All language subtitles for The Practice s03e04 The Defenders

I just hope we haven't pushed this too
fast. The fresher your testimony, the

better. I don't want you up there with
just a cold memory.

The more you still feel it, the more
they will. I will never not feel that

moment, Bobby.

Lindsay will open.

They'll probably put on the detective,
the coroner, somebody from forensics,

that could be it. You could be taking
the stand by Thursday.

Whether we put you on depends on how he
does.

I want to rest on our best note.

You ready?

Mm -hmm.

Are you?

We're ready.

Helen.

How we doing?

Well, nothing in his house connecting
him to the crime. That's the good news.

What's the bath?

Oh, well, your buddy George has a little
home video library, Eleanor.

None of them directed by Ron Howard.

Don't tell me.

Some weird stuff.

What, you saw it? No, some of the
detectives. It doesn't really mean

Ellen, you've got to know the guy was
framed. Come on.

If you're going to kill somebody, you
don't then walk around with the head.

It's not my case.

You know, I didn't hear an undertone of
this will probably go away.

Right now, there are no other suspects.
They think they've got the right guy.

What the hell is going on? I'm being
railroaded. Look, let's just focus on

good news. They found nothing at your
house. You said that after they

investigated, I'd probably be set free.

You said that if they didn't find
anything else, they would release me. I

said... Well, they didn't find anything
else, and now you're here telling me the

district attorney's office thinks I did
it. Don't yell at me, George. I will

yell, Eleanor. What the hell is going
on? You have to... This is insane!

All right, George.

Let me tell you how this is going to
work.

You don't shout at me, ever.

Aside from the fact that I don't like
it, we don't need some guard here taking

the stand saying he heard you banging
tables and screaming like a man who

decapitate somebody.

Now, the police are nuts to hold you.

They haven't found one piece of evidence
connecting anybody else to this crime.

You had the victim's head.

Now, add to that your porno collection.
That makes you seem a little strange.

And add to that the fact you don't have
an alibi. I was home.

Yes! And that's the only thing I have to
tell to a jury.

That while Susan Robin was being
murdered, you were home alone watching

private discovery channel.

Let's just get over the idea that
they're going to free you any second

It isn't going to happen.

We're in this for the long haul, George.

This just can't be happening to me.

Let me begin by saying thank you for
your service.

Criminal cases aren't fun, especially
when they involve the taking of human

life. And homicide trials tend to be
long.

You will be relieved to learn, however,
that here it will be short. It is

uncontroverted, which means that you can
accept it as fact right now.

The defendant shot an unarmed man at
point blank five times, killing him.

Now, defense counsel, I suspect, might
try to put the victim on trial here.

you he was a bad guy.

Perhaps he was.

But he's not on trial.

He is.

The victim didn't have a gun. He did.

The victim didn't kill anybody.

He did.

Now, it's possible the defense might
endeavor to convince you their client's

good man.

Perhaps he is.

Though in my experience, good men don't
execute people.

All I will ask, do not let yourselves be
drawn into good guy, bad guy arguments.

This isn't about who he is or what he
is. This is about what he did.

What he did was to shoot a man three
times in the chest

and then twice in the head.

What he did was commit a horrific
murder.

The evidence will show the victim,
Raymond Breyer, terrorized my client and

client's family.

His wife, Meredith, sitting there. There
are two children who visit almost every

weekend. The evidence will show that
after being stalked, threatened with

violence, vandalized, Professor Pearson
purchased a gun to protect his family.

The evidence will show that Professor
Pearson picked up that gun, in fact, to

protect himself when Mr. Breyer showed
up at his doorstep in a paranoid,

schizophrenic state to protect himself
from a deranged person with a past

history of violence.

When you listen to all of the evidence
carefully, you will see that Mr. Breyer

posed a life threat.

To Mr. Pearson and his family.

I'm not surprised the prosecution wants
you to take the question of who's the

good guy out of the equation.

Because the evidence will show Anderson
Pearson to be...

I suppose I should admit a bias.

He was my law professor.

And I, like many of my classmates,
walked out of law school aspiring to

be him.

The thing about law school, we all go in
dreaming of someday arguing the big

case. And the biggest case is, it's
usually a murder trial, where your

not only innocent, but heroic even.

And he's somebody you care deeply about.

Somebody you desperately want to save.

This is my big case.

Eugene, they're not even looking for
anybody else. They usually don't,

when they think they got the guy.

To them, this case is solved, which
means we got to investigate. And we

making two lists.

One, who would want to frame George
Vogelman? Two, who would want Susan

dead? It's possible George just
represented somebody's chance to get

murder. And this whole thing is more
about that.

Just got a little inside tip from
Lindsay.

Helen told her, George and the victim
did not leave the bar together.

Did he make any statement to the effect
that he thought the victim was armed?

No, he didn't. And, Detective, was there
any evidence of a struggle?

No, sir. Any evidence that suggested
that the victim could have been moving

toward the defendant?

No. We concluded the victim was standing
flat -footed about 40 inches away from

the defendant at the time of the
shooting. How could you tell that? The

burns on the victim, footprints, the
defendant's statement.

He said so himself.

In fact, Mr. Pearson was very
forthcoming, wasn't he?

Yes. And it was Mr. Pearson's wife they
called the police.

That's correct. Did the Pearsons ever
ask the police to do something to

them from Mr. Breyer? They did. And how
did you respond?

We advised them to seek a restraining
order. And to your knowledge, they got a

restraining order, didn't they? Yes,
they did. And yet, here was Mr. Breyer

again coming to their house.

That seems to be the case. And this Mr.
Breyer, he had a police record, correct?

That's correct. Three assault
convictions, one battery with a tire

Did you also have knowledge that he was
a paranoid schizophrenic? I have

knowledge of it today. Yes, I do. If he
were harassing you, detective, and he

rang your doorbell one night, would you
answer the door without your gun?

Probably not.

Thank you.

Would you shoot him five times?

No, I wouldn't.

The witness may step down.

Mr. Pollock?

The Commonwealth rests, Your Honor.

Maybe it's good. It's not good.

You don't just put up one witness in a
murder trial.

So what are they up to? My bet is
they're saving their case for rebuttal,

to get you in a lie.

But he's admitted everything. What's to
impeach?

Is there anything?

No. Well, if you make a single mistake,
a fact up there, they'll put up the

coroner or whoever to paint it as a lie.

That's what this is about.

Smart. Except if we don't put him on,
those experts can't testify at all now.

They satisfied their burden. He has to
go up.

Go over the autopsy reports with him. I
got to get a hold of Dr.

Matthews and our weapons guy. They could
be taking the standby tomorrow.

I'll see you after lunch.

This isn't that perverted.

Oh, I mean, at least it's film.

Some of this stuff on videotape. That
last scene had some sadomasochism going

on. You have to suppress this, Eleanor.

Well, you can get this late night on
Showtime. I mean, what's the... Oh, not

that you can't. If this gets admitted to
evidence, George is going to look like

a sicko. Let's mark up a motion to
suppress.

Jimmy, I could use that research you did
on Davis. All right, I can pull it

right up. You know, I think two women
together can be sensual.

Well, great. We'll call you up as a
character witness.

He would call.

He would drive by the house.

He was terrifying us. You said he would
call.

Did you talk to him?

Well, at first we answered, but then we
knew better than to pick up.

So he began leaving messages.

What kind of messages?

Most of them are along the lines of, you
think you're better than I am because

you're rich, but money can't buy your
health, you know.

He'd say that all the time. And when you
got the restraining order?

Well, it stopped for a few weeks, then.

Well, one morning I went out and I saw
the garage had been broken into. My car

had been scraped. A window had been
smashed.

Mr. Breyer did it.

Well, we can only assume.

A few days later, we were watching
television at night.

I got up to go to the kitchen.

And there he was at the window.

So what did you do?

I called the police.

They said they'd arrest him. Did they?
No.

The next night, I had just gotten home.

It was barely dark.

And suddenly, Meredith yelled, he's
back.

I looked out, and there he was, coming
up the walkway.

So what did you do?

I went and got my gun.

You keep a gun.

Well, I bought it because of this man.

And when you went to get your gun, was
it your intent to use it? My intent was

to let him know I was armed and I would
use it to protect myself or my family.

So what happened?

I opened the door and he... He held up
my cat.

It was dead.

It looked as if it had been strangled.

And then what happened?

He dropped it at my feet.

He said, something seems to be wrong
with your cat.

The next thing I remember, I was raising
my gun, pointing it at him. I

threatened him.

I told him if he ever tried to hurt us.
And how did he respond?

He mocked me.

How could he hurt us? He was just a
mouse.

And then he said, maybe it was a mouse
that got your cat.

And I could see it.

In his eyes. See what?

He was going to hurt us.

Then what?

The next thing I remember, the gun was
going off and he was falling backwards.

Meredith was screaming and he was lying
there.

Bleeding.

You shot him?

Yes.

Professor Pearson, did you willfully?

shoot this man?

I don't know.

You don't know?

Well, I felt myself getting angry, and I
looked at the cat, and my hand,

it just clenched, and I was squeezing
the gun, and bullets were coming out.

It was not something I decided to do.

It just, it just happened.

Give me one reason I should speak to
you.

The reason is I don't think George
Volkman killed your daughter.

You're being paid to think that. I get
paid to represent him.

What I think isn't up for sale.

The police seem pretty sure.

Given the circumstances, it's pretty
easy to be convinced that Mr. Volkman is

involved.

I'm here making room for the possibility
that the real killer is still out

there.

That's why I've come to talk.

The people I've spoken with, they say
that it's not normal behavior for Susan

go to some bar alone.

It isn't. Well, could she have been
upset about something?

Mr. Volkman said that when he first
started speaking with her, she seemed

Is it possible that she could have gone
to the bar to drown out some kind of

sorrow? I don't know.

What about her boyfriend?

Were things good between them?

I think so. I... I know she loved him.

Which is another reason she wouldn't be
going to some motel with a guy she met

in a bar.

Well, could they have had a fight? I
mean, was she depressed about that,

to a bar? She was depressed. I doubt it
was about her boyfriend, Mr. Young.

I was just diagnosed with liver cancer.

I don't have much time.

But I still don't think she would deal
with that by going to a bar.

That's wrong. We did leave together.
Well, they've got witnesses saying you

didn't. We didn't walk out the door
together.

I went first because my car was parked a
ways off. I went to get it. I drove

back to pick her up. Did anybody see her
get in the car with you? I don't know.

What, they think I abducted her now?

Why did you go to a motel, George?
You've got your place. She has hers. Why

motel? It seemed more romantic.

I don't know. My place was a mess.

Too many videotapes strewn about. You
know what, Eleanor? I'm just asking the

questions they'll be asking. Do you have
any questions to my innocence?

Get up and walk away.

I'll find somebody else.

She had her head cut off, for God's
sakes.

I have a motion scheduled to suppress
the videotapes.

We don't want them coming into evidence.

I have no doubt.

The prosecution will try to use them.

Is there anything else you need?

Anybody I can call for you?

No.

You say that your hand just squeezed and
bullets started coming out. Yes. Did

you squeeze just once or did you squeeze
five times?

I don't remember.

You don't remember.

I was probably in shock, Mr. Bullock,
and raged. The man had killed my cat.

I was thinking probably he'd kill me,
maybe my wife. Did you think he was

to kill you or your wife when you pulled
the trigger?

Well, no, not at that second, but... So
you do have some memory of what you were

thinking. And you did pull the trigger.
I didn't consciously pull it. It just

went off. Five times?

Yes. See, this is what I have a problem
with.

The squeeze and release, the squeeze and
release, the squeeze and release, the

squeeze and release, the squeeze and
release, which I am told is the only way

this weapon could possibly have gone off
five times.

Now, I have here the gun, though it's
not loaded.

Could you take this, please?

Objection!

He's already described what happened.
I'd like him to demonstrate.

I'll allow it. Come on, you've got to be
kidding me. I'll allow it.

Sit down, both of you.

Could you stand up, Mr. Pearson, and
step out?

I would like you to show us exactly how
you were holding this gun when it went

off five times.

Could you squeeze, please? It's not
loaded.

Rejection! Counsel, what else are you
looking for?

I'd like him to make it click five
times, Your Honor. See how this possibly

could have happened.

Please show us, Mr. Pearson.

Thank you, Mr. Pierce.

I'll take the gun back, please.

Yeah.

I'll say he possibly could have become
violent.

I won't go any further than that.

Doctor... That's as far as I go, Mr.
Donald. I am limited to the truth.

Am I not?

Yes.

I'll see you at the courthouse.

Doctor, we don't want you to do anything
but tell the truth.

But you don't know Anderson Pearson.

There's no other way to say this.

He needs you desperately.

Where are we on SRAM?

Same.

They'll say the gun could have
possibly... put the light trigger in the

slightest squeeze.

He sunk himself.

It's not over.

We still need only one juror.

All he had to do was stick with I don't
remember.

I guess we should have coached him a
little better. Bobby, we did everything

suborn perjury as it was.

Look, everybody in that room knows what
really happened. Our job is still the

same. We just need to find one juror to
pretend otherwise.

The videotapes would have no relevance
whatsoever except a comment on my

client's character, which is totally
inadmissible. We'd be offering the tapes

only to show a pattern, Your Honor. A
pattern? Some of the tapes involve

scenes which border on sadomasochism. We
believe we can show.

A statistical correlation between the
men who commit sex crimes. This is so

ridiculous. Can I finish? This is a
homicide case. It is not a sex crime.

We don't know that, counsel.

There is no evidence of rape or
forced... Nor is there any conclusive

that the intercourse didn't occur after
she was headless.

Your Honor.

As an officer of this court, I must go
on record with my disgust with that

comment. Take exception all you want,
but the fact remains. The police have

never even suggested such a scenario. I
doubt they even considered it. Maybe

they should.

Under the heading that depravity, too,
can be in the eye of the beholder, I

would ask that you be recused from this
case. Your Honor. I can tell you George

Vogelman could not be capable of having
such a sick thought. I would hate for

him to be in the hands of a judge who
could be. Look, we're getting way off

track now. The issue today is these
videotapes. I want to see the specific

we are talking about before I make...
You would, Eleanor.

I will see the tapes in question.

Then, I'll make my ruling.

Defense calls Dr. Walter Matthews to the
stand.

Sidebar, Your Honor.

We object to this witness on grounds of
relevance.

What's your role for proof?

Dr. Matthews will testify that Mr.
Breyer posed a risk of danger to my

and his family. Which might be relevant
if you were arguing self -defense, but

under the theory that Mr.

Pearson involuntarily pulled the
trigger.

The victim's state of mind has no
meaning.

I agree.

Your Honor, panic, fear, anger, it all
factored into my client clenching onto

that gun.

To the extent that the victim posed a
risk of bodily harm. You're trying to

squeeze in self -defense, Counsel.

We're not. The only thing relevant is
your client's state of mind. This

has nothing to say to that. This witness
will speak to the threat posed by the

victim, which goes to Anderson Pearson's
state of mind.

It's a nice try.

You are shutting down our whole defense.

I'm shutting down this guy.

He's not relevant. I want our objection
noted for the record.

So noted. Step back.

Dr. Matthews, you're excused.

Get out of my face, Eugene.

I'm in your face, Eleanor, and I will
stay in your face. If Guy says something

like that in open court, I don't care if
he's a judge or... The point is to win

a motion. If you take it on the judge...
We already lost the motion. You don't

know that. What happened?

She went ballistic on a judge in open
court. I did not go ballistic.

All right. He suggested that my client
had sex with a headless corpse. I'm

supposed to... Maybe he did us a favor.

What? Well, now we got an idea of how
people see things.

Eleanor, this was a beautiful woman with
a boyfriend.

You ever ask yourself what the hell
she's doing with George?

Maybe you just assume a pretty girl
would go to a motel with a schlub like

but the jury won't. You keep looking at
this and saying, of course he's

innocent, but you're the only one doing
that. And if you don't get some

perspective real fast, then at least be
a good lawyer and a good friend and tell

George to hire himself a new attorney,
because he didn't have a good one in

court today.

It's an extremely light trigger. This is
a sophisticated and sensitive firearm.

Now, you heard Mr.

Pearson's testimony.

Let his hand clench down the trigger.

And five shots fired.

Is that possible, Mr. Schramm? If he
squeezed the trigger one time, it would

be possible for the weapon to discharge
five times. No.

Is it your testimony that it's
impossible, Mr. Schramm? The way he

I think what happened was this. His hand
seized up a little.

And it trembled.

Causing the fingers to shake. Maybe even
twitch a little bit.

If that happened, it's not only possible
for the gun to go off again and again,

I would consider it likely.

Likely? Yeah, you have to understand,
this gun has an automatic recoil.

If his hand is trembling, pulling at the
trigger but not pulling too hard, it

will recoil automatically and fire
automatically.

It's extremely plausible.

Thank you.

Not only do I reject that likelihood,
I'm offended by Mr. Schramm's testimony.

Why is that, sir?

As manufacturer of this particular
firearm, I take exception to the notion

these weapons just go off with the
tremble of a finger.

It's preposterous. You have to pull,
semi -automatic or not.

Of course, if these guns could go off
with a trembling squeeze.

you might be exposed to a massive
product liability action. Which is one

reasons we wouldn't let the gun be so
temperamental.

And also a reason you'd be sitting in
court spouting that it could never

I can't say the morning went well, but
Schramm was much better than I ever

thought. The trembling fingers, he could
have bought us reasonable doubt.

So where are we?

I would love to be able to put on a
witness who saw your hand start to

If we had that to back up Schramm's
testimony, plus we could end on an

high point.

Otherwise, I think we're still behind.

I saw his handshake.

Are you sure?

I'm positive.

Good. Then you're up next.

He was pointing the gun and I could just
see his face going red.

Did you say anything to your husband?

No. He's pointing a gun at a man. His
face is going red and you didn't say

anything? Like put the gun down? No.

I thank God he had that gun. Otherwise,
I didn't know what that man would do to

us. Everything seemed to go in slow
motion.

And then, Anderson's hand started to
shake.

Not a lot, but he was trembling.

He was standing there like a statue.

And then suddenly, bullets just started
coming out.

Mrs. Pearson, your husband...

is on trial here for executing a man.
And I'm telling you that's not how it

happened.

He is the most gentle man on earth.

I would ask you to put yourself in his
position.

But it would be impossible for you to do
so.

You love your husband very much.

Yes. And you don't want to see him go to
prison, do you?

Of course not. When the police asked you
that night what happened, you

didn't tell them anything about any
shaking hand, did you?

I was in shock that night.

Oh.

Nothing further.

George, I want to apologize for what
happened this morning.

I just lost it in there when the judge
said... I know.

Thank you for losing it.

Okay, George.

It's brutal truth time.

Me first.

The idea that you could do what happened
to that girl, not only can I not

believe it, but it might be impossible
for me to believe it.

You and I talked on the phone every
night for a month. We shared some of our

most intimate secrets.

And the idea that I could have not
seen... What are you saying?

I'm admitting that maybe I had some
denial myself.

Obviously, I don't want to admit that I
could misjudge somebody, so it's just

possible that some of my own denial is
what caused me... You're not sure?

About my innocence.

I believe that you're innocent.

I'm just not necessarily sure that I can
trust myself to.

Forget about what I believe.

Forget about what you want me to
believe.

You are in trouble, and you could go
away for it, and your very best chance

not going away is by telling me the
truth.

It doesn't really matter to us.

If I can't convince you, what chance do
I have with 12 strangers?

We all know what really happened.

When Mr. Burr killed that cat, it was
last straw.

Can we understand why Anderson Pearson
pulled that trigger? Of course.

Who amongst us wouldn't be tempted?

He'd had enough.

I don't think the defense counsel really
expects you to believe that he

involuntarily pulled the trigger.

This all comes down to a simple bet.

The defense is wagering that you will
say, to hell with the law.

And endorse a vigilante.

We bet.

We hope.

You won't.

How dare anybody say we all know.

None of us can pretend to know what that
moment must have been like.

When a man who has stalked you, a man
who has vandalized your property, a man

who is a diagnosed violent schizophrenic
shows up at your front door, says he

won't hurt you because he's just a
mouse.

The mouse that just strangled your cat.

We all know.

Like normal thought patterns go through
your head at a moment like this? You

heard Meredith Pearson tell you an hour
ago it would be impossible to put

yourself into my client's position.

His hands started to tremble.

His fingers slightly seized.

The gun went off.

You heard Anderson Pearson tell you
that. Meredith Pearson saw it.

John Schramm, an expert on this weapon,
showed you how this kind of tremble with

a light trigger and the auto recoil
could cause this exact result.

We all know.

Like my associate predicted at the very
start, the prosecution stayed far away

from asking who's the good guy here
because that we do know.

Anderson Pearson is no criminal.

The question here is, are you going to
hand him a life sentence because we all

know?

So easy, isn't it?

I think we got a chance at reasonable
doubt.

But what Bullock said, it rang pretty
true in there.

I'd like to offer manslaughter right
now.

Parole, you'd be out in three years.

It's crazy for us to roll with the
alternative.

Prison? Three years is better than 18 to
life, Meredith.

Professor.

Professor.

The clock is ticking.

They could come back.

I'm tempted.

We both went with manslaughter, Gavin.

Three years.

He shouldn't do more, he shouldn't do
less. I think he should do more, Bobby.

Four?

Four and a half?

I'm going to reject the offer.

You really think they want to put him
away?

Do they want to? No.

But will they?

I'm staying with murder, too.

You should have seen his face, Eugene.

When I doubted him, he just fell from
the inside out.

I might as well have pronounced him
dead.

You believe he's innocent.

I know it, Eugene.

I know it.

Then we fight for him, Eleanor.

Somebody else did it. We go to work on
finding out who.

We fight.

Will you first chair?

I think I'm too close.

I'll first chair.

And we'll win.

Mr.

Donald, are you feeling confident about
an acquittal? We have nothing to say.

Please excuse us.

They're televising you? She let cameras
in for the verdict.

How long were they out?

Less than two hours.

What does that mean?

Acquittal.

Will the defendant please rise?

Madam foreperson, the jury has reached
its verdict.

We have, Your Honor. What say you?

Commonwealth v.

Anderson Pearson on the charge of murder
in the second degree. We find the

defendant, Anderson Pearson, guilty.

This matter is adjourned.

Will you help her?

Will you help her?

We'll appeal.

We'll explore whatever options.