Original subtitles

As far as I'm concerned, Patrick Flanagan is a felon.

He gave assurances that this girl wouldn't testify.

That is obstruction of justice.

- Do you have any proof of that?

- Of course I don't have proof.

- Patrick says he tried to notify

you of the settlement offer.

You were unavailable.

- He also maintains that no such assurances were made.

- He's lying.

Lest you be under any further illusions,

this is someone who lies.

He stood in my office.

He told me what he wanted to do.

I told him in no uncertain terms, do not do it.

He went ahead and did it anyway.

- Parenthetically, it should be noted that he

did bring in about $9 million.

- Douglas, he is dangerous.

- Well, I think that might be a little harsh.

- All right, Leland, look, you do whatever you want with him.

I'm telling you right now, I will not work with him again.

- That's your prerogative.

- On this one, Morales was right.

- Well, Patrick maintains that no assurances were given.

- Patrick maintains a lot of things, Leland.

- Yes, he does.

- At a minimum, he does seem to be someone

who gets accused pretty often.

- Well, so far, all the accusations

have been groundless.

- So far.

[theme music]

- [laughs]

- Mm.

[sighs] We can't get started again.

- Sure we can.

- I've got a staff meeting at 10:00.

- I got to be in court at 9:30.

[doorbell ringing]

Ah.

- Doorbell.

- Who's here at this hour?

- It's the takeout guy.

- Oh.

- Mm.

- [laughs] You ordered breakfast to be delivered?

- I knew I'd need my sustenance.

- [laughs]

[sighs]

I would have made breakfast for us.

- That's all right.

You were busy doing other things.

- I was, wasn't I?

- Yes, you were.

- Ah.

Mm.

- You plan on getting dressed in your own clothes

any time today?

- What do you care?

- I've got to be out of here in 15 minutes.

- So?

What does that have to do with me getting dressed?

- I thought you had to be in court.

- When you leave, you want us both to leave, right?

- We both have to go to work.

I figured we'd both leave.

- What exactly do you think I'll do if I'm alone here?

- I don't think you'll do anything.

- But you'd rather I wasn't here when you weren't here.

- Belinda, if you want to let yourself out, let yourself out.

Is this a test?

- Yes.

- Good.

How'd I do?

- [laughs] You passed.

- Then let me have my keys so I can get out of here.

- Come get 'em.

Ah!

- Has anyone heard from Arnold?

- His secretary said he's having breakfast with a client

and not to wait.

- In that case, Palmer Versus Schoettle.

- Mine.

We represent Dr. Joseph Palmer, a Beverly Hills dentist

who lost half his practice due to a rumor he was HIV positive.

- Is he?

- No, he's not.

- Who's he suing?

- The rival dentist who started the rumor.

- You can prove he started the rumor?

- We'll see. - Sounds tough.

- Believe me, I would have preferred to settle.

- Stanton Versus Frye.

- That belongs to me.

We represent Ernest Frye.

He is the defendant in a damage to property

suit brought by his neighbor.

- What's been damaged?

- His neighbor's Afghan.

- Rug? - Dog.

- What happened to the dog?

- She was allegedly impregnated by our client's mixed breed.

- Woof.

- The Afghan's owner is seeking compensation

for loss of a breeding cycle and medical expenses.

- What's the defense?

- Well, we deny paternity.

Assuming paternity, we deny liability.

- Why are you doing this?

- Well, I've known Ernest Frye for quite a few years,

and I'd like to be of service to him.

Is that an adequate explanation?

- Sorry.

- Well, well.

- I was in a meeting with a client.

- From all appearances, it went pretty well.

- Now what is that supposed to mean?

- Boop-boop.

[laughter]

- Now that Arnold has finally arrived, we're adjourned.

- I've been informed that the other side

is amending their pleadings.

- What does that mean?

- It means that in addition to money,

they're also asking for a court order

compelling your dog to be neutered.

- Leland, that will never happen.

- Ernest, I know how you feel.

- My dog did what dogs do.

They're gonna punish him for that?

They're going to neuter him for that?

I don't think so.

- Now don't get yourself all worked up over this.

- The fact that she would even ask

for that pretty much tells you all you need to know about her,

doesn't it? - Yeah, yeah.

- Isabella.

Isabella, here.

- How long have you had Isabella, Ms. Stanton?

- I got her as a puppy four years ago.

- And would you describe for us the kind of dog she is?

- Isabella is a purebred champion Afghan.

Both sire and dam were also champions.

Her grand sire was E. Magnus Rex,

one of the top winning Afghans in the history of the breed.

- Has Isabella herself, in fact, been judged a champion?

- She won her class in puppy, novice, and open.

She's been judged best in breed at enough shows

to have earned the designation champion many times over.

- Now, I know this is very difficult for you,

but I need for you to tell us what

happened on November 15, 1993.

- I came home from work at around 5:00 PM

and found him on top of the picnic table

in the backyard mounting Isabella.

- Ms. Stanton, are you pointing at Mr. Frye?

Or are you pointing at Mr. Frye's dog?

- His dog.

- I thought so.

[chuckles] Resourceful little fella, isn't he?

When I say "resourceful little fella,"

I am referring, of course, to Mr. Frye's dog,

not to Mr. Frye.

- Now, Ms. Stanton, did you attempt

to breed Isabella after this unfortunate incident?

- Yes, I did.

I put Isabella with a triple champion stud.

But she rejected him.

All she wanted was the mutt.

In the end, we had to inseminate her artificially.

- And did Isabella subsequently whelp?

- Yes, but instead of champion Afghans,

she gave birth to mongrels.

- How much money do you estimate you lost as a result?

- Her puppies would have gone for $7,500 each.

Speaking conservatively, that comes out to $30,000.

Plus veterinary bills and food for the puppies she did have.

- I have nothing further.

- Ms. Stanton, have you considered

that a mixed breed other than Mr. Frye's could have

fathered Isabella's puppies?

- I caught Mr. Frye's dog on flagrante, Mr. McKenzie.

- Assuming that it was Mr. Frye's dog you saw

that dark November night, your dog's

pregnancy could still be attributable to another dog,

could it not?

- Objection, speculative.

- Oh, is there a specific putative sire, Counselor?

- Yes, Your Honor.

- Right.

Well, then confine your questions accordingly.

- Are you familiar with an unneutered shepherd mix

named Bismarck who lives on your block?

- That dog is 11 years old and blind.

- According to its owner, it still functions sexually.

- He never leaves the driveway.

- Is it possible Isabella went to him?

- Objection, speculative.

- Sustained.

Speculative it is.

- Animal control records show that you reported Isabella

missing on November 12 and did not report her

found until the following day.

- The gardener left the gate open.

- So for almost 24 hours, Isabella

was running around loose while in heat, wasn't she?

- Yes.

- During this 24-hour spree, couldn't Isabella

have had intercourse with countless mongrel suitors?

- You seem to forget.

Mr. McKenzie, that I saw that dog mounting my Isabella.

I saw the tunnel he dug to get from his yard to my yard.

- How do you know Isabella didn't dig the tunnel?

- Mr. McKenzie, I can't help but feel as though my dog has been

defiled by your client's dog, by your client,

and now she's being defiled again by you.

- Ms. Stanton, how do you know Isabella didn't dig the tunnel?

- I know my dog.

- I see.

Nothing further.

- What did your dental practice generate in income

for fiscal 1992, Doctor?

- About $800,000.

- How about 1993?

- Less than 100,000.

- To what do you attribute the fall off?

- I attribute it to a rumor started

by Dr. Frederick Schoettle that I was HIV positive.

- Would you tell us on what basis you make that allegation?

- Yes.

I had a patient named Sid Green.

He'd been with me for a number of years.

Actually, I thought we were friends.

One day, my secretary told me that he called

and requested that his records be sent

over to another dental office.

- How did he respond?

- Objection, hearsay.

- The witness is being asked to testify to state

of mind, not truth, Your Honor.

- The objection is overruled.

The witness can answer.

- He said that he worked with a patient of Dr. Schoettle's.

He said that they had told him that Dr. Schoettle

said I was HIV positive.

- Are you HIV positive?

- No, I'm not.

- I ask that the witness's stipulated medical report

containing his HIV test results be entered

as plaintiff's exhibit A.

- So ordered.

- Is it fair to say, Doctor, that you and Dr. Schoettle

were in competition with one another?

- Well, I never considered us as being in competition.

Apparently, he did.

- Objection, speculation.

- Sustained.

- Was there ever an incidence of Dr. Schoettle's patients

becoming your patients?

- Yes, a number of his patients came over to me.

- Did you ever solicit them to do so?

- No, I did not.

Some of his patients came over because they

had emergency situations and Dr. Schoettle was unavailable.

Others came out of various dissatisfactions

for the treatment they'd been receiving.

- How, if at all, did Dr. Schoettle

react to those losses?

- Well, he came into my office, and he accused me

of stealing his patients by telling

them that he was incompetent.

Well, I denied it, but he refused to believe me.

- Doctor, what effect, if any, has this rumor had on you?

- I can't have a dental practice in Southern California

any longer, and up until last year, I had one.

I was successful.

I was prosperous.

I was happy.

Now, I am none of those things.

- I have nothing further.

- Dr. Palmer, you were hospitalized

over the past year.

Is that correct?

- Yes, I had pneumonia.

- Is it also correct that you lost a considerable amount

of weight over the past year?

- Yes, by design.

- Are you gay, Doctor?

- Objection, irrelevant.

- Sustained.

- Have you ever been married?

- Objection, irrelevant.

- Sustained.

- Your Honor, I'm just trying to establish

that this rumor started wholly independent of my client.

- Being gay, Mr. Belknap, does not correspond

to being HIV positive.

- Well, will the court entertain the notion

that such correspondence does exist in the minds of others?

- The court will not.

- [sighs] You never heard Dr. Schoettle say you were

HIV positive, did you, Doctor?

- [sighs] He wouldn't say it to my face.

- Is that a no, Doctor?

- Yes, it is.

- I have no further questions.

- Thanks for sitting in for me, Denise.

If I don't have to get a filling,

I should be back before he needs anything.

- No rush.

Eli's still in court.

- Thanks.

- Good luck.

- [sighs]

- Can I help you?

- I'm looking for Arnold Becker.

- Do you have an appointment?

- I'm a friend of his.

- Oh, he's in a meeting.

- Is he in a meeting, or is that a standard line?

- Excuse me?

- I'm asking if that's what you say

whenever one of the attorneys asks not to be disturbed.

- No, it's not.

- All right.

Do you know how long he'll be in the meeting?

- No, I don't.

- Would it be possible to leave him a note?

- By all means.

Here.

- Are you sure he's not in there taking a nap?

- I was told he's in there with someone.

- Hey.

What are you doing over here?

- I'm filling in for Joanne.

- Any messages for me?

- Yeah.

You have a bunch of them.

Excuse me.

- I couldn't find it.

- His insurance premium wasn't paid.

- Wake up, Arnie.

I'm sorry.

I thought you were alone.

- Is everything all right?

- Yeah, everything's fine.

I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd drop by.

- We're in the middle of something here.

- OK.

- [scoffs] It really isn't necessary

to use that tone with me.

- Could we talk about this a little later?

- I don't know what there is to talk about.

I stop by to say hello and you bite my head off.

I wasn't planning to stay all afternoon.

- Would you excuse us?

- I won't tolerate being chastised, Arnie.

- You walked into the middle of a meeting with a client.

- I made an honest mistake.

That doesn't call for an act of intentional cruelty.

- What are you talking about?

- You were rude to me.

You were rude to me in front of another person.

I won't tolerate that.

- Look, I don't have time to get into this right now.

- Arnie, wait.

- What?

- I'll apologize if you'll apologize.

- OK, I apologize.

- Me, too.

- Mm.

Call me.

- Have you ever met the gentleman seated on the left?

- Yes, I have.

Dr. Schoettle is my dentist.

- Was there ever an occasion on which

while in the offices of Dr. Schoettle you overheard

him refer to the gentleman seated on the right, Dr.

Joseph Palmer?

- Objection, hearsay.

- This is outside the exception to the hearsay rule,

Your Honor.

- The objection is overruled.

The witness will answer.

- Yes.

- Would you describe the circumstances

under which you did so?

- I was sitting in the chair waiting for a temporary crown

to be fitted.

I overheard Dr. Schoettle speaking to his nurse

just outside the door.

- In what context did the name of Dr. Palmer come up?

- I heard him ask her if she knew

whether or not Dr. Palmer was going back into the hospital.

I heard him ask her if she had noticed that Dr.

Palmer had lost weight.

- I heard him ask her if she knew that Dr. Palmer was gay.

I heard him ask her if she knew Dr. Palmer was sick.

- What did you understand the word "sick" to mean?

- I took it to mean AIDS.

- Did you subsequently tell anyone else what you had heard?

- I'm sure that I did.

I don't know who or how many, but I'm sure that I

told plenty of people.

- I have nothing further.

- These people, what did you tell them?

- I told them that I heard about a dentist who had AIDS.

- Had you, in fact, heard Dr. Schoettle say that?

- I heard Dr. Schoettle say words to that effect.

- But you never heard him say those words?

- No.

- Did you ever have a conversation with Dr.

Schoettle in which you asked him whether or not

Dr. Palmer had AIDS?

- No.

- In other words, you took it upon yourself

to disseminate as fact that which you

had neither heard nor verified.

- Objection, argumentative.

- Sustained.

- Did you attribute your actions to Dr. Schoettle?

- Objection, irrelevant.

- Objection is overruled.

The witness will answer.

- No.

- I have nothing further.

- Be seated.

As you can see, I brought my two Boston terriers with me today.

You know, I saw the two of you here with your dogs,

and it made me grow kind of sad thinking

about my two little fellas at home all alone.

And plus, I thought, well, it's time

they saw what daddy does when he goes to the office, huh?

Of course, if there's any--

would there be any objection to Wally and Sluggo

sitting up here beside me?

- None here, sir.

- Oh, I have no objection.

- Those are good-looking dogs, Judge.

- Why, thank you, Mr. Frye.

They-- where the heck were we?

Please proceed, Mr. McKenzie.

- Mr. Frye, during last November,

were you aware that Ms. Stanton's Afghan was in heat?

- No, I wasn't.

I don't keep track of her dog's menstrual cycles.

- Did you ever see your dog engage in sexual activity

with Ms. Stanton's dog?

- No, I did not.

- Do you deny that there was a hole

under the fence between your property

and Ms. Stanton's property?

- No, I don't.

What I do deny is that my dog was

the only dog doing the digging.

This hole was dug from both directions.

This was not a unilateral hole.

Just as much, if not more of it, was dug from the other side.

- What does that suggest to you, Mr. Frye?

- It suggests to me that for all her class and pedigree, Ms.

Isabella knew what she wanted, and it wasn't one of those

high-priced fancy-boy studs.

She wanted someone a little more rugged, a little rough

around the edges, someone who was all dog, a dog's dog.

- We get the idea, Mr. Frye.

- My point, Your Honor, is that she went after the Duke.

- Yes, and your point is taken, and now it is time

to go on to the next point.

- Did you knowingly or intentionally

allow your dog to run loose?

- No, I did not.

If he was out, he was either on a leash

or fenced in in the backyard.

The only time he ever got out of the yard

was via the aforementioned hole.

- I have nothing further.

- Mr. Frye, your dog has a history of digging, hasn't he?

- You're talking about the rose bushes, aren't you?

- It is true, is it not, that your dog destroyed

Ms. Stanton's rose bushes?

- First of all, that was three years

ago when Duke was a puppy.

Second of all, I replaced those bushes.

- Tell us, sir.

- I bought new ones and planted them during the night

so that Ms. Stanton would have a nice surprise in the morning.

But instead of thanking me, she had them dug up.

Apparently, they were the wrong kind.

- Mr. Frye, did you ever have a romantic interest

in Ms. Stanton?

- Objection, irrelevant.

- Goes to motive for his negligence

in failing to restrain his dog.

- I'll allow it.

- I left a note once in her door inviting her to a barbecue.

So what?

- She never responded, did she, Mr. Frye?

- No, she didn't.

- You made a number of subsequent attempts

to contact Ms. Stanton, didn't you, Mr. Frye?

- A few.

- And she ignored them all, didn't she?

- Yes.

- And that's why you deliberately left your dog

out, isn't it, Mr. Frye?

You knew Duke was a digger, and you

knew he'd get into her yard.

And that's exactly what you wanted.

- Objection.

- Because you knew the only way you'd

ever have Margo Stanton was vicariously

through the copulation of your dog with her dog.

- Your Honor.

- Mr. Stoddard, get a grip on yourself, man.

- Yes.

Sorry, Your Honor.

Tell us, Mr. Frye, once the attraction between your dog

and Ms. Stanton's dog was known, were you

not asked and asked repeatedly by Ms. Stanton

to have your dog fixed?

- Fixed?

You mean fixed as in castrated?

That kind of fixed?

- Yes, Mr. Frye, that kind of fixed.

- I will not alter my animal's basic nature

for the purpose of making him a more manageable house pet.

I will not see him transformed into a eunuch.

- Boys, boys.

There's no use crying after the train has left the station.

That was a pretty thoughtless remark, Mr. Frye.

- I'm sorry, Your Honor.

- Have you quite finished, Mr. Stoddard?

- Yes, Your Honor.

- Good.

Well, I'd like to cut through some of this.

And so I would like to see both parties in my chambers

tomorrow, and I would like them to bring the puppies.

- Can I get a ride home?

- Sure, no problem.

- Tommy.

- Arnie.

- What brings you here?

- I'm doing a little estate planning,

and Stuart's helping me out.

What, do you think I came with a warrant for your arrest?

- Can I talk to you for a minute?

- Sure.

- In private?

- So you want to confess to obstructing justice?

- I want to clear the air between us.

- And how do you plan to do that?

- By telling you if I had a shred of proof

that Judy Rudolph and Jack Lambert struck a bargain

for Cindy Rudolph's grand jury testimony,

I'd hand it over to you.

I don't have that.

- No? - No.

I wasn't there, Tommy.

Judy Rudolph cut this deal by herself.

I wasn't there when it happened.

I didn't know about it till after it happened.

And nothing I said at that point made

the least bit of difference.

- Did you take the money?

- Come on, Tommy.

- Well?

- Hey, whether or not I agree with the outcome,

I'm entitled to take a fee.

- So what do you want from me?

- Let me off the hook.

- Any truth to the rumor that you're dating Belinda Fox?

- Word travels fast.

Do you know her?

- Not personally.

She's got a reputation for being pretty gung-ho

as a prosecutor, though.

- I'm not surprised.

- You remember when Judge Frank Gurney got nailed for bribery?

- Yeah.

- Word was that Belinda was sleeping with him at the time,

and she agreed to wear a wire so they could get an indictment.

- Dr. Schoettle, did you initiate a rumor that Jeffrey

Palmer was HIV positive?

- No, I did not.

- Did you hear of such a rumor?

- Many times.

- Do you recall when you first heard it?

- I honestly can't.

- Do you recall whom you heard it from?

- I don't recall that, either.

I might have been at a party.

I might have been at some sort of professional function.

All I remember was that I heard it and took note of it.

- Did you repeat it?

- I repeated that I heard it.

And I asked whether or not anyone else had heard it.

- What was your intention when you did so, Doctor?

- I don't recall having any intention.

Somebody you know gets sick, you talk about it.

We're, all of us, afraid of getting sick.

We're, all of us, afraid of dying.

When you hear about it happening to someone you know,

you talk about it.

We all do.

- So was it your intention or your hope

to drive Dr. Palmer's patients away

and thereby gain some competitive advantage

for yourself?

- Of course not.

I feel bad for what happened to Dr. Palmer's practice.

I was also very happy to learn that the rumor was false.

- I have nothing further.

- You don't remember where you heard it and you don't

remember who you heard it from?

- I think that's often the case with snippets of gossip.

- Did it ever occur to you what effect

this particular snippet of gossip

would have on this man's practice?

- As I said, I didn't think of that.

As far as I'm concerned, if you're HIV positive,

the fate of your dental practice is of less

than paramount significance.

- It doesn't, however, come as a surprise to you that patients

might be apprehensive upon hearing that their dentist was

HIV positive?

- No.

- Given that, do you think it might have been

incumbent on you to verify the accuracy of the rumor

before you spread it? - Objection.

- Sustained.

- I didn't spread the rumor, Mr. Flanagan.

- You had conversations with your hygienist,

your nurse, and others in which the import of what you said

was that Dr. Joseph Palmer was HIV positive.

Is that right?

- Yes.

- We have heard five different people testify that they

overheard those conversations.

Were you aware that there were patients sitting

in the chair at the time?

- Given that I have appointments running back to back from 8:30

in the morning to 5:30 in the afternoon,

you get accustomed to talking about a variety of subjects

with a patient sitting in the chair.

- Does it occur to you, Doctor, that as a doctor,

people place a great deal of credibility

on information coming from your mouth?

- Yes, it does.

- Given that, do you feel you had any obligation to pick up

the phone and call Dr. Palmer before repeating again

and again and again a rumor you knew

would result in his professional death?

- Objection, argumentative.

- I'd like to answer that.

Maybe I did have a special obligation.

And maybe I did fail to uphold it.

But if that's the case, then the same

can be said for every dentist and doctor in this city

because every one of them that heard the rumor repeated it.

I'm no more or less guilty than they are.

- Dr. Joseph Palmer's professional life

has been destroyed by a lie.

What he has spent 20 years building has been reduced

to ruin in a matter of a year.

Is the defendant responsible for that?

I submit to you that he is.

I submit to you that he spread this rumor

deliberately and insidiously.

He said things within earshot of others that

had the calculated effect of marking Joseph

Palmer as a dentist with AIDS.

The defendant knew what would happen.

He knew that he spoke with authority

having Dr. before his name.

He knew what makes for a good rumor,

and he knew how fast a rumor spreads.

He also knew what this rumor would

do to Joseph Palmer's practice.

Frederick Schoettle wanted to wipe out a particularly

successful competitor.

He did what he set out to do.

We ask that you find for the plaintiff and award

him the sum of $1 million in special damages, $5 million

in general damages.

- Ladies and gentlemen, nobody here

is arguing that what happened to Joseph Palmer

is right, or just, or anything--

anything but tragic.

But that by itself does not entitle him to be compensated.

Now, the defendant did not start this rumor.

In the course of conducting his business,

he repeated what he had heard.

He commented on what he had seen.

But there was not one single piece of evidence

that what he did was malicious.

There was not one single piece of evidence

that he set out to harm this man.

The worst thing that Dr. Frederick

Schoettle can be accused of is being

possessed of human nature.

If you make him responsible for the damage done

to the plaintiff, you will have seen to it

that this rumor has destroyed two

innocent men rather than one.

- Yes, you give daddy kisses.

Give daddy a kiss.

Who is your daddy? Yes.

Who's your daddy?

Ooh, ooh.

Now, now, Sluggo.

Don't get jealous and exhibitionist.

Come on over here.

Help, help.

The wild dogs have got me.

Help, help.

I was just playing with my dogs.

- Yes, Your Honor.

Well, we believe an examination of these puppies

will prove dispositive in the issue of paternity.

- Your Honor, I would categorically

object to the use of visual examination

as a means of establishing paternity.

- Are you suggesting that the plaintiff spring

for DNA tests, Counselor?

- They chose to pursue the claim, Your Honor.

I'm suggesting that they offer up appropriate proofs.

- Hmm.

You're saying I can't tell by looking at them, huh?

- Yes, I am.

- Well, sir.

I am going to go way the heck out on a limb.

Mr. McKenzie, and say that visual examination

tends to point almost definitely to Duke's paternity.

- Assuming arguendo that that's true,

it still has nothing to do with the issue of liability.

Judge Zimmering?

- Oh, yeah.

Here.

Hold on, Ben.

Ah.

Wa, wa, wa, wa, wa.

Wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa.

Now here's what I propose we do.

There aren't any more witnesses, are there?

- We have no further witnesses.

- Nor do we, Your Honor.

- All right, good.

Now, here's what I propose we do.

Let's suspend oral arguments and let

me decide the case based on testimony and trial memoranda.

Unless, of course, someone insists on giving a summation.

- Not I, Your Honor.

- Nor I, Your Honor.

- Excellent.

Well, then I shall see you all in court on the morrow.

[barking]

- Has the jury reached a verdict?

- We have, Your Honor.

- What say you?

- In the case of Dr. Joseph Palmer

Versus Dr. Frederick Schoettle, we find for the defendant.

- The jury is dismissed with the thanks of the court.

We're adjourned.

- So that's it, right?

- Pretty much, yeah.

- No appeal?

- Well, I can go through the transcript,

and I can ask the opinion of some

of the attorneys in the office.

- Do you know what it's like to have people look at you

and be afraid?

They don't want to talk to you.

They don't want to touch you.

They don't want to go near you.

I might as well have AIDS.

You know, I never expected to get the kind

of money we were asking for.

I was hoping we'd get something.

- I know you were.

- I mean, just enough so I could move to another town, you know?

Start from scratch.

- Come on.

[tense music]

- You're still mad about what happened at the office,

aren't you?

- No.

- I told you I was sorry.

- I heard something that I wanted to ask you about.

- What did you hear?

- I heard that you were involved with Frank Gurney when he

got busted for taking bribes.

I heard that you wore a wire so that your office

could nail him.

- Who told you that?

- Is it true?

- I want to know who told you.

- It was told to me in confidence.

I can't say.

- Really?

OK, yes.

I had a relationship with Frank Gurney.

Yes, I wore a wire.

Is there anything else you'd like to know?

- Whatever else there is that you'd like to tell me.

- I can tell you that it was the hardest thing I ever did.

I can tell you that I felt as though I had no choice.

But the problem with telling you that

is that it sounds like I'm asking for forgiveness.

- It sounds like an explanation.

- Oh.

Oh, I love this.

You, with your past, should be asking me for an explanation?

When were you going to tell me about the blonde associate

in your office?

- Who?

- Jane Halliday, I think, is her name.

I heard that she's a devout Christian

and that the two of you are something of an item.

- Who told you that?

- It was told to me in confidence, Arnie.

I can't say.

- Well, whoever told you was wrong.

- How could you bring up Frank Gurney to me?

How could you be talking about me behind my back?

- It came up in the course of a conversation.

You have to concede it's a somewhat disquieting piece

of information.

- Do you think I did it because I wanted to?

Because I'm wicked?

I mean, are you afraid that I'll do it to you?

Are you afraid that-- are you afraid that I'm

doing it to you?

Oh.

Let's just check and see.

All clear, Arnie.

- Belinda, don't do this.

- Right.

[tense music]

- Belinda!

- Is there a problem here?

- No.

No problem.

[tense music]

- Who is that?

- I like to get in early and get a jump on the day myself.

- What do you want?

- I want to talk to you.

- About what?

- About how we can resolve this case.

- I thought it was resolved.

- No.

- What do you want, Mr. Flanagan?

And shouldn't my lawyer be here?

- I want $750,000, Doctor.

- Give that to me again.

- One payment, non-negotiable.

- In case no one mentioned it to you, I won.

The jury came back for me.

According to my lawyer, you've got less chance at appeal

than you had at trial.

So if you're gonna threaten me with that, forget it.

- I don't think your lawyer is taking

all the facts into account.

- Like what facts?

- Like things about you that would

unfortunately become public should we be unable to settle.

- Things about me?

What things?

- Like what happened to your practice in Philadelphia.

- I never had a practice in Philadelphia.

- I think you did.

I think you had to pack up and leave Philadelphia

just like you had to pack up and leave Framingham, Massachusetts

and Exeter, New Hampshire.

- I've never even been to those places.

- I think you have.

- You think I have?

I'm telling you I haven't.

- What do you think it would do to your reputation,

Doctor, if it came out that the reason you left those places

was because you'd been caught molesting female patients

while they were anesthetized?

- Who told you that?

- I honestly don't recall.

It might have been at a party.

It might have been at some sort of professional function.

"All I remember was that I heard it and I took note of it,"

end quote.

- So you're telling me you're going to start this rumor?

- I'm just telling you what I heard.

- Consider the dog.

In its heart, there is no pretension,

no prejudice, no vanity.

It cares nothing for titles or pedigrees or breeds.

As Juliet Capulet once so wisely pointed out,

"What's in a name?"

However, we must recognize that this is a court of humans.

Thus, it is humans that we must consider.

Doing so, this court finds that by leaving

a prize-winning animal out of doors during the full bloom

of estrus, the plaintiff was contributorily negligent

and partially responsible for the act of nature

that henceforth occurred.

That, however, does not relieve the defendant

of responsibility.

As such, I find the evidence that Duke, that

is to say the defendant's dog, is the sire of the litter

is overwhelming and that the act of sexual congress

between the dogs occurred against the express

wishes of the plaintiff.

As such, I award her the sum of $30,000.

- $30,000?

- As for the application for a court order to have Duke,

that is to say the defendant dog,

neutered, said application, Duke, is denied.

Brr-rr.

[barks]

This court is adjourned.

Come, boys.

Ah.

- I'm gonna have to declare bankruptcy.

- Well, we could appeal, but that process could cost

you as much as the judgment.

- Excuse me.

Have you got a moment?

- What is it?

- Ms. Stanton has generously offered

to forego the cash award on the condition

that Mr. Frye neuter his animal.

- My concern is protecting my dog.

This would seem more than fair.

- Well, what do you think of that, Ernest?

- What about this?

I agree to keep him inside except when I walk him?

- No.

I don't want to run the risk he'll get out.

- All right.

All right, a vasectomy.

- A vasectomy?

- If I can find a veterinary urologist

to perform a reversible vasectomy,

I'll have that procedure performed.

- Why does it have to be reversible?

- At some point, I may want to breed him.

- He's a mutt.

- At some point, he may want to sire another litter.

- The answer is no, Mr. Frye.

I'm not interested in a reversible vasectomy.

- Would you excuse us for a moment, please?

Ernest, I think you're letting some kind

of emotional attachment get in the way of common sense.

- I can't do it, Leland.

I can't do that to my dog.

- Duke has had his day.

He's sewn his oats.

And with so many dogs looking for homes,

it could be said you were being socially

responsible by having it done.

- Duke, is this something I should be considering?

- Isabella!

Isabella!

Stop!

Don't!

- Hey!

Hey!

- Isabella!

- Dukey!

Dukey!

That's my dog.

[theme music]

- Leland?

- Yes.

- You wanted to see me?

- Yes, I did.

Come in.

Close the door.

- I want to talk to you about the Rudolph case.

- I know that Arnold feels as though I

engineered the whole thing and deliberately went

behind his back.

That's really not the case.

- You know, Patrick, I've always thought

of McKenzie-Brackman as more of a family than a law firm.

I want the people who work for me to be happy.

I also want them to be honorable.

There are some cases we won't take on.

There are some things we won't do.

- I don't believe I've done anything

wrong in this case, sir.

- I'm going to ask you one question, Patrick,

and I want you to look me in the eye and tell me the truth.

- All right.

- Did you give assurances that that girl would not testify?

- No, I did not.

- OK.

- The UN Security Council will meet to decide--

- Before you say anything, I just

want to tell you that I'm very sorry about what

happened last night.

I would have told you that over the phone,

but you didn't return any of my calls.

- Belinda, look.

You're a very attractive, very intriguing woman.

- And you're a very attractive, very intriguing man.

- This isn't gonna work out.

I never thought I'd hear myself say this,

but I need someone who is more predictable.

- So I'll be more predictable.

- It's not that simple.

You're looking for a certain level of commitment

that I'm not ready for.

- If you want to go a little slower,

we can go a little slower.

That's not a problem.

And that's not what we're talking about.

You brought up the subject of Frank Gurney,

and that's what set me off.

But it's over.

It's-- it's-- it's done with, and now we can go back

to exactly the way we were.

- No, we can't.

- Yes, we can.

- No, we can't.

- Yes, we can.

- Stop.

- You're hurting me.

- I think we should call it a day, Belinda.

- I should have seen it.

- What the hell are you talking about?

- I'm a prosecutor.

I deal with domestic violence every day.

And I can promise you it's not gonna happen to me.

I will not be a victim.

[tense music]

- Now, explain this to me again.

- I went to see him, and he acknowledged he was wrong.

And he offered compensation.

- Why didn't he acknowledge it in court?

- Because then his reputation would be ruined.

- But he won.

- Right.

- So why would he pay anything?

- I convinced him that we viewed this trial as the beginning

rather than the end, that there would be appeals

and depositions and private investigators and publicity

and that in the end, the best and cheapest way to put an end

to it was to pay the money.

- [sighs] Was his lawyer there?

- Of course, he was.

I could never have spoken to him otherwise.

- I can't believe this.

- Well, I only wish it was more.

- Oh, it's enough.

- Good luck.

- Thanks, Patrick.

- Yeah.

[theme music]

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