03x17 - The Bride Wore Blood
Posted: 09/15/23 08:57
Alan Shore! Alan! - Has anybody seen Alan Shore? - She went that way.
Alan Shore! - She's in a wedding gown.
- Alan Shore? Do you know Alan Shore? Alan? Oh, no.
Alan.
Alan Shore! - Alan! Alan! - Renata.
Okay.
I know this looks really bad.
But you have to believe me.
I didn't do it.
Please help me.
Say nothing, Renata.
This woman is represented by counsel.
No interrogations.
- Thank you.
- I'll meet you in lockup.
Okay? - Okay.
- All right? Gonna be all right.
- You have the right to remain silent.
- Sir.
Renata.
This is original, even for you.
I brought you a change of clothes.
- Aren't you thoughtful.
- Actually, they need the dress for evidence.
So tell me - from the start.
- Well after you and I broke up, I went back to my apartment and- - You can skip ahead four or five years.
- Javier and I met at the opera.
It was Strauss's Die Fledermaus.
I was sitting in front of him.
He started playing with my hair.
From there it was pretty much a straight line to the engagement.
Would you like me to look away? Yeah, if you have to sneeze or something.
We opted for a courthouse wedding because, well, who needs the fuss? Besides, I thought it was fitting.
You know how much I love the law.
We arrived, waited for a bit in the corridor with the other happy couples.
I believe they need everything.
Oh.
A clerk showed us to a waiting room where we could get ready for a few minutes before the ceremony.
Then he left to take another couple to thejudge's chambers.
We necked for a bit.
Then I began to feel weak.
This corset was cutting off my circulation.
L- I fainted.
When I came to there he was, lying in a pool of blood his own ice-tempered, beveled-edge, stainless steel scissors sticking out ofhis chest.
- He was a wigmaker.
- Of course.
He takes those scissors with him everywhere.
He was talking about giving me a trim before the ceremony.
He was always at me with those scissors.
You can see how bouncy my ends are.
I pulled out the shears hoping to save him.
But nothing.
He was dead.
Renata I have missed you.
A local attorney many are now calling "the Bloody Bride" was arrested today on the charge of murdering her would-be husband.
Prospective jurors were startled this morning by the sight of Renata Hill rushing past them her white gown covered in blood.
"Bloody Bride.
" Like that won't taint the jury pool.
As I'm sure you're aware, Mr.
Shore is representing Ms.
Hill.
Please refrain from speaking to the press.
The firm will comment when appropriate.
If anybody needs me, I'll be on my cell.
- And where are you going? - Rehab.
I said something bad about theJews.
I don't know what.
But Bethany has left me over it.
Anyway I recognize that I have issues I need to examine within my soul.
I'm getting treatment.
And with the help of family and friends I shall make a full recovery.
Ms.
Simms, there's a man here to see you.
- And he's claiming that you- - There she is! Where have you been? - Who are you? - My name is Jerome Harris.
- And I'm your client.
That's who I am.
- Oh, please.
Here's the card she gave me.
Claire, this is your card.
Uh, sir, if I may ask, what is your case about? - I was charged with stealing a cell phone.
- Oops.
It got assigned to me when I was in court on something else.
I must have blocked it out.
You can see why.
Lady, I am a human being.
Mr.
Harris, when is your trial? - Today.
- Today? Oh, whatever.
Let's go.
- You're gonna get me a continuance, right? - Jerry- - It's Jerome.
- You can't pay.
Why would I stretch it out when you can't pay? Claire, uh, perhaps you should get a continuance.
For a stolen cell phone? - Give me your jacket.
- What? Just give it to me.
Put it on.
- Tie.
- I'm not going to- It's an emergency.
Tie.
- Come on, Jerry.
- It's Jerome.
Renata Hill, on the charges of m*rder in the first degree how do you plead? - Not guilty, Your Honor.
- Request bail.
- Bail? Are you kidding? - This is my kidding face.
This is my mean it face.
Watch again.
- Request bail.
- Your Honor she was caught fleeing the scene, covered in the victim's blood - brandishing the m*rder w*apon.
- Entirely circumstantial.
Further, as an attorney Ms.
Hill is an officer of the court and a responsible, reliable member of the community.
Can anyone attest to that? Any associates at the current law firm? No, sir.
- Any associates at the previous law firms? - Myself.
- The defendant and I worked together at Carruthers Abbott.
- Your Honor that's the firm that Mr.
Shore was fired from for embezzlement.
Objection.
Charges were never brought, and a confidentiality agreement prevents me from talking about it further.
Can we get back to this case? Any family members to vouch for her character? Friends, neighbors, college roommates? Bail denied.
- Next.
- I'm right behind you.
Just so you know, I didn't take that phone.
What do you mean you didn't take it? You were arrested with it in your hands.
Yeah, but I didn't mean to take it.
You know what I'm saying? Uh, wait right here.
Warren.
Claire Simms.
We actually met at the D.
A.
's Christmas party.
Yeah.
I remember.
I asked you to dance.
You laughed.
I was involved.
Listen, I'm actually representing Jerome, uh Harris on the stolen cell phone case.
How about we plead to sufficient facts, three months suspended, call it a day? - Let him go? - Suspended sentence.
That's not- Do you think I'm a dope? This is his fourth offense- this year.
Warren, I could be wrong but it seems they've given you a very small case to cut your teeth on.
Now, if you want to get the bigger trials, you need to win the itty-bitty ones.
Especially the seemingly slam dunks.
But the thing is, you don't want to risk losing this.
Losing? He was caught red-handed with the phone, making a call on it, by the way.
- Warren- - And I don't like the way you use my first name, okay? You and I are not familiar with one another.
You laughed when I asked you to dance.
And stop eating my lunch! Will you at least agree to continue until tomorrow? I just got this file.
One day.
That's it.
Back here, 9:00 a.
m.
, suit and tie.
Wh-Wh- Hold on.
I'm not comfortable that you're trying your hardest here.
- You know what I'm saying? - 9:00.
Renata, your bloody dress, your possession of the m*rder w*apon you being alone with the victim.
The absence of anyone to say anything good about you.
We're off to a bit of a stumble start.
I know.
It's- It's too obvious, isn't it? I must be innocent.
Even without such a preponderance of evidence result in conviction.
And here we've got the added element that, well, you're not innocent.
- I am.
- Renata.
Alan, I didn't k*ll him.
No idea who snuck into the waiting room? - I was passed out! - Well, if you didn't do it, who did? I don't know! He had an old girlfriend who was harassing him.
- I don't even know her name.
- What? You think she snuck in while you were conveniently passed out, probably guessing that the corset would put you out for at least a few minutes, and then stabbed your fiancé? I don't know.
All I do know is I didn't murderJavier.
Mr.
Shore, any comment? I'm sorry.
I cannot comment on this case.
I'm happy to comment on other cases.
O.
J.
Did it.
Robert Blake did it.
John Mark Karr wishes he did it.
Watch it, folks.
Stay back.
We have over two dozen eyewitnesses.
Did you develop any other suspects? We canvassed exhaustively, but no other suspects.
And when Ms.
Hill came out of that door, she was covered in the victim's blood.
What do these s*ab wounds on the victim tell us about the k*ller? The angle and the depth of the wounds tell us that the k*ller was between 5 foot 2 and 5 foot 4 inches tall and weighed approximately 115, 120 pounds.
Is Ms.
Hill this height and weight? Yes.
Ms.
Hill is.
- You said you canvassed exhaustively.
- Yes.
How about the 650 people who were called to jury duty that day? We had no cause to focus on them.
Oh.
So did you focus on the couriers or food service people the dozens ofhomeless people who were there looking for a bathroom? Or really any members of the general public who are entitled to enter the courthouse? - No.
- So when you said you searched exhaustively, it was just until you got tired.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
And what about the crime scene? Would you say it had been well-secured and was utterly free from contamination at the time that you got there to, you know, uh evaluate blood trails, hair, fiber, fingerprints, et cetera? A bloody bride ran out of that room.
The looky-loos had some contact with the scene.
- So it was contaminated.
- It was.
And as for the bloodstained dress, her fiancé had scissors sticking out of his chest.
Her instinct was to remove the scissors and grab him, shake him- anything to revive him.
Wouldn't that, in fact, get the blood on the dress? So would stabbing him, and then grabbing him, in fact.
The victim had three previous fiancées.
He abandoned each of them before their vows.
Did you know this? None of them was placed at the scene.
Just so you know our thinking there was one person in that courthouse who knew him, ran from the room drenched in his blood, clutching the m*rder w*apon and asking for a defense attorney.
It seemed like a pretty solid lead.
- What the- - It's the only suit I got, okay? - Are you crazy? - This suit brings me luck, okay? - I got married in this suit.
- You're divorced.
Well, I got lucky that day.
Let's just get in there, Jerome.
- Rehab? - It's fantastic, Bethany.
They help clear up outstanding parking tickets, assist with travel plans.
You name it.
Everybody should do it.
It's like going to A.
A.
- Only they let you drink.
- Denny, you're not taking what you said seriously.
Bethany, it is not anti-Semitic to question Israel's politics.
- Yes, it is.
- Why? Oh.
Just forget it.
- I'm leaving.
- Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Wait a minute.
Wait.
Bethany, if I sometimes come off as insensitive it's 'cause I- I got a lot to deal with.
I've got the, uh, mad cow.
I date a midget.
I was in love with a midget's mother.
- It's not easy being me.
- Denny, I have fought my whole life to get respect.
- I respect you.
- No, you do not.
You belittle my faith.
You call me a midget.
- Do you have the slightest idea how offensive that word is? - Midget? Yes! I'm a little person.
I'm not a midget.
You do not respect me, Denny.
It's a deal breaker.
I was in the corridor waiting to get married.
I watched her and the dead guy walk into the room.
I mean, he wasn't dead yet.
And while they were in there, did you see anybody come in or go out? Nope.
No one.
When Renata and her fiancé went into that room, was your wife with you? Uh, she's not my wife yet.
The day threw a wrench in our plans.
Your whole life was about to change.
You were about to jump the broom as they say.
And you weren't distracted at all.
Your eyes were clamped on that door the entire time.
- Yep.
- And yet you mentioned other wedding parties, another groom nearby delivery people and other assorted sorts.
- Would you call that clamped? - Objection.
- Sustained.
- That bathroom door from behind which your future wife-to-be was about to emerge and forever change your life, undoubtedly for the better- - you never looked at that door? - Maybe for a second.
Mr.
Nayman you were not looking at the door to the waiting room the entire time, were you? Not the entire time.
No.
And yet you said to Mr.
Palmer, quite unequivocally that nobody went in or out of that room.
Did Mr.
Palmer tell you to be unequivocal? Objection.
- Overruled.
- Did Mr.
Palmer tell you to be certain? Well, he indicated it would be best.
I'm no bigot.
Truth is growing up, I never differentiated anybody.
My family wasn't religious.
I didn't know whether somebody was Catholic orJewish or- - People are people.
- Denny, I believe you when you say you're not a bigot.
But your insensitivity lies in the fact that you fail to realize that bigotry is out there.
I know it's out there.
You say that religion or faith isn't important to you.
But it's important to others.
It's important to Bethany.
Uh, I was there waiting to get married.
And there was, uh, 20 of us couples.
And, uh, Tory hadjust went off to call her mom to tell her.
Were you in the hall when the defendant and the victim went into the room? Yeah.
Her and the Spanish guy had this pretty intense thing.
- Do you recall any of the elements of this exchange? - Yeah.
Some.
He had said something about things not working out.
And then she started to get really upset.
And, uh- So she says to him, really shrill- She says "You're jilting me?" Alcohol, marijuana speed, mushrooms, L.
S.
D cocaine, ecstasy- - Stop me when I name something you haven't done.
- Uh- And what about the night before your wedding day? Any special festivities? - A bachelor party, pub crawl? - Uh, no.
Actually, me and Tory were at a Radiohead concert.
Did you make use of any of the aforementioned substances at the concert? Um, well, I'm- I'm testifying.
So I have some sort of, uh, drug arrest immunity, right? I'll take that as a yes.
From my experience any evening that begins with a Radiohead concert has all the possibilities of turning into an all-night affair.
How much sleep did you get the night before your wedding day? You can round up.
None.
- So, you'd taken dr*gs, you hadn't slept- - I know what I know.
You don't forget that lady saying that.
Or the look on her face when she realizes she's being dumped.
You were hopped-up on goofballs.
Why should we believe what you say? I'm a musician.
An artist.
And- I mean, when you witness something like that it gets burned into your brain.
I know what I heard.
He dumped her.
May I ask, Officer, how you were able to track the telephone to the defendant? He kept using it, making calls.
He was actually talking on it when we went to arrest him.
- That's not true.
I was checking my messages.
- Shh! And, Officer, the defendant was found to have this stolen telephone- uh, marked and identified as People's exhibit "C"- in his possession at the time that you apprehended him.
- Right, Officer? - Yes, sir.
- Right in his hand? - Yes, sir.
Thank you, Officer.
I have no further questions.
Sixty days.
Credit for time served.
The rest suspended.
- I'll have one drink with you.
- You're inappropriate.
- I'll have one drink with you.
- You're inappropriate.
And your offer is rejected.
So, you arrested my client for being in possession of stolen merchandise? No.
I arrested him for stealing the merchandise.
- And how do you know he's the one who took it? - He told me.
He said it looked like his phone and he took it by mistake.
Do you know that not to be true? I have phone records to show over 36 calls received by the stolen phone after it was reported missing.
The ring on the phone was Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
His phone ring was the theme to SpongeBob.
We can also prove he played the messages on the stolen phone's voice mail.
So at some point he had to know it wasn't his phone.
Okay.
Thanks.
- That's it? - Shh.
What the hell was that? You barely touched him.
- Just be quiet, Jerome.
- Mr.
Peters, anything else? - The prosecution rests, Your Honor.
- Very well.
- Ms.
Simms? - Defense rests, Judge.
- Rests? - Jerome.
- Lady, I am a human being.
- Okay.
Again with the human being defense.
I know what I am doing.
- Can you just trust me? - Trust you? Trust you to do what? - How could you not tell me he was leaving you? - It's embarrassing.
It's cliché.
- It's motive.
- Oh, yeah.
That.
So, he was leaving you.
If he wanted to end things, why go to the waiting room? I wanted to change his mind.
I thought if we had a moment in private, everything might- With motive, they've got you, Renata.
I shouldn't have to go to prison.
We might have to change our plea to not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.
We can say you were mentally undone by the surprise of the breakup.
It would mean a psychiatric facility instead of prison.
No.
Renata, you're forcing me to put you on the stand.
No.
What aren't you telling me? I didn't k*ll him.
He broke up with me, but that had nothing to do with the m*rder.
Renata.
I didn't faint.
- I didn't faint.
And I saw who k*lled him.
- Who? Renata Hill.
The actual Renata Hill.
Renata Hill is a girl that I met when we were both in law school together at Tulane.
I assumed her identity.
What do you mean you assumed her identity? My name was Sarah Popille.
Things had not been going well for me on various, numerous assorted fronts.
And then to top it off, I failed the bar.
Renata had passed the bar.
Her life was in order.
But while she was waiting for her test results she was in Alaska studying flora and she fell in love with a man.
The civilized world suddenly seemed pointless to her.
She decided to give up the rat race and the dirty, dirty law career to start a life with this man and become, as she put it, real.
So I purchased her identity for $300,000.
She went off to Alaska.
I stopped being Sarah Popille and started my fabulous life as Renata Hill.
It gets better.
After 18 years, the real Renata's Alaskan life went completely down the tubes.
Her romance, her overnight courier job.
Everything.
And she came back a few days before the wedding.
She was unhinged, unraveling insisting that we eighty-six our arrangement.
But I had paid for her life which is my life now.
And I said no.
The next morning she followed me.
Completely irrational obsessed with the fact that my life was going well and hers wasn't that I was getting married with her name.
And she snuck in to the waiting room.
She was in her courier's uniform.
A delivery person in a corridor going in or out a door on a busy day? Who would notice? She att*cked me.
We struggled.
She grabbed the shears.
I fought.
That's how I got these cuts.
Then Javier interceded and she stabbed him zipped up her jacket and left.
- If this preposterous story is true- - It is.
Why didn't you just tell me at the start? Not halfway through your m*rder trial with the rest of your life at stake.
Well, I guess that's just it.
I wanted to save my life.
Which is Renata Hill.
I figure at least the real Renata will be gone forever now.
You can't possibly expect me to believe all this.
Alan you have always known when to believe me.
The name the other woman was living under in Clark Village, Alaska was Susan Grey, with an "E.
" Apparently the town is tiny.
So it shouldn't be difficult to verify.
- Okay.
- And anything and everything you can dig up on this one.
Sarah Popille, with an "I.
" Start in New Orleans.
Check the registrar's office at Tulane.
Go from there.
As soon as possible, Clarence.
Okay.
You're deliberately trying to lose, and I know it.
You want me in jail.
- You finished? - No.
I will get you.
When this is all over, I will get you.
And if you think getting me stuck in jail is gonna protect you, you are wrong.
Are you threatening me, Jerome? You gonna add violent crime to your already impressive résumé? Okay.
Mr.
Peters, I'll hear from you.
May it please the court- The, uh-The defendant, Jerome Harris, was found with the stolen merchandise in his possession.
He never returned it.
Moreover, he had to know that the cell phone wasn't his.
It had another person's e-mails.
He used the phone repeatedly for two days, as the call logs indicated.
This man simply decided that he liked the phone and wanted to keep it for himself, in violation of Massachusetts General Law chapter 132, subsection 3F.
As such, I would submit that Mr.
Harris be found guilty of larceny pursuant to Massachusetts General Law, chapter 132, subsection 3F.
Ms.
Simms.
Uh, I can't really argue, except one thing.
Intent is an element of the crime.
Specifically, there has to be concurrence between mind and act.
Which basically means that at the time Mr.
Harris took the phone, he had to have the intent to steal it.
The prosecution has offered no evidence to establish that.
My client simply could have mistakenly taken the phone thinking it was his own, then decided to keep it after realizing it wasn't his.
Well, he certainly had the requisite mental intent to deprive another person of their property.
But not at the time of the taking, which is the prerequisite for concurrence.
- Even if that were a correct statement of the law- - It is.
He would still be guilty of possession of stolen property.
If only you'd thought to charge possession.
You didn't.
And you can't now because double jeopardy applies to the lesser includeds.
Your Honor, he knew it wasn't his when he took it.
You didn't establish that, Mr.
Peters.
And truth be told, you didn't even allege it.
Ms.
Simms is right.
You didn't prove concurrence between mind and act.
I have no choice but to enter a finding of not guilty.
Mr.
Harris, you are free to go.
You got lucky this time.
Your story, as ridiculous as it is, actually checks out.
Sarah Popille fell off the face of the earth after leaving Tulane.
There was a Susan Grey living in Clark Village, Alaska who fairly matches the description of both you and the Renata Hill who attended Tulane.
So I guess the Renata Hill I once had on a bench by the duck pond was- Sarah Popille.
So what do we do? Well, it seems Susan Grey left Clark Village about a year ago and hasn't been heard from since.
I've struck out trying to track her whereabouts.
But even so, Renata- Um, Sarah- It's Renata now.
Telling your story means charges ranging from fraud to practicing law without a license.
You'll be lucky to get out in three years.
Or thejury doesn't believe you and you'll get life.
Or they could believe you and still think you're the one who k*lled Javier - since we can't show that the other Renata was there.
- Except for my word.
Which won't exactly ring with credibility.
So what do we do? We know she's in Boston, or was recently.
Run her credit cards.
Susan Grey.
Also run Renata Hill for the hell of it.
Here.
John DePietre.
He's the P.
I.
I use.
Tell him it's an emergency.
- If we find her, then what? - Bring her to me.
TellJohn not to worry about false imprisonment.
She's far from clean.
Bring her to me fast.
I was having coffee this morning when my mother phoned.
She said, "Good luck in court today.
" I told her I'd keep it in reserve because today I don't need luck.
Because these are the facts: Ms.
Hill had means: The razor-sharp shears.
She had motive: Her fiancé had left her at the altar.
She had opportunity:: There with him in the waiting room.
There are eyewitness accounts of the defendant with the m*rder w*apon.
There are no witnesses who saw anyone else go in or out of that room.
There are s*ab wounds on the deceased which show conclusively to be made by someone of Renata Hill's particular height and weight.
The number of people who saw Ms.
Hill running through the courthouse in a bloody wedding gown are legion.
Andjust to give us a disturbing image of what the encounter what the victim's last moments alive must have been like there were cuts and bruises on Ms.
Hill's hands indicating that he fought back.
Now you don't need me to give you a big wrap-up to convince you to convict.
Just like I didn't need my mother's luck.
But I thanked her.
And I thank you.
strolled the hallways of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City over the course of 47 days to drink in the beauty and simplicity of Matisse's Le Bateau.
Clouds, water, a sailboat.
They all looked right at it.
And not one of those 116,000 people recognized that it was hanging there upside down.
"This must be the right way to look at it.
"But it wasn't.
Now here, the district attorney would be delighted if not one of you questioned his version of the crime.
But part of your obligation as jurors is to consider whether there is another way to look at this.
Would you want a woman deprived of her future husband to spend the rest of her life in prison if there was even the slightest chance that she may be innocent? And there is that chance.
The prosecution could not establish beyond all reasonable doubt that nobody else entered that room.
They admit the crime scene was contaminated.
We know this man had jilted three previous fiancées.
Maybe it's possible one of them showed up.
Or maybe somebody completely different.
We've heard testimony that there were a lot of people coming and going that day.
Perhaps an individual slipped unnoticed into the room.
Perhaps dressed as a delivery person.
Amid the hustle and bustle of the corridor everyone was distracted by their own concerns, as we all are.
Maybe a woman, a brunette like Renata.
Quite like Renata.
And perhaps this woman att*cked Javier with his own scissors which she grabbed from his bag.
Or perhaps this woman was someone from Renata's past and it was Renata she att*cked in a jealous rage and Javier was stabbed in the process.
Perhaps Renata was the intended victim.
Objection! He's arguing facts not in evidence.
There were no witnesses to this crime whatsoever.
That's a fact in evidence.
And suppose there was another woman who did this? Well, ladies and gentlemen, there is such a woman.
We have found her and will now produce her.
She's willing to walk through that door if the district attorney agrees to show leniency by discussing a plea.
- I assume you're willing to do that.
- What? - Can I tell this woman you're amenable to a plea bargain? - Your Honor there is no such woman.
Then what's the harm in striking a deal? I'm not going to deal with a mystery woman.
- How can you not if you recognize she exists? - I do not.
- I just- - Have doubt? Reasonable doubt? Objection.
I object to counsel's entire summation.
- Mr.
Shore.
- Never mind.
Luckily for you we've been able to compel this woman to come forward even in the absence of such a deal.
Clarence, please bring her in.
Okay, I was kidding.
She's not coming through the door.
- But she could have.
- Your Honor, this is a trick I saw in a Judd Nelson movie.
- They also used it on Matlock.
- Really? I think I saw it on Perry Mason.
It's an old and venerable illusion that has been used to great effect dating all the way back to the turn of the century.
And apparently it's still being used today to great amusement by others such as Perry and, uh, Judd and- - Matlock.
- And me.
But regardless of the skill with which it is ex*cuted, the success of the trick like any great trick, relies most of all on audience participation- on their predisposition to the possibility of it working- the possibility that it could be true.
That possibility is why you- all of you- looked at the door.
The district attorney looked at the door.
Everyone looked at the door with curiosity and expectation and belief.
The belief that there is another woman.
That belief- that is reasonable doubt.
If you looked at the door that's reasonable doubt.
I believe you that you're not so much a bigot as- - Buffoon? - No.
Just- Israel is a country about the size of New Jersey surrounded by other countries who want to destroy it because of its religious faith.
What it's like to live with that reality every day- You simply cannot separate the history of persecution and the threat of future persecution from its politics.
Israeli politics go to survival.
Can you get that? Knock, knock.
If you're here to borrow my cell phone, the answer's no.
- I'm here to say thank you and to apologize for- - Threatening to k*ll me? I did not thr*aten to k*ll you.
I just said I'd get you.
And by that I mean, you know, disconnect your satellite dish or something.
Anyway, I'm sorry I doubted you.
And I'm really grateful for- Look, I know you don't think much of me.
And why should you? I spent a big part of my life stealing things that don't belong to me.
But you've given me a chance to turn that around.
And I'm going to.
I'm gonna go straight.
I swear.
And I have you to thank.
In case you wonder whether you ever made a difference in somebody's life you have.
- What do you want? - How's that gum working for you? I'm a smoker.
I've been trying to "acquit" for years, so I chew the gum.
- "Acquit"? - Sorry? You said, "I'm a smoker.
I've been trying to acquit for years.
" And I couldn't help but notice your demeanor in the courtroom during my big finish.
Something on your mind? Perhaps it's your career flashing before your eyes.
Nice try.
She was witnessed fleeing the scene, covered in blood, m*rder w*apon in hand nobody else going in or out of the room.
So if you were to lose this, as high profile as it is that would be- Atrocious.
Off to private practice for you.
Second-degree m*rder is a gift.
The likelihood is they'll come in guilty.
You're probably right.
I suppose it's worth it to take the chance especially with one's career on the line.
Involuntary manslaughter.
Three years.
You're insane.
Straight manslaughter, 12 years.
We'll take it.
- What? - We'll take the 12.
Hold on.
I'll let you two discuss it.
What the hell are you doing? He never would have made that offer unless he thought that we could win.
You didn't look at the door.
Everyone in that courtroom had their eyes glued on the door except me.
Because I knew that as much as I'd tried, as much as I'd hoped I couldn't find the real Renata Hill.
But you- Why didn't you look at the door? You didn't look because you did it.
Because you k*lled him.
But that's not even the funny part.
Remember the note Clarence brought me in the courtroom? Well, the funny part is if you follow the credit card receipts you see that the real Renata came to your door, but a year ago.
She stayed up the block.
She ate across the street.
She came to say she wanted her life back.
You said no.
She said yes.
You said no.
She said, "I'll tell.
" And you, Renata Sarah - psycho, you k*lled her.
- I can't believe- Don't.
The only reason you're not sprawled on the floor under a bailiff with handcuffs is because of attorney-client privilege, and, frankly, I don't need this that much.
I've done a lot of talking over the years.
I'm tired.
I'm rich.
Take the 12 or I'll walk through that door.
I'll get disbarred.
And I'll put you away for life.
Double first degree.
It'll be life.
Until the end of your life.
- I'll take the 12.
- Good.
How come you get all the good cases? I'm left to stir up my own excitement.
- As long as you still can.
- Mmm.
You can learn something every day, my friend.
Even at the age of 73.
And what specifically did you learn today? People are complex.
Even the little people.
They don't like to be called midgets, you know? They're complex and very sensitive.
They can also fly beneath the radar.
Oh! Don't do that to me.
Tell me the truth.
Don't you think that Israel overreacted in Lebanon? I do.
But I suppose one could also look at it in the context of our measured response to 911 in which we invaded a country that had nothing to do with it.
There you go again.
You're such a communist.
You can cancel our sleepover.
Were we having one? No.
You know, Denny I have a very close friend who's Jewish.
- Congratulations.
You want a medal? - I hadn't finished.
She shared with me that Jews are perfectly happy to discuss among Jews the idea that Israel may have been wrong.
- They just don't want to talk about it with non-Jews.
- Why? Because non-Jews can't possibly comprehend the sense of persecution Bethany was talking about.
And that comprehension is fundamental to any meaningful discussion of the subject.
So what you're saying is it's not my fault I don't understand.
It's not your fault.
I feel better.
Thank you.
- Sleepover? - Not tonight.
Tease.
- I'm not a tease.
- You led me on.
You're a tease.
Why can't we everjust have an intimate conversation - without it leading to a sleepover? - Forget about it.
- Just don't talk to me.
- Fine.
Fine.
Get to enjoy a little personal growth, you spoil it.
Thought we weren't talking.
- Fine.
- Fine.
You stinker!
Alan Shore! - She's in a wedding gown.
- Alan Shore? Do you know Alan Shore? Alan? Oh, no.
Alan.
Alan Shore! - Alan! Alan! - Renata.
Okay.
I know this looks really bad.
But you have to believe me.
I didn't do it.
Please help me.
Say nothing, Renata.
This woman is represented by counsel.
No interrogations.
- Thank you.
- I'll meet you in lockup.
Okay? - Okay.
- All right? Gonna be all right.
- You have the right to remain silent.
- Sir.
Renata.
This is original, even for you.
I brought you a change of clothes.
- Aren't you thoughtful.
- Actually, they need the dress for evidence.
So tell me - from the start.
- Well after you and I broke up, I went back to my apartment and- - You can skip ahead four or five years.
- Javier and I met at the opera.
It was Strauss's Die Fledermaus.
I was sitting in front of him.
He started playing with my hair.
From there it was pretty much a straight line to the engagement.
Would you like me to look away? Yeah, if you have to sneeze or something.
We opted for a courthouse wedding because, well, who needs the fuss? Besides, I thought it was fitting.
You know how much I love the law.
We arrived, waited for a bit in the corridor with the other happy couples.
I believe they need everything.
Oh.
A clerk showed us to a waiting room where we could get ready for a few minutes before the ceremony.
Then he left to take another couple to thejudge's chambers.
We necked for a bit.
Then I began to feel weak.
This corset was cutting off my circulation.
L- I fainted.
When I came to there he was, lying in a pool of blood his own ice-tempered, beveled-edge, stainless steel scissors sticking out ofhis chest.
- He was a wigmaker.
- Of course.
He takes those scissors with him everywhere.
He was talking about giving me a trim before the ceremony.
He was always at me with those scissors.
You can see how bouncy my ends are.
I pulled out the shears hoping to save him.
But nothing.
He was dead.
Renata I have missed you.
A local attorney many are now calling "the Bloody Bride" was arrested today on the charge of murdering her would-be husband.
Prospective jurors were startled this morning by the sight of Renata Hill rushing past them her white gown covered in blood.
"Bloody Bride.
" Like that won't taint the jury pool.
As I'm sure you're aware, Mr.
Shore is representing Ms.
Hill.
Please refrain from speaking to the press.
The firm will comment when appropriate.
If anybody needs me, I'll be on my cell.
- And where are you going? - Rehab.
I said something bad about theJews.
I don't know what.
But Bethany has left me over it.
Anyway I recognize that I have issues I need to examine within my soul.
I'm getting treatment.
And with the help of family and friends I shall make a full recovery.
Ms.
Simms, there's a man here to see you.
- And he's claiming that you- - There she is! Where have you been? - Who are you? - My name is Jerome Harris.
- And I'm your client.
That's who I am.
- Oh, please.
Here's the card she gave me.
Claire, this is your card.
Uh, sir, if I may ask, what is your case about? - I was charged with stealing a cell phone.
- Oops.
It got assigned to me when I was in court on something else.
I must have blocked it out.
You can see why.
Lady, I am a human being.
Mr.
Harris, when is your trial? - Today.
- Today? Oh, whatever.
Let's go.
- You're gonna get me a continuance, right? - Jerry- - It's Jerome.
- You can't pay.
Why would I stretch it out when you can't pay? Claire, uh, perhaps you should get a continuance.
For a stolen cell phone? - Give me your jacket.
- What? Just give it to me.
Put it on.
- Tie.
- I'm not going to- It's an emergency.
Tie.
- Come on, Jerry.
- It's Jerome.
Renata Hill, on the charges of m*rder in the first degree how do you plead? - Not guilty, Your Honor.
- Request bail.
- Bail? Are you kidding? - This is my kidding face.
This is my mean it face.
Watch again.
- Request bail.
- Your Honor she was caught fleeing the scene, covered in the victim's blood - brandishing the m*rder w*apon.
- Entirely circumstantial.
Further, as an attorney Ms.
Hill is an officer of the court and a responsible, reliable member of the community.
Can anyone attest to that? Any associates at the current law firm? No, sir.
- Any associates at the previous law firms? - Myself.
- The defendant and I worked together at Carruthers Abbott.
- Your Honor that's the firm that Mr.
Shore was fired from for embezzlement.
Objection.
Charges were never brought, and a confidentiality agreement prevents me from talking about it further.
Can we get back to this case? Any family members to vouch for her character? Friends, neighbors, college roommates? Bail denied.
- Next.
- I'm right behind you.
Just so you know, I didn't take that phone.
What do you mean you didn't take it? You were arrested with it in your hands.
Yeah, but I didn't mean to take it.
You know what I'm saying? Uh, wait right here.
Warren.
Claire Simms.
We actually met at the D.
A.
's Christmas party.
Yeah.
I remember.
I asked you to dance.
You laughed.
I was involved.
Listen, I'm actually representing Jerome, uh Harris on the stolen cell phone case.
How about we plead to sufficient facts, three months suspended, call it a day? - Let him go? - Suspended sentence.
That's not- Do you think I'm a dope? This is his fourth offense- this year.
Warren, I could be wrong but it seems they've given you a very small case to cut your teeth on.
Now, if you want to get the bigger trials, you need to win the itty-bitty ones.
Especially the seemingly slam dunks.
But the thing is, you don't want to risk losing this.
Losing? He was caught red-handed with the phone, making a call on it, by the way.
- Warren- - And I don't like the way you use my first name, okay? You and I are not familiar with one another.
You laughed when I asked you to dance.
And stop eating my lunch! Will you at least agree to continue until tomorrow? I just got this file.
One day.
That's it.
Back here, 9:00 a.
m.
, suit and tie.
Wh-Wh- Hold on.
I'm not comfortable that you're trying your hardest here.
- You know what I'm saying? - 9:00.
Renata, your bloody dress, your possession of the m*rder w*apon you being alone with the victim.
The absence of anyone to say anything good about you.
We're off to a bit of a stumble start.
I know.
It's- It's too obvious, isn't it? I must be innocent.
Even without such a preponderance of evidence result in conviction.
And here we've got the added element that, well, you're not innocent.
- I am.
- Renata.
Alan, I didn't k*ll him.
No idea who snuck into the waiting room? - I was passed out! - Well, if you didn't do it, who did? I don't know! He had an old girlfriend who was harassing him.
- I don't even know her name.
- What? You think she snuck in while you were conveniently passed out, probably guessing that the corset would put you out for at least a few minutes, and then stabbed your fiancé? I don't know.
All I do know is I didn't murderJavier.
Mr.
Shore, any comment? I'm sorry.
I cannot comment on this case.
I'm happy to comment on other cases.
O.
J.
Did it.
Robert Blake did it.
John Mark Karr wishes he did it.
Watch it, folks.
Stay back.
We have over two dozen eyewitnesses.
Did you develop any other suspects? We canvassed exhaustively, but no other suspects.
And when Ms.
Hill came out of that door, she was covered in the victim's blood.
What do these s*ab wounds on the victim tell us about the k*ller? The angle and the depth of the wounds tell us that the k*ller was between 5 foot 2 and 5 foot 4 inches tall and weighed approximately 115, 120 pounds.
Is Ms.
Hill this height and weight? Yes.
Ms.
Hill is.
- You said you canvassed exhaustively.
- Yes.
How about the 650 people who were called to jury duty that day? We had no cause to focus on them.
Oh.
So did you focus on the couriers or food service people the dozens ofhomeless people who were there looking for a bathroom? Or really any members of the general public who are entitled to enter the courthouse? - No.
- So when you said you searched exhaustively, it was just until you got tired.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
And what about the crime scene? Would you say it had been well-secured and was utterly free from contamination at the time that you got there to, you know, uh evaluate blood trails, hair, fiber, fingerprints, et cetera? A bloody bride ran out of that room.
The looky-loos had some contact with the scene.
- So it was contaminated.
- It was.
And as for the bloodstained dress, her fiancé had scissors sticking out of his chest.
Her instinct was to remove the scissors and grab him, shake him- anything to revive him.
Wouldn't that, in fact, get the blood on the dress? So would stabbing him, and then grabbing him, in fact.
The victim had three previous fiancées.
He abandoned each of them before their vows.
Did you know this? None of them was placed at the scene.
Just so you know our thinking there was one person in that courthouse who knew him, ran from the room drenched in his blood, clutching the m*rder w*apon and asking for a defense attorney.
It seemed like a pretty solid lead.
- What the- - It's the only suit I got, okay? - Are you crazy? - This suit brings me luck, okay? - I got married in this suit.
- You're divorced.
Well, I got lucky that day.
Let's just get in there, Jerome.
- Rehab? - It's fantastic, Bethany.
They help clear up outstanding parking tickets, assist with travel plans.
You name it.
Everybody should do it.
It's like going to A.
A.
- Only they let you drink.
- Denny, you're not taking what you said seriously.
Bethany, it is not anti-Semitic to question Israel's politics.
- Yes, it is.
- Why? Oh.
Just forget it.
- I'm leaving.
- Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Wait a minute.
Wait.
Bethany, if I sometimes come off as insensitive it's 'cause I- I got a lot to deal with.
I've got the, uh, mad cow.
I date a midget.
I was in love with a midget's mother.
- It's not easy being me.
- Denny, I have fought my whole life to get respect.
- I respect you.
- No, you do not.
You belittle my faith.
You call me a midget.
- Do you have the slightest idea how offensive that word is? - Midget? Yes! I'm a little person.
I'm not a midget.
You do not respect me, Denny.
It's a deal breaker.
I was in the corridor waiting to get married.
I watched her and the dead guy walk into the room.
I mean, he wasn't dead yet.
And while they were in there, did you see anybody come in or go out? Nope.
No one.
When Renata and her fiancé went into that room, was your wife with you? Uh, she's not my wife yet.
The day threw a wrench in our plans.
Your whole life was about to change.
You were about to jump the broom as they say.
And you weren't distracted at all.
Your eyes were clamped on that door the entire time.
- Yep.
- And yet you mentioned other wedding parties, another groom nearby delivery people and other assorted sorts.
- Would you call that clamped? - Objection.
- Sustained.
- That bathroom door from behind which your future wife-to-be was about to emerge and forever change your life, undoubtedly for the better- - you never looked at that door? - Maybe for a second.
Mr.
Nayman you were not looking at the door to the waiting room the entire time, were you? Not the entire time.
No.
And yet you said to Mr.
Palmer, quite unequivocally that nobody went in or out of that room.
Did Mr.
Palmer tell you to be unequivocal? Objection.
- Overruled.
- Did Mr.
Palmer tell you to be certain? Well, he indicated it would be best.
I'm no bigot.
Truth is growing up, I never differentiated anybody.
My family wasn't religious.
I didn't know whether somebody was Catholic orJewish or- - People are people.
- Denny, I believe you when you say you're not a bigot.
But your insensitivity lies in the fact that you fail to realize that bigotry is out there.
I know it's out there.
You say that religion or faith isn't important to you.
But it's important to others.
It's important to Bethany.
Uh, I was there waiting to get married.
And there was, uh, 20 of us couples.
And, uh, Tory hadjust went off to call her mom to tell her.
Were you in the hall when the defendant and the victim went into the room? Yeah.
Her and the Spanish guy had this pretty intense thing.
- Do you recall any of the elements of this exchange? - Yeah.
Some.
He had said something about things not working out.
And then she started to get really upset.
And, uh- So she says to him, really shrill- She says "You're jilting me?" Alcohol, marijuana speed, mushrooms, L.
S.
D cocaine, ecstasy- - Stop me when I name something you haven't done.
- Uh- And what about the night before your wedding day? Any special festivities? - A bachelor party, pub crawl? - Uh, no.
Actually, me and Tory were at a Radiohead concert.
Did you make use of any of the aforementioned substances at the concert? Um, well, I'm- I'm testifying.
So I have some sort of, uh, drug arrest immunity, right? I'll take that as a yes.
From my experience any evening that begins with a Radiohead concert has all the possibilities of turning into an all-night affair.
How much sleep did you get the night before your wedding day? You can round up.
None.
- So, you'd taken dr*gs, you hadn't slept- - I know what I know.
You don't forget that lady saying that.
Or the look on her face when she realizes she's being dumped.
You were hopped-up on goofballs.
Why should we believe what you say? I'm a musician.
An artist.
And- I mean, when you witness something like that it gets burned into your brain.
I know what I heard.
He dumped her.
May I ask, Officer, how you were able to track the telephone to the defendant? He kept using it, making calls.
He was actually talking on it when we went to arrest him.
- That's not true.
I was checking my messages.
- Shh! And, Officer, the defendant was found to have this stolen telephone- uh, marked and identified as People's exhibit "C"- in his possession at the time that you apprehended him.
- Right, Officer? - Yes, sir.
- Right in his hand? - Yes, sir.
Thank you, Officer.
I have no further questions.
Sixty days.
Credit for time served.
The rest suspended.
- I'll have one drink with you.
- You're inappropriate.
- I'll have one drink with you.
- You're inappropriate.
And your offer is rejected.
So, you arrested my client for being in possession of stolen merchandise? No.
I arrested him for stealing the merchandise.
- And how do you know he's the one who took it? - He told me.
He said it looked like his phone and he took it by mistake.
Do you know that not to be true? I have phone records to show over 36 calls received by the stolen phone after it was reported missing.
The ring on the phone was Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
His phone ring was the theme to SpongeBob.
We can also prove he played the messages on the stolen phone's voice mail.
So at some point he had to know it wasn't his phone.
Okay.
Thanks.
- That's it? - Shh.
What the hell was that? You barely touched him.
- Just be quiet, Jerome.
- Mr.
Peters, anything else? - The prosecution rests, Your Honor.
- Very well.
- Ms.
Simms? - Defense rests, Judge.
- Rests? - Jerome.
- Lady, I am a human being.
- Okay.
Again with the human being defense.
I know what I am doing.
- Can you just trust me? - Trust you? Trust you to do what? - How could you not tell me he was leaving you? - It's embarrassing.
It's cliché.
- It's motive.
- Oh, yeah.
That.
So, he was leaving you.
If he wanted to end things, why go to the waiting room? I wanted to change his mind.
I thought if we had a moment in private, everything might- With motive, they've got you, Renata.
I shouldn't have to go to prison.
We might have to change our plea to not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.
We can say you were mentally undone by the surprise of the breakup.
It would mean a psychiatric facility instead of prison.
No.
Renata, you're forcing me to put you on the stand.
No.
What aren't you telling me? I didn't k*ll him.
He broke up with me, but that had nothing to do with the m*rder.
Renata.
I didn't faint.
- I didn't faint.
And I saw who k*lled him.
- Who? Renata Hill.
The actual Renata Hill.
Renata Hill is a girl that I met when we were both in law school together at Tulane.
I assumed her identity.
What do you mean you assumed her identity? My name was Sarah Popille.
Things had not been going well for me on various, numerous assorted fronts.
And then to top it off, I failed the bar.
Renata had passed the bar.
Her life was in order.
But while she was waiting for her test results she was in Alaska studying flora and she fell in love with a man.
The civilized world suddenly seemed pointless to her.
She decided to give up the rat race and the dirty, dirty law career to start a life with this man and become, as she put it, real.
So I purchased her identity for $300,000.
She went off to Alaska.
I stopped being Sarah Popille and started my fabulous life as Renata Hill.
It gets better.
After 18 years, the real Renata's Alaskan life went completely down the tubes.
Her romance, her overnight courier job.
Everything.
And she came back a few days before the wedding.
She was unhinged, unraveling insisting that we eighty-six our arrangement.
But I had paid for her life which is my life now.
And I said no.
The next morning she followed me.
Completely irrational obsessed with the fact that my life was going well and hers wasn't that I was getting married with her name.
And she snuck in to the waiting room.
She was in her courier's uniform.
A delivery person in a corridor going in or out a door on a busy day? Who would notice? She att*cked me.
We struggled.
She grabbed the shears.
I fought.
That's how I got these cuts.
Then Javier interceded and she stabbed him zipped up her jacket and left.
- If this preposterous story is true- - It is.
Why didn't you just tell me at the start? Not halfway through your m*rder trial with the rest of your life at stake.
Well, I guess that's just it.
I wanted to save my life.
Which is Renata Hill.
I figure at least the real Renata will be gone forever now.
You can't possibly expect me to believe all this.
Alan you have always known when to believe me.
The name the other woman was living under in Clark Village, Alaska was Susan Grey, with an "E.
" Apparently the town is tiny.
So it shouldn't be difficult to verify.
- Okay.
- And anything and everything you can dig up on this one.
Sarah Popille, with an "I.
" Start in New Orleans.
Check the registrar's office at Tulane.
Go from there.
As soon as possible, Clarence.
Okay.
You're deliberately trying to lose, and I know it.
You want me in jail.
- You finished? - No.
I will get you.
When this is all over, I will get you.
And if you think getting me stuck in jail is gonna protect you, you are wrong.
Are you threatening me, Jerome? You gonna add violent crime to your already impressive résumé? Okay.
Mr.
Peters, I'll hear from you.
May it please the court- The, uh-The defendant, Jerome Harris, was found with the stolen merchandise in his possession.
He never returned it.
Moreover, he had to know that the cell phone wasn't his.
It had another person's e-mails.
He used the phone repeatedly for two days, as the call logs indicated.
This man simply decided that he liked the phone and wanted to keep it for himself, in violation of Massachusetts General Law chapter 132, subsection 3F.
As such, I would submit that Mr.
Harris be found guilty of larceny pursuant to Massachusetts General Law, chapter 132, subsection 3F.
Ms.
Simms.
Uh, I can't really argue, except one thing.
Intent is an element of the crime.
Specifically, there has to be concurrence between mind and act.
Which basically means that at the time Mr.
Harris took the phone, he had to have the intent to steal it.
The prosecution has offered no evidence to establish that.
My client simply could have mistakenly taken the phone thinking it was his own, then decided to keep it after realizing it wasn't his.
Well, he certainly had the requisite mental intent to deprive another person of their property.
But not at the time of the taking, which is the prerequisite for concurrence.
- Even if that were a correct statement of the law- - It is.
He would still be guilty of possession of stolen property.
If only you'd thought to charge possession.
You didn't.
And you can't now because double jeopardy applies to the lesser includeds.
Your Honor, he knew it wasn't his when he took it.
You didn't establish that, Mr.
Peters.
And truth be told, you didn't even allege it.
Ms.
Simms is right.
You didn't prove concurrence between mind and act.
I have no choice but to enter a finding of not guilty.
Mr.
Harris, you are free to go.
You got lucky this time.
Your story, as ridiculous as it is, actually checks out.
Sarah Popille fell off the face of the earth after leaving Tulane.
There was a Susan Grey living in Clark Village, Alaska who fairly matches the description of both you and the Renata Hill who attended Tulane.
So I guess the Renata Hill I once had on a bench by the duck pond was- Sarah Popille.
So what do we do? Well, it seems Susan Grey left Clark Village about a year ago and hasn't been heard from since.
I've struck out trying to track her whereabouts.
But even so, Renata- Um, Sarah- It's Renata now.
Telling your story means charges ranging from fraud to practicing law without a license.
You'll be lucky to get out in three years.
Or thejury doesn't believe you and you'll get life.
Or they could believe you and still think you're the one who k*lled Javier - since we can't show that the other Renata was there.
- Except for my word.
Which won't exactly ring with credibility.
So what do we do? We know she's in Boston, or was recently.
Run her credit cards.
Susan Grey.
Also run Renata Hill for the hell of it.
Here.
John DePietre.
He's the P.
I.
I use.
Tell him it's an emergency.
- If we find her, then what? - Bring her to me.
TellJohn not to worry about false imprisonment.
She's far from clean.
Bring her to me fast.
I was having coffee this morning when my mother phoned.
She said, "Good luck in court today.
" I told her I'd keep it in reserve because today I don't need luck.
Because these are the facts: Ms.
Hill had means: The razor-sharp shears.
She had motive: Her fiancé had left her at the altar.
She had opportunity:: There with him in the waiting room.
There are eyewitness accounts of the defendant with the m*rder w*apon.
There are no witnesses who saw anyone else go in or out of that room.
There are s*ab wounds on the deceased which show conclusively to be made by someone of Renata Hill's particular height and weight.
The number of people who saw Ms.
Hill running through the courthouse in a bloody wedding gown are legion.
Andjust to give us a disturbing image of what the encounter what the victim's last moments alive must have been like there were cuts and bruises on Ms.
Hill's hands indicating that he fought back.
Now you don't need me to give you a big wrap-up to convince you to convict.
Just like I didn't need my mother's luck.
But I thanked her.
And I thank you.
strolled the hallways of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City over the course of 47 days to drink in the beauty and simplicity of Matisse's Le Bateau.
Clouds, water, a sailboat.
They all looked right at it.
And not one of those 116,000 people recognized that it was hanging there upside down.
"This must be the right way to look at it.
"But it wasn't.
Now here, the district attorney would be delighted if not one of you questioned his version of the crime.
But part of your obligation as jurors is to consider whether there is another way to look at this.
Would you want a woman deprived of her future husband to spend the rest of her life in prison if there was even the slightest chance that she may be innocent? And there is that chance.
The prosecution could not establish beyond all reasonable doubt that nobody else entered that room.
They admit the crime scene was contaminated.
We know this man had jilted three previous fiancées.
Maybe it's possible one of them showed up.
Or maybe somebody completely different.
We've heard testimony that there were a lot of people coming and going that day.
Perhaps an individual slipped unnoticed into the room.
Perhaps dressed as a delivery person.
Amid the hustle and bustle of the corridor everyone was distracted by their own concerns, as we all are.
Maybe a woman, a brunette like Renata.
Quite like Renata.
And perhaps this woman att*cked Javier with his own scissors which she grabbed from his bag.
Or perhaps this woman was someone from Renata's past and it was Renata she att*cked in a jealous rage and Javier was stabbed in the process.
Perhaps Renata was the intended victim.
Objection! He's arguing facts not in evidence.
There were no witnesses to this crime whatsoever.
That's a fact in evidence.
And suppose there was another woman who did this? Well, ladies and gentlemen, there is such a woman.
We have found her and will now produce her.
She's willing to walk through that door if the district attorney agrees to show leniency by discussing a plea.
- I assume you're willing to do that.
- What? - Can I tell this woman you're amenable to a plea bargain? - Your Honor there is no such woman.
Then what's the harm in striking a deal? I'm not going to deal with a mystery woman.
- How can you not if you recognize she exists? - I do not.
- I just- - Have doubt? Reasonable doubt? Objection.
I object to counsel's entire summation.
- Mr.
Shore.
- Never mind.
Luckily for you we've been able to compel this woman to come forward even in the absence of such a deal.
Clarence, please bring her in.
Okay, I was kidding.
She's not coming through the door.
- But she could have.
- Your Honor, this is a trick I saw in a Judd Nelson movie.
- They also used it on Matlock.
- Really? I think I saw it on Perry Mason.
It's an old and venerable illusion that has been used to great effect dating all the way back to the turn of the century.
And apparently it's still being used today to great amusement by others such as Perry and, uh, Judd and- - Matlock.
- And me.
But regardless of the skill with which it is ex*cuted, the success of the trick like any great trick, relies most of all on audience participation- on their predisposition to the possibility of it working- the possibility that it could be true.
That possibility is why you- all of you- looked at the door.
The district attorney looked at the door.
Everyone looked at the door with curiosity and expectation and belief.
The belief that there is another woman.
That belief- that is reasonable doubt.
If you looked at the door that's reasonable doubt.
I believe you that you're not so much a bigot as- - Buffoon? - No.
Just- Israel is a country about the size of New Jersey surrounded by other countries who want to destroy it because of its religious faith.
What it's like to live with that reality every day- You simply cannot separate the history of persecution and the threat of future persecution from its politics.
Israeli politics go to survival.
Can you get that? Knock, knock.
If you're here to borrow my cell phone, the answer's no.
- I'm here to say thank you and to apologize for- - Threatening to k*ll me? I did not thr*aten to k*ll you.
I just said I'd get you.
And by that I mean, you know, disconnect your satellite dish or something.
Anyway, I'm sorry I doubted you.
And I'm really grateful for- Look, I know you don't think much of me.
And why should you? I spent a big part of my life stealing things that don't belong to me.
But you've given me a chance to turn that around.
And I'm going to.
I'm gonna go straight.
I swear.
And I have you to thank.
In case you wonder whether you ever made a difference in somebody's life you have.
- What do you want? - How's that gum working for you? I'm a smoker.
I've been trying to "acquit" for years, so I chew the gum.
- "Acquit"? - Sorry? You said, "I'm a smoker.
I've been trying to acquit for years.
" And I couldn't help but notice your demeanor in the courtroom during my big finish.
Something on your mind? Perhaps it's your career flashing before your eyes.
Nice try.
She was witnessed fleeing the scene, covered in blood, m*rder w*apon in hand nobody else going in or out of the room.
So if you were to lose this, as high profile as it is that would be- Atrocious.
Off to private practice for you.
Second-degree m*rder is a gift.
The likelihood is they'll come in guilty.
You're probably right.
I suppose it's worth it to take the chance especially with one's career on the line.
Involuntary manslaughter.
Three years.
You're insane.
Straight manslaughter, 12 years.
We'll take it.
- What? - We'll take the 12.
Hold on.
I'll let you two discuss it.
What the hell are you doing? He never would have made that offer unless he thought that we could win.
You didn't look at the door.
Everyone in that courtroom had their eyes glued on the door except me.
Because I knew that as much as I'd tried, as much as I'd hoped I couldn't find the real Renata Hill.
But you- Why didn't you look at the door? You didn't look because you did it.
Because you k*lled him.
But that's not even the funny part.
Remember the note Clarence brought me in the courtroom? Well, the funny part is if you follow the credit card receipts you see that the real Renata came to your door, but a year ago.
She stayed up the block.
She ate across the street.
She came to say she wanted her life back.
You said no.
She said yes.
You said no.
She said, "I'll tell.
" And you, Renata Sarah - psycho, you k*lled her.
- I can't believe- Don't.
The only reason you're not sprawled on the floor under a bailiff with handcuffs is because of attorney-client privilege, and, frankly, I don't need this that much.
I've done a lot of talking over the years.
I'm tired.
I'm rich.
Take the 12 or I'll walk through that door.
I'll get disbarred.
And I'll put you away for life.
Double first degree.
It'll be life.
Until the end of your life.
- I'll take the 12.
- Good.
How come you get all the good cases? I'm left to stir up my own excitement.
- As long as you still can.
- Mmm.
You can learn something every day, my friend.
Even at the age of 73.
And what specifically did you learn today? People are complex.
Even the little people.
They don't like to be called midgets, you know? They're complex and very sensitive.
They can also fly beneath the radar.
Oh! Don't do that to me.
Tell me the truth.
Don't you think that Israel overreacted in Lebanon? I do.
But I suppose one could also look at it in the context of our measured response to 911 in which we invaded a country that had nothing to do with it.
There you go again.
You're such a communist.
You can cancel our sleepover.
Were we having one? No.
You know, Denny I have a very close friend who's Jewish.
- Congratulations.
You want a medal? - I hadn't finished.
She shared with me that Jews are perfectly happy to discuss among Jews the idea that Israel may have been wrong.
- They just don't want to talk about it with non-Jews.
- Why? Because non-Jews can't possibly comprehend the sense of persecution Bethany was talking about.
And that comprehension is fundamental to any meaningful discussion of the subject.
So what you're saying is it's not my fault I don't understand.
It's not your fault.
I feel better.
Thank you.
- Sleepover? - Not tonight.
Tease.
- I'm not a tease.
- You led me on.
You're a tease.
Why can't we everjust have an intimate conversation - without it leading to a sleepover? - Forget about it.
- Just don't talk to me.
- Fine.
Fine.
Get to enjoy a little personal growth, you spoil it.
Thought we weren't talking.
- Fine.
- Fine.
You stinker!