All language subtitles for L.A.Law.S08E20.How.Am.I.Driving.1080p.DSNP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-NTb_track4_[eng]

[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]