Original subtitles

Look, you know how it works.

A sheriff mentions something to a registrar,

the registrar talks to some judge,

the judge goes to the D.L.S., and bingo!

You´re being accused of making false declarations, Mike.

You could be struck off.

Just lie low while we appeal the censure

and hope it goes away.

But you want to know what the big question is, Mike?

The really big question is, why the fuck do I live with you?

BUNGAY: There was absolutely no motive for Pamela Arnold

to take the life of her only child.

Oh! Oh, watch where you --

-Oh, it´s you. -Oh, it´s you.

BUNGAY: You know her. What do you think of her?

EDWARDS: Ronda?

-Come on, Mike. She´s married. -Hi.

EDWARDS: With a family.

Forget it.

You can be lonely in all sorts of circumstances, I suppose.

Ronda Morgan.

Oh, you´re the second Morgan I´ve spoken to today.

Mike. Nice to hear from you.

Nice to be heard.

Hey, listen, I just, um, thought you should know.

I´ve appealed the Pam Arnold case.

She´s been acquitted. Released.

RONDA: Oh, that´s wonderful!

I-I saw you´d appealed, just not the outcome.

So you´re still following my career, eh?

You must whet my appetite. For the law.

How´s she doing?

BUNGAY: Well, I imagine she still finds herself guilty,

whatever the law says.

I just hope she gets some help, that´s all.

What are you working on at the moment?

Oh, like I said, um, the other Morgan.

This is bullshit!

I was trying to call my fucking lawyer!

Fuck off! Fucking pigs!

Fuckin´ -- Get off me!

He was just trying to call his fucking lawyer!

And a case of, um, malevolent micturition.

I´m sorry

I should probably explain it over a drink.

Sure. Why not?

-Mike. -A gift.

Oh, thank you.

Lovely. Come in.

I hope you don´t mind if we stick to tea, though.

It´s just my husband and the kids will be home soon.

No, of course not. It was just a gift.

RONDA: You okay?

Tough day in court? Tell me about this case.

Uh, which one? Morgan or...

Oh, I have to confess to being mystified

by the malevolent micturition.

Well, I think I stirred some things up there.

The saga of Dr. En Feng, who peed on his patients.

Mind you, I think he had a perfectly legitimate defense.

I think the peeing was consensual.

Because it happened on more than one occasion, didn´t it?

Um...

Yes, on a number of occasions.

So you´re honestly suggesting that my client, Pissy En Feng --

Your Honor.

BUNGAY: Sorry.

Sorry.

My client, Hsi En Feng,

stood over you on several occasions,

-took out his pe-- -Your Honor!

-Objection. -Yes. Thank you.

Let´s keep this seemly, Mr. Bungay.

I´ll do my best in difficult circumstances, Your Honor.

He then proceeded to urinate,

and you didn´t think to make any --

Objection.

BUNGAY: No, no, but she hadn´t. That was the thing.

Here, here, let me, let me. You´ll spill it.

So, how did the Crown prosecutor respond

to the demolition of his witness?

Well, he needed to be fortified, didn´t he?

But overdid it somewhat

and accidentally got himself locked

in the Crown room´s broom closet.

-I´ve got the key somewhere.

His late arrival the next morning, though,

completely helped my cause.

I bet. Oh, hi, Chad.

Mm.

This is Mr. Bungay.

Mike. Hello.

-CHAD: Pleased to meet you. -BUNGAY: Yeah.

Hi, darling.

Don´t let me interrupt. Larry.

Mike Bungay.

And this is Natalie.

Hello, Natalie.

I was just telling your mum about the Crown prosecutor

getting locked in a broom cupboard.

Fun and games in the courtroom, huh?

Oh, don´t think the judge was that amused.

Mr. Bungay?

I regret to say, Your Honor,

that the Crown has yet to arrive.

Perhaps we should --

My apologies, Your Honor.

I was...unavoidably detained.

Wasn´t a call of nature, was it?

Which is why, perhaps,

the prosecution of the emperor of China,

P´shee En Feng,

was finally doomed to failure.

Okay, it´s like I said, Richard.

It´s too late for immunity.

Morgan.

You can´t get immunity when you´ve already been charged.

But Barr´s in the same boat, right?

He knows I´m pointing the finger at him,

so you can bet your ass he´s gonna come at me.

You need to get me out of here.

I´m not a magician, Richard.

Learn, then. I need to disappear.

Both blaming each other.

Cutthroat defense, always messy.

A pathology report.

You´re right. Doesn´t help much.

Two gunshots, one to each side of the head.

Well, it´s possible they both did it.

We´re going to have to go up to Mount Eden

to see to him face-to-face.

I can´t get a feel for him.

Depositions and trial will be up there, anyway.

Debut appearance in Auckland, eh?

Maiden voyage to the north.

How did you get involved with Alistair Barr?

It was just after he pulled the Lumsden Bank job.

I was doing lots of small stuff, wanted to up the ante.

Strawberry Ripple introduced me to him.

-Ripple.

Cripple.

Gary Oldham.

He´s a gimp.

I met him when I was first inside.

I was only 15. He showed me the ropes.

BUNGAY: What were you in for?

Broken out of a borstal.

Anyway, I wanted to be something.

BARR: This guy all right?

He´s fine, mate.

You looking for a job?

I need some work.

Well, if the Ripple´s right about you,

that could be on the cards in spades.

You prove yourself on this,

there could be some more opportunities coming your way.

What do you want me to do?

Some babysitting.

Babysitting.

This guy and me did a job together.

But now he´s become a bit of a problem.

He wanted me to rent a car and drive down to Invercargill,

where Gimpy was supposed to be hiding out.

-Only he wasn´t exactly hiding.

ANDREW: And it was your job to drive him up here to Auckland,

make sure he kept his head down.

Like I said.

And that proved to be difficult.

It was bloody impossible.

Demands booze, whores, weed,

new bloody threads, smoking joints in the bloody shops!

He was a total pothead.

Started to piss me off in no time.

That´s probably not a sentiment you should express in court.

Eh? It wasn´t me he was dropping in the shit.

It was Barr!

I didn´t know it´d all blow up.

Anyway, as soon as I had him in my car heading north,

wheels were set in motion.

Yeah. Cars can be like that.

[ Piano playing, indistinct conversations ]

Hello.

Hey.

I do hate to see people dining alone.

Well, does mean that I don´t have to be witty.

And yet you still are, obviously.

It does give you the chance to watch the room, I noticed.

Sorry. I didn´t mean to stare.

Oh, don´t apologize.

Perhaps I would welcome a closer inspection.

Well, I don´t think that´s going to be possible.

I´ve got a plane to catch.

That is a shame.

Here. In case you need a dinner companion

the next time you´re in Auckland.

I would love a night on the other side of the table.

Or whatever.

So now the wheels of justice grind on.

He´s been charged.

Now we just see if he gets committed for trial.

-That´s right.

These are the pre-trial hearings

that decide whether there´s a case to be answered.

Oh, you´re a quick study.

Is that what we´re doing? You teach, I study?

Oh, something like that, you know, but I like it.

-Oh, honey, don´t touch those. -BUNGAY: It´s okay.

Bring it over to the table.

I have been thinking a lot about what you do.

And?

And I´d really like to get involved somehow,

but I´ve no idea where I´d start.

What about the Morgan case?

You might enjoy it.

You should come along for the depositions.

In Auckland?

Well, they do fly planes up there, you know.

Say yes.

Mike.

Larry.

Just dropping these off for Ronda.

Putting my wife to work, I see.

Yeah, she did mention you´d offered

to show her the legal ropes.

Well...

You certainly made it sound fun last time.

Even Chad wants to be a lawyer now.

Sorry about that.

Well, he´s a kid. Easily led.

Not sure why Ronda would be, though.

She´s pretty settled in advertising, you know.

She´s good at it.

Very, I´m sure.

And she´s happy.

RONDA: Mike, hi!

Hi.

Well, I won´t hold you two up. I got to head out soon, anyway.

Tonight? -Yeah, something´s come up.

Well, I got to work, too, you know.

The, uh, Richard Morgan case?

Yeah, I thought you could have a read when you got some time.

Looks like I´ll have time tonight.

Well, see what you think. We call it a cutthroat defense.

He says that Alistair Barr shot Gibson Grace.

Barr, well, he says Morgan did it.

Look forward to getting into it.

You thought any more about the deps?

Uh, I´d love to, Mike, but I can´t just up and leave.

Things are...

I´m think I´m going to have to take a rain check.

I understand.

But I would love to sit in on your preparations for the trial.

Help if I can.

Oh, I´d love that. If there is a trial.

We´ll see what happens after the deps.

-See you. -Bye.

So I called Barr,

told him things were getting way out of hand.

I´m sick of taking orders from you, Graham.

Pay the woman. It´s my money.

Whoo!

ANDERSON: So what was Barr´s reaction?

He told me to keep him happy till he got there.

That makes you complicit, at least.

Mike?

What?

Uh, yes, it does.

Um...did he make any other threats at that stage?

Barr?

He just told me he´ll see to it.

MAN: Be seated.

Dinner afterwards?

I think we´ll definitely be going to trial, don´t you?

Oh, counting your chickens, Simon?

Well, they certainly didn´t help each other

with their version of events, did they?

He shot him twice. In the head.

He shot him twice. In the head.

The bullet wounds do not tally with Mr. Morgan´s statement.

As the pathologist´s report indicates,

there are entry wounds on both sides of the head.

And yet...

He was lying on the couch.

On his side.

So how did Barr shoot him through the other temple?

This discrepancy alone requires a trial by jury.

It´s entirely possible, however,

that Mr. Grace´s death throes were so severe

that he tossed him onto his other side in between shots.

I think we´re going to have an interesting time.

I´m sure we are.

Your final remarks today were certainly interesting.

Your Worships, this is a scant and fanciful case.

And with due deference to my learned friend,

his case for the Crown dangles by a thread.

And I urge the court, in order to save time,

to review a very important decision

from the 1956 Irish Law Reports

on the question of sufficiency of evidence.

I draw attention to the Queen versus O´Shaughnessy.

I´m sorry I don´t have a copy of the decision at hand,

but it´s a very useful precedent and directly on point.

-Couldn´t find it.

Neither will they. I made them up.

Well, on that note, I´d better be --

Hello, there. Back again, I see.

Yes.

It´s Anne, isn´t it?

It is.

Full of surprises, this one.

I´m Anne Chalmers. I´m the restaurant manager.

Sorry. Simon Moore, colleague of mine.

It was a lovely meal. Thank you.

And excellent timing, if you two want to catch up.

We´re done, I think. And I´m in court in the morning.

Oh. Nothing serious, I hope?

No. I expect to be vindicated.

Night, Mike. Thanks for dinner.

Pleasure. See you in the morning.

Well, I´ve just finished for the night.

The bar is open, and you´re not getting away this time.

Good night, was it?

-Quiet, you know. -Mm.

Mr. Bungay.

Last night I went to the Auckland Law School

to consider the O´Shaughnessy decision.

I searched for hours and found nothing.

Oh, dear.

Oh.

Perhaps out on loan, Your Worship?

So, you think that´s why they sent it to trial?

No, no, no. Not at all.

They´re probably still looking for it.

No, they sent him to trial

because the evidence was sufficient

for a jury to have to decide.

Yes. I can see that.

So, what jumps out at you, though?

That he didn´t do it.

Oh, don´t worry about that. Never ask whether they did it.

Wow.

Okay. And murderers?

It´s irrelevant.

People who kill need the best possible defense.

You know, they´ve got the most to lose.

What we´re looking at is weaknesses in our defense.

That´ll tell us where the Crown´s going to attack.

Well, uh, his story changes a lot.

Right. Lies.

So the Crown´s going to use those lies to discredit him.

-Thanks.

So, don´t speculate on guilt or innocence.

Go through the evidence.

Don´t you get tired of the lies?

Well, I try to stay patient.

Like you.

I get that sense that you´re putting up with your life.

Being patient.

[ Tires screech, gearshift clicks ]

I´ve been going through the brief of evidence

on the Morgan case.

Do I strike you as a nutter?

I´m s What?

A nutter, Jack. A loony.

"A Suitable Case for Treatment."

Like Morgan. You see the film?

Vanessa Redgrave, David Warner.

You have been a bit, uh, preoccupied, I suppose.

I bought a house yesterday in Thorndon.

Oh. Congratulations.

Thank you.

On my way back from the airport.

I think I bought it for Ronda.

What?

I know.

Fuck, Mike.

What?

Isn´t she married with kids?

Yes.

You haven´t slept with her, have you?

God, no.

Right.

Well, maybe you should do that.

You know, get her out of your system.

Don´t buy her a house.

Too late.

Right.

Do you love her?

Fuck, Jack, if I knew the answer to that,

I wouldn´t be sitting here questioning my sanity, would I?

Um, what´s that?

BUNGAY: What?

That. Money.

Um...

Morgan´s wife buttonholed me.

She´s a nice thing. A bit intense, though.

Look, I don´t need any prepayment.

No. Honestly.

I want what´s best for Richard.

She wanted to pay the fees up front.

So, I´ll sort out what you´re owed.

That´s not the -- Why´s it all covered in dirt?

This will help you work your magic.

Can I help you get it out or anything?

You are helping.

Yeah, I know.

They almost wouldn´t let me on the plane.

I had to put it in a plastic bag.

He´s a good man, Mr. Bungay.

He just got mixed up with the wrong people.

You got to get him off, Mr. Bungay.

Yeah, look, I promise you, okay? I´ll do my best for him.

I just hope there´s going to be enough.

BUNGAY: Uh, there´ll be enough.

You´ve gone mad, haven´t you?

T-That´s got to be the proceeds of crime!

It´s a fee for work done, paid in cash.

I´ll declare it like I declare all the fees.

It´s not up to me to ask where it comes from.

ANDERSON: Just...

It´s not my position, but this house thing --

No, you know what? It´s not your position, Jack!

And don´t talk to me about Ronda.

It´s none of your business.

[ Light switch clicks, lock clicks ]

Uh, Mike?

Uh, are you okay?

I have something to give you and something to say.

A gift and a statement of intent.

Um...

Oh. Um, they´re beautiful.

I, uh, stole them from the botanical gardens.

-Ah. -Guilty.

So that´s the statement?

I thought I wasn´t supposed to know

if you´re guilty or innocent.

I am guilty...

...of loving you.

-Uh -- -Don´t say anything.

Do not say anything.

I´ve thought about it, and I do.

And if you don´t feel the same way, then I don´t want to know.

So, if I give you the option to speak

and you don´t say anything, then I know by your silence

that you don´t feel the same way as I do.

And I´m not going to give you that option.

Good night.

Mike, that doesn´t make any sense.

Mike, y-you can´t drive like this.

Come to Auckland.

You can do the interviews. We can do the trial.

I can´t.

Look, things have been bad these last two years,

-but now Larry´s --

Shit.

Speak of the devil.

What the hell is this?

Are you arriving or leaving?

Uh, well, both, actually.

It´s a misunderstanding.

The flowers, they´re bought, but I stole them.

An impulse.

I have one slip-up, and now you decide it´s payback?

I think you better bugger off, mate.

Well, I am. I will.

I was just telling Ronda how fantastic her work is.

LARRY: At 1:00 a.m.?

Work, huh? Bullshit!

He´s drunk, Larry. That´s all.

You´re right. That is all.

Work time, playtime.

I don´t know what this is, but it is over.

And you, get this car off my property.

RONDA: Mike, hi.

BUNGAY: Ronda?

RONDA: I need to talk to you about the other night.

BUNGAY: Sure. Anytime.

So, how did it go?

Uh, we sorted it out.

Not too acrimonious, I hope.

It´s been needing to come to a head for a long time now.

Remember when we first met at your political debacle and...

...I said you looked lonely in a busy room?

You can be lonely in a busy relationship, as well.

And I think Larry accepts that now.

And that...

where that kind of gap exists,

other things can steal their way in.

I will come to Auckland for the trial, if that´s okay.

Um...

That is more than okay.

But let´s drive, eh?

-I´m sick of flying. -Yeah.

And...

...there is something I need to confess first.

The other night, the roses weren´t the gift.

And I´ve had a long time to think about it.

And I am sane.

Um, it just took me --

It took me a little while to recognize what I was feeling.

I do love you.

Which is why...

...I bought you this.

What? What is it?

It´s a house.

So that you can be independent if you want to be.

There´s no strings attached. It´s for you and the kids.

I don´t even have to be there, okay?

And when I die, you´ll inherit it.

It´s in my bloody will.

Mike.

You don´t have to accept now. Just think about it.

It´s there whenever you want it.

Gentlemen, I´m sorry to keep you waiting.

Who are you calling gentle?

Hello, Mike. David Morris.

Simon´s told me all about you.

Simon, David, this is Ronda Morgan.

-Hi. -Hello.

Assistant, partner, something more?

Assistant, yes. Behave. And a very good friend.

Oh, so you two are the enemy, huh?

For the Crown.

Absolute vandals.

Peter Williams is Mike´s real foe in this one, I imagine.

MOORE: He´s defending Alistair Barr.

And don´t expect gentle.

-Oh, I´ll, uh... -Thanks.

Hello?

You´re in his room.

Yes, Larry, just.

-We´re about to prepare for -- -LARRY: I knew you would be.

We´re working, that´s all.

You can´t possibly be falling in love with that --

You be careful.

-What do you m-

You okay?

Uh, you were telling me about challenges, appropriately.

Um, yeah.

Well, the idea of challenging jurors

is to stack things in your favor.

Uh...

Yes?

Hello?

-Larry, I --

You sure you want to do this?

No. I´m here to learn about all of this.

Otherwise, what is this? Just a sordid affair?

I´m sorry.

Uh, challenges made, jury chosen. Then?

Well, before trial,

we spend some last-minute time with the accused.

We?

In the holding cell.

Your first introduction to incarceration.

You up for that?

Sure.

BUNGAY: There´ll be two prongs of defense, okay?

I doubt we can rely on the other team for support.

They´ll attack your evidence,

while the Crown sits back

and watches us tear each other apart.

-BUNGAY: That´s right.

Be the reasonable man that you are.

Let Barr be Barr.

So next in the process is putting the accused in charge.

Sounds impressive,

but the only thing they´re actually in charge of

is how they´re going to plead.

Not guilty.

Which we´ve already decided.

Not guilty.

-Not guilty.

Hello?

And so it begins.

The trial, that is.

With opening statements.

Murder cannot be self-defense.

It cannot be a reaction to provocation.

It cannot be an accident.

There must be intent to kill.

There are two persons charged with murder,

the murder of Gibson Grace.

And they should both be convicted.

You get to make your own opening statement, too.

A statement.

This all began with the Lumsden Bank robbery.

Two people were involved, Mr. Barr and Mr. Grace.

Mr. Barr´s freedom and liberty were at risk through Mr. Grace,

and this is the singular motive for his murder.

And?

What is it, the statement?

Simple, concise, to the point.

I love you.

We´ve got work to do.

BUNGAY: How can you explain this?

The fact that you were unable

to substantiate the primary situation,

which was who, in fact, pulled the trigger.

We had two stories.

Richard Morgan was saying that Barr killed Grace

and disposed of the body in the South Island,

and Oldham and the others were saying

that Morgan killed Grace himself.

I don´t know anything about any dead bodies.

Did he say why Mr. Morgan shot Mr. Grace?

He said it was because he had spent $6,000

in three days on him in massage parlors, women.

My client approached you, didn´t he,

with a question of immunity.

Well, he wasn´t just seeking immunity.

He was looking for protection.

BUNGAY: And?

BRIEN: I told him as long as I was personally involved,

I´d do my utmost to make sure that he was safe.

It was only then that he made a statement.

I was there.

I saw the whole thing.

Mr. Morgan also made it quite clear

that he didn´t want immunity from the charge of murder.

-BRIEN: Yes.

There´s no doubt in my mind that he was wanting immunity

from being charged with accessory to murder.

Richard Morgan told you he didn´t want immunity

from the charge of murder because he wasn´t a party to it.

He didn´t do it.

Yes, that´s right.

Absolutely right. Thank you.

Yes?

This isn´t achieving anything, you know.

It´s got to stop soon, surely.

Oh, yes.

Maybe I shouldn´t have been so straight with him.

Told him things had progressed.

Need to have a shower.

I should go and get some cigarettes.

Thanks, John. Cheers, mate.

You could´ve just told me that your wife was in town.

Is that why you moved to a different hotel?

Yeah, I tracked you down. Your name was in the paper.

I was drinking that whiskey.

How about something smoother?

So you know I´m up here on a bloody murder trial.

Of course.

Is it you who´s been ringing me?

Oh, come on.

I can´t.

You can do anything you want.

All right, I don´t want.

RONDA: I´ve been thinking.

Are you sure you want to put Morgan in the box?

Very sure. Yeah.

I mean, considering how much he lies in his statement...

...couldn´t he do himself more damage than good?

Oh, he´ll be fine.

He just needs to be consistent and not take any bait.

MORGAN: We´d been smoking and drinking for a long time.

I had to go to the bathroom.

And then?

He told me to help him.

We dug a grave in the floor of the garage and put him in it.

Don´t just sit there. Grab a shovel.

You do realize this makes you an accessory after the fact?

Yes.

I helped bury a body.

It´s not like I pulled the trigger, eh?

I suggest to you that Gibson Grace

was taken into the garage that night,

while he was still alive, by you.

No.

WILLIAMS: I suggest that you followed him into that garage --

No, I didn´t. He was already dead.

I suggest that you went into that garage

and you shot him from behind.

-No!

I put it to you that you were holding a large sum of money,

Gibson Grace´s share of the Lumsden Bank robbery.

And you shot him so that you could keep that money!

MORGAN: No! I was sick of him!

I was pissed off, but I didn´t kill him!

WILLIAMS: So that´s why you shot him?

MORGAN: No! I didn´t say that.

That´s not what I meant! It was him!

No more questions, Your Honor.

RONDA: Ah.

Any theories?

We need to call the police.

No. Don´t call the police.

RONDA: Hi. Yes. Our room´s been broken into.

Yes, I´m sure.

And the police.

Thank you.

Yes, I´ll hold.

We´ll need to pack.

They´ll come and take our bags, move us.

No.

We´ll stay here.

The mess, it seems fitting.

The trial?

You took a gamble putting him in the box, and it didn´t pay off.

That´s an understatement. Do you want one?

No. I hate whiskey.

Murder is a terrible, terrible crime.

But there´s a huge difference

between committing a murder and selling drugs.

My good-natured client was a dealer of cannabis, yes.

But it´s essential that you don´t hold that against him.

He also lied on a number of occasions to the police,

and that´s something we should take very, very seriously.

But it is not an admission of guilt.

People lie for various reasons.

We all lie.

I´ve lied to get myself out of trouble in the past.

And yet I, too, like Richard Morgan,

am innocent of murder.

My learned friend here has just told you

that we shouldn´t take his client´s lying seriously.

I imagine you´re confused.

I am.

If I were to make a list

of all the lies that Richard Morgan has told,

that list would stretch all the way down to Christchurch.

Christchurch.

Where Alistair Barr spent the evening

as Richard Morgan killed Gibson Grace in Titirangi.

This man, ladies and gentlemen, is a murderer,

and once again, he has lied in the hope that you,

you, and you will convict an innocent man.

I implore you, do not do that.

You must acquit my client

and find Richard Morgan guilty of murder.

In respect of the charge of murder,

how do you find the accused Alistair Barr?

We find the accused guilty.

MAN: In respect of the charge of murder,

how do you find the accused Richard Morgan?

JUROR: We find the accused...

guilty.

Mike, you have to read this.

-Not now. -It´s from Wellington.

Mike, they´ve got wind of the dirty laundry.

They´re checking it for stains.

That money...

You! You promised me!

You promised me, and you´ve killed him!

Killed him!

You´ve killed us!

You´ve killed him! You´ve killed me!

-Hey, hey, hey, hey.

You promised me. You promised me.

"Fuck murder"?

Fuck you.

Oh, that´s better.

Stop it!

What are you doing, wrecking our room?

You trying to fuck up my life?

Well, stop it. I don´t need any help, all right?

I´m quite capable of fucking it up myself!

Except this time,

I might just -- just have a chance of getting it right.

I didn´t come here to screw you.

I came here to tell you to fuck off!

You gutless fuck!

-Ah!

Fuck the Law Society.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

RONDA: I discovered the origin of the phone calls.

I wish you´d told me earlier.

Thank you for the keys.

I really don´t think I can accept them.

I think you need to figure out what you want.

I have young kids, and they, at least, need stability.

I thank you for everything and I wish you well.