Harry's Law (2011) s02e20 Episode Script

- Previously on Harry's Law - Your job is here, Malcolm.
It's just, he's giving me real law work to do, Harry.
- It would be a good experience.
- You're a freshman in college, not an attorney.
You're not qualified to do real law work.
- Whatever I do won't interfere with my work here.
- See that it doesn't.
Most people my age resign themselves to just projecting their hopes and dreams onto their kids.
Well, I don't have any kids, but I'll tell you this, I do get to project a little hope and a few dreams with you.
I believe in Malcolm.
I think he's going to make for a fine lawyer one day.
What's going on? Isaac Roberts, you are under arrest for the murder of Officer Xavier Elroy.
You have the right to remain silent.
Represent a cop-killer, Harry, you can forget about having a good relationship with the police.
I'm not saying I'll defend him in court, just couldn't hang him out to dry.
- I'm sorry, but if you don't have an appointment - Don't need one.
Yes, you do.
Mrs.
Korn is very busy.
You can't just Get out the way, girl.
Can I help you, boys? Uh, men, can I help you? C.
K.
You know these guys? Why am I already getting a bad feeling? It's probably best if we don't say too much.
About what? It's like this, Dante here's a juvenile.
He's 14.
And he's going to step up.
Okay.
And say it was him.
- It was me.
- He's a Juvenile, like I'm saying, no priors, he gets off easy.
And the boy gets out of jail.
Look, Malcolm's doing some important stuff.
He can't be locked down now.
Fellas, um, I honestly don't know what the hell you're talking about.
You don't know? - For real? - For real.
Malcolm's in jail.
Harry's Law 2x20 - Class War Original air date May 6, 2012 Malcolm, what the hell? - Look - Burglary? It's all just a big misunderstanding.
- It better be.
- Harry, I was let into the building, all right? The security guard will say so.
I know him.
And what about the city councilman's office? I sort of just ended up in there.
- I never took anything.
- What are you doing in there? I was investigating something.
For school? No.
What the hell are you doing investigating in a city councilman's office - in the middle of the night? - Not in here.
And not just tea, mind you, tea kettles, tea cups, tea cosies, tea diffusers, anything to do with tea it's a very substantial shop, you see.
I don't really And I don't get tea.
And I'm definitely not getting why I'm here.
Which one of you is going to tell me? I need your help.
Tony's been arrested.
Tony, I'm guessing that's you? Yes, I'm in thoroughly modern custody.
What's going on? Well, a long, long, time ago, back in England, I was an art collector of sorts, primarily of pieces not belonging to me.
You're an art thief? It's the more blunt way of putting it, yes.
Except I was a art thief.
It's something I used to be back in a life not currently my own.
I can tell he's a bit slow on the uptakes.
- Want to take it down a wee bit? - No, I think he follows.
Anyway, um, most of the pieces, the cheap snatch and go sort of thing; yeah, I was 17.
I had neither a proper eye nor an automobile, so it was a bit of a smash-and-grab practice, yeah.
Lots of storefront windows, that sort of thing.
Looking confused again, but I'll press forward.
But one of the pieces, um turns out was by a chap named Rembrandt highly overrated if you ask me but he caught on just the same.
- You stole a Rembrandt? - Unwittingly would be the operative word there.
I was 17.
I didn't know it was a Rembrandt.
Anyway, like I said, it was a lifetime ago.
But three weeks ago, the painting was recovered, an investigation ensued which has catastrophically led back to to me.
Now they want to extradite him on grand theft.
Phoebe tells me you can stop that? Well, I'm not sure I can.
But Adam, you must.
I mean, certainly when you were in law school, you must have one day dreamed of championing the cause of the innocent man.
Admittedly, I'm not that, but I I am a decent chap.
And, um if you could prevent this bloody extradition it would make my day.
And what could be more gratifying than that, my good man, than to make somebody's day.
Hm? You are damn lucky they let you out, Malcolm.
You realize that? Okay, now tell me what the hell's going on here.
You remember Li'l D? Of course I do.
Yeah, well, you know he was convicted, right? - And that he got the death penalty? - Yeah, I heard that, too.
Well, I'm trying to help him get a new trial.
- He's innocent, Harry.
- Malcolm they matched the bullet they took out of Li'l D's shoulder with the gun from the dead cop.
He shot him in self-defense! All right, and you might know that if you weren't here I'm sorry, if what? You said you'd help him.
You said you'd defend him, and then you bailed.
I did not.
I got him set up with a more experienced - criminal attorney, who - Who just went through the motions - Well, I can't do that.
- You can't do that You're not a lawyer, Malcolm.
You haven't even been to law school.
The man's innocent, I can't just sit by and let him be executed.
So how does this end up with you snooping around a city councilman's office at midnight? Connect the dots.
I'm getting bored here.
The cop was dirty.
He had some sort of real estate thing going on with the councilman, and Li'l D was sort of involved, too.
- Sort of involved, how? - Well I think you should hear that from him.
It means you'd have to go to death row, which is where he is now So, dude hired me to torch this building.
It was a vacant, you know, so nobody was going to get hurt.
The pay was good, so I did it.
It wasn't no thing.
.
By "dude," you mean who? - The cop.
- The cop you shot? - Yeah.
- And what, this was some kind of insurance scam? Yeah.
Who was behind it? Somebody who worked with the city.
A councilman or something.
I don't know for sure.
- That's who - Yeah, hold it.
Who did you deal with? Only the cop.
Until you shot him.
Listen, he was working with this councilman.
Now, he didn't give me a name, but I heard him say "Beacon" on the phone a couple times.
- George Beacon - Hold on, Malcolm.
So, this cop, working for this councilman hired you to torch this empty building Yeah.
Now you.
Beacon.
That's whose office I was in the night I got picked up.
I figured if I could connect Beacon to the cop, prove the cop was dirty - You burned down the building? - Yeah, but the next night, I showed up where I'm supposed to, to get paid, and that's when dude tried to light me up.
- What do you mean, light you up, he tried to kill you? - Yeah, so I shot him.
- Why would he want to kill you? - Look, I don't know.
I didn't get a chance to ask him, all right? Maybe he thought I was a loose end of something.
All I know is, he needed to get shot and that's it.
So, I don't feel like I shot no cop.
I shot a criminal conspirator who was trying to kill me, who would have killed me if he was a better shot.
Best I can tell, we have a shot.
- Brilliant.
- Well, it's not a good one.
It's going to depend on the judge.
I shall be charming, then.
I give you my word.
Shall I be handsome, too? I do that rather well.
Tony.
Hey, look, can I get some of that white stuff? Rodrigo here, he's not feeling so good.
White stuff? What, is he dealing cocaine, too? Are you mad? He's talking about a chai.
The white ayurvedic chai to be exact.
It's loaded with antioxidants.
We should all drink it.
Tony, I tried telling Rodrigo right here about the rhino, he don't believe me.
Really? What part didn't you believe, my good man? The part about you killing it.
Well, it's true.
In fact, it's the only reason I stand before you today.
You see, I was on a perfectly delightful safari when, suddenly, out of nowhere, the monster death-charged, his head was bearing down in full gallop.
I was about to be gored, I promise you, lad.
- So? So what'd you do? - So I reached for my Swiss Army knife, I opened the blade, just in the knick of time I should say, and I plunged it into his left eyeball.
I shall never forget the ghastly sound he made.
- You stabbed it in the eye? - Yeah.
They were good sports about it, though.
They let me keep his head.
There's what's left of the raging bastard.
What? That thing charged you? In full gallop, hyper-extended horn, with a proper body attached.
Wow.
I'm telling you, there's nothing you can do with this.
Yeah, you keep telling me that, Tommy, but what I'm hearing is, there's nothing you can do.
Doesn't mean I have to back away.
Harry, two witnesses one's dead, the other's a banger holding a smoking gun.
Yeah, first things first.
Cassie, what are my chances of staying an execution? You're better off just getting him a new trial in Superior Court.
If you accomplish that, a stay's automatic.
Well, I like the way she thinks.
All right.
Find out what you can about this councilman.
His name is George Beacon.
Malcolm? My office, please.
Okay, we're gonna get into this.
But first, I've got something to say.
I helped you stay out of jail when you got busted for drugs.
I got you a job.
I got you into the university.
I did all that.
- And I'll always be grateful.
- I'm not finished.
Look at me.
You changed my life.
Falling off that building? Changed my whole life.
You know that.
And I I like to think that I changed yours.
But doing what you're doing now, risking another felony arrest What am I supposed to do? I said I'm not finished.
It seems you were, Harry.
Excuse me? Where were you? Li'l D, he donated his liver, and that saved Lewis Epps' life.
You said you'd help him, then just gave him some other lawyer? Yeah, you're out of line.
Maybe so, but the man was sentenced to death, and still nobody here did anything.
Somebody had to try something.
Look, I realize defending a cop-killer was bad for your practice last year, and it still is today, but somebody had to do something, especially if he's innocent.
All right.
From now on, you stay on the sidelines on this.
- Okay.
- You hear me? You go to your classes, and we'll be the lawyers, you got that, Malcolm? I got it.
Okay.
What are the chances of a new trial? Malcolm.
Li'l D is a cop-killer.
He's got an extensive record.
He burned down a building.
His being executed wouldn't be considered the worst-case scenario by anybody.
And the worst that could happen from the D.
A.
's and probably the judge's point of view is for a cop-killer to go free.
Li'l D's chances stink here.
They really stink.
Okay, first.
The trial lawyer's version matches Li'l D's.
He didn't want him to testify because of his priors which it was probably the best call, not to mention he would've been charged with arson.
But here's where it gets interesting.
The building Li'l D torched - wasn't insured.
- Come again? Look, it's an old building, it'd been through a bunch of different owners, insured by a bunch of different companies, some of which don't even exist anymore.
It's a real thicket.
But when that building burnt, there was no insurance in force.
- None? - None.
The most recent policy had lapsed.
Well, the underlying land is now owned by Dubois and Grace.
It's a real estate development firm.
And they bought it for well, nothing it was given to them.
- Given to them by whom? - The government.
Cincinnati took it by Eminent Domain, and then gifted it to a developer.
It's all part of this gentrification push.
They take these blighted properties, they give them to the developers so they'll fix them up and improve the neighborhood.
Wait a second.
Who got rich when Li'l D torched that building? Ultimately, Dubois and Grace.
Can you break it down a little bit? All right.
Through the process of Eminent Domain, the city has a right to take the blighted properties and give them to private interests as long as they promise to develop that property for the economic benefit of the whole community.
Yeah, and? Well, the city can't exercise its power of Eminent Domain, unless those areas are considered "blighted.
" And Jackson Terrace, where Li'l D burned down that building, - was not considered blighted.
- Ah.
And the buildings start burning down.
Yeah.
There you go.
And it makes it much easier for a developer to say that the area's been "blighted.
" Yeah, particularly if the developer has the city councilman in his pocket.
Any connection between this George Beacon and the real estate developers? Well, he was hired as a consultant in 2007, but the official relationship ended in 2009.
But, yeah, there's a connection.
Okay, I want you to take a shot at this Dubois and Grace, whoever they are.
I doubt there'll be any paper trail, but see if you can get them to admit anything.
I'll take the councilman.
You have a good relationship with Kim Mendelsohn? Not that good, I don't.
Just talk to her.
Soften her predisposition, if you can.
And then you and I will go see Li'l D.
Help him prepare his testimony.
What, you going to put him on the stand? If he wants me to save his life, he's going to have to tell his story.
Lindsay Palmeroy for the United States, Your Honor.
We have an extradition treaty with the U.
K.
This man is charged with a felony, grand theft in fact, he stole a masterpiece, a creation by Rembrandt, no less.
My client admits this, Judge, but this happened when he was 17.
He didn't know it was a Rembrandt by the way.
He's lived in this country for over 20 years.
Nothing so much as a single arrest.
He's been a law-abiding citizen, a taxpayer Yes, I'm told he's now a nice guy, but you don't get to erase your criminal past with subsequent "niceness.
" He committed a crime for which he must be held accountable.
And our position would be that the punishment here is disproportionate to the crime.
To rip him from his life here, his friends He stole a Rembrandt.
He stole a painting.
Which turned out to be a Rembrandt.
Which he didn't know.
Your Honor, could I be heard on this? Who are you? My name is Maisie Joyce.
I've been going to Mr.
Trafford's shop for 14 years.
And I think he's the most wonderful person in the world.
Settle down.
Settle down.
Mrs.
Joyce, I appreciate you coming down here and wanting to support Mr.
Trafford, but I'm afraid this will Actually, Your Honor, these people are here to testify.
I beg your pardon? We believe their experiences are relevant to the issue before the court today, and we'd like you to hear You plan to call all these people as witnesses? The court has a decision to make.
Better to extradite this man back to England or better to let him to stay here.
And by better, we don't mean for him, but for society, ours.
This is a cross-section of the society that will be impacted by today's decision.
Let's hear what they have to say.
I'll give you the morning.
That's it.
Tomorrow morning.
All right! Maybe next time you can let me in on the plan.
I didn't have a plan going in, it just came to me.
Great.
What is it, then? Well, I suppose that it's not that he's better served by his staying here, but we are.
It sounded good when it came to me.
First off, let me tell you how much I love your hair like that.
Oh, and I really love yours.
And since you and I have always worn our hair exactly like we're wearing it now, who knew we had secretly admired it all this time? Okay.
Have you considered what motive our client would have for killing the officer? Have I considered what motive the gang member had for killing the police officer? Gee.
Perhaps it was because the police officer caught onto the fact that he gang member had burned down a building the night before? I just think that you of all people would have a hard time executing a man when there are still so many unanswered questions.
Well, that was good.
But as conflicted as I am about the death penalty, I do recognize that there are some situations where it might be appropriate, and one being when the bad guy kills a police officer.
Okay, even if that's exactly what you think happened here I doThe death penalty should be reserved for the worst of the worst.
And this guy, he gave a part of his liver to save another man's life.
This guy does not represent the worst of the worst.
Cass, I'm sorry.
I'm not moving on this.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
Oh, I think you do, that's why I got this meeting.
And that's reason that you insisted on having it here.
You were a consultant to the developer who got this land, the very land where the building was torched.
Lots of fires happen in that neighborhood, plus my consultancy ended three years ago, after Mr.
Beacon, we can save a lot of time by not insulting each other's intelligence.
There is a link between you and this real estate firm.
We are in the process of establishing a link between you and this officer.
And the truth always comes out.
Once we get ahold of phone records, my sense is, it'll come out quickly.
Then what? Now, I suspect you only meant to burn down one empty building.
You never anticipated a murder.
But should the prosecution choose to look at the whole thing as one ongoing event, you're possibly on the hook for a homicide.
This State loves its Felony Murder Rule.
Trust me, I've seen it.
Don't take my word on that, you know, consult your own attorney.
All right.
We're done here.
Mr.
Beacon, you are going to pay the piper here.
We've already had a lot of the pieces, and we're just getting started.
You might want to nip your liability at the bribing and- conspiracy- to-commit-arson level.
You get to still have a life with that.
But if you're indicted on murder well, it's, um You know, call your lawyer.
Let me know how you want to play this.
Oh, one more thing.
I, uh, I spent the last day vetting you as best I could.
Decent guy, family man For the most part, a moral person.
You know, maybe took a bribe here or there, but otherwise a decent guy.
My client is on death row.
I happen to believe him when he says that cop shot first.
But nobody knows the cop to be anything but honest except you.
Except you.
Now, you can keep it your little secret, but my client dies with that.
Well, the lawyers from Dubois and Grace denied everything, threatened to sue us for libel and so forth and so on.
Yeah, they're too smart to leave a paper trail leading to the dead cop.
We might as well subpoena records and keep on digging.
What about Beacon? Oh, I rattled him, I know that.
Enough to get any cooperation? We'll see.
How'd you do? She loves my hair.
I did get us scheduled in front of Judge Ward tomorrow.
We can take our shot with the new trial, then.
Okay.
Arrange to have Li'l D transported.
We might as well put him up first.
The way this would work, we need to make some sort of showing that you offer something that would speak to keeping you here in the States.
Do you have something to offer? Incredible charm.
And beyond that, my good looks.
Will that do it? Look, if you don't take this seriously You think this is a joke? 'Cause if so - Adam - No, it's not funny.
Why am I wasting my time here? What the hell do you have to offer? Nothing.
I've never been anything.
I've never done anything.
Unless you count being a thief.
Look, end of the day, I'm just a pretender, Adam, with nothing much to offer anybody.
That ain't true.
Going to your tea shop, listening to your adventures, that's the highlight of my day.
My only highlight, in fact.
Mine, too.
That ain't nothing.
Hey, you.
That ain't nothing.
I just threw a match on the gasoline.
It started to burn, and I got out of there.
Tell us what happened the night you were supposed to be paid for the arson.
Okay.
Detective Elroy told me to meet this guy at this warehouse in Jackson Terrace.
He didn't say who.
He just said the guy was his contact and that he had my money.
So, I get to the warehouse, and Detective Elroy's there but nobody else.
Strange, but okay.
Your money's over there, behind the Dumpster.
Do I look like an alley dog to you? Hand me my money like a man.
Your money's behind the Dumpster.
You want it, you get it.
I could care less.
So, I went to the Dumpster to get my money, except there's nothing there.
Then I hear that sound.
I turned around, he's unloading.
I catch one in the shoulder.
I pull my nine and let off a few.
He fell, and I got out of there.
It was obvious that it was a setup.
He had no plan to pay me.
He was there to take me out.
And again, just so that the sequence of events is clear, he shot at you first, he hit you in the shoulder, then you fired back in self-defense? Correct? Yes.
That is some story.
Why didn't you tell it at your original trial? On the advice of my lawyer, I didn't take the stand.
Really? Now, why would your lawyer advise that? I got some priors.
Yeah, you do.
- How many to be exact? - I don't know.
So many you can't even count? All right Was anybody else around, or was it just you and Detective Elroy, who cannot testify today because he's dead.
Just me and him.
I guess that worked out for you.
Objection.
So today, as we move this court for a new trial, you bring no new evidence? And, oh, by the way, you actually had another opportunity to tell this amazing story at sentencing to mitigate your punishment, and you still chose not to tell it.
Again, on the advice of counsel? No, I figured what's the point? Ah, but now Hail Mary time, huh? My favorite story was when he got his wallet stolen in Morocco, and he had to chase the man down the streets.
And when my husband died, he introduced me to the Queen of England.
Up to his armpits in quicksand; I only seen that once, and that was on an episode of Lassie.
And he stuck that rhino good.
And he served tea to President Obama.
Could have been June Lockhart, but I'm not sure.
First Lady Michelle was there, too.
And he went up and said, "Hello, Queen.
" And she said, "Hello" back.
And it squealed and it wiggled.
He's got those long, thin fingers, Obama.
Had that squirming wiggle going on.
You ever seen his fingers.
I felt like I was running down that street, leapfrogging them Moroccans right with him.
What the hell was the point of all that? Well, that's your job.
My job? Well, I questioned all the witnesses, got all that good testimony.
Now your job is to make sense of it.
I mean, seriously, Adam, that was delicious stuff.
You have to be able to use it somehow.
No? Look, we're just kidding ourselves.
Even if we had new evidence What about getting a stay of execution pending our investigation while we subpoena the developers records or run the phone check? In order to get a stay, you have to have the evidence.
They won't give you one of those things just so you can go fishing.
I feel this is my fault.
If I'd just jumped into this sooner Harry, you can't blame yourself.
Oh, yes, I can.
I told Li'l D I'd help him, and I didn't.
It was just as you said, Malcolm, I didn't want to be associated with a cop-killer, so I kicked the can.
Harry? All right.
I'll tell you what I know.
The eminent domain boom is, um, well, it's booming.
Governments have figured out a way to clean up and develop properties for free.
Would you explain that for us? Well, once a an area or a neighborhood is deemed blighted, the, uh, city or state just takes it.
They then give it to the developers.
The developers sink in money.
It's, uh, sort of a win-win.
- Who loses? - Uh, nobody, really.
Whoever once lived in the building is long gone.
So, what went down here? Dubois and Grace wanted to make a play for this land, but unfortunately, it wasn't blighted enough.
They were, uh, a few torched buildings shy, as it were.
And what was your relationship with Dubois and Grace? I once worked for them as an official consultant.
I later became unofficial.
Could you spell that out? They pay me.
I help facilitate their efforts with city planning, so forth.
Bribes? Consulting.
In this particular case I met with a police officer who liked to investigate arson as a side business.
Translation, he arranged for vacant buildings to be burned down? Yes.
What was his name? Detective Xavier Elroy.
And what was arranged? In consideration of $40,000, the building in Jackson Terrace would burn.
You gave him this money? I did.
Your money.
My consultancy fee.
I stood to gain a percentage should Dubois and Grace acquire the property.
So, you paid the detective 40 grand, and then what? I gave him $20,000 up front.
Another $20,000 after the building burned.
But I had absolutely no idea how he planned to accomplish this task or who he planned to use.
I've since learned that, uh, he likely used the defendant as an independent contractor.
Did you have any information as to how Detective Elroy planned to deal with my client after the arson? No.
I absolutely did not.
You took a bribe.
Yes.
And you arranged for the money to go to Detective Elroy, and he would see that the building was torched? Yes.
But you didn't see how it happened.
- How it was burned? No.
- And as for what happened on the night that Detective Elroy lost his life, you didn't see that either.
No, and as I said, I had no idea of any of this.
So, when this man says that the police officer shot first, you can't really verify that.
No, I cannot.
In fact, you have no information about the shooting.
No.
Thank you.
All set? No, I'm anything but all set.
Are you kidding me? I have no idea what I'm gonna say.
- I'm sure you do.
- No, I don't.
Yes, you do, you always do.
How about you tell me then, Phoebe.
'Cause that would ruin the surprise.
Well fine, I don't like being surprised.
But I do.
Come on.
The United Kingdom has an interest in seeing its criminals brought to justice just as we do.
It's why we have this treaty, which in order for it to work requires reciprocity.
I have no doubt Mr.
Trafford is a nice man.
He also stole a painting valued at over five million dollars.
This isn't a little nick and fence, it's a very big deal.
And this court needs to treat it as such.
Okay, first a little perspective, the painting he stole was worth $700.
That's what it was fenced for.
Nobody realized it was a Rembrandt.
Ignorance of the law This is not ignorance of the law.
It was ignorance of fact.
May I finish please? Second, in cases of extradition, our courts have sometimes refused to return suspects when the suspects are deemed to be beneficial to our society.
Especially when the individual serves a humanitarian purpose.
Excuse me, um, he tells stories, he makes tea.
Did I miss something? Clearly you did.
This tea shop is located in a fairly dilapidated neighborhood.
In the middle of It's not far from my law office, in fact.
It's just five blocks away.
Five blocks and a Grand Canyon of sorts because gentrification came to my neighborhood.
When we moved in, we also opened up a nice shoe store.
Figured we'd give back to the community in a way.
You know what we ended up giving them? A Pottery Barn.
A Jamba Juice.
We didn't improve the neighborhood, we helped to displace it.
That's what gentrification is.
It's a pretty word for an ugly business.
It takes existing neighborhoods and obliterates them to make room for the affluent.
On Weston Street, where Mr.
Trafford's tea shop is, where all these people live, there's no Pottery Barn, there's no Jamba Juice, there's not even a lousy bookstore.
What there is is a lot of poverty.
The people that live there, these people, they don't get to travel or take fancy vacations or fly to exotic destinations.
But they can go to a little tea shop.
And there, a man will serve them tea and take their imaginations on the most incredible journeys.
This man.
He's transported all of these people all over the world without ever leaving the neighborhood.
You might not think that counts for much, but you listen to these people.
He makes them smile.
He fills their hearts and minds with-with wonder, even a little magic sometimes.
Where so many businesses mine included displace neighborhoods he enriches his.
He gives back to his neighbors every single day.
How many of us do that? The crime in question took place It's been solved, the painting has been returned.
Victims have been made whole, perhaps even more so, given the appreciation of the Rembrandt.
If you take my client from this neighborhood, these people here will never be made whole.
They'll lose their safaris, their trips to Machu Picchu, they won't get to see the turtles in the Galapagos, they'll never visit Stonehenge, they'll never know the taste of the warm Guinness in Dingle or look into the eyes of a charging rhino.
You cannot begin to imagine what you'll be taking from them.
This is a poor community, not a lot of laughter or joy or, or even hope.
Inside that tea shop there's all of that.
And I'm sorry, but if you really can't get that, maybe you need to take a time-out from your busy life and go have a cup of tea.
Nothing new has come to light.
You don't get to just throw new theories against the wall after a trial is over.
Verdicts are final.
We only grant new trials when there is newly discovered evidence.
Is there newly discovered evidence? No.
Of course there is.
Turns out this hero detective wasn't so much a hero.
He was a bad cop, part of a real-estate scandal.
He was corrupt.
He was the architect of this arson plan.
And Judge, if he'll commit arson, it isn't such a leap to say he'll commit murder.
And in fact, there is nobody to contradict my client's testimony, nobody.
The city councilman took that stand and verified this was a bad cop.
That's new.
And we have to admit there's at least a possibility that Little D is telling the truth, and given that, how do we not make the effort to find out what really happened? Don't you want to be sure? I am sure.
No, you're not.
Did you know the fix was in with this councilman? Did you know the detective was corrupt.
Of course you didn't.
And given that, how do you blithely execute a man without first doing a little digging to make sure you got the whole story? Look, I know verdicts aren't perfect.
At best, they're well-intentioned guesses.
But they are well-intentioned.
And if we send this kid to his death now knowing what we know, that this cop was corrupt, that the situation very likely wasn't what it was cracked up to be, that's not well-intentioned.
It's lazy at best.
And it's disgusting at worst.
Sure, I suppose we could kill him just the same.
He's a gang member, what the hell? The question is, what are we? What are we? Okay, certainly, defense has provided new developments here.
But given that defense had this information at the first trial means that it can't be considered newly discovered for the purpose of this hearing.
The verdict and sentence stand.
The defense motion for a new trial is denied.
Just like that? Ms.
Korn, I'm happy to put a new ribbon around it if that makes you feel good.
But defense chose not to play this card at trial.
It wasn't inadequate counsel.
You might not have played the card, too.
You don't get two bites at the apple here.
I'm sorry.
We're adjourned.
Take the defendant back into custody.
Little D, I'm sorry.
And I'm very sorry that I wasn't more there for you from the beginning.
Look, I don't know how deep this arson conspiracy runs.
I'm gonna look into it.
If he can help me with an investigation, maybe we can talk about commuting his death sentence.
Okay.
Thank you.
Sure.
What was that about? It means he's not dead yet.
He's not dead yet.
How long do we have to wait? It could be a good sign.
He seemed a little predisposed to rule against us when you first got up.
But still, it seems like he should just be able to make up his mind.
Hey.
Uh, Your Honor Where are you going? I'm going home.
Would that be alright, counsel? So you haven't ruled yet? I ruled.
I'll call you all in tomorrow.
Can't can't you just tell us now? Fine.
You won.
Ooh I miss the office we had last year a little.
The practice we had.
Clients walking in from off the street.
We got so successful so fast, we started taking clients from outside the neighborhood.
Well, you can get back to it some.
The way the people embraced me here.
I mean, I'd like to, like to find a way to embrace it back.
You're not a hugger.
You said that after your very first case, remember? Do I remember? Malcolm, you were my very first case here.
Of course I remember.
And it's all gonna all come back to me, too, when I take over your practice one day.
Oh, is that how you got it figured? Damn right I do.
You know, Malcolm Uh-oh.
No doubt you've heard or been told there comes a point when a man lives his life.
It's what most parents say he or she wants is that their child go out into the world, live their life.
It's a load of crap.
What they really want, and what I want is for you to go live the life that I got planned for you.
You think you can manage that? I'll try.
Yeah.
You big dope.
First, let me say how indebted I am to all of you for coming to court and Well, you've reminded me how truly rich my life is.
The idea of being sent away from, from this magnificent little world and all you magnificent people.
Oh, and I'd better thank my attorneys.
Um, Phoebe.
And I must especially thank Adam for a closing argument that was What you've done for me, my good man, given me You, uh and you simply made my day.
Right.
Cheers.
Cheers.
You have to admit, it was a little bit fun.
Yeah, well, if you don't mind, I need to resume working for my firm now.
Come on, mine is so much more exciting.
And the company is better.
Seriously, Adam, thanks.
And thanks for walking me.
You really didn't think you could've handled that case yourself? I could've, but not as well.
I knew that closing was in you.
That's why I wanted you on the case.
And, well, that's why I want you.
Sorry.
Look, I You know, it's getting late.
I should go to sleep.
Thanks again for walking me.
Okay.
Night.
Night.
Night.
Night.