Original subtitles

[knocking]

- Yeah.

- You wanted to see me?

- Yeah, I did.

I've just seen an internal memo that you've

got criminal investigators assigned to tail Arnold Becker.

- Mm-hmm.

It's in connection with a criminal investigation.

- Are you aware that he's a former law partner of mine?

- Yeah.

- So were you planning on saying something to me at some point?

- No, I wasn't.

Was I obliged to?

- I think you were.

I think common courtesy would have

suggested that a word to a colleague

would have been in order.

- When I conduct investigations, there

are a few things more important to me than being courteous.

- I want to know what this is about, Belinda.

- It's about the Lambert case.

That one I believe you're familiar with.

- There's no basis for a criminal investigation

in the Lambert case.

- I think there is.

I think what Becker did was obstruction of justice.

- Assume that's true.

What he did is done.

There's no ongoing crime being committed.

There's no reason for having Becker under surveillance.

- Given that the case is on my desk, Tommy,

I think that's a determination to be made by me.

- All right.

[door closes]

Look, Belinda, I know that you and Arnold Becker

were briefly involved with each other.

Assuming there is a case to be made here,

it is not appropriate that it be on your desk.

- It's not appropriate?

You've been sleeping with a sitting judge for the past six

months, and you're going to tell me

what is and isn't appropriate?

- I don't conduct official business

in that judge's courtroom.

- As far as I'm concerned, your dalliance with Carolyn Walker

completely compromises the effectiveness

of every prosecutor in this office.

- First of all, it's not a dalliance.

Second of all, I have yet to hear Judge Walker accused

of using the power of her office for some vindictive

private purpose of her own.

- Is that what you're suggesting I'm doing?

- That's right.

- Well, Tommy, I'll tell you what,

if you're so sure that neither Becker nor anyone in his office

is guilty of obstruction of justice,

I suggest you make that opinion known.

If you think I'm acting solely out of spite,

I think you should bring me up on charges.

And let me also say, should your former law partner

become cognizant of the fact that he's under investigation,

I will assume presumptively that he found out about it from you.

- Are you making threats, Belinda?

- I'm making assurances.

You tell Arnold Becker that he's being investigated,

and I'll see to it that you're fired.

[footsteps]

[door opens]

[footsteps]

[door closes]

[theme song]

- Why don't we just give him another minute?

- I think not. Let's get started.

Ruland versus Wayside Hospital.

- Douglas, here he is.

- Oh, here we go.

- Sorry, sorry.

The buses were running late.

- You actually take a bus?

- Yes.

- Unbelievable, ain't it?

- It's really not that unbelievable.

- Are you doing it for some kind of ecological reason, Eli?

- I'm doing it because I don't have a driver's license.

Denise is giving me lessons, however.

I'm inching up on being ready to take the road test,

and I'm about to buy a car.

- You're going to buy a car before you get your license?

- Now, too old partners just settled a case of mine.

They sent me a very large check.

I thought I'd do something extravagant.

- What are you getting?

- I have no idea.

Denise has set me up with a car broker

who presumably will get me through this as painlessly

as possible.

- Ultimately when buying a car, keep one question uppermost

in mind, how am I going to feel when

I'm standing in front of a restaurant

and the valet brings me my car?

- Thank you, Arnold.

Ruland versus Wayside Hospital.

- Yeah, that's mine.

A 16-year-old girl found to be incorrigible by her father

is being committed to a psychiatric facility by him.

She's suing to be released from the facility,

and we're representing the father and the facility.

- What did she do?

- Drugs, sex, alcohol.

Well, her father feels that she's basically out of control.

- There but for the grace of God.

- Askoff versus Askoff.

- Yes, we're representing Frank Askoff.

His wife is suing him for divorce.

Also looking to disembowel him financially.

Her leverage is Camilla Greer.

- What?

He's in her book?

- Yes, he is.

He also runs a publicly traded corporation.

He wants very much for this not to get out.

- Who's Camilla Greer?

- She's a madam.

- A rather well-placed madam.

- I suspect there are a number of people in that book who very

much don't want it to get out.

- Well, you frequent prostitutes, you run that risk.

- You know, I have never been with a prostitute.

- Oh, gee.

- Eli, this is Lenny Mullen.

- How do you do. - Hi.

I'm told you're the man to see about cars.

- I am that man.

- Yeah, you told me never owned a car before and that you only

have a learner's permit so--

- If you have any problems with that road test, let me know.

- Why?

- Well, let's just say I have relationships at the Department

of Motor Vehicles.

- You're kidding.

- If you buy a car from me, I take care of you.

That means plates, registration, insurance.

Turn on the phone, soup to nuts.

- Plus you can find him in any car that he wants, right?

- You tell me what you want.

If it's been made, I'll get it.

- Wow.

- So what are you looking to spend?

I'm looking to spend some money actually.

- Are you single?

- Yeah.

- There's a white Carrera in Pasadena

that I think we could do very well on.

You can have it this afternoon.

- A white Carrera.

What is that?

- It's a Porsche.

- How about a Mercedes Benz.

Somehow I've always associated one of those

with living in Los Angeles.

- You want an XL 500?

- What is that?

- Two-seater convertible.

That I can get you by tomorrow.

- How much?

- A little over $100,000.

- No, it has to be in five figures.

- Go with the 320.

- How much is that?

- 85.

- That I can live with.

- [chuckles] And what color are you interested in?

- Black.

- You want the car phone, the CD player

in the trunk, the basic big shot package, right?

- Why not.

- All right.

Well, I'll call Denise with the amount.

You have a cashier's check for me

by the end of business today, you'll have a car by tomorrow.

- This, Denise, is the way to buy an automobile.

- [laughs]

- Linda, I'd like you to describe

the events that took place in the 1st of April, 1994, please?

- My father woke me up at 6:00 o'clock in the morning.

He was standing next to my bed with a private detective,

and he told me that he was taking me down to the center

for evaluation.

- Did they in fact do so?

- Yes, they took me by force to Wayside Psychiatric,

and I've been there ever since.

- Linda, you ever attempted suicide?

- No?

- You ever deliberately tried to hurt yourself in any way?

- No.

- Do you ever deliberately seek to hurt anyone else?

- I've stood up for myself in a fight,

but I never attacked anybody.

- Do you have a boyfriend?

- Yes, I do.

- Does your father get along with him?

- No, he doesn't get along with him.

- In your opinion, why is that?

- He doesn't get along with him because he's Black.

No matter what he says, the truth

is is that he doesn't like me being with a Black guy,

and that's why James wasn't welcome in his house,

and that's why I'm in a mental hospital.

- Thank you.

I have nothing further.

- To the question, have you ever deliberately hurt yourself?

You answered no, isn't that right?

- Right.

- On February 6 of this year you were taken to the County USC

emergency room, were you not?

- Yes, I was.

- Why was that?

- I took some pills I shouldn't have taken.

- You combined said pills with a significant amount of alcohol,

did you not?

- Yes.

- Wouldn't you call that a deliberate

attempt to hurt yourself?

- No, I wouldn't.

I would it being at a party and--

and getting a little wild.

- I see.

What's a 40, Ms. Ruland?

- It's a bottle of malt liquor.

- It's a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor, isn't it?

- That's why they call it a 40.

- How many of them do you drink in an average day?

- I don't know.

- Ballpark figure.

More than one, less than 10?

- The witness said she didn't know.

- Let's move on, Mr. Rollins.

- Have you ever known your boyfriend to carry a gun?

- I don't know whether he carries a gun or not.

- Did you not on more than one occasion

warn your father that your boyfriend always carries a gun.

- If I said it, I said it to scare him.

- Had you been having sexual relations with your boyfriend?

- Yes.

- What if any precautions did you take

against sexually transmitted diseases or the possibility

of becoming pregnant?

- Either we used a condom or we did things

you don't need a condom for.

- Did you tell your father that more than anything else

you wanted to get pregnant with James's baby?

- If I said that, I said that to scare him.

- It worked.

I have nothing further.

- Frank, I want to propose something.

Your wife is holding you up with a threat

to make public you're going to prostitutes.

I'd like to take an aggressive position in response.

- What do you mean?

- Number one, I'd deny it.

- I am in the book.

- Maybe you are, maybe you're not.

Meantime, we haven't seen the book.

We don't know the book exists.

- Look, she had me tailed to Camilla's house, Arnie.

She knows that I went there.

- What she knows and what she can prove

are not necessarily one and the same.

Now, assume-- assume that she can prove it.

What are the damages?

- The damages are catastrophic.

- Are they?

- I answer to a board of directors

made up of very conservative, very Midwestern men.

- Right, right.

None of whom have ever once in their life paid for it?

- I also answer to the shareholders.

- Frank, I'm not saying you want it to come out.

I'm saying it's not the end of the world.

- [sighs] How do I--

I have been incapable of functioning sexually

with my wife for over five years.

We went to therapists, separately, together.

Nothing helped.

It became a source of almost indescribable pain to me.

I finally sought out prostitutes.

You see with prostitutes, I could function.

Arnie, I don't want people to know anything about that.

It's a source of great embarrassment to me

to even be sitting here and telling you.

- It really needn't be.

- I would only ask that you do everything

possible so that this does not become public.

- Ms. Askoff, you initiated this divorce, did you not?

- Yes.

- And before doing so, you emptied out

both the safe deposit boxes held in you and your husband's name.

You also emptied out all joint bank accounts, is that right?

- Yes, it is.

- Were you aware in doing so that you were leaving

your husband without adequate funds

to meet his monthly obligations?

- Not her problem.

When we work out the finances, we'll pay over what we owe.

That's assuming we owe anything.

- Now, you're seeking to examine your husband's

corporate records, is that right?

- That's right.

My husband was concealing marital assets

in corporate accounts.

I want to know just how much of those assets

were being spent on prostitutes.

- And what do you base your allegations that your husband

frequented prostitutes?

- I base it on reports from private investigators.

Do you want to deny it?

- For the record, we categorically deny it.

However, for the sake of argument,

let's assume that your husband did in fact pay

for the services of a prostitute.

Is it possible that said services represented

a last ditch, therapeutic approach

to a long-standing condition?

- What condition would that be, Mr. Becker?

- It would be impotence, Ms. Askoff.

- Would it be impotence as in a physiological condition

or just impotence when he was with me?

- I think the literature shows impotence to be

a fairly complex condition.

I wouldn't presume to ascribe it to one thing or the other.

- I don't think it's in the least bit complex.

My husband wasn't physically attracted to me.

He clearly was to prostitutes.

From the number of times he visited them,

one can safely assume that he was not impotent with them.

- Again, assuming that's true, isn't it possible that you bear

some of the responsibility?

- No, it is not possible.

- That is wholly irrelevant for the purposes

of this deposition?

- Was it not you who for the past five years

subtly and continuously belittled

and berated your husband? - I did not do that.

- Oh, come on.

- I supported my husband.

I encouraged him to get a physical examination.

I encouraged him to get psychological help.

We even went to therapy together,

which I might tell you was not an easy thing for me to do,

but I did it.

I stood by him.

I was faithful to him.

- I was desperate, Vivian.

I was desperate, and I didn't know what else to do.

- Your desperation doesn't move me any more, Frank.

- May I ask a purely practical question,

what are you hoping to accomplish here?

If you make these claims in your pleadings,

if you argue them in court, whether it's true or not,

it's going to get out that a big executive went to whores.

Your husband's short-term, possibly

his long-term financial picture worsens.

You're on board for lifetime support, I assume.

Why would you want to poison the well?

- Because, Arnie, we're not looking for support.

We want the money upfront.

- What you're asking for is unconscionable.

- Mr. Becker, I was betrayed by this man.

I was lied to.

I was frozen out.

I was exposed to a life-threatening disease.

Since all I can get from him now is money,

I want to get all the money I can.

And I suggest that you don't appeal to my conscience.

My conscience is clear.

- $85,000?

That's a lot of money.

- Yes it is a lot of money.

- What kind of things do you say to get someone to overcome

panic at this point?

- I don't say anything.

- Crashworthiness, high resale value, comparisons

with other luxury automobiles.

- Eli, one buys a car like this much the way one

buys a Steinway piano.

What you're paying for is the pleasure

of knowing that you own it.

What's that worth?

- Do you want to know who else owns this car?

- What do you mean?

- Would you like to know what celebrities

drive this same automobile as their personal car?

- I don't think I want to know that.

- I do. Who?

- Johnny Depp, James Caan, Lenny Mullen.

[laughs] Now, I have a different model,

but it's the exact same body style.

- What's the difference?

- Well, mine's a 600.

That's a 12-cylinder car.

Very hard to find.

- How much?

- This one was $123,000 to me.

- Mhm, Eli, I think it's safe to say you

could live with four fewer cylinders.

- Six fewer cylinders.

You said this one was six cylinders, right?

- It is a 3.2 inline-six, yes.

In my opinion, an altogether terrific engine.

- But yours says 600 on it.

Where this one says 320, yours says 600?

- You worried about that?

- No.

- Sit in it.

[footsteps]

[door opens]

[door closes]

Here's the key.

Turn it on, pull that red button.

[engine starts]

- Wow. - Aha.

- Denise?

- That's beautiful.

[motor whirring]

- Wow, this is going to be good for me.

Owning this car is going to be good for me.

- Are you familiar with the petitioner, doctor?

- Yes, I'm currently treating her

at Wayside Hospital where I'm both a psychiatrist

and an administrator.

- What's your evaluation?

- I find her to possess what we call a borderline

personality disorder.

- Would you explain what that is?

It manifests itself in a variety of ways,

unstable relationships, mood shifts,

temper tantrum's coupled with persistent

identity disturbances.

- But could that description fit a lot of teenagers?

- Perhaps it could.

What it comes down to however, is a matter of degree.

Linda's behavior is extreme.

She acts without reasonable regard for her own safety.

- Is it possible to treat Linda on an outpatient basis?

- It's only possible if she's willing.

Prior to coming to Wayside, she refused

to attend outpatient therapy.

- How important is it that Linda Ruland stay at Wayside, doctor?

- In my opinion, it's a matter of life and death.

- Nothing further.

- A borderline personality disorder.

This is something of a catch-all diagnosis, isn't it, Dr. Weiss?

- It's generally used when no one dysfunctional trait

is more extreme than another?

- In your opinion, when Linda Ruland ingested drugs

and alcohol on February 6, 1994, she did so with the intention

of killing herself?

- With a borderline personality it's less an intentional act

of self destruction than an inability

to realistically assess the consequences of her actions.

- So it was an accident?

- It was an incident in a pattern of highly

self-destructive behavior.

- In the four weeks that Linda has been at Wayside,

has she ever attempted to commit suicide or injure herself?

- She's constantly monitored at Wayside.

- Is that a no?

- Yeah.

- Is Linda Ruland a drug addict?

- No.

- Is she violent toward other people?

- No.

- During your treatment, have you

had counseling sessions with Linda and her father?

- Many of them.

- Would you say that Larry Ruland is the sort of man that

needs to be in control, Doctor?

- I'd say he's more comfortable when he's in control,

who isn't?

- But is it possible that Larry Ruland committed his daughter

not because her condition warranted

but rather that he needed to reassert that control?

- Regardless of Mr. Ruland's motivation,

counselor, I would not have admitted this young woman

nor would I be sitting here testifying today

if I wasn't convinced that her condition warranted it.

- Doctor, would you be testifying

today if Larry Ruland didn't have the funds to pay for it?

- Larry Ruland's financial situation

and Linda Ruland's mental health are two separate issues.

- You're not answering the question, Doctor.

Would you be here fighting to keep

Linda Ruland in your hospital if her father

couldn't pay the freight?

- Unfortunately, no, I probably would not be.

- Thank you.

- Do you run a house of prostitution, Ms Greer?

- I'm instructing my client not to answer that question.

- What do you do for a living?

- I'm a writer.

- What do you write?

- Currently, I'm writing a book.

- Do you have a publisher?

- Not yet.

- What kind of book is it?

- Just an honest account of my life and the people I've met.

- Have you ever met Frank Askoff?

- Yes, I have.

- Would you describe for us the circumstances

under which you met him?

- I'm instructing my client not to answer that question.

- All right.

Would you estimate for us the number of times you've

had contact with Mr. Askoff?

- I really couldn't.

- More than once?

- Yes.

- More than 10 times?

- I saw or spoke on the phone with Mr. Askoff

an average of twice a week for more than three years.

Though, I haven't seen him very much at all lately.

- Did you ever receive money from Mr. Askoff?

- I'm going to recommend that my client not

answer that question.

- Is it fair to assume, ma'am, that if you had been receiving

payments of money from Mr. Askoff,

you would have kept a written record of that somewhere?

- Given that I'm a Virgo and given that I'm a writer,

I'd say it's fair to assume I keep records of everything.

- Thank you for your time, Ms Greer.

- Nice to see you, Arnie.

- You too.

[theme music]

- [clears throat]

- Why did you have your daughter committed

to Wayside Psychiatric Hospital, Mr. Ruland?

- Over the past year, Linda's behavior

had been getting progressively more self-destructive.

I felt that without drastic intervention

she'd end up killing herself.

- Would you tell us what type of destructive behavior

you're referring to?

- She stopped going to school.

She would habitually lie about where she'd been and with whom.

- Sometimes she wouldn't come home for days on end.

And when she did, more often than not she'd be intoxicated.

- Had you tried to address these problems early on?

- As best I know how.

- What did you do?

- Her mother died when she was eight.

From that point on, it was clear that she

required special attention.

I sent her to child psychiatrists.

The two of us went to family counseling together.

When she'd reject one therapist, I'd find another one.

When she'd reject one school, I would

enroll her somewhere else.

- Have you ever tried disciplining

your daughter, Mr. Ruland?

- Yes, I'd set rules.

She'd break every one of them.

I'd ground her, that didn't faze her.

She'd sneak out, steal the car, steal money.

At a certain point, I had to acknowledge

that I had no control of her.

- How did it make you feel, sir, to put your daughter

in a mental hospital?

- Horrible.

I keep asking myself, how did this happen?

How could this little girl who used

to wait by the window for me to come home from work

turn into someone who tells me to my face that she hates me?

I didn't know what else to do.

- I have nothing further.

- Are you familiar with James Truby, Mr. Ruland?

- Yes.

- Mr. Truby has been your daughter's boyfriend for nearly

a year now, isn't that right?

- So I'm told.

- Shortly after Linda began dating Mr. Truby,

you forbid her from seeing him, didn't you?

- The first time he picked her up at the house,

he sat in the car and honked the horn.

He didn't even bother to introduce himself to me.

Then when he brought her home at 3 o'clock in the morning,

her eyes were glassy and she stunk from pot.

- Mr Truby is Black, is he not?

- Objection, irrelevant.

- I'd ask the court for an opportunity

to demonstrate relevance?

- Objection overruled.

The witness will answer.

- Yes.

Mr. Truby is Black.

- Does that have anything to do with your attitude toward him?

- No, it does not.

Did you at one point tell your daughter

that Black men consider white girls to be status symbols?

- I was talking about one individual.

I wasn't making a sweeping generalization.

- So isn't it true that you made sweeping generalizations

all the time? - Not true.

- You made them in therapy sessions.

You made them raging around the house.

- Objection--

- This isn't about race, Mr. Spera.

- counsel is arguing with the witness here.

- Objection sustained.

Stop arguing, Mr. Spera.

- Sir, did you ever speak of a special agony

at seeing your daughter go out with a Black man?

- Again, I was referring to this Black man.

- So if it were another Black man

then it wouldn't necessarily have the same effect?

- You know, my daughter's got bigger problems

than who she goes out with.

- Except that those bigger problems never lead you

to committing her against her will to a mental hospital,

did they?

- And what am I supposed to do, Mr. Spera?

Am I supposed to shrug my shoulders?

Do nothing?

Wait for the phone call from the cops

or the hospital, or the morgue?

- Sir, did you give your daughter

an ultimatum saying that unless she stopped

going out with Black men, you would take

drastic action against her?

- First of all, we're not talking about a Black man.

At least let's define our terms.

We're talking about a teenager with a criminal record

who uses drugs.

This isn't Sidney Poitier we're talking about.

- Is that what it would take Mr. Ruland?

- I'm supposed to say it doesn't matter, right?

I'm supposed to say race doesn't matter.

Well, it does matter.

My daughter is a pelt to this guy.

She is a gold necklace or a tricked out Mercedes

or a new pair of sneakers.

That has nothing to do with the fact that he's Black

and she's white?

It has everything to do with it.

- Thank you.

I have no further questions.

- So frustrating not being able to jump in that car

and drive it.

- I've only been trying to book you a road

test for like two months now.

- I know.

- You want to go out in it at lunchtime?

- It's not the same having somebody take me.

- Listen, the truth is you could drive it if you wanted to.

- Only with a licensed driver present.

- Come on, Eli.

You could drive it by yourself.

- What do you mean?

I only have a learner's permit.

- Thought a part of your intention in buying this car

is to live a little dangerously.

You know, to take risks.

- To a limited extent that's true.

- Well, consider this a limited risk.

- What if the cops stop me?

- Eli, the cops are not going to stop you.

- You're a 40-year-old man driving a Mercedes, come on.

[music playing]

[police siren]

- The black Mercedes, pull over please, sir?

- Oh, my god.

[classical music]

- Mind turning that off?

- Of course.

I didn't turn the key all the way.

I haven't had this car very long.

- May I have your license and registration, please?

- Right.

First, let me get you my registration.

There, that's the registration.

You've got that.

As for the license, let me show you what I have.

- You know how fast you were going?

- No, I don't know.

I didn't feel as though I was going

at an excess rate of speed.

- You were doing 20.

- This is a learner's permit.

- Yes.

- I don't see a licensed driver over the age

of 21 present in the car.

- There is not one present.

- I have to give you a citation, Mr. Levinson.

- I understand.

- I'm also going to have to impound your vehicle.

- Officer, I just got this car.

Would it be possible for you to follow

me back to my office garage and let me park it there.

I give you my word that I will not

take it out until such a time as there

is a licensed driver with me?

- My partner is running your plates.

Let me check with him.

- Place both hands on the steering wheel, sir.

- Why?

- It's a 10-37.

- What is that?

- Step out of the vehicle, sir.

- Would you mind explaining what's going on?

- I'm placing you under arrest.

- For driving with a learner's permit?

- Possession of a stolen vehicle.

Put your hands behind your back.

- Oh, my god.

- Mr. Askoff, you have in front of you

a copy of the financial statements your accountant

has provided us.

- Yes.

- I draw your attention to page 2, item 23,

quote unquote, "entertainment expenses".

- Yes, I see it.

- That seems to me an unusually large sum of money.

- It's not unusual at all.

Frank Askoff runs a big company.

People who do that spend a lot of money

on dining and entertainment.

- Except that since neither Mr. Askoff nor his company

have this far furnished us with expense account statements

and check registers, we have no idea what

dining and entertainment mean.

- We're not going to allow you to take

a fishing expedition through the books of a Fortune 500 company.

If the company's accountants weren't satisfied

that these were bona fide expenses,

they wouldn't have allowed them.

- Should I take it to mean that you remain unwilling to comply

with our subpoenas.

- Yeah, you can take it to mean exactly that.

- We'll await a ruling from the court.

- Sure, fine.

- Mr. Askoff?

- Yes.

- In what connection do you know Camilla Greer?

- I'm going to instruct my client

not to answer that question. - No, I want to answer.

- Frank! Frank!

- I want to answer.

I don't want to play this game anymore, OK?

[sighs] I know Camilla Greer because she

supplied me with prostitutes.

- How often did she supply you with prostitutes?

- Initially it was quite infrequent, but I went.

I was ashamed of myself.

I didn't go back for six months.

But gradually, I-- I found that I

could live being ashamed of myself

easier than I could live without prostitutes.

By the time you had me followed, I was--

I was going to Camilla three or four times a week.

- How did you pay for these visits, Mr. Askoff.

- I had a private account.

I paid for them out of that.

- And how was this private account funded?

- Frank, I would not give them this.

- It was funded out of my earnings.

- Earnings made during the time you were married?

- Yes.

- Earnings that were therefore marital in nature?

- There isn't a jury here, Cecily,

who are you trying to impress?

- I'm not trying to impress anyone, Arnold.

I'm trying to conduct a deposition.

- How much are you paying Camilla?

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

- Vivian, don't do this please.

- Talk to her.

- As soon as Mrs. Askoff is paid what we're asking for,

we have no interest in exposing you.

- Yeah.

- So for $11 million, give or take,

the house in Beverly Hills, the apartment in New York,

and the condo in Palm Springs, you'll

make like it never happened?

- Right.

- Here's my response to that.

We'll agree to a 50/50 split of all marital assets.

We want Beverly Hills, New York, and Palm Springs

sold with all proceeds split.

- I take it that means you're willing to let it

come out that he was spending six

figures a year on prostitutes.

- I don't think that you can prove

he spent anywhere near that.

- Oh, I'm sure we can.

- Then prove it.

Meantime, we're putting the houses on the market.

Tell your client to start ordering boxes.

[footsteps]

- Jonathan, I feel like I need to say something about what

happened on the witness stand. - Oh, no.

You don't need to say anything.

- I-- I feel like I do.

Things came out that don't necessarily

reflect the way that I feel.

- I understand.

- This is my daughter, you know.

- We should go in.

- You don't have kids.

It's a whole different thing when you have kids.

- You don't have to say anything about it, Larry.

- I need to clear the air here, Jonathan.

I'm sensing that you're miffed about what I said,

and I need for you to understand where it comes from.

- Larry, I understand exactly where it comes from.

If it had been a younger version of me going out

with your daughter, you would have

felt a little differently about it but not that differently.

- Jonathan--

- I knew that long before I put you on the witness stand.

- It seems to me that psychiatric care should relate

to a psychiatric condition.

It should not represent a disciplinary alternative

for a frustrated parent.

I'm definitely not here to defend my client's drug use,

her truancy, her drinking, and certainly

not her sexual behavior.

No doubt she is in need of guidance.

No doubt she is in need of attention.

What she is not in need of is institutionalization.

I submit to you that the basis for this is not her condition

but her father's and is being done to relieve him

of the quote unquote, "special agony

at the sight of seeing his daughter

going out with somebody Black."

Together with a private, for-profit hospital,

he has become her jailer.

I submit to you that he has violated the civil rights

of this young woman.

I submit to you that his actions are wholly unwarranted,

and I appeal to this court for her release.

- Mr. Rollins?

- I would argue that when a person engages in behavior that

is demonstrably life threatening,

that person is in need of intervention by others.

Now, whether you choose to call it

a psychiatric condition or not, that person's life depends

on someone doing something.

Now, one could well ask, is this the appropriate thing to do?

By her own admission, this is a girl who drinks to excess.

She uses drugs.

She refuses all attempts at voluntary treatment.

She shows every indication of progressing toward actions

with irreversible consequences, be they

pregnancy or be they crime.

To those such as my adversary who claim that confinement

is categorically inappropriate, I would ask for an alternative.

I would ask, is it appropriate that in the interest

of this person's civil rights we effectively abandon her?

No.

This is not about race your honor.

This is about trying to reach someone

who needs to be reached.

I believe this father has acted out of love for his daughter.

I really do.

I believe he's done the only thing he could do.

Thank you.

- I appreciate you getting here as fast as you did.

- Calls from relatives in jail always

assume the highest priority.

- I still can't believe I got arrested.

- Why can't you go to a dealer like a normal person?

- I know.

- So what are the prospects of you getting the money back?

- Who knows.

- Eli, $85,000 is a serious hit.

- How could he have done this? - Well, that's easy.

He's a criminal.

- I just don't understand how someone has the audacity

to pass themselves off as legitimate,

take $85,000 for a stolen car and think they

can actually get away with it. - Oh, yeah.

Lenny Mullen called.

He wanted to know how you like the car.

- [sighs]

[seagulls calling]

- I haven't seen you for a while.

Much too long a while.

- Camilla's out by the pool.

- Thanks, April.

- Sure.

- Hello, Arnie.

- Hi.

- Can I get you something?

- No.

No, thanks.

- I kind of figured you'd be paying me a visit.

- Well, I have a very nervous client.

- I'll bet you do.

- Do you mind if I sit down?

- Please.

- Let me ask you something, how much is his wife paying you?

- What makes you think she's paying me anything?

- You're not in this for your graduate school thesis, doll.

Whatever you do, you do for money.

- At present I have no arrangement

of any kind with Mrs. Askoff.

- Does that mean you're open for business?

- That's exactly what it means.

If Frank wants his name out of that book,

it's going to cost him.

I always thought you were a stand-up broad, Camilla.

What happened?

- I adapted.

- What's going to happen to your business

when it gets out that you blackmailed a steady customer?

- Look around, Arnie.

I don't have any business.

The DA's office is breathing down my neck.

I can't so much as walk into a restaurant

that it doesn't show up in Variety the next day.

My clients aren't coming near me.

I'm done in this business.

Frank Askoff and a few others like him will give

me, let's call it, a pension.

- How much?

- A $1.5 million.

- Which buys me what?

- All records pertaining to Frank Askoff are destroyed.

Neither myself nor my employees will reveal that Frank

Askoff was ever a client.

- I'll let him know.

- Also, tell him I have a standing offer from his wife.

- You're aggravated.

You have every right to be aggravated.

- Are you on the lam Lenny?

Because I know the police are looking for you.

- Excuse me.

The police are not looking for me.

I've already spoken to police.

The matter has been taken care of.

- What does that mean?

- It means that it was a mishap.

A bill of lading went awry, an erroneous report was made,

miscommunication, pilot error, you know,

call it whatever you want.

It wasn't supposed to happen, but it happened.

- Listen, the cops said they found it stolen

off the pier in Brooklyn.

- My point is this, whether or not

it was stolen, you and I both stand

in the position of good faith third party vendees,

if I remember my law school training.

- What about the $85,000?

- Yeah.

- Well, let's go after the $85,000.

We'll sue the vendor together.

- Lenny, as far as I'm concerned, you're the vendor.

- Oh, no.

That would be I think, a misreading of basic agency law.

And even if it was the case, I have no assets.

I live with my parents.

I can be instrumental in going after the parties who I think

are responsible, and I would like to get to work

putting you in another car.

- You want to put me in another car?

- Yes.

This time I think you should look into a Cabriolet.

You know the difference between a Cabriolet and a Roadster?

- No, Lenny, in point of fact, I do not.

But the truth is I already know what my next car is.

- Tell me.

My next car is yours.

- Again?

- That car you were driving the other day,

you're going to give that to me.

- Wait, wait, wait, wait a minute.

Eli, whoa! What do you mean?

- You're going to give that to me

because if you don't give that to me I'm going to sue you.

And if I remember my law school training, in all likelihood,

I am going to win.

- I don't agree.

- In the course of suing you, I will depose the entire chain

of title to that car starting with whoever

stole it off the pier.

By the end of that, we'll see how much of a good faith

third party vendee you are.

- [chuckles] And you don't want to mess with Eli in

court, Lenny.

- This is a shakedown.

- I also think that your entertainment industry

clientele is going to fall off some when it comes

out that you deal in hot cars.

- You're aware of the fact that your car was a 320

and mine is a 600.

That's a disparity in price of over $40,000, Eli, come on.

- Consider it the cost of continuing to do business.

- Up the key.

- I'll send somebody by for the pink slip in the morning.

- You can't even drive it.

- Until I get my license, she can drive it.

- I've reached a decision.

The issues in this case are far from clear

and reaching a decision was far from easy.

Raising children in violent times

can be a terrifying ordeal.

Clearly, this young woman did nothing to make it easier.

That in and of itself does not justify her

being held against her will.

A teenager is not without civil rights.

And any encroachment on those rights

must be made only if that teenager

presents a danger to herself and even

then solely as a last resort.

Sadly, I believe this to be the case here.

Based on the evidence shown, I will not second

guess the opinion of the medical profession or of her father.

I choose instead to err on the side I believe to be caution.

I hereby remand Linda Ruland back to Wayside Psychiatric

Hospital for further treatment until such time

her doctor or her father feels she's ready to be released.

This court is adjourned.

Thank you.

[footsteps]

- Linda?

Can I bring you anything from home?

- I don't have a home.

I live in a hospital, remember?

- Linda, why do you insist on making everything so difficult?

If you cooperate, these people just might be able to help.

Hon--

- Don't touch me.

- Linda, this is a temporary thing.

You're going to get out of the hospital.

- You bet I am.

And when I do, you know what?

You will never see me again.

- Larry, I think it's time we let her go back now.

Come on. Come on.

Let's go.

- The day they let me out, I'm gone.

I'll move to another state, change my name.

And just like that, you don't have a daughter anymore.

Say goodbye to me, Daddy.

This is it.

- Let her go.

- Larry, what are you doing?

- Giving her what she wants.

Let her go.

I'll sign the release papers.

[sentimental music]

[honking]

- Hey, Eli, you want a ride?

- No.

Thanks, Denise.

I'm fine.

- All right, see you.

[engine roaring]

- Do you ride this bus often?

- Oh, Frank, come on in.

I'll be right with you.

- Arnie, I need for you to go back to Camilla.

- It's not going to do any good, Frank.

- I want you to tell her that I will give her $100,000 now.

I will consider the balance a loan

which I will repay with interest according to schedule.

- She's not interested in a payout.

She wants the money upfront.

- Well, if plan A doesn't work, then we'll go to plan B.

I Inherited a house from my father in Montecito.

I will sell it and I will pay her out of the proceeds.

- Frank, I think you're crazy to be doing this.

- Arnie, I can't allow that information to become public.

- Forgive me for being presumptuous,

but I say that you can.

I say it'll do you infinitely less

harm than you think it will.

Moreover, paying off Camilla is no guarantee of anything.

She sells you one book, she'll keep another one for herself.

- I'll have to risk that.

See, I think Camilla will honor an agreement.

I think she could be trusted.

- Frank, be serious.

- Am I sure of it?

No, I'm not sure of it.

But I still want you to make the offer.

- OK.

OK.

- Arnie, I would appreciate it if you

could please do it today.

[footsteps]

[door closes]

- [sighs]

[music playing]

[indistinct chatter]

- What do you want?

- I'd like to talk to you.

- And who are you?

- He's my father's lawyer.

- So what do you want to talk to her about?

- Hey, listen, I have some business

to talked to her about.

I don't mean to disrespect you or anyone else.

I'm asking if I can talk to her in private?

- It's OK.

- Your father wanted me to give this to you.

- Did he tell you to tell me what I'm

not supposed to spend it on?

- It's cash, Linda, you can spend it on whatever you want.

- OK.

- I also want to give you my card.

- Is that in case I get arrested?

- It's in case you want to call me?

- Why would I want to do that?

- For a variety of reasons.

Maybe you want to communicate with your father

without speaking to him directly.

You might need help in going back to school.

You might have medical problems you can't afford treatment for.

Oh, yeah, in case you get arrested.

- Are you doing this because my father is paying you to do it,

or are you actually interested?

- Both.

- Yeah, both.

You were the one trying to keep me locked up.

You're not exactly the first person I'd call.

- Whether I'm the first or the last,

you might as well have the phone number.

[indistinct chatter]

- Tell my father thanks.

[music playing]

[indistinct chatter]

[door closes]

[footsteps]

- Camilla?

Camilla, where are you?

Is anybody home?

Hello?

Camilla?

[footsteps]

[water splashing]

[rapid footsteps]

[theme music]

[audio logo]