Original subtitles

3 o'clock in the morning.

This better be good.

John Dyke, it's late, and I'm not so pretty if I miss a night's sleep.

You either.

Evening, Miss Kaufman.

Esther Nichols stabbed her husband 15 times while he was passed out drunk.

She been Mirandized? Oh, yeah.

She's real cooperative.

Too cooperative, if you ask me.

This is Nichols. I'm Detective Cobb.

This is Tess Kaufman from the District Attorney's Office.

Hello.

Detective Grondyke has informed you of your rights, is that correct?

Oh, I'm not trying to hide what I did.

I killed him.

Why? He hit my daughter.

Daughter around?

Oh, no.

No, I took her over to my sister's house before I killed him.

I didn't want her to see what I was going to do.

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All she wanted was for us to take her to jail.

She said the thought of it was almost peaceful.

Who's her attorney?

Courtney Sloan from the Public Defender's Office.

Looks like murder went to me.

Premeditated and vicious.

She said she didn't even want a trial.

Then deal with it.

What? No political ramifications here at Gold?

The election's getting near.

Well, if there are, Cobb, you handle them.

No, with that swab style of public relations you've worked so hard to

cultivate.

Oh, come in, Pat.

Let's do this one by the book, people.

On the merits.

Now, if you'll excuse me.

Ah, yes, the hatchet behind the throne.

We'll check on your head later, Bubba.

Someday that boy's mouth's gonna get him in a jam.

I'm beginning to find him refreshing.

So, what's on your mind, Pat?

Just checking in.

Making sure you're ready for the final push. Oh, well, let's see.

Now, I tell the vets they'll all get jobs.

I tell the union guys I'll buy American. And I duck the abortion issue

completely. Why, you sound downright cynical.

I feel as if I've taken every position possible on every possible issue.

Remember, Machiavelli was right.

People don't want the truth.

They just want to be comforted. Now who sounds cynical?

Just being realistic.

Well, would I sound too realistic if I told you I am exhausted?

Everybody's exhausted.

But the winners don't let it show.

Well, I'll try to remember that, Pat.

I certainly hope you do.

We need to talk about the Esther Nichols case.

I'm advising that you go to trial.

What grounds, Courtney?

Self-defense.

Unless you want to cut a deal.

Self-defense?

The guy was dead drunk.

And a beating for his wife is always the way to cure the hangover.

Esther Nichols doesn't deserve to go up for murder one.

I don't think the grand jury will see it that way.

Well, I thought you might, being a woman.

I'm not out to bury her, Courtney.

You want to talk about a deal, I'll be in my office after lunch.

I hope you don't think it's too weird having lunch the day our divorce is

final.

At least we're still friends.

I feel awful about what's happened, but I'm happy that we didn't end up hating

each other.

We're lucky.

Yeah.

I did get one piece of good news today.

A $5,000 check for that old song of mine, Storm Clouds.

That's good.

A producer went nuts for it at the club, and Walker Mosley's agreed to record it

on his next album.

Could be on MTV someday.

You make a lot of money.

Yeah, and it'll all go into Maggie Zombrow's pocket.

But nothing I make is going to beat the thrill of selling my first song.

I just hope I don't sell the next one from the slammer.

Cindy?

This is Detective Cobb.

Hi, Cindy.

I'm sorry about what happened.

And I know how hard this must be for you.

But I need to ask you a couple of questions, okay?

You didn't see your mom kill your dad, did you?

Did you know that's what she was going to do?

If I had, I would have helped her.

Why do you say that?

He hit her.

He always hit her.

He hit you too, isn't that right?

Because I finally stood up.

Told him to stop hurting Mom.

He never hit you before?

He just yelled at me.

He beat her up.

Then he'd blame it on me.

Or he'd blame it on her if I did something wrong.

You knew about this?

Didn't anyone ever call the cops?

Sometimes.

But no one ever had the strength to see it through.

Why?

Family tradition, detective.

Our father, he...

It was close to the saddest thing I've ever seen.

These two sisters get beat up by their dad.

So one of them marries a guy who likes to do the same thing. And he starts in

on their daughter.

Where does it end?

Sounds like Esther Nichols made that decision.

Yeah. Well, let's drink to the progress of man since he climbed down from the

trees. Maybe we should have stayed up there.

Oh, yeah.

Meet Tarzan and Eugene, huh?

Bye.

What?

I'm just trying to picture you in a loincloth with a big club over your

shoulder.

People in the city picture me that way every day.

It doesn't take a lot of imagination.

Maybe you need to get away from all this stuff, Dickie.

Take a cruise or go hang out on an island somewhere.

Oh, okay.

Playing shuffleboard and sitting my butt in the sand drinking one of those

umbrella drinks.

Doesn't do a thing for me.

I'm going home.

Sometimes the best vacation is just being alone for a while.

At least you got John to keep you company.

Yep, I got my dog.

You'll get better than John, Kay.

Believe me.

Well, that's it.

I think so.

All the payments from every estate and probate case I've ever handled available

to the court?

Whatever happened to attorney-client privilege?

It gets waived when the attorney's been screwing the client.

Well, because of that ambitious toad, Darren Burke.

Toad he may be, but you got into this mess all by yourself.

Thanks, Maggie.

Real encouragement from my attorney.

You lied to your attorney.

There was always some detail you'd forget to mention.

Do you think I enjoy making a fool of myself in there day after day? As long

as you get paid, you don't care what you do. Well, Bruce, it's tough to attain

your level of idealism.

So what do we do?

Well, everything is negotiable.

Surely you understand that.

I'll get back to you.

All rise.

Court is now in session. The Honorable Judge Clausen presiding.

Please be seated.

Your Honor.

Yes, ma'am. Your Honor, at this time, I wish to withdraw from this case.

Why is that?

Your Honor, Esther Nichols has retained Maggie Zombrow as her defense attorney.

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Is there any particular reason for a change of counsel?

Several, Your Honor.

Surely there can be no objection to lightening the load of the public

defender's office?

None whatsoever, so long as the financial burden of the defense isn't

placed on the county's shoulders.

Frankly, Ms. Zombrow, your fees are legendary, and I wish to make it clear

that this court will take no responsibility in paying for them. I'm

not fishing for a court appointment, Your Honor.

The finances have been discussed with Ms. Nichols.

And we need to proceed on schedule.

Miss Kaufman, please read the charge.

Your Honor, on or about March 18th, in this city and county, Esther

Nichols did knowingly and intentionally murder Thomas Nichols.

Miss Nichols, do you understand the charge?

Yes,

Your Honor.

And how do you plead?

Not guilty.

I'm sorry, I can't understand you.

Not guilty.

Plea is entered.

Nisambro, are you ready to proceed?

I'm fully familiar with the facts, and for the sake of my client, request an

immediate jury trial.

Any objections, Ms. Kaufman?

No, Your Honor.

Jury selection at 10 a.m. on the 31st.

This is gonna be a tough one. Come on, Tess.

You beat Maggie on the Cromire case, you'll beat her again on this one.

Ah, the Secretary of Defense.

We're on opposite sides again, Maggie.

It doesn't have to be that way.

I thought we could make a deal.

Esther Nichols has suffered enough.

Does that mean you approve of murder one?

Just a firm believer in pest extermination.

Tom Nichols was vermin.

What do you want?

Involuntary manslaughter, no jail time.

Did they write that book on chutzpah about you?

Involuntary manslaughter. She gets seven years, she's out in three and a half. I

won't send this woman to jail.

You play hardball, don't you,

Maggie? Is there any other way? Maybe.

Why are you taking this case?

Can't be any money in it.

It's attorney-client privilege.

There must be some idealism bug going around.

Don't get philosophical on me, Dickie.

It doesn't fit your personality.

Hey,

Counselor.

What's the matter?

You're supposed to be all charged up for the fight.

I'm not looking forward to this one.

Yeah, well, I wouldn't be looking forward to it either.

Everything else okay?

There isn't anything else.

Join the club.

You haven't seen Sean.

Around the office.

We don't talk.

You miss him?

Sometimes.

I still got lonely.

Lonely people working too hard.

The new American disease.

Good luck in there today.

Go get him.

And what did you find, Detective Grondyke?

Well, this woman, that woman, opened the door real polite and invited us in.

What did you see?

Tom Nichols lying on the living room floor with a knife stuck in him.

Now, how would you describe the corpse of Tom Nichols?

One of the worst I'd ever seen.

She mutilated him.

And why are you indicating the defendant, Esther Nichols?

Because she said she killed him.

She even apologized for getting us out there so late.

Did she say anything remorseful about the killing?

No, ma'am.

She was sorrier about the mess she made than about the killing.

She even changed her clothes and washed up.

I have nothing further.

Detective Brondyke, you testified that Esther Nichols was polite.

Could you amplify that?

Was she smiling, cheerful, hostile, laughing?

She wasn't nothing, ma'am.

Like a tire with the air let out of it, you know, just flat. No emotion at all.

When she confessed to killing Tom Nichols, did she seem vindictive?

Did she seem pleased with what she had done?

Like I said, ma'am, she didn't seem like nothing.

And you saw Esther Nichols leave the house that night?

About ten, with the daughter.

I was working in my garage.

Esther came back alone right before eleven.

Did she seem at all agitated?

Just said hello and went on her way.

Had you seen Tom Nichols earlier that evening?

Yeah, when he came home from work.

How would you describe his behavior?

Seemed in a good mood.

He'd stopped off for a couple of belts.

Said he was looking forward to some fun with the old lady.

So you didn't detect any anger or hostility?

Not at all.

Thank you, Mr. Johnson.

Mr.

Johnson, what do you think?

Tom Nichols meant by fun with the old lady.

Well, I assumed.

But I don't know.

Maybe his idea of having fun with the old lady was using her as a punching

bag.

Objection. Merely looking for a definition, Your Honor.

Mr. Johnson.

I thought he meant sex.

But you don't know for sure.

No, I don't know for sure mr. Johnson did Tom Nichols beat his wife I Never

saw do you think he beat her?

objection sustained Did you ever see Esther Nichols with any bruises or

broken bones?

objection They could have come from anywhere sustained

Did you ever hear screaming

Or anything that sounded like physical combat coming from the Nichols' house.

Objection. Overruled.

Please answer Ms. Zombrow, Mr. Johnson.

All couples fight.

Sure, I heard him yelling.

But I try not to listen to that stuff.

I don't like people in my business, and I do my best to stay out of theirs.

Just the kind of neighbor we all want, Mr. Johnson.

Nothing further.

Why didn't you tell me you were involved in this? Grow up, Bruce.

I need your energies focused on my case. I have 25 cases. I'm focused on every

one. I just want to make sure I'm getting your best.

I mean, the thought of going to the pen... If you do go to prison, it will

be the kind of place where the worst thing you'll get is a bad case of tennis

elbow.

Now, if you don't mind... Yeah.

You're going head-to-head with my ex-wife.

And in Judge Clausen's court, no less.

One of your many conquests.

It only happened a couple of times.

How'd you know?

I didn't.

But now I do.

You were a real bad guy, Bruce.

Did your mother do anything while your father was hitting you?

Just... Mr. Anthony, my best friend. I'm sorry. Come on, Karen.

What? Do you understand that? I don't understand you, Estella.

What's that?

What?

What's that?

What the hell?

Stop it.

Leave us alone.

Shut up.

What?

Deal with you now, too, is that it? Shut up.

Don't touch her.

You women are all the same.

I can see right now that you're getting as bad as your mother.

Let me tell you something, honey. Let me just tell you something. You are going

to wind up the same way. That's right.

What happened after he passed out?

Well, um... Mom got this look in her eyes that I'd never seen before.

What kind of look was that?

Like she knew what she was doing.

I mean, she never seemed to know what she was doing. Dad was always telling

her.

I'm sorry, Mom.

What happened then?

Mom checked to make sure I was okay.

Then she looked at Dad.

And looked at me.

Then she said,

That won't ever happen to you again.

Those were her words?

Yes.

She made a phone call and came out with a little bag for me.

We ate some cookies and went over to my aunt's.

Cookies?

Peanut butter cookies that she made.

They were my favorites.

Eating them together was always a special time for us.

So this was a special time?

I guess it was.

My mother was saying goodbye to me.

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When did you first see your father beat your mother?

It seems like my earliest memory.

And when did he start beating you?

A little after my 12th birthday, the same month I began menstruating. You

remember that closely?

I always thought it had something to do with me becoming a woman.

And when did Tom Nichols beat you for the first time? On our honeymoon.

How did that make you feel?

It seemed sort of, um...

Natural. You called the police early in your marriage.

You had offers of help from neighbors and your doctor.

Why didn't you follow up?

Tom would apologize, turn on the sweet talk, or he'd tell me

that I was going to ruin the family if the police came.

And what about the others?

They just seemed too far to go.

Like...

Like running for a mile when I didn't have the strength to go two feet.

And the night that you killed your husband?

It was seeing him hit Cindy.

And knowing he'd do it again.

Something told me I couldn't let that happen.

She's my little girl.

Thank you, Esther.

Your witness.

Ms. Nichols, is it fair to say that you decided to kill your husband while he

was passed out drunk?

Yes.

So you packed a bag, drove Cindy to your sister's, and came back and deliberately

stabbed Tom Nichols 15 times?

Yes. Why 15?

Wouldn't 5 have been enough? Or 10?

Objection, badgering.

I'd like to hear the answer.

Please answer, Ms. Nichols.

I felt mad for a little, and then I got scared that he was going to get up.

So I kept stabbing until it got too messy and I couldn't stand it anymore.

And then I washed up and changed my clothes.

You washed up and changed your clothes?

No feelings of remorse for what you'd done?

I was worried about how it would affect Cindy.

Did you ever think about how having no father would affect her?

We didn't do such a good job, Miss Kaufman.

She'll probably be better off without either one of us.

Miss Kaufman? Oh, man, here comes trouble.

Excuse me, Miss Kaufman.

Yes? I'm Barbara Lake, and we represent several local women's organizations.

How can I help you?

Well, we're very concerned about the district attorney's handling of the

Esther Nichols case.

I'm sorry, but I'm not at liberty to discuss that. Everybody around here

seems to be ducking the issue of Esther Nichols being a battered wife.

With all due respect, this is a murder trial.

But you have resisted every attempt to negotiate a plea bargain.

Who told you that? It's common knowledge.

We had hoped that as a woman, you would be more sensitive, more receptive.

Wait just a minute, lady. You are way out of line.

No, I'm sorry. What's out of line is the way battered women are treated in this

country. Well, that may be true, but that is not her job.

Tom Nichols should have been locked up 15 years ago.

Let's go.

Wait a minute.

If anyone had had the guts to file a complaint, we would have made damn sure

that Tom Nichols was locked up, but nobody did.

And that is why we are here to clean up the mess.

Yes, but it shouldn't have gone this far. I agree with you. You're right.

You want a statement for your organization or something? I mean, ask a

congressman. Don't ask a DA.

Cops cannot be in people's houses 24 hours a day.

People need to start taking responsibility for themselves. Come on.

I hold no brief for Tom Nichols.

By all accounts, he was a vile and violent man whose reign of terror over

his family should have been broken long ago.

But suppose Tom Nichols were here in court today, accused of killing his

wife, offering as his defense his own battered childhood, offering his own

status as a victim.

Would you now forgive him?

You know that being a victim does not elevate a person above the law.

Violence does not justify violence.

This was a premeditated act.

of extreme viciousness carried out by someone who was well aware of the

alternatives.

Esther Nichols spoke of the difficulty she had pursuing these alternatives.

Each of you will have to decide how difficult making a phone call, pressing

charges, or driving to a shelter can be.

But these are the choices that society has created for people in jeopardy.

rational alternatives to picking up a knife or a gun.

Our social stability cannot survive if people like Esther Nichols are allowed

to live outside the law.

She knew she broke the law.

She had cookies with her daughter as a way of saying goodbye

because she was ready to accept the consequences.

And now it's your turn.

You must also know that she broke the law.

And return a verdict of guilty.

Thank you.

And since when has it been against the law for a person to defend herself?

Ah, but Tom Nichols was passed out drunk.

No threat.

No threat.

today. You heard the doctors.

You saw the x-rays.

And you know that if Tom Nichols were still alive, he would be a serious

threat right now.

And why didn't Esther Nichols use the alternatives available to her?

Because she couldn't.

This woman was a prisoner of brutality.

First of her father's, then of her husband's.

She was a prisoner as sure as if she had been locked in a cage as a child and

never let out.

She couldn't see beyond the prison walls to know that there was any help.

And when she saw the same thing happening to her daughter,

Esther Nichols said, enough.

I don't applaud the action that Esther Nichols took.

But she defended herself in the only way that she knew how.

And by taking Tom Nichols' life, she saved her own.

And she saved her daughter's.

If you acquit Esther Nichols, you won't be unleashing a torrent of...

brutal homicides, but you might make some people think twice before

subjugating others with their fists.

This woman has been in prison for nearly 35 years.

Let her live the rest of her life in freedom.

Thank you.

Really, Tess, it was a good closing argument.

I don't think so.

Oh, trust me.

You prosecuted this case just right.

And you had the law on your side.

Did I?

What do you mean, did I? Of course you did.

I'm not so sure. I'm not so sure these are questions prosecutors should be

asking.

Maybe they should ask them more often.

Yes. Off the record, if you were on the jury, how would you be voting?

I doubt enough.

Has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

Is the verdict unanimous? It is, Your Honor. Please read it to the court.

In the case of the people versus Esther Nichols, we find the defendant not

guilty.

Ladies and gentlemen, the business of this court is hereby concluded and the

jury is excused.

I don't know how to thank you. You don't have to.

Go home and make Cindy some peanut butter cookies.

I think this is a special time.

Then I have to figure out what to do with the rest of my life.

Won't be easy.

But you give me a call.

I've got some people you can talk to. About your bill.

It's what I said.

You can mail it to me.

No, I had Cindy bring it.

Paid in full.

Thanks.

Another member of the Maggie Zombro fan club?

Not exactly.

Who is she?

What, attorney-client privilege?

She's my mother.

She got that limp falling down the stairs after my father pushed her.

So this was personal.

Have you ever tried that on you?

Once.

But I planted my little foot so deeply between his legs, he never came near me

again.

I'm sorry.

Maggie, by the way, that was real good defense work.

I'll see you.

Dickie?

Yeah?

Thanks. For what?

I'm not sure.

Don't beat yourself up, Tess. You did the best job you could.

I could have done better. That is true of everyone.

You and Maggie are one and one now.

I want to be there to see the rubber match.

Oh, hello.

Hello, Miss Kaufman.

Hello.

Thank you.

I'm sorry to have caused everyone so much trouble.

We were all doing our jobs.

You do understand that, don't you?

Do you understand the position I was in?

Not completely.

No.

I hope you never have to.

I'm classy to go to prison.

Yeah, I guess.

You don't think so?

Maybe I don't think about it as much as you do.

You should.

If I thought that much about all the stuff I see, I'd blow my brains out.

I don't want to be that way either.

You just get that way.

Like me.

What scares you the most about this case?

The thought of taking Cindy Nichols' mother away from her.

That's why I didn't mind using.

Yes.

Here's my point.

You still have those feelings.

You're a winner.

You understand?

Oh, God.

I envy you that.

And now I'm going to let you buy me a beer.