Original subtitles

Previously on Pig Advances.

The morphine was turned up to 40 cc's with the full knowledge that it would

Harry. Which one of you did it?

The morphine was upped by your wife.

Yes, I did it.

Euthanasia is illegal, Dr. Brock. Well, I certainly know that, Mr. Littleton.

But in cancer cases with extreme suffering, we customarily increase the

level in order to relieve that suffering.

You think I was wrong to up the morphine?

Yes.

You actually want to try this case?

The Attorney General wants time served.

We have to be a strong family.

We have to be together.

We find the defendant, Dr. Jill Brock, guilty as charged.

Two years. That's my final offer. She's a mother. She's law -abiding. She has a

man -fought conviction.

Come on, Warren. We're talking about a reputable doctor, ex -mayor,

distinguished humanitarian with extended community service. You've got your

verdict, made your point. But nothing, absolutely nothing is served by the

incarceration of this woman.

Two years.

I don't think he likes it that you talk fast.

He won't budge. He's actually going to put me in jail? No, he is not. Plan B.

Court was just called in session. Let's go.

I'll hear from the defense first on sentencing.

We don't want to be hurt on sentencing.

We ask that your honor set aside the verdict.

What? On grounds that the law against physician -assisted suicide is

unconstitutional. Your honor has already made that ruling two years ago with the

singing serial killer Nunn. Excuse me?

The what?

And since that ruling, a federal appeals court in Washington has followed your

lead. They have declared that the law against assisting suicide is a violation

of a fundamental right to privacy. Your Honor, this is a sentencing hearing. We

don't raise constitutional appeal at sentencing hearings. Things go a little

differently around here. This is a sentencing hearing.

He repaints himself, Judge.

Shut up. Will you be quiet?

Defense counsel raises a point, Mr. Greer.

If the law Gerald Brock violated is a law which should be tossed out, why...

Your Honor, I admit I am new to this courtroom and have yet to grasp all the

idiosyncrasies that make this forum like no other. But it is not the province of

a state court judge to be invalidating laws on constitutional grounds.

Why not?

Because it just isn't done on a superior court level.

Mr. Greer, the defendant is a friend of mine.

Now, I'll be a fair judge.

I'll rule according to the law.

But I see no reason to subject her to a lengthy and costly appellate process if

we can deal with the issue right here. Your Honor, you cannot do this.

Oh, but I can.

Tomorrow, the law against euthanasia goes on trial.

It goes on trial here.

Until then...

Get out.

This is a dream.

To argue this issue in front of Judge Henry Bone, there isn't a jurist

more sympathetic to doctor -assisted suicide. This isn't exactly feeling like

dream, Mr. Dale. Try to control your goosebumps a little.

I don't enjoy being a test case as much as you do.

Honey. Look at these news trucks pulling in.

That's only because you're better looking than Kevorkian. Your doctor

would dress.

What? I won't say it in court.

Jill, don't worry.

We... You keep saying that. Don't worry. Don't worry.

I'm still looking at going to jail.

I'm worried.

No, Jill.

We will win this.

Suppose you don't.

What's this?

A swan.

Dead, dirty, and heavy. Well, what do you want me to do? It's the third one we

found like this. Can you autopsy it?

Autopsy a swan? I could take it to the vet, but...

They don't got investigational skills.

You're like a detective.

Where'd you find him?

In the public gardens where they live.

He looks pretty beat up. I think somebody murdered him.

This is a justifiable use of tax dollars using a medical examiner for... It's a

swan. People shouldn't be killing a beautiful swan.

The Supreme Court has held that for deeply personal choices...

Those decisions are protected by the Constitution against government

The Supreme Court has never ruled on physician -assisted suicide.

Not directly. But it held that competent, terminally ill people can

unwanted medical treatment. There's a big difference between refusing medical

treatment and active euthanasia, Mr. Dell. Oh, come on, Counsel. What's the

difference? If the refusal of treatment means the patient dies, how's that

different from giving him morphine?

Both acts kill him.

To say, okay.

We won't postpone the inevitable.

Let's not prolong the suffering. And to turn off a respirator, that's one thing.

It's quite something else to inject a patient to cause death. That's just a

of crap. I'm sorry.

Under the current law, it's okay to shut off a nutrition tube and let a patient

die. But it's not okay to let him go humanely and peacefully with a drug.

How do you justify that? I justify it by saying the state has an interest

against suicide.

We have an interest in the continued suffering of dying patients?

What about the depressed man who just lost his job?

The soccer player who loses his leg?

They could be competent people who also choose to die. Do we just give them

morphine and say, nice knowing you? That isn't this case. But it's very much the

danger posed by this case. Where do you draw the line?

Many Alzheimer patients want to die before dementia begins. We're all

with the slippery slope argument.

Once you start letting some do it, next thing we'll have fast food restaurants

dispensing barbiturates at the drive -thrus. It's a very lovely theory.

don't trivialize. Everything you say goes to policy.

But a court has to stay focused on rights.

Legal rights.

And I repeat, the Supreme Court has held that for profoundly personal decisions,

for matters that go to an individual's autonomy, to his human dignity, for

cases, the message to the state is... Bought out.

And I submit, what could be closer to the heart of personal liberty than the

decision by a terminally ill, suffering person to decide, I've had enough. I

don't want to live anymore. I don't dispute Mr. Fenwick's right to make that

decision. I take issue with her killing him. That's an unconscionable

distinction. It's okay for him to kill himself, but it's wrong for a physician

to make it more humane. It's wrong for her to make it easier.

If we let doctors jump in and facilitate suicide, we tacitly endorse it as an

acceptable thing. That's wrong.

Oh, that's right.

Suicide should remain a disgrace. Yes, it should.

If we destigmatize it, we make it more imaginable, more conceivable.

What if that court's ruling caused somebody out there to think, hey,

noble?

What if that court caused somebody you love to put a gun to their head?

Hey, you're out of order.

I should hold you in contempt.

What did I say? If a person puts a gun to his head, that's insanity.

It has no bearing on.

It's insanity.

We're adjourned.

Till tomorrow.

That swan didn't die of natural causes. It was beaten to death.

I knew it. And we're not talking about a couple of whacks. It was struck more

than a hundred times.

Uh, what's going on?

We've had some swans killed. I asked Carter to let us know. This was a mute

swan, female. She may have been killed for her eggs. They're worth about a

thousand dollars on the black market. Swan eggs.

This is a special swan, extremely protective of offspring. That's why

dead. Poachers usually have to kill the mother before they can even get close to

the eggs. So a poacher beat it to death?

The weapon appeared to be wood.

But I also dug out some tiny fragments of fiberglass. Where are the other two?

We buried them, but they look just the same as this one.

It's either poachers after the eggs or we got a serial swan killer. Either way,

this is big.

I should be deputized.

You don't have to be the judge on every case, Henry.

Maybe this one strikes too close. This case has nothing to do with anything

personal to me.

Oh, yeah, I could see but a little tantrum you threw, which was probably

outburst of objectivity. This is an ex parte communication.

This conversation is out of line.

Henry, if you can't separate this from your own tragedy, you shouldn't be the

judge. I will rule as the law tells me to rule.

The law will control.

I can't believe anybody would kill a swan.

Maybe it was suffering.

Maybe it was mercy killing.

Please, Zachary, just eat your dinner.

Yeah, eat it.

And you just be quiet if you don't mind.

What?

Is there a problem?

Problem? No. You're looking at me like there's a problem.

There's no problem.

Kimberly, I know that you think what I did was wrong.

But I would appreciate it if you wouldn't punish me. This has been tough

Zach, can you pass the spinach?

Appreciate all your support.

Oh, grow up.

What did you say?

Can we just have dinner? No, no, no. If she's got something to say to me, I

would really enjoy hearing about it.

What do you think it's like to go to school these days?

How do you think Zach feels hearing the whispers?

What about Matthew having to hand a note to his principal saying, please excuse

me from my gym class, but I have to attend my mother's manslaughter trial?

I know this hasn't been easy for any of you.

Did you consider that before you up Mr. Fenwick's morphine? Kimberly. Did you

stop to think that there may be consequences for us? That's enough.

I'm sorry, but you brought this on, Mom.

And we are just trying to survive it. We survive by sticking together.

I told you this was going to be hard. It's hard, damn it.

We stay together.

I'm sorry.

If you don't feel like I'm supporting you, then I just have to try harder.

No, I don't know if I'm... I'm so on edge because I'm afraid of going to

jail or just because I'm afraid what I did was wrong.

And I suppose it would be easier to think that you believed what I did was

right.

I'm not saying I don't.

I just don't know.

I do love you.

You know that?

Yeah.

I do.

He can't call a witness. Why not?

Because this is an argument on the constitutional viability of a law. It is

an evidentiary hearing. One of the ways we evaluate the constitutional basis of

a law is to examine its application.

Cynthia Adelson is from Portland, Oregon.

Her husband died by physician -assisted suicide. This case has nothing to do

with Cynthia Adler. Your Honor, it's fine for lawyers to get up here and

pontificate on legal theory.

But the guts of any law is how does it work. If a lay witness helps answer that

question... Objection. This is just an attempt to be inflammatory. That's a

objection. We're doing this before a judge.

And I reiterate, this is an argument of law. It is not an evidentiary

proceeding. I'll hear the witness.

I strenuously object.

Oh?

Strenuously?

Call the witness.

Hockey sticks.

What? The fiberglass fragments match the kind of coating used on the blade.

Plus, I found traces of black friction tape, the kind they use... This one was

killed with a hockey stick?

Stick, plural.

There were multiple samples of different kind of fiberglass and different brands

of tape, so we're looking at more than one stick. I think we have a hockey team

gang.

Don't mock me.

You're mocking me with a look. We know the kind of savages who play hockey. I

tried a game once. They bit me. And Joey Millen seemed hanging around that swan

pond. He plays hockey.

Stop with the mocking look.

Joey Millen is the prime suspect. All right, all right. I'll pick up Joey

Millen.

What's with him?

New swan.

Mate for life.

Now, this here is the partner of the one I autopsied. Now, these birds are also

very, very aggressive when threatened. That's why poachers have to kill them to

get to their eggs.

So? So, I think this swan will tell us who killed his mate.

Again with the mocking look. This is an intelligent bird.

If it sees the attacker, he'll let us know. He will.

We're going to help you, Bob.

His name's Bob.

Together we're going to catch the bad guy.

Carl had emphysema.

By the end, he always felt that he was suffocating.

And he had this pulmonary disease, which, well, you know, because of the

blood flow, he had pain in his arms and his legs.

He was terminal?

Yes.

And at some point, you, he, and your doctor discussed turning up the

Yes.

How did you come to discuss this, Mrs. Adelson?

Well, Carl, he knew about it. Well, you know, it became a law in Oregon, and

so he asked the doctors about it.

What did you think?

Well, I was against it at first, but then he convinced me that he

didn't want to live anymore. He was in pain, and he had to be hooked up to this

tank in order to breathe, and he...

wanted to die with some dignity, and... I couldn't really disagree with that.

And, Mrs. Adelson, you convinced that your husband was of competent mind when

decided to terminate his life? Oh, yes.

Yes, he was quite competent.

He was too competent.

What do you mean by that?

Well, the idea that he was not of service to his family was hateful to

I think that...

When he heard about that law and when he read about all those other elderly

people who were terminating their lives so that they would not be a financial

and emotional burden on their families, I think Carl, or a part of Carl, came to

believe that it was the right thing to do.

That a good father or a good husband, that's what they would do.

Now, do you think...

This new law in Oregon, the one that allows for physician -assisted suicide,

you think it played a part in Carl's decision to end his life?

Not directly, but indirectly, yes.

That law made suicide one of the acceptable options.

And added to that, if a doctor comes in and tells you that he's going to help

you die...

I just think that Carl came to believe that he should die.

That he would be less of a family man if he chose to go on living.

Thank you, Mrs. Adelson.

I know that the testimony has been very difficult.

I didn't kill any swan.

You were seen near the pond, Joey.

You play hockey, the birds were killed with hockey sticks.

Are you telling the truth?

Yes.

Joey, could you look at the swan, please?

Carter.

Just look him in the eye for a second.

Please.

Look at him, Joey.

Why is he looking at me like that?

Joey, that hockey stick beside you, I want you to slowly pick it up.

Do I have to?

Yes.

Pick up the stick.

Can I go now?

Don't you dare.

I am not coming in to try and influence your decision.

I promise.

You okay?

I don't know.

I wonder if my son thought there was something redemptive in taking his life.

Because, you know, if people could think that, I'd shatter that perception with

one swing of my gavel.

Because I don't want any other father to have to.

This case isn't about your son.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, when he was five, he'd never go to sleep unless

I sang to him.

When he'd finally close his eyes, I'd just stay there and stare at his little

face.

Life was never more rich.

He grew up to abuse and molest children.

He shot himself in the head.

I'm not sure right now life even has meaning, Gary.

Maybe I should recuse myself.

Who the hell am I to be deciding when a life should be ending

or... Maybe life has no meaning.

I've never needed to believe in heaven more than I do now.

I pray that when I go, I'll meet my son in heaven again.

But with what he did, with how he took his life, he wouldn't be in heaven,

would he?

Plea bargain?

All of a sudden you want a bargain?

Here's the problem.

Greer made an impression with that witness.

For the first time, I really think we could lose.

Well, all the same, then we go to appeals court.

On the verdict, yes, but not on the sentence.

Sentencing takes place now.

Suppose you get a year.

The appeals court won't overturn that.

If they upheld the verdict itself,

You'd be stuck with a year in jail.

So our thinking is, if we could plead it out to three months today, it's worth

considering.

Three months in jail?

And be done with it.

Maybe I should.

Go to jail?

Get it over with.

You think Greer would go for three months?

I think so now.

He's faced with the case being tossed all together. I think he'd love to see

three months served.

I won't agree to three months.

If he overturns the verdict... I can appeal. I can appeal his ruling just

you can.

One year. Best offer.

One year.

Consecutively? Come on, Warren. Even if you win, the likelihood of Bone doling

out a year... I'll take my chances. You can't. No.

She committed a homicide. One year.

Could I talk with Mr. Greer alone, please? Absolutely not. I don't think

good idea. I would like to speak with Mr. Greer in private.

I have no problem with that. Well, I do.

Please.

Please.

Everybody get out.

I'm waiving counsel.

Everybody out now.

Are you out of your mind?

These birds have retention skills.

Are you busy?

No, I guess not.

So it wasn't Joey Millen. Maybe... You want me to put a line up in front of a

swan? Suppose you pick somebody.

How admissible is that? I got a list of suspects. Six boys who were seen. No.

Kenny. No. Too bad for you. Max is out of town.

She'd love this agricultural police work, but I don't. Now get him out of

and you go with him.

Is my father here?

Not yet. He's due back any second.

How can he have that helmet on?

Look at that.

He looks upset.

Whoa, what's the matter?

He looks upset, Carter.

The swan's under control.

Zach, that swan seemed to know you.

He seemed pretty mad at you.

Did you hurt that swan's mate?

I've been watching you, Mr. Greer. I know that you're a compassionate man. I

know that you understand why I did what I did, and yet you prosecute me with

such a vengeance.

Why? I don't think you'll like the explanation, Dr. Brock.

I would like to understand you.

Right now, I don't.

Last October, my brother died of AIDS.

He had the skin and sinus infections.

Suffered the grand mal seizures.

Was even going blind.

And he decided that he didn't want to live anymore.

Together, we attached the hose to the exhaust pipe.

I closed the garage door.

Got in on the passenger side and held the keys in my hand.

We broke open a bottle of wine.

Put on some music.

sang together, cried together.

About an hour later, I kissed him goodbye, gave him the keys, and went in

house.

What? And you blame yourself for that?

The story's not over yet.

Another hour went by, and I came back.

And there he sat, crying, with his hand on the ignition.

He couldn't bring himself to turn it over.

Intellectually, reflectively, even emotionally, he wanted to die, no

But there was something inside that stopped him from starting that car.

And he asked me to.

He ended up suffering a horrible, painful, natural death.

If I had started that car, it would have been commensurate with my brother's

wishes.

But at the same time, I would have been overriding him. And you think that I was

overriding Harry Fenwick when I turned up the morphine?

Would he have turned it up himself?

What's going on?

They're in the coffee room. The swan attacked him? The swan was definitely

happy.

I

can't

believe what I just heard.

Hold on.

Zach, I want you to tell your father exactly what you told me.

A bunch of kids.

They decided instead of street hockey...

That might be fun to play swan hockey.

So, capture a swan, put it in a sack, go to the parking lot at Hanson Field

and let the swan out of the sack and they'd play.

Wait a minute.

What is swan hockey?

Instead of a puck or a tennis ball, you play with a swan.

Try to hit the swan into the other team's goal.

That's how all these swans were killed?

You all just... You hit them with your hockey stick to put them into a goal?

Zach and I never hit them.

But you were in the game.

We never hit the swans. We stayed out near the side. But you were in the game.

Yes.

And Zach was at the pond when the last one was captured.

That's why the mate remembered him.

And attacked.

I'm sickened by this.

How could you two be a part of this?

We never really wanted to be.

But we couldn't squeal.

So you just let the swan be killed?

We didn't know it was a felony.

Your Honor, I've asked my attorneys if I could do my own closing.

Mr. Wambaugh said it was something you would allow.

Well, it's irregular.

But if the alternative is listening to him, yes, it's okay. I object.

But just a little.

I

know all

the reasons against...

Euthanasia. The potential for abuse.

The woman who testified, Mrs. Allison.

The idea that perhaps her husband felt obligated to die.

That's shocking.

That doctors or family members could possibly seduce patients with

Of course that's horrible.

That a doctor's help might cause a patient to do it. A patient who might

it without the help.

That's unthinkable.

It's unthinkable.

I must admit that I've never really read our Constitution.

I don't know what our founding fathers thought about euthanasia. I suspect...

They didn't give it much thought.

Most people don't until they're faced with it.

I was faced with it.

And I promise you, when you are looking into the eyes of a dying man,

it's tough to concentrate on the big societal picture.

When a patient begs you for peace, it's...

hard to prioritize the integrity of the law over the dignity of that man's

life.

Harry Fenwick wanted to die.

He didn't want to exist in a painful, degrading manner. He wanted

to die. And he asked me, his doctor,

to prescribe some humanity.

The law says that I should have let him suffer.

A law -abiding person would have let him suffer, I guess.

I couldn't.

I couldn't.

Good law or bad law, you're the judge.

Mr. Greer, if you don't mind, I'll hear your summation tomorrow.

One of these your grandchild? What?

Oh.

No, no.

Just look.

Nothing more beautiful, huh?

No.

Nothing.

I don't understand how you could ever...

Allow it to happen. How you could let a poor, innocent swan just be killed?

We kill frogs for biology, cows for meat. That's a little different than

a swan to death with a hockey stick.

You want to become Jewish because of the be kind to animals rule.

What has happened to you, Zach?

I didn't hit the swan. I didn't like it that the other kids did.

We just didn't want to be squealers.

Well, I don't see how you could even be friends with boys who could do something

so awful.

Some of your friends go hunting and shoot bear and moose.

How is it different? Because beating a swan is cruel.

It's torture.

It wasn't killed. It was tortured.

You don't see the difference?

A few years ago, they came out with a book called The Final Exit.

A suicide manual.

A how -to book.

A week after it hit the stands, it went to the top of the New York Times

bestseller list.

A suicide manual.

What is going on?

In a day where 30 % of today's teenagers, 30%, actually

consider taking their own lives,

How can we be cultivating a permissive attitude towards suicide?

I'm told that some teenage boys in this town have been killing swans.

To me, that certainly crosses the line.

But how do we really draw that line today, Your Honor?

When kids see us reducing the value of Harry Fenwick's life, of Carl Adelson's,

that doesn't bode well for the swan.

You really think these incidents are connected? I don't know.

But I do know the equation isn't nearly as simple as defense counsel suggests.

It's much more complicated than an individual's right to die or his right

out with dignity.

Once we say that it's okay for doctors to help kill patients, once the erosion

of life's value is so complete, can it really be a surprise?

that teenage boys can think nothing of killing birds.

We're at that point, Your Honor.

Life has been rendered to have no intrinsic worth.

Harry Fenwick, I guess, came to the conclusion that his being alive had no

worth. No more value.

His doctor agreed.

So his doctor killed him.

We're supposed to say that according to the United States Constitution,

human life has no sanctity.

What is going on?

We'll talk about this when we get home, okay?

We knew it was wrong.

Why didn't you stop them then?

It isn't so easy.

Jimmy, I've got the names of all the kids. You want to prosecute?

Uh, no, they'll just walk away thinking what they did was illegal. I don't want

them to get off that easy.

Tell the parents, hold a funeral for the swan.

Make them all attend, parents too, okay?

Nice beats.

Thank you.

If it happened today, I don't know what I'd do with Mr. Fenwick.

Do you know what you do with your brother?

No.

We're both looking to that judge to tell us we were right.

They say he's a smart judge.

Yeah.

A very smart judge.

Euthanasia obviously raises profound questions about the meaning of

human life.

The answer, I'm afraid, comes down to your definition of value.

Defense counsel defines it by pointing to the best interests of the patient.

How much does he value it?

Does it have enough quality to be worth living?

Mr. Greer speaks of the intrinsic value of life itself, regardless of the

patient's rights or interests.

When you crunch this debate, Mr.

Greer is arguing that life is intrinsically sacred, and the defense,

maintain that it isn't.

I so desperately want to agree with Mr. Greer. I want to believe that life,

any life, has intrinsic value.

And that respect for that life remains distinct from what the person thinks of

himself or what others think of him.

That even if he is never loved, even if he is hated,

or if he does evil, his life,

his life, nevertheless,

has intrinsic value.

His life is, nevertheless, sacred.

According to our Supreme Court,

The patient has the right to die if he chooses, which means, legally,

life enjoys no sacred protection.

I agree with the Washington court that there is no meaningful

distinction between the terminal patient on life support and the

terminal patient who's not.

They both want to die.

They both need the doctor's help.

To say one death is natural and the other is artificial goes against my

logic. It also goes against humanity.

I hereby declare the law against physician -assisted suicide to be

I strike it down, and I'm overturning the conviction against Jill Brock.

The defendant is free to go.

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