Original subtitles

Previously on L .A. Law.

News on Victor.

It looks like the brother will have permanent brain damage.

Oh, God.

Guy who hit him registered .16.

Drunk driver.

Okay, I'm hereby granting your petition.

The life support equipment shall be disconnected.

Well, if you were having an affair with Rosalind Shays, would you tell anybody?

You're sleeping with her.

Please leave, Anne. I don't trust that woman. For those of you who have been

skipping page one for the last few months, Miss Davis and her lover is

with murdering her 72 -year -old husband.

The Beverly Hills Hangers. The very one.

My last lawyer suggested I plead out. That means either he thinks I'm guilty

he doesn't think he can win.

John Fryer's a pretty sharp defense attorney.

If he's telling me to admit to a crime I didn't commit, Mr. Mullaney, he's not

sharp enough.

How would you describe her spirits?

Her husband's dead. The police are blaming her. You people are calling her

hanging bitch every day in the papers.

She is unhappy.

I went in on this case, Michael, as much as possible. Don't worry, Tommy. I got

big plans for you. Good, because this thing... Yeah, this is serious juice.

Maybe you got the flu.

It ain't the flu.

It's just nerve.

Big trials make me nauseous.

No,

no, Mike, I'm okay.

I'm feeling better by the second.

This is a good thing, you know? It means that I'm ready.

Yeah, but you look white.

Gwen Hall.

Best goalie in the history of hockey. Used to puke before every game.

Means you're ready. That's all. I'm pumped.

Okay. We're going to leave here at 10 .15. Oh, the judge said the cameras are

okay in the courtroom. Great.

You coming to the staff meeting?

In a second. I just want to go over this a couple more times.

Okay, people, settle in.

First up, happy birthday, Leland McKenzie. Happy birthday.

How old today?

102. You look good.

Thank you. First item, the big day is finally upon us. Yes. People versus

David. All right. We open in an hour. We're ready to go. Excellent.

We'll have a command post set up here in the conference room. Any surprises come

up at trial, we'll have lawyers ready to jump. Great. We gonna win? We got a

shot. I like our jury draw. I like Judge Gates. Cook's one of the best DAs, but

his case has holes. Keep him off guard wherever you can.

Disrupt his rhythm, he's less effective.

And we held back a couple of motions in limine just so we could spring the

objections at the trial, put him back on his heels a little. With all the

publicity, we want that acquittal.

Moving on. Leland, you're handling the Cheever's prospectus. Ann and I go over

the final draft tomorrow. It'll go out to the client by Friday. Very good.

Victor, any other cases you want reassigned?

Uh, no. I'm back.

Fine. Again, let me reiterate everyone's sympathy.

If there's anything you need from us, please don't hesitate.

I just want to say that the support that you've all been giving me is

overwhelming, and I'll always be grateful to all of you for that.

Thanks.

Miss Davis has no comment. No comment.

Miss Davis is also not wearing her hair back,

contrary to previous reports.

It was the perfect crime.

The victim was despondent over cancer, so he just strung himself up.

Grieving, shocked widow discovers the body, calls the police, everybody cries,

the will gets probated, and Ricky Davis...

inherits $26 million.

Now, I'm sure the original plan when she married this 70 -year -old man with

cancer was to just patiently wait out his death. She had her lover on the

It wasn't as if she was making much of a sacrifice.

But when Harold Davis suddenly decided to divorce her, the game plan was

She'd lose everything by virtue of a prenuptial agreement, and she wasn't

to let that happen. Oh, no. So she and her lover, David Schaefer, motivated

solely by greed, staged an apparent suicide and hanged Harold Davis to his

death.

That's what the evidence will show, ladies and gentlemen.

Ricky Davis murdered her husband for his money.

It's as simple as that.

Quiet, please.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my name is Tommy Mullaney.

My partner is Michael Cusack, and together we represent that woman sitting

there. Her name is Ricky Davis.

Now, I'm sure you have read a lot about this lady, and if you're reading the

same papers as me, You gotta be thinking, she's guilty.

I know, I thought that. That day she walked into our office for the first

But then we began piecing together the facts.

Then, when she passed our lie detector test... Objection!

That's out of line. You know better than that. The jury is to disregard that

last remark.

A polygraph test is not deemed reliable.

You're to give that statement no weight whatsoever.

Mr. Mullaney, don't test me. I apologize.

You see, hanging is a very tricky thing. It's easy for it to go wrong.

Now, Ricky had access to his medication.

She could have drugged him to death.

She knew where he kept his gun. She had easier ways to stage a suicide if that's

what she wanted to do.

But hanging him?

That's tough.

Why would she choose that? And why would she discover the body with her lover

and draw attention to her infidelity?

Does that make sense to you? No, it's too easy.

I mean, sure, we got a dead guy. There's no doubt about that.

And we have got a defendant with a motive. No argument there either. But

isn't any case.

Forget about what you've been reading.

You pay attention here.

We're going to pull the curtain off the prosecution's dog and pony show.

You just watch us. My only request here is that you all pay attention.

And if you do, we won't have to ask you for anything else.

I promise.

Oh, now, you didn't have to get me anything.

Well, at your age, birthdays are at a premium.

Demand and supply, you know.

That's very touching.

Oh, my.

This is beautiful.

You like it?

Well, superb, but it's too much. I mean, it's way, way too much.

There's an inscription on the back.

Just say yes.

Yes to what?

Leland.

Will you marry me?

Yes to what?

I'm serious, Leland.

I don't want to shock you.

I mean, usually I am the master of subtlety, but I just don't know how to

into something like this.

I've just been so happy the last four months, and I'm not a young gal, and I

know what I want.

You want me?

I want to be your wife.

What about me? When do I testify?

I'm not sure I'm putting you up there.

Why not?

Well, the truth is, Ricky, you come off unlikable.

I think the jury will read you as cold.

I also think that Cook will tear you apart on the adultery and no one will

two cents about you after that.

But if I don't take the stand, it'll look like I'm hiding something.

Well, maybe, but I still think that... Do you really think that it's better to

hide what I am than to let them actually see it?

Listen to me, both of you. I don't want to be buried away in this, to be

shielded from the jury like I'm the...

selfish bitch that the press keeps calling me. I'm not that person.

I don't want to be treated like that person. Not by them and not by you. You

understand me?

Look, this is a murder trial.

Tomorrow morning I am facing off against a seasoned homicide detective. The man

is a pro.

I got a lot of work to do here.

So let us do what we do.

Who the hell do you think you are talking to me like that?

We know you're scared, Ricky.

Everybody is a little scared.

But you got to trust us. You just got to.

Detective, when you arrived at the scene, what did the defendant tell you?

and Mr. Schaefer returned to the house and found the deceased suspended from

ceiling. She stated it was her belief that Mr. Davis had taken his own life.

Did the evidence support her belief?

No, it did not.

Why not, detective?

Well, first of all, you can see by the scrape marks around the victim's neck

that he tried to free himself.

And second, we dusted the beam and cord and found one clean print.

It belonged to the defendant.

We also found a partial print which matched David Schaefer. They said these

prints got there when they attempted to cut the victim down after discovering

it. Well, if that were true, there would have been prints all over the beam and

cord. The fact that we found just the two suggests that somebody tried to wipe

the surfaces clean and just wasn't careful enough. What other evidence

you to the defendant?

Well, the will and also the fact the defendant never had an alibi except to

that she went for a drive with Mr. Schaefer following the brunch.

Did you confront her with your suspicions? Yes, I did. She said she

speak with her attorney.

Thank you, detective.

Nothing further.

Was there any sign of a struggle in the bedroom? No. Wasn't that strange?

Do you think that they put the noose around his neck and then politely asked

to stand up on a chair while they tied the other end around the beam? Well, we

believe that he was rendered unconscious first.

Right.

According to your initial report, you say you believe the victim was struck in

the forehead with a blunt object which knocked him unconscious, after which he

was hanged. We now believe he was suffocated into a state of

Oh, really?

Well, why do you believe that, Detective?

Because the symptoms of suffocation and hanging are the same, so there'd be no

evidence of it. So, in other words, there is no evidence of it. Now,

if, in fact, he was suffocated into unconsciousness before he was hanged,

how do you explain the scratch marks on his face and neck that he got while he

was supposedly trying to free himself?

He probably regained consciousness right before the hanging.

Ah.

Well, is there any evidence of that? Yeah, the scratch marks. They clearly

this wasn't something that he wanted to do. Well, maybe he changed his mind. I

mean, hanging is a very brutal, horrible way to go, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. In

fact, you yourself investigated another hanging suicide three years ago in which

the victim also tried to claw himself free. Isn't that right, detective?

There was one such incident, yes.

Thank you.

Okay, on to the fingerprints. Now, there were a lot of smudged, unusable prints

all over the cord and the beam, right? Yeah. Now, isn't it possible that in

their panic, in their frantic attempts to free Mr. Davis from the noose, that

they smudged a lot of their own prints and left only a few clean ones?

It's not impossible. Thank you, detective.

And in fact, from all the physical evidence, Harold Davis could have

suicide, right?

Yes, but I don't think so.

Thank you, detective.

That's all.

I still think we have a problem with the profit definition.

It's ambiguous at best, and that's going to be construed against us if anything

goes wrong.

Are you listening to me?

Oh, yes.

What's the matter, Leland? Come on, this stuff is tough enough without you

drifting off into outer space.

I'm sorry.

Okay, so, um... Ann, last night, Rosalind Chase proposed

to me.

Proposed what?

Marriage. She gave me a beautiful Cartier watch and asked me to be her

How exciting.

You think... Well, what do you think about the two of us as a couple?

You seem very cute.

Could you see yourself standing at our wedding ceremony?

I'm sure it would be lovely.

The truth, Anne.

I would sooner dive headfirst into my own vomit.

Anne. Dating her is one thing. Sleeping with her is another. But to exchange

wedding vows with a person who can shed her skin and swallow large rats whole is

something... I don't need that much truth. Leland, how can you even think of

marrying that woman? I'm lonely, Anne.

Rosalind and I, we laugh together.

We have a wonderful intellectual relationship and, uh...

See, I'm 62 years old, and loneliness, it's everything they say it is.

Do you love her?

I'm very fond of her.

You're very fond of her?

Mm -hmm.

I'm sorry, Leland.

Hey, I am certainly no authority on marriage.

My first one ended in divorce, and Stuart and I... Well...

We still have our problems, but at the core of it all, I love him and trust him

more than anybody I've ever known or ever will know.

Can you say that about Rosalind?

Well, I'm not asking myself those kinds of questions.

It's a much simpler test.

I know my life without her.

I've seen my life with her.

I'm happier with her.

Your Honor, people call Marion Davis to the stand.

Your Honor, the defense objects to this witness being called.

No relevance, Your Honor. She's the victim's daughter, Judge. Mr. Davis made

certain statements to her regarding the defendant.

That's your say and admissible. Dead man statute.

It does not apply. Quiet.

We're not going to discuss this in here. Let's go.

All for a proof.

The victim told her that the defendant had been acting strangely, that she

seemed up to something. Now, this was one week before the murder. That is

prejudicial, you're saying.

We can give an instruction. Oh, come on. The daughter hates Ricky Davis. The

father knew it. He could be saying this crap to appease her. We got no means of

assuring reliability here. He's right. I'm not going to put her up there and

that stuff. It'd be a reversible error. Next witness.

Your Honor. Next witness.

Mark Shalios, the victim's lawyer.

Objection. We object to him, too. It's also hearsay. Plus attorney -client.

Privilege doesn't extend beyond the client's life. That is a still hearsay.

Honor, I need this witness to establish motive. He is the only person who can

testify as to the victim's intent to divorce the defendant. That's why they

to shut him down. It is an out -of -court declaration being admitted for

truth. It's black -letter hearsay. I'm going to allow it. What? Your Honor. You

can't. Yes, I can.

Then I want Mr. Shalios' files for discovery.

Work product privilege.

No, no, no, no, no.

You can't have it both ways, Mr. Cook. If you want the lawyer to testify, fine.

But first, you give all his files to the defense by 3 o 'clock this afternoon.

Not 3 .30, not 3 .15. 3 o 'clock. You'll be on the stand tomorrow.

All right. Here we go.

Attorney Michael Kuzak staggered the prosecution badly with his cross

-examination of Detective Foley.

Good.

Listen to this.

Ricky's lawyers blocked the victim's daughter, Marion Davis, from even taking

the stand.

The daughter was also considered to be a key prosecution witness.

And right now, John, the district attorney's office is reportedly

We still got serious work to do here.

Tommy,

hit it.

Tomorrow's witness, attorney Mark Shellios, victim's lawyer.

He's produced six boxes of files on Harold Davis. I've been through four

already. They're very well organized, nothing unusual.

Yeah, he'll testify about the will and who takes what, and no surprises there.

Stewart, you checked off on that?

Yeah, it's very simple. No codicils. He left everything to the American Cancer

Society, unless survived by Ricky, in which case he takes everything.

There's nothing ambiguous about it. Only thing is, he...

He may not have been witnessed properly.

Meaning what? Probably nothing. If he dies in test day, she gets everything

anyway. CJ, you got any dirt on this guy?

Not yet.

Single man.

Dates various women. Clean living.

Basically pretty dull.

A Rick Stevens, the PI, has signed.

So if there's anything under this guy's nails, we will know.

Okay. Jonathan, give Abby a hand with the rest of those files.

Now, the prosecution should rest tomorrow with strong motive and shaky

evidence. I'll move for the directed verdict, but it probably won't go.

That means we start off with our forensic expert and move on to the

Now, are you going to put Ricky on the stand?

We don't know yet. Oh, do it. They'll suspect if you don't. Hey, hey, we don't

know yet, all right?

Jonathan, Abby, get to work on those files.

Tommy, you and I should get some sleep.

Who can sleep?

You had been Mr. Davis's lawyer for how long, sir? Since 1978.

And under the terms of his most recent will, how much money did the defendant,

Ricky Davis, stand to inherit?

As the lone beneficiary, she stood to inherit the entire estate.

Valued at about $26 million.

And, sir, if they were divorced?

Prenuptial agreement limited her to $500 ,000.

Mr. Shalios, when was the last time you spoke with the deceased, Harold Davis?

Five days before his death.

Could you tell us what was said?

Objection here, sir.

Overruled.

Mr. Chalios, what did Mr. Davis tell you? He told me he wanted to file for

divorce from his wife, Ricky.

She was being unfaithful, and he wanted to terminate the marital relationship.

And five days later, he was found hanged to death?

Yes.

And, sir, who besides the defendant stood to gain from Mr. Davis's death?

Nobody. At least no individual.

If she survived him, she took all.

If she didn't?

He went to the American Cancer Society.

And, sir, do you have any reason to believe Harold Davis was suicidal?

Objection. Overruled. Answer the question.

He was not suicidal.

He was upbeat. You've got to be kidding.

Shut down, Mr. Kuzak, or I'll hold you in contempt.

Continue, Mr. Shalios. His spirits were up.

In fact, on the day he called me about the divorce, he asked me to establish

contact with the oncology departments at both the Sloan Kettering Hospital and

the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

What for? To determine whether they had any experimental treatments for liver

cancer.

This man wanted to live. Both of you. Both of you.

Don't make me warn you again. The testimony is allowed.

I have nothing further.

Do you have any psychiatric training, Mr. Shellius? No, I do not.

You got any clinical or educational training which would allow you to

whether or not a person is suicidal?

I knew Mr. Davis... Answer my question, sir.

I have no formal training.

One second, please.

I have nothing further, Your Honor.

Thank you, Mr. Shellius.

Mr. Cook?

People call as its last witness, Mr. David Schaefer.

Objection. Your Honor, this is a surprise.

He's on our witness list. Well, they put more than 100 people on their witness

list, Your Honor. The chances of this man being called were almost nil. He's

on the same chart. But he's on their list, Mr. Cusack. He can call the

I'll give you an hour of recess.

Son of a bitch.

What's going on? He cut a deal with his testifying. He had to cut something.

Ricky, if you've been holding anything back, now's the time to come clean. What

can Schaefer say?

Nothing. He's innocent. We're both innocent.

What about when you broke up? The Schaefer guy got an axe to grind?

He was hurt, yes, but so what? He can't testify to anything except to the fact

that I was an unfaithful wife.

Listen, if we are not prepped for him, we could get killed out there.

Think hard.

Does he have any information that could be of use to them? There isn't any

information for him to have, Michael.

Knock, knock.

Rosalind, what a surprise. I just dropped Leland off from lunch.

Do you have a second?

Um, sure.

Can we sit?

Of course.

How have you been?

Fine, fine.

You?

I know we're not very close, so what I'm about to say may hit you like a depth

charge.

Two nights ago, I asked Leland to marry me.

Wow. Yeah, wow.

He said he needed some time to think about it, and it's my feeling that he

probably come to you. Why me?

Because nobody else here is married except Stuart.

And you, no doubt, will have the strongest opinions.

Knowing Leland, he will want to confront the thickest part of the wall.

What do you want from me, Rosalind? An open mind.

I love him very much.

I didn't think I'd ever fall in love again, but I did.

He's on the fence, Anne.

I'd just like for you not to impulsively push him to the other side.

The truth is, Rosalind, Leland did come to me on this.

I might have nudged him a little.

Nudged?

Actually, I was kicking him with both feet.

I don't think he should marry you.

I'm sorry.

Okay.

Rosalind, nobody has done a bigger about -faith on you than I have.

A year ago, I probably considered you to be the most unredeemable person I had

ever had the displeasure of meeting.

Now, I not only admire you, I actually like you.

But with you and Leland, I just don't see it.

Well, as always, you're honest.

Thank you for that.

I really do love him.

Rosalind?

I didn't change his mind.

Could you state your name for the record, please? David Alan Schaefer. Mr.

Schaefer, could you state your relationship with the defendant, Miss

Davis? Between the period of September of 1989 and October of 1990, we were

lovers. Sir, I call your attention to the date August 19, 1990.

Were you with the defendant on that day?

Yes, I was.

We had brunch at Mirabella Restaurant on Sunset.

And then we went to her Beverly Hills home.

That's where we discovered the body.

Mr. Davis's body?

Yes, sir. He was hanging from the ceiling in his bedroom.

What did you do?

Well, we tried briefly to get him down. He was clearly dead.

So... We called the police. They came. Three days later, Ricky and I were

arrested and charged with the crime.

Did you have anything to do with this man's death, Mr. Schaefer? No, I did

To your knowledge, did Ricky Davis have anything to do with his death?

Well, I certainly didn't think so at the time, but now I think she did.

Order.

I want you to tell us why.

Objection. This man's opinion is... Overruled. Every time we get to the good

parts, you start objecting.

I object to that.

Go ahead, sir. Well, first off, Ricky had been acting strangely all week. The

second thing is, she would never take me back to her house in Beverly Hills.

Never. But on this day, it seemed very important that I go with her.

I think it was to establish an alibi.

Objection. Objection. Again, sir, just tell us what you know. Keep your

to yourself.

Anything else, Mr. Schaefer?

Yes.

About a week before that day, I was riding with her in her car. That's when

noticed the book in the back seat with a bookmark in it. Did you open this book?

Yes, I did. It was a book on knots.

Excuse me? All kinds of rope knots.

And the page that was marked was a chapter on bunt line knots.

Bunt line knots?

Which meant nothing to me at the time. But about three weeks ago, my lawyer

asked me to go through all the reports on my arrest.

And that's where I saw it, that the knot on the cord that was used to hang Mr.

Davis was a bundline knot.

Mr.

Schaefer, you're giving this testimony in exchange for charges against you

dropped. Isn't that right?

But I'm telling the truth.

I didn't want to believe this.

I loved her very much.

But I can't ignore the facts.

Thank you, Mr. Schaefer.

That's all.

Let me see now, Mr.

Schaefer. According to your testimony here, you had all the pieces to this

puzzle three weeks ago.

Why didn't you speak up then? I did. The district attorney didn't want to make a

deal until yesterday.

Let's cut to the bone, Mr. Schaefer.

Yesterday, you're up on murder charges. And today, you're a free man in exchange

for this ridiculous story.

I am telling the truth.

Of course you are. Why would you lie?

Just to avoid ending up in the gas chamber?

No. Move to strike that. Withdrawn. No further use for this witness.

I have a couple more questions.

Mr. Schaefer, was this Ricky Davis's car or was this the family car?

It was the one she used to drive most of the time. To your knowledge, did Mr.

Davis ever drive this car?

Yes. Mr. Schaefer, did you ever have occasion to go sailing with Harold

Yes. Now, the book that you found in the back seat of the car, the title of that

book was Nautical Knot. Isn't that right?

Yes. It's possible that that book belonged to Mr.

Davis, isn't it, sir?

It was the car that she used to drive most of the time. Yeah, but it's

that the book belonged to him, right?

Yes, I suppose it's possible.

I don't know.

I don't think he really nailed us. I mean, the jury saw him for what he was,

don't you think?

I don't know.

I mean, at this point, it's hard to know nothing.

Okay, our witnesses.

Witnesses.

Chris Harris, forensics, going first. He's yours.

Psychiatrist, Dr. John Busick, second.

Also yours.

I'm taking all the character witnesses.

Wake up, cool gentleman.

One of the women.

Attorney Mark Chelios has been dating is Marion Davis, daughter of the victim.

What? Mm -hmm.

This was taken two nights ago, even though you can't make her out.

This was taken last night. That's definitely her. And note the shoes.

The same.

Also, Rick showed her picture around the various eating establishments

frequented by Mr. Chelios.

And people there remember seeing her as far back as six months ago.

Tommy, get Stuart on the phone. Get him in here.

Yeah, it's quarter to 12. I don't care. Wake him up. C .J., Mark Shalios' office

building. Videotape records everybody who goes in and comes out. You told me

that, right? Yeah, Paltek security.

I got a buddy who works there. They're supposed to keep the tapes for 30 days

before they erase.

All right.

Take Ann, Abby, Jonathan, even Douglas and Leland if you have to, but go

those tapes.

Tommy, call your friend at Paltek. Have him clear the brush for C .J. Then call

Stewart. Tomorrow.

We are going to put Mark Shelleyos back on the stand.

Let me take him, Michael. I'll pop the pus right out of him. Uh -uh. This one's

mine.

I'm going to get him.

Mr. Shelleyos, you previously stated that you drafted Harold Davis' most

will. That's correct.

I show you this, sir, and ask you if you recognize it. It's a memo dictated by

me after we executed the will. Would you please read paragraph three for the

record, sir?

Mr. Davis, indicating his accord with provisions contained therein, executed

signature as testator. I then affixed my signature as witness to the foregoing.

Mr. Davis then confirmed to Julia Delaney that the testator's signature

fact, his, and Ms. Delaney then affixed her signature as a second witness. You

say that Mr. Davis then confirmed to Julia Delaney that the signature was, in

fact, his.

Didn't she see him sign the will? Well, I'm sure she did. Well, then why did he

have to tell her what she already saw?

Well, I'm not really sure. I mean, this took place many months ago. Mr.

Shellios, I have here a signed declaration of Ms. Delaney obtained from

morning, which I offer the court.

She states that she was not in the room when he signed.

That's why he had to tell her that the signature was his.

There's no question he signed the will. Are you trying to say... The actual

signing of this will was not witnessed by two people, was it, Mr. Shellios?

I guess maybe it wasn't. And what did that fact do to the validity of this

Technically, it makes it invalid.

In other words, Mr.

Davis died with no will at all. It doesn't matter.

If a spouse dies in testate, California law states that the bulk of the estate

goes to the surviving spouse.

Ricky Davis would still be the main beneficiary. If Ricky Davis is convicted

murder, she would be disqualified.

And with no valid will, the Cancer Society is out. Who then gets all the

under California law, Mr. Shalyos?

Surviving children.

And who would that be in this case? His only child is a daughter, Marion Davis.

So Marion Davis, that woman right there, stands to inherit everything if

my client is convicted. Isn't that right, Mr. Shalyos? I doubt very much

she would be well -versed in the validity of wills. Well, she would be if

had a clever lawyer with lots of inside information advising her.

Do you have a personal relationship with Marion Davis?

Objection. Getting to the good part, Judge.

Overruled. Do you have a personal relationship with Marion Davis?

We've had dinner together.

Mr. Shalios, I show you a photograph taken two nights ago.

Mr. Shalios, would that be you and Marion?

Yes.

Would you please describe for the court what it is you're doing in the picture?

We're kissing.

How long have

you been seeing Mary? Your Honor, a brief recess, please. Sit down.

How long?

About eight months. And Mr. Shelley Oates, she knew that will would be

invalid, didn't she?

All she had to do was challenge it. Marion Davis could never have killed her

father. You purposely saw to it that that will would be invalid so that he

die intestate, didn't you, Mr. Chelios? I'm asserting my Fifth Amendment rights.

I refuse to answer any more questions.

That's okay.

I don't have any more.

Mr. Cook?

Nothing, Your Honor.

You may step down, sir.

Let's stop right here.

The defense will call us next week. Michael, I don't care who we put up

will never have more momentum than we've got right now. Mr. Cusack.

One second, Your Honor.

You're serious, Michael. You just dropped a bomb here. Let's get the jury

in here delivering while the room's still shaking.

Are you ready to close?

Are you kidding?

Your Honor, the defense rests.

Closing argument's two o 'clock. We're adjourned.

We're not going out to lunch?

Well, I thought we'd talk here first.

Rosalind, I'm very happy being with you.

You... You don't have to preface anything, Leland.

Your answer is no.

I realize I may never meet anyone again whom I'll come to love, but

it would be wrong to marry you out of the port.

Do you think in time you might love me?

Did you ever think I could be so ridiculous?

Oh, you're not ridiculous.

You have no idea how scared I was in that restaurant.

You don't know how close I was to saying yes.

So what do we do now?

I don't want to stop seeing you.

Well, I guess it would be stupid for us not to. I mean, at our age, we

enjoy each other's company.

Love is for the young, right?

Listen.

Let's skip lunch, huh?

I've got some errands and we're still on for dinner, right?

Oh, sure, sure.

Good. Maybe Italian tonight.

I feel like pasta.

All right.

This is the right thing.

See you later on.

I don't know about you people, but I am more confused now than when we first

started. Let's just start with what we do know for sure. First, all the

evidence, all of it could be consistent with suicide.

Their star homicide detective told you that under oath.

So, the main thing against Ricky Davis was motive. She was supposedly the only

one with motive.

Now, the witness who was selling that was the attorney Mark Shellios.

Then suddenly, turns out that's wrong.

The will was invalid.

The daughter stands to get everything if... if she can get Ricky

disqualified with a murder conviction.

And she... knew this. She knew because she was sleeping with, guess who? Mr.

Chelios, the attorney, who carefully arranged for the will to be invalid.

What a scheme, huh?

Wow.

Well, people, right now, I don't know, maybe Marion Davis killed her father for

the money.

Maybe the guy did really commit suicide. I can't know.

The prosecution, they definitely do not know.

They're over there suddenly dropping charges against the boyfriend, David

Schaefer. One day he's up on first degree, next day he's not.

They don't have a clue what's going on.

What a mess.

Reasonable doubt all over. What a terrible mess.

The defendant's a wealthy woman who hired the best lawyer's money could buy.

And they've done everything possible to confuse you.

And they're good.

These lawyers are very good.

But let's reduce this thing to the basic facts.

Ricky Davis had a $26 million motive. Ricky Davis' fingerprints were found on

the cord that was used to hang the victim. Ricky Davis doesn't have an

Her own lover concluded she had to have done it.

There was a book describing how to make the knot that was found tied around the

victim's head.

That book was found in her car.

Common sense, ladies and gentlemen.

Ricky Davis killed her husband.

Mr. Mullaney may be confused, but I'm not, nor should you be.

What's going on? The jury's in. It's on TV. What? They're covering it live.

Joyce?

Deliberating less than an hour. What's happened? A very short deliberation. We

expect it to at least go overnight. They're just filing it. They're here

Joyce. They don't look happy.

There's Mike and Tommy. They're acquitting. If they come back this fast,

are definitely acquitting. Shh. That doesn't mean anything. Now listen.

Has the jury reached a verdict?

Yes, Your Honor.

And how do you find?

We, the jury, in the matter of the people versus Ricky Davis on the charge

first -degree murder, find the defendant not guilty.

He's in the back. We have a press room. We'll answer all questions.

You've got a press room set up. I need a few minutes.

You start with him, Tommy. We'll be in in a minute.

I'm absolutely numb.

Yeah, well, you should be.

You pulled it off.

What do you mean I pulled it off?

It was too easy, Ricky.

The whole thing just fell together too neatly.

What are you talking about?

I'm talking about you and Mark Chelios.

We got a hold of the videotaped security recordings from his office building.

You've been in there twice in the last month.

So? So you two killed your husband, not you and David Schaefer. You and Mark

Chelios either did it or had it done.

That's absurd.

Oh, I don't think so.

Mark Chelios is a brilliant attorney.

That screw -up on the wheel is a mistake even a rookie wouldn't make. He did it

to give the daughter a motive.

He romanced Marion Davis to set her up and to set himself up to be impeached on

the witness stand.

I've completely lost you now.

You follow me exactly.

You both knew there was no way Harold Davis could possibly be murdered without

suspicion falling directly on you.

You could try to stage a suicide, sure, but that would be 50 -50 at best.

The only way to guarantee you're getting away with it was double jeopardy.

To be tried and acquitted.

So, Mark Shellio sets himself up as the big witness against you. The guy who's

going to provide motive.

He puts his memo into his files and he gives the files to us.

He kisses Marion Davis when he's got to know we're having her followed.

You insisted that we tail the daughter.

You insisted that we tail Mark Shellio's.

Why would he take the stand and make himself a suspect?

Probably because he has an airtight alibi.

Maybe because he knows that since you made all the arrangements, there'd be no

way for anybody to trace anything to him, even if he was investigated.

It's a nice story, Counselor. Too bad you can't repeat it.

Well, sometimes I forget my ethical obligations.

You'd risk disbarment.

And like you said, double jeopardy applies. I'm free no matter what you do.

Well, I can sure as hell screw up your inheritance.

I doubt it. I was found not guilty.

And anything you say at probate will be inadmissible because I'll assert

attorney -client privilege.

Not to mention the fact that I could stick your firm with a $26 million

You want to expose your partners?

You got two choices here.

There's a big press conference going on.

You can walk in there with a long face and claim you were completely duped by

your client, or you can say nothing and just be the brilliant star defense

attorney the whole country now knows you to be.

A winner or a loser.

It's up to you, Michael.

I believe I'm free to go.

Well, I knew they were dead the second that they made the deal with Schaefer.

That showed the jury right then the prosecutor had no rudder on his boat.

Cusack, did you... Where's Ricky? Where's your client?

Miss Davis is a little too emotionally spent to join us right now.

Obviously, she's delighted with the verdict, as we all are. Well, Mr.

how does it feel to win the biggest case in the country?

Feels great.

Great. Can we get a picture of the two of you?

Yeah.

Did you feel like you had to pay tomorrow?