Original subtitles

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Among the things we still don't know

is why famed defense attorney Benjamin Matlock,

who entered the prison five days ago,

still has yet to leave.

Is he a negotiator, a hostage

or is he defending the guard on trial for murder?

Oh, yes, sir, he is.

It's the governor.

Yes.

He was found hanging in his cell.

I can't tell you anything else.

Looked like suicide.

Ben says it looked like a suicide.

Only it wasn't suicide.

Only he says it wasn't a suicide.

You sure about that?

Positive.

He's positive, Governor.

I understand.

Well, I know that, but...

Wait a minute. Please hold on.

He's afraid if he doesn't respond

to this second killing with some show of force,

that the press will crucify him

when they find out about it.

He can't do that.

The warden doesn't think that's a good idea

and frankly, neither do I.

Tell him... Give me the phone.

Just give me the phone.

Burt, Ben Matlock.

Now listen, I know it doesn't sound like

we're making much progress, but we are.

I can't do it in 48 hours.

And they won't let me out of here.

I've got to have more time.

I understand.

I understand.

And here's something for you to understand...

I'm in this and I've got to finish,

or there's going to be a lot more dead people,

and I might be one of them,

and I'm too damn young to die.

You got that?

I don't know what to tell you to do with the press.

I know... lie.

48 hours!

Anything I can do?

I don't know.

Yes.

Transfer Rudy Chambers to Greenwood Prison.

Rudy Chambers is dead.

Maybe not.

You'll be given a daily work assignment.

Only when it's complete

will you be able to use the recreational facilities.

Track and tennis courts over here,

basketball court, swimming pool

and putting greens on the other side of the weight room.

Beats the hell out of the state pen, doesn't it, Chambers?

No guard towers, no walls.

Just a little fence.

I don't have to tell you

what'll happen if you try to escape.

Please, look... don't ruin the moment.

How'd you do it anyway, Chambers?

Do what?

This is where they send creative bookkeepers

and inside traders, corrupt politicians...

You know, white collar crooks.

What's a safecracker like you

doing in a place like this?

With any luck, about five years.

What are you looking for?

Anything that'll tell me who killed Lenny.

He killed himself.

No.

Lenny was a survivor.

He knew he had something that I wanted,

and he knew I'd make a deal to get it.

I just didn't get to him in time.

He'd never have killed himself

till he heard what I had to offer.

Well, then who killed him?

Whoever killed Rudy.

The first place to look is under the bed.

It's bloody.

Yeah.

And I'll bet anything it's Rudy Chambers' blood.

What's Lenny doing with it?

Well, either Lenny killed him...

The wimp?!

Or he took the knife after somebody else killed him.

Lenny knew this knife would implicate somebody,

so he kept it, figuring the killer wouldn't kill him.

In other words, Tiny,

if we can find out who owns this knife,

we'll know who the killer is.

Damn.

You recognize it?

No.

Uh, appreciate it, man.

You won't catch me talking about it.

If I had that much time,

then I wouldn't be doing all of this.

Not me, man.

Oh, just the boys I was looking for.

Man, when are you going to get off our backs?

Well, just as soon as I figure out

which one of you killed Rudy Chambers

and Lenny Marcus.

Whoa-whoa, wait... now one of us killed Lenny, too?

I know one of you killed Rudy.

If he hadn't blown the whistle on you,

why you'd all be on the beach in South America or somewhere.

Hell, maybe you were all in on it.

Drew straws or something.

Lenny was a friend of ours, Ben.

Why would we want to kill him?

Because one of you bribed Lenny to look the other way

while Rudy was being killed.

And that was okay then,

but then this kangaroo court thing came up

and you were afraid that somebody else

might bribe Lenny... me.

And so, one of you,

the one with the most to lose,

the one who killed Rudy, killed Lenny.

Lenny hung himself.

You know as well as I do Lenny wasn't the type.

If you're waiting for one of us to confess here,

don't hold your breath.

The reason I came to see you is I've got something to tell you.

What's that?

We found the murder weapon in Lenny's cell.

You found the knife?

We found a knife.

We found a knife.

Now, the warden is willing to make a deal

with anybody who knows anything about Rudy Chambers' murder.

And I figure

two of you might be interested.

Let me know.

I'm easy to find.

What's wrong, man?

I wasn't supposed to tell them about the knife?

No, Tiny, you weren't supposed to tell them about the knife.

You didn't tell me that!

I didn't think I had to!

Chambers?

You're blocking my rays.

I'm Lesser.

Nice to meet you.

Could you move about six inches to the right?

I have a message from Harper.

I'm listening.

Get acquainted meeting tonight at 10:00.

312 Valley Vista.

Enjoy.

I never seen it before.

According to Tiny, nearly everybody in this place

makes himself some kind of a weapon.

I thought maybe you might recognize the way this tape's wrapped around the handle

as being somebody's trademark.

I don't know.

Things are looking up, you know.

We finally have something that can implicate the real killer.

A good solid piece of evidence.

You don't get it, do you?

You keep talking like this thing is for real, and it's not.

It's a joke.

The same thing is going to happen,

whether you find the real killer or not.

They're gonna kill me.

♪ ♪

I'm Jim Beck.

This is Mike Saunders.

How you doin'?

I'm here.

So... where's Harper?

You probably won't see him till after the job.

When's the job?

Tomorrow night.

Had us worried.

Figured that prison riot screwed everything up.

Yeah, well, riot broke out

just as I was being transferred to Greenwood.

Harper gave us your list.

We got everything you wanted in there.

You mind if I look at it?

Be my guest.

Yeah...

Yeah, that looks, that looks good.

That... looks like it's, uh, it's all here.

That's nice work.

So, guess I'll see you boys tomorrow night.

And where you going?

Out. No, no.

You're an escaped con, remember?

You're not going anywhere till after the job.

You need to get out here and work out a little bit.

So where's your new homeboy... the lawyer?

Talking to Mazarofski, man.

He told me to take a walk.

Probably figures

an uneducated guy like you

would get lost with all the legal talk.

Or maybe he just doesn't trust you.

Listen, Tiny,

I got this friend who'd like to know more about that shiv

you found in Lenny's cell.

What's in it for me?

Plenty.

What'd it look like?

It's a mess hall knife, man.

It's filed down, black tape for a grip.

Where's it now?

It's locked in solitary.

You think, if I gave you the word ahead of time,

you could leave that cell unlocked for an hour or two?

No problem.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

That's a security peep from the bank lobby.

We planted a transmitter on one of the poles they use

to rope off the teller area.

Signals from this makes it

vibrate just enough

to set off the motion detector.

We've been triggering it a couple

of times a night, for almost a week.

And here we go again.

Motion on the main floor.

Nothing's moving down there.

I don't care what Maintenance says.

There's a short in the system somewhere,

damn it.

It's your turn to check.

Give him a couple of minutes

to get back upstairs to his buddy.

A million bucks

for a security system that doesn't work.

And now...

it's showtime.

You're feeding 'em the tape?

Two hours of empty lobby.

Recorded it last night.

Ready when you are.

Let's hit it.

I say we pull the plug.

Okay.

It's all yours.

Yeah, there we go.

See what you got for me.

It's thick.

You're supposed to be fast.

What's taking so long?

Hey, I learned this from Charlie Hawk.

He's the best safecracker in the country.

But if you think you can get somebody faster,

you're welcome to go get him.

Come on, man!

We got nine minutes left on that video.

Uh...

I think that's it.

You think?

Yeah, yeah.

Come on.

Yes!

How much you figure, one, two million?

Who's counting?

Who wants a beer?

Make it two.

Rudy!

See, now, ordinarily, I'd pass,

but, right now, I'm, I'm feeling congenial, guys.

A good day at the office.

There's two million at least.

I was starting to get worried.

Chambers here was a little out of practice.

That's not Chambers.

Who are you?

Travis Jenkins.

Yes, and I've been in the pen for five years,

and Rudy's one of my best buddies.

What, he ne... he never said anything

to you about me?

What happened to Rudy Chambers, Mr. Jenkins?

He busted his arm breaking out, I told you.

He couldn't crack a paper bag, let alone a vault.

Which is why he told me about the plan

and had me fill in for him.

Bull! It's true!

Half of my take's gonna be waiting for him

when he gets out.

He told me because he... Look, half of something

is better than all of nothing, am I right?

How come you didn't tell us all this right from the start?

Because I figured you wouldn't let me pull the job.

You were right. See?!

But I pulled through, didn't I?

I'm gonna check...

see if Travis Jenkins really was a prisoner

in the pen for five years.

Without mentioning specifics,

authorities here at the Atlanta State Prison

say they are making progress in their negotiations

with the inmates who are now in control of the facility.

They refused to comment on the trial going on inside.

Mr. Stone, would you please tell the court

what it was you saw on the night of the 21st?

Well, Mr. Mazarofski, uh, you know,

I hurt my knee while I was working in the laundry.

A, uh, press door fell over, whacked me

right across the kneecap.

Hurt so bad, I didn't know what to do.

Why don't you sue?!

Shut up before I come over and sue you, man!

All right!

You don't know who you messing with!

Order! Order or I'll clear this room.

That means pipe down or get out.

Yeah, yeah.

All right, so you hurt your kneecap

and you went to the infirmary

to get it fixed up, right?

Yeah, yeah, that's right.

What did you see?

Well, first, I saw John Jackson standing

above one of the beds.

Then I saw Rudy Chambers laying on one of the beds.

And the minute I saw the brother, I knew he was dead.

He had been wasted,

'cause there was blood all over the place.

Did you see anyone else?

Just Jackson.

That's it...!

Hang him, Judge!

No further questions.

Ah, uh, Mr. Stone...

did you actually see the defendant,

John Jackson, stab Rudy Chambers?

Yeah, I saw him...

You're a damn liar, Stone!

Hey, man, don't call me no liar!

Order!

You do that again, I'll have you bound and gagged, Mr. Jackson.

Now, let me ask you again.

Did you actually see the defendant,

John Jackson, stab Rudy Chambers?

He was standing right over him.

Did you see him holding the knife?

Let me... Well, now, I didn't actually see the knife,

you understand?

Oh, oh, so you didn't actually see the murder,

and you didn't actually see the knife.

You didn't see much of anything, did you, Mr. Stone?

You saw the knife! Nothing further.

Hey, wait, hey... Witness is excused.

Hey, you!

I saw John Jackson

standing over Rudy Chambers' dead, bleeding body.

That's what I saw, man!

Aw, shut up and get down.

I'm trying to explain the...

Time for dinner.

This court's adjourned till 9:00 or so

tomorrow morning.

Say, Tiny...

have that cell open by 10:00 tonight, okay?

Okay.

What's going on, Art?

Stay back, both of you.

Whose side are you on, Tiny?

Rudy Chambers was a friend of mine.

I didn't kill him.

But he was the reason your escape failed.

He snitched on you.

As I understand it, around here, that's a capital crime.

I didn't kill him.

What are you in for, Mr. Spring?

Murder one, two counts.

Oh, an experienced killer.

But I didn't kill Rudy Chambers.

This knife is the murder weapon.

Tiny and I found it in Lenny's cell.

My guess is that he took it

out of Rudy Chamber" body as insurance.

If he had the knife, he'd be safe from the killer.

Whose knife is it,

Mr. Spring?

It's mine. But I'm...

You killed Rudy Chambers and then you killed Lenny Marcus

because you were afraid he was gonna squeal on you, didn't you?

No!

Then why was your knife in Lenny's cell?!

Somebody stole it from me and used it on Rudy Chambers

to frame me for the murder!

Oh, come on!

If I was the killer,

I would've torn Lenny's cell apart looking for that knife.

You found it because whoever did kill Rudy wanted you to.

Because it wasn't his knife, it was mine!

All right.

Where were you at the time of the murder?

I was right here, watching the Braves game.

Anybody watching it with you?

Of course.

Lots of guys.

Who?

I don't know! I don't remember!

Nobody was watching that game that night,

not even you, Mr. Spring,

because it wasn't on.

Here's the TV station's daily broadcast log.

Read me what it says about the Braves game.

Okay, so the game wasn't on.

I must have been watching it some other night.

Again, where were you at the time of the murder?

I don't remember.

Hell, I bet half the guys in this room can't remember

what they were doing that night either!

The knife that killed Rudy Chambers

doesn't belong to any of them, it belongs to you.

That's right!

All right.

I'll tell you.

But just remember, Matlock,

if anything happens to me, it's on your head.

Now you remember where you were.

I was talking to Frank Latham.

Who's Frank Latham?

He's one of the guards.

You're a snitch?

If you kill this man,

you're gonna destroy everything we've done so far.

Back off.

Move it, man!

Look, they're negotiating with us.

We can get our demands, if you just don't blow it.

We can't continue with this trial if you don't

turn this man over to the authorities, outside, alive!

Shut up!

Shut up!

To hell with Spring!

Let the warden have him!

Once a snitch, always a snitch.

Let him have him dead!

He'll get what he's got coming to him.

Tiny.

Take Mr. Spring to the gate.

If anybody asks,

tell them you're dumping the trash.

All right.

Get back in your seats.

Everybody, sit down!

And to add insult to injury,

he threw it over Randolph's head,

allowing Harmon to score from second base.

In the seventh inning though, it was all Braves.

Aaron led off with a smash...

Hey, why don't you turn it up.

Where do you think you're going?

I'm thirsty.

Go ahead.

All right, you in the van,

you in the car, come out with your hands above your head!

Everybody up against the van!

Put your hands behind your head.

Move it!

Feet apart.

Yet another National Guard unit has just arrived on the scene.

While prison officials are still not giving out any information,

it's clear from the kind of firepower

being amassed outside these gates

that some sort of assault on the prison is imminent.

Burt, you can't do that!

I know what you said, but you're the governor.

Tell them you changed your mind.

Burt, I told you, they won't let me go.

Of course I'm making progress.

I need 48 hours.

All right.

All right, I'll talk to you then.

Hey, Burt...

I didn't vote for you.

He gave you two more days?

He wants me out of here in six hours.

When this is over, let's impeach him.

Ben...

Yeah.

Oh, I hope you have some good news.

Good news... I got great news.

Now, Mr. Costello...

Uh...

wh-what are you in for?

Robbing a couple jewelry stores.

That's what they say I did.

I'm innocent, of course.

Yeah, yeah.

Now, uh, these, uh, these, uh, robberies...

Alleged robberies... That, uh, that you pulled...

Did you work alone?

They say I had partners. Never caught 'em, though.

Oh, they couldn't get you to rat on 'em, huh?

A man of principle.

Well, uh... what, what was your, uh,

what was your job in these alleged robberies?

Plastics.

As in explosives.

Uh-huh.

Uh, do you suppose your alleged friends

could pull off one of these robberies without you?

Be pretty tough.

Always gotta blow a hole in something...

Door, wall... safe.

Plastics work best.

On-On vaults, too?

Vaults are a different story.

Pretty tough to blow a hole in a vault

without attracting a lot of attention.

Or so I've heard.

Uh-huh.

So-So, i-i-if you were gonna, say, oh, rob a place,

and had to deal with a vault,

then, uh, then-then you'd have to employ

the aid of a safecracker,

wouldn't you? That's right.

And Rudy Chambers was a safecracker, wasn't he?

Now, let's say that, uh,

let's say that your friends on the outside...

Yeah, here... let's say that their names are, are

Ed Harper, uh, Jim Beck and Mike Sanders.

Is that all right?

Uh-huh.

And let's say that, uh,

let's say that, uh, they decide they want to rob a bank,

and so, somehow, they got word to you.

And the plan was that you would escape from prison here,

just in time to help them out with the heist.

Only somewhere along the line...

they realized they had to deal with a vault.

So they got you to recruit Rudy Chambers.

Right?

I don't know what you're talking about.

The way I see it,

the plan was...

for you to escape.

So you and Rudy got together with Art Spring and Val Delaney,

and planned this breakout.

Of course, Art and Val didn't know anything about the robbery.

They just wanted to get away from this place.

Does that sound familiar?

Not at all.

Now, let's say your friends got greedy.

They got greedy.

They realized they didn't need you.

But because of the vault, they needed Rudy.

So, they came up with an ingenious plan

to cut you out.

The escape was going along fine, going along fine,

moving right along, and all of a sudden...

Rudy faked an injury.

And the reason he did that was to buy a transfer

to Greenwood Prison Camp... Easy to get out of,

by informing on you and your friends.

You're making this up as you go along.

You know I'm not.

You know I'm not!

And now comes Lenny Marcus.

When you found out

that he snitched on Rudy,

you decided... you knew...

You knew that you'd been double-crossed,

and you decided you'd get even.

And you killed the man

that your friends needed to get into that vault.

You killed Rudy Chambers.

Objection!

Mr. Matlock is engaging in rampant speculation.

There's not a shred of proof.

Your Honor, if you'll bear with me, I do have proof.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Now, this is today's paper.

You see here?

Those men did get into that vault.

See?

You see that?

They got into the vault. See that?

See here?

They got into the vault

by using somebody they thought was Rudy Chambers.

Are you surprised?

And guess whose van they used for the getaway.

Yours.

The police recovered it when they arrested everybody.

See? It says right here.

"Police... Police seized a vehicle

"containing equipment used in the bank robbery.

"It was registered to Billy Costello,

currently an inmate at Atlanta State Prison."

See? They even spelled your name right.

I didn't kill Chambers.

I was nowhere near him. I was taking a shower.

What?!

When?!

7:30 Wednesdays.

After dinner, Cell Block A always takes showers.

Where?!

On the cell block. Where else?

So, on-on Wednesday...

the day of the murder, at 7:30...

you were taking a shower in Cell Block A.

That's right.

How'd your feet feel after you got out?

How'd my feet feel?

Yeah.

When I think I'm onto something,

I don't miss a trick.

Let's see here. Willie...

Willie...

yeah, Willie Lamberthal.

Willie Lamberthal.

He's the one that cleans the, uh, the showers.

Willie is ready to testify that he had forgotten

that-that Wednesday.

And he put a big sign on the shower door,

said "Do not enter."

And then about ten, 15, 20 minutes after 7:00,

he poured a bunch of this stuff on the floor.

You know what it is?

Disinfectant. That's right.

Very powerful. Heavy duty.

Mostly hydrochloric acid.

See that right there?

It says "Danger. Contact with the eyes or skin

can cause serious injury."

Willie tells me that he leaves this stuff on

from 15 to 25 minutes to get it real clean, see?

Then he washes it off.

So, Mr. Costello, if you took a shower

that Wednesday at 7:30,

you wouldn't be walking.

Willie's lying.

John Jackson paid him to lie.

I don't think so!

I don't think so!

I don't think so!

But I think you...

paid Lenny to look the other way

while you hit John Jackson in the back of the head

and drug him in the infirmary, and then killed Rudy Chambers.

It's a lie.

It might've worked if it hadn't been for this trial.

But I got ahold of Lenny,

and you knew I wanted Lenny to talk.

And you knew that Lenny might break.

So you killed Lenny.

And then you tried to frame Art Spring

by planting his shiv in Lenny's cell.

No. Not a word of that is true.

You promised Lenny

that you would take care of his cellmate, and you did.

You promised Lenny a lot of money.

You promised him it'd be waiting for him

when he got out. Did not.

All right.

All right, explain this.

Explain this, Mr. Costello.

These are... are bank statements.

One is yours.

One is Lenny's.

On the day of the murder,

your wife withdrew $47,000 exactly

from your savings account, and, that same day,

$47,000 appeared

in Lenny's savings account.

How do you explain that?

You paid... Lenny Marcus... $47,000...

to help set up and then cover up

your murder of Rudy Chambers.

That's all.

About time!

Let's get it straight this time.

All right. Let's quiet down.

C.J., did you arrive at a verdict?

We wouldn't be here if we hadn't, Norman.

Well, let's hear it.

We didn't have a choice.

We had to find John Jackson not guilty.

Wait, wait, wait.

Wait!

Now, we promised if he was declared not guilty,

we'd release him.

So we lied!

Yeah, we lied!

They lie to us all the time.

If you kill this man, they'll swarm this place

like World War III.

Half of you will be killed and the rest of you

will stay in here for the rest of your lives.

Is that what you want?

You gave your word!

Ah, save your breath. Shut up!

Look, look... for once, we got the upper hand.

Now, I hate that guy's guts just as much as anybody,

but if we don't let him go, they won't meet our demands.

So what's up, man?

All right, we're going to listen to this bull this time.

But you better have it right, though.

Better have it right.

Yeah!

Come on...

Come on, man. Let's go, man.

I don't believe it.

Why? Have you forgotten what it's like to be a human being?

Well, Steve?

All right.

Yeah, I know.

But you know what?

It felt pretty good being on the D.A.'s side for once.

I tell you what...

When you get out, let's try for a rematch.

It's a deal.

Tiny, Tiny, thanks for helping me out.

I'm glad, man.

No, we make a hell of a team.

When you get out, look me up.

Here's my card.

I don't know.

No, I might have a job for you.

What are you in here for, anyway?

Aggravated assault.

Armed robbery.

Grand theft auto.

See, I used to work for a guy who made a ton of money,

and I asked him for a raise, and he wouldn't give it to me.

So I beat him up.

I took his gun.

I robbed.

I know it's wrong, but it made me so mad.

One thing I hate...

is a cheapskate.

It was just a thought.