Original subtitles

[door opens]

Dammit, Roxanne. Enough is enough.

This has been going on for over a week.

I cannot take any more of this hostility.

I would think under the circumstances,

I would get a little understanding.

The circumstances were that your wife was out there

organizing a surprise birthday party

to show you how much she loves you

while you were in here committing

sex acts with a client.

Exactly. Do you have any idea what it's like

for me to have to cope with such a guilt?

- Oh, please. [Arnie] Think about it, Roxanne.

The easy thing to do would be to confess.

To cleanse my conscience and unload the burden. But I don't.

And you know why I don't?

Because it would hurt Corrinne too much,

and I couldn't bear the thought of doing that,

so I hold it all in, suffering all the pain

myself for her sake.

- You're incredible. Arnie: Roxanne...

I wasn't going to say this, but...

And I-- I don't want you to worry.

- But I'm sick. - What do you mean you're sick?

It's nothing to panic about yet, but I'm not well.

- I have satyriasis. - Sata what?

Satyriasis. Abnormally excessive sexual compulsion,

probably caused by a small lesion on my hypothalamus.

Now, the doctors, they think it's treatable, but I have

to go through some more tests, so right now, I'm just,

I'm trying to think positive.

- Satyriasis. Arnie: I'm gonna beat this.

With the support of my family and my friends,

I know I can beat this.

Just be there for me, Rox.

Give me strength.

[theme music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[solemn music]

[music continues]

Alright, let's get started, people.

We've got full docket.

First up, as senior partner,

I've taken the liberty of setting up a few

meetings with some of you this week,

regarding various administrative matters.

Stuart, you and I will meet after we're done here.

Ann, I've got you slated for 2:15.

Michael, 11:30 tomorrow, please.

- I'm not sure I'm free. - You are.

I confirmed with your secretary. Jonathan, Tommy,

I also have projects for you which we can discuss later.

Where did you send Abby? She was rushing--

Abby's in court handling another matter

I assigned to her under my authority as senior partner.

She'll be back by noon.

Moving on, Shaw versus Gendler.

Oh, yeah, that's mine.

We represent the buyer of a house

trying to rescind the sale.

Trial starts today.

What grounds for the recession?

- It's haunted. Stuart: Haunted?

- I beg your pardon? - The house is haunted.

Two day trial at most, we should be finished up by Friday.

[sighs] Grace, where does your court martial stand?

- We go today. Arnie: Where's the defense here?

The guy disobeyed a direct order during combat,

what bigger form of treason can there be?

Refusing to attack innocent civilians

doesn't spell treason to me.

Douglas: They weren't civilians, they were soldiers

in the Panama Defense Force, guarding General Noriega.

You don't know that.

I certainly know that Noriega had to be captured--

Not that way, he didn't. Innocent--

You had a better way, Ann?

It was an excellent surgical strike.

Oh, come on. We were looking for an excuse

to shatter the wimp image.

That invasion was overkill.

That's enough. You want to malign the United States

of America, do it on your own time.

Not during the staff meeting while I'm in charge.

We're adjourned.

[sighs]

[door opens]

What's up?

I've decided to take you off the Mancuso trial.

What?

It makes more sense to let one of our own

full-time litigators handle it, so--

I'm a good trial lawyer, Douglas.

Douglas: Of course you are. But Michael, Victor,

Ann, Grace, Tommy, Jonathan, even Abby,

have more experience.

Plus which, your running off to court

all the time makes our tax department

seemed half assed and we can't have that,

especially with the new regulations becoming law.

You can't just pull me off a case like this!

Yes, I can. I'm the senior partner.

This isn't a demotion.

It's just that in order for this firm to function

at its highest level, we have to get everybody

here doing what they do best, with you, its taxes.

Well, I don't want to do taxes for the rest of my life--

I'm sorry, my decision is final.

You're our only tax expert.

We need you more there than in court.

I trust you to recognize this

and do what's best for the firm, that's all.

[vehicles rumbling]

Mrs. Shaw We'd been in the house about five weeks

when we began to hear it.

What exactly did you hear?

Mrs. Shaw It was this muted like moaning.

We first thought it sounded like a wounded animal.

But then as we listened, it was a woman. A woman in pain.

Cara: Did you and your husband both hear this?

Mrs. Shaw Yes. That's the only reason I know I'm not crazy,

because Jimmy heard it too.

It was this throaty, muted,

li-- like a woman trying to cry but she couldn't.

Where were you when you heard this?

Mrs. Shaw We were in our bed. We got up and we looked

all over the house and we didn't find anything.

Then as we walked back into the bedroom, it got louder.

Not loud ever, but louder.

And when we got back to the bed that's when we knew it.

Well, that the sounds were coming from inside the bedroom.

- Was anyone else there? Mrs. Shaw No.

There was no one else in the entire house.

You must have been scared to death.

- Objection. Cara: I'm sorry.

Did you ever hear any of these sounds again?

Yes, um, three more times over the next week.

We finally checked into a motel.

Jimmy looked up the history of the house

because, well, we thought it was haunted.

Cara: And what did your husband's investigation reveal?

That in 1962, a woman by the name of Nancy Atkins

was stabbed to death in that very room.

The police never caught who did it.

Did you know this when you bought the house?

Of course not. The only reason we found out at all

was because we heard that moaning.

So now you want your money back.

There's something in there. I know it sounds crazy,

and I'm not one to believe in ghosts.

But we've slept in that bedroom, and we know

for a fact there's something's in there.

Thank you, Ms. Shaw. That's all.

[man coughs]

About a month after you moved in, your husband

got laid off from work, isn't that right?

Objection. Relevance?

This man took a new job which paid him $700 less a month.

They suddenly couldn't make the mortgage

payment and they wanted out.

We could make the mortgage payments.

Kenneth: You've tried to sell this place, have you not?

But with the collapse of the real estate market

you can't get what you paid for it.

So you've come up with this ghost story

in order to get recession on--

We didn't come up with it. We heard what we heard.

There was moaning in that house.

You were doing the moaning over its declining market value.

Mrs. Shaw It happened! - Alright, Mr. Clipner.

Sorry. Did you see any ghosts?

W-- well, we-- we didn't see anything. But--

Thank you, ma'am. Nothing further.

[dramatic music]

[indistinct chattering]

Kenners and Brumet definitely tow the Army line.

Auerbach should be fairly sympathetic,

but other than that, the panel's pretty stacked.

- Colonel Massien? Danowitz: Fair judge.

He's a good draw. Rainero is one of their

top prosecutors, though...

They always use him for the big ones.

I'll see what the hold up is.

- Hang in there. Robert: Yes, sir.

You'll be running the show in there, right, Ms. Van Owen?

No offense to Captain Danowitz, I know he's on my side.

But he's army.

And when all this is over, he still has to answer to them.

Well, I don't.

You've got the best possible defense, Robert.

I promise you that.

Do you think we can win?

I don't know.

They only need two-thirds to convict, and...

this is military court.

The code name for the operation was Just Cause.

Our mission was to capture General Noriega

and bring him back to the United States for trial.

Major Charles: But specifically, sir,

what were you trying to do

on the night of December 20th, 1989?

I was in charge of Alpha Company

in the El Chorrillo section of Panama City,

where there were about 1000 troops

loyal to General Noriega.

Their communications were located in three buildings.

My orders were to knock 'em out.

And how did you proceed, captain?

I deployed my men around the three buildings,

when suddenly Lieutenant Bradin's unit

became pinned down by sniper fire.

After discussing the situation with Lieutenant Bradin,

I ordered him to use the tank and take out the snipers.

Major Charles: And were these orders carried out?

Jaworski: No. He refused.

And when I repeated the order, he again refused.

And this was while you were under enemy fire?

Yes, sir.

After that, I gave the order

to his platoon sergeant, who carried it out.

The sniper fire was suppressed.

After which, I had Lieutenant Bradin taken into

military custody where I preferred charges

for disobeying a direct order.

Thank you, sir.

Grace: Captain Jaworski, did Lieutenant Bradin offer

any reason for his behavior?

He claimed there were non-combatants

positioned inside the building.

Grace: And where were you, sir, at this time?

I was at the C.P., two blocks away.

So when Lieutenant Bradin told you he saw civilians,

you don't know that to be false, do you?

Panamanian Defense soldiers often dress up as civilians.

I'm familiar with the tactics of the PDF, Captain,

but we are talking about a civilian neighborhood.

Are you telling this panel

there were no innocent people around?

No, I'm telling this panel that there were enemy soldiers

entrenched in that neighborhood,

some of whom were spraying us with machine gun fire.

Grace: So you started leveling buildings,

even though the Geneva Convention says

you have a duty to minimize civilian casualties.

We took measures to ensure that civilians cleared the area.

Grace: What measures were those, captain?

- Artillery missions. - Artillery missions?

That means you shelled them.

The bombardment was meant to discourage

them from remaining in the area.

Grace: But we're talking about massive bombardment.

You shelled them.

Isn't it possible that these people

were, were too scared to move?

I have no idea.

So you just went in with your tanks, anyway.

My men were under fire, counselor.

You were under sniper fire.

And you respond by ordering your tanks

to destroy an entire civilian neighborhood.

I am the one who has to write the letters

to their mothers and fathers telling them their

son is dead., I am responsible--

What about the Panamanian families?

Who writes to them?

- Objection. - Counsel.

You give no warning to evacuate.

You just start shelling.

It was a war, lady.

It wasn't a war until we invaded.

You don't know. You weren't there!

Lieutenant Bradin was there.

He was looking at the innocent people

you ordered him to kill.

Ms. Van Owen, that's enough.

Alright, let's adjourn for this afternoon.

We'll reconvene at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.

We'd been pinned down for about ten minutes.

There were maybe 30 of us on foot,

about 200 feet from the building.

I was positioning my tank when the order came in.

But lieutenant, you refused to execute that order.

Yes, ma'am.

Grace: Could you tell the court why?

As I was looking through my night scope,

I saw many civilians in the area.

All unarmed. There were women and old people.

Grace: What did they appear to be doing?

They appeared to be running for their lives, ma'am.

Did any of them fire at you or your men?

No, ma'am.

Grace: And is this what you reported to Captain Jowarski?

Yes, ma'am.

He just told me to carry out the order.

Grace: But you refused.

I would have killed too many innocent people.

I just couldn't do that.

Grace: Thank you, lieutenant.

You were under machine gun fire, were you not?

In my opinion,

there were many more civilians than there were snipers.

In your opinion.

As part of your training in the preparation

for the invasion of Panama City,

you were told that Panamanian soldiers often

dressed up like civilians, isn't that correct?

Yes, sir.

And yet here you are in combat

suddenly deciding which is which.

I know what I saw. Those people weren't soldiers.

Major Charles: Well, why don't you describe those

distinctions for us, lieutenant.

I saw them. They were in a panic.

Is it possible these were PDF soldiers

in a panic in the face of the overwhelming fire power?

I didn't believe that to be the case, sir.

You didn't believe that to be the case.

So, based on your hunch

you decided to disobey a direct order.

- Those people-- Charles: Answer the question.

Isn't that what happened?

Yes, sir.

Thank you, lieutenant. That's all.

[door opens]

- You wanted us? - Ah, you're both here. Great.

A copy of our liability insurance policy,

together with an assignment memo.

I need the research by 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Copy of our lease, also attached to an assignment memo.

I need your research by the end of the day.

But Ann Kelsey's waiting for me to shepardize

some cases through West Law, I don't have--

You tell her the senior partner took you off her case

and put you on his.

Mary Jane, tell Mike Kuzak I'm ready for him now.

Yes, Mr. Brackman.

[door closes]

[telephone ringing]

- Hello, Rox. - Hi.

Arnie's in probate all afternoon, Corrinne.

I'm not even sure he's coming back to the office today.

I know. I came to talk to you.

In private.

Okay.

[door opens]

[door closes]

What's up?

I think Arnie's having an affair.

- Excuse me? - Something's wrong.

I can just feel it with him.

[inhales] For the last week he's been...

completely solicitous.

Like he's feeling guilty.

I know it's unfair for me to come to you like this.

[inhales deeply]

Is he having an affair?

Not to my knowledge. No.

So I'm...

just being paranoid.

Nothing's happened, I'm just being paranoid?

Roxanne?

[nervously chuckles] I-- I don't think it's appropriate

for me to talk about Arnie's personal life.

Oh, my God!

Corrinne.

This isn't an easy conversation, Michael.

The time spent by this firm, mainly by you,

on Earl Williams' murder defense

translates to a bill of $485,000 dollars.

A bill which to date remains unpaid.

Yeah, well, he's obviously having

a difficult time right now.

- He never got his job back. - I know.

I ran an assets check.

He is, however, still living in a house valued at $470,000.

I had Abby go after that house.

You what?!

She got the pre-judgment attachment yesterday morning.

You son-of-a-bitch! Why wasn't I told--

Because you would've helped Earl oppose our motion.

Well, you're damn right I would have helped him!

Listen, Michael, I know you like this man. But--

Well, hat's not the point! You went behind my back, Douglas.

Douglas: Hear me out, Michael. - I'll go back into court--

Hear me out!

I have no intention of chasing Earl out of his house.

But the assets check revealed,

he's extremely deep in the red.

He could sell his house to pay off those other debts,

in which case we'd be left with nothing.

This way, we're protected.

And by securing the pre-judgment,

the bank's are more convinced of our solvency,

giving me a better shot at getting a loan

we desperately need for expansion.

I want that attachment dissolved immediately, do you hear me?

That won't happen until he can guarantee the debt.

Time's up on you, Douglas.

I'll organize the lynching myself.

You're no senior partner.

Not even for six weeks.

[door opens]

[door slams shut]

And would you describe for the court exactly

what a parapsychologist is, Dr. Lewen?

Well, briefly, I specialize in psychical research,

paranormal or psychic occurrences.

- Ghosts. Mitchell: Yes. Ghosts.

I'd like to call your attention, doctor, to the residence

located at 14 Oriole Drive

in Los Feliz, California.

The home which is the subject for this proceeding.

Did you ever have cause to investigate this residence?

Yes, I did. In 1982, I was called

by the owners of the house because they suspected

the presence of a supernatural being.

Cara: 1982.

So these were people other than my clients.

Yes. Yes. These would be the people

who eventually sold the home to the defendant.

Thank you. And did your investigation confirm

the presence of a ghost in this house?

Well, we definitely detected the electromagnetic energy.

Yes, yes, we did.

I'm sorry, doctor, you lost me with that one.

Inside every house there is an electromagnetic field.

In very simple terms, this, this field can absorb

the emotional energy expended in that environment.

In cases of extreme emotional intensity,

this field can almost, well, record it.

Then play it back. That playback,

if you will, would be what we call a ghost.

So if a gruesome murder...

occurred in this field,

is there a chance it would be recorded electromagnetically?

Oh, absolutely.

And guiding from my investigation of this house,

the emotional energy of that murder

is, in fact, still present there.

The house is haunted?

In layman's terms, yes, the house is haunted.

Thank you, doctor. That's all.

Did you see any apparitions in this house?

No, and nothing showed up on infrared.

But the Geiger countings were off the chart.

Ah-huh. Did you hear the moaning?

Mitchell: Personally, no. But two sets of owners have--

It was a ghost on playback.

Probably hopped right out of the VCR.

I'll tell you this, Mr. Clipner, I conduct over

two hundred investigations of ghost sightings every year,

the majority of which I dismiss.

This one I did not.

Like Mrs. Shaw said, there is something present in that house.

Last year, you investigated a ghost in a San Diego house

where strange singing had occurred, didn't you?

- Objection. This-- Kenneth: Goes to credibility.

And you concluded there was a ghost in that one too.

- Didn't you? - There was a psychic presence.

- That's correct. - And you identified this ghost?

I didn't have enough data to form a con--

Kenneth: But you had an opinion, doctor.

Mitchell: Yes, I did.

And in your opinion, doctor,

who was doing this singing?

[sighs] Elvis Presley.

[all chuckling softly]

Nothing further.

I've been a journalist for the Miami Tribune

for the last seven years.

And you had been assigned to Panama City?

Yes, specifically to investigate General Noriega's

involvement with Miami drug trafficking.

Ms. Dawson, could you tell us

what transpired that night, December 20, 1989?

Yes. I was interviewing one of my sources in El Chorillo,

and suddenly the sky just lit up with fire.

It was explosions from American gunfire.

What did you do?

Well, we made it to a Catholic Church.

It was the only brick building around

and people knew it wouldn't burn.

But the rest of the town was gutted.

Grace: What did you see that night, Ms. Dawson?

Mostly I saw American military and American tanks.

I saw members of the Panamanian Defense Force

fighting back.

I saw people running for safety.

There were civilians in the area?

This was a residential neighborhood, counselor.

People lived there.

Grace: And were civilians killed?

Joan: Many were killed. Thousand more were injured.

The gentleman that I interviewed that night...

he was killed.

He was a civilian.

When did you find out that he had been killed?

Two months later when I had to identify his body.

He had been dug up from a mass grave.

Grace: What do you mean, ma'am, when you say

his body was dug up?

There was more and more information

that the dead civilians were being rounded up

by American troops and buried in mass graves.

To cover up the fact that innocent lives had been lost,

they dumped them into these big pits and buried them.

One of the mass graves was found.

They found a 123 rotting bodies in the Jardin de Paz Cemetery.

Stuffed into plastic garbage bags.

Grace: Who put them there?

The U.S. Army admitted to doing it.

No identification. No notification to the families.

Our military killed innocent civilians

and stuffed them into garbage bags.

Grace: How many civilian casualties

resulted from the United States invasion of Panama?

Three hundred have been confirmed dead.

But other reports say maybe twice that.

We'll probably never know.

Why is that, ma'am?

- In my opinion? Grace: Yes.

Because the Army engaged in a massive cover-up.

They killed a lot of innocent people.

They trampled an entire town

and left over 15,000 people homeless.

And I don't think they want the people back

here to know about that.

Grace: Thank you, Ms. Dawson. I have nothing further.

Do you have any knowledge our military

was trying to kill civilians?

No, and I don't believe they were.

They were after Noriega's men.

That's right. And did you ever see

an American soldier directly shoot a civilian?

Directly at them? No. But with all the explosions--

Thank you, ma'am. And to your knowledge it is possible

that Panamanian Defense Forces did occupy the building

Lieutenant Bradin was ordered to target, right?

It's possible, yes. But that's not--

And, ma'am, just so I can be clear on your pre-disposition

here, you've written various articles, prior to this event,

extremely critical of the United States military

presence in Panama, right?

Yes, that's right.

Major Charles: Thank you, Ms. Dawson.

That's all I have.

[cricket chirping]

[door opens]

Arnie: What the hell is this?

This is you moving out, that's what it is. Corrinne? I don't--

Corrinne: You're sleeping around.

- And this marriage is over. - Hold on a second.

Corrinne: You have no idea how much you disgust me.

I'm only more disgusted with myself

for getting taken in by you.

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

Shut-up! You just shut-up!

God, I hate you! I...

- Go back to bed, honey. Go on. - Why are you yelling?

Just go back to bed right now, okay?

I-- I'll be there in a minute.

[sighs] Oh, God.

What have I done to her?

I let her get attached to you.

I let her love you.

Oh, God.

Corrinne, let me explain.

No, Arnie, just get out.

Get out! Just get out now!

[instrumental music]

Roxanne, you betrayed me!

No, she suspected you were having an affair!

And you confirmed it!

No, all I did was refuse to lie. It was...

it was an impossible situation!

Well, you won't ever have to face it again.

- You're fired! - What?

Arnie: Nobody does what you just did to me.

- You ruined my life! - You did this to yourself!

- Can't you at least recognize-- Arnie: I said you're fired!

I don't want to hear anything else from you. Just pack

your crap and get the hell out of here!

[whimpers]

Everybody everywhere in this country

wanted to get General Noriega.

So when we invaded Panama a little over a year ago

and finally flushed him out,

we all cheered.

But some of the cheering stopped when it became clear exactly

what our military had done.

In violation of the Geneva Convention,

we disregarded the safety of innocent people

and used overwhelming firepower to flatten

a civilian neighborhood.

Killing women, children,

making 15,000 people homeless.

We didn't warn anybody.

We just went in blasting.

Lieutenant Bradin couldn't.

I know I'm not army, and you probably look at me and think

how can she possibly understand military.

And maybe I don't.

But my father fought in World War II

and I grew up listening to his stories and feeling

his pride at having risked his life

to protect the values of this country.

And I grew up always believing

we were the good guys.

But I'm not so sure we were the good guys that night in Panama.

And I don't believe I'm the only one

in this room with doubts.

Lieutenant Bradin turned to his conscience that night.

For his sake, right now...

I'm asking you

to turn to yours.

Thank you.

The Geneva Convention does not apply here.

Panamanian soldiers were present in that building,

making it a legitimate military target.

Of course it was a tough call.

But Captain Jowarski made that call.

And Lieutenant Bradin willfully disregarded it.

While in combat with his men under enemy fire,

Lieutenant Bradin disobeyed a direct order.

A military, any military,

has to have discipline where the chain of command is honored.

The second it's not, as soon as junior officers

are entitled to call the shots and say

"this order I'll obey, but this order I won't,"

then we won't have much of a military, will we?

We put 18 and 19 year olds in combat with massive weapons.

Now we can have them in the middle of battle

weighing international law

and pondering their own interpretation

of the Geneva Convention,

or they can just follow orders.

It's not a tough call, gentlemen.

You just have to decide

whether you want to win wars

or lose them.

Let's just admit it was a big mistake.

Which has to be corrected now.

Letting him be senior partner for one more day--

Now hold on.

He directed Abby to put an attachment

on Earl Williams house.

That's not the way we do business.

Well, letting our bill for a half million dollars

go uncollected is not the way we do business either.

Leland, I just got a call from Olympic and Rourke,

our landlords, it seems Douglas stopped payment

on the rent check and he's trying to break our lease.

He's Al Haig on the loose, Leland. You have to stop him.

Well, I can't believe he'd do that.

Well, believe it. The guy thinks he's immortal.

He's been like that ever since he started seeing Vanna White.

Stuart: You've got to do something.

Woman 1: Perry Littlefield from Ballantine Insurance

is on three, he says it's urgent.

Yes, Perry?

Perry: What the hell is with Douglas Brackman, Leland?

What do you mean?

Perry: I mean, the guy's demanding we cover you

on the Rosalind Shays verdict.

Leland, that judgment was for punitive damages.

We don't have to pay you a nickel.

- I'll look into it, Perry. Perry: Please do.

Perry: Also, you tell Brackman I ran his little bluff

by my lawyers and they said we don't need

Rosalind Shays help in any of this.

So the fact that you're sleeping with her now doesn't scare me.

[receiver clinks]

[line buzzing]

Set up a partners meeting.

Stephan: I lived in the house practically

a year, I never heard anything.

You never heard any moaning

or the sounds of a woman in pain?

Come on, this whole thing is a ridiculous ploy

to try and get out of a deal they wish they hadn't make.

Thank you, Mr. Gendler. I have nothing further.

When you bought this house, you knew about Nancy Atkins'

murder, didn't you?

Didn't stop me from buying it.

Why didn't you tell my client and his broker about it?

Stephan: Because it didn't matter.

Oh, no, sir.

You withheld that information

because you feared it would matter.

There is nothing haunted about the house.

Cara: When you lived in that house,

why did you sleep in the downstairs bedroom?

It's a three bedroom house. I had a choice.

Cara: Yes, but the master bedroom, the only one

with a private bath, is upstairs.

Why didn't you choose that one?

I hated the wallpaper.

Cara: You were afraid of that room.

You were afraid because Nancy Atkins

was stabbed to death there.

Give me a break.

You were afraid she might cry out to you.

I wasn't afraid.

Cara: Or maybe she did speak to you.

Maybe that's why after only a year, you had to get out.

I wasn't afraid of anything.

No, you just hated the wallpaper.

[softly chuckling]

I have nothing further, You Honor.

Closing arguments tomorrow, 2 o'clock.

Your Honor, I'd like to do my closing tomorrow night,

at the house, In Nancy Atkins' bedroom.

I beg your pardon?

This case turns on whether it's reasonable

for my clients to believe that house is haunted.

The only way for the jury to properly gauge

that is to go see it.

- At night. - I object.

Ms. Lamb, this is a very strange request.

But this also happens to be a very strange case

and under these circumstances,

I think it would behoove us all to go take a look.

- You've got to be kidding. - I'm not kidding.

Judge Weldin: 8 o'clock tomorrow night, the jury will meet here,

and we'll all go over there together.

[all mumbling indistinctly]

Members of the panel, have you reached a verdict?

Yes, sir, we have.

Under Article 90, Article 99,

and Article 133,

we find the defendant, Second Lieutenant Robert Bradin,

guilty of all charges.

[all mumbling indistinctly]

Anything on sentencing, major?

Mr. President, the government will be seeking

the maximum allowable confinement at hard labor.

General Massien: Ms. Van Owen?

Your Honor, before sentencing, I'd like

the panel to hear from Lieutenant Bradin.

Sirs.

I went into ROTC at school

because it helped pay for tuition.

I knew it meant that I had a debt to my country,

and maybe some day I'd even have to go to war

and die for my country.

And I was prepared to do that.

I am still prepared to give my life for my commanding officers,

or for the men who serve under me.

I was ordered to blow up innocent people.

To take out sniper fire,

I was ordered to destroy a civilian building.

I said no to that.

And under the same circumstances, I'd say no again.

No matter what my government's trying to prove.

[machine beeps]

[telephone ringing]

[exhaling]

What are you doing?

Arnie fired me.

- Why? - It's not important.

I'm just not working here anymore.

Would you like to work for me?

Gee, Douglas, that's, that's very nice of you--

I'll raise you. A $125 a week, effective now.

That breaks the secretarial cap.

- See, I'm already in-- - You wouldn't be a secretary.

I need an assistant to help me with office management.

I'm talking about a big promotion, Roxanne.

More money, more power.

If you find me too impossible to work for, you just quit.

What's not to try?

[telephone ringing]

[dog barking in distance]

[knocking on door]

[door opens]

[sighs]

Thanks for agreeing to see me.

- What do you want to say? - That I'm sorry.

That what I did was unforgivable.

It only happened once. That's the only time

it's ever happened since we've been married.

And, that doesn't make it any less inexcusable,

but this is not a pattern, Corrinne.

I promise you.

I also want to say that I can't picture my life without you

and Chloe and I'll do anything to fix this.

I've hired a lawyer. The divorce papers will be filed

probably by the end of next week.

Don't you think that's a little rash?

Marrying you was rash.

Corrinne, this was one stupid slip. It doesn't--

No. That's who you are.

That's what you are.

I feared it going in, so did you.

Now, maybe if I weren't a parent, it would've

been okay for me to take a chance on you.

But to be so reckless with my little girl's life.

I'm certainly not going to make that mistake again.

Give me one more chance, Corrinne. Please.

I'm following the advice of a former lawyer of mine.

A very good lawyer.

"Walk away from the problem, get on with your life."

This is my new attorney.

You call him.

From now on, you don't call me.

[door shuts]

Lieutenant Bradin,

this board has a great deal of sympathy for you.

Your service record indicates

you're both an outstanding officer

and a fine young man.

Furthermore, there are some serious questions

about the performance of our own military in Panama.

And the ratio of ten Panamanian civilians dead

to every American killed in action,

makes it hard to believe that we really did try our best

to minimize civilian casualties,

as required by the Geneva Convention.

And this business of policing up civilian bodies,

and wrapping them up in garbage bags,

and dumping them in mass graves

without any notification of the families,

if that's true,

well, it's a disgrace, pure and simple.

And as officers, and as soldiers,

we should be both shocked and embarrassed.

But of all the sins committed that night,

lieutenant, by far the most dangerous

and far reaching was yours.

You disobeyed a direct order in combat.

For soldiers

to disobey their lawful superiors

while under enemy fire,

well, there can be few

greater threats to our national security.

Therefore, Lieutenant Bradin,

it is this decision of this board

that you be confined at hard labor

for a period of ten years...

[indistinct mumbling]

such sentence to be carried out

at the United States Disciplinary Barracks,

Fort Leavenwworth, Kansas.

[all mumbling indistinctly]

You have no right to just--

If I fire a secretary, she stays fired.

- I don't need you rehiring her. - It was a priority matter--

Alright. One thing at a time.

First, what the hell are you doing breaking our lease?

Douglas: I exploited a favored nations clause,

with Jonathan's help, to break the contract.

With the downtown glut of office space, many buildings

are offering free rent, some up to two years.

- I don't want to move. Douglas: We're not moving.

But the threat of moving alone was enough to allow me

to negotiate a new deal here.

I cut our monthly payments by 6%,

and got the first six months rent free.

Now, that adds up to a savings of $108,000 immediately.

Plus another $137,000 over the next ten years.

I see. But what were you doing with our insurance carrier,

threatening them with a suit, telling them of

my relationship with Rosalind Shays?

I merely pointed out that since Rosalind is now

sympathetic to us, they couldn't count on her help

in defending against an action brought by us.

They're still denying coverage,

but they've agreed to kick in $170,000 for defense cost.

- You're kidding. Douglas: No, I'm not.

Douglas: They knew we could run that much up

in litigation costs, easy.

And there's a very real chance they could lose.

As for re-hiring Roxanne, Arnold,

I did that in part to prevent an extremely viable lawsuit

that she could have against us.

For what? Why was she fired?

- Personality differences. Douglas: Right.

And, Michael, securing our debt with Earl Williams

did impress the bank.

With that $300,000 security, along with the projected savings

of rent and the kick in by the insurance company,

Brentwood Federal was moved

to give us a brand new line of credit,

which I've used, in part,

retroactively, to pay out the partnership bonuses

that we thought we'd have to forego this year.

Checks for all of you.

Twenty-seven thousand dollars?

Stuart: Wow. - How did you do this?

By showing the bank that we were a half a million

more solvent than they thought we were.

They made the loan?

- This is fantastic, Douglas. - That's very good, Douglas.

- Yeah, that's very good. - Hello, senior partner.

[indistinct chattering]

Okay, we've all had a look.

Ms. Lamb, you want to make a statement before we go?

Yes. Could everybody find some wall space,

or maybe sit on the bed or something.

I don't really have a statement. I just wanted us all

to come here, take a look, see where it happened.

Good God, she was sleeping right over there.

And it was somewhere, from somewhere,

my clients heard those awful sounds.

The thing is, Nancy Atkins

couldn't scream the night she was murdered,

because the killer plunged his knife straight into her throat,

severing her larynx and cutting her vocal chords.

But that wasn't the fatal wound.

He continued to stick his knife into her arms, her legs.

Seventeen times she was stabbed.

There was so much blood, it seeped through these planks

and dripped into the kitchen.

The coroner said she had to have suffered.

She couldn't scream.

She tried.

But with her vocal chords cut,

she could barely make a sound.

Some people believe that to this day, right here,

Nancy Atkins still tries to cry out for help.

Woman 2: Oh, my God. What's goin' on?

For heaven's sake. Where's the light?

- Let's get out of here. - Excuse me.

[all clamoring]

Kenneth: Alright, we'll buy back the house

at the same purchase price, but we're not covering

closing costs or the points.

Hey, they could hit you with punitives.

You saw how scared they were.

Your guys won't be paying commission, C.J.

That will more than cover all the incidentals.

Come on, we're making them whole, let's finish this.

- Well, okay. - I'll draft the settlement.

This is so ridiculous.

[car door shuts]

[engine sputtering]

[engine revving]

[leaves rustling]

It's false evidence, you know. It's as good as lying

to the court, we could get disbared.

I never said anything about how or why the lights went out.

Nobody even asked me.

It wasn't a normal circuit breaker, for God sake.

It was an old fashioned fuse box.

Here, I couldn't get the thing back in.

I cut my finger trying.

Mm. Did you get them to settle?

Full purchase price.

You were absolutely perfect.

Isn't this the fuse that controls that light?

Yeah.

[car doors opening]

[indistinct chatter]

Thank you for everything, Ms. Van Owen.

I'm not giving up, Robert.

The appeal will be filed tomorrow.

So don't you give up.

Yeah.

[knocking on door]

[door opens]

Major Charles: Lieutenant. - Major.

I'm sorry about the sentence. I think what you did was wrong,

but I also think with 300,000 soldiers in the Persian Gulf

the panel had to make an example of you.

Would you go on record with that?

It's only an opinion, counselor.

Mmm.

[sighs] Let's go, sir.

[somber music]

We're proud of you, son.

[patting]

Okay.

[music continues]

[outro theme]

[production theme]