Original subtitles

Previously on L .A. Law.

Abigail Perkins?

Yes? I'd like you to leave everything exactly the way it is, please. Stand up,

put your hands on your head.

What? I have a warrant for your arrest, ma 'am. You're being charged with

engaging in a monetary transaction involving criminally derived proceeds.

Grace, when we first met, we had passion.

I want to know where that went.

I don't know.

I know this will cause you devastating pain.

Oh, no.

I hereby find the circumstances of Tammy Harris's life too significantly

changed, making reasonable the withdrawal of her consent.

Your Honor, could we at least have another day to say goodbye?

You have to say your goodbye now.

What's this, Hawaii?

I thought maybe we could get away.

We just filed the appeal.

No. Victor will let us know if anything happens. In the meantime... Stuart, I

have to stay here.

It's over, Ann. Stuart. It's over.

Even if the appeals court finds abuse of discretion, they are not going to move

the baby again.

So we just give up? Is that the... We're gone.

and we have to accept it, and we have to try to get on with the rest of our

life. Please don't push me on this, Stuart.

She was our whole life for three months. Don't ask me to just let go of her.

What if Tammy calls? She's not going to call. You don't know that.

She's unstable.

First she didn't want the baby, then she wanted the baby.

I know you need time, but I don't think Tammy Harris is going to change her

mind.

I have to let it go.

For me.

Are we ever going to survive this, Stuart?

I don't think we have all that much choice.

Vincent Kyle might have been homeless, but he was still part of the community.

To those of you who see the homeless as also faithless, nameless, and worthless,

you should at least know this.

They grieve for their own the same as anyone else, and they also demand

At this trial, there will be 12 of the defendant's peers in that jury box.

Well, I'm here to tell you that there will be 12 of the victim's peers in the

courtroom. and they will be watching. Feeling any pressure, Ms. Van Owen? When

man's been killed for going through a garbage can, I don't need any pressure.

The life of a homeless person means as much as the life of any other human

being. Well, thank you, ma 'am. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We can do

without the nonsense today, Leonard. Come on, Father.

I think we ought to show a little gratitude around here.

I mean, we get a meal, we get to be on television, and hey, if somebody kills

one of us, they actually arrest him.

I'm not asking for gratitude.

Like hell you aren't. You think you're some kind of saint.

I'm just doing my job, sir.

Oh, don't be so modest. You're the champion of the downtrodden, concerned,

compassionate Joan of Arc on the nightly news.

That's enough, Leonard.

I'm not doing this for the news.

Well, there's the TV cameras.

And as soon as they turn them off, you get back in your little sports car and

you drive home as fast as you can. And let one of us come anywhere near your

house and you kill us just as quick as that guy who's on trial. I am

this man because I believe he belongs in prison.

Nobody goes to prison for killing one of us.

We'll see about that.

Just like stepping on a bug, lady.

It don't mean nothing.

On a potentially bright note, I'm meeting with the CEO of Hackett

Corporation this afternoon.

They're looking for new general counsel, and if I'm successful in setting the

hook, this could mean an annual billing revenue in excess of $600 ,000.

Good luck. Go get him, Dougie. Thank you.

Hurrying along.

Meyer versus Meyer.

Yeah, Dave Meyer is coming in this morning undoubtedly to try and talk me

talking Roxanne into taking him back.

Is he represented by counsel?

Uh, not yet as far as I know.

And what about the Davosky divorce?

Mr. Davosky keeps calling me.

I'll get to it as soon as I can, Douglas. I'm a little backed up. I

have a new associate by now. Perhaps if you'd contribute to the interviewing

process, we would. I thought Dorothy and Diana were going to solve the manpower

crisis. Swamped as it is. And Diana Moses is a part -time clerk, not a full

-time associate, plus which I notice she herself has now become a client.

You're divorcing her husband, and I opened up a file for administrative

convenience. It's real simple. She'll be doing it herself.

Fine. So we pay her to do her work instead of ours.

She'll do the work, Doc, but don't worry. Why should I worry?

Arnie spends his days representing Roxanne, pro bono. Diana Moses will

herself, pro bono.

Michael's gonna represent Abby, I assume, pro bono. By the way, Mike,

deal on that? Money laundering. She's being charged with knowingly accepting

drug money.

With all the time we spend representing each other, it's a small wonder anybody

has time for paying clients.

All right, Douglas, you've made your point over and over again.

No, actually, you left out the most important point of all.

You forgot how Victor represented Ann and me pro bono last week and how Arnie

did all the legwork with the baby broker.

I have no quarrel with that. I know you don't, Douglas, which brings up the

point that I want to make.

Ann and I would like to thank you all for your support.

It's one thing to offer compassion.

But you people, each in your own way, actually managed to provide it somehow.

And we'll never forget it.

Okay.

I guess we're adjourned.

He's in there.

Did you talk to him? Did he say anything?

He wouldn't talk to me. He just said, tell Arnie I'm here.

Oh, boy.

Dave, we've had some happy visits, Arnie.

It's fair to say this will not be one of them. You know, until this thing is

settled, you and I really shouldn't be talking unless you have a lawyer

I thought you were my friend.

Oh, come on, Dave. I don't have many friends. I know a lot of people, yes,

don't have many friends.

I am your friend. I care about what happens to you. You don't give a rat's

about what happens to me.

That's not true.

Look, there's someone lying in the gutter. Never mind. It's only Dave.

Stop the car. You ran over him. Never mind. It's only Dave. You're not the

one involved here.

Roxanne is also devastated.

Now, she's come to me for support. What should I do?

Send her away?

Yes.

There are some things you don't do.

You don't sell solid cakes of insecticide as teething biscuits, and

betray your friends.

That's not the way I see it.

Now, your wife wants out. It can either be amicable or it can be bloody.

Trust me on this.

You join forces with that faithless Herod, and it's going to be as bloody as

Battle of Bull Run.

They're saying I had to know that Weiland was paying me with drug money.

chart, just laundering. So, no indictment yet, right? The grand jury

Thursday. This is so unfair. I did nothing illegal.

Well, I think it sounds more like politics than anything else.

How much money did you get from Weiland?

Altogether, about $70 ,000.

In a month?

I went by the book, Mike. Everything was on the up and up.

I think we've got a good chance of suppressing.

Wiretap looks very shaky.

And I know Flaherty. I set up a meeting for tomorrow.

Maybe we can work something out.

No way.

He's looking for a trophy to hang on his wall. If it can't be Weiland's head,

he's gonna get mine.

Well, just the same. His case stinks. It's worth a shot trying to talk him

from his perch.

Yeah, I'll say it's worth it.

I could be looking at disbarment here.

I could go to prison, Mike.

Hang in there, Abby.

We're gonna pull out all the stops on this one.

Thank you, Michael.

Thanks.

Mr. Broder, what were you and Vincent Kyle doing that night?

We were going through garbage cans.

What were you looking for?

Food. But it was pouring rain that night. We were hungry.

Did you go through the defendant's garbage?

Yes. Would you describe your encounter with the defendant, Mr. Broder? He came

out and told us to get away or he was going to call the cops.

And what did you do?

Vincent asked him how come we couldn't have his garbage.

What was his response to this, sir? He just went back in through the gate, and

he came out in a little while, and he had a gun in his hand, and he pointed it

at Vincent, and he said, get the... get the F away from my house.

Vincent bent down to pick up this pair of sneakers he'd found, and that's when

that man shot him.

And what did you do?

I ran.

Thank you, sir.

I have nothing further, Your Honor.

Where'd you sleep last night, Mr. Broder?

Objection. Offered to impeach.

Overruled.

I got a room downtown.

Who paid for it?

Ms. Van Horn.

She pay for that new jacket you're wearing?

Yes. She pay for the new shoes?

Yes. Do you really think it's life for a pair of shoes?

Or did you just enjoy shaming him?

The down father.

Tell us.

Did you ever know Vincent to be a violent man?

Vincent took care of me.

He used to cut my hair. He made me brush my teeth.

When I had pneumonia, he got me a blanket and he stayed up all night so

bother me.

He also had a knife with him the night you two went to Richard Jeffrey's house,

didn't he?

He had everything he owned with him. Was he holding a knife when Richard Jeffrey

shot him? Vincent wouldn't threaten a guy with a gun in his hand.

You sure about that? Yes.

Vincent didn't want to die.

Is that right?

Tell us, Mr. Broder.

Did Vincent ever attempt suicide?

Objection. Overruled. He attempted suicide last Christmas, didn't he?

Yes. And he was kept under observation at Camarilla State for six weeks

following that, wasn't he? Your Honor, this line of questioning is inflammatory

and irrelevant.

A history of psychotic behavior is irrelevant?

He stayed in the hospital so he could sleep.

So he could sleep?

Yes. When you sleep outside during the night, the crackheads rob you during the

day the cops chase you.

Vincent was tired.

He was crazy, Mr. Broder, not tired. No, no. He was dangerously crazy.

You live on those streets for six and a half years.

You see how crazy that makes you?

No further questions.

Okay, Mr. Brackman, better get your people in.

We're in.

Just the two of you?

How many people did the other firms bring?

Bundy, Speck sent four partners.

You'll be fine.

Packet development.

Benny. Yeah?

I want you to sit next to me in the meeting, okay?

Like a lawyer.

I don't know. It'll be fine.

Sit next to me. Just take a yellow pad and write.

Don't talk. Don't look around.

Just look down at the pad and write.

Mr. Brackman?

Put these on.

Great. And get rid of the gum.

Head down.

Right.

Mackenzie Brackman may not be all things to all men, but we think our strength

and your needs make a very nice fit.

I think it's only fair to express my concern about no Bay Area office.

That's what airlines are for.

Look. We're severing our ties with Gacy Whitman because I want to be able to

pick up the phone and talk to my attorneys.

I don't want to wait three days for a return call.

Of course not. What's going to make this work is compatibility.

Because if you don't like the way I do business, if you're constantly having to

be the bearer of bad news, it's going to affect your commitment to us. Rest

assured, Leo, that our professional obligation... What does your associate

think?

You.

You've heard all this how would you assess this match in terms of

I Don't know I Don't know either Ben, but I appreciate the candor

For once a lawyer doesn't bluff an answer when he doesn't have one Thank

Arnie, look at this. Dave's bringing an expedited motion to disqualify you. He

says you have a conflict of interest.

You've got Sheldon Gans representing him.

Big Dave's not fooling around here, Rox.

What happens if he wins this motion?

It means nobody in this firm can represent you. You'll have to go outside

counsel.

And there aren't too many out there as good as Sheldon Gans.

I promise.

I've got the credit card bill in front of me.

$1 ,200.

Daryl, for God's sake.

Hang on.

I'm sorry, Victor.

No, I'm sorry. I didn't want to interrupt.

This isn't work.

Interrupt. Okay, here's the order. It's Mike's research, it's mine, then mine.

Just check with me before you do my stuff, okay?

Michael, then you, then you.

Right. Bye.

Sorry, Daryl.

Daryl? Hello?

You heard.

All these agreements we made to talk about being good to each other, and he

off to Mexico with somebody on my credit card.

You sure?

She's an ER nurse at the theater.

I'm sorry.

Jonathan, when you offered help, were you serious?

Very serious.

Help.

Not up to me, Michael, if the grand jury wants to return an indictment. You're

the one pushing this, Terry, not the grand jury.

Because your client broke the law.

Give me a break.

Come on, we all know what's going on here. You're mad as hell because you

Weiland and you're taking it out on Abby. If she's innocent, she's got

to worry about.

Innocence or not, this puts a big stain on her reputation, which... She should

have thought about reputation before defending dirtbags like Weiland. You

to fry Weiland, go after Weiland, but attacking her is unprofessional and you

damn well know it. What is unprofessional is your waltzing in here

guise of friendship to climb up my back for a dismissal. You think I'm climbing

on you now, Terry. This thing goes to trial. My footprints will be up and down

your head.

Grand jury meets tomorrow.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Let me testify.

Abby, I don't need to let you do anything.

You want to tell your story? Let me tell mine.

Are you afraid they're going to see through you like a storefront window?

You want to testify, Counselor? I will roll out the red carpet.

Two o 'clock.

Don't be late.

I wouldn't testify, Abby. If I don't, there's no avoiding the indictment.

so. But the main thing we have to do is avoid a conviction.

We've got to look down the road.

They will not convict me, Mike.

Oh, just the same. You're testifying for the grand jury, hands him free

discovery. He'll be better prepared for you at trial.

I'll take my chances.

I can't go in there with you, you know.

Grand jury's closed to counsel.

I'm just going to have to beat him all by myself.

May I talk with you a second, Father?

Sit down.

I found that juries tend to get a little spooked with outbursts in the court.

You want me to mind my P's and Q's? I just think that disrupting the courtroom

can work against us.

We disrupt the courtroom just by showing up. Courtrooms are public places.

These people aren't part of the public, Ms. Van Elwyn. Then at least let's not

make it any worse.

No promises, but I'll try.

Thank you.

Excuse me, are these people here with you?

Why? We can't have them taking up all these tables here at lunchtime. These

people are attending a trial upstairs, sir. They can't sit over a cup of coffee

for 45 minutes.

Then buy them lunch.

I should buy them lunch.

Very simple. Either they're out of here in five minutes, or I'm calling the

cops.

I thought we'd go over a few specifics of an agreement, and then, if you have

the time, I'd like you to meet the other partners.

Bye.

Will Ben be joining us?

Ben?

No, he's unavailable.

Well, make him available. I'd like him at this meeting.

Mr. Hackett, Ben is Benny.

Benny Stolwitz. He's not an associate.

He's the firm's messenger, and he's retarded.

I asked him to sit in with me at our first meeting because we didn't have an

associate who could come.

I assure you that we are in the process of finding another associate, and in

fact, our ability to serve Hackett Development would not be affected in any

case, because the partners will... That man is retarded?

Yes.

I regret very much... I want to talk to him.

Vinnie!

Yes, sir?

Mr. Brackman told me that you're not a lawyer, that you work here as a

for the firm.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm sorry.

Don't be sorry.

You're not mad at me? Of course not.

Tell me, Benny, do you like working here?

Yeah.

Besides the mail, what else do you do?

I get donuts and I file stuff.

I go to the cleaners a lot for Arnie.

But I like delivering the mail aback.

Benny, I wonder if you'd do me a favor.

I have a daughter named Alice.

She's also retarded.

Would you be willing to talk to her about your job?

What do you mean?

Well, just say what you did to me.

Alice is scared of people. She doesn't like to leave the house.

Oh.

When she was a little girl, she got lost.

And we couldn't find her for days.

It was terrible.

But that was a long time ago.

She's grown up now.

And I would like her to come to work in my office, but she's afraid.

I get scared when I get lost, too.

Would you talk to her?

Tell her about your job, about how you get from place to place by yourself.

About the mail.

And about your friends.

I don't know.

I'm not so good at explaining things.

Besides, I'm real busy all the time.

Well, would you at least think about it?

Okay.

But I gotta get back to work.

Mr. Jeffries, we've heard Henry Broder's version of what happened that night.

I'd like for you now to give us yours.

I heard someone going through my garbage.

I went outside and asked Mr. Broder and his friend Mr. Kyle not to. I didn't

think I was being disrespectful or impolite.

I just told them I was concerned about rodents and I wanted my garbage to be

left sealed.

And what was their response?

I guess they thought I had insulted them.

Objection. This witness is in no position to know what they thought.

Sustained. But what did they say, Mr. Jeffries? I don't remember his exact

words. But Mr. Kyle said something like, if it's in the alley...

It's ours.

Then he said some other threatening stuff. He had a knife in his hand the

time. What did you do?

I beat it back into the house.

Did you call the police?

Yes, I did. I told them there were two transients going through my garbage,

they threatened me. They refused to leave.

I was told it was a low -priority call and that they would get to it when they

could. Your Honor, I have here a transcript of that phone call.

I ask that it be admitted into evidence as defense exhibit number one.

So ordered. You didn't stay in the house, did you, sir?

My wife and I were going out to dinner. I didn't feel safe leaving the kids home

alone. I went outside with the gun just to scare them away.

And what happened?

They didn't scare.

This guy, Vincent, stared at me with this knife in his hand.

He crouched down and came toward me with this crazed look on his face. Objection

to that characterization.

Sustained. I yelled at him to stay back.

But he just kept coming at me.

I had to shoot him. He would have killed me.

I have no further questions.

So you were afraid they'd break into your house, but you killed him in the

alley. I didn't want to wait until they got inside.

What made you think that they would have?

The way they cursed at me. The look on their faces.

The look on their faces. That's not the only time the look on their faces got to

you, was it, Mr. Jeffries?

Objection. Overruled.

You've lodged more than 15 complaints with the police department about

transients in your neighborhood, haven't you?

My daughters were afraid to play in the yard. You complained about them being in

front of your office.

They sweep in the doorway. What does this have to do with anything, Your

I submit that the defendant wasn't defending himself that night in the

There was nothing to defend himself from.

Richard Jeffries was obsessed with driving the homeless out of his

He shot Vince and Kyle to make them go away.

Objection! My family was in that house.

Look out here, Mr. Jeffries, just across from your family.

Objection! Tell us, how would you make them go away?

Ms. Van Owen, that's enough.

I have nothing further.

He said business dealings with my client, they're partners, he can't

I'm not betraying that partnership, nor am I breaking any duty owed to David

Meyer. Mr. Becker has a warped sense of duty, Your Honor.

He's had direct access to my client's financial affairs, as well as to

privileged interspousal communications between the parties. The only thing

warped here is Mr. Ganz's sense of the law.

The fact that David Meyer shared those communications with me automatically

waives the privilege.

Frankly, Mr. Becker, I'm more concerned about her.

Now, how can I trust you to fight her battles against a man you're partners

with? She's fully aware of this partnership. She wants me as her lawyer.

Moreover, my professional responsibility is beyond reproach. You're not looking

at some sleazy schlockmeister here.

That's a business venture with some sort of video thing. That's correct.

Arnold Becker's home guide to divorce.

With all due respect to the presumption of dignity this video gives him, his

participation here is both undignified and unethical. This man has no

to comment on dignity or ethics or any other concept that's foreign to him.

All right.

I've heard enough.

Mr. Becker, you have no business being in the middle of this.

Mr. Meyer is your business partner.

You have a fiduciary responsibility to act in his best interest.

You could even be a witness to this thing.

And it is totally irresponsible for you to be representing the wife.

It's her choice. It's what she wants.

I don't care.

Now, I will let you participate in discovery and settlement negotiations.

But if this thing goes to trial, you're out. And furthermore, I want you, not

your client, but you to pay the cost of this motion.

Now, that's all.

We're adjourned. I want it on the record that my client is being denied the

representation of her choice.

She can go rent her video.

Thanks.

David. If you have anything to say, speak with my attorney.

Danny.

I wanted to tell you what a good impression you made on Leo Hackett.

The only reason we're still in the running for his business is because of

Did he tell you about his daughter?

Yeah. He'd really like you to talk to her.

He said I could think about it.

I understand your reluctance, but I want you to know how helpful it would be to

the firm.

It would also be a very nice thing to do for her.

And we'd give you the day off.

Say, tomorrow?

I would consider it a personal favor if you'd say yes.

Okay, I'll try.

Good man.

And during the last five weeks, Mr. Weiland retained you to represent 12

different drug trafficking defendants. Is that right?

Including Mr. Weiland, there were 12, yes. And in consideration for which, he

paid you $72 ,000 in cash, did he not?

That's correct.

Well, now, tell me, Ms. Perkins, from where did you think Mr. Weiland got this

money? I didn't know, Mr. Flaherty. Did you ever ask him where he got it? No, I

didn't. Because you know, like we all know, that that money is the proceeds of

drug transactions.

It's not incumbent upon the attorney to ascertain the source from which a client

pays his fee. No, no, it isn't, but you knew the source. You knew it was drug

money when you took it. No, I didn't know that, and I still don't. Come on,

Counselor, you're a sharp woman. Can't you put it all together?

Why don't you tell us how you put it all together?

The only reason you know the $72 ,000 amount is because that's the amount that

reported to the federal government for tax withholding purposes. Well, thank

you. Thank you, Counselor. I never tried to cover up anything, Mr. Flaherty.

Quiet, Ms. Perkins. What are you trying to cover up now? I said be quiet. Excuse

me.

I'd like to let the witness make her statement.

Thank you.

There are a few things that Mr. Flaherty forgot to tell you.

He forgot to tell you that I've never tried to conceal anything.

He forgot to tell you that my representation of those 12 defendants

completely within the bounds of the law.

And you know what else he forgot to mention?

11 of those 12 people were never convicted because the prosecution could

make its case.

That's what that means, ladies and gentlemen.

is when he stands here today and he tells you that these 12 people were drug

traffickers. He's asking you to believe something that he was unable to prove in

a court of law.

And the reason he's coming after me is exactly because he could not get them.

So he's angry.

He's angry and he's upset because I successfully defended people that he

to convict.

And he's angry because I've put a big dent in his track record two years

he runs for lieutenant governor. Very good, Miss Perkins. So what are you

to do if you can't get me, Mr. Flaherty? Go after the jury next? Miss Perkins.

Run them through the computer for old parking tickets? Quiet now, or I will

you up for contempt.

Now, that was a very nice little song, Miss Perkins, but you never answered my

question. From where did you think Mr.

Weiland's money came?

I answered your question.

I told you I didn't know.

Now, why don't you tell us, if you're so sure that my clients are criminals, why

you can't prosecute them? I will prosecute them. After you get their

out of the way, right?

You live on the same street as the defendant. Is that right, Ms. Mack?

Yes. Did you ever know him to be a violent man?

Absolutely not.

How about those two men who were going through his garbage?

Had you ever seen them before?

Sure, I'd seen them. Will you tell the court what you had seen them doing?

Besides going through the garbage?

I'd seen them drinking.

I'd seen them fighting.

I'd seen them urinating on the street.

They are homeless. Where are they supposed to urinate?

Order. Where are they supposed to urinate?

Father, that's enough.

Were you ever accosted by these men, Ms. Mack? Every single day.

There was a whole group of them.

They'd come up to me in the street and ask for money. Except they weren't

asking.

They'd glare at me.

They'd glare at my kids.

The only way to deal with it is just never make eye contact and never break

stride. Some would say that's not a very charitable approach.

I'll choose my own charities, thank you.

We're not talking about mothers with children.

We're not talking about elderly people.

These are able -bodied men.

But they're homeless.

We'd be homeless, too, if we spent all day drinking and taking dope.

Move to strike.

Sustained and stricken.

Were you frightened of them? You bet I was.

I'll never forget going outside one morning and seeing one of them tearing

garden across the street.

He was stomping on the flowers and throwing dirt at people as they walked

How can you not be frightened of a person like this?

Thank you. I have no further questions.

Mrs. Mack, if you made it a point of never making eye contact with these men,

how is it you're sure Vincent Kyle was one of them?

I saw him going through my garbage, too. Did you ever ask him not to?

I don't have the nerve for that.

I also don't have a gun.

Would you use a gun to keep a man out of your garbage?

I'd use a gun to protect myself.

How about to drive him out of your neighborhood?

It's not our neighborhood anymore.

It's theirs.

What's theirs, Mrs. Mack?

All the garbage you let them eat?

Objection. How dare you sit in judgment of me? How dare you pretend to know a

man whom you've never met? To you?

They're just carcasses.

Load them on a truck and haul them out. These people scare me to death.

What do I do about that?

What do I tell my kids when they ask me why they can't play in the park anymore?

What do I tell them when they ask me why there are men picking through our

garbage cans?

Tell them there's four people in the world. Father Higuera. Tell them not

everybody's lucky enough to have a roof over their heads.

Will the court officer remove that man? Tell them not everybody's lucky enough

to eat every day.

Not everybody can go to a doctor when they're sick.

Just tell them the truth. That's all. Just tell them the truth.

Should Richard Jeffries have permitted those two men to pick through his

garbage?

That's not the issue.

Should he have asked them in for a bowl of beef stew?

That's not the issue.

The only issue is whether Richard Jeffries could have reasonably believed

Vincent Kyle was about to attack him.

For six and a half years, Vincent Kyle had been sleeping on the street.

For six and a half years, he'd been chased away by cops, by shopkeepers.

He'd been shunned by anyone less wretched than himself.

He was sifting through soiled diapers, maggots, and putrid

meat in the pouring rain, looking for food.

He was staring at Richard Jeffries with a knife in his hand.

He was staring at the warm, dry house in which Richard

Jeffries lived.

The district attorney maintains that my client had nothing to be afraid of.

Before you send him to prison, imagine if Vincent Kyle

had been staring at you.

What kind of person eats out of garbage cans?

or keeps all their worldly goods in a shopping cart they push around in the

rain.

Richard Jeffries remembers when people like that could only be found on

Skid Row. They were called bums, derelicts, hobos.

Now they're the homeless.

Children call them the dirty people, and now they are everywhere.

He sees them near his office, near his gym, outside of restaurants and

supermarkets. They skulk by with their matted hair and filthy clothes. They

smell worse than any human being he's ever known. In fact, to the defendant,

they weren't human at all.

They were more like a pack of rabid dogs that just kept growing.

A blight of vermin and disease and madness that had invaded his perfect

Richard Jeffries could never wind up homeless. You or I could never wind up

homeless.

The homeless did something wrong to get that way. We don't owe them anything.

Not a dry place to sleep, not even the right to eat out of garbage cans. And it

just makes it a lot easier to think about them that way.

The only trouble is, once we do...

Once we can look at people living in such misery, no matter what the reason,

feel nothing, then it is us who have ceased to be human.

Vincent Kyle got too close to Richard Jeffries' world.

But that is not something he deserved to die for.

It is not something that allowed Richard Jeffries to kill him.

Tell Richard Jeffries that.

Tell them.

Arnie?

I've been thinking.

I don't want to make a war of this.

Hey, kiddo, your husband's already declared war.

Your only choice is to fight or surrender.

Well, then maybe I should surrender.

I mean, I don't want his money. We've been married less than a year. I'm not

entitled to it.

The law says that you are. I don't care about the law.

I still have to live with myself after this is over.

That's very admirable, Rox.

But pride isn't going to pay your rent. Besides which, you earned a percentage

of that video money.

You brokered the deal.

You'd be getting a chunk of it even if you weren't married to him. Why should

you forfeit it just because you were?

I never thought of it like that.

It's my job to think of it like that.

As your lawyer, which I still am, and as your friend, which I'll always be, I'm

telling you, we have to fight.

Sheldon Ganz is going to try and crush you, and your only shot at a fair

settlement here is for me to try and crush Dave.

I just want to be free of all this.

Being alone isn't being free.

Being alone with two million bucks, that's being free.

Leland? Abby.

Well, fresh off the victory trail.

Michael told you? Oh, he's been telling everybody.

As well he should.

You know how unusual it is for a grand jury not to indict?

What did you say in there?

I don't know, but it worked.

And the money?

It looks like I get to keep it. No forfeiture.

Well,

congratulations.

Thank you.

And thanks for letting me borrow Mike. I would have been lost without him. Well,

the people in this firm feel very strongly about you, Abby.

Which brings me to the reason why I asked to see you.

We'd like you to come back.

Excuse me? We've been interviewing would -be associates for three months. Not

one more qualified than you.

I'm flattered, Leland, but I left here for a reason.

Yeah, you left because you weren't considered partnership material. You

because, however much we liked you...

We didn't think you were tough enough. Well, we've been watching you.

Daring to do what most lawyers wouldn't even try.

And succeeding at it.

Yeah.

Yeah, you're tough enough.

And you are exactly what this firm is looking to build its future with.

I have my own practice now.

I'll bring it with you.

There would be some objection to drug defense work, but I suspect that's not

what you want anyway.

Now, Abby, I know, I know. It's exciting to be out on your own.

But there's a lot to be said for going to work with people, too.

Especially people who care about you as much as we do.

I don't know exactly what to say.

Let me see you think about it.

Okay. I will.

Afternoon, sir.

Hi.

Pretty, isn't she?

The car.

Oh.

It's the most beautiful car I ever saw.

Benny.

Nice to see you, Benny.

Come on in.

You're right on time.

I like that in a person.

I took the wheelchair bus.

Alice, meet Benny Stolwitz.

He came all the way here on the bus by himself to visit you.

Benny, this is my daughter, Alice.

Hi.

Why don't I leave you two to get acquainted?

Your father, he wanted me to tell you about my job at McKenzie Brackman.

I deliver the mail.

I don't want a job.

You'd like it where I work? I have lots of friends.

I don't need lots of friends.

I have Edward.

Who's Edward?

He's my friend.

Edward drives the car. I go places with Edward.

In the car.

Well... I go places by myself.

Sometimes that will let me drive.

You can drive?

You can drive?

You want to see me do it?

Yeah.

Will the defendant rise?

Has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor. What say you? We find the defendant not guilty.

Not guilty?

Thank God.

Thank God. Don't go thanking God. He had nothing to do with it. That'll be

enough. Your Honor, I want the jury... Paul, didn't you think Vincent had some

value? Didn't you think this was a life?

Didn't he account for anything?

Anything? My country...

Sweet land of liberty.

I want order in this courtroom.

Land where I belong.

Ready? Ready. Drive carefully.

I can do it.

I always wanted to drive my mom's car, but she wouldn't let me.

You could drive this one.

No, I couldn't. It's easy.

See down there?

That pedal makes it go, and the other one makes it stop.

Will Edward be mad at me? Edward is my friend.

Come on.

You have to do this.