Original subtitles

What are you doing?

Wiping off my shoe

Did you ever see him sing before 8 .30 in the morning?

Uh -uh. He's also wearing a new suit.

How can you tell?

He's still got the tag on.

Ben, you're wearing cologne.

Oh, no, no, no.

I spilled aftershave on my shirt.

Bye -bye.

Oh, where are you going?

Law seminar.

Since when do you go to seminars?

Never too old to learn. Well, I'll go with you. Too late.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is indeed a delight to welcome back

to Atlanta one of the most successful assistant district attorneys this city

ever had.

All the way from Los Angeles, where she currently makes her home, please welcome

our guest speaker, Julie Marks.

Ben, it was sweet of you to come.

Hi, Julie.

Hi.

Oh, you look good. Oh, you look good.

How's Los Angeles?

Not bad.

I mean, what's a few fires, floods, earthquakes?

Does that mean you've given up the prosecuting game and you're on the

circuit? No, not me.

I just couldn't pass up the chance to come back to Atlanta, see a few old

friends, and get paid for it to boot. Oh.

I'm flattered you came. Oh, I'd come to hear you read the dictionary.

Miss March, Mr. Matlock, how about one with the both of you?

And just one more.

Here he comes. Leave it here so we can see.

How was the seminar?

Fine.

You learn anything?

Oh, yeah.

Funny.

Well, what's the big secret? I don't know why you just couldn't tell us.

said that you and Julie used to have a thing for each other.

I never put it so crudely.

We were friends.

Then what's she doing in Atlanta?

She's here for the seminar.

You're telling me she would have given that speech in Poughkeepsie if they had

asked her?

She has friends here.

Believe me, living alone for two years in a strange city, and L .A. is nothing

if not strange.

That'll force you to get your priorities straight.

Maybe she's realized that you are her priority.

Picture in the paper.

You're looking good.

Hey. I thought you'd been released.

Yeah, well, I got kind of bored, and I boosted a couple of cars, got caught,

here I am. I got this three -time loser law. It's a real pain in the butt.

Earl, why did you call me?

They just transferred Clarence Ryder here.

Remember him?

Yes, I remember him.

I've done a lot of bad things in my life, but I never ratted on anybody.

It was a big mistake testifying for you. I should never have testified for you.

You heard him confess.

He's a vicious killer. Your testimony helped me convict him.

Madam Prosecutor, I've got some bad news for you.

I lied.

I had to make some phone calls.

Are you all right? You know, everything is lovely.

Ben, I wanted tonight to be special, and now that you've come up.

What? This inmate at State Prison, Earl McCutcheon, called me at my hotel, said

it was urgent, and so I went out there this afternoon.

Oh, do you remember Clarence Ryder?

I prosecuted him for the murder of Brenda Chaney.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

She was married to that guy with the peach tree cola, Philip Chaney.

Right. Yeah, yeah.

Ryder was a top -of -the -line thief.

Ryder was robbing the Chaney house.

He bypassed the alarm and entered through a French door.

He collected some stuff from the living room and then he went upstairs.

Probably to get Brenda Chaney's jewels.

Well, she must have surprised him because he panicked and killed her.

But before she died, she managed to set off the alarm.

Within an hour, Clarence Ryder was arrested and the Chaney valuables were

in his car.

Earl McCutcheon was Clarence Ryder's family.

He testified that Clarence Ryder told him in the jail that

he had killed Brenda Chaney.

But today, he told me he lied.

He said Clarence Ryder never confessed to him and that I sent an innocent man

to prison.

Oh, Julie, I'm so sorry.

Why'd he lie?

He said the detective in charge of the

investigation told him what to say.

Promised him an early release if he perjured himself and a lot of extra time

he didn't. So he lied.

Earl McCutcheon.

Think he's telling the truth this time?

I don't know what. I think.

Well, you know, maybe you better talk to that detective you said put him up to

it.

Yeah.

You believe me?

You shouldn't be talking to me. You should be talking to a shrink.

But you did help him get an early release.

Yeah, because he helped me nail Ryder.

Detective.

Look. One hand washes the other in this business, lady. That doesn't mean I

bribed the guy for crying out loud.

Do you always work weekend?

Why?

You asking me out?

Earl McCutcheon says you came to see him on a Saturday night.

Well, now, if you're a cop and you're investigating a murder and somebody

you from jail and says that their cellmate just confessed to that murder,

wouldn't you go down there right away?

You're saying he called you.

Of course he called me.

Look, I'm a cop. Earl McCutcheon's a con, okay?

Now, if you can't figure things out from there, I can't help you.

Nobody can.

Dan? Oh, hi. Can I come in?

Uh -huh.

Thanks. I know I should have called first, but I was so excited.

Wow, the place looks great.

New wallpaper.

Okay, now, first thing this morning, I talked to that detective,

Jake Van Owen, and he said Earl McCutcheon called him from the jail on a

Saturday and told him to get down there right away because Clarence Ryder had

confessed to him.

But Earl McCutcheon told me Detective Van Owen initiated the contact by

suddenly appearing at the jail out of the blue. So I checked with the

company to see who was telling the truth.

No calls were made from the jail that Saturday because on Friday some

inmate went for a jerk and ripped the phone off the wall and it didn't get

until Monday.

Detective Van Owen lied to me, Ben.

So I've got to get him out of there. I've got to get him a new trial, but I'm

going to need help. No judge is going to let me defend him. I prosecuted him.

Will you do it?

I'll try.

Whoopsie -doodle.

We have reason to believe you did not get a fair trial.

She ought to know she railroaded me. She and that scumbuck at Earl McCutcheon.

She got him to lie so she could get a conviction.

Somebody got him to lie, but it wasn't her.

Now just settle down.

I have to hear what happened that night.

Okay.

For what it's worth, I hit the place thinking Philip Cheney was still at work

and that his wife was off playing tennis somewhere like usual.

You'd been watching him? I had one rule.

Never hit a house when somebody was home.

It was around 6 or 6 .30. I let myself in the back door.

I grabbed some stuff in the living room when I heard some noise.

I've been coming there every night for three weeks, nobody home on Wednesday

night, not even a car in sight.

When I heard somebody upstairs, I got the hell out of there.

You never went up the stairs?

I never even saw the woman, much less killed her.

So what's the deal? Why is everybody so interested in the truth all of a sudden?

Earl McCutcheon has admitted he lied.

So if you want a new trial, we can probably get you one.

Well, come on. What do you say?

You're going to reopen the case.

I'm sorry, but it has to be done.

Tell T .J. and Bill to come in. Call Parker. Tell him to start the

I'll be up in about five minutes.

Yes, sir.

I remember how painful the trial was for you, Philip.

I thought you should hear this from me before you read it in the papers.

I'm just beginning to put all this behind me. I know, but there's an old

Better a hundred guilty men go free than one innocent man go to jail.

I guess.

Any leads on the real killer?

No.

How can a man get up on the stand and lie? I don't understand that.

Neither do I.

The idea of listening to all that stuff about Brenda's death, I don't know if I

can go through all that again.

I understand.

May I use your phone?

Help yourself.

Dial nine.

I think it was Jake Van Owen. I know it was. I recognize the number.

Why would he be calling Philip Chang?

Probably to tell him what you told him.

But the only thing Detective Van Owen knows is that Earl McCutcheon recanted

story.

He doesn't know we're moving for a new trial.

The only person I've told is Philip Chang.

What? Maybe they got to know each other during the first trial.

I don't think they said two words to each other.

And I was there every day, remember.

Well, you know, I could take a look at the phone records just to see how much

contact they had with each other during the time of the trial.

Would you? Sure.

There you are.

A little mustard, a lot of relish.

Oh, Ben, you remembered.

There, put something in your mouth.

So, Julie, I guess this means you're going to be spending a lot more time in

Atlanta more than you figured, huh?

I guess.

Well, you're welcome to crash at my place if you'd like.

Oh, the hotel's fine.

But thanks anyway. Sure.

There you go.

This has ketchup all over it.

I don't like ketchup.

I know.

Excuse me, Mrs. Kellogg?

Hi, I'm Jerry Stone. I'm a private investigator. I was wondering if I could

you a couple questions.

Private investigator?

Yeah, I work for a lawyer here in town, Ben Matlock.

Have I done something?

No. No, no, it's nothing like that. In fact, keep watering. I hate to see these

flowers die on my account.

Oh, are these petunias?

No, African violet.

Oh.

I'll show you how much I know.

I don't do well with plants.

I buy them, I kill them. It's like a law of nature.

I've never talked to a private investigator before. What do you want to

I'm looking into a murder that occurred some time ago.

The victim's name was Brenda Chaney.

Was she a friend of yours?

Chaney? No.

I don't think I know anyone named Chaney.

Well, I happened to be looking over some old phone records, and I noticed that

on October 5th, three years ago,

Somebody from her residence called your residence at 1 .57 in the afternoon and

talked for 83 minutes.

October 5th?

Yeah. 83 minutes seems like a long time to talk to somebody, especially if you

don't know them. That whole week is a blur.

My daughter was killed in a car accident on the 3rd.

Hit and run.

So the phone rang constantly for days.

But, you know, come to think of it, I did have a lengthy conversation with

woman I didn't know around then. She called to say she'd been so moved by

she'd read in the newspaper about Cammie that she wanted to start a fund in

Cammie's name for needy children or something.

But I don't remember what she said her name was.

She was real nice, compassionate.

She never started a fund, of course, but it was a nice thought.

Could be she never got a chance to.

If it was Brenda Chaney, she was murdered less than five hours later.

What has occurred is the worst nightmare of everyone involved with the American

system of justice.

A man has been incarcerated for a crime he did not commit.

The deposition I just gave you is by Earl McCutcheon, the man to whom

Ryder allegedly confessed.

The man who relayed that confession to the court during Mr. Ryder's trial.

The man who, as you will see, now admits he lied.

And because he lied, Clarence Ryder went to prison.

It's a wrong that must be righted, Your Honor, and soon.

Because to be unjustly punished in the name of justice is the worst injustice

all.

Thank you.

Does the state have any comments?

Yes, indeed, Your Honor.

Defense would like you to believe that Clarence Ryder was convicted based on

testimony of just one man.

That's just not true.

Forensic evidence showed that he was in the Cheney home the night of the murder.

And items stolen from that home were found... You are great.

How does it feel sitting on this side of the aisle?

Strange.

But the company... How'd it

go? Pretty good, I think. The

judge retired to chambers to make his decision.

Well, I think I may have something, but I'm not sure.

Let's hear it.

Well, on the day of the murder, somebody from the Cheney house, probably Brenda

Cheney, called a woman named Susan Kellogg and talked to her for an hour

minutes. Who's Susan Kellogg?

She's the mother of a little girl who was killed by a hit -and -run driver two

days before.

So I looked up the accident report, and guess what homicide detective was

assigned to the case?

Jake Fennell.

Here's his signature on the initial report.

That's all I could get without a subpoena.

I'll get you a subpoena.

After studying the briefs and depositions presented to me and

arguments from both sides, I have concluded that there is indeed just

set aside the original verdict and to hold a new trial, the date of which is

be set as soon as possible.

We did it. Yeah.

We did it.

Yeah.

Well, we're still a long ways from the barn, but it's a start.

Here's to you, Ben. How do you?

You're really special.

How are you?

Well, now, finally, we can talk about something other than the game. Yeah.

That seminar was just an excuse.

I mostly came to Atlanta to see you.

Oh.

There are just some things you can't say over the phone. I mean, you have to say

them face to face.

That's right, I know.

So, I hope this makes you as happy as it makes me.

I'm getting married.

Getting married?

Oh, well, how about that?

Congratulations.

Thanks.

So, what's he do?

He's an eye surgeon.

His name is Michael Jensen, and he stops in his field.

Oh, well, a lawyer and a doctor has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Yes, well, he's quite a guy, that's for sure.

Getting married, how about

that?

Second time's a charm, right?

Did you ever think of getting

married again?

Well, sometimes I... I don't know.

So...

What do you think?

Well, it's... Want to order?

You, uh, you Jerry Stone?

Yeah.

You're a girl.

And you're a boy.

Whose name is?

Jake Van Owen.

Jake Van Owen. Well, what the coincidence? Because I just happened to

over your investigation of the hit -and -run case that killed Camille Kellogg.

So I heard.

Well, as long as you're here, maybe you wouldn't mind answering a couple

questions.

Like what?

Oh, like, how come you never found the driver?

No witnesses.

We had nothing to go on.

Well, you had all the physical evidence from the scene.

A couple of pieces of glass took us nowhere.

Look, lady, don't think I don't know what you're up to.

Don't you like what I'm up to?

You're damn right I don't.

You're trying to find something that'll make me look bad, so that old McCutcheon

will look good when your boss puts the lion dirtball on the stand.

You turned him into a lion dirtball.

I'm just trying to figure out why.

He was telling the truth when he testified the first time, lady.

He's lying now.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

What's the coffee?

Jeff, hey.

That'd be great.

Hey. Not yet.

Not yet.

There you are.

Thanks. Yeah. Ben?

Hmm?

Last night when we were having dinner, I... This is really awkward.

I don't know how to say this without being direct.

Say what?

Last night, I was trying to get you to tell me how you feel about me.

Oh!

You know how I feel about you. No, I don't. Well, sure you do.

No. No, Ben, I don't. Our relationship is something we have never, ever

discussed.

I don't know where I stand with you.

Cream. Cream, you take cream. I don't need cream. I need an answer.

Ben, Ben, this is important to me.

I'm about to marry Michael.

Now, I know.

You're not very good at expressing your feelings, but please, just this once.

In the kitchen.

Hi. Hi.

Oh, I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something? Oh, no. No, no. Here, have

coffee. Sit down.

Did you find anything?

No, not really.

Nobody actually saw the accident.

And the two people that said they saw the car speeding away couldn't agree on

what color the car was, let alone what the driver looked like.

The case was never solved?

No. All they had to go on was a piece of broken headlight. They were able to

determine that it came from a Mercedes, so they checked with all the dealerships

in the area to see if they'd replaced any broken headlights or done any

suspicious body work.

Nothing.

Van Owen got nowhere.

And to tell you the truth, I'm not surprised.

Now, here's a coincidence for you.

Philip Cheney drives a Mercedes.

I remember it from the trial.

Julie, am I being sensitive, or are you suggesting that Brenda and I hit that

little girl?

Well, it's a possibility that's come up.

Well, let's see.

We had dinner with the Davenports at their house at 7. Do you happen to

what time you got home?

No. Where did the Davenport live?

Forest Ridge.

That's not far from where the Kelloggs live.

You are out of line.

Oh, one more thing. I checked my files, and on the night Brenda was murdered,

you went to your friend Arnold Kruk's 50th birthday party.

That's right.

Brenda was supposed to go, but she didn't feel well, so she stayed home.

Do you remember what time you got to the party and what time you left?

The party was at

six. I left about eight. I got home to find my house swarming with police who

told me my wife was dead.

Any other questions?

I'm just doing my job, Philip.

Then why don't you get out so I can do mine?

I talked to Mary Kroc, and she said Philip Cheney was... Definitely at the

party, but she couldn't say for sure what time he got there or what time he

left, but she had that picture.

Which I got blown up to see what time his watch said.

6 .20.

The burglar alarm went off at 6 .36, and the police got there five minutes

later.

There's no way that Philip Cheney could have done it. Worth a try.

What did the defendant say to you when you shared his cell that weekend?

Nothing, really.

He wasn't much of a talker.

He didn't confess to you that he had murdered Brenda Chaney?

No, he did not.

Well, why did you perjure yourself at the first trial by saying he had

confessed? Because a certain member of the police force told me that I'd be

released early if I did and real late if I didn't.

No further questions.

Cross -examine?

Please.

Let me get this straight.

You stood up there three years ago, took the oath, and then lied. Is that

correct?

Afraid so.

But this time you took the oath and you're telling the truth?

Right.

Well, no offense, Mr. McCutcheon, but how do we know that? How do we know

not lying now?

Well, because...

I'm not.

Where did you say you currently reside?

Atlanta State Prison.

Anybody else in this room reside there?

He does.

Let the record show he pointed to the defendant, Clarence Ryder.

Has Mr. Ryder been threatening you, Earl?

Has he been saying he's going to get back at you for testifying against him

during the first trial?

Well... Not to my faith.

No, but word gets around in prison, doesn't it?

He's been making threats you're afraid he's going to make good on them.

And since you're both lifers, you figured the best way to stay alive and

was to placate him by recanting your story, didn't you?

Didn't you?

The guard said they couldn't protect me.

Now, wait just a minute.

Miss Mark, you're out of order.

Julie.

No use getting all mad and out of sorts. It won't get you anywhere.

So three years ago you were telling the truth, weren't you? Clarence Ryder did

confess to you in that jail cell. Look, I... The truth, Mr. McCutcheon.

He told you he murdered Brenda Chaney, didn't he?

Yes.

Now, wait a minute!

Mr. McBlock, I will tolerate no outburst from you either. Somebody got to you,

didn't they?

Mr. Matlock, sit down.

Who was it? I said sit down. But Your Honor, somebody got to it. Every time

something happens in this courtroom that you disagree with, you start yelling

and flailing your arms about, and I'm sick of it. Now sit down.

Mama Cutchins still won't talk to me.

I can't believe she sandbagged us like that.

A detective probably got to him.

Maybe we should subpoena Detective Venom.

He'd just lie and we wouldn't be able to prove anything.

What are we going to do?

Well, Cliff and Jerry are checking bank records. Maybe there's some kind of link

between this Philip Chaney and that detective.

No, they're too smart to leave a money trail.

Mike thinks I should just forget the whole thing and come home.

Mike.

Oh, yeah, you're a high guy.

He says even if we did manage to get Clarence Ryder out of prison, he'd

just commit some other crime and be sent back.

He might realize his mistakes and lead a better life. You can't tell.

Ben?

Ben, I have to know.

What?

You and me, are you listening?

Yes. No, no, no. This time you are not going to change the subject. Look in the

mirror here.

They served birthday cake.

Yeah.

Twenty minutes into the party.

Yeah, Detective Van Owen was the officer in charge of the investigation.

As I recall, he was the one that met me at the door to my house that night and

told me my wife was dead.

Are you sure you didn't meet him before that, while he was investigating a hit

-and -run in which a 10 -year -old girl was killed?

Positive. He never questioned you about that?

No. Now, wait now.

According to these telephone records, someone, your wife, called Susan

Kellogg, the mother of the girl who was killed, a woman she had never met, and

talked to her for over an hour, two days after the accident. Now, why would she

do that?

How can you be so sure it was my wife? There's people in my house all the time.

People in your house? What people?

People working there, people visiting. Why would these people call Susan

a person they probably never heard of?

How should I know?

When we first spoke to Susan about that call,

because of the pain of losing her daughter in such a tragic way, she

remember. But over time, she does remember.

The voice on the other end of the line said the name Chaney.

Are you sure your wife didn't make that call because either you or she or both

were responsible for that hit and run and she felt guilty?

No, absolutely not. Isn't it true that when Detective Van Owen was questioning

you about the accident and the evidence that incriminated you, you paid him to

bury that evidence and not report what he had found?

I did no such thing. Isn't that why you and your wife had such a bitter argument

that night?

We didn't argue that night. What did she threaten you with? To call the police?

Want you to call the Kellogg's? What did she threaten you with? Nothing. She

told you she was going to the police about the hit and run and you killed

didn't you?

Objection, Your Honor. No foundation speculation.

It's pure fantasy.

Your Honor, I'm just trying to establish motive.

You either establish motive or you don't.

As far as I'm concerned, you've established nothing.

Now, either ask some questions that are based on the evidence.

Let this man answer them, or else, sit down.

Yes, Your Honor.

Uh, where were you when your wife was killed? You remember?

I was at the 50th birthday of my good friend Arnold Kruk.

I got there about 6th and left about 8th.

Your wife wasn't invited?

Of course she wasn't.

She wasn't feeling well, so she, uh, stayed home.

Oh, so you went home before you went to the party. No, I went to the party from

the office.

She told me she was sick when I talked to her on the phone that afternoon.

Would you please tell the court

when this picture was taken?

Well, that's Arnold Kruk.

It was taken the night of his 50th birthday party.

His wife, Mary, I believe, took it.

We had this picture blown up.

So we could see what time it was. See that watch right there?

Can you see your watch?

Tell us what time that watch is.

6 .20.

My wife Brenda was killed about 6 .30.

So as you can see, I couldn't have been involved.

Yet that's what we thought at first.

But then, then we saw something reflected in the mirror right there. You

that right there? What is that? What is that?

Looks like a half -eaten birthday cake. That's right.

According to the Crux, they served dinner that night promptly at 7 p .m.

they served the cake promptly at 7 .45.

And that means that this picture had to be taken sometime after that.

I guess my watch stopped, maybe.

Or maybe you turned your watch back to 6 .20 to give yourself an alibi in case

you ever came under suspicion.

There you are.

Now, you want to just tell the court what really happened that night, Mr.

I already have.

I bet your wife didn't tell you she was sick when she called. I bet she told you

that she was going to go to the police about that hit and run, and you came

home, didn't you? I already told you. And you argued with her, and you begged

her, and then something totally unexpected happened.

The defendant, Clarence Ryder, broke into your house.

I was at the party.

No, you were at home.

I don't really know exactly what happened.

But I figure that while Lance Ryder was burglarizing your house and heard

something upstairs, you heard him downstairs.

And you went down and saw him leaving the house.

So you grabbed the letter opener off your desk, went back up the stairs,

your wife to death, knowing the burglar would be...

blamed for it, set off the alarm, then rushed over to the party to give

an alibi.

That's not true. I was at the party the whole time. I didn't get home until

after my wife was dead.

Yes, you did.

And the best part of it is, Your Honor, I can prove it.

You had a meeting that afternoon at 2 o 'clock with Beachwood Advertising. You

remember that?

Yeah, we signed a three -year contract with them.

What did they give you as a memento of that occasion? You remember?

Gold fountain pen.

Okay.

This is a list of the items that Mr.

Ryder had in his possession when the police arrested him, which you later

identified as having been stolen from your house.

Would you please read off item number 11?

One gold fountain pen with the engraved inscription...

Beachwood Advertising Company.

That's right.

Now, how could a pen that you'd just gotten that afternoon wind up being

stolen from your house if you went directly from the office to the party

you said?

Well, I guess we've established reasonable doubt.

that Clarence Ryder murdered your wife.

That means the police will reopen the case, and I imagine you and Detective

Owen will have a long time to talk about what went wrong, because the

way I see it, you're going to wind up in the same place.

Where are Jerry and Cliff?

They'll be here. I told them at 45.

How come?

Well, I thought you would give us time to talk

about this you and me business.

Julie, um... That's all right.

I'm not getting married.

You're not? No.

Well, not at the moment, anyway.

I think I should take some more time.

I'm very fond of Mike.

I mean, I must be to consider marriage.

But not just yet.

Coming here and seeing you, working with you,

I'm just not ready yet.

What were you going to say?

Well, um... When I heard you were coming, I was

just tickled to death.

And then when I saw you, I was just tickled to death.

And I enjoyed the whole thing. The work, being with you, everything.