Fairly Legal s02e08 Episode Script
Ripple of Hope
Oh, no, no, no! Umm Can you hold it? Ha! Thanks.
You're welcome.
Do not encourage her.
Bye, guys.
Hey, did that freak you out? Read Clarence Darrow.
You lose the power to be freaky, you lose the power to think.
I'm paraphrasing.
Hi.
Whatever he's saying, he's completely lying.
And I brought you coffee.
Oh, you trying to get on karma's good side? Mm-hmm, I need an apartment bigger than a cereal box within walking distance of the office.
Don't worry, she's brilliant, she'll fix this.
Okay, um, who's the girl? Um, that's Ashley.
She's a friend.
We met in a critical mass bike ride.
- Mmm.
- She wrote this.
Girl superhero.
Hmm, nice guns.
Yeah, now I know she may seem like a cute meth addict to you, but that brilliant thing came out of her brain full-blown like Pegasus from the head of Medusa.
It sold 36,000 copies in a week.
Pegasus from the head of Medusa? Yeah, she's a Greek myth geek too.
Mm-hmm.
Is Leo in love? I plead attorney-client privilege.
She wrote that work-for-hire and was paid $700.
I just got a call from the Attorney General's Office.
And because she was work-for-hire, she has no rights.
I was speaking to her.
Yes, you were talking as if I didn't exist, and I figured if I went on talking it might break your habit of assuming you're the only one in the room.
Leonardo, copyright law, that's completely Lauren's thing.
If I wanted my head bit off, I'd go to a zoo.
Sometimes you gotta dance with a tiger.
Take a whip.
I bet she's into leather.
No, it's petticoats and luggage.
I imagine there's quite an assortment of off-market equipment for the men who make it past the awkward handshake and the don't-touch-the-makeup kiss.
As I was saying, someone at the Attorney General's Office saw a law journal piece about my buying into the firm, and it mentioned dispute resolution.
Meaning you.
And you're upset because it wasn't all about you? Over the weekend, inmates at the Hayward Women's Prison went on a hunger strike to dispute living conditions, and they want a non-violent resolution.
And since when do you care about prisoners' rights? When it means that a deputy attorney general owes us a favor.
Not to mention it makes us look like Nelson Mandela.
We get money and glory.
The downside is you may get taken hostage.
I can take 'em.
Definitely if they don't eat for a few more days, but if you do screw up and I have to go in after you, I'll be like the only man on Amazon Island.
And then they could eat you.
Problem solved.
Game on.
Hey, Lauren, um, this is my friend, Ashley Woods.
Uh, nice to meet you.
Ashley has a problem.
So many people do.
I'm sure it'll work out.
She created a character for a graphic novel.
She got a flat fee, but the character could be worth more than one comic 'cause it's selling like crazy.
She can't afford a lawyer.
Um, look, Leo, I admire loyalty to friends, but Reed & Reed is in no position to take on a contingency case.
Leo's a wonderful man.
If we win, we get a piece of everything Ashley earns.
Undoing a work-for-hire contract is almost impossible.
Almost.
Kate says you're an ace at copyright law.
But, Leo, I just don't have time for a contingency case.
Not today.
It's okay.
You did really good.
Oh, I'm not giving up.
It'd be okay if you did.
I mean, it's not that big of a deal.
How do you know that? A year from now, anything could happen.
This moment right now could be the biggest deal ever.
You're talking about the comic book, right? I told you I'd help.
We don't give up.
Plan "B".
You wanna know how Justin and I got along when we had to work together? No.
You two seem like an unlikely couple.
Most marriages fail because of a lack of chemistry.
No, most marriages fail because people aren't nice to each other.
And you know what, Justin and I have plenty of chemistry.
Oh, no, no, I don't mean sex.
I mean what happens in the first ten seconds when you meet someone and your crocodile brain kicks in.
Can this guy bring dinner home? Do I want his genes in my offspring? No, I don't think like that ever.
So you ignored your instincts and married him anyway.
You know what, being taken hostage sounds really good right about now.
Maybe you're rebelling.
Did you marry Justin to piss your father off? No, no, no, my dad adored Justin.
Oh, so that's why you married him.
You know people get killed every day in prisons.
Welcome to Hayward.
Warden Sara Wilkes.
- Hi, Ben Grogan.
- Hey.
- Kate Reed.
- Appreciate you coming.
So you should know it's not like I run this place with an iron fist, but they started a hunger strike.
It needs to be resolved quickly, and obviously we'd like to avoid using force.
Okay.
Well, do you think the prisoners will talk to me? The fact that you're from outside the prison - works in your favor.
- Agreed.
Hey, well, let's see if the negotiating team will talk to us.
They're in the cafeteria.
Well, that's a good place for a hunger strike.
Will you be joining us, Mr.
Grogan? No, he won't.
That would lead to an uprising.
It's the living conditions.
Take a walk through the floors.
Like I gotta say it? The thing is if you want this negotiation to work, you need to ask for something specific.
You want, like, a list? Sure.
Overcrowding, hygiene, medical care.
We got three inmates in cells for two, man.
- Build more cells.
- That's right.
Here's the problem.
You can't ask for the moon.
This is prison, lady.
Prisoners of war get treated better.
- Yeah, that's right.
- That's right.
Okay, okay, okay, all right, hold on.
Let's just assume that they can't build new cells, right? Ask for something I can actually get.
How 'bout food? Yeah, yeah, food.
You're hunger striking for food? Fruits, vegetables, two days a week? That's it? Two days a week? Okay, I hear what Lea is saying.
But this is a statewide problem.
These are the budget cuts.
Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.
How much would it cost? For 1,100 inmates? A lot.
And it's complicated.
Come on, it's fruits and vegetables.
I need approval for every dime I spend.
Then we're gonna be dying on the local news, baby.
I'm already dead.
No, no, no, no.
No! - Can I say something? - Please.
There's a lot of land out there.
They waste money cutting grass.
Give us tools.
Each block could grow its own.
It wouldn't cost you anything.
You know, they have a garden program over at San Francisco County, even at Rikers.
Okay, I'll look into it.
But you have to end the hunger strike first.
What is it gonna take for you to end the protest? I can tell you what it won't take.
"We'll look into it.
" Red tape takes time.
You know what, how long do you want this to go on? Because these women are all headed for the hospital, and then you're gonna have ambulances, you're gonna have TV trucks, and then everybody looks bad.
I asked her to give me a reasonable demand, and she did.
Now, everybody needs to bend.
Listen to me, I don't make these rules, all right? My hands are tied.
Well, then untie them.
We don't see change, we don't eat.
Every other inmate in this place gonna be watching what we do.
And it's only gonna get worse.
Fairly Legal 2x08 - Ripple of Hope Original air date May 4, 2012 The warden says you encouraged their demands.
Oh, well, that warden was hiding behind the red-tape excuse.
She was telling the truth.
Okay, fruits and veggies, two days a week? Prisons are a billion-dollar business.
Yes, and she can't authorize it without going through a hundred levels of bureaucracy.
They're under a political microscope.
You realize that most people would be happy if prisoners got to eat garbage.
Well, the warden's gonna look worse with starving women dying of kidney failure.
I'm not encouraged.
More women are joining the protest.
Yeah, who was the prisoner with the garden idea? Why? Because she was the most reasonable.
Yeah, Lea Ferran.
But don't expect the other prisoners to take her seriously.
Why not? Because she says she never committed the crime.
Don't they all say that? Yeah, to us.
This one says it to them.
Just to be clear, this woman is not innocent, right? She's just a little crazy.
Lea's serving 15 years for armed bank robbery.
Oh, wow.
You know, I'd like to talk to her.
Okay, just to be clear, you're going in there to talk about vegetables, right? Well, of course, what else would I be talking about? It's just that you have a tendency to lose focus and simple things get complicated by other things let's call them imaginary things that have nothing to do with the simple thing that we started out to do.
Oh, Benedict, whatever are you talking about? Don't get distracted by some prisoner's sob story.
Look, these women are starving themselves, so obviously I want to get them to eat, and to make sure you look good to the Attorney General.
Okay, you're being sarcastic, that bothers me.
Focus.
Focus.
Focus.
Hey.
They were smart to send a woman.
But you knew that.
Can you get them to eat? Bonnie doesn't trust the warden.
Well, if you could talk them into even just one meal, then the warden is the one who looks like the unreasonable one.
I'll try.
No promises.
Um, can you tell me about the bank robbery? Why? I'm curious.
Yeah, I was 19, living with a guy I barely knew.
- Mm-hm.
- A guitarist.
I thought his guitar was really cool, and that he was really hot.
You do stupid things when you're 19.
Anyway, he asked me to rent a car for a trip.
I had a credit card.
I was proud, you know.
Not a lot of kids could do that at my age.
So my boyfriend and some other girl and one of his buddies used that car to hit a bank, and a woman got shot.
I wasn't even there.
You don't have to believe me.
Who says I don't believe you? I can read faces better than you can read billboards.
If I were in prison for something that I didn't do, I'd I don't know, I'd I'd I'd be psychotic.
Yeah.
You would be, the first year, and the second.
But there's one thing I learned in this place.
You can't stay angry, or you're never gonna survive.
If you're lying, you sure are awesome at it.
What about parole? My fourth hearing's coming up.
I get denied each time.
Why? Look, it's like this, okay.
My brother's wife died last year.
I have two nephews that could use an aunt more than ever.
But I didn't rob a bank.
I didn't do it.
And they can keep telling me to say that I did it until the end of time.
But I'm never, never going to say that I did it.
But they want you to apologize.
If that's what it's gonna take for me to get out of here, I'm never getting out.
What does my face say now? It doesn't matter.
I just want to understand what it's like being inside Kate Reed's head.
You wouldn't like it.
I'm interested in your logic.
You meet a prisoner who says she's innocent, or a Nigerian who wants to give you his fortune if you'll send him a deposit.
Do any red flags go up, or is it pretty much a green light? Big green light.
Your job is to resolve a hunger strike.
That woman's guilt or pretend innocence is irrelevant.
- I had a girlfriend once - Ugh, God.
She was obsessed with small dogs.
You know, I don't care.
Little dogs, big dogs.
She was heroic, crossing freeway traffic with her crate full of milk-bones and an old leash.
I tolerated it until I realized that it wasn't compassion that was making her save the dogs.
It was compulsion.
Does that sound familiar? No.
She was probably displacing her need to have kids on the dogs.
Precisely.
The thought of having kids with you must have been really upsetting.
How's it going at Hayward? Negotiations are currently at an impasse because the prisoners are making unreasonable demands.
Mm-hm.
You know, oranges and broccoli too complicated, too expensive.
And now, thanks to Kate Reed, potentially home-grown.
We can write the Fox News banner ourselves.
"Murderers fed organic produce with tax dollars.
" All right, uh, well, if it's about money, I suggest you contact your deputy A.
G.
friend and have him shuffle some prison budgets, fast.
Would this be easier on a computer? Well, I found the citation online, but I couldn't find the case.
Leo, this is nuts.
Lauren said she won't touch this.
And you're not a lawyer.
You just work for lawyers.
Did you know Abe Lincoln apprenticed with a lawyer but didn't actually go to law school? If there is anything I have learned from working with Kate is that there's always something in the law that says what you need.
Okay.
Says here the creators of Superman signed away all their rights, but years later got some of them back.
Yes, yes, this is what we need.
But we're not talking about Superman, we're talking about XX-Chromo.
Yeah, exactly.
A cocky, morally-adolescent set of cheekbones in red pajamas versus this genuinely fierce, flawed, brilliant, sexy ball of blue fire.
Oh, thanks for showing me the Ferran file.
Scout's word of honor I will not tell another soul.
You quit the girl scouts.
Yes, but I still keep my word.
Oh, is there any way that you could use a human-rights argument to compel a prison to serve better food? No.
Judges would never touch that.
Oh, okay, I had to ask.
You got time for lunch? - Do you? - Yeah.
Aren't you dating someone? Like that peach you had dinner with the other night? Oh, you mean the night that you and Grogan put away a bottle of tequila that cost more than my suit? We were celebrating the case.
It was a work thing.
You didn't celebrate long.
- Justin.
- Well, what's the deal there? - Are you two dating now or what? - Ugh, no.
God, no.
- We're just friends.
- Mm.
And you know what? I'm happy for you.
Are you seeing anyone? Not yet.
Lea Ferran.
So they offered her a plea bargain to testify against her boyfriend and his pal.
She turned it down.
That's just plain dumb if you ask me.
Well, she didn't take it because she didn't want to plead guilty to something she didn't do.
Kate, she drove the car.
Carlos was smart enough to plead out and testify against them.
He got 7 years.
Lea got 15? She could've gotten 25 to life.
Carlos's pal had a gun and killed a woman.
He was serving 25 to life.
Wait, "was"? Like, he got out? No, he was killed in lockup.
- Uh, can I borrow this? - That is not a public record.
Ooh, listen to this.
He got out on parole, robbed two more banks, took off to Mexico.
In both robberies he used a rented getaway car using the credit cards and licenses of women that weren't involved.
Hello? Do you see a pattern to this? I see a pattern with two of the women.
Lea drove the getaway car in the first robbery, there were several eyewitnesses to that.
Who said that they saw someone speeding away.
Justin, what if they're wrong? What if your office put the wrong woman in jail? Then we would move to vacate the sentence, but all you have is rented cars and a shaky theory.
How can you be so casual about this? I know you think the system doesn't work, and sometimes you're right.
But the A.
D.
A.
who put Ferran away did exactly what I would do he offered her a plea bargain, and when she didn't take it he went to trial.
That A.
D.
A.
did the right thing.
But what if doing the right thing is wrong? I'm not giving up on this.
Kate.
Pen.
I can't get them to eat.
Ugh, that's not good.
They know we go long enough, we'll see results.
Or they'll force-feed you.
In a medium-security prison? The warden will look like a thug.
Well, if you want to get nowhere, then I don't know, don't compromise.
We'll compromise on an acre of land and some tools for each block.
But we don't want a promise.
We want the tools.
Okay, all right.
I will work on my end of the deal, but you have to work on that meal.
We'll see.
Um So Do you know that your boyfriend Carlos had some more fun when he got released? He got two more women to rent cars for bank robberies.
Amazing.
What, that he'd rob more banks? No.
I'm just surprised that you believed me enough to find out more about him.
You're not the only one who can read faces.
Oh, I know it's a long shot, but if we can find Carlos Look, that's not gonna happen.
Carlos got himself shot dead last year.
Some town called La Magdalena outside of Mexico City.
Who do you think really drove that car? - I've always wondered.
- Yeah? Especially when Carlos testified and pointed his finger straight at me and said, "she drove.
" That son of a bitch.
All right, your parole hearing's in a couple days, don't change your story.
Lea, you are a model prisoner.
You've set an example to everybody.
You've helped me, and now I'm gonna help you.
You don't get it.
There's this guy, he shows up to all the hearings.
His wife was the woman that was shot in the bank.
He goes to all the parole boards to make sure that no one involved with this crime gets out early.
I mean, they listen to the family members of the dead.
Okay, we can we can change their minds.
I know we can.
Look, just get us some land.
Some tools to grow food.
But me, Ms.
Reed? I'm not going anywhere.
Mm.
Are you walk-stalking me? I found exactly what we need.
All I need you to do is call Wonderbomb Media that's Ashley's publisher and tell them that Reed & Reed wants to renegotiate her contract.
- I will do the rest.
- Oh, the rest.
As in, impersonate an attorney and get me disbarred.
I won't say that I'm a lawyer.
Leo, I'm sure you have a lot of work to do.
The reason the guys who created Superman got their rights was because they promised never to ask for their rights.
As you and I both know, that's one thing contract law won't let you do.
I know that case extremely well.
Depending on the definition of "work-for-hire," if you sign away your termination rights, it can void the whole contract.
Did Ashley did you is that their contract? Page seven, clause nine.
Lauren? I need a minute.
Okay, go on in.
You know, I'll get back to you.
I'll get back to both of you.
Okay, so, uh I wanted to let you know what I've been doing, - Mm-hm.
- And I need a favor.
Oh.
Oh, Ben! Good, come on in.
I'm getting an update on the negotiations.
I spoke to my buddy at the Attorney General's Office.
I suggested they start a garden program for the entire prison system, so it looks like it had nothing to do with one hunger strike.
It's pretty smart, huh? Yeah.
You? I want a retrial for a woman named Lea Ferran.
What does that have to do with ending a hunger strike? Lauren, look, this woman is serving a 15 year sentence, and she might be innocent.
Oh, God, this is so the wrong day for this.
There's a pattern to these bank robberies, and my client was supposedly involved in one of them.
Wait, stop, your client? My new friend.
She means random stranger that she bumped into whose life she thinks that she can change.
She deserves a retrial.
Two things get you a new trial substantial new evidence, and procedural error.
- This case has neither.
- Okay.
Lauren, I know I'm blind-siding you with this.
But, please Kate, I appreciate that you want to help this woman, I even admire it a little.
- But - But, you can't tilt at every windmill.
You know what, I am so sick of hearing that.
This woman is no more a criminal than you, or than or than me, but she's gonna spend the next five years of her life locked up in a cage.
And if you can sleep with that good for you.
I could swing a cat at a hundred things much worse than that, but I like sleeping at night, so I don't.
You can't sa the whole world.
I don't want to save the whole world.
I want to save her.
- Big fancy exit.
- Oh, shut up! You're here early.
Lea's parole hearing is Thursday what do I do? You could try, "good morning, Justin, it's nice to see you.
" Good morning, Justin, it's nice to see you.
Lea's parole hearing is Thursday what do I do? Wait, besides what you're already doing? Justin, you're my last hope.
You don't know what's happening? What? The motion, before judge Becker, to re-open the Ferran case.
Reed & Reed must have pulled some strings to get on his calendar that fast.
What? In fact, he's probably hearing it right now.
Oh.
You didn't know about this? Thank you! It's a pleasure seeing you in my courtroom, Mr.
Grogan, but I'm not generally sympathetic to requests for new trials.
Your Honor, I'm on your side, really, I am.
Prisoners are always filing these frivolous appeals.
But in this case, the prosecution's behavior Basically, it sucks.
That's not a term of law I'm familiar with.
The prosecution gave a plea deal to Lea Ferran's boyfriend who had a motive to lie.
It was expedience over intelligence.
That, to me, is the legal definition of "sucks.
" I read your motion.
You cite "Maxwell vs.
Roe.
" Correct.
If there was ever a case that fit the facts of Maxwell, this is it.
And I think you will agree it requires a new trial for Lea Ferran.
Oh, I'm listening.
Proceed.
What's the heart of your motion, Mr.
Grogan? Lea Ferran's trial was tainted.
Your Honor, if I may? The facts in Maxwell don't remotely apply to the Ferran trial.
You're a bright young district attorney, Mr.
Foster.
Sit down and let Mr.
Grogan finish.
Thank you, Your Honor.
And, all due respect, Mr.
Foster is wrong.
In Maxwell, a plea bargain was given to a jailhouse informant with a motive to lie.
The court said, "mistake.
" "Whole trial tainted.
" Same for Lea Ferran.
Her trial was tainted by the plea given to her boyfriend, hence, new trial.
Lea Ferran was offered a plea and she turned it down.
Under Maxwell, irrelevant.
Lea Ferran's boyfriend had a motive to lie.
He was caught on video robbing a bank.
Back up.
The bank-robbing boyfriend is not like the guy in Maxwell.
In Maxwell, it was a jailhouse snitch, a professional liar.
In your case, it's just one defendant against another.
But Lea Ferran's boyfriend had even more reason to lie.
He was looking at 25 years in prison.
Yes, that may be true, but that's not what the case law says.
The answer's no.
Motion denied.
Still in your good mood? Ben, I am grateful.
Lea would be grateful.
You said it was hopeless, but you did it anyway.
I would never do anything that I thought was hopeless.
I thought I could win.
- Oh, is it that simple for you? - Yeah.
You put the "goods" in one column, the "bads" in the other.
- Then you pick a winner.
- Ah, yeah.
Ben Franklin called it "moral algebra.
" I'm usually right.
Can I get a regular coffee with steamed milk, and Oh, ah, one with sugar, please.
One sugar.
Did you just compare yourself to Benjamin Franklin? I read every word that he wrote at St.
Augustine's, and, French prostitutes aside, he never let his emotions muck around with his decisions.
So, you never do anything impulsively.
It's just because you have to? No, I never have to do anything.
Oh.
You know what, you are so full of it.
I saw you in there, and you did care.
You know what I wish? I bet you're gonna tell me anyway.
When I use the word "fairness" in a courtroom, it's because it's the best way to get to a bleeding-heart judge.
It's not because I believe in fairness or doing the right thing or being on the right side of anything.
I wish that, just for a moment, you could imagine that I'm not even a little bit like you.
Wish granted.
I am sure you both know the Superman case.
That case is about the right to terminate a contract.
It's not relevant here.
Well, let's look at the law.
Ms.
Woods, our client, signed your contract saying she would never terminate your rights.
Page seven, clause nine.
The superman case says no one can sign away their right to terminate, ever.
But she did.
Ms.
Reed, termination rights do not apply to work-for-hire.
Your contract does say work-for-hire.
But since she brought this to you, it also refers to her as an author, so which one did you mean? You don't seriously expect to get this past a judge.
It got past one before.
What is he talking about? The case is Community vs.
Reed.
Not Ms.
Reed here, some other Reed.
To be work-for-hire, Ashley's work has to be "a contribution to a collective work, specially ordered" "and/or commissioned, and have a written agreement" "calling it work-for-hire.
" Now, you have the last one, but not the other two.
Ashley wrote XX-Chromo and sold it to you.
Therefore, her termination rights do apply.
So your contract is I'm sorry, what's the term? Void and worthless.
Your contract's void and worthless.
Let's avoid a messy trial.
We'll give Ms.
Woods a 10% interest in any comic book featuring XX-Chromo.
We can draw up the new contract right now.
Fantastic.
Thank you for being so reasonable.
Have a good day.
Look, I'm just asking you to consider it.
Please, don't testify at Lea Ferran's parole hearing this time.
I know she says she's innocent.
I, um, have a class across campus.
Well, you know, it actually doesn't help her to even say that, because I mean, in a parole hearing that actually works against her.
My wife went to the bank that day to sign mortgage papers.
She goes to run a simple errand, and she gets killed.
Professor, I can't even imagine what that must be like, but what if your facts are wrong? Oh, well, I'm pretty good on the facts.
Here, my memory lane.
When my wife was dying in the hospital, I made her a promise to never forget.
That's what never forget looks like.
The trial, the appeals I have all of it.
Look, I saw the district attorney's record of this case.
There's a pattern of bank robberies like this one, and I I don't think Lea Ferran drove that car.
Well, a jury found otherwise.
Did you know that Carlos Ribeiro was killed while robbing a bank in Mexico? Oh, I know all about Carlos.
I have a friend retired down there.
He saw it in the papers.
I even went down to see for myself.
There.
That's justice.
Carlos robbed the bank with that woman, an American.
She got shot too.
Professor, this woman looks a lot like Lea.
But it's not her.
Don't you think it's possible that she drove the getaway car? I, uh I'm gonna be late.
Is it okay? It all looks good.
Are you ready to sign? Sure.
What's wrong? Nothing.
Oh, my God, nothing.
This whole day has been surreal.
I got this idea one day, taking the bus to work.
I don't know where it came from, it just came, and Now we're here with this, and it's it's this thing.
Well, now it's a valuable thing.
It was always a valuable thing.
To me.
She deserves more.
We had an agreement.
We're not signing this.
It's not good enough.
Where's Mrs.
Reed? I speak for our client when I tell you that Ashley based this character on herself.
There's a part of her soul in this.
It's every feeling taken from the depth of her being Oh, for God's sakes.
And she deserves a better deal.
We seem to have a bit of a problem.
Um, please, sit down.
Leo? What's going on? The deal stinks.
Leo, I let you run with this, but it is time to stop running.
We do not want to test this in court.
Now you need to stop playing lawyer and let me be the lawyer.
Lauren, they're a big company.
We do not want to kill this deal.
They're not just big, they're huge.
They have a dozen lawyers who do nothing all day but find ways to keep people from getting money out of them.
They grind you down.
That's how they win.
So if they can do that, why are they so eager to come over here and settle this so fast? Ugh, it is annoying to me that you have a point.
What would you do, Lauren, if you knew you could not fail? What? It's XX-Chromo's motto.
I just got a text.
It's a comic-con blog.
Wonderbomb's in talks to sell movie rights for XX-Chromo.
What would you do, Leo, if you knew you could not fail? Make a crapload of money? After you.
That woman looks like Lea Ferran.
Tell me she doesn't.
Uh, there's a resemblance.
Ugh, Justin, come on.
She drove the getaway car.
- Possibly.
- No, that and neither of these two is alive to talk about it.
I can't move to vacate a sentence based on a photograph.
Oh.
This is insanely unfair.
Okay, sign this above your name.
What's that? That is an application for the D.
A.
's file on the bank robbery.
Normally that'd take months, but I'm gonna get it approved today.
You take this file to the parole hearing and use it.
Justin, five seconds ago I couldn't even admit that I had this in my hands.
Why are you doing this? Lea's not gonna get another trial, so this is it.
The parole board is the only chance to get that evidence heard.
So between that and your bottomless charm You know, I'm really surprised you came with me.
Somebody told me, and, uh, it's a vague memory Yeah.
That I have a habit of tilting at windmills.
Tilting at windmills is a lot more interesting than, I don't know, whatever it is normal people tilt at.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Do you think we have a prayer of getting her out? I miss when this was about broccoli.
Oh, hold on.
Dale Rence, the professor whose wife was killed in the robbery, called to say he's not coming today.
- What did you do? - I just fed him some B.
S.
about truth and honesty, 'cause that's how I roll.
Hi.
This is Ben Grogan.
- He's a partner in my firm.
- Hi.
Hi.
Kate's appearing as your counsel before the parole board, and based on personal experience, she'll also speak as a character witness.
Yeah, and we have the D.
A.
's file and the newspaper clipping to make the case that you did not drive that car.
What about Mr.
Rence? He won't be attending today.
The board will now hear from those speaking on behalf of Lea Ferran.
Thank you for allowing me to appear before you, the parole board, today.
First of all, I just want to say that Lea Ferran has been absolutely instrumental in solving an inmate hunger strike.
Ms.
Reed, that strike is still ongoing, correct? Yes.
Yes, ma'am.
The District Attorney has allowed me to bring their case file, and this contains post-trial evidence.
And even they admit they may have made a mistake.
Counselor, we're not here today to decide guilt or innocence.
The board accepts as fact the verdict imposed by the court.
Yes, sir, and I do understand the wisdom of that policy, but if you'll just take a look at this record, - there is a pattern.
- Counselor, this is not the appropriate forum.
If you have a case for a new trial, you need to take it to the District Attorney.
Okay, hang on, hang on a second.
Now, there are no real rules here am I right? You have some discretion.
You can hear any new evidence that you want.
Yes, but as my colleague was saying there's no buts Lea Ferran is not gonna get a new trial.
This is as close to one as she's gonna get, so I'm gonna go ahead and finish what I was saying.
Now, she was identified by seven eyewitnesses, but I can show you that it wasn't her.
I can show you a picture of a woman who looks a lot like her.
And this woman was involved in two more bank robberies with the exact same man.
As I said, Ms.
Reed, this is not the time or place for new evidence.
We do have discretion, and that's our choice.
The only reason Lea Ferran is still in prison is because she will not plead guilty to something that she didn't do.
And all I'm asking is for you to just take a look at it.
Just look! Anything else, Ms.
Reed? Yes - Thank you.
- No, no, no.
- Look at these two women! - Thank you.
The board appreciates your time.
They didn't care.
Lea, listen to me.
You only have one chance.
Your only hope is to go in there an apologize for driving that getaway car.
- So you want me to lie.
- Yeah.
Lie.
Tell them the whole thing was our idea.
Mea culpa.
Forgive me, I did it.
It was a long time ago.
I'm ready to be a productive member of society.
Use those exact words, and tomorrow we can have a picnic in Golden Gate Park and watch the kids rollerblade.
You can lay back in the grass a free woman.
What would you do? Thank you.
It's okay.
It's just the way things are.
Okay.
Got it.
Thank you.
Denied.
The Attorney General Office found money for a prison garden program.
It's gonna be state-wide.
Yes, I'll hold.
Hi! Yes, uh Well, my thanks to you too.
Good night.
The hunger strike is over.
All the women are eating, including Lea Ferran.
Sometimes small victories are better than none.
I don't think that's true.
Well there ya go.
I gotta go get my wheels balanced.
Oh, you know, here.
I'll, uh just I'll walk out with you.
Never done this wheel balancing thing, but people keep telling me I should.
I don't own that car.
The car owns me.
I'm telling ya life is so much easier when you let other people drive you around.
Ha! Oh, um, my phone.
You know what? Thank you so much for everything.
I'll see you tomorrow.
I'm sorry.
I had to do that.
Have a good tire thing.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- Good night.
- Good night.
Good night.
- Good night.
- Good night.
You're welcome.
Do not encourage her.
Bye, guys.
Hey, did that freak you out? Read Clarence Darrow.
You lose the power to be freaky, you lose the power to think.
I'm paraphrasing.
Hi.
Whatever he's saying, he's completely lying.
And I brought you coffee.
Oh, you trying to get on karma's good side? Mm-hmm, I need an apartment bigger than a cereal box within walking distance of the office.
Don't worry, she's brilliant, she'll fix this.
Okay, um, who's the girl? Um, that's Ashley.
She's a friend.
We met in a critical mass bike ride.
- Mmm.
- She wrote this.
Girl superhero.
Hmm, nice guns.
Yeah, now I know she may seem like a cute meth addict to you, but that brilliant thing came out of her brain full-blown like Pegasus from the head of Medusa.
It sold 36,000 copies in a week.
Pegasus from the head of Medusa? Yeah, she's a Greek myth geek too.
Mm-hmm.
Is Leo in love? I plead attorney-client privilege.
She wrote that work-for-hire and was paid $700.
I just got a call from the Attorney General's Office.
And because she was work-for-hire, she has no rights.
I was speaking to her.
Yes, you were talking as if I didn't exist, and I figured if I went on talking it might break your habit of assuming you're the only one in the room.
Leonardo, copyright law, that's completely Lauren's thing.
If I wanted my head bit off, I'd go to a zoo.
Sometimes you gotta dance with a tiger.
Take a whip.
I bet she's into leather.
No, it's petticoats and luggage.
I imagine there's quite an assortment of off-market equipment for the men who make it past the awkward handshake and the don't-touch-the-makeup kiss.
As I was saying, someone at the Attorney General's Office saw a law journal piece about my buying into the firm, and it mentioned dispute resolution.
Meaning you.
And you're upset because it wasn't all about you? Over the weekend, inmates at the Hayward Women's Prison went on a hunger strike to dispute living conditions, and they want a non-violent resolution.
And since when do you care about prisoners' rights? When it means that a deputy attorney general owes us a favor.
Not to mention it makes us look like Nelson Mandela.
We get money and glory.
The downside is you may get taken hostage.
I can take 'em.
Definitely if they don't eat for a few more days, but if you do screw up and I have to go in after you, I'll be like the only man on Amazon Island.
And then they could eat you.
Problem solved.
Game on.
Hey, Lauren, um, this is my friend, Ashley Woods.
Uh, nice to meet you.
Ashley has a problem.
So many people do.
I'm sure it'll work out.
She created a character for a graphic novel.
She got a flat fee, but the character could be worth more than one comic 'cause it's selling like crazy.
She can't afford a lawyer.
Um, look, Leo, I admire loyalty to friends, but Reed & Reed is in no position to take on a contingency case.
Leo's a wonderful man.
If we win, we get a piece of everything Ashley earns.
Undoing a work-for-hire contract is almost impossible.
Almost.
Kate says you're an ace at copyright law.
But, Leo, I just don't have time for a contingency case.
Not today.
It's okay.
You did really good.
Oh, I'm not giving up.
It'd be okay if you did.
I mean, it's not that big of a deal.
How do you know that? A year from now, anything could happen.
This moment right now could be the biggest deal ever.
You're talking about the comic book, right? I told you I'd help.
We don't give up.
Plan "B".
You wanna know how Justin and I got along when we had to work together? No.
You two seem like an unlikely couple.
Most marriages fail because of a lack of chemistry.
No, most marriages fail because people aren't nice to each other.
And you know what, Justin and I have plenty of chemistry.
Oh, no, no, I don't mean sex.
I mean what happens in the first ten seconds when you meet someone and your crocodile brain kicks in.
Can this guy bring dinner home? Do I want his genes in my offspring? No, I don't think like that ever.
So you ignored your instincts and married him anyway.
You know what, being taken hostage sounds really good right about now.
Maybe you're rebelling.
Did you marry Justin to piss your father off? No, no, no, my dad adored Justin.
Oh, so that's why you married him.
You know people get killed every day in prisons.
Welcome to Hayward.
Warden Sara Wilkes.
- Hi, Ben Grogan.
- Hey.
- Kate Reed.
- Appreciate you coming.
So you should know it's not like I run this place with an iron fist, but they started a hunger strike.
It needs to be resolved quickly, and obviously we'd like to avoid using force.
Okay.
Well, do you think the prisoners will talk to me? The fact that you're from outside the prison - works in your favor.
- Agreed.
Hey, well, let's see if the negotiating team will talk to us.
They're in the cafeteria.
Well, that's a good place for a hunger strike.
Will you be joining us, Mr.
Grogan? No, he won't.
That would lead to an uprising.
It's the living conditions.
Take a walk through the floors.
Like I gotta say it? The thing is if you want this negotiation to work, you need to ask for something specific.
You want, like, a list? Sure.
Overcrowding, hygiene, medical care.
We got three inmates in cells for two, man.
- Build more cells.
- That's right.
Here's the problem.
You can't ask for the moon.
This is prison, lady.
Prisoners of war get treated better.
- Yeah, that's right.
- That's right.
Okay, okay, okay, all right, hold on.
Let's just assume that they can't build new cells, right? Ask for something I can actually get.
How 'bout food? Yeah, yeah, food.
You're hunger striking for food? Fruits, vegetables, two days a week? That's it? Two days a week? Okay, I hear what Lea is saying.
But this is a statewide problem.
These are the budget cuts.
Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.
How much would it cost? For 1,100 inmates? A lot.
And it's complicated.
Come on, it's fruits and vegetables.
I need approval for every dime I spend.
Then we're gonna be dying on the local news, baby.
I'm already dead.
No, no, no, no.
No! - Can I say something? - Please.
There's a lot of land out there.
They waste money cutting grass.
Give us tools.
Each block could grow its own.
It wouldn't cost you anything.
You know, they have a garden program over at San Francisco County, even at Rikers.
Okay, I'll look into it.
But you have to end the hunger strike first.
What is it gonna take for you to end the protest? I can tell you what it won't take.
"We'll look into it.
" Red tape takes time.
You know what, how long do you want this to go on? Because these women are all headed for the hospital, and then you're gonna have ambulances, you're gonna have TV trucks, and then everybody looks bad.
I asked her to give me a reasonable demand, and she did.
Now, everybody needs to bend.
Listen to me, I don't make these rules, all right? My hands are tied.
Well, then untie them.
We don't see change, we don't eat.
Every other inmate in this place gonna be watching what we do.
And it's only gonna get worse.
Fairly Legal 2x08 - Ripple of Hope Original air date May 4, 2012 The warden says you encouraged their demands.
Oh, well, that warden was hiding behind the red-tape excuse.
She was telling the truth.
Okay, fruits and veggies, two days a week? Prisons are a billion-dollar business.
Yes, and she can't authorize it without going through a hundred levels of bureaucracy.
They're under a political microscope.
You realize that most people would be happy if prisoners got to eat garbage.
Well, the warden's gonna look worse with starving women dying of kidney failure.
I'm not encouraged.
More women are joining the protest.
Yeah, who was the prisoner with the garden idea? Why? Because she was the most reasonable.
Yeah, Lea Ferran.
But don't expect the other prisoners to take her seriously.
Why not? Because she says she never committed the crime.
Don't they all say that? Yeah, to us.
This one says it to them.
Just to be clear, this woman is not innocent, right? She's just a little crazy.
Lea's serving 15 years for armed bank robbery.
Oh, wow.
You know, I'd like to talk to her.
Okay, just to be clear, you're going in there to talk about vegetables, right? Well, of course, what else would I be talking about? It's just that you have a tendency to lose focus and simple things get complicated by other things let's call them imaginary things that have nothing to do with the simple thing that we started out to do.
Oh, Benedict, whatever are you talking about? Don't get distracted by some prisoner's sob story.
Look, these women are starving themselves, so obviously I want to get them to eat, and to make sure you look good to the Attorney General.
Okay, you're being sarcastic, that bothers me.
Focus.
Focus.
Focus.
Hey.
They were smart to send a woman.
But you knew that.
Can you get them to eat? Bonnie doesn't trust the warden.
Well, if you could talk them into even just one meal, then the warden is the one who looks like the unreasonable one.
I'll try.
No promises.
Um, can you tell me about the bank robbery? Why? I'm curious.
Yeah, I was 19, living with a guy I barely knew.
- Mm-hm.
- A guitarist.
I thought his guitar was really cool, and that he was really hot.
You do stupid things when you're 19.
Anyway, he asked me to rent a car for a trip.
I had a credit card.
I was proud, you know.
Not a lot of kids could do that at my age.
So my boyfriend and some other girl and one of his buddies used that car to hit a bank, and a woman got shot.
I wasn't even there.
You don't have to believe me.
Who says I don't believe you? I can read faces better than you can read billboards.
If I were in prison for something that I didn't do, I'd I don't know, I'd I'd I'd be psychotic.
Yeah.
You would be, the first year, and the second.
But there's one thing I learned in this place.
You can't stay angry, or you're never gonna survive.
If you're lying, you sure are awesome at it.
What about parole? My fourth hearing's coming up.
I get denied each time.
Why? Look, it's like this, okay.
My brother's wife died last year.
I have two nephews that could use an aunt more than ever.
But I didn't rob a bank.
I didn't do it.
And they can keep telling me to say that I did it until the end of time.
But I'm never, never going to say that I did it.
But they want you to apologize.
If that's what it's gonna take for me to get out of here, I'm never getting out.
What does my face say now? It doesn't matter.
I just want to understand what it's like being inside Kate Reed's head.
You wouldn't like it.
I'm interested in your logic.
You meet a prisoner who says she's innocent, or a Nigerian who wants to give you his fortune if you'll send him a deposit.
Do any red flags go up, or is it pretty much a green light? Big green light.
Your job is to resolve a hunger strike.
That woman's guilt or pretend innocence is irrelevant.
- I had a girlfriend once - Ugh, God.
She was obsessed with small dogs.
You know, I don't care.
Little dogs, big dogs.
She was heroic, crossing freeway traffic with her crate full of milk-bones and an old leash.
I tolerated it until I realized that it wasn't compassion that was making her save the dogs.
It was compulsion.
Does that sound familiar? No.
She was probably displacing her need to have kids on the dogs.
Precisely.
The thought of having kids with you must have been really upsetting.
How's it going at Hayward? Negotiations are currently at an impasse because the prisoners are making unreasonable demands.
Mm-hm.
You know, oranges and broccoli too complicated, too expensive.
And now, thanks to Kate Reed, potentially home-grown.
We can write the Fox News banner ourselves.
"Murderers fed organic produce with tax dollars.
" All right, uh, well, if it's about money, I suggest you contact your deputy A.
G.
friend and have him shuffle some prison budgets, fast.
Would this be easier on a computer? Well, I found the citation online, but I couldn't find the case.
Leo, this is nuts.
Lauren said she won't touch this.
And you're not a lawyer.
You just work for lawyers.
Did you know Abe Lincoln apprenticed with a lawyer but didn't actually go to law school? If there is anything I have learned from working with Kate is that there's always something in the law that says what you need.
Okay.
Says here the creators of Superman signed away all their rights, but years later got some of them back.
Yes, yes, this is what we need.
But we're not talking about Superman, we're talking about XX-Chromo.
Yeah, exactly.
A cocky, morally-adolescent set of cheekbones in red pajamas versus this genuinely fierce, flawed, brilliant, sexy ball of blue fire.
Oh, thanks for showing me the Ferran file.
Scout's word of honor I will not tell another soul.
You quit the girl scouts.
Yes, but I still keep my word.
Oh, is there any way that you could use a human-rights argument to compel a prison to serve better food? No.
Judges would never touch that.
Oh, okay, I had to ask.
You got time for lunch? - Do you? - Yeah.
Aren't you dating someone? Like that peach you had dinner with the other night? Oh, you mean the night that you and Grogan put away a bottle of tequila that cost more than my suit? We were celebrating the case.
It was a work thing.
You didn't celebrate long.
- Justin.
- Well, what's the deal there? - Are you two dating now or what? - Ugh, no.
God, no.
- We're just friends.
- Mm.
And you know what? I'm happy for you.
Are you seeing anyone? Not yet.
Lea Ferran.
So they offered her a plea bargain to testify against her boyfriend and his pal.
She turned it down.
That's just plain dumb if you ask me.
Well, she didn't take it because she didn't want to plead guilty to something she didn't do.
Kate, she drove the car.
Carlos was smart enough to plead out and testify against them.
He got 7 years.
Lea got 15? She could've gotten 25 to life.
Carlos's pal had a gun and killed a woman.
He was serving 25 to life.
Wait, "was"? Like, he got out? No, he was killed in lockup.
- Uh, can I borrow this? - That is not a public record.
Ooh, listen to this.
He got out on parole, robbed two more banks, took off to Mexico.
In both robberies he used a rented getaway car using the credit cards and licenses of women that weren't involved.
Hello? Do you see a pattern to this? I see a pattern with two of the women.
Lea drove the getaway car in the first robbery, there were several eyewitnesses to that.
Who said that they saw someone speeding away.
Justin, what if they're wrong? What if your office put the wrong woman in jail? Then we would move to vacate the sentence, but all you have is rented cars and a shaky theory.
How can you be so casual about this? I know you think the system doesn't work, and sometimes you're right.
But the A.
D.
A.
who put Ferran away did exactly what I would do he offered her a plea bargain, and when she didn't take it he went to trial.
That A.
D.
A.
did the right thing.
But what if doing the right thing is wrong? I'm not giving up on this.
Kate.
Pen.
I can't get them to eat.
Ugh, that's not good.
They know we go long enough, we'll see results.
Or they'll force-feed you.
In a medium-security prison? The warden will look like a thug.
Well, if you want to get nowhere, then I don't know, don't compromise.
We'll compromise on an acre of land and some tools for each block.
But we don't want a promise.
We want the tools.
Okay, all right.
I will work on my end of the deal, but you have to work on that meal.
We'll see.
Um So Do you know that your boyfriend Carlos had some more fun when he got released? He got two more women to rent cars for bank robberies.
Amazing.
What, that he'd rob more banks? No.
I'm just surprised that you believed me enough to find out more about him.
You're not the only one who can read faces.
Oh, I know it's a long shot, but if we can find Carlos Look, that's not gonna happen.
Carlos got himself shot dead last year.
Some town called La Magdalena outside of Mexico City.
Who do you think really drove that car? - I've always wondered.
- Yeah? Especially when Carlos testified and pointed his finger straight at me and said, "she drove.
" That son of a bitch.
All right, your parole hearing's in a couple days, don't change your story.
Lea, you are a model prisoner.
You've set an example to everybody.
You've helped me, and now I'm gonna help you.
You don't get it.
There's this guy, he shows up to all the hearings.
His wife was the woman that was shot in the bank.
He goes to all the parole boards to make sure that no one involved with this crime gets out early.
I mean, they listen to the family members of the dead.
Okay, we can we can change their minds.
I know we can.
Look, just get us some land.
Some tools to grow food.
But me, Ms.
Reed? I'm not going anywhere.
Mm.
Are you walk-stalking me? I found exactly what we need.
All I need you to do is call Wonderbomb Media that's Ashley's publisher and tell them that Reed & Reed wants to renegotiate her contract.
- I will do the rest.
- Oh, the rest.
As in, impersonate an attorney and get me disbarred.
I won't say that I'm a lawyer.
Leo, I'm sure you have a lot of work to do.
The reason the guys who created Superman got their rights was because they promised never to ask for their rights.
As you and I both know, that's one thing contract law won't let you do.
I know that case extremely well.
Depending on the definition of "work-for-hire," if you sign away your termination rights, it can void the whole contract.
Did Ashley did you is that their contract? Page seven, clause nine.
Lauren? I need a minute.
Okay, go on in.
You know, I'll get back to you.
I'll get back to both of you.
Okay, so, uh I wanted to let you know what I've been doing, - Mm-hm.
- And I need a favor.
Oh.
Oh, Ben! Good, come on in.
I'm getting an update on the negotiations.
I spoke to my buddy at the Attorney General's Office.
I suggested they start a garden program for the entire prison system, so it looks like it had nothing to do with one hunger strike.
It's pretty smart, huh? Yeah.
You? I want a retrial for a woman named Lea Ferran.
What does that have to do with ending a hunger strike? Lauren, look, this woman is serving a 15 year sentence, and she might be innocent.
Oh, God, this is so the wrong day for this.
There's a pattern to these bank robberies, and my client was supposedly involved in one of them.
Wait, stop, your client? My new friend.
She means random stranger that she bumped into whose life she thinks that she can change.
She deserves a retrial.
Two things get you a new trial substantial new evidence, and procedural error.
- This case has neither.
- Okay.
Lauren, I know I'm blind-siding you with this.
But, please Kate, I appreciate that you want to help this woman, I even admire it a little.
- But - But, you can't tilt at every windmill.
You know what, I am so sick of hearing that.
This woman is no more a criminal than you, or than or than me, but she's gonna spend the next five years of her life locked up in a cage.
And if you can sleep with that good for you.
I could swing a cat at a hundred things much worse than that, but I like sleeping at night, so I don't.
You can't sa the whole world.
I don't want to save the whole world.
I want to save her.
- Big fancy exit.
- Oh, shut up! You're here early.
Lea's parole hearing is Thursday what do I do? You could try, "good morning, Justin, it's nice to see you.
" Good morning, Justin, it's nice to see you.
Lea's parole hearing is Thursday what do I do? Wait, besides what you're already doing? Justin, you're my last hope.
You don't know what's happening? What? The motion, before judge Becker, to re-open the Ferran case.
Reed & Reed must have pulled some strings to get on his calendar that fast.
What? In fact, he's probably hearing it right now.
Oh.
You didn't know about this? Thank you! It's a pleasure seeing you in my courtroom, Mr.
Grogan, but I'm not generally sympathetic to requests for new trials.
Your Honor, I'm on your side, really, I am.
Prisoners are always filing these frivolous appeals.
But in this case, the prosecution's behavior Basically, it sucks.
That's not a term of law I'm familiar with.
The prosecution gave a plea deal to Lea Ferran's boyfriend who had a motive to lie.
It was expedience over intelligence.
That, to me, is the legal definition of "sucks.
" I read your motion.
You cite "Maxwell vs.
Roe.
" Correct.
If there was ever a case that fit the facts of Maxwell, this is it.
And I think you will agree it requires a new trial for Lea Ferran.
Oh, I'm listening.
Proceed.
What's the heart of your motion, Mr.
Grogan? Lea Ferran's trial was tainted.
Your Honor, if I may? The facts in Maxwell don't remotely apply to the Ferran trial.
You're a bright young district attorney, Mr.
Foster.
Sit down and let Mr.
Grogan finish.
Thank you, Your Honor.
And, all due respect, Mr.
Foster is wrong.
In Maxwell, a plea bargain was given to a jailhouse informant with a motive to lie.
The court said, "mistake.
" "Whole trial tainted.
" Same for Lea Ferran.
Her trial was tainted by the plea given to her boyfriend, hence, new trial.
Lea Ferran was offered a plea and she turned it down.
Under Maxwell, irrelevant.
Lea Ferran's boyfriend had a motive to lie.
He was caught on video robbing a bank.
Back up.
The bank-robbing boyfriend is not like the guy in Maxwell.
In Maxwell, it was a jailhouse snitch, a professional liar.
In your case, it's just one defendant against another.
But Lea Ferran's boyfriend had even more reason to lie.
He was looking at 25 years in prison.
Yes, that may be true, but that's not what the case law says.
The answer's no.
Motion denied.
Still in your good mood? Ben, I am grateful.
Lea would be grateful.
You said it was hopeless, but you did it anyway.
I would never do anything that I thought was hopeless.
I thought I could win.
- Oh, is it that simple for you? - Yeah.
You put the "goods" in one column, the "bads" in the other.
- Then you pick a winner.
- Ah, yeah.
Ben Franklin called it "moral algebra.
" I'm usually right.
Can I get a regular coffee with steamed milk, and Oh, ah, one with sugar, please.
One sugar.
Did you just compare yourself to Benjamin Franklin? I read every word that he wrote at St.
Augustine's, and, French prostitutes aside, he never let his emotions muck around with his decisions.
So, you never do anything impulsively.
It's just because you have to? No, I never have to do anything.
Oh.
You know what, you are so full of it.
I saw you in there, and you did care.
You know what I wish? I bet you're gonna tell me anyway.
When I use the word "fairness" in a courtroom, it's because it's the best way to get to a bleeding-heart judge.
It's not because I believe in fairness or doing the right thing or being on the right side of anything.
I wish that, just for a moment, you could imagine that I'm not even a little bit like you.
Wish granted.
I am sure you both know the Superman case.
That case is about the right to terminate a contract.
It's not relevant here.
Well, let's look at the law.
Ms.
Woods, our client, signed your contract saying she would never terminate your rights.
Page seven, clause nine.
The superman case says no one can sign away their right to terminate, ever.
But she did.
Ms.
Reed, termination rights do not apply to work-for-hire.
Your contract does say work-for-hire.
But since she brought this to you, it also refers to her as an author, so which one did you mean? You don't seriously expect to get this past a judge.
It got past one before.
What is he talking about? The case is Community vs.
Reed.
Not Ms.
Reed here, some other Reed.
To be work-for-hire, Ashley's work has to be "a contribution to a collective work, specially ordered" "and/or commissioned, and have a written agreement" "calling it work-for-hire.
" Now, you have the last one, but not the other two.
Ashley wrote XX-Chromo and sold it to you.
Therefore, her termination rights do apply.
So your contract is I'm sorry, what's the term? Void and worthless.
Your contract's void and worthless.
Let's avoid a messy trial.
We'll give Ms.
Woods a 10% interest in any comic book featuring XX-Chromo.
We can draw up the new contract right now.
Fantastic.
Thank you for being so reasonable.
Have a good day.
Look, I'm just asking you to consider it.
Please, don't testify at Lea Ferran's parole hearing this time.
I know she says she's innocent.
I, um, have a class across campus.
Well, you know, it actually doesn't help her to even say that, because I mean, in a parole hearing that actually works against her.
My wife went to the bank that day to sign mortgage papers.
She goes to run a simple errand, and she gets killed.
Professor, I can't even imagine what that must be like, but what if your facts are wrong? Oh, well, I'm pretty good on the facts.
Here, my memory lane.
When my wife was dying in the hospital, I made her a promise to never forget.
That's what never forget looks like.
The trial, the appeals I have all of it.
Look, I saw the district attorney's record of this case.
There's a pattern of bank robberies like this one, and I I don't think Lea Ferran drove that car.
Well, a jury found otherwise.
Did you know that Carlos Ribeiro was killed while robbing a bank in Mexico? Oh, I know all about Carlos.
I have a friend retired down there.
He saw it in the papers.
I even went down to see for myself.
There.
That's justice.
Carlos robbed the bank with that woman, an American.
She got shot too.
Professor, this woman looks a lot like Lea.
But it's not her.
Don't you think it's possible that she drove the getaway car? I, uh I'm gonna be late.
Is it okay? It all looks good.
Are you ready to sign? Sure.
What's wrong? Nothing.
Oh, my God, nothing.
This whole day has been surreal.
I got this idea one day, taking the bus to work.
I don't know where it came from, it just came, and Now we're here with this, and it's it's this thing.
Well, now it's a valuable thing.
It was always a valuable thing.
To me.
She deserves more.
We had an agreement.
We're not signing this.
It's not good enough.
Where's Mrs.
Reed? I speak for our client when I tell you that Ashley based this character on herself.
There's a part of her soul in this.
It's every feeling taken from the depth of her being Oh, for God's sakes.
And she deserves a better deal.
We seem to have a bit of a problem.
Um, please, sit down.
Leo? What's going on? The deal stinks.
Leo, I let you run with this, but it is time to stop running.
We do not want to test this in court.
Now you need to stop playing lawyer and let me be the lawyer.
Lauren, they're a big company.
We do not want to kill this deal.
They're not just big, they're huge.
They have a dozen lawyers who do nothing all day but find ways to keep people from getting money out of them.
They grind you down.
That's how they win.
So if they can do that, why are they so eager to come over here and settle this so fast? Ugh, it is annoying to me that you have a point.
What would you do, Lauren, if you knew you could not fail? What? It's XX-Chromo's motto.
I just got a text.
It's a comic-con blog.
Wonderbomb's in talks to sell movie rights for XX-Chromo.
What would you do, Leo, if you knew you could not fail? Make a crapload of money? After you.
That woman looks like Lea Ferran.
Tell me she doesn't.
Uh, there's a resemblance.
Ugh, Justin, come on.
She drove the getaway car.
- Possibly.
- No, that and neither of these two is alive to talk about it.
I can't move to vacate a sentence based on a photograph.
Oh.
This is insanely unfair.
Okay, sign this above your name.
What's that? That is an application for the D.
A.
's file on the bank robbery.
Normally that'd take months, but I'm gonna get it approved today.
You take this file to the parole hearing and use it.
Justin, five seconds ago I couldn't even admit that I had this in my hands.
Why are you doing this? Lea's not gonna get another trial, so this is it.
The parole board is the only chance to get that evidence heard.
So between that and your bottomless charm You know, I'm really surprised you came with me.
Somebody told me, and, uh, it's a vague memory Yeah.
That I have a habit of tilting at windmills.
Tilting at windmills is a lot more interesting than, I don't know, whatever it is normal people tilt at.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Do you think we have a prayer of getting her out? I miss when this was about broccoli.
Oh, hold on.
Dale Rence, the professor whose wife was killed in the robbery, called to say he's not coming today.
- What did you do? - I just fed him some B.
S.
about truth and honesty, 'cause that's how I roll.
Hi.
This is Ben Grogan.
- He's a partner in my firm.
- Hi.
Hi.
Kate's appearing as your counsel before the parole board, and based on personal experience, she'll also speak as a character witness.
Yeah, and we have the D.
A.
's file and the newspaper clipping to make the case that you did not drive that car.
What about Mr.
Rence? He won't be attending today.
The board will now hear from those speaking on behalf of Lea Ferran.
Thank you for allowing me to appear before you, the parole board, today.
First of all, I just want to say that Lea Ferran has been absolutely instrumental in solving an inmate hunger strike.
Ms.
Reed, that strike is still ongoing, correct? Yes.
Yes, ma'am.
The District Attorney has allowed me to bring their case file, and this contains post-trial evidence.
And even they admit they may have made a mistake.
Counselor, we're not here today to decide guilt or innocence.
The board accepts as fact the verdict imposed by the court.
Yes, sir, and I do understand the wisdom of that policy, but if you'll just take a look at this record, - there is a pattern.
- Counselor, this is not the appropriate forum.
If you have a case for a new trial, you need to take it to the District Attorney.
Okay, hang on, hang on a second.
Now, there are no real rules here am I right? You have some discretion.
You can hear any new evidence that you want.
Yes, but as my colleague was saying there's no buts Lea Ferran is not gonna get a new trial.
This is as close to one as she's gonna get, so I'm gonna go ahead and finish what I was saying.
Now, she was identified by seven eyewitnesses, but I can show you that it wasn't her.
I can show you a picture of a woman who looks a lot like her.
And this woman was involved in two more bank robberies with the exact same man.
As I said, Ms.
Reed, this is not the time or place for new evidence.
We do have discretion, and that's our choice.
The only reason Lea Ferran is still in prison is because she will not plead guilty to something that she didn't do.
And all I'm asking is for you to just take a look at it.
Just look! Anything else, Ms.
Reed? Yes - Thank you.
- No, no, no.
- Look at these two women! - Thank you.
The board appreciates your time.
They didn't care.
Lea, listen to me.
You only have one chance.
Your only hope is to go in there an apologize for driving that getaway car.
- So you want me to lie.
- Yeah.
Lie.
Tell them the whole thing was our idea.
Mea culpa.
Forgive me, I did it.
It was a long time ago.
I'm ready to be a productive member of society.
Use those exact words, and tomorrow we can have a picnic in Golden Gate Park and watch the kids rollerblade.
You can lay back in the grass a free woman.
What would you do? Thank you.
It's okay.
It's just the way things are.
Okay.
Got it.
Thank you.
Denied.
The Attorney General Office found money for a prison garden program.
It's gonna be state-wide.
Yes, I'll hold.
Hi! Yes, uh Well, my thanks to you too.
Good night.
The hunger strike is over.
All the women are eating, including Lea Ferran.
Sometimes small victories are better than none.
I don't think that's true.
Well there ya go.
I gotta go get my wheels balanced.
Oh, you know, here.
I'll, uh just I'll walk out with you.
Never done this wheel balancing thing, but people keep telling me I should.
I don't own that car.
The car owns me.
I'm telling ya life is so much easier when you let other people drive you around.
Ha! Oh, um, my phone.
You know what? Thank you so much for everything.
I'll see you tomorrow.
I'm sorry.
I had to do that.
Have a good tire thing.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- Good night.
- Good night.
Good night.
- Good night.
- Good night.