Original subtitles

on the practice.

Dozens of kids have been abused in this state alone and the church knew what was

going on, did nothing about it, and let it continue.

And what do you propose we do, Eugene?

I propose you stop giving the current institution the money. I propose you be

more angry.

Have you ever thought about leaving the church over?

Bobby, the church is not just the priests.

It's you and me.

We are the church.

I'm leaving the church, Father.

What do you mean?

The sex abuse scandal. The offending clergy makes up a microscopic portion of

the priesthood.

But the church is concealment. It's enabling these priests to destroy so

young lives.

You can't just leave.

Goodbye, Father.

We've been doing it in this very church for 17 years, Eleanor. The problem is it

made the news, and it's open season on aberrant religion.

Our faith is partly Roman Catholic.

It's not nearly as aberrant as you'd like.

Sacrificing animals is out there, Stanley, at least in the eyes of

America. Let's just be clear about that.

I was just saying that we all have our rituals.

Look at Christianity and communion.

They drink the blood of Christ and they eat his body.

That's symbolic.

You actually kill the animal.

I don't understand.

The exact same issue the Supreme Court already ruled on and we won. The

difference here is the law is facially neutral. It's not targeted at religion,

but only to stop cruelty.

Even so... Look, I think we should consider a plea.

Fine.

I'll admit to the facts.

I did what they say I did.

But I will not stand up in a court of law and acknowledge any form of guilt.

That's not going to do it.

Public opinion is very against you here.

Well, if I say I'm guilty, it's the equivalent of apologizing for my

Add to that.

They can shut our doors.

We need a victory here, Eleanor.

I can't promise it.

It's a goat.

For God's sake, they're gonna put me in jail for killing a goat.

That's what I'm telling you.

They will.

He's insisting on trial?

I tried to dissuade him, trust me.

Donnie, I'm Dolan. Are you free in case I need some research?

I'm free. Free exercise clothes.

Why do we seem to be getting so many cases about religion?

Hey, if I could make this about religion, we'd win.

Unfortunately, the statute goes to cruelty and the language is neutral.

What about a de facto burden?

That's possible for appeal, but... Bobby, Judge Swackheim's office. You're

wanted. Now.

What do you mean? He wants you in chambers.

He says to bring a friend.

His lawyer fell out. The case has already been continued six times, and

dead soon. Why us?

Helen Gamble is the DA, and you've had experience against her.

Also, you're on the short list of lawyers willing to defend scum. Meet

client, and I'll see you in the courtroom tomorrow.

What's the case?

Statutory rape.

I don't want it.

I didn't ask.

Ten o 'clock tomorrow morning.

And the court thanks you both.

You were doing a news piece?

Yes, we heard what was going on and we were able to sneak in a camera.

Mr. Danforth, could you tell the court exactly what you observed?

We saw that man, the defendant, kill a baby goat.

He basically slaughtered it.

Okay, I'm going to play a portion of this news piece.

Objection.

Overruled. And I'm going to ask you, sir, if it fairly reflects what you saw

that day. Your Honor, I renew my objection.

Counsel. We have stipulated that my client causes animals to be sacrificed

part of religious worship.

This tape is only being introduced to inflame the jury. The charge isn't

killing. It's cruelty. In order to make that finding... Then let him describe

what he saw. We don't need to see his media -slanted version of it. Ms. Fred,

think we can handle the footage.

If you think it doesn't accurately portray the events, you can cross

Thank you, Your Honor.

Okay. You can see he has a baby goat in his hand.

And it's alive.

Not for long, it isn't.

Keep watching.

What's he doing now?

He's letting the blood drain into a bowl.

It's pretty disgusting.

Objection. Sustained.

That's all I have.

I saw your news piece.

You seemed pretty outraged, Mr. Danforth. I was. I found what your

be outrageous.

I see.

Do you eat meat?

Do I eat meat?

Yes. Ever have a hamburger?

Yes, I eat meat. Do you know how cows are killed?

I believe they're slaughtered.

Would it surprise you to know that their throats are slit much in the same way

as this goat died?

I'm not a fan of slaughterhouses, but at least the animal was killed for

sustenance.

We eat cows.

So it's not the manner in which the animal is killed, but it's what it's

for. Look, I'm not going down this road. I just filmed it.

It's up to you people to decide if it's illegal.

Fair enough.

By the way, do you know what became of the goat after the ceremony?

No, I do not.

They ate it.

Does that make a difference?

I didn't force him.

I never forced him. Mr. Orbis, he's 13 years old.

Whether you forced him or not... We were very close.

That's not a defense either.

I was good to him.

Very good.

I'd help him with his homework.

And I gave him money.

In exchange for sex?

No. He did work at my house.

He'd help clean.

And we became close.

I loved him.

And he loved me.

He still loves me.

I know.

He's the lead prosecutorial witness.

He's only doing this now because his mother is making him.

She told him he can't come over anymore.

She's making him do this.

I love him, and I believe he loves me.

It's his mother.

Did your other lawyers ever discuss a plea bargain?

I can't do prison.

They kill child molesters in prison. Prison is unacceptable.

I'm telling you, it's the mother.

Contact the kids' school. Teachers, principal, guidance counselor. I'll try

interview the social worker.

Who do you want?

The mother or the boy?

Sorry? This case is pretty much two witnesses. The mother and the victim.

one do you want?

Personally, I think it's a mistake for the client to go in with two lawyers.

Makes it seem... Nice try.

But since this goes tomorrow, there's no time. We've got to split this up.

Who do you want?

I'll take the mother.

Great. Our pedophile has two priors. Did you know that?

He's sick.

What's your point?

My point is, how effective can we really be expected to be on one day's notice?

I don't want to hear that.

We do our best.

Fine.

There is a problem here.

We can win this.

He was starting to go down in school, which I couldn't understand because he's

always been a good student.

Well, did you talk to your son about this?

Yes. He said there was nothing wrong.

I said I thought he was spending too much time with him. Him?

The defendant.

He'd hired Justin to do some yard work.

Then they became friends.

He was over there all the time, it seemed.

Did you suspect anything sinister about this relationship?

No. I had no idea that he had this porno film collection or that previously

he... Could you tell us what happened to your son?

Well, with his grades getting worse, I grounded him. I told him he had to come

home directly after school.

May I ask, where was Justin's father?

We've split up and he doesn't... He's an absent father, which is another reason

why I thought he bonded with the defendant.

Okay.

What happened after you grounded Justin?

Well, I didn't see any improvement at school, so I started to give him other

consequences, like no baseball, no television.

I even took away his stereo.

Nothing seemed to work.

And then finally, he told me what was going on. Which was?

He told me that he was having sex with a defendant,

and that he was...

feeling shame over it and that he was having trouble sleeping.

And what did you do?

I notified the police. I... I called the police.

Actually, you waited two days to call the police, didn't you, ma 'am?

Yes. Your son tells you he's raped.

You don't call for two days?

At first, I just... I couldn't believe it. I thought maybe he was trying to

escape punishment or... You thought he was making it up.

I was just so stunned at first. I couldn't believe it.

I guess I was desperate not to believe it.

But once it sank in that it was true, I called the police.

You mentioned your son wanting to escape punishment.

You mean being grounded, missing baseball, that sort of thing?

Yes. How about you hitting him?

You ever hit your son, Mrs. Langer?

Objection. Where is this going? Your Honor, sometimes kids will say anything

make the beating stop. I did not beat him. Short leash.

Speed it up. Did you ever hit your son, Mrs. Langer? I spanked him sometimes.

I did not beat him. Did you spank him on account of his grades going down? I

spanked him once or twice.

There were not beatings, and I certainly never hurt him.

Did you ever hit your son for using drugs?

He once used marijuana that your client gave him, and yes, I spanked him.

Do you work, Mrs. Langer?

Yes. What do you do for work?

I'm a waitress in a restaurant.

Could you tell me your hours?

Three to eleven.

Three in the afternoon till 11 at night?

Yes. Weekdays?

Yes. When did your son get home from school?

Between two and three.

Wow, so you barely see him during the week.

Possible he could have made this story up to get your attention?

No. That is not possible.

Ever know your son to tell you things that maybe weren't true?

No. Your son always speaks the truth.

Yes. He is a truthful person. Yes, he is.

And yet, when he tells you he was raped...

You don't call the police for two days.

Good job.

What are we doing here?

It's basically a traditional African religion with elements of Roman

Catholicism. But the reason we're all here is because of one particular

Yes. Can you tell the jury why sacrifice animals?

It's a way of honoring the Orisha.

which literally means head guardian.

In simplest terms, the animal's blood is offered. The sacrifice is said to

please the saints and bring purification and forgiveness of sins.

You have to acknowledge, Mr. Jolie, that does seem a little barbaric. We know

that American culture rejects it, and we therefore try to be as discreet as

possible, even secretive. We've never tried to impose our rituals or beliefs

upon the public.

And in fact...

The only reason we're here today is because the media invaded us.

Does the animal suffer?

The sacrifice is almost always quick and as humane as possible.

So it's your testimony that what we all saw on the television screen, in your

eyes, there was no animal cruelty. We try to be as humane as possible.

And you do that with lambs, goat, turtles, guinea pigs, sheep?

All those animals, you slit their throats and offer the blood to your

Yes.

He did well, considering.

But? But he couldn't undo that videotape, Eugene. How could he? That

that's what the jury's going to take back to that room, that squealing goat.

Well, Eleanor, if it's a tale of the tape, then get yourself some tape.

What do you mean?

I mean this is America.

You think Santorians are the only ones to kill animals?

Sit.

You think I want that piece of crap walking?

Tell me the ideology of the criminal lawyer, if you remember.

To check the state's power to incarcerate people at will. You get a

Now look at me.

Look at what's going on out there.

The state regularly jails people without due process, then calls them material

witnesses, and locks them up without even filing charges, much less giving

a hearing.

You're talking about terrorist suspects. Who says it has to stop there?

You don't think there are people out there who want to extend that policy to

suspected child molesters?

I understand the system, Judge, and I appreciate my role in it.

Then why are you here?

I have to get up tomorrow and attack a 13 -year -old rape victim.

And I don't want to do it.

Well, you will.

And if I tank it?

Please.

You don't think I just pulled your name out of a hat?

You okay?

Yeah.

It's just... This isn't exactly what I went to law school for, Eugene.

Fighting for serial goat killers.

Are you serious?

I don't know.

Why did you go to law school?

Clarence Darrow.

I read his clothing on Leopold and Loeb over and over and over.

For me, it was the Constitution.

I was 12, and I couldn't understand half of it, but I knew this was something.

And you know the part that especially got me?

Freedom of religion.

I know that probably sounds funny, considering how I've been acting towards

religion lately, but that amendment, it said to me that at least in principle,

this country stands for tolerance.

And Eleanor, of all the constitutional liberties that need protecting today,

freedom of religion.

I understand that. I really do, but... But what?

I like goats.

Trust me, Eleanor.

This case is exactly why you went to law school.

As a member of the American Humane Society, you've had occasion to

document the footage we're about to see. All the footage is accurate and has

been verified.

Can you narrate, Miss Elder?

That is a cow being killed at a slaughterhouse in Texas.

A pig.

Chicken.

Examples of trapping.

Laboratory testing.

Baby seals. This is Canada, not the U .S.

The question becomes, Miss Elder,

Are these isolated events?

Isolated? Certainly not.

It goes on every day.

Miss Elder, I'm curious. Did you get a chance to see the tape showing what goes

on in the defendant's church?

I did. In your opinion, did you find the defendant's actions to constitute

animal cruelty?

Objection. She can give a lay opinion, not legal.

He slid a goat's neck and let the blood drain out.

It was repulsive.

Justin, if you want to stop or you feel you need to take a break, you tell me.

Okay. You said the two of you started to become friends.

Yes. After I'd finished my work, we'd play cards and games.

And then we started to watch videos and stuff.

What kinds of videos?

Well, at first, just comedies and stuff, like The Nutty Professor and Austin

Powers.

And after a while, sex videos.

And these videos, men and women were having sex?

Some men and women.

But mostly just men and men.

Or men and boys.

What did you think when you saw this?

I don't know.

I guess it kind of grossed me out.

But, you know...

Mitchell, he said it was very common for men to have sex with each other.

What did you think of that?

I don't know.

Jackson, at some point, did you and Mitchell Orbis have sex?

Yes. Could you tell us about it?

Justin, look, I know this is very difficult for you, but you're completely

safe here, I promise.

We need for you to tell us what happened.

He, um, he would touch my private.

By touch?

How would he touch you?

With his hand, with his mouth.

His mouth?

Yeah. He would put his mouth on my privates. By privates, you mean...

My penis.

And he would ask me to put my mouth on his penis.

Did you?

Yes.

Justin, I promise you, I'm almost done.

How many times did this happen?

A lot.

A lot.

More than ten times?

Yes.

More than twenty?

Your Honor, I think we should take a small break.

He never cried.

He liked it.

I think that his mother told him to cry.

I promise.

He never cried.

This isn't a case about religion.

It is about cruelty to animals.

You saw the tape.

This man dangled a baby goat as people danced behind him, and he slit its

throat. He does it with pigs, sheep, turtles, chickens, doves, pulls

out his knife or box cutters.

Objection! There has never been a suggestion of box cutters. I only meant

cutting instruments.

We all know what you meant, and I object to the blatant innuendo. All right.

Careful, Mr. Brenner.

We're not here today to pass judgment on the century in faith.

All of us, every one of us, is free to choose our form of worship. Of course we

are. But the exercise, the practice of religion has never been absolute.

Whether it's public health or safety or, yes, even morals, the state can step in

and say, whoa, can't do that.

Here, they torture and mutilate animals in an open and notorious manner.

We as a society don't tolerate that.

How could we?

We don't tolerate it?

What society is he talking about?

We live in a society that slaughters animals for food. We kill them for fur

coats. We poison them to test new drugs. We torture animals all the time.

We even murder them for sport.

We hunt, we fish, we walk up to deer with our shotguns and we blow off their

heads. We yank fish out of the water and we let them suffocate at the bottom of

our votes. If you want to convict my client for being cruel, fine.

But don't you dare do so under some cloak of humanity that we as a society

don't torture animals.

And I would submit.

That if we say it's okay to hunt them down and to maim them for recreation,

vanity, or even for Thanksgiving, how do we say no

for worship?

A traditional worship that dates back over a thousand years.

Personally, I don't like what they do. But you simply cannot condemn this man

under some theory.

That killing animals isn't tolerated by the United States of America because it

is.

Every time you eat a hamburger, you not only tolerate it,

you proliferate it.

It's a pretty serious thing to accuse someone of statutory rape, Justin.

How long had this been going on for?

Three months or so.

And you never told anybody?

I was too embarrassed.

You started getting in trouble at school, didn't you? I saw detentions for

fighting, swearing at a teacher.

Do you get suspended for swearing at a teacher?

No. No?

Oh, that's right. The principal thought this behavior was a cry for attention.

Do you remember him saying that?

Yes. Ever accuse another kid at school of doing anything to you?

Russell Lefevre?

Did you once accuse Russell Lefebvre of punching you from behind?

Yes. Did Russell Lefebvre punch you?

No.

You made it up?

I'm not making this up. You made it up against Russell. I can explain that.

You don't have to explain. Just tell us, yes or no.

Did you make up false accusations against Russell Lefebvre?

Yes. Ever get caught cheating on a test, Justin?

Once. That's cheating.

And lying.

Objection. Withdrawn. Do you take drugs, Justin?

All right. This is the accusing witness.

Go ahead.

Ever smoked marijuana, Justin?

Yes. You got caught smoking it at school, didn't you?

Yes. You told the principal that you got it from one of the high school kids.

You told your mother you got it from Mr. Orbis. Who were you lying to, the

school principal or your mother, Justin?

I got it from Mitchell.

So you lied yet again to the principal.

Yes, but I didn't want to...

After you were caught with drugs, Justin, you got suspended then, didn't

Yes. And this is when...

After

you were suspended for drugs,

how did your mother react?

She was angry.

Angry?

Did she hit you?

She spanked me. And this is when you suddenly declared that Mr. Orbis had

molested you.

Did you say that for sympathy, Justin?

No. It's the truth.

I see. So your mother, two days later, finally decided to believe you, and she

called the police.

And when you talked to the police, you had to give them a lot of different

statements, didn't you?

Yes. The first two times you met with the police, you said nothing about Mr.

Orbis putting his mouth...

On your penis or yours on his. You never said that, did you, Justin? I was too

embarrassed. Too embarrassed?

When did you come up with the idea to add that part?

Objection. Overruled. You made that up, didn't you, Justin?

No. Justin, do you understand that you have an obligation to tell the truth

here? We're not in the principal's office now. We're in court.

Your lies are hurting people.

I am telling the truth.

So this isn't another false accusation?

This time you're sticking with it?

Objection! Withdraw, nothing further.

Commonwealth rests, Your Honor.

Mr. Donnell, you could call your first witness tonight, or we can wait and

tomorrow.

Counsel, did you hear me?

The defense rests, Your Honor.

I can't talk now. Can't talk?

How about just looking me in the eye then, Bobby? Can you do that?

You hypocrite.

You leave the church accusing us of enabling sex offenders. There's a

between... There's a difference?

Yes.

Between representing somebody who's committed a crime and protecting his

so he can go on committing it, there's a big difference. That's crap.

I gotta leave. Then you're gonna have to knock me over because I'm not moving,

you son of a bitch, until you listen to what I have to say.

You're helping him secure his freedom.

How is that not enabling more rapes? I was ordered by the court. Then quit your

profession.

You're a man that's quite capable of walking out of a door, Bobby. We both

that. Walk out on the legal profession like you walked out on the church.

How dare you judge me or the Catholic people? Too bad you can't save some of

your rage for your fellow priests.

I have plenty of rage for them, believe me.

And I'm standing here right now condemning you, mostly for your

Step away from the door, Father.

I'm going.

Allow me, Bobby, to walk out on you.

I bet Helen chased him down and set him in motion.

Helen? to distract me. How the hell would he even know what case I'm doing?

Bobby, it's been in the papers.

We'll be just like her.

Okay, you need to take a breath. Lindsay, this is no time.

Helen Gamble did not go running to a church to rattle you, and if you think

that, you're rattled already.

Maybe you should let Jimmy close.

I can close.

Bobby. I can close, damn it!

make up their minds so fast.

They're decisive.

Hang in there.

I prayed all night.

Used up six cats.

That was a joke.

Madam foreperson, the jury has reached the verdict.

We have, Your Honor.

Will the defendant please rise?

What say you?

The Commonwealth versus Stanley Jolie on the charge of cruelty to animals.

We find the defendant, Stanley Jolie, not guilty.

The jury is dismissed with the thanks of the court.

We're adjourned.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Eleanor, I know this ritual you found to be personally repugnant, which makes

your defense of it and my rights all the more heroic.

Thank you.

Heroes are not easily found.

It takes an enormous amount of courage for a victim of child molestation to

forward.

Most don't.

Most think it's somehow their own fault and the shame is too much to bear.

And for those who can overcome the embarrassment, there's the prospect of

having to sit in a courtroom day after day with the man who raped you.

We live in a country where the suspect has a constitutional right to confront

his accuser.

And somewhere along the way, confront became attack.

You saw it here.

With Justin Langer being assaulted in that chair by defense counsel.

One almost had to wonder, was it worth it?

Well... When the alternative is a rapist going on to possibly rape other

children, yeah, it's worth it.

That's why I consider this young man to be a hero.

He came into this room to face down the man who raped him.

And his testimony is uncontroverted.

He told you how the defendant...

would repeatedly engage him in acts of oral copulation. How this man with a

library of pornographic videos would use those videos to seduce this child.

He's 13 years old.

13.

And he was raped.

Pedophiles repeat their crimes.

Please.

Don't give this one the opportunity to do so.

Miss Gamble talked about our system.

Rights of defendants and victims.

You know that 90 -something percent of all defendants are guilty?

Think about it.

By the time they get to trial, they've been judged guilty many times.

You got the accuser and the arresting officers, the detectives, then a grand

jury, then probable cause. We got all these mini steps along the way, each of

them concluding the same thing.

The guy did it.

And since the facts, you see, DAs, they just want to give a good,

accurate presentation of the facts.

But defense lawyers, our job is to skew them.

We stand up to distort, bend, hide the truth if necessary.

And if you got a guilty guy, which we usually do, what?

We're going to hope the jury gets the right idea?

My craft, smoke and mirrors.

Defeat.

Criminal defense attorneys aren't about searching for the truth. Are you

kidding? Mr. Donald.

That's our system.

The DA has to prove guilt beyond all reasonable doubt, and defense lawyers

doubt. Whenever, wherever, with all the discipline that that perverted bastard

probably spews semen on his walls. I'd like to finish my closing argument.

This man, I think he's guilty.

I'm sure as hell not supposed to say that, but I think he did it.

The problem is... I can't be sure.

Neither can you.

Because all we have is one witness.

Sympathetic, definitely.

Compelling, no doubt.

But credible?

His own mother waited two days to call the police because even she didn't

believe him at first.

He has a history of leveling false accusations, a history of lying and

a track record of crying out for attention, a history of drug use.

The story itself changed with different statements to the police.

On the possibility that Mitchell Orbis really did commit these crimes,

I hope he goes away.

But in this country, we don't take away a man's freedom on the possibility of

guilt or likelihood, even an overwhelmingly strong likelihood.

You have to find guilt beyond all reasonable doubt.

And I'm sorry.

You can't get there with one lone witness, especially one whose word lacks

credibility. My client may be scum, but there is no real case against him in

this courtroom today.

Which means the heroes here have to be you.

You have to go back to that room.

Uphold your oath to our system.

Because if you don't... God forbid the day

comes when the only thing standing between our freedom and a prison cell is

accusing finger from a child who lies.

Because that's all we have here today, ladies and gentlemen.

One accusing finger from a child who's been known...

To lie.

Could I have a second in private, please?

Bobby, the reason I felt so violated by your decision to leave the church...

You see, the church, to me, isn't an institution.

It's not a cardinal or the pope.

It's first and foremost my parish.

The people.

So, by your leaving, it was in some way... I understand that you

look to me for spiritual and moral leadership.

And obviously, I fail to provide it.

But if I could retract yesterday's condemnation and substitute it with some

guidance, no.

A criminal justice system.

Obviously, we need defense lawyers to do what they do.

But, Bobby, from a spiritual and moral standpoint,

is this any way for a man to live his life?

I'm sorry.

You're not going to believe this.

Jury's coming back.

Mr. Foreman, has the jury reached a unanimous verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

Will the defendant please rise?

Mr. Foreman, what say you?

In the matter of the Commonwealth v.

Mitchell Orbis, on the count of statutory rape, sex with a minor, we the

finding a strong likelihood of guilt, regrettably, Return a

finding of not guilty.

Members of the jury, this concludes your service.

I caution you. You will be subjected to inquiries from the press seeking to

explore your decision.

None of you are required to discuss this with the media.

We are adjourned.

The defendant is free to go.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.