are you, morons? Ms. Gamble. What, do

you like the color of Mr. Donald's tie?

Ms. Gamble. I don't care, Judge. That's it.

That's it.

This is what happened. When you get 12 people too stupid to get out of jury

duty, you end up with a bunch of unemployed, brain -dead idiots.

Tell me, what would it take here? Did he have to stab the guy eight times?

One more word. Come on, raise your hands. Which one of you retards voted

guilty? All right, that's it. You're in contempt.

Throw them in contempt.

Why don't you invite the defendant over for Christmas dinner, huh?

Let him go to Turkey, you idiots. Take her away.

Not guilty by...

Take Mr. Donald away, too.

He knows why.

It's a long story.

So it leaves you and me to celebrate, right?

Maybe next time.

At least you let her share the same cell.

Yep.

Won't Lindsay be thrilled, you and I sharing a room again?

Funny.

Okay, tell me I can take it.

I make a mistake in the trial?

Should I have done something differently?

Did I appear unsympathetic, returning with a concussion?

I don't know.

The medical examiner didn't help you much.

Maybe I could have handled things better.

It doesn't work.

That's why I'm like I am in there. The process doesn't work.

I get frustrated.

Well, maybe it could work.

If you do things right.

Works worse when I do things right.

Why don't you get off the bench?

It's a thought.

French fries?

Two more hours, you can go.