Whitney Holland.
[APPLAUSE, CHEERING]
I grew up on a farm.
Couple hundred acres.
Every day,
my dad would go out to the field.
Bale hay,
feed slop to the pigs,
shovel cow dung.
[INHALES]
I can still smell that cow dung.
[AUDIENCE CHUCKLES]
And then the summer
before my ninth birthday,
there was this amazing heat wave,
and with it, this unrelenting drought.
The kind of drought that just
seems to go on forever.
And I remember my dad
doing everything he could
to save the crops, save the animals,
but the crops dried up.
Animals started to die.
And then, one late August morning,
my father dropped dead in a cornfield.
[AUDIENCE MURMURING]
Dehydration and heart failure.
He was years old.
By the way, I'm not talking about India
or Africa.
I'm talking miles
up the New York State Thruway.
Less than three hours
from this vast body of water.
Makes no sense.
In a world with so much water,
why are so many people without?
- This...
- [AUDIENCE GASPING]
...is the Freshwater Honeycomb.
It's a passive, nonelectrical
desalination tool.
It acts like a chemical magnet,
separating salt from water
on a molecular level.
It's inexpensive
and doesn't rely on any
exhaustible energy sources.
Imagine this, ladies and gentlemen,
happening on a global scale.
An endless supply of water
provided by the world's five oceans,
hundreds of rivers,
and thousands of lakes,
and purified by the Freshwater Honeycomb.
My tech team tells me
we're only days away.
[AUDIENCE MURMURING]
Ah.
So who wants in?
[CLAMORING]
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
Come on in.
[TAPS KEYBOARD]
I hear you told them days.
To scale up to what?
million gallons a day?
That would be a good start.
You know that's not gonna happen.
Not in days, maybe not in years.
No, I don't know
that's not going to happen,
and you don't either.
Whitney, not every problem can be solved
simply by adding enthusiasm.
Okay, Derek, it's : at night.
What do you need?
Some new piece of software?
What-what new gizmo do you need?
What-what new biochemist do you
want me to try to steal from...
It's none of that.
Whitney, I'm done. I'm just done.
You keep taking people's money,
promising them the moon,
and I'm supposed to be
your Neil Armstrong
and give it to them,
and I'm telling you I can't.
What? Derek, we've been here before.
You're just tired.
You're nowhere near done.
gallons is great for a demonstration,
but we need to prove we can scale up
the Freshwater Honeycomb
to handle whole municipalities,
city water systems, state water...
I've been trying to tell you for a month.
It can't. You know it. We both know it.
And tomorrow the D.A. is gonna know it.
[CLICKS TONGUE]
Psst.
How did he score vacation time?
He didn't, not that I'm aware of.
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
Beautiful.
I'm still using the ones
I got in college.
Funny you should say that.
They're for my daughter.
Your daughter? You guys
are taking a trip together?
She called me last night.
She won a scholarship,
a journalism scholarship,
to study abroad for six months in Jordan.
Jordan, ah, Middle East.
How do you feel about that?
Thrilled, excited, proud of her.
[CHUCKLES]
Scared for her.
The packet that they sent
keeps talking about how safe it is,
even though we know it's in
a part of the world that,
you know, is a little scary.
But if you want to be a journalist,
a serious journalist, and she does...
- My God.
- [CHUCKLES]
, students applied,
and they picked her.
I mean, you're looking at a guy
who didn't leave Georgia
until he was years old.
It is obscene how proud I am. [CHUCKLES]
[KNOCKING]
Yeah.
I'm guessing you've read the papers,
seen the reports.
The federal government
is taking me to court.
Criminal court. Uh...
Charging me with two counts
of conspiracy to commit fraud,
nine counts of wire fraud,
some other, less consequential things
that I can't remember right now,
though all the charges
do end with the word "fraud."
You're on the front page.
WHITNEY: Oh, that's
pithy.
So, why do you think the government
is suddenly coming after you?
My friend...
my head of R & D,
he just became convinced
we were chasing a ghost,
that there was no way we could
get to where we needed to go,
so he went to the Feds.
MARISSA: But why do that?
If he was unhappy, why not just quit?
I think I became so good
at raising money that he got spooked.
And when it was just a lark,
when we had no money,
no one to answer to,
there was no pressure.
But when people heard what we were up to,
they started throwing money at us.
I mean, it's been a wild couple of years.
But the more successful we got,
the more Derek just froze.
I'm guessing he thought that if he could
recast himself as the whistleblower
rather than the co-conspirator,
that he might be able to work again.
The government is claiming your
water desalination technology
is incapable of being applied
to anything other than
personal use application,
but that in your pitches
and demonstrations and
investment prospectuses,
you've been selling it as the answer
to the global water shortage.
They say you're peddling a pipe dream.
Look, I'm not a nut.
I'm not a scam artist.
I'm not saying I've discovered something
that can help you lose weight
or make your hair grow back.
I'm not saying I can help women
fill out their bikinis
or men look more manly
in their Speedos.
I'm saying I can help quench
the thirst of the world.
I can help water crops in a desert.
The ramifications are huge.
I mean... look, there are four things
every human being on this planet needs:
air to breathe, food to eat,
a piece of land to stand on,
and water.
You figure out the water part,
everything else falls into place.
You can grow more food,
you can plant more trees
to help create more oxygen,
and people can live anywhere,
no matter the climate.
This is real. This matters.
MARISSA: I get that the guy choked,
but why sell her out to the government?
It just doesn't make sense to me.
Well, it's all about the money.
As soon as he called the Feds,
he stopped being a disgruntled employee
and became classified
as an SEC whistleblower.
And as an SEC whistleblower,
if the government wins,
he gets a percentage of whatever
cash judgment the court levies.
[SCOFFS] The plot thickens.
You're not gonna represent her, are you?
What's your issue, Benny?
First of all, you promised me
that I could have some say in
the cases we take around here.
And second of all,
we just sat with that woman
for a half an hour, and
she didn't say a single thing
I can use to mount a defense.
Do you believe what she told you?
Do you believe she was lying to you?
I'm not sure that's relevant.
I think it's the only thing
that is relevant.
If she believes what she's saying,
what she's selling, then
there is no criminal intent.
And if there is no criminal intent,
then there is no crime.
But, Bull, how do we do that?
How do we prove what someone
does or doesn't believe?
Especially if the thing
that she believes in
doesn't actually exist?
Well, for what it's worth, I believe her.
You think she can change
seawater into drinking water?
You believe she can change the world?
I believe she believes she can.
Of course you do. Well, I don't.
Benny...
I told you that I would listen to you,
and I have listened to you,
and what you said mattered to me,
but I'm taking the case.
So, how does this work?
Well, today is about
trying to select a jury
that's at least open
to hearing the arguments
we're gonna make in court.
And how do we do that?
Yes, Dr. Bull, how do we do that?
Well, the first thing
we have to try and do
is reframe what this trial is about.
The assistant United States attorney
wants to make it about
the things you promised
versus the things you were
actually able to accomplish
before they pulled the plug on you.
BENNY: Well, that is
what the trial is about.
Not if we have anything to do with it.
I want to use the jury selection
process to put the idea in their head
that what this is really about
is something different entirely.
And that would be?
Belief systems.
There are people who believed
for the longest time
that phones had to be black,
with rotary dials,
and be connected with wires
that disappeared into the wall
and ran from pole to pole
along the side of the road.
And that that's what phones are
and that's what phones will always be.
That cars could only run on gasoline,
that movies could only
be seen on giant screens
in air-conditioned
theaters, and that news
could only be delivered via
black newsprint on white paper.
Flying cars.
Anybody here think we'll ever see them?
In our lifetime?
[WHISPERS]: Maybe we got a live one.
Well, don't anybody get their hopes up.
David Murphy is a financial planner,
considers himself fiscally conservative.
Doesn't seem like he'd fit the bill.
Well, you might be right.
You might be wrong.
Hard to know without getting
a peek at his belief system.
So you're thinking, one of
these days, you'll be hovering
over Fifth Avenue
in your brand-new convertible.
Something like that.
And please don't take this the wrong way,
but you look like
you've been around a while.
Like you've seen a thing or two.
Where does all of this
fanciful optimism come from?
It's not fanciful optimism at all.
It's more like once bitten, twice shy.
Ah. How do you mean?
Well, years ago or so,
a man came to me
for some investment capital.
He wanted to put it in
a new company he was starting.
Said he was gonna sell books
over the Internet.
I absolutely did not understand.
I asked him, "How are the books going
to come out of the computer?
"Are they, are they gonna ooze
out of the slot
for the f-floppy disk?"
I-I basically threw him out of my office.
Do you know how rich I'd be if I
had just been a better listener?
Can we clone this guy?
BENNY: Your Honor,
this juror is acceptable to the defense.
What about you?
What about me?
I read you dropped out of college.
I did.
I had this idea
for the Freshwater Honeycomb
and I didn't want to wait
four years to get going on it.
Well, the prosecution
is gonna try and use
your lack of formal education as proof
that you don't really know
what you're talking about.
And then they're gonna
bring in a bunch of experts,
like your ex-employee Derek Goodman,
that have all kinds
of degrees and doctorates
and associations with
institutions of higher learning,
and they are going to testify
that you are just plain wrong.
Sounds delightful.
That's why I want to use voir dire
to undermine that assertion.
I'm sorry. You lost me.
What assertion?
That there is a correlation
between the amount of education
one receives
and one's ability to innovate.
To see beyond what is there
and imagine a thing that's not there yet.
And I want to put that idea
out there before the trial even starts.
How many people think
there's a relationship
between the amount of time one spends
getting a college education
and their ability to change the world?
So, Henry Ford.
The founder of the Ford Motor Company
and one of the earliest
proponents of the assembly line,
which ushered in
the age of mass production.
Lots of college?
I don't know. Did they even
have college back then?
I assure you they did.
Well, then, yeah. I would suppose so.
Actually, he never went.
Not a single day.
How about Coco Chanel?
Here is a woman who
not only revolutionized
fashion in her day,
but really sort of created
the concept of branding,
the idea of putting her name
on a variety of products.
Did she go to college?
[CHUCKLES] Why are you
picking on me? I-I don't know.
All-all these people
are from a long time ago.
[CHUCKLES] True, true, true.
A-And by the way,
she never went to college.
She grew up in an orphanage
where she learned how to sew,
and that was pretty much the
extent of her formal education.
All right, so, let me give you some
contemporary names.
Steve Jobs. You ever heard of him?
The computer guy? Yeah, sure.
He probably went to a bunch of colleges.
Nope. Went to one, never graduated.
So my question to you is simple.
Do you think, just because
someone has a bunch of degrees,
that that makes them an expert?
Or that, uh, sometimes,
maybe when someone
doesn't have the best education,
they have something else?
A vision of the future maybe?
And that they may have something unique
and wonderful to offer mankind?
Yeah. I think there are people
like that, definitely.
♪ You feel like summertime... ♪
- Excuse me.
- [QUIETLY]: Sorry, excuse me.
Thanks.
♪ You took this heart of mine ♪
♪ You'll be my valentine ♪
♪ In the summer ♪
♪ In the summer ♪
♪ You are my only one ♪
[LINE RINGING]
♪ Just dancin', havin' fun... ♪
Hi. This is Anna.
Leave me a message
and I'll call you right back.
[PHONE BEEPS]
Hey, little girl.
It's your dad.
Uh, I'm standing in front
of your dorm room door.
Uh, kind of thought
we had agreed to get together
and celebrate some
of your good news, but, uh...
Anyway, I-I brought you a gift.
But it looks like you're not here.
Could you give me a call back
and let me know
if we're still good for tonight?
Or just that you're okay?
It's : .
I can stand here
for another couple minutes
if you want to call me back.
[SIGHS] Love you.
♪ Do love me, do love me, do,
do love me, do love me, do... ♪
[PHONE BUZZING]
♪ Do love me, do love me, do ♪
♪ Do love me, do love me, do ♪
- ♪ I need you ♪
- _
- ♪ Do love me, do love me, do ♪
- _
♪ Do love me, do love me, do ♪
- ♪ Hoo! ♪
- _
♪ Is it summertime magic ♪
♪ That makes me want
to dance all night long? ♪
♪ It's your summertime magic. ♪
We started testing
our Freshwater Honeycomb
about seven months ago,
trying to replicate how it would
be used in a municipal setting.
The pressure with which
the water hits the filter
is controlled by a combination
of volume, speed, and pipe diameter.
Using a pipe inches wide,
we noted that at gallons per
second, the filter did its job.
The problem started to manifest
when we tried to push through
more than gallons per second.
The filter itself starts to disintegrate.
The cellulose material and the
filament that holds it together
would start to appear
in the supposedly clean water
as microparticles.
Invisible to the naked eye
but in the water nonetheless.
Effectively, the filter was
no longer cleaning the water
but actually polluting it,
making it dangerous to drink.
Once those materials
hit the human stomach,
they could very well tear it apart.
Ah. And as director of research,
who did you share these findings with?
Um, the defendant.
CRUZ: So you don't believe anything
you said had any impact on her?
DEREK: Well, just the fact
that she was continuing
to court investors.
Telling them that we were days away
when I was plainly telling her
that what she was promising
was not possible on any timetable.
CRUZ: Thank you.
Nothing further.
MARISSA: I'm guessing
you already know
what I'm about to tell you.
I could read this jury
on a moonless night
with a blindfold on.
Good morning, Mr. Goodman.
- Doctor.
- Ah.
Doctor. My apologies.
And you are a doctor in what?
Well, I have a doctorate
in civil engineering as well
as a second doctorate
in arid lands resource sciences.
Wow. That is impressive.
Sounds like you know a lot
about desalination.
Well, I do pride myself on being
something of an expert in my field.
Terrific. So it's reasonable
to assume that you know
everything there is to know
about, uh, seawater
- and desalination and...
- Well, I don't think
anyone knows everything about anything.
Great point.
So, when you say no one could scale up
the Freshwater Honeycomb
for use in municipal
water purification application,
what you're really trying to say is,
"I," meaning you, "couldn't scale up
"the Freshwater Honeycomb
for use in municipal water
purification applications."
Isn't that correct?
Objection. Asked and answered.
- BENNY: Your Honor.
- Badgering the witness.
- Your Honor...
- JUDGE: Save your breath, Mr. Colón.
The question has not
been asked and answered.
And the counselor is not
badgering the witness.
Objection overruled.
Ask your question again.
Isn't it true, Dr. Goodman,
that all you can say
with any certainty
is that you couldn't do it?
You couldn't scale it up?
-
- BULL: Ooh.
What is that I'm feeling?
Could it be attitudes shifting?
- Yes.
- I mean,
for all you know, there could be some kid
sitting in his or her garage right now
with just the fix for this thing.
- [SCOFFS]
- I doubt it. I didn't ask you
if you doubted it.
I had asked if what I am saying
right now is possible.
If a solution is possible.
I suppose anything is possible.
Exactly.
Anything is possible.
Sir, how much do you stand to make
if the government wins this case?
Isn't it true that if
the government prevails
in this case, as a whistleblower,
you stand to profit?
Actually make some real money?
I'm sorry. [CHUCKLES]
Let me put it another way.
Isn't it true that you stood
to make considerably more
by not finishing your work
and leaving the company
and turning state's evidence
than if you'd stayed
and done the job you'd
originally been hired to do?
I mean, we're talking millions, right?
CRUZ: Objection.
Relevance?
No, that's all right, Your Honor.
I withdraw the question.
I think the jury could connect the dots.
Nothing further.
[SIGHS]
What's going on over there?
Looks like you're having
a troublesome bowel movement.
[CHUCKLES] You did great, Benny.
We got 'em on the run.
I think you're mistaking
a momentary change of fortune
for a real victory.
That was, that was everything.
That's our whole defense.
I've got nothing else to fight with.
Don't be ridiculous.
Tomorrow we present our case.
We put Whitney on the stand.
Did you see those YouTube videos
I sent you?
Girl could sell sawdust to a lumber mill.
[CHUCKLES]
She's just trying to finance her
dream, and that is not a crime.
But, Bull,
the law does not differentiate
between a run-of-the-mill lie
and a lie for a worthwhile dream.
To the law, it's all a lie.
It's all a fraud.
Come on, Bull, you saw that film.
The most current version of this thing
disintegrates before water starts flowing
at anything approaching
the required speed.
There's no way she didn't
know she was lying,
and that's fraud.
MARISSA: So, everybody,
we've all been working very hard
trying to pull this together for you
and Benny and the client.
Uh, why don't we let Taylor start?
Thanks.
Uh, some
little bumps in the road
we need to discuss.
So glad you're going first.
Whitney didn't, in fact, drop out early
to pursue her Freshwater Honeycomb dreams
like she told us,
like she told every reporter
who's ever done a story about her.
She had to leave.
- They made her leave.
- Because?
Because she was in arrears.
She had a habit of writing tuition
and housing checks that bounced.
The school would give her
second and third chances
to make good on her bills,
offered her campus jobs to make money,
but she'd no sooner pay off one bad debt
and then write another worthless check.
Finally, they had enough.
I'm sorry, Bull.
You think the prosecution knows?
Who cares? I think you guys are making
a mountain out of a molehill.
Well, I don't agree. It's not a molehill.
Writing bad checks, that's fraud.
That's the exact crime she's
being accused of right now.
You're forgetting her father had d*ed.
They'd lost the family farm.
Of course money was an issue.
Did she pay the college back?
Did everybody get everything
they were owed?
Yes. Eventually.
Probably with the salary she paid herself
after the investors came on board.
I'm confused.
Are we trying to prove her guilt
or prove her innocence?
Hit me with a real problem.
Guess that's my cue.
Uh, so I went upstate
to see her mother today, with no
help from Whitney, I might add.
What does that mean?
Well, I asked her for her mother's info
the day she came in here,
and she never sent it.
Finally had to figure it out on my own.
And?
And she wouldn't talk to me.
The neighbors seem to think
Whitney might be paying the bills.
She got a new car, had
the house painted last spring.
Where are you going with this?
Again, I'm talking to the neighbors,
and according to them,
Whitney's family never owned a farm.
And her father
worked on a farm, but he
didn't die of dehydration.
His blue jeans got caught
in a combine machine.
It pulled him in and chewed him up
before anyone could, uh, shut it off.
What time are we due in court tomorrow?
We reconvene after lunch. : .
Okay. Reach out to Whitney.
Tell her I want to meet her here
tomorrow morning, : a.m.
Okay.
And somebody find a polygraph examiner.
I want to do a little work with Whitney.
You want to examine her
with a lie detector?
You do know that those tests
are not admissible in court.
It's not for court. It's for me.
Was it something I said?
It's just a technique we use
to prepare clients to testify.
See which questions make you anxious.
Identify any possible triggers.
Okay. Sort of surprised
Dr. Bull isn't here.
Well, he will be reviewing the results
before we go into court this afternoon.
I'm sure he'll have
a conversation with you
about it before you testify.
I'm amazed she agreed to do this.
She's got to know we're onto her.
Well, it's a good sign.
It means she thinks
she has nothing to hide.
All right,
let's get this show on the road.
EXAMINER [OVER EARBUD]: Good morning.
Is your name Whitney Holland?
Yes.
Are you years old?
Yes.
Ask her if she grew up on a farm.
Did you grow up on a farm?
I grew up near a farm.
EXAMINER: I need you to answer yes or no.
WHITNEY: No.
I did not grow up on a farm.
Ask her if her father
d*ed of a heart att*ck.
Did your father die of a heart att*ck?
No.
- In a field?
- EXAMINER: In a field?
During a heat wave?
- During a heat wave?
- Of dehydration and sunstroke?
Of dehydration and sunstroke?
Trying to save his crops and animals?
Trying to save his crops and animals?
No, he did not.
He d*ed in an accident involving
some farm machinery.
Well, there goes your defense.
If she knew she was lying when
she told people those things,
then there's criminal intent.
Game over.
Ask her if the Freshwater Honeycomb
will ever actually be able to...
...purify enough water
for a small municipality.
Absolutely.
- A large city?
- EXAMINER: A large city?
Without a doubt.
Are you days away
from being able to prove that?
EXAMINER: And are you days away
from being able to prove that?
I don't know.
Possibly.
If the government
will let me continue my work.
[CHUCKLES]
What are you smiling about?
- [PHONE BEEPS]
- [LINE RINGING]
Hi, this is Anna.
Leave me a message
and I'll call you right back.
[BEEPS]
Hi, Anna. It's Dad again.
Listen, I-I know you said that
you needed a couple of days,
but, um, well, see,
I'm trying to help out with
this travel stuff. You know,
passports, doctor visits,
but I feel a little funny setting them up
and I haven't talked to you.
Call me back, please?
Thanks. Love you.
- [PHONE BEEPS]
- [SIGHS]
[EXHALES]
Kids.
Where do they come from?
Tell me about it.
Were you ever ?
Nope. Went straight
from old enough to vote
to bitter divorcée.
Whatever it is, it's gonna be fine.
I know. Intellectually, I know that,
but it's just that I-I wasn't
there to be her parent
for so long, and now I'm here
and I'm ready and I'm proud,
but she's getting older,
and so, for whatever reason,
she's not wanting a parent right now,
and it makes me crazy.
This, too, will pass.
[FOOTFALLS APPROACHING]
You look like the cat who ate the canary
and then decided
what he really wanted was fish.
I can't make up my mind about you.
Do you lie to hide the truth,
or tell the truth to hide your lies?
I always tell the truth,
except when I'm selling myself.
Then I do my best to tell a good story.
People appreciate a good story
when they're being sold something.
A product, a person, an idea.
Especially an idea
that doesn't exist yet.
Like a desalination filter?
Like many things, like gravity.
Story is, an apple fell
on Sir Isaac Newton's head,
but that didn't really happen.
Turns out, he was sitting
under a different tree
when he saw the apple
fall off another tree,
the one he wasn't sitting under.
It's not nearly as good a story,
but the myth about the apple
hitting him in the head
doesn't do anything to diminish
the importance of his theory,
the importance of his discovery.
Clearly, people prefer
the myth to the truth
or they wouldn't keep repeating it.
Just because my father didn't die
in the middle of a drought
doesn't change the fact
that my filter can and will
do what I claim.
And what about the days?
You told investors you were days away.
That's me selling.
That's me exciting my investors
and motivating my research team.
It's like when Thomas Edison
was working on his light bulb.
He tried a thousand different materials
before he found one that
would glow without burning up,
but one day... there it was.
I'm just looking
for the right kind of sponge,
the right kind of filament.
And who's to say I'm not days away?
She said to the man
wearing completely clear eyeglasses.
No prescription.
To convince people of what?
To hide from what?
Misspent youth?
A face that's a tad too pretty
to be taken seriously
as a trial scientist?
As a scientist of any kind?
I'm not the one on trial for fraud.
And I'm not the one
who has to take the stand
and answer questions
about all those lies.
About which I will tell
the absolute truth.
Just like I did this morning.
That's gonna confuse
the hell out of the jury.
That's why I hired you, jury guru.
I know you get it. I know
you can explain me to them.
And what if I can't?
What would you suggest?
I go in there and lie?
Of course not.
For one, you would be
committing another crime,
and for two, your attorney...
my associate...
would never knowingly suborn perjury.
Well,
if you can't make my testifying
to the truth work,
tell me now so I can find new counsel.
I know I will eventually get that filter
to do what I need it to do.
You really believe it, don't you?
Well, we should head into court, then.
And, if you wouldn't mind,
keep the glasses thing to yourself.
So at this point, you're working...
In my kitchen.
We got the water
from one of the fountains
in Prospect Park on a -degree day.
I mean, it was brown.
We ran a gallon of the water
through our little homemade filter.
Poured another gallon
into a sterile container
and had them both tested.
The filtered water was
everything we hoped it would be.
It was clear, it was ready to drink.
The other gallon was
pretty damn toxic. [CHUCKLES]
It was just Derek and I at that point.
I don't think
it's possible to hug someone
harder than we hugged
each other that day.
BENNY: So let me ask you a question.
You had a filter that worked.
You could have sold it to any
one of a number of companies
for use in personal drinking mugs,
for camping, for survival kits
after natural disasters?
Yes.
Why not just sell it and be done?
Because it was never
just about the money.
It was, and is, about knowing
there's a real problem,
a real need,
and realizing that you might
be able to fix it.
You might be able to make things better.
I mean, we're all here
for a reason, right?
I mean, why did Edison's company
devote all of those resources
to developing
the incandescent light bulb?
We had candles, we had gas lights.
I think he thought
he could make things better.
I think he thought he could...
make life better.
Thank you.
[WHISPERING]: Come on.
"He thought he could make life better."
Even I teared up.
You lied to investors
about the circumstances
surrounding your father's death,
didn't you?
- Yes.
- And, contrary
to what you told reporters and investors,
you didn't leave college because
you were consumed with this idea
about a revolutionary
new desalination filter,
but because you couldn't pay your bills
and had bounced several checks.
Isn't that right?
Both are actually true.
You admit you told investors
that you were within months
of having the filter
field-checked and ready
when your director of research
indicated quite clearly
that he felt that no further
upscaling was possible
on the Freshwater Honeycomb.
Isn't that true?
I didn't agree
with my director of research.
I didn't ask if you agreed.
I was pointing out that you
didn't share his assessment
with your current or future investors,
which feels deceptive.
In fact, it feels like
there's a pattern of deception
at Freshwater Honeycomb.
Objection. The witness is here
to answer questions,
not to be lectured to.
Okay. Here's a question.
How is your life better today
than it was, say, three years ago,
before investors were
lavishing you with money
in the hopes of cashing in on the success
of Freshwater Honeycomb?
If, by better, you mean financially,
I have made no secret
of the fact that my life
is markedly different.
But I'd also like to mention
that those investments
pay for employee salaries.
They pay for research tools and offices
- and lab rentals and...
- Are you a liar?
Your Honor!
It's a simple question.
Not about the filter.
Not about what I believe it can do.
Not about the things that count.
So we should just believe what
you tell us about this filter,
which doesn't yet exist,
even when almost everything else
you have told us is a lie?
Yes.
I have no further questions, your Honor.
That was a very nice closing argument.
Well, he wrote it. Mostly.
It was fine.
You know, we can appeal.
I mean, if they find you guilty,
we'll immediately file for an appeal.
Not that that's a foregone conclusion,
I'm just saying that, uh...
[STAMMERS]
Jury deliberations are funny things.
Lots can happen.
Uh, people start to compare notes,
minds get changed, uh...
It's not over till it's over.
This is me.
Thank you both for everything.
Yeah. We'll give you a call
the second we hear.
[CAR DOOR CLOSES]
I'm sorry.
What are you sorry about?
Jury's not even back yet.
Come on, you called it.
You called it the second she first walked
through the door.
[SIGHS]
It wasn't her, Bull.
It was...
I know. The lies.
The untruths.
Once the jury knows
you're willing to make things up
to get what you want...
God, I'm arrogant.
I thought we could get them to see
it was just a means to an end.
The end was so worthwhile.
Hmm.
You two are the same person.
You know that, don't you?
You set your sights on something
that's almost impossible,
and you don't let anyone
talk you out of it.
It's one of the things
I love about you, man.
Sometimes I wonder if it isn't all a lie,
this thing we do, this jury thing.
I mean... what was the point?
According to Marissa,
by the time the AUSA
was done with her closing,
it was a shutout.
Was a field of red.
And she is betting
that by tomorrow morning,
we are back in court,
and Whitney is behind bars
by tomorrow afternoon.
[EXHALES]
I mean, I'm really
no good at this at all.
_
JUDGE: "Dear Judge Graves.
"As you know, we have been deliberating
"for four solid days.
"All of us are united in our verdict
"with the exception of one juror.
"This juror refuses to budge,
refuses to debate.
It is difficult to see
a way forward from here."
I'm going to call everyone back
into the court in an hour,
officially declaring a mistrial.
My assumption is you're going
to want to retry this
as quickly as possible?
Absolutely.
Your client, will, of course,
remain out on bail.
What's your first availability,
gentlemen?
Unfortunately, our office is booked
for the next seven months.
All right, then. Seven months it is.
I'm going to pencil it in,
and I would hope that if things change,
you'll let us know so that
we can move this forward.
Now go get your client
so we can make this official.
[QUIETLY]: Seven months?
We don't even know what our next case is.
I ever tell you how my dad d*ed
in a tsunami in the Mojave?
My God, in a million years,
that is not where I saw this going.
Well, like I told you,
deliberations are a funny thing.
But seven months?
It seems so far away.
I wanted to give you time
to work on that filter.
You get that thing to do
the things you say it can do,
and there is no fraud
and there is no case.
Okay.
I appreciate that.
But the truth is, at this
point, I have no money.
Ever since the government
filed this case,
investors have been
pulling their money out.
Creditors have been demanding payment.
It may make more sense to
just get this over with.
That's not to say I don't appreciate
what you're trying to do, but...
Ms. Holland.
Um, forgive me for intruding.
I'm, uh, one of the jurors.
Uh, the foreman, actually.
I have to tell you, I am
positively fascinated
by what it is you're trying to do,
and I was hoping you might
be able to find room for me
to help, perhaps provide
some additional capital.
Uh, if I'm doing something improper,
uh, one of you will tell me, right?
All sounds proper to me.
I look forward to speaking with you.
This may just work out.
I take back what I said.
I think I may actually be
pretty good at this jury thing.
What is that I'm feeling?
Could it be attitudes shifting?
- Yes.
- I mean,
for all you know, there could be some kid
sitting in his or her garage right now
with just the fix for this thing.
- [SCOFFS]
- I doubt it. I didn't ask you
if you doubted it.
I had asked if what I am saying
right now is possible.
If a solution is possible.
I suppose anything is possible.
Exactly.
Anything is possible.
Sir, how much do you stand to make
if the government wins this case?
Isn't it true that if
the government prevails
in this case, as a whistleblower,
you stand to profit?
Actually make some real money?
I'm sorry. [CHUCKLES]
Let me put it another way.
Isn't it true that you stood
to make considerably more
by not finishing your work
and leaving the company
and turning state's evidence
than if you'd stayed
and done the job you'd
originally been hired to do?
I mean, we're talking millions, right?
CRUZ: Objection.
Relevance?
No, that's all right, Your Honor.
I withdraw the question.
I think the jury could connect the dots.
Nothing further.
[SIGHS]
What's going on over there?
Looks like you're having
a troublesome bowel movement.
[CHUCKLES] You did great, Benny.
We got 'em on the run.
I think you're mistaking
a momentary change of fortune
for a real victory.
That was, that was everything.
That's our whole defense.
I've got nothing else to fight with.
Don't be ridiculous.
Tomorrow we present our case.
We put Whitney on the stand.
Did you see those YouTube videos
I sent you?
Girl could sell sawdust to a lumber mill.
[CHUCKLES]
She's just trying to finance her
dream, and that is not a crime.
But, Bull,
the law does not differentiate
between a run-of-the-mill lie
and a lie for a worthwhile dream.
To the law, it's all a lie.
It's all a fraud.
Come on, Bull, you saw that film.
The most current version of this thing
disintegrates before water starts flowing
at anything approaching
the required speed.
There's no way she didn't
know she was lying,
and that's fraud.
MARISSA: So, everybody,
we've all been working very hard
trying to pull this together for you
and Benny and the client.
Uh, why don't we let Taylor start?
Thanks.
Uh, some
little bumps in the road
we need to discuss.
So glad you're going first.
Whitney didn't, in fact, drop out early
to pursue her Freshwater Honeycomb dreams
like she told us,
like she told every reporter
who's ever done a story about her.
She had to leave.
- They made her leave.
- Because?
Because she was in arrears.
She had a habit of writing tuition
and housing checks that bounced.
The school would give her
second and third chances
to make good on her bills,
offered her campus jobs to make money,
but she'd no sooner pay off one bad debt
and then write another worthless check.
Finally, they had enough.
I'm sorry, Bull.
You think the prosecution knows?
Who cares? I think you guys are making
a mountain out of a molehill.
Well, I don't agree. It's not a molehill.
Writing bad checks, that's fraud.
That's the exact crime she's
being accused of right now.
You're forgetting her father had d*ed.
They'd lost the family farm.
Of course money was an issue.
Did she pay the college back?
Did everybody get everything
they were owed?
Yes. Eventually.
Probably with the salary she paid herself
after the investors came on board.
I'm confused.
Are we trying to prove her guilt
or prove her innocence?
Hit me with a real problem.
Guess that's my cue.
Uh, so I went upstate
to see her mother today, with no
help from Whitney, I might add.
What does that mean?
Well, I asked her for her mother's info
the day she came in here,
and she never sent it.
Finally had to figure it out on my own.
And?
And she wouldn't talk to me.
The neighbors seem to think
Whitney might be paying the bills.
She got a new car, had
the house painted last spring.
Where are you going with this?
Again, I'm talking to the neighbors,
and according to them,
Whitney's family never owned a farm.
And her father
worked on a farm, but he
didn't die of dehydration.
His blue jeans got caught
in a combine machine.
It pulled him in and chewed him up
before anyone could, uh, shut it off.
What time are we due in court tomorrow?
We reconvene after lunch. : .
Okay. Reach out to Whitney.
Tell her I want to meet her here
tomorrow morning, : a.m.
Okay.
And somebody find a polygraph examiner.
I want to do a little work with Whitney.
You want to examine her
with a lie detector?
You do know that those tests
are not admissible in court.
It's not for court. It's for me.
Was it something I said?
It's just a technique we use
to prepare clients to testify.
See which questions make you anxious.
Identify any possible triggers.
Okay. Sort of surprised
Dr. Bull isn't here.
Well, he will be reviewing the results
before we go into court this afternoon.
I'm sure he'll have
a conversation with you
about it before you testify.
I'm amazed she agreed to do this.
She's got to know we're onto her.
Well, it's a good sign.
It means she thinks
she has nothing to hide.
All right,
let's get this show on the road.
EXAMINER [OVER EARBUD]: Good morning.
Is your name Whitney Holland?
Yes.
Are you years old?
Yes.
Ask her if she grew up on a farm.
Did you grow up on a farm?
I grew up near a farm.
EXAMINER: I need you to answer yes or no.
WHITNEY: No.
I did not grow up on a farm.
Ask her if her father
d*ed of a heart att*ck.
Did your father die of a heart att*ck?
No.
- In a field?
- EXAMINER: In a field?
During a heat wave?
- During a heat wave?
- Of dehydration and sunstroke?
Of dehydration and sunstroke?
Trying to save his crops and animals?
Trying to save his crops and animals?
No, he did not.
He d*ed in an accident involving
some farm machinery.
Well, there goes your defense.
If she knew she was lying when
she told people those things,
then there's criminal intent.
Game over.
Ask her if the Freshwater Honeycomb
will ever actually be able to...
...purify enough water
for a small municipality.
Absolutely.
- A large city?
- EXAMINER: A large city?
Without a doubt.
Are you days away
from being able to prove that?
EXAMINER: And are you days away
from being able to prove that?
I don't know.
Possibly.
If the government
will let me continue my work.
[CHUCKLES]
What are you smiling about?
- [PHONE BEEPS]
- [LINE RINGING]
Hi, this is Anna.
Leave me a message
and I'll call you right back.
[BEEPS]
Hi, Anna. It's Dad again.
Listen, I-I know you said that
you needed a couple of days,
but, um, well, see,
I'm trying to help out with
this travel stuff. You know,
passports, doctor visits,
but I feel a little funny setting them up
and I haven't talked to you.
Call me back, please?
Thanks. Love you.
- [PHONE BEEPS]
- [SIGHS]
[EXHALES]
Kids.
Where do they come from?
Tell me about it.
Were you ever ?
Nope. Went straight
from old enough to vote
to bitter divorcée.
Whatever it is, it's gonna be fine.
I know. Intellectually, I know that,
but it's just that I-I wasn't
there to be her parent
for so long, and now I'm here
and I'm ready and I'm proud,
but she's getting older,
and so, for whatever reason,
she's not wanting a parent right now,
and it makes me crazy.
This, too, will pass.
[FOOTFALLS APPROACHING]
You look like the cat who ate the canary
and then decided
what he really wanted was fish.
I can't make up my mind about you.
Do you lie to hide the truth,
or tell the truth to hide your lies?
I always tell the truth,
except when I'm selling myself.
Then I do my best to tell a good story.
People appreciate a good story
when they're being sold something.
A product, a person, an idea.
Especially an idea
that doesn't exist yet.
Like a desalination filter?
Like many things, like gravity.
Story is, an apple fell
on Sir Isaac Newton's head,
but that didn't really happen.
Turns out, he was sitting
under a different tree
when he saw the apple
fall off another tree,
the one he wasn't sitting under.
It's not nearly as good a story,
but the myth about the apple
hitting him in the head
doesn't do anything to diminish
the importance of his theory,
the importance of his discovery.
Clearly, people prefer
the myth to the truth
or they wouldn't keep repeating it.
Just because my father didn't die
in the middle of a drought
doesn't change the fact
that my filter can and will
do what I claim.
And what about the days?
You told investors you were days away.
That's me selling.
That's me exciting my investors
and motivating my research team.
It's like when Thomas Edison
was working on his light bulb.
He tried a thousand different materials
before he found one that
would glow without burning up,
but one day... there it was.
I'm just looking
for the right kind of sponge,
the right kind of filament.
And who's to say I'm not days away?
She said to the man
wearing completely clear eyeglasses.
No prescription.
To convince people of what?
To hide from what?
Misspent youth?
A face that's a tad too pretty
to be taken seriously
as a trial scientist?
As a scientist of any kind?
I'm not the one on trial for fraud.
And I'm not the one
who has to take the stand
and answer questions
about all those lies.
About which I will tell
the absolute truth.
Just like I did this morning.
That's gonna confuse
the hell out of the jury.
That's why I hired you, jury guru.
I know you get it. I know
you can explain me to them.
And what if I can't?
What would you suggest?
I go in there and lie?
Of course not.
For one, you would be
committing another crime,
and for two, your attorney...
my associate...
would never knowingly suborn perjury.
Well,
if you can't make my testifying
to the truth work,
tell me now so I can find new counsel.
I know I will eventually get that filter
to do what I need it to do.
You really believe it, don't you?
Well, we should head into court, then.
And, if you wouldn't mind,
keep the glasses thing to yourself.
So at this point, you're working...
In my kitchen.
We got the water
from one of the fountains
in Prospect Park on a -degree day.
I mean, it was brown.
We ran a gallon of the water
through our little homemade filter.
Poured another gallon
into a sterile container
and had them both tested.
The filtered water was
everything we hoped it would be.
It was clear, it was ready to drink.
The other gallon was
pretty damn toxic. [CHUCKLES]
It was just Derek and I at that point.
I don't think
it's possible to hug someone
harder than we hugged
each other that day.
BENNY: So let me ask you a question.
You had a filter that worked.
You could have sold it to any
one of a number of companies
for use in personal drinking mugs,
for camping, for survival kits
after natural disasters?
Yes.
Why not just sell it and be done?
Because it was never
just about the money.
It was, and is, about knowing
there's a real problem,
a real need,
and realizing that you might
be able to fix it.
You might be able to make things better.
I mean, we're all here
for a reason, right?
I mean, why did Edison's company
devote all of those resources
to developing
the incandescent light bulb?
We had candles, we had gas lights.
I think he thought
he could make things better.
I think he thought he could...
make life better.
Thank you.
[WHISPERING]: Come on.
"He thought he could make life better."
Even I teared up.
You lied to investors
about the circumstances
surrounding your father's death,
didn't you?
- Yes.
- And, contrary
to what you told reporters and investors,
you didn't leave college because
you were consumed with this idea
about a revolutionary
new desalination filter,
but because you couldn't pay your bills
and had bounced several checks.
Isn't that right?
Both are actually true.
You admit you told investors
that you were within months
of having the filter
field-checked and ready
when your director of research
indicated quite clearly
that he felt that no further
upscaling was possible
on the Freshwater Honeycomb.
Isn't that true?
I didn't agree
with my director of research.
I didn't ask if you agreed.
I was pointing out that you
didn't share his assessment
with your current or future investors,
which feels deceptive.
In fact, it feels like
there's a pattern of deception
at Freshwater Honeycomb.
Objection. The witness is here
to answer questions,
not to be lectured to.
Okay. Here's a question.
How is your life better today
than it was, say, three years ago,
before investors were
lavishing you with money
in the hopes of cashing in on the success
of Freshwater Honeycomb?
If, by better, you mean financially,
I have made no secret
of the fact that my life
is markedly different.
But I'd also like to mention
that those investments
pay for employee salaries.
They pay for research tools and offices
- and lab rentals and...
- Are you a liar?
Your Honor!
It's a simple question.
Not about the filter.
Not about what I believe it can do.
Not about the things that count.
So we should just believe what
you tell us about this filter,
which doesn't yet exist,
even when almost everything else
you have told us is a lie?
Yes.
I have no further questions, your Honor.
That was a very nice closing argument.
Well, he wrote it. Mostly.
It was fine.
You know, we can appeal.
I mean, if they find you guilty,
we'll immediately file for an appeal.
Not that that's a foregone conclusion,
I'm just saying that, uh...
[STAMMERS]
Jury deliberations are funny things.
Lots can happen.
Uh, people start to compare notes,
minds get changed, uh...
It's not over till it's over.
This is me.
Thank you both for everything.
Yeah. We'll give you a call
the second we hear.
[CAR DOOR CLOSES]
I'm sorry.
What are you sorry about?
Jury's not even back yet.
Come on, you called it.
You called it the second she first walked
through the door.
[SIGHS]
It wasn't her, Bull.
It was...
I know. The lies.
The untruths.
Once the jury knows
you're willing to make things up
to get what you want...
God, I'm arrogant.
I thought we could get them to see
it was just a means to an end.
The end was so worthwhile.
Hmm.
You two are the same person.
You know that, don't you?
You set your sights on something
that's almost impossible,
and you don't let anyone
talk you out of it.
It's one of the things
I love about you, man.
Sometimes I wonder if it isn't all a lie,
this thing we do, this jury thing.
I mean... what was the point?
According to Marissa,
by the time the AUSA
was done with her closing,
it was a shutout.
Was a field of red.
And she is betting
that by tomorrow morning,
we are back in court,
and Whitney is behind bars
by tomorrow afternoon.
[EXHALES]
I mean, I'm really
no good at this at all.
_
JUDGE: "Dear Judge Graves.
"As you know, we have been deliberating
"for four solid days.
"All of us are united in our verdict
"with the exception of one juror.
"This juror refuses to budge,
refuses to debate.
It is difficult to see
a way forward from here."
I'm going to call everyone back
into the court in an hour,
officially declaring a mistrial.
My assumption is you're going
to want to retry this
as quickly as possible?
Absolutely.
Your client, will, of course,
remain out on bail.
What's your first availability,
gentlemen?
Unfortunately, our office is booked
for the next seven months.
All right, then. Seven months it is.
I'm going to pencil it in,
and I would hope that if things change,
you'll let us know so that
we can move this forward.
Now go get your client
so we can make this official.
[QUIETLY]: Seven months?
We don't even know what our next case is.
I ever tell you how my dad d*ed
in a tsunami in the Mojave?
My God, in a million years,
that is not where I saw this going.
Well, like I told you,
deliberations are a funny thing.
But seven months?
It seems so far away.
I wanted to give you time
to work on that filter.
You get that thing to do
the things you say it can do,
and there is no fraud
and there is no case.
Okay.
I appreciate that.
But the truth is, at this
point, I have no money.
Ever since the government
filed this case,
investors have been
pulling their money out.
Creditors have been demanding payment.
It may make more sense to
just get this over with.
That's not to say I don't appreciate
what you're trying to do, but...
Ms. Holland.
Um, forgive me for intruding.
I'm, uh, one of the jurors.
Uh, the foreman, actually.
I have to tell you, I am
positively fascinated
by what it is you're trying to do,
and I was hoping you might
be able to find room for me
to help, perhaps provide
some additional capital.
Uh, if I'm doing something improper,
uh, one of you will tell me, right?
All sounds proper to me.
I look forward to speaking with you.
This may just work out.
I take back what I said.
I think I may actually be
pretty good at this jury thing.