Original subtitles

There are a lot of ways I could go at this point. I could become an

producer. I could become an agent.

I thought you were happy being a studio executive, Arnie.

Gwen, in show business, a sense of complacency is a very dangerous thing.

I'm thinking of opening a restaurant.

A restaurant? Yeah. These guys that started the California Pizza Kitchen

both lawyers.

What kind of restaurant?

I don't know yet. What about fast food Jewish? Fast food Jewish?

Yeah, absolutely. I think it would be great to be able to walk up to a counter

and get a little paper cone filled with Kashiwarnishkas. Well, I know that's

something I've always wanted to do. Well, shall we get started?

Falcone versus Falcone. Yeah, another divorce. I'm meeting with a woman for

first time today. I'll try to dispose of it as painlessly as possible. I'm

really not up for a fight.

People versus Quinn.

That's my murder case.

The jury's picked. We go to trial later today.

Are you still holding with a plea of temporary insanity?

I don't believe in it, but it's all I got.

Samuels versus San Fernando Psychiatric.

Uh, all I know is this is a negligence action, and Samuels knows some people in

the Clinton administration.

Would that we knew some people in the Clinton administration.

Mickey Cantor and Warren Christopher both came out of L .A. law firms.

tapping all kinds of people from here to do all kinds of things. What do we get?

Nothing. Are you done, Douglas?

Yeah. Good. I have something I want to say.

I've sat by and watched as this place has changed.

People have dissipated their time and wasted their talent. You have all, in

varying degrees, pursued other enterprises and neglected the one that

was built on. The law.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a law office. And while you're present here,

will practice law.

Period. Leland. I'm not done.

What you do on your own time is your own business.

But the work week belongs to me.

So you're all going to have to do a little soul -searching.

I want to see all partners in my office at 5 o 'clock today. I will expect

either a commitment or a resignation.

Arnold Becker.

That's me.

I'm Yvette Falcone.

Hi.

What can I do for you? Please, have a seat.

I want a divorce.

Most people who come to see me do.

I've been married six years. There are no children.

My husband was bringing in about a million a year. He's a prize fighter.

Your husband is Bobby Falcone?

Right. I've seen him fight.

Not recently, you haven't.

He hasn't had a fight in more than a year. What's the problem?

I'm the problem.

He knows that half of what he earns while he's married to me is mine.

Since he doesn't want to pay me, he stopped fighting.

Let me get in touch with his attorney.

I did everything a fighter's wife is supposed to do.

I took care of him when he needed taking care of. I left him alone when he

needed that.

When he'd fight, I'd sit at ringside wearing a low -cut top, short skirt.

But it was important for him that the whole world saw what he had.

Now, because I go out on him one time, he wants to send me on my way with $50

,000 and a pat on the ass?

No way.

I want you to fight for me, Mr. Becker.

And I want you to fight for me hard.

Call me Arnie.

Let me make some introductions.

Gerard Samuels, Leland McKenzie, our senior partner.

Samuel. Thomas Brackman. Nice to meet you.

Please sit.

How's everything in Washington?

Well, at this point, everyone's still getting used to everyone else.

Are you spending most of your time there? I go back and forth.

One aspect of political life is remaining in a state of continual

In other words, when your president needs you, there are no excuses.

Right. God, I love that.

What's your background, Mr. Samuels? How did you come to be a part of the

Clinton inner circle?

Well, I was pretty much of an academic.

I got my doctorate in labor relations and organizational development at MIT.

I got to know Bob Reich pretty much through attending conferences.

I think I delivered a paper he was particularly interested in at one point.

And we got to be friends. Plus, when I moved out here, I got to know Mickey

Cantor. Through Bob Reich?

No, actually, we were introduced by a friend who worked at Manat, which was

Mickey's firm. I'm curious, how come you didn't take this to Manat?

Well, it was our feeling we wanted this to be handled by a firm without

Washington connections.

And tragically, that's us.

How can we help you, Mr. Samuels?

For a number of years now.

Mental hospitals have been releasing patients into the community without

any real adequate provision for follow -up care.

As a result, two things are happening. People who are in need of treatment

haven't been getting it. And our cities have been inundated with disoriented,

sometimes dangerous individuals who constitute a threat to themselves as

those around them. I want to bring a test case by suing San Fernando

Psychiatric. Now, generally, you need a relationship or a nexus to the event

you're suing over.

I'm a concerned citizen.

We believe that's nexus enough.

And when you say we, who are you referring to?

I'm referring to various individuals at the highest levels of the Clinton

administration.

I think you've got a great case.

Will you please describe the events that took place on the morning of March 3rd,

1992? I was in the yard, hanging the wash on the line, and all of a sudden I

heard a gunshot, then I heard another, and another.

What did you do?

I ran into the house, into my son's room.

And what did you find there? I found my son lying in his bed in a pool of blood.

And I found him standing there with a gun in his hand.

Let the record indicate that the witnesses identified the defendant,

Quinn. What, if anything, did Mr. Quinn say to you at that time?

He said, let me pass, and walked out.

He was as calm and collected as though nothing had happened.

You never thought he just murdered somebody in his sleep.

Objection? Sustained. The last part of the witness's response is stricken. The

rest of it can stand.

I have nothing further.

I know this is painful for you, Ms. Hackett, so I'm going to be as brief as

possible. Was your son living at your home at the time he died?

Yes. He had recently been living elsewhere, had he not?

Yes, he was in prison.

And what was it that he was in prison for, ma 'am?

He was in prison for rape.

Who was his victim, Miss Hackett?

It was his daughter. And I don't make any excuses for that.

You also don't stop loving him, do you?

No. You don't stop wanting to protect him.

He was my son.

I understand that.

Is it possible for you to understand the way Thomas Quinn felt about his child?

You don't have to answer that.

I have nothing further.

I've never had real access to power before, Stuart. It's an incredible

sensation.

I'd be wary of that if I were you.

Why? Because it's seduction.

And I'm wary of that.

When we are invited to the White House, then tell me how wary you are of being

seduced. I mean, come on. We're only human. This is heady stuff.

I am representing a friend of Bill's.

It's five o 'clock. We should go see Leland.

I'm in.

Whatever you need from me, Leland, you got it. That goes for me, too.

That goes for both of us.

What about you, Arnold?

What about me?

My first reaction when you made your ultimatum was to say the hell with you.

I have a job at a studio.

I have a whole other career going. Why should I give that up?

Then I thought to myself, what is it that I do at the studio?

I get handed scripts.

I read them.

I end up...

Sitting there, pretending to have an opinion, and... I don't know what the

I'm talking about.

Chances are, neither do most of the people you work with.

Well, that may be, but... But I don't like feeling that way. I don't like

pretending.

I know what I'm talking about when I'm in here. When I'm being a lawyer, I know

exactly what I'm doing, and that says something to me.

You've got me, Leland.

100%. Good.

It's difficult for me to imagine this place without the four of you.

I'm grateful I don't have to.

We're grateful too.

I believe that at the time of the shooting, Mr. Quinn was not in control

faculties. He was incapable of understanding the nature of his act and

distinguish between right and wrong.

You say this despite the fact that the defendant was, in all other respects,

highly functional.

Yes. What was it, Doctor, that in your expert opinion accounted for the

defendant going temporarily insane?

Well, Mr. Quinn's relationship with his daughter is such that her rape became an

event of overwhelming significance. When he finally confronted the man

responsible, he lost all capacity to control himself or to comprehend the

dimensions of his act. Thank you, Doctor.

Nothing further.

Let me understand something, Doctor.

Thomas Quinn took a .38 caliber revolver. He loaded it with six bullets.

it in his pocket, got in his car, and drove to the home of Kevin Hackett.

Up to this point, he hadn't seen the man who raped his daughter, had he? No, but

the effect of having Mr. Hackett released from prison and living nearby

certainly felt.

A simple yes or no was all that I asked for. Was Mr. Quinn insane when he loaded

his gun?

No. Was he insane when he pried open a window to gain entrance to the Hackett

house? No. Was he insane following the moment when he pulled the trigger? No,

was a transitory state.

In other words, it lasted just long enough to provide him with a defense.

Objection. Withdrawn.

I have nothing further.

I'm sorry I'm late.

I'm on a conference call for nearly an hour. Thank you.

With my office in Washington and our Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Donna Shalala?

Yeah, you know her?

No, but I get the feeling she's very bright.

Incredibly bright.

You know what we were talking about, don't you?

No.

This lawsuit.

There are a lot of people in Washington who are very interested in what we're

doing here.

Well, we have a preliminary conference at 2 o 'clock this afternoon.

The hospital was caught rather off guard, I must say. Great.

That's just where we want them.

One of the things I've done is to start lining up patient histories.

I've got a private investigator searching out mental patients who've

released from the hospital so that we can begin taking affidavits and building

base of plaintiffs.

Great. Well, Donna's going to be of considerable assistance in helping us

people, as well as put together some kind of statistical analysis.

Anecdotal information is fine.

To get people's attention in Washington, you've got to come in strong with the

numbers.

Well, we can use all the help we can get.

This is a rather large undertaking for a firm your size, isn't it?

Yes, it is, but we can handle it.

We have a very energetic and very devoted staff of attorneys here, and I

you to know that this case has become an extremely high -priority item.

Did I ever tell you whose idea this lawsuit was?

I assumed it was yours.

It was Hillary's.

Really? It was the night after the election. I was down a little rock.

A bunch of us were sitting around this big kitchen table.

James Carvell had just made this incredible meal.

We finish eating it, and James starts doing these impersonations. And

I can't remember who it was, says, Oh, you know, James, with a little work, you

know, you could be one of those street people on the Upper West Side of

Manhattan. Now, that got us talking about that whole issue.

And Hillary, from out of nowhere, looks up from this Ben and Jerry's container

and says, Let's sue him.

Stephanopoulos goes, Sue who?

She says, Let's sue the hospitals that discharged him.

And this is what you have to understand about Hillary.

She had the whole thing figured out. She knew exactly where she wanted to go

with that.

She is... She's a remarkable woman. She really is.

She also seems utterly human to me. I almost have the feeling that I know her.

Yeah, well, you should know her. And she, she should know you.

Yeah, well... She's going to be in Los Angeles next month.

I'd like to have a dinner party and see to it that that happens.

You interested?

Sure, I'm interested.

Great.

So we should get back to work.

Right. Right.

Could you state your name for the record, please?

Bobby Falcone.

What's your occupation?

I'm a boxer.

What was your income for 1991, sir? I really don't know.

Well, I have here your 1991 tax return.

If you have his tax returns, why do you have to ask him what his income is?

I'm not deposing a tax return, Mr. Bruner.

I'm deposing him.

Would you agree that the figure of 1 .35 million is correct?

If that's what it says, that's what it is. I don't mess with Uncle Sam.

Would you please tell us what your income for 1992 was?

I didn't have an income in 1992.

Why was that?

Because I didn't have any fights.

Why was it that you didn't have any fights? Why?

I'll tell you why.

It was because my wife betrayed me, all right?

She did what no man could do. She destroyed me. That night in Atlantic

I saw her coming out of some other guy's hotel room, it was like I got hit by a

truck.

My confidence was shot. My nerves were shot. I couldn't train. I couldn't fight

I couldn't do nothing in other words. You were suddenly afraid to step in the

ring. That's right You knew did you not that by delaying your fights until after

the divorce?

You'd be preventing the purses from those fights from becoming marital

Is that why you think I did it? Yeah, that's why I think you did it. Where do

you think he got it from? You had nothing to do with it, right, Yvette?

put that on me, Bobby. I am putting it on you. You didn't fight those fights

because you didn't want me to have the money. According to my lawyer here, you

owe me what my share would have been.

When do we get to ask us some questions?

Tomorrow morning.

Good.

Are you kidding?

No, Mr. Pike, we're not kidding.

You're suing us for releasing patients 25 years ago?

That's right. Mr. Samuels, what is your legal standing to be suing us at all?

I'm a concerned citizen.

That's it? Mr. Samuels is suing for public nuisance arising out of

We believe that being a member of the community gives him standing. This is an

utterly groundless suit.

We clearly have a difference of opinion.

Yes, we do, and I'll tell you how we're going to settle this difference of

opinion. I'm going to take this case to court and have it dismissed, with

prejudice and with cost.

Don't threaten me, Mr. Pike.

Bring your motion, I'll oppose it, and we'll see how the court rules. And just

so you know who will be filing amicus briefs on our behalf, the Department of

Health and Human Services, the Justice Department, the Children's Defense Fund,

the People for the American Way, and very possibly, Barbara Streisand.

Barbara Streisand?

In case it hasn't dawned on you yet, this is our time.

Ms. Quinn, would you describe for us the events that took place on August 19th,

1985?

I'd gone on a camping trip to the Angeles National Forest with a couple of

friends.

They were still sleeping when I woke up, so I decided I would go for a walk.

I followed a trail through the woods till I got to this stream.

It was so pretty.

So I just sat down, I took off my shoes, I dangled my feet in the water.

I'd been there a few minutes.

When I heard someone coming, I thought it would be one of my friends, but when

looked up, I thought it was this man I'd never seen before.

Tell us what happens next, please.

He sat down next to me.

He asked me my name. I told him. He said that he'd been watching me for a while

from behind these trees and that I owed it to him to go for a swim.

When I continued to refuse, he started to put his hands on me.

I'm going to have to ask you to get specific here, Ms. Quinn. And I'm going

have to object.

This isn't a rape trial. The excruciating details of what happened

years ago are hardly relevant to the issues of this case. Your Honor, the

issue in this case is the state of mind of the defendant at the time of the

shooting. Objection overruled.

The witness may answer.

He put his hands on my breasts, on my legs, between my legs.

When I screamed, he threw me in the creek and he jumped in after me and he

my head under the water and he just kept pushing my head under the water and

holding it there over and over again. And then he finally dragged me out of

water and he threw me on the ground and he raped me.

What happened next?

When he got finished, he left.

And I started back.

Then I got lost. I couldn't find the road. I couldn't find my friends.

After a while, I couldn't walk anymore, so I just curled up under a tree.

How long were you lost in that forest?

Six days.

That was almost eight years ago.

Yeah.

How are you doing?

I'm okay.

Did you ever go to college?

No.

Do you have a job?

Yeah, I work part -time at a library.

Where do you live?

I live with my father.

Have you tried to put what happened to you on that camping trip behind you?

Yeah.

Have you managed to do that?

No.

Thank you, Miss Quinn.

The prosecution has no questions for this witness.

Chelsea's a great kid. She really is.

Everybody's so concerned about her with the public scrutiny and the press, but

the truth is, she's gonna be fine. What's your sense of their... policy

the inner city. My sense is they're committed to it. I mean, listen,

Henry Cisneros, as far as I'm concerned, represents a real departure from the

prevailing policy of the Reagan Bush years. Jonathan would be a tremendous

in that regard.

Well, maybe I can put him in touch with some people.

Another area we're looking for input is the judiciary.

Bill wants his appointments to the Supreme Court and the federal bench to

informed. Leland, I would bet you would have a lot to say about that. Yes, I

would. Well, I think you should say it to someone who's listening.

Here's what I would like to do. One weekend, when Bill and Hillary are out

at their house in Summerland, I'll take a groupie up there. Leland, we may have

to set up an office in Washington.

Well,

you know, we may hit that.

You're making a joke, but at some point, that may become necessary.

If it becomes necessary, it's necessary.

We're talking about the politics of inclusion, folks.

Just like I'm a friend of Bill's, I'd like to see you all become friends of

Bill's. Here you all are.

What's going on?

We're just having a little chat, that's all. Uh -huh.

Is there something you need, Ann?

Is there something I need?

Yeah. Gwen, I need your help on Mr. Samuel's case.

Arnie, you've got people in the conference room waiting for you.

Leland, I'd like to talk to you out here for a moment, if I might.

Suddenly I'm not in the meetings?

Ann, it was an informal get -together.

Was it informal?

Nothing of a business nature was discussed. Ann.

You're not being excluded, if that's what you're worried about. That is what

worried about, Douglas. And if I'm not in the room, I am, per force, excluded.

Now, let's get one thing straight.

I am doing all the spade work for this guy. I am carrying 100 % of the

And if anything happens pertaining to him or his connections, I want to know

about it. Are we in accord on that?

Yes. Yes, we are. Good.

Gerard, we've got work to do.

I have a feeling that she and Hillary are going to get along just fine.

Is it true, Ms.

Falcone, that you have the following collection of furs?

A full -length lynx, a red fox bombardier's jacket, a leather cape

sable, and a stole constructed of white mink teddy bears.

Okay. I assume your husband paid for all of those. Who will?

What's the point here, Mr. Brunner? Nobody's contesting who earns the money.

Well, this isn't about who earns it. This is about who spends it. Like he

want to see me at ringside wearing those furs?

Well, let's talk about ringside for a moment, Miss Falcone.

You were at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas the night your husband fought Vinnie

Pazienza, were you not?

I was in all my husband's fights.

Well, right now I'd like to talk about that one in particular.

Do you remember who it was you were talking to at ringside that night?

No, I don't. Does the name Jack Nicholson ring a bell?

So I was talking to Jack.

So what?

Isn't it a fact, ma 'am, that your husband made it a practice of trying to

eye contact with you between rounds?

Yeah. Well, isn't it also a fact that during that fight in Vegas, every time

looked up, you were fawning over Mr. Nicholson? I was not fawning over him. I

was talking to him. All right, Ms. Falcone, enough about Jack Nicholson.

What was it you were doing that night in Atlantic City? We're here to discuss

finances. Trump Plaza, another man's room, another man's bed.

You knew full well the effect it would have on your husband, yet you went ahead

and did it anyway.

Bobby. Did you ever ask yourself why I did it? I don't care why you did it. I

care. I care that I felt neglected.

I care that you took me for granted. I care that all anybody ever worried about

was whether or not you were happy. Is Bobby all right?

How's Bobby feeling?

What does Bobby need? What about me, huh? What does Yvette need? That's it.

He's done asking me questions.

You're done asking her questions.

I spent enough money on this broad to last three lifetimes. You want anything

else out of me, you come to court.

Come on, let's get out of here.

That wasn't easy for me.

Bobby only surrounds himself with people who tell him he's right all the time.

Nobody stands up to him.

We need to talk about what we're going to do next.

You do.

What's that?

Stand up to him.

You're not the least bit afraid.

This is what I do for a living, Yvette.

Well, I can't tell you how grateful I am to have you on my side.

Are you free for lunch by any chance?

I guess you could just say I'm an old -fashioned girl, Arnie.

I love watching men fight.

Is that why you married a boxer?

That's one reason, yeah.

Truth is, there's all kinds of fighting.

In some ways, I feel as though I've grown out of the kind my husband does.

now, you're still angry.

That's okay.

I'm not saying you don't have a right to be angry.

I know you're not.

It's just a matter of getting past that.

See, Arnie, I know you have my best interests at heart.

I also know that for many women, The advice you're giving me is exactly what

they'd need to hear.

I'm not like them.

I don't need a shrink.

I don't need a father figure.

I don't need someone to hold my hand.

What do you need?

Someone who doesn't flinch.

Someone who won't act reasonable with my husband, who won't back up, who will

take it to him and take him out.

You really think that's what's called for here?

Oh, yeah.

Not only that, I think that's who you really are.

I think underneath that reasonable, sensitive exterior, there's a killer

and a stud trying to break free.

There may be something to that.

Do you have a hard and fast policy

against getting sexually involved with clients?

It's hard.

I'm kidding.

Really?

I was hoping you were serious.

Mr. Quinn, I'd like you to tell us why, on the 3rd of March, 1992, you decided

to go and see Kevin Hackett.

I wanted him to know what he had done to my daughter.

I wanted him to hear it from me.

Why the gun, Mr. Quinn? I wanted to frighten him.

I wanted him to experience a small fraction of the terror that he had put

daughter through.

And I couldn't do that with words alone.

Would you describe for the court what happened when you got to the Hackett

house? The first thing I did was to knock on the door.

His car was out front, so I knew he was there. When no one answered, I went in

through a window.

What did you do when you found him? I woke him up.

Tell me what you said, Mr. Quinn.

I said, my name is Thomas Quinn, and I'm here to talk to you about my daughter.

And how did he respond?

He sat up in bed and lit a cigarette, asked me what she looked like these

I said, what difference does that make?

He proceeded to tell me what a foxy 16 -year -old she had been.

He described to me in great detail what her body looked like when it was soaking

wet.

Described what she had felt like.

Described how he had raped her.

In words I will not repeat.

I let him finish.

Then I took out my gun and I shot him.

Mr. Quinn, what was in your mind at that moment?

I heard my daughter's voice.

I saw the way she had looked when she was a little girl.

The way she had looked when her mother was still alive.

And I felt as though I could still protect her from that man. So I did. I

stopped him.

I have nothing further.

You don't ordinarily carry a gun, do you, sir?

No. But you carried one this time, didn't you?

I said I wanted to scare him. Right.

And when you knocked on the door and no one answered, you went through a window

and crept through the house until you found Kevin Hackett sleeping in his bed.

That's right. Now, is it your testimony, sir, that you were temporarily insane

during all that?

Yes. You're saying that the sight of this individual, coupled with his

of your daughter's name, pushed you over the edge.

He did more than utter her name.

Let's say that he did. The question I'm asking is whether or not you were, in

fact, insane when you killed him. Objection.

Sustained. Mr. Quinn, at the time you shot and killed Kevin Hackett, did you

understand the act you were performing?

I wasn't really thinking about it. I didn't ask you whether or not you were

thinking about it. I asked you whether or not you understood what you were

doing. I don't know.

You had lost touch with reality to that extent, Mr. Quinn?

You didn't know you were carrying a loaded gun?

You didn't know the difference between right and wrong? Objection, Your Honor.

Sustained. One question at a time, Miss Schiff.

Were you able to distinguish between right and wrong at the time of the

shooting?

I'll ask you again, sir.

Were you able to distinguish between right and wrong?

Of course I was.

And of course I understood what it was that I did.

This beast destroyed my little girl's life. And for that, he served a big

years in prison.

I wasn't insane.

I set out to kill him, and that's what I did.

And I killed him because he deserved to die.

Good morning, gentlemen.

Miss Kelsey?

I must say I'm rather surprised that you wanted to reconvene today.

Were you? Well, given the tenor of yesterday's meeting, I was under the

impression that you weren't taking us all that seriously.

Let me assure you, we take you very seriously. Good. What I'm going to want

access to right off the bat are the records of patients who were released

the hospital.

Did you have any particular patient in mind when you initiated this action, Mr.

Samuels? We discussed this yesterday.

I was addressing my question to your client, Miss Kelsey.

Given that I am my client's legal representative, I was assuming that you

addressing your question to both of us. I think it's possible your client is

possessed of certain information he has not yet shared with you. Look, are we

here to discuss moving forward with this, or aren't we? We are. Fine. In

case, we would like to know if you are prepared to begin furnishing us with

records.

Why don't we start with this?

Oh.

Very tricky, guys.

Gerard, let me read it. It's not necessary that you read this.

This is a diversionary tactic. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the issues

at hand. That's the hospital file on Mr.

Samuel's mother, Miss Kelsey.

We believe that's what's motivating this gentleman, and we think it's best to be

honest about it, particularly when it can be argued that it is her family that

is responsible for what happened to her. Oh, really, Mr. Pike? And how do you

figure that? How do you figure that?

How do you figure that a salesman working two jobs with a ten -year -old

could take care of a woman who was compulsively depressed?

Huh?

who was delusional, who wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, who would pace back and

forth all night long because she was hearing voices nobody else could hear.

do you figure that?

Gerard, what's going on?

My mother was a patient in the hospital that these gentlemen represent.

She was... began as a mild, obsessive, compulsive...

Disorder case and got gradually worse. She was admitted in April 1966 and then

released in June 1969 so that she could return home, but the problem was she

She needed to be cared for She needed to be

protected One day she just

wandered off

And she never came back.

I don't know Mickey Cantor.

Or Bob Reich.

Or Donna Shalala.

Or Hillary Clinton.

I live with my father.

In Canoga Park.

About my mother.

Every, every single day.

I don't know what I'm supposed to do now.

What exactly changed?

What changed, I told you. He disavowed everything we've been claiming

the trial. He told the jury to find him guilty.

Which doesn't mean they're going to.

Gwen. If they don't believe he was temporarily insane, they have no basis

which to exonerate him.

The basis is they don't want to send him to jail.

The basis is they like him. You think that's enough?

You're the trial lawyer, but I have to believe that every woman on that jury

wants to have a father like him, and every man on that jury wants to be a

like him.

I think that's plenty.

I have to get to court.

Vengeance is mine.

Sayeth the Lord.

The only problem is, it wasn't the Lord talking.

It was Tom Quinn.

What happened to Laura Quinn was horrible.

No one can deny that. Kevin Hackett committed a terrible crime.

A crime for which he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison.

And he served that sentence.

And as is the case with anyone else, he was released. The length of his sentence

is not at issue here. Nor is the nature of Mr. Hackett's crime.

The only crime we're here to consider is Mr. Quinn's.

He went to see Kevin Hackett.

Carrying a loaded gun, he broke into Mr. Hackett's house, confronted him while

he lay in his bed, and he executed him.

This was not an act of self -defense.

By his own admission, he was not temporarily insane at the time.

It was an act of murder, and it must be seen for what it is, and it must be

punished.

I ask that you find Tom Quinn guilty.

By his own admission, he was not temporarily insane.

You heard Tom Quinn say it. You heard the prosecutor repeat it.

The fact is, they're both wrong.

Mr. Quinn is no more in a position to authoritatively testify to his own

than he is to his own insanity.

It's you who are charged with the responsibility of determining that.

And all you can do is speculate.

What was Tom Quinn's state of mind when he faced the man who had raped and

brutalized his daughter?

The man who had single -handedly transformed her from a normally happy

healthy teenager into a frail and frightened woman.

A woman who has lost an irretrievable part of her life.

for no other reason than that a depraved and vicious man wanted to avail himself

of her.

What must it have been like for Tom Quinn to stand face to face with that

to hear him boast of his conquest and further defile the woman he had already

destroyed? Was he insane when he pulled the trigger?

Ask yourself, if it had been your daughter, and you had been face to face

the man who did what this man did, how sane would you have been?

Ask yourself if Tom Quinn really deserves to go to prison for doing what

us in our hearts Would have wanted to do ourselves

Something

about Samuels, huh? Yes, it is. It's potentially a wonderful opportunity for

of us. You mean you haven't heard?

Heard what?

Gerard Samuels doesn't know a soul in Washington. Made the whole thing up.

What? Yeah. Ann said it all came out yesterday.

Either he's delusional or a very good liar.

Either way, he's no friend of Bill's. When you say that he's no friend of

Bill's, do you mean he's not a close friend? He's not any kind of a friend.

doesn't know Bill, and Bill doesn't know him.

When you say that he doesn't know Bill, do you mean he doesn't know Bill, but

that there are others within the Washington establishment that he does

instance, does he know Mickey Cantor? Does he know Warren Christopher?

Douglas, he doesn't know anybody.

I feel like such an idiot.

Well, there's no reason for you to feel that way. You did what anybody would

have done. But I wanted it so badly, you know? I mean, I wouldn't have thought

that being near power would have been so important to me. It was. It was all I

could think about.

Gerard, what are you doing here?

I called him. I asked him to come in.

I'm still a client, right?

Yeah, Gerard, I guess you're still a client.

Except we all know the only reason you took my case is because I said I knew

those people.

Is that why you said it?

I said it so that I wouldn't be who I was.

I do that.

I make things up.

I sit in my house and I invent other people for myself to become.

When I was ten years old, when my mom came back to live with us, she would act

so crazy, you know, that what I would do was...

I'd stay in my room, and I'd pretend to be someone else.

Do you know when you're pretending?

No.

Not always.

What happens to me now is that I invent someone for myself to be, and then I

become that person.

I'm them.

I'm them when I'm around other people.

I'm them when I'm by myself.

I wish I could stop.

I wish... I wish I could control my mind.

But I can't.

I'm my mother's son.

You know?

Yeah, and I'm sure that's not an easy thing to be.

But what you have to trust in now, Gerard, is that we don't need for you to

anybody other than who you are in order for us to help you.

But I... I don't have a case.

Maybe you don't.

But you came into our office and we took you on as a client.

And that means we owe you something.

Now, maybe you need a lawyer.

Maybe you need a shrink.

Maybe you just need somebody to listen to you when you don't want to pretend

you're somebody else.

But whatever it is... My name's Stuart Markowitz.

This is my office.

I'm here to help you however I can.

Okay?

Okay.

What we do straight off the bat is place notice on the State Athletic

Commission. That way we put him on notice that there'll be a claim on his

earnings. Sounds great.

Now, what I want to do at the same time as that is I want to subpoena his

manager, his trainer, his accountant, and every sparring partner he's had over

the past two years.

He says he didn't want to fight because he wasn't ready.

I want to hear what they say.

You're pumped up, aren't you?

A little.

I want you pumped up a lot.

I shouldn't have done that, right?

I don't know.

It's just that you have this effect on me, you know?

Seeing you fight for me has this effect on me.

What is this I see?

Don't you knock?

I did knock. You didn't hear it. I guess she was otherwise engaged.

I guess we were. Look.

This is one of those classically embarrassing moments.

Oh, I'm not embarrassed, man. I'm mad.

Uh, you have every right to be mad. I came here because she told me to come. I

came here because she said she wanted to talk. I came here for that, and I gotta

say this!

Look, I'm sorry. Nobody planned for this to happen.

Put up your hands.

I'm not going to put up my hands. Come on, I'll hit you with jabs, just left

-handed jabs. Come on, big shot! Look, Bobby, you hit me with a jab, a

combination, a hook, or anything else, your career is over. I ain't thinking

about my career right now.

Well, maybe you should be.

You're a professional prize fighter, licensed by the State Athletic

Use your hands outside the ring, you're committing a felony. That means you

won't be permitted to fight for a long time. Long enough so there won't be any

more big fights.

There won't be any more big purses. And what purses there are will, in all

likelihood, go to me.

since I will sue you, and I will win.

I ain't gonna do what I did the last time you cheated on me.

I ain't gonna fall apart this time.

This time, I'm taking everything that I'm feeling right now, and I'm going

into the ring.

I'm going back into the ring, and you watch what I do in there.

And when you're finished with this guy, call me.

You were incredible.

Get out of my office. What?

I said get out of my office.

Find yourself another lawyer.

Why? What did I do?

You set me up.

You set him up. Why would I want to do that?

So you could sit back and watch.

I'll send over your file. I'll return your check.

You can either give them both to a lawyer who wants to sleep with you more

desperately than I do, or, since he's willing to be your...

gladiator again, you can go back to your husband.

How you doing?

Okay.

You feel like taking a walk?

No.

I'm all right.

Hi, Daddy.

Laura, what are you doing here?

I wanted to be with you.

You didn't have to come down here.

I wanted to.

I wanted to be with you, Daddy.

The jury's back.

Let's go.

Has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor. What say you? We find the defendant, Thomas Quinn, Not

guilty by reason of insanity.

By the power entrusted to me by the California Penal Code, Section 1026, I

the defendant to be no longer insane.

Mr. Quinn, you're free to go.

We're adjourned.

I can't thank you enough. Don't worry about it, Tom. It was a pleasure.

I'd like to thank you, too. You're welcome, Laura.

Good luck.

Come on, Adam. Let's go.

You weren't the least bit mad at him, were you?

No. Why is that?

Why should I be mad at him?

Because he's got problems? Because he's mentally ill?

You think that's what it is?

Well, I don't think it's because he's evil.

You don't?

No.

I think it's because he had a real rough time growing up.

Now he's trying to get through life the best he can.

Come here.

Watching you with Gerard in your office today reminded me of how much I love

you.

So, how much do you love me?

Very much.

Very, very much.