Original subtitles

It's a simple procedure.

You ejaculate into the container.

[chuckles] We do a few tests to measure your sperm count,

see how many live ones you have, how well they swim.

I gotta tell you, this is a little embarrassing for me.

Which is exactly why we try to create

a totally private environment.

We have a very nice room.

You throw a deadbolt, red light goes on.

And believe me, no matter how long it takes,

as long as that light is on, no one is going to disturb you.

Yeah, right. [chuckle]

Did you ever try and drink a cup of coffee

while the waitress is waiting for the table?

[both chuckle]

No, no, no. We have three rooms.

If you need an hour, take an hour.

If you need two hours, take two hours.

Uh, I don't think time is a problem.

Ah, well, if you're worried about stimulation,

we have a... a variety of magazines in there

from Playboy to Penthouse, uh,

Sports Illustrated with the bathing suits and...

just some more hard-core publications

if that's what your tastes run to.

[sighs] Rosalind?

Well. [chuckles] I guess I'll give it the old college try.

It wasn't really my sport, but, um...

We have a shelf full of X-rated video tapes.

Watch them. Enjoy them.

And, uh, let nature take its course.

[Markowitz inhales deeply]

Rosalind, show Mr. Markowitz to a room, please.

Rosalind: Follow me.

You, uh, come here often?

Never mind.

This is very strange.

Rosalind: I don't think it's strange at all.

Sackheim: Aye, aye, aye, aye...

Okay, now there's a buzzer inside.

Call me if you need anything, alright?

- Yeah. Sackheim: Aye!

Rosalind: Mr. Sackheim, is everything alright?

Aye, aye, aye, I can't get the lid off the jar.

[theme music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[instrumental music]

David: Rox!

Rox, you gotta hear this.

Can we talk about it tonight, Dave? I'm running late.

You've heard the expression, "If you have lemons,

make lemonade?"

- Textbook case. - Please, honey, not now.

Well, just let me tell you what happened.

Seth Rosenkrantz called a couple of weeks ago.

- I told you about him. - David...

Anyway, to make a long story short,

he calls me from Paramus, New Jersey,

where he's got most of his operations,

to say that he is stuck with a warehouse

full of audio cassettes.

One side is environmental ocean sounds,

and the other is subliminal self-hypnosis

for getting rid of facial twitching.

Now, you put it into a unit with auto-reverse

and you play it in your sleep. The trouble is,

the whole thing is recorded at the wrong speed.

The hypnosis sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks

and the ocean sounds like the Indianapolis five Hundred.

Are we out of milk?

[whistles]

David: So, I take them off his hands for a nickel each,

I pay a recording studio eleven hundred dollars

to degauss and record my latest offering.

P.S. I have a shot at a three and a half percent response

and very possibly a Silver Echo award as well,

because, you see, instead of sending out a letter,

I'm sending out a cassette.

Now, you have got to hear this.

Dave, I really can't concentrate right now.

It'll only take a minute.

All I want to do right now,

is get ready for work.

[tape rewinding] Well, just listen to it

while you have your coffee. How much am I asking?

Do me a favor.

Don't ask anything.

Just let me clomp around and get myself together

and don't ask anything.

One listen. One listen.

[music on device]

David: Whoever you are,

please don't waste one more second

listening to this tape unless like

thousands of satisfied customers you too long...

David!

David: ...smelling home at a

fraction of the prices charged

by leading department store...

[telephone ringing]

Hi. How was the appointment?

Actually, it was not bad.

They have, they have visual aids.

Don't get to like it too much. Know what I mean?

First of all, I'd like to express our sadness

that today is Ms. Perkins' last day.

We're gonna miss you, Abs.

Leland: And, also, we'll be here for you.

For support, for use of the facilities, and...

maybe a client or two.

Thank you, Leland.

So where's the new office?

Why don't I just pass out the new business cards?

Business cards already.

This girl doesn't waste any time.

Having just given my new landlord two months' rent,

paid my first premium in malpractice insurance,

printed up stationery, turned on the telephones,

and bought a second-hand typewriter,

the one thing I'm convinced of is that I can't waste time.

Well, on that wise and thoughtful note...

Lauderbach versus Lauderbach.

Arnold, is this the fatted calf it looks to be?

Hard to say.

Her old lawyer got her a miserable settlement.

I've brought a motion to set it aside

but, I've got a feeling

there may be a better way to go.

Let's hope so with that much money in the balance.

Descending rapidly from the golden to the grim.

People versus Sholes.

Trial starts today.

Markowitz: Let me ask you a question, Mike.

Do you seek out these loss leaders

or do they seek you out?

Well, well. It's nice to hear someone

beside myself asking that question.

I'd like to go on record here as saying

that I didn't want this case

and I feel no particular empathy for the client.

Kuzak: But the Public Defenders office had a conflict

and they asked us to represent him.

Seeing as how I had passed on the previous four cases

they asked me to take, the seriousness of our commitment

to doing pro bono work was called into question.

Now, do we honor that commitment or don't we?

Of course we do.

Markowitz: You think he's innocent?

Not my call.

Yeah, but you can't ignore the fact

that he's been convicted of rape before.

Not only can I ignore it, but as far as this jury's concerned,

he's never been convicted of anything before.

Sure won't hesitate to drag the woman

through the mud, will you?

They're not quite the same thing, Abby?

And why aren't they?

Kuzak: A defense lawyer's job

is to challenge the prosecution.

That means attacking accusing witnesses.

Now, in most rape trials,

the purported rape victim is the only accusing witness.

So, if you're doing your job,

you go after that witness, hammer and tongs.

Which is probably why I draw the line

at representing rapists.

Accused rapists.

Who I'm convinced are guilty? Yes.

Abby, I thought you wanted to be a litigator.

I thought you wanted to depend on things like

evidence and cross examination to prove guilt or innocence.

I do. But not for creeps like this.

Okay, so no rapes. What about murder?

[sighs] Forget it, Mike.

Only if it's in self-defense?

[tapping] Can we get on with things here?

Armed robbery but only if it's for food.

I have no qualms about making moral distinctions

about whom I'll represent.

Well, look, I may not like this any more than you do,

but right now, the only way

that someone who can't pay for a lawyer can get one

is through an overworked public defender's office

or through firms like ours

who are doing our fair share of pro bono cases.

Now, until you can come up with a better idea,

do me a favor,

and spare me the moral indignation.

Kuzak: I'm late for court.

I'm sorry I brought it up.

You didn't do too good, did you?

You could say that.

Well, it was the pre-nuptial that killed you.

Were you on drugs when you signed that?

Just in love.

Heaviest drug of all.

[sighing] Look...

am I wasting my time trying to appeal?

Appeal from the divorce judgment? Yeah.

That would be wasting your time.

But, I think there may be other ways of going after him.

For what?

Becker: Let's talk about it.

Did, uh, did he ever hit you?

No.

Carry on any homosexual affairs while you were married?

No, not that I know of...

Becker: Hire prostitutes? - Mr. Becker, what's the point?

Jane: I thought we had no-fault divorce here.

There's a recent case in Texas

that allowed a wife to sue her husband for emotional distress.

Becker: I think the time may be right

to test something like that out here.

You were pretty young when you married him, right?

I was nineteen.

And Lauderbach was in his forties,

captain of industry, America's Cup patron,

San Diego Yacht Club, he...

must've been a pretty powerful figure to you.

You could say that.

What did he do with all that power?

What do you mean?

Well, I was looking at the expenses

that your old lawyer put down and...

you go to a shrink four times a week.

What's the problem?

Uh, there are some things

I can really only talk about with my therapist.

Standing up for yourself, acting effectively

against someone who has wronged you, that's as much

a part of getting better

as talking to your therapist.

I've always been a good little girl, you know?

And good little girls make the men in their lives happy.

When their husbands ask them to do something...

[voice breaking] it's very hard for them to say no.

I stopped being a dancer,

I stopped going to school

because Richard wanted me to.

Another thing Richard wanted was...

to see me in bed with another man.

- How many times? - A lot.

What's a lot? Ten, fifty, a hundred?

I don't know.

It went on for two or three years.

He'd set up situations,

he became obsessed with it...

Any venereal diseases?

- No. - AIDS?

I've tested negative.

If you're willing to go for it, Jane,

I believe I can make him pay.

I am not looking to get rich.

I just need enough to get my life back together.

And you're finally taking a positive step

toward doing just that.

I don't think I can talk about it

with people looking at me and asking questions...

Take off the scarlet letter, Jane.

We're going to nail him.

Calvin: The chick's gonna crack.

Mark my words.

You just make her tell the jury about them things

she wrote down, she's done.

We've been through this before.

The diary can only come in to attack her credibility,

not her character.

Everybody says you're a real sharp lawyer.

You'll get it in.

My job is to provide you with a competent defense,

not beat-up on Norma Heisler because you want to watch.

Whose side are you on, the bitch's or mine?

Take your hands off me, Calvin. Right now.

You ever do that again you can find someone else

to represent you. You understand?

She wanted it, Mr. Kuzak.

Just the way I gave it to her, that's the way she wanted it.

Well, now that still leaves the problem

of why she called the cops, doesn't it?

Well, maybe she liked it a little too much.

You know, you might do better when we get into court,

you looked a little less pleased with yourself.

Sarah: Ms. Heisler, can you tell us

how you came to know the defendant?

Uh, he was a handyman where I lived.

Where was he working on April 20, 1988?

Norma: In my apartment.

The tenant upstairs,

had let his bathtub overflow

and he was patching my bedroom ceiling.

Would you describe to the Court what happened on that day?

Um...

about 3 o'clock in the afternoon,

I went in to ask him

if he would like a cup of tea

and some cookies that I just baked.

He grabbed me and told me

that if I screamed he would kill me.

Norma: He made me crawl around on my hands and knees.

He said that I was his slave

and put on this earth to service him.

He knocked me down.

And then he raped me.

Again...

and again...

and again.

Thank you, Norma.

I have no further questions.

Ms. Heisler, characterize for us if you will

your relationship with the defendant

prior to April 20, 1988.

Friendly, I guess.

Did you ever suggest that he stop

by your apartment after work?

Sarah: Objection.

Kuzak: Goes to the issue of consent, Your Honor.

It has nothing to do with consent.

These two people knew one another.

Their relationship is directly relevant to this case.

- I'll allow it. Kuzak: Ms. Heisler?

Well, uh, he came over once or twice

to learn how to use a word processor.

And on those occasions did he rape you?

Of course not.

And on the occasion that you claim that he did rape you,

did he have a gun?

- No. No. Kuzak: A knife?

In fact he had no weapon at all.

- He had his fists. - Did he beat you?

He would have.

But he didn't.

Now tell me, Ms. Heisler,

is it possible that Mr. Sholes was ever made to believe

that you wanted to have sexual relations with him?

No.

Ms. Heisler...

- Do you keep a journal? Sarah: Objection.

Kuzak: Your Honor, at this time I would like to

make a formal motion under Section 782

of the Evidence Code of the State of California

pursuant to my papers for the witness to produce her journal.

Your Honor, The People oppose such a motion.

Ms. Schindler, as you know, the law requires me

to hear argument for defense counsel's motion

outside the presence of the jury.

The court officer will escort the jury out

and clear this courtroom.

court officer: Will you follow me, please.

Once again, Ms. Heisler...

do you keep a journal?

Yes, I keep a journal.

Did you ever show it to Mr. Sholes?

Of course not.

Kuzak: And where did you put it on the day

that he was working in your bedroom?

In my dresser drawer.

Are you sure it wasn't out on the night table?

- Yes, I'm sure. - I object to the inference.

Kuzak: Inference withdrawn. I'll make it a direct question.

Didn't you, in fact, want Calvin Sholes to read that journal

because you would have liked to told him

your desires but couldn't?

No.

Kuzak: Would it come as much of a shock if I told you

that he had in fact read it?

- No. - And why is that, Ms. Heisler?

He was reading it when I walked into the bedroom.

Counsel, approach.

Helen: As painful as this may be, Ms. Schindler,

I think I'm going to have to see that diary.

Your Honor, with all due respect,

I believe that would be absolutely grotesque.

Sarah: The defendant was never given

permission to read that diary.

The fact that he invaded her privacy by doing so

doesn't give this court license to follow suit.

Now, whether he had permission isn't the point.

He read it and he had reasonable belief

that she consented to sexual relations.

Your Honor, may I speak?

Of course.

The things I write in that notebook...

are the most private things in the world to me.

I have never shown them to anyone.

But the defendant has read them.

[voice breaking] But I tell you there's nothing in there.

I just jot down little things that occur to me.

My dreams. My poems.

And my thoughts. They're nothing.

I'm sorry, Ms. Heisler.

I have to determine whether they're nothing.

Judge Helen: I'm ordering you to provide the Court

with your journal

by 9 o'clock tomorrow morning.

Mr. Becker, I think you'll agree

your case has a few problems.

Which is precisely why I need expedited discovery.

Becker: If ever there was a case of intentional infliction

of emotional distress, this is it.

I can document behavior and I can document damages.

Rona: All the behavior alleged

occurred while the parties were married.

There's no statutory preclusion of all tort claims

between parties because they happened to have been married.

What's your authority for that?

There have been recent cases in other jurisdictions

which are set forth at some length in my papers.

Your Honor, for all of Mr. Becker's lofty pretensions

this is a shakedown.

His client is unhappy with her divorce settlement

and sees this as a way to get more.

Rona: We've had no-fault divorce in this state since 1970

specifically to prevent lawsuits like this one.

The no-fault statute is never intended to allow

abusive sadistic people

to ruin the lives of others with impunity.

The truth is I don't think either one of you

has made your case sufficiently.

What I'm going to do is order

limited discovery to take place forthwith.

And I want you both back here...

Thursday prepared to re-argue.

Your Honor, I'm not sure that my client

can be available on such short notice.

Make him available.

Can I, uh, can I talk to you?

I have nothing to say to you.

Is this the way you get on with the rest of your life?

By dwelling on what's past?

Hey, she doesn't want to talk to you.

- Jane, this isn't you. - Isn't it?

What is?

Am I the girl in those videotapes

that you trade with your friends

like baseball cards?

The tight little blonde whose husband liked to watch?

French, English, Greek...

into anything and everything. Giving and getting.

You know she's out of control.

I just wanted a normal life, Richard.

[crying] Why did you want everything

so weird and dangerous?

Didn't you see what it was doing to me?

Becker: What the Lee Marvin case did for Marvin Mitchelson,

this case is going to do for me.

As I recall, Michelle Triola came away

with very little in that case.

That's not the point. The case broke ground.

When you thought palimony, you thought Marvin Mitchelson.

Well, after Lauderbach,

when you think interspousal tort claims,

you're going to think Arnold Becker.

- Thank you. - I'll tell you right now.

If this case was before me, I'd throw you out on your ear.

- With costs. - And by doing that...

You would miss a tremendous opportunity

to enhance your own reputation.

And that's what it's all about, isn't it?

I mean, what better basis to establish legal precedents

than the professional ambition of lawyers and judges.

You're turning into a cynic. It worries me.

A vulnerable woman places herself in your hands,

you plan a legal strategy designed

only to maximize your own publicity,

probably at the expense

of what little self-esteem she's got left,

and you call me a cynic?

You know, sometimes I think you're being a judge

crowds out the more appealing sides of your character.

Which are what in your opinion?

Nurturing. Caring.

Becker: Uh, a source of support. Even dare I say it, enthusiasm.

Well, like most people,

I have a number of different sides.

It would be nice to think that the man I'm with

respected all of them.

Monica, what has gotten into you?

For the last couple of months it's like

we've had a bad connection or something.

I can't seem to get through to you.

Here I am. Let's talk about it.

Monica, I'm looking for an ally.

Somebody to be there for me. What's to talk about?

- Okay. Becker: Okay, what?

If you don't want to talk, we won't.

[sighs] Great.

[telephone ringing]

- Hi. David: Hi.

- I was in the area. - I'm pretty busy right now.

Look, I know lately I've been getting a little carried away,

but it's just that I get so excited about what I'm doing

and I expect you to get excited, too.

We just have to get our timing in better sync, that's all.

Having you around all the time still makes me giddy I guess.

Mr. and Mrs. Meyer.

Hi, guy.

Arnold, how's your new case coming?

My PR people are beating the bushes as we speak.

It hits the paper tomorrow A.M.

Forgive me for interjecting here,

but I'll bet you're overlooking something.

Roxanne: Arnie, Benny's running off copies

of the supplementary affidavits.

Lawyers, and I love you guys,

have been a little slow to appreciate the basic axiom

"direct mail works."

- Excuse me. - Dave, we don't advertise.

This particular development would only have significance

for people who are getting divorced.

Okay, that's okay. But you still want to reach

as many of them as possible, am I right?

- Of course we do. David: You pick the target.

I hit the target.

Women over 35 applying for credit cards,

men over 40 buying Porsches.

Now that'll give you a start.

I use what I call a split run

that's different mailing for different areas.

Say one letter to Encino,

Tarzana, Calabasas, Agoura,

another letter to Alhambra,

El Monte, Azuza, Glendora.

Then we, uh, track the results.

Excuse me.

You know you might also want to try categories

like women who've gotten real estate licenses,

men or women who join health clubs...

Abby, let me help you with that.

There's always Club Med,

name changes on deeds,

men who make large purchases in housewares.

David: Uh, new subscriptions to Ms. Magazine,

can't miss with Ms, huh?

So, did you get the test results?

Markowitz: Yeah, there's nothing wrong with you.

The reason you can't get pregnant is me.

Low sperm count [inhales]

[exhales] low motility.

Hey, he gave me a shot in the butt and a prescription.

Which he's not too optimistic about,

but what the hell, I'll try anything.

- So we'll see what happens. - Yep.

[inhales] I guess I wasn't the guy to marry

if you wanted to have kids, but, uh...

Stuart, whatever kids I have, or don't have,

you are the guy I'm going to have them with.

I just don't think you're

ever going to look at me the same way again.

Is that what would've happened if something wrong with me?

No.

Would you have never looked at me the same way again?

No, I...

I just never thought of myself like this, that's all.

- Like what? - Like someone incapable.

That's what. I always imagined

sending forth this stream that held life,

not these little dribblings that don't hold anything.

Why are you doing this to yourself?

It's staring me in the face, Anne.

I'm not making it up.

You know what it is?

All my life I thought of myself as this admiral...

who was sending forth his legions

to swarm the beachhead.

And what I really was all this time, was this...

little chubby guy watching a few refugees

get washed up on the rocks.

It's a little adjustment I gotta make.

[chuckles]

Why don't you think of it as a platoon

of specially trained commandos on a secret mission?

Definitely a more inspiring image.

Yeah.

And maybe you know, who knows,

come Christmas morning that Junior Frogman set

might be sitting there under the tree.

That's very funny.

- Get the prescription filled. - I will.

Tell the high command to plan an invasion

for 21:00 tonight.

[instrumental music]

[door opens]

David: Rox, I gotta tell you,

this cassette just might surpass

Sy Friedman's 1975 culotte mailing.

Listen to me and listen good.

I don't want you ever, ever coming into my office again.

What?

Do you think, Dave,

you should've asked me before you started making

a sales pitch to my boss?

Hey, I think I had 'em hooked.

Besides, law firm marketing strategy

is something you could play a part in.

T-- try, and understand something here.

I-- I'm not interested in playing a part.

Junk mail may make up your life

but it has nothing to do with mine.

- Junk mail? - That's right, junk mail.

What people are disappointed to find in their mailboxes.

Listen, this is what I do.

This house, those cars in the garage,

all this stuff, we wouldn't have any of it

if it weren't for "junk mail."

That's right, that's right, throw it up in my face.

I am not trying to throw it up in your face.

Yes, you are. Then next thing I know

you'll start preening about

how well you're providing for me.

Let me tell you something.

I was poor when I met you, I can be poor again.

Rox: The thing that I can't do is listen to any more of your,

your sales letters, your brochures,

your catalogues, or your incentive offers.

I am sick to death of hearing you drone on about,

about turtleneck dickies, or irregular stretch jeans

or-- or musical paperweights,

or-- or decorative doorsteps.

I don't care about it, Dave!

I don't care about any of it!

[instrumental music]

- Ms. Perkins? That's me. - You're my temp? Great.

I have to get to court. What's your name?

- Ronnie Page. - Hi, I'm Abigail.

Uh, I don't have anything for you to type just yet

so I think you'll just probably be answering the phone.

Do you know when you'll be back?

Uh, no, I'm gonna be down there until I get an assignment.

That could be all week.

If Sarah Standing calls, tell her that I will be

taking the kids to school tomorrow.

Oh, how do you want your phone answered?

Uh, good question.

Um, I guess just "Abigail Perkins."

Uh, "Law office of Abigail Perkins."

"Law offices."

"Law Offices of Abigail Perkins."

Yeah. That's fine.

Mr. Lauderbach, your wife was with the American Ballet Theatre

when you met her, was she not?

She was a dancer, yeah.

And isn't it a fact that you

urged her to give up being a dancer?

Mr. Lauderbach: Well, she wanted to have a family.

I told her that would be tough to do

if she was traipsing all over the world

with a ballet company.

You also discouraged her from finishing college.

Why was that?

Well, she wasn't all that motivated in the first place.

Besides, like I said, we were oriented

towards having a family.

Uh-huh.

When you photographed your wife

in various sexual positions

with members of your yacht's crew,

was that part of being oriented toward having a family?

Uh, boy, she's gonna make

a whole opera out of this thing, isn't she?

January 14, 1984,

did you take your wife to a bar called the Top Hat

in Oakland, California?

So, what if I did?

Mr. Lauderbach: Are you gonna stand in judgment of me?

No, I want a jury to do that.

- Then it'll cost you. - Ask her what she did.

Ask her about the things she suggested.

Rona: Come on Richard, stay calm.

This afternoon we conduct our discovery.

And I'll ask her.

- Alright. - Mm.

Kuzak: "I watched Cal today through the blinds

as he hefted sacks of cement on his shoulders

and thought of what it would be like to be held by him.

To feel those sinewy arms

close around me like steel cables."

Who is Cal, Ms. Heisler?

Your client, Mr. Kuzak. Calvin Sholes.

March Sixteenth.

[clears throat] "Last night I dreamt

some great weight was holding me down.

Kuzak: Dogs bayed outside the windows as,

the sound of grunting grew louder and louder

until it was the only thing I could hear.

It was Cal I was dreaming of

and of course that is as close as I will ever come to him.

You'll always keep your distance, Norma.

Fearful that if you didn't,

he would break you like a dry stick underfoot.

Or disrupt your perfect, quiet little world

with his sweating and his grunting

and his final constricted cry...

to be followed by the sound of him snoring

contentedly by your side.

What would it be like?"

Ms. Heisler...

I'm gonna repeat the question I asked you yesterday.

Was Calvin Sholes ever made to believe

that you wanted to have sexual relations with him?

You're grinning, Cal.

Your Honor, I ask that the witness

be directed to answer the question.

- Ms. Heisler... - Do you think you know me?

Ms. Heisler you are directed to answer the question

and stop addressing the defendant.

No matter what's in that book--

- Your Honor... - Ms. Heisler--

No matter what I dreamt, or thought...

- Or wrote, you don't know me. Judge Helen: Ms. Heisler.

And I never, ever gave you permission

to do what you did!

Rona: Now then, Mrs. Lauderbach,

uh, did your husband ever prevent you

from pursuing your dance career such as it was?

He made it pretty clear that he didn't want me to.

No, that's not what I asked you.

Did he do anything to prevent it?

He didn't break my legs, if that's what you mean.

Did he do anything to prevent you

from obtaining a... a college degree?

He belittled me.

He'd say my only job was to look good for him.

I'm not asking you what he said.

I'm asking you what he did.

Come on, Rona. She's telling you what he did.

He never took me seriously.

He convinced me that I should just shop

and look good for him.

Except you didn't need all that much convincing, did you?

I mean you were always drawn to the jet set life.

That's why you married Richard Lauderbach

in the first place.

That's not true.

I loved him.

But I had dreams of my own.

Jane: It wasn't until after we were married

that he started destroying them.

And turning me out in the process.

Right. Let's talk about that a little.

You stated in your papers that you and your husband

went to this bar in Oakland,

on or about January 14th, 1984.

You were taking Quaaludes that night, weren't you?

I'm sure I was.

Correct me if I'm wrong, ma'am,

but, uh... isn't the relaxation of sexual inhibitions

the main reason a person takes that drug?

How does she know why a person takes it?

Whose idea was it to take them?

His. Always his.

He loved to watch me fall down when I'd try to dance.

You were dancing that night in Oakland?

Yeah, I was dancing.

Dancing the only way I still could.

Oh, how was that, Mrs. Lauderbach?

Dancing with other men?

Dancing to make your husband jealous?

Yes. Okay?

Dancing to make him crazy.

I knew exactly what I was doing.

- It was all me... - Jane...

[crying] I mean it, Arnie. Maybe this woman's right.

Nobody held a gun to my head.

Excuse me, I got to get some air.

We'll be right back.

Memory's a funny thing.

In varying degrees,

we all revise our own personal histories

to accommodate a view of ourselves

that we are comfortable with.

The only problem with the revision

that you have heard here,

is that this man is facing

twenty years in prison because of it.

Now, you've all heard Norma Heisler's diary.

I think you'll agree that it paints a portrait of a woman

who's led a rather cloistered life.

Ambivalent about her sexuality,

profoundly troubled by her own desires.

Was Calvin Sholes wrong to have read it?

Absolutely.

Was a rape committed?

Well, when you examine this case with an objective,

dispassionate eye,

when you consider that no weapon was used,

no screams were heard

and no signs of a physical struggle were detected,

then at the very least...

you must find that a reasonable doubt exists.

Does that mean that this woman was lying?

Not really.

She's convinced that what she's told you is true.

If she clings to an illusion...

it's because the memory of not simply consenting

to sexual relations with the defendant,

but inviting them, is so painful

that she now seeks to extricate herself from its grip.

The truth is, ladies and gentlemen,

she is not lying...

she's remembering the only way she can.

A bright, articulate...

thirty eight year-old woman

calls the police and says she was raped.

She submits to a physical examination

which shows the presence of semen in her vagina...

and she names the defendant as the man who raped her.

Now he never denies his presence in her apartment.

He never denies the semen was his.

And all he offers in his defense is the claim...

that she wanted him to do what he did...

and all he offers as proof...

is her diary.

Imagine. This woman,

this "temptress"

had the temerity to actually write down

some of her thoughts about sex.

Sarah: According to Mr. Kuzak,

what she really should've done

was send the defendant a monogrammed cigarette lighter...

instead of going to a district attorney's office

and sobbing her eyes out.

According to Mr. Kuzak,

she should be grateful to that man...

who terrified her for six and a half hours,

who stripped her naked,

who penetrated her repeatedly...

and left her quivering with fear

on the floor of her own home.

Sarah: She should be grateful.

Oh, no, no, no.

Don't listen to Norma Heisler

when she tells you she was raped

because these two gentlemen know better.

You know what they'll tell you,

that when it comes to sex,

poor little Norma doesn't know what she wants.

Sarah: Well, right here and right now

I want to tell them and I want to tell you...

that rape isn't sex,

rape is violence.

Norma Heisler wasn't a participant,

she was a victim.

Calvin Sholes wasn't her lover,

he was her rapist!

Sarah: And whoever tells you otherwise...

they are the ones clinging to the illusion.

And what a brutal, brutal illusion it is.

These just need your signature.

Tell Betsey I'll make myself available

for interviews all day Friday. And ask her if she thinks

I ought to have some new head shots taken.

Okay.

Hanging around kinda late, aren't you?

You want to talk about it?

I know I'm, uh, probably setting myself up for the big

I told you so, but... the truth is,

I've actually been envying people who wake up alone.

There's an upside and a downside to everything, Rox.

C'mon Arnie, don't be such a philosopher.

You been against this marriage from the start.

Yes, I was. But only because I thought

you were getting into it for the wrong reason.

Well, now that you're in it,

you've got to give it a fair shot.

What makes you think I haven't?

You're not in love with him, Rox.

I think he knows it.

Of course he knows that.

Rox: I've been honest with him about that from the start.

He said it doesn't matter.

Well, then he's a liar.

Look, you're it for him.

He needs to think that he's it for you.

And I don't care what he tells you,

he needs for you to be his biggest fan.

That's going to be pretty hard, Arnie.

The truth is... he embarrasses me.

I hate to admit it.

But I see the way people react to David.

Rox: He starts to talk a-- and their eyes wander.

They get these little forced smiles

at the corners of their mouths and they take

the first possible chance to get away.

You've done it. Hell, I've done it.

Being boring isn't the worst thing in the world, Rox.

Becker: Dave's decent. He's kind.

And you did marry him.

Now either own up to that

and start acting like his wife or let me know

I'll draw up some divorce papers.

As far as being embarrassed goes,

the only thing you have to be embarrassed about

is the way you've been treating him.

Judge Helen: Has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

Judge Helen: How find you?

We find the defendant guilty.

Judge Helen: The court thanks the jury for their time,

and their diligence.

The defendant is remanded to custody.

Sentencing is set for December 29th.

male #1: This court is now adjourned.

- Congratulations. - Oh, thank you so much.

Ms. Heisler.

Uh, I want you to know that I hope you're okay.

I'm not altogether uncomfortable believing that

the interests of justice have been served here.

Mr. Kuzak, as far as I'm concerned

the only difference between you and your client is

that he's the one who got convicted.

[scoffs] I'm a defense lawyer,

all I was doing was putting on a defense.

You're much too modest.

You turned me inside out.

You destroyed whatever last scraps of dignity

and privacy I had left.

You took what was mine, what belonged to me

and you distorted it so that you could watch me wither.

Well, I didn't wither, did I?

Kuzak: Ms. Heisler,

look I may not have been sure of my client's innocence

but I can't do my job half way.

You see, I, on the other hand,

have always been dead sure of your client's guilt.

So you will understand if I don't

thank you for your good wishes.

I believe the critical question, Your Honor,

is did this man's behavior exceed

the reasonable bounds of marital conduct?

If it did, the no-fault statute

should not make him immune to the consequences.

Mr. Becker is making this up as he goes along.

My client is a damaged woman. Do you deny that?

Where is your client, Mr. Becker?

I'm not sure, Your Honor.

I expect her any time now.

Whether she's damaged or not is irrelevant.

There's no standing to sue.

Rona: There's no cause of action--

Uh, excuse me.

Please be seated, Ms. Lauderbach.

No, I'm not staying.

Jane: I can't do this.

I'm sorry...

- Your Honor-- - Your Honor.

Please, I need a short recess

to confer with my client. Jane...

Arnie, please. I just can't go through with this.

Ms. Lauderbach, are you stating

that you intend to withdraw your complaint?

Right. Whatever you call it.

Richard's offered to increase my support payments

until I get back on my feet.

That's all I've ever wanted to do.

- Did you know about this? - No.

Wait.

Your Honor, please. All I need is a minute.

Ten minute recess.

Jane, Jane, what're you doing to me?

Listen Arnie, I appreciate you're try to help

but I just can't go through with it.

Does this guy really have you that wrapped around his finger?

- It's not that. - Well, what is it then?

Is humiliating me serving some therapeutic end for you?

Did your shrink tell you to do it?

Please, Arnie, don't turn on me.

I just can't go through with it.

[indistinct chatter]

Are you sure you want to be seen with me?

Kuzak: Patriarchal terrorist,

brutalizer of women, courtroom bully?

If you think I'm going to jump in and tell you

how much I admire you, forget it.

Am I about to get beat up again for being a lawyer, Grace?

Not for being a lawyer.

For being single-mindedly devoted

to putting a vicious bastard like Calvin Sholes

back on the street.

I have to hear this from you?

It occurs to even me

that there just might be one or two things

more important than all us officers of the court

playing our assigned roles.

Right. And Mussolini made the trains run on time.

That is a tired old speech, Michael.

And I have spent too many years

watching dangerous people slither out

from paying the price for what they did

only to do it again.

In case you've forgotten, I lost.

My client can expect to be behind bars

for the next decade or so.

Yeah, well, don't feel too bad.

You got your licks in.

You made sure there'd be yet another woman

who thinks long and hard before enduring a trial

the next time she's raped.

You gonna take 'em out and shoot 'em? Fine.

Let me know. I'll stop knocking myself out

and find another country to live in.

But until then...

I'll pass on joining the lynch mob,

thank you very much.

[indistinct chatter]

Jonathan: Hello? - Hello?

Victor: Hello?

Hello? [sighs]

You know you really ought to keep the door locked

when you're here after hours.

Yeah. You never know who'll come walking in.

Abby: Y'mean, like you guys?

You know what I'm talking about.

Well, to tell you the truth, right now

I wouldn't be all that picky.

Well, then let us toast to the day

when you can be just as picky as you want.

[laughs] I've got cups. Wait a minute.

And from two associates you left behind...

What? Oh, you guys.

"A dictator is born."

[laughs] You got me a...

- Dictating machine? - Dictating machine.

[cork pops]

You guys are the greatest.

You miss us?

- Mm-mm. - Mm...

[all laugh]

Let me tell you something, Abby, this took a lot of nerve.

Yeah, probably a lot more than brains.

- You love it. - Yeah.

Well, then let's toast to that.

[all laugh]

You know, I still can't get over

that she would do this to me.

It's unbelievable.

Call me crazy, but maybe she felt her welfare

was just a little more important in this instance than yours.

Yeah, well see, there's part of the problem right there.

I hate to say this but betrayal is something

of an occupational hazard with female clients.

They come in pleading for me

to be their knight in shining armor,

and I do it.

And then an ex-husband comes in

and he makes them some promises

or throws them one between the sheets

and I get hung out to dry.

Did it ever occur to you that this woman

might have done what was right for her?

What's with you, Monica, can't you just

give it up a little bit? Can't you just say,

"Hey, Arnie, you got shafted.

How about letting me make you feel better.

How about, uh, let me run you a bath

or how about let me fluff up your pillows

or how about, uh, let me bring you some cocoa."

I don't think I've ever known a more self-centered man.

Others work at it but you are truly gifted.

You know something, you are unbelievable.

You and Roxanne have a lot in common.

You both dole out your affection with a medicine dropper

while the guy dependent on it twists slowly in the wind.

That's the thing about women, isn't it?

They'll fail you every time.

My mistake was thinking you might be different.

Oh, no, Arnie.

Your mistake was not knowing that I am.

I sincerely suggest you consider

where this relationship is headed.

It's headed out the door. Just like me.

Monica, if you go out the door, don't come back.

Oh, I won't come back.

Monica!

[key rattles]

[crickets chirping]

- Hi. - Hi.

- Hungry? - No, I already ate.

- Tired? - A little.

Why don't you sit down and I'll put on some music.

A little Sinatra maybe?

Rox: No.

I'm not in the mood for Sinatra right now.

Can I make you a drink?

Sure.

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