All language subtitles for Outrage! (1986) ¦ Beau Bridges Robert Preston Linda Purl (inglés_ASR)

[Music]

can i help you sir

yes i'd like to see something in a 38

for home protection lots of break-ins

around our neighborhood the past few

months

and don't i know only last week right on

our street

how's this yeah

a woman could manage that all right it's

mainly for my wife

sorry she being home alone most of the

time i'm at work

um a 22 is a little lighter but a 38

really do the job well that's what i

want something that'll really do the job

yeah i guess my wife can handle it

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

charlie johnson yeah

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

yeah well i understand lady well that is

not exactly a police matter

i know ma'am

[Music]

i just killed a man on lenox avenue

117th street

let go of me i don't want to escape okay

nobody say a word not even you mister

just relax

my name is dennis reardon i live alone

that and my wife having died one month

ago

my daughter having been raped and

murdered ten months before that

neda and me we had three children

dennis jr priest serving in south

america now

frank was killed in vietnam

and my daughter agnes my

she was

one night she was on her way home

you see she works for this law firm down

on wall street

legal secretary so bright

the firm was sending her to school at

night to become a lawyer

which is what she was doing when it

happened

there was this one night

oh

just take your time mr reardon you can

take as much time as you need

well

night classes don't get out until after

nine

so it was dark when she was crossing

city hall park on a way to get the

subway

and he grabbed her and he dragged her

off under a tree

after he robbed her

he ripped off her clothes and

he did things rape

and more

but why did he have to kill her why

he took all her money and jewelry that

she had

and he threw her purse away with some

cards in it

which is how come they called me the

next morning to i'd

identified the body

that day i promised netted

i'd keep after the police until they

caught that animal

and it turns out i didn't have to they'd

already caught him that same night

and he made a complete confession well

we felt thank god

now that murderer will pay for what he

did to our aggie

especially since i identified aggie's

jewelry which they found on him

so we just wait for the trial

and then months later

the detective on the case called and

told us to come down to the courthouse

but there isn't any trial it's just a

hearing

and the district attorney says judge

lingle

in view of your honors rulings the

people find it impossible to make a

prime

a prima facie case a prime of facey case

therefore we consent

to this indictment being dismissed i

took neda home

but from that day on she started failing

she just lost the will to live

another grave i made a vow

if the law wouldn't do anything about a

man guilty of murder

then i would do something about it so

three days ago

i went out of state where it's legal and

i bought a gun that gun that you have

there

and just about an hour ago i found

charlie johnson

and i killed him and now i want to be

tried

is there anything else you'd like to say

mr ridden

i'd like to see my priests

what's he doing this time just listen

to me on principles you don't have to

run for office i

do sir you don't know the details your

uncle harriet principles he also used

his head

he would never have done an idiot pool

thing like this

you know what that is that's another

call from another tv report

asking why it's not possible to ever get

a murder indictment against the cop

in this city

no no no no no calls from any reporters

none and the election's only a few

months away

sir if it'd make your life any easier

i'll resign

you can tell them you fired me because i

disobeyed orders

yeah that would do it

gordon i accept your resignation

why would you do a damn cool thing like

that brad wait

would you just listen to me now maybe i

can straighten it out

i'd be better off for private practice

anyway yeah yeah we're getting started

in criminal law may not be as easy as

you think buddy

well i'll manage that

i don't forget you and arlene is

supposed to have dinner with us

unless it's ours hold on gloria be right

back morning mr gordon any messages your

client called

uh-huh very delicately put cynthia now

what did my only client say

555-2040 yes yes one minute please

it's for you

brad gordon mr gordon where are you

in my office what i left a message this

morning instructing you to be in judge

klein's chambers at one o'clock today

are you sure you got the right brad

gordon i don't have any matter before

judge klein mr gordon get over here

and fast sure okay

come

bradley franklin gordon yes shawna

sit down thank you sir

harry gordon your uncle yes yes he was

sir

are you as good a lawyer as he was

uh there were very few lawyers as good

as my uncle harry said yeah he was

very good and he was very kind

he was a big help to me when i first

started and practice a big help and

that's why

when i saw your name there i noticed

your name on the list of lawyers who

volunteered their time

or energy if i'm here because you're

paying back a debt to my uncle harry sir

uh forget it i'm uh i'm on my own now

yeah i heard all about what happened in

the da's office

principal huh

yeah now i also know

how hard it is for a young lawyer to get

started around here

on his own how many uh

how many clients you got three or four

oh well maybe seven or eight

yeah that doesn't make a lot of practice

does it

oh still you got time you're young

you know

what you need is a good case to pay the

rent you know and to get you some

walking around money and it so happens

that i have a very

unusual case right here

on the calendar he's refused any defense

then why not just let him plead guilty

sir because i have principles of my own

i will never accept that a guilty plea

when the charge is murdered too murder

too

who's the man sir brandon dennis

redden

oh isn't he that father who uh

yeah i see now you know what i like

i'd like you to take on his defense

sure i mean uh

yes your honor uh now this new kind of

yours

he must plead to the indictment of

murder

at ten o'clock on tuesday morning yes

sir

so you better get your tail over to

rikers island

see him thank you sir hi

[Applause]

mr reardon brad gordon i've been

appointed to be your new attorney sir

won't you sit down please i'd prefer to

stand this may take some time sir i hope

not

now mr reardon in order for me to defend

you i need to know exactly what happened

so

it's all in my confession they showed it

to the other attorneys didn't they show

it to you

yes sir but i want to know your

innermost thoughts or your your feelings

before you bought the gun while you were

buying it while you were tracking

charlie johnson especially

at the moment you shot it please i get

it

okay if that's what you want start

making notes

from the time our agnes got raped and

murdered i kept thinking that animal has

got to pay

that's all you thought about right and

then when johnson got off scot-free

without even a trial

and never wasted away then i had a

double reason

that's when i began planning i couldn't

sleep

couldn't eat for thinking about it it

became an obsession with you

obsession that's it an obsession

one thing in this world for me was to

kill that killer

right i got it

tell me mr reardon exactly how did you

feel while you were shooting him

well that's the strangest thing while i

was shooting him i didn't feel anything

at all

my mind was a total blank total black

good and after that

after that i heard a voice

you heard a voice dennis reardon my

beloved son

well done the voice of god praised you

for killing charlie johnson

have you got that all of it i sure do

good now tear it up

i said tear it up mr reardon

this has the makings of a very credible

defense

i figured that's what you came for an

insanity plea

well it's very important for the people

to know that i was sane when

i did it very sane and i'm still saying

so tear it up

mr reardon listen tear it up

now look kid don't waste your time

i don't want to be defended well sir for

the moment i am your lawyer

and i'm certainly going to do my best to

defend you sir will you put me on the

stand

that depends will you agree to cooperate

or cooperate hell

i just want everyone to know why i did

it sir that's the one reason not to put

you on the stand

in murder two there are two key things

the prosecution must prove one that you

did it

and two that you had the intent to kill

if i put you on the stand and you admit

intent

that's the ball game i insist upon

testifying

mr reardon you don't understand what is

staring you in the face

conviction i mean that means minimum 15

years that's longer than you have to

live sir

it's worth it to let the people know

[Music]

sweetheart yep

hi

any luck yeah all bad let's have a drink

yeah dinner's ready and this new recipe

says to serve piping hot

veal parisian and chinese rock salt lady

you are too much

beautiful successful an excellent cook

cordon bleu wonderful lover

better than cordon bleu

and ever since i left the da's office

you've practically been supporting me

you know it's only temporary

but i must admit there is one thing

wrong with you

do you know the very idea of making love

to a stock market analyst could make a

man impotent

yeah so that's your excuse the last few

days

it's weird in case

still no defense defense i can't even

get cooperation from my own client

oh your mother called the office again

today what'd she say this time

and did you tell her it's not me but you

who doesn't want to get married i didn't

think it necessary to discuss all that

with her

or me either please tell me what

go on eat your dinner

um if rudin won't cooperate what will

you do

well uncle harry used to say and you

know that uncle harry was the best damn

best criminal lawyer in new york until

the day he died

well he was who knows that better than i

meaning

meaning the first four times you went

out you spent the whole evening telling

me about how wonderful your uncle harry

was

the first four times no way no

no all right if your uncle harry was so

brilliant

tell me what he would do with the

weirding case no no wait

don't tell me i'll tell you my uncle

harry would say

no matter how bad the case appears to be

the odds are always with the defendant

all you have to do is find one loophole

establish one reasonable doubt in the

minds of the jury

yes but in this case if the prosecutor

puts on enough witnesses and if you stay

alert

you'll find that loophole so pick away

at every witness

the gospel according to uncle harry

okay brilliant nephew pick away

pick away dixieland honey what uncle

harry meant

was go harry the prosecutor has to

stretch the truth to make his case

an impeachable witness a faulty

confession

so there are things to pick away at but

not in this case

it's airtight

bye now i brought you boys here because

every once in a while i like to see some

justice done around here justice based

on humanity and not just

laws so what i'd like you to do is to go

back to your boss

and talk to him about a plea a plea

of manslaughter in the first instead of

murder too

and you you talk to your client about

taking

a plea he's a strange man sir very

stubborn

convince him for everyone's sake mostly

his own

plead guilty to manslaughter absolutely

not

because i did intend to kill johnson so

i should be charged with murder

tried for murder and punished for murder

i want everyone to know that dennis

reardon did what he had to because the

law wouldn't

and for that you're willing to spend the

rest of your life in prison son

with netagon with aggie gone

what life uh

mr rudin do something for me sure kid

anything but plead guilty to

manslaughter

uh in the courtroom don't call me son

or kid uh doesn't look good counselor

how's that that's better

those are my huskies got them from the

property clerk so i can go to your house

get you a proper suit some

white shirts tie to make a good

impression on the juror during the trial

you knew all along i wouldn't settle for

a deal didn't you

i had to try so long as you knew

[Music]

who are you what are you doing here

i'm mr riordan's lawyer i'm here to pick

up some decent clothes for his trial

oh in that case that's all right then

i'm mary delahanty his neighbor how do

you do

come on upstairs and i'll see if i can

help you thanks

off the poor man as soon as it was in

the papers about him

surrendering but the dirty hooligans

broke in here and stripped the place

bare

i didn't leave anything unturned today

what a mess

there's nothing left nothing like

heaven's ned isn't here to see this

[Music]

that was his agnes such a lovely girl

real refined

[Music]

[Music]

brad

[Music]

reached out to put my arm around you

how long have you been out here since

midnight

have you thought of your opening to the

jury tomorrow no

well you think of something brilliant

not sure

our only hope is to make that jury

experience the agony that agnes reardon

suffered in those last

terrible moments of her life there's not

a single legal precedent that makes it

possible for me to turn this into the

trial of charlie johnson

can i come to court

not even for moral support i don't know

if you give me financial support oh brad

i don't want you to come to the trial

[Music]

please

is it true your client tried to hang

himself in his cell and they had to cut

him down

oh god man will you make weird and

available for interviews during the

trial

no comments our producer did a minute

survey and it's according to him next to

the president

this case is the most exciting news on

her at six o'clock news uh

so you owe our audience more than a no

comment do you know my dear that the

courts were established to achieve

justice not to supply items

for the tv news so we can boost your

ratings excuse me

i don't know and so ladies and gentlemen

of the jury

we will prove that on the 21st day of

june

dennis rearton bought a pistol in

another state

and then drove back to new york with a

specific

intent to kill the one charlie johnson

and that on the 24th day of june he did

indeed track down

johnson fired five shots hitting him

four times

and killing him instantly now we will

prove all that

not only by witnesses but most important

by a detailed and

uncontested confession by mr reardon

thank you i'd mr gordon

your opening statement

conor the defense chooses not to make an

opening statement

constant is that your considered

decision

your honor nothing in the code says i'm

forced to make an opening statement

hi mr crew your first witness thank you

your honor

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

sorry sir full up

[Music]

yes sir

mr ward you've been sworn in and you

understand that you are under oath

i want you to relax and to think very

carefully

and to tell this jury in your own words

mr ward exactly what happened

yes sir

me and charlie just finished having

lunch at the avalon restaurant up on

linux avenue

we come out and we hear someone call

charlie johnson so we turn to see

and as we turn we see this white man

this stranger who just starts shooting

at charlie

charlie sit back falls to the ground

and this white man just gets

in his car and drives off

just drives off now then mr ward the man

who fired those shots at charlie johnson

do you see him in this courtroom yes sir

that's him are you absolutely sure

yes sir never forget his face

thank you mr ward

mr reardon have you got your rosary yes

of course what

use it this is crucial

[Applause]

mr ward did you testify that you and

charlie johnson had lunch at the avon

restaurant that day

yes sir but mr johnson was killed around

three or four in the afternoon

lunch mr ward well

it was it was kind of a

late lunch

uh and by any chance did you

also have a drink

well i uh i guess

we had a drink or two no sir not two i

remember that

you're sure about that now well

maybe just two just two

mr ward what did you do

when you claimed that mr reardon started

shooting at charlie johnson well when i

hear gunfire i duck

i learned that in the army so you ducked

when soon as the shooting started

so the only time that you could look at

the man that you claim shot your friend

was in that fraction of a second between

turning to see who called

charlie johnson and ducking for cover

but i did get a good look at him

are you asking this jury of intelligent

men and women to believe

that with three or four drinks in you

you get a flash look at a total stranger

and you can come in this courtroom and

truthfully testify that that is the man

that killed your dear friend charlie

johnson

come now mr ward

mr ward when charlie johnson felt badly

wounded

exactly what did you do i rushed to

charlie

to see what i could do for him but just

moments ago you testified

that you watched his assailant get to

his car get in and just drive off

now which did you do i guess i did both

and i guess that while your dear friend

was bleeding to death

you stood there watching his assailant

make his getaway

maybe charlie johnson wasn't such a good

friend of yours as you would have this

jury believe

we was close very close

close enough to talk man-to-man

close enough to talk about your women

well

sometimes maybe exchange a few names a

few phone numbers as

close friends do from time to time well

i reckon so

were you such a close friend that he

told you exactly how he raped and

murdered agnes reardon

objection the question is irrelevant and

immaterial your honor we are not here to

try the case of people versus johnson as

much as mr gord would like

we are here to decide the case of people

versus rear

anything else is irrelevant your honor

in his opening the prosecutor made it

very clear that intent

is crucial in this crime therefore i

feel i have every right

to explore the question of intent in all

its aspects and that includes

the rape and murder of agnes riordan

i will sustain the prosecution's

objection your honor the jury has

arrested gordon

the court has ruled now if you have any

questions from this witness

that are relevant to this case do you

no more questions sir

so the council may regain his composure

we will stand in recess until

1 30.

well mr gordon how crucial was that

question that judge klein ruled out

would it affect the rest of your case no

comments for the benefit of the tv

audience would you come on camera and

explain the legal consequences no

comment please come on let's go find

crew come on let's go

thank you i ask you not to come i know

i'm sorry i just couldn't stay away what

about the office

my presence there doesn't make the

market go up and down i was hoping my

presence here might help

so are you gonna get another chance to

put charlie johnson on trial

one last shot that's all

and at that time did you make a record

of the defendant's confession

yes i did i have here now a videotaped

recording of the defendant's confession

which the people now offer into evidence

your honor may the technicians bring in

the equipment yes constant

thank you

one night she's on her way home you see

she works for this law firm

not on wall street it's a legal

secretary

so bright

the firm was sending her to school at

night to become a lawyer

which is what she was doing when it

happened

there was this night

oh just take your time mr reardon you

can take as much time as you need

well night classes don't get out until

after nine

so it was dark when she was crossing

city hall park on her way to get the

subway

and he grabbed her

months later we get a call from the

detective on the case

come down to the courthouse but there

isn't any trial it's just a hearing

and there's a lot of argument back and

forth between a young district attorney

and this

is judge i can identify aggies

judge lancel just bangs his gavel and he

says clear the courtroom

and just like that

is dismissed it's all over and this

murderer

is walking out of the courtroom a free

man

and he's laughing i took neda home

but from that day on she started failing

lost the will to live

and just about an hour ago i found

charlie johnson

and i killed him and now i want to be

tried

now it's more important than ever that

you put me on that stand why

because there's certain things i wanted

to say in that confession and i never

got to say them

you admitted intent that's all that was

missing from their case and you just

gave them that

i can't let your confession be the last

thing that jury remembers

got to figure out some way to counteract

it lights

now gentlemen since it's almost four

o'clock i think we should adjourn

for the day your honor before we adjourn

i would like to ask mr crew to resume

the stand

well mr gordon i don't like to impose on

the jury

beside that it takes time to remove this

equipment

and to put this uh courtroom back in

order i can wait

all right mr gordon but unless you can

finish

by four o'clock don't even start

four o'clock your honor mr gordon

yeah victor cult

i said victor cole dr cole

oh the literary mush picture agent yeah

i read about you in the columns all the

time

well if you don't mind brad you don't

mind my calling you brad do you

brad you're sitting on a gold mine am i

well that uh that confession alone is

going to give my client 15 years to life

no no no the rights

the rights you must get them the

literary rights to written story

for a book or a movie or a mini series

let's see this is big brad very big

yeah how big figure i'd say about 400

thousand dollars

and what happens to that 400 000 when i

lose this case

i would raise the price to 500 000 after

all

if you lose the case what's the first

thing you'll do

appeal in a murder case that's automatic

exactly which of course keeps the

interest alive until the book comes up

you don't miss anything dear sorry brad

don't say no so quickly think of the

personal publicity that goes with the

book the radio and tv guest show

think what that could do for the career

of a bright young lawyer i can't think

about anything right now

got to uh read trust me i have done

these deals before

lots of them

all rise

please set

mr

mr gordon i'd like to remind you yes i

know your honor

i must be finished by four o'clock sir

mr crew was mr reardon's the first

confession that you've ever taken

mr gordon since you and i worked

together in the district attorney's

office you know that i've taken many

confessions

then tell us during all those

confessions have you ever encountered a

man

who was more insistent on confessing

than this defendant

i've never encountered a man so lucid so

calm and so insistent on making a

confession and it never occurred to you

that this man didn't know what he was

doing

that he has a compulsion to confess the

compulsion of a religious zealot

mr gordon in the miranda case the

supreme court of the united states laid

down precisely what my job was and i

performed that job precisely

did the supreme court ever hand down a

decision exempting a prosecutor from

having a little humanity a little

compassion for a man who suffered such a

grievous wrong

i please are no flights of fancy now if

you have proper questions

you ask them sorry ron

mr crew at the time of the defendant's

confession

were you aware of his religion mr gordon

i don't understand the relevancy of the

question

mr crew you are aware aren't you the

confession is a holy sacrament of the

catholic church

of course and that a catholic is brought

up from early his childhood to believe

that if you sin

you confess and if you confess you're

granted absolution not put on trial for

murder now wait just

i suggest mr carew that you took

advantage of this devout

god-fearing man by letting him confess

you took advantage of his religious

convictions

and i suggest mr gordon that you are

trying to divert the attention of this

jury away from that confession by

playing on the emotion of the catholics

and the jury

gentlemen please i want you sir

no flights of fancy besides

it's four o'clock i have just two more

questions your honor

proceed the counselor mr crew

at the time that you were taking mr

riordan's confession

did you know the identity of the victim

i was informed when i arrived at the

11th precinct

and tell us would you have

felt the same acted the same toward mr

reardon

if his victim had not been a black man

[Music]

in the end it always comes down to this

doesn't it

a man can be your co-worker

colleague even a friend

until the heat is on but then

then he's just a black man after all

isn't he

[Music]

mr gordon i would have acted in the same

manner if the defendant's victim had

been black or white

catholic protestant or jew

and you know that

no further question john

the quarters adjourn until 9 00 am

tomorrow morning

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

i had to get their minds off your

confession

[Music]

[Applause]

diverting the jury's attention away from

that confession to the race issue

never been very clever

[Music]

now that what did reardon say you did

talk to didn't you about the rights

the book of picture writes the brand did

you talk to him

no i didn't talk to him you didn't talk

to him why not

i'm here this will make it easier what

the hell is that it's the usual release

i have defendant signed

get written to sign it

[Music]

go on say it it was a lousy thing for me

to do since you're already aware of that

fact there's no reason for me to say it

or anything else to you

from now on arlene

i swear i didn't plan it i mean i

couldn't let the jury go home with

reardon's confession the last thing they

remembered it was almost four o'clock i

was testing

desperate is one thing this was

despicable

[Music]

across the bridge

in supreme court today what was a murder

trial

suddenly erupted into a racial war and

alongside it

even dennis reardon's confession faded

into relative insignificance

the prosecution has rested its case so

tomorrow the defense

will have its turn

at least i got him to play down the

confession

[Applause]

under the adversary system it was my

duty as the defense attorney

[Applause]

uh

can i speak to lester please yeah sure

i'll hold on

yeah oh

i see

he wouldn't come to the farm can you

blame him

i guess not

[Music]

wow

[Music]

thanks i'm doing this to save the wall

[Music]

i tried to apologize

that man calls keeps showing up at trial

what does he want

[Music]

i'm gonna ask reardon to sign this

thanks brad for what oh

every time i think i found a good reason

to leave you you uh

you do something that makes me think

you're not such a louse after all

you can't leave me why not

because this is your apartment silly

gonna sleep yeah what i have staring me

in the face tomorrow

you do have those character witnesses

an old lady has been rearden's neighbor

for 26 years his

boss at the warehouse and his parish

priest

who will all testify that reardon was a

fine upstanding citizen

until he committed a murder terrific

uncle harry would know what to do

[Music]

he'd probably hold it

before you got home tonight i had time

to do a lot of thinking

about the trial about us

mainly about you

yeah when your uncle harry was alive

who did he quote meanie

meaning what made uncle harry a great

lawyer

was what he thought was what he did

one thing he did not do is go around

quoting his uncle

that's for a hero worshiping little boy

not a grown man

[Music]

and while we're at it the next time your

mother asks why we're not yet married

you can tell her the little boys don't

get married men

do i'm sorry brad

you got to start living your life as if

there never was an uncle harry there is

just brad gordon

and his client dennis reardon

the question now is what is brad gordon

going to do not uncle harry

but brad gordon who has struck out on

every

legal showdown in this case

you know what the the real trouble is

that rare never wanted a defense

all he wanted was for people to share

his outrage so maybe they'd do something

about the justice system

judge klein will never let you defend

reardon by putting johnson on trial you

know that

exactly but what if i can get the jury

to share

reardon's outrage by putting the system

of justice on trial

[Music]

brad can you do that i don't know

but i'm damn well gonna find out

and you're gonna help me help you how

by doing exactly what i tell you to do

tomorrow morning

[Music]

your witness will appear monday morning

or your client's case will be thrown out

of the court

yes ah this is for judge langley

i was told he once had handed him

personally

what do you mean intruding on my

courtroom and there's a hearing in

progress

attendant stop that woman hold it right

there mister

you take your hands off me or i'll see

you for false arrest

this is illegal absolutely illegal

all right

come to the bench yes your honor

do i understand that you just had this

subpoena served

unjudged lengle is there something wrong

sir is it defectively drawn

no no it's not effectively drawn but you

take it back

and we'll go on on the premise that it

was never served

well i don't see how i can do that sir

you see that attractive blonde woman in

the front row

she served the subpoena on judge lingle

now i can put her on the stand to

testify to that if you like

what i'd like i'd like you to withdraw

this and to forget it

there

now what in hell are you trying to accom

don't you come to my chambers your honor

if there's any question that judge

lengle will honor this valid subpoena i

want it argued out in the presence of

this court stenographer

and the press i think the public has a

right to know

and if you don't think so sir i'm going

out on the courthouse steps and tell

them how i've been muzzled during this

trial

you realize that i can hold you in

contempt for

any derogatory statement that you may

make even outside of this quarter

i know that sir so don't threaten me

uh clerk would you remove the jury

thank you mr crew

come to the bench thank you

crew do you know what the scheister has

just done

he's had the unmitigated call to

subpoena judge lingle as a whip

no uh please strike that strike that

please and make it read

uh mr crew i'm afraid that i'm afraid

that i

must inform you that your opponent in

this case

has taken a most regrettable step

he has had this subpoena served on judge

l'engle as a witness in this case your

honor the people very strongly oppose

such an outlandish tactic your honor

once the prosecutor introduced the

subject of judge l'engle into this case

we introduce brad you name me one

witness one who even mentioned judge

lingle mrs harrison do you have your

notes of yesterday

produce them mrs harrison find the place

where the prosecutor introduced the

confession of dennis reardon and

follow me while i read some excerpts if

i make a mistake

leaving a single word correctly

and i quote

there's a lot of arguing back and forth

between this young district attorney and

this judge

lingle until he takes both attorneys

into a side room when they come out

judge

lingo climbs back on the bench and says

does the prosecutor have a statement to

make and this young district attorney

says judge alengo in view of your honors

ruling that people find it impossible to

make a prima facie case but judge

langle wraps his gavel and says clear

the courtroom i grabbed the young

district attorney and say how can a

judge do a thing like that

and he says mr reardon judge lengle

threw out his confession because when

johnson murdered your daughter he was

out on bail

for another crime five times your honor

five times judge lengle's mention i

maintain

that when the prosecutor introduced that

confession

into evidence he also introduced the

subject of judge l'engle and under

the rules of evidence i have every right

to pursue it and i insist

that judge lengle honor this valid

subpoena or be held in contempt accord

like any other citizen

this request is unprecedented now the

people insist that this subpoena be

vacated the people

mr crew which people

judges and lawyers the bureaucracy that

you call people

or the people out there the average

citizens who really are the people

if it's those people that you represent

mr crew then why this conspiracy between

you and judge klein

to keep them from knowing what's on the

minds of our judges is that what brought

us

to where we are now when the people that

you claim to represent

live in constant fear for their safety

and their lives

if it's the people you represent mr

carew

an answer to them

your honor the defense awaits your

decision the trial will stand in recess

till after lunch

do you solemnly swear to tell the truth

the whole truth and nothing but the

truth in the matter of so i do

your name lango michael lingle

now then mr lingle mr gordon

as you well know the witness is a judge

on this court

and he is entitled to be addressed with

respect equal to his position

and from now on you will not call him mr

lango

but judge rangel may i address him as

your honor

your honor

[Laughter]

proceed now then tell us uh your honor

are there times when the opinion of one

judge does not agree with the opinion of

another judge

yes so that if one wanted to discover uh

why a particular decision was made in a

particular way one would have to ask

the judge who made it judge klein if it

is council's intent

to force me to justify my decision in a

past case

i will not submit to it i absolutely

will not is that your intention

mister no sir but the jury has seen

a confession in which judge langell's

decisions played a crucial part

in the crime for which my client is now

on trial i ask

simply that he explained to this jury

what happened and why

because i'm sure they're just as

confused as dennis reardon was

when all when all charges of rape and

murder against charlie johnson were

dropped without even a trial

sir as long as your questions are

confined to eliciting information for

the benefit of the jury

i will allow them but if you ask judge

langle to justify

his decisions i will rule them out is

that clear

yes your honor now

uh your honor

in his confession my client referred to

being in court

when you just threw out all the evidence

against charlie johnson young man

i did not just throw out evidence

i was conducting a proper hearing to

suppress evidence

oh thank you for that correction sir a

hearing

to suppress evidence now would you

explain to this jury exactly what that

means sir

some of the most crucial decisions in a

criminal case

concern what evidence may legally be

presented to a jury

and what may not well if jurors are

charged with reaching a fair decision

sir

couldn't all the evidence be presented

to them i'm sure this jury would like to

know

your honor i really don't see why i

should have to instruct this jury as if

they were a first year class in law

school

will you stop wasting the time of this

court and get to the pertinent questions

yes sir sir in the case against charlie

johnson for the rape and murder of agnes

reardon

exactly what evidence were you asked to

suppress

certain physical evidence what kind of

physical evidence

agnes weirdness jewelry which was found

on johnson's person at the time of his

arrest

yes

was there any other evidence sir yes

such as there were scratches

on charlie johnson's face inflicted

during agnes reardon's struggle to keep

from being

killed and raped most

now likely would you please tell

this jury explain to them exactly

on what grounds did you exclude all that

evidence

whenever evidence is seized by the

police without a warrant

or without proper provocation such

evidence is considered illegal under the

fourth amendment to our constitution

which prohibits

illegal search and seizure

therefore it must be thrown out it's the

only way to force the police to obey the

law

since charlie johnson was apprehended

within an hour

after the murder could there have been

time to secure a warrant

of course not but there was no

provocation

to arrest him in the first place for the

benefit of the jury sir

why not

[Music]

four out of ten in all units in the

vicinity the possible rape and homicide

just occurred in city

hall park

[Music]

so you see the officer arrested johnson

without cause

simply because mulberry street is a

predominantly white

italian neighborhood and a black man

walking along that street

late at night appeared suspicious to him

sir by that time had the policeman heard

a radio report that the body of a young

woman had been found in city hall park

yes but at the time of the arrest no one

knew that a black man might be involved

therefore the officer had no right to

stop and search johnson

merely because he was black you know the

law mr gordon

provocation legal provocation is needed

before an arrest and a search can be

made provocation

such as

sir i demand an answer to my question

what constitutes legal provocation

well if the man have been acting

suspiciously or if you were committing

some other offense oh so say that

instead of

of merely walking down the street

charlie johnson

had say uh swiped an apple

from a fruit stand would that have been

grounds on which to stop him

we are waiting yes it would and then all

the evidence the

stolen jewelry scratches semen stains

would have been admitted

yes what a fortunate thing for

charlie johnson that he didn't feel an

urge to swipe an apple

that was only walking away from the

robbery

rape and murder of agnes reardon object

your honor

now i insist that council be ordered to

confine himself to asking questions and

not making comments

i saw her and i warn you sir that if you

go any further

i will rule that you are stalling and i

will excuse this witness

your honor you had just explained why

you threw out all the evidence

against charlotte johnson council is

being repetitious

and wasting the time of this court sorry

sir

the prosecutor also produced this

confession by charlie johnson

in which he described in full detail how

he raped and murdered agnes reardon

which i would like to read to this jury

object your honor all such evidence has

been ruled irrelevant in this case

sustain then i would like to offer this

document for the sole purpose of

informing the jury as to its disposition

by judge lengle

your honor

what happened to this confession i ruled

it out

a confession of guilt to such heinous

crimes and you just ruled it out

counselor i warned you not to try to

force this witness

to justify his decisions your honor i've

already reconciled myself to the fact

that too many times the decisions of

judges are unjustifiable

gordon i declare you in contempt of this

court

and we will hold the hearings for

punishment at the end of this trial

now you follow me sir you too mister

okay wise guys so you finally succeeded

succeeded you know very well what i mean

you

jockeyed me into declaring you in

contempt

in front of the jury which constitutes

reversible error

okay so now you win your appeal let's

get it over with

sir i want judge lingle on that stand

i'm sorry i'm not through with it but

you have a new trial what more do you

want

i want to give my client the kind of

defense that he's entitled to sir now

may i continue

or do you want me to go out and explain

to the jury why i was not allowed to sir

your honor the confession of charlie

johnson you felt compelled to rule it

out

why the fifth amendment to our

constitution

i'm sure the jury is familiar with the

expression he took the fifth meaning he

refused to testify because it might

incriminate him

i show you now a transcript of the

interrogation of charlie johnson before

he confessed

was he apprised of his legal right to

remain silent

before making any statement you have a

right to consult an attorney you cannot

afford one

we will provide the wishing attorney

[Music]

but now right now

you understand that anything you say may

be held against you

yeah okay

then in your own words tell us what

happened

then before johnson's confession he was

given all his rights under the fifth

amendment

and under the miranda rule as well yes

and yet you still ruled out his

confession why

for very valid legal reasons

oh by this time i'm sure this jury would

be mighty curious to know those reasons

sir

ladies and gentlemen despite the false

impression the council is trying to

create

the johnson confession did not meet the

standards set down by the highest court

of new york state

which standards council you know the

legal answer that question is extremely

complicated and i don't think this jury

would be able to follow it

i'm willing to take that risk it would

require discussing the rogers case

well i'm sure these ladies and gentlemen

will survive it and if it would be of

any help to you sir

i have with me a copy of the decision

in the rogers case sir

defendant rogers while out on bail for

one crime

was arrested for a second crime during

his arrest

he admitted his guilt to the second

crime and so he was convicted

but on appeal his admission of guilt

was thrown out and his conviction was

reversed

had rogers been read all his miranda

rights yes

then on what possible ground could the

court throw out his confession

as i said he was out on bail for a

previous crime

are you telling this jury that his

previous crime served as a defense in

his second crime

in this state once a suspect

has an attorney in one criminal case

he's considered represented by that same

attorney in all subsequent criminal

cases

therefore any confession he might make

not in the presence of that attorney

is not admissible into evidence you mean

sir even though rogers had not asked for

that attorney to be present

he should still have been there so our

high court held

now let me get this straight the absence

of an attorney that rogers did not ask

for

who he did not retain and who had no

connection

with the second case was the reason that

the court threw out

roger's confession i can see now why you

assumed that this jury

would have trouble understanding a

ridiculous ruling like that

mr gordon you listen to me ordinarily i

forego

punishment in contempt until after the

trial is over

but because you continue to attack our

courts

i hereby declare you in contempt

a second time and i find you

the maximum amount allowed under the law

for each offence now sir are you sure

that you still wish to continue with

that witness

more sure than ever sir

[Music]

[Music]

sir would you explain to this jury the

connection between the rogers case and

this confession by charlie johnson

at the time charlie johnson was

apprehended for raping

and killing agnes reardon he was out on

bail

since his first attorney was not present

confession in the written case had to be

ruled out

sir are you telling this jury that if

johnson had not been out on bail

did not have an attorney for his

previous crime that this confession

would have been admitted

sir the jury is waiting for your answer

yes that confession would have been

admissible

and sir by any chance do you know the

charge on which charlie johnson was out

on bail when he murdered agnes reardon

yes that charge rape

of a 15 year old black girl

you'll both approach the bench

now gordon you are deliberately

holding the law up to ridicule to trick

me into another outburst in front of

that

jury but there is not a chance and you

remember this that we judges have long

long memories now get on with it

i have just one last question to ask the

witness sir all right as long as it's

one last question

i promise you answer oh before i ask the

question sir

i would like to offer into evidence

three documents

the interrogation of charlie johnson at

the time of his arrest

his confession and a copy of the

decision in the rogers case

your honor quite frankly i don't see the

purpose in all of this but the people

have no objections

and now your honor just one last

question

with all the evidence that you had

before you in the johnson case

did you in your own mind have any doubt

that he was guilty of the rape and

murder of agnes reardon

it's irrelevant charlie johnson is not

on trial here

your honor objection has been sustained

your honor i refuse to be silenced i

have every right mr gordon

you have been warned damn it

i know how you all feel about judges

judges are too lenient

judges are bleeding heart liberals but

how do you think i felt in this johnson

case

the district attorney came in with solid

proof

face scratches semen match stolen

jewelry

and i had to rule all that out because

the officer had made a mistake

by stopping johnson on the street they

presented his confession

i had to rule that out too under the

rogers case

did i want to no but i had to it was my

duty under the law so yes counselor

i'll answer your question

did i think charlie johnson was guilty

there was never any doubt in my mind

he was guilty as hell that's what i had

to hear

in some courtroom from some judge i owed

it to neda

i ordered to aggie

all right your seats

thank you your honor no further

questions sir

the defense rest council will sum up

first thing in the morning

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Music]

counsel your client wants to talk to you

before i bring him in what's wrong he's

an idealist

i don't know

[Music]

mr reardon what's wrong i've been

thinking all night

couldn't sleep i hope it isn't too late

too late wait a minute you haven't

finally decided to cooperate yet

i mean with the proper coaching i could

have put you on the stand you might have

done us some good but but now no no no

no kids nothing like that

it's just that today

when you make your summation

say a few nice words about aggie about

neda

it's the last time anyone will ever hear

about it

[Music]

okay sure thank you

and look kid don't make any big plea for

me

just tell them why i did it warn the

people

and don't blame yourself you're a good

lawyer

in time you'll forget all about this

case and win some big ones

they're waiting for sir

ladies and gentlemen when dennis

reardon's daughter was murdered

did he rush out buy a gun and hunt down

the man who killed his daughter

he did not because the police caught the

man

and dennis reardon would get up on the

witness stand

identify his daughter's stolen jewelry

and seal the fate of her killer

that's the way the system works isn't it

but then

dennis and neda reardon made a shocking

discovery that is not the way the system

works there was no trial

no chance to testify there was only a

hearing and for what purpose

are hearing to suppress evidence why not

call it by its rightful name

a hearing to suppress the truth

counselor

i think you are straying from your

proper summation

and i think i am not sir and if you're

going to hold me in contempt again get

it over with because i have a lot more

to say before i'm through

aware of the strain you're under i will

instruct the stenographer to strike that

outburst

now you proceed but you can find

yourself to commenting

on the evidence only yesterday

you heard judge langle say that he was

forced

to let charlie johnson go free because

the officer stopped johnson

without good cause now bear in mind that

if johnson had swiped a 10 cent apple

all that evidence would have been

admissible but judge lingle threw it out

why because to force the police

to obey the law judges punish them by

throwing out the evidence

think about that i mean do you think was

judge langell really punishing that

officer no he was punishing you

he was punishing me

and he turned loose on us the innocent

public a rapist

a murderer and somehow that was supposed

to teach that officer a lesson

and that ladies and gentlemen is the law

as laid down by our judges

the law that is supposed to protect you

counselor

sorry ronnie now

you're you're saying to yourselves

didn't johnson confess

to the raping and killing of agnes

reardon why wouldn't that be enough

proof

but then you must recall that judge

lingle threw out that confession too

why because johnson was out on bail for

another rape

and since his attorney from a previous

crime was not present

they had to throw out that confession

what have we come to when a man's best

defense

is his criminal record counselor

now there were some things that judge

lingle did not tell you yesterday that

rogers case

which forced him to throw out the

johnson confession not all the judges in

the rogers case agreed

there were two judges that objected very

strongly one judge said that to

throw out such a confession and and i

quote would stretch the comprehension of

the average citizen to the breaking

point

your honor the people object the people

mr crew

the objection is sustained and without

any sarcastic remarks mr gordon

your honor i've placed the rogers

decision into evidence so i'm merely

commenting on the evidence that you

charged me to do sir

continue counselor

and this judge went on uh and he was

warning his fellow judges

and again i quote judges decisions

must appear to be rational and fair as

well as practical

if the courts are to retain the respect

of the people

unquote you know i wonder if

if that judge were to say that in this

courtroom today would he be held guilty

of contempt

now counselor do not presume too much

on the patience of this court sorry ron

and now we come to the case of people

versus dennis reardon a man who lived a

decent respectable life

until he discovered that justice had

been turned

into a dangerous game that set a guilty

murderer loose on a defenseless public

because no longer do our judges ask us

is a man guilty now they ask us can you

prove him guilty

by our arbitrary rules guilt and

innocence go out the window

only the rules are sacred not the lives

of innocent people the rules protect the

rules

to hell with the people

so you see ladies and gentlemen what is

really

on trial in this courtroom is our system

of justice object your honor sustain

counsel is straying from proper

summation your honor i was merely

commenting on the evidence

you will not put the legal system on

trial

in my courtroom

never in all my years on the bench have

i ever had to interrupt an attorney

during his summation to declare him in

contempt

but with you i make an exception and

because

money fines seem to have no effect on

you whatsoever

i hereby sends you to

five days in the county jail beginning

after this trial now

your honor is it really necessary i

warned him

now you finish your summation quickly

and in proper fashion

do you understand

sit down

ladies and gentlemen something happened

in this courtroom yesterday

to you i saw it in your eyes when judge

lengle

rose up on the platform and protested i

knew charlie johnson was guilty as hell

but i had to let him go

outrage that's what you felt

but now it is in your hands

to send the word out to all the judges

in this land that if you would retain

our respect then give us some measure of

fairness

in our course how do you do that

well last night when i was preparing my

summation a very interesting thought

became clear to me not a single

prosecution witness was able to testify

that dennis reardon had the intent to

kill

charlie johnson there was only one place

where intent could be inferred

defendant's confession and i couldn't

help but think to myself

my goodness what if after they're

secluded in that room

this jury decides to hold a little

suppression hearing of their own

what if they say it isn't fair that

because charlie johnson

had a criminal record his confession

should be thrown out

but because dennis reardon does not have

a criminal record

his confession should be held against

him let us

restore some measure of a fairness of

sanity into our courts

let us throw out dennis reardon's

confession

forgive me your honor a flight of fancy

late at night in the mind of an

overworked defense counsel

i'm sure that uh this jury will not be

swayed by it

outrage or not you cannot say to dennis

rieden

you have our permission to go out and

kill another man

if you do that you will have turned our

system of justice back a hundred years

to the law of the frontier

the day of the vigilante

there are those who would have you

believe that the fourth and fifth

amendments

to our constitution were written to

protect the rights

of criminals like charlie johnson

not so they are for your protection

and for mine to protect us

from the knock on the door by secret

police in the middle of the night to

protect

us from being arrested without cause

held without charges or as is the case

in some countries

from being sentenced to prison camps or

insane asylums

not for what we do but for what we think

crime in the streets no matter how

rampant public outrage no matter how

strong

can never justify abandoning the laws of

this nation

you see if our freedom is to survive

then our system of justice must survive

and this jury by its verdict must play

its part in making sure that it does

survive

ladies and gentlemen you must return a

verdict of guilty

of murder

thank you

and now that i have explained the

applicable law

you the jury take the case into your own

hands

file out and commence your deliberations

thank you

fred up until now you haven't taken me

very seriously

well to prove my good faith you know

what i just did cause it wouldn't matter

i took a little liberty i booked you on

the today show

yes i've made you a celebrity before the

book is written because

it's not my story to sell why not other

lawyers do it

not this lawyer listen to me young man

for the rest of your life people are

going to be divided into two classes

those who are on tv and those who only

watch it

now unless you're on it you may as well

not exist

this is your chance it's a once in a

lifetime chat

but first you've got to get rid to sign

this release it could mean a million

dollars

maybe more

okay come with me

mr reardon sorry to interrupt you sir

this is mr coles

mr coles thinks there's big money in a

book about you sir you could

make a fortune brad that isn't exactly

how this

release reads it will oh you're an

important man now

mr reardon by any chance if you're found

innocent you could capitalize on that a

million dollars maybe more

because i killed a man you want to pay

me a million dollars

that's the way the publishing business

is these days mr reed

[Applause]

you want the world to know about what

happened to aggie don't you

well this would be the only authorized

version of her story

look if we don't write the book somebody

else will good let him

but not me mr reardon i'll tell you what

i do

when we make the movie i'll get

catherine hepburn to play your wife

and jane fonda to play aggie how about

that damn it man don't you understand

for me it would be like robbing a grave

mr carlson

i think you're making a great mistake

sorry pop the only way was for you to

tell him yourself

what kind of world are we living in kid

is the almighty dollar so important that

people will buy and sell anything

there's a verdict find gordon and crew

yes sir

hey gordon what do you think we heard

any comments

what do you think the verdict will be

excuse me

[Music]

all rise

be seated

bring in the defendant

well i guess this is it kid i mean

consulate

right pop this is it and don't blame

yourself you did your best

bring in the jury

be saved

i have been informed that the jury has

reached a verdict

the defendant will rise and face the

jury

ladies and gentlemen of the jury what is

your verdict

we the jury find a verdict of guilty

[Music]

this is not a football stadium this is a

corner law

clerk will you get that slip from the

foreman

[Applause]

is this the jury's verdict yes sir

i mean your honor

we the jury find a verdict of

guilty insofar as the justice system

is concerned

as for the defendant dennis reardon

we find him not guilty

[Music]

this is against the evidence it's

clearly against the evidence

it's bound to happen one day well

without the usual thanks

the jury is excused

and the defendant is free to go

[Music]

you did good kid i mean

kid you did real good

[Music]

what i said that day

it's unforgivable i'm sorry i'm truly

sorry

i know brett it's the adversary system

right

you say anything you do anything in

defense of your client

hey but brad don't you ever wonder is it

this system which corrupts lawyers or

lawyers who corrupt this system

at dinner still on

yeah brad it's still on

it's still on

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Music]

you