08x19 - Tunnel Of Love

[bunniefuu]

Previously on "L.A. Law"...

Belinda Fox?

That's me.

Hi. I'd like to talk to you about the Tobias case.

-Who are you? -Arnold Becker.

-I love your car. -Thank you.

-What are you doing here? -I had a date tonight.

The entire time that I was here with him,

I had my eyes on you.

I think we're making a mistake

not proceeding with the civil suit right away.

Once this goes to a criminal trial,

Lambert's career is irreparably damaged.

If we offer him the opportunity to prevent that from happening,

we offer him his greatest incentive to settle.

And how was it that we can offer him that?

If the girl doesn't testify, Mullaney doesn't have a case.

That sick broad just shook down the guy she was pimping her daughter off on,

and you were right there with it!

You wanna think it was a shakedown, fine.

I acted at our client's behest, in our client's best interests.

You did not reach down into the mud and pull out this deal.

You swam along the bottom with your mouth open.

You engineered this piece of dirty little work from the first bell.

I you know it, and I know it.

You should know something else, this isn't over.

[door slams]

As far as I'm concerned, Patrick Flanagan is a felon.

He gave assurances that this girl wouldn't testify.

-That is obstruction of justice. -Do you have any proof of that?

Of course I don't have proof.

Patrick says he tried to notify you of the settlement offer.

You were unavailable.

He also maintains that no such assurances were made.

He's lying. Lest you be under any further allusions, this is someone who lies.

He stood in my office, he told me what he wanted to do.

I told him in no uncertain terms, do not do it.

He went ahead and did it anyway.

Parenthetically, it should be noted that he did bring in

about nine million dollars.

Douglas, he is dangerous.

Well, I think that might be a little harsh.

All right, Leland, look, you do whatever you want with him.

I'm telling you right now, I will not work with him again.

That's your prerogative.

On this one, Morales was right.

[door slams]

Well, Patrick maintains that no assurances were given.

Patrick maintains a lot of things, Leland.

Yes, he does.

At a minimum, he does seem to be someone

who gets accused pretty often.

Well, so far, all the accusations have been groundless.

So far.

♪♪ [theme]

[giggles]

Mmm...

-We can't get started again. -Sure, we can.

I've got a staff meeting at .

I gotta be in court at :.

[doorbell chimes]

-[chuckles] -Doorbell.

-Who's here at this hour? -It's the takeout guy.

-Ooh. -Mmm.

[chuckles]

You ordered breakfast to be delivered?

I knew I'd need my sustenance.

[chuckles]

[door closes]

I would have made breakfast for us.

That's all right. You were busy doing other things.

I was, wasn't I?

Yes, you were.

[gasps]Mmm.

You plan on getting dressed in your own clothes anytime today?

-What do you care? -I gotta be outta here in minutes.

So what does that have to do with me getting dressed?

I thought you had to be in court.

When you leave, you want us both to leave, right?

We both have to go to work. I figured we'd both leave.

What exactly do you think I'll do if I'm alone here?

I don't think you'll do anything.

But you'd rather I wasn't here when you weren't here.

Linda, do you wanna let yourself out?

Let yourself out.

-Is this a test? -Yes.

Good. How'd I do?

[chuckles]

You passed.

Then let me have my keys so I can get out of here.

Come get 'em.

[squeals]

Has anyone heard from Arnold?

His secretary said he's having breakfast

with the client and not to wait.

DOUGLAS: In that case, Palmer v. Schodel.

Mine. We represent Dr. Joseph Palmer,

Beverly Hills dentist who lost half his practice

-due to a rumor he was HIV positive. -Is he?

-No, he's not. -Who is he's suing?

The rival dentist who started the rumor.

-You can prove he started the rumor? -We'll see.

-Sounds tough. -Believe me, I would have preferred to settle.

-DOUGLAS:Stanton vs. Frye. -That belongs to me.

We represent Ernest Frye.

He is the defendant in a damage-to-property suit

-brought by his neighbor. -What's been damaged?

His neighbor's Afghan.

-Rug? -Dog.

-What happened to the dog? -She was allegedly impregnated

-by our client's mixed breed. -Woof.

The Afghan's owners seeking compensation

for loss of a breeding cycle and medical expenses.

-What's the defense? -LELAND: We deny paternity.

Assuming paternity, we deny liability.

Why are you doing this?

If well I've known Ernest Frye for quite a few years,

and I'd like to be of service to him.

Is that an adequate explanation?

-[door opens] -Sorry.

-Well, well. -I was in a meeting with a client.

From all appearances, it went pretty well.

Now, what is that supposed to mean?

-Boop-boop. -[all chuckling]

Now that Arnold has finally arrived, we're adjourned.

[fly zips]

LELAND: I've been informed that the other side

is amending it's pleadings.

MAN: What does that mean?

LELAND: It means that in addition to money,

they're also asking for a court order

compelling your dog to be neutered.

Leland, that will never happen.

Ernest, I know how you feel.

My dog did what dogs do. They're gonna punish him for that?

They're going to neuter him for that? I don't think so.

All right, now, don't get yourself all worked up over this.

-[elevator bell dings] -The fact that she would even ask for that

pretty much tells you all you need to know about her, doesn't it?

-[dog whines] -LELAND: Yeah.

-[dog whines] -WOMAN: Isabella.

Isabella, heel.

[panting]

How long have you had Isabella, Miss Stanton?

STANTON: I got her as a puppy four years ago.

And would you describe for us the kind of dog she is?

Isabella is a purebred champion Afghan.

Both sire and dam were also champions.

His grandsire was E Magnus Rex,

one of the top-winning Afghans in the history of the breed.

Has Isabella herself, in fact, been judged a champion?

She won her class in Puppy, Novice, and Open.

She's been judged Best in Breed at enough shows to have earned

the designation Champion many times over.

Now , I know this is very difficult for you,

but I need for you to tell us what happened

on November, , .

I came from work at around p.m.

and found him on top of the picnic table

in the backyard mounting Isabella.

Miss Stanton, are you pointing at Mr. Frye,

or are you pointing at Mr. Frye's dog?

-His dog. -I thought so.

-[chuckles] -Resourceful little fella, isn't he?

When I say "resourceful little fella,"

I'm referring, of course, to Mr. Frye's dog, not to Mr. Frye.

Now, Miss Stanton, did you attempt to breed Isabella after this unfortunate incident?

Yes, I did. I put Isabella with a triple-champion stud.

But she rejected him. All she wanted was the mutt.

In the end, we had to inseminate her artificially.

COUNSEL: And did Isabella subsequently whelp?

Yes. But instead of champion Afghans,

she gave birth to mongrels.

COUNSEL: How much money do you estimate you lost as a result?

Her puppies would have gone for $ each, speaking conservatively.

That comes out to $,,

plus veterinary bills and food for the puppies she did have.

I have nothing further.

Miss Stanton, have you considered that a mixed breed,

other than Mr. Frye's,

could have fathered Isabella's puppies?

I caught Mr. Frye's dog in flagrante,Mr. McKenzie.

Assuming that it was Mr. Frye's dog you saw that dark November night,

your dog's pregnancy could still be attributable to another dog, could it not?

-Objection. Speculative. -Oh, is there a specific putative sire, counselor?

-Yes, Your Honor. -Right. Well, then confine your questions accordingly.

Are you familiar with an unneutered shepherd mix

named Bismarck who lives on your block?

That dog is years old and blind.

According to its owner, it still functions sexually.

He never leaves the driveway.

Is it possible Isabella went to him?

Objection. Speculative.

Sustained. Speculative it is.

Animal Control records show

that you reported Isabella missing on November th,

and did not report her found until the following day.

STANTON: The gardener left the gate open.

So for almost hours,

Isabella was running around loose while in heat, wasn't she?

-Yes. -During this -hour spree,

couldn't Isabella have had intercourse with countless mongrel suitors?

You seem to forget, Mr. McKenzie,

that I saw that dog mounting my Isabella.

I saw the tunnel he dug to get from his yard to my yard.

How do you know Isabella didn't dig the tunnel?

Mr. McKenzie, I can't help but feel

as though my dog has been defiled by your client's dog,

by your client,

and now she's being defiled again by you.

Miss Stanton, how do you know Isabella didn't dig the tunnel?

-I know my dog. -LELAND: I see.

Nothing further.

What did your dental practice generate in income

for fiscal , Doctor?

About $,.

How about ?

Less than $,.

To what do you attribute the falloff?

I attribute it to a rumor started

by doctor Frederick Schodel that I was HIV positive.

FLANAGAN: Would you tell us on what basis you make that allegation?

Yes. I had a patient named Sid Green.

Had been with me for a number of years.

Actually, I thought we were friends.

One day, my secretary told me that he called and requested

that his records be sent over to another dental office.

-How did you respond? -Objection. Heresay.

The witness is being asked to testify to state of mind, not truth, Your Honor.

The objection is overruled.

The witness can answer.

He said that he worked with a patient of Doctor Schodel's.

He said that they had told him that Dr. Schodel said I was HIV positive.

-Are you HIV positive? -No, I'm not.

Ask that the witness has stipulated medical report containing his HIV test results

be entered as Plaintiff's Exhibit "A."

-So ordered. -Is it fair to say, Doctor,

that you and Dr. Schodel were in competition with one another?

Well, I never considered us as being in competition.

Apparently, he did.

-Objection. Speculation. -JUDGE: Sustained.

Was there ever an incidence of Dr. Schodel's patients becoming your patients?

Yes, a number of his patients came over to me.

-Did you ever solicit them to do so? -No, I did not.

Some of his patients came over, because they had emergency situations,

and, uh, Dr. Schodel was unavailable.

Others came out of various dissatisfactions

for the treatment they'd been receiving.

How, if at all, did Dr. Schodel react to those losses?

Well, he came into my office,

and, uh, he accused me of stealing his patients

by telling them that he was incompetent.

I denied it, but he refused to believe me.

Doctor, what effect, if any, has this rumor had on you?

I can't have a dental practice in Southern California any longer,

and up until last year, I had one.

I was successful, I was prosperous, I was happy.

Now I am none of those things.

I have nothing further.

Dr. Palmer, you were hospitalized

over the past year, is that correct?

Yes, I had pneumonia.

Is it also correct that you lost a considerable

amount of weight over the past year?

-Yes, by design. -You gay, Doctor?

-COUNSEL: Objection. Irrelevant. -JUDGE: Sustained.

Have you ever been married?

-Objection. Irrelevant. -JUDGE: Sustained.

Your Honor, I'm just trying to establish

that this rumor started wholly independent of my client.

Being gay, Mr. Belknap, does not correspond to being HIV positive.

Well, will the Court entertain the notion that such correspondence

does exist in the minds of others?

-The Court will not. -[sighs]

You never heard Dr. Schodel say you were HIV positive, did you, Doctor?

[exhales] He wouldn't say it to my face.

-Is that a no, Doctor? -Yes, it is.

I have no further questions.

[footsteps depart]

Thanks for sitting in for me, Denise.

If I don't have to get a filling,

I should be back before he needs anything.

-No rush, Eli's still in court. -Thanks.

Good luck.

[sighs] Can I help you?

I'm looking for Arnold Becker.

Do you have an appointment?

I'm a friend of his.

Oh, he's in a meeting.

Is he in a meeting, or is that a standard line?

-Excuse me? -I'm asking if that's what you say

whenever one of the attorneys asks not to be disturbed.

-No, it's not. -All right.

Do you know how long he'll be in a meeting?

No, I don't.

Would it be possible to leave him a note?

By all means, here.

Are you sure he's not in there taking a nap?

I was told he's in there with someone.

Hey, what are you doing over here?

-I'm filling in for Joanne. -Any messages for me?

Yeah, you have a bunch of them.

Excuse me.

-Wake up, Arnie. -[woman sobbing]

I'm sorry, I thought you were alone.

-Is everything all right? -Yeah, everything's fine.

I was in the neighborhood. Thought I'd drop by.

We're in the middle of something here.

-[woman blows nose] -Okay.

Okay.

It really is the necessary to use that tone with me.

Could we talk about this a little later?

I don't know what there is to talk about.

I stopped by to say hello, and you bite my head off.

I wasn't planning to stay all afternoon.

Would you excuse us?

I won't tolerate being chastised, Arnie.

You walked into the middle of a meeting with a client.

I made an honest mistake. That doesn't call for an act of intentional cruelty.

-What are you talking about? -You were rude to me.

You were rude to me in front of another person. I won't tolerate that.

Look, I don't have time get into this right now.

-Arnie, wait. -What?

I'll apologize if you'll apologize.

-Okay, I apologize. -Me too.

Mm.

Call me.

[sobbing]

Have you ever met the gentleman seated on the left?

Yes I have. Dr. Schodel's my dentist.

Was there ever an occasion on which, while in the offices of Dr. Schodel,

you overheard him refer to the gentleman seated on the right,

-Dr. Joseph Palmer. -Objection. Hearsay.

This is outside the exception to the hearsay rule, Your Honor.

The objection is overruled. The witness will answer.

-Yes. -Would you describe the circumstances

under which it did so?

I was sitting in the chair

waiting for a temporary crown to be fitted.

I overheard Dr. Schodel speaking to his nurse

just outside the door.

In what context did the name of Dr. Palmer come up?

I heard him ask her if she knew whether or not

Dr. Palmer was going back into the hospital.

I heard him ask her if she had noticed

that Dr. Palmer had lost weight.

I heard him ask her if she knew that Dr. Palmer was gay.

I heard him ask her if she knew Dr. Palmer was sick.

What did you understand the word "sick" to mean?

I took it to mean AIDS.

FLANAGAN: Did you subsequently tell anyone else what you had heard?

I'm sure that I did. I don't know who or how many,

but I'm sure that I told plenty of people.

I have nothing further.

These people, what did you tell them?

I told them that I heard about a dentist who had AIDS.

Had you, in fact, heard Dr. Schodel say that?

I heard Dr. Schodel say words to that effect.

But you never heard him say those words.

No.

Did you, uh, ever have a conversation with Dr. Schodel

in which you asked him whether or not Dr. Palmer had AIDS?

-No. -In other words,

you took it upon yourself to disseminate as fact

that which you had neither heard nor verified.

-Objection. Argumentative. -Sustained.

Did you attribute your actions to Dr. Schodel?

-Objection. Irrelevant. -Objection's overruled.

Witness will answer.

-No. -I have nothing further.

[chuckling]

-[door closes] -JUDGE: Be seated.

As you can see, I brought my two Boston terriers with me today.

You know, I saw the two of you here with your dogs,

and it made me grow kind of sad,

thinking about my two little fellas at home alone.

Plus, I thought, well, it's time they saw what Daddy does

when he goes to the office, huh?

[clears throat] Of course, if there's any--

Would there be any objection

to Wally and Sluggo sitting up here beside me?

-None here, sir. -I have no objection.

Those are good looking dogs, Judge.

Why, thank you, Mr. Frye. Uh, they--

Oh-- [clears throat] Where the heck were we?

Please proceed, Mr. McKenzie.

Mr. Frye, during last November,

were you aware that Miss Stanton's Afghan was in heat?

No, I wasn't. I don't keep track of her dog's menstrual cycles.

Did you ever see your dog engage in sexual activity

with Miss Stanton's dog?

-No, I did not. -Do you deny that

there was a hole under the fence

between your property and Miss Stanton's property?

No, I don't. What I do deny

is that my dog was the only dog doing the digging.

This hole was dug from both directions.

This was not in unilateral hole.

Just as much, if not more of it,

was dug from the other side.

What does that suggest to you, Mr. Frye?

It suggests to me that, for all her class and pedigree,

Miss Isabella knew what she wanted.

And it wasn't one of those high-priced, fancy-boy studs.

She wanted someone a little more rugged,

a little rough around the edges,

someone who was all dog, a dog's dog--

Yes, we get the idea, Mr. Frye.

My point, Your Honor, is that she went after the Duke.

Yes, and your point is taken. And now, it is time to go on to the next point.

Did you knowingly or intentionally allow your dog to run loose?

FRYE: No, I did not. If he was out,

he was either on a leash, or fenced in in the backyard.

The only time he ever got out of the yard was

via the "forementioned" hole.

I have nothing further.

Mr. Frye, your dog has a history of digging, hasn't he?

You're talking about the rosebushes, aren't you?

STODDARD: It is true, is it not,

that your dog destroyed Miss Stanton's rosebushes?

First of all, that was three years ago when Duke was a puppy.

Second of all, I replaced those bushes.

-Tell us, sir-- -I bought new ones and planted them during the night

so that Miss Stanton would have a nice surprise in the morning.

But instead of thanking me, she had them dug up.

Apparently, they were the wrong kind.

Mr. Frye, did you ever have a romantic interest in Miss Stanton?

LELAND: Objection. Irrelevant.

COUNSEL: Goes to motive for his negligence

in failing to restrain his dog.

I'll allow it.

I left a note once in her door,

inviting her to a barbecue. So what?

-She never responded, did she, Mr. Frye? -No, she didn't.

You made a number of subsequent attempts to contact Miss Stanton,

-didn't you, Mr. Frye? -A few.

-And she ignored them all, didn't she? -Yes.

And that's why you deliberately left your dog out, isn't it, Mr. Frye?

You knew Duke was a digger,

and you knew he'd get into her yard,

and that's exactly what you wanted.

-Objection. -Because you knew the only way

you'd ever have Margo Stanton was vicariously

through the copulation of your dog with her dog.

-LELAND: Your Honor! -Mr. Stoddard!

Get a grip on yourself, man.

Yes, sir. Sorry, Your Honor.

Tell us, Mr. Frye,

once the attraction between your dog

and Miss Stanton's dog was known,

were you not asked and asked repeatedly

by Miss Stanton to have your dog fixed?

Fixed?

You mean fixed as in castrated? That kind of fixed?

STODDARD: Yes, Mr. Frye, that kind of fixed.

If I will not alter my animal's basic nature

for the purpose of making him a more manageable house pet.

I will not see him transformed into a eunuch.

-[dogs whining] -Boys!

Boys, there's no use crying after the train has left the station.

That was a pretty thoughtless remark, Mr. Frye.

I'm sorry, Your Honor.

Have you quite finished, Mr. Stoddard?

-Yes, Your Honor. -JUDGE: Good.

Well, I'd like to cut through some of this,

and so I would like to see both parties in my chambers tomorrow,

and I would like them to bring the puppies.

-Tommy. -Arnie.

-What brings you here? -I'm doing a little estate planning.

Stuart's helping me out.

What, you think I came with a warrant for your arrest?

Can I talk to you for a minute?

-Sure. -In private?

So, you wanna confess to obstructing justice?

I wanna clear the air between us.

And how do you plan to do that?

By telling you if I had a shred of proof

that Judy Rudolph and Jack Lambert struck a bargain

for Cindy Rudolph's grand jury testimony,

I'd hand it over to you.

-I don't have that. -No?

No. I wasn't there, Tommy. Judy Rudolph cut this deal by herself.

I wasn't there when it happened.

I didn't know about it till after it happened.

And nothing I said at that point

made the least bit of difference.

-Did you take the money? -Come on, Tommy.

-Well? -Hey!

Whether or not I agree with the outcome,

I'm entitled to take a fee.

So what do you want from me?

Let me off the hook.

Any truth to the rumor that you're dating Belinda Fox?

Word travels fast. Do you know her?

Not personally. She got a reputation

for being pretty gung-ho as a prosecutor, though.

-I'm not surprised. -You remember when Judge Frank Gurney

-got nailed for bribery? -Yeah.

Word was that Belinda was sleeping with him at the time,

and she agreed to wear a wire so they could get an indictment.

Dr. Schodel, did you initiate a rumor

that Jeffrey Palmer was HIV positive?

-No, I did not. -Did you hear of such a rumor?

Many times.

Do you recall when you first heard it?

I honestly can't.

-Do you recall whom you heard it from? -I don't recall that either.

I might have been at a party.

I might have been as some sort of professional function.

All I remember was that I heard it and took note of it.

-Did you repeat it? -I repeated that I heard it.

And I asked whether or not anyone else had heard it.

What was your intention when you did so, Doctor?

I don't recall having any intention.

Somebody you know gets sick, you talk about it.

We're all of us afraid of getting sick.

We're all of us afraid of dying.

When you hear about it happening to someone you know,

you talk about it.

We all do.

So was it your intention or your hope

to drive Dr. Palmer's patients away

and thereby gain some competitive advantage for yourself?

Of course not.

I feel bad for what happened to Dr. Palmer's practice.

I was also very happy to learn that the rumor was false.

I have nothing further.

You don't remember where you heard it,

and you don't remember who you heard it from?

I think that's often the case with snippets of gossip.

Did it ever occur to you what effect this particular snippet of gossip

would have on this man's practice?

As I said, I didn't think of that.

As far as I'm concerned, if you're HIV positive,

the fate of your dental practice is of less than paramount significance.

It doesn't, however, come as a surprise to you

that patients might be apprehensive

upon hearing that their dentist was HIV positive?

-No. -Given that,

do you think it might have been incumbent on you

to verify the accuracy of the rumor before you spread it?

-Objection. -JUDGE: Sustained.

I didn't spread the rumor, Mr. Flanagan.

You had conversations with your hygienist, the nurse, and others,

in which the import of what you said was that Dr. Joseph Palmer

-was HIV positive, is that right? -Yes.

We've heard five different people testify

that they overheard those conversations.

Were you aware that they were patients sitting in a chair at the time?

Given that I have appointments running back to back

from : in the morning to : in the afternoon,

you get accustomed to talking about a variety of subjects

with a patient sitting in the chair.

Does occur to you Doctor,

that, as a doctor,

people place a great deal of credibility

-on information coming from your mouth? -Yes, it does.

Given that, do you feel that you had any obligation

to pick up the phone and call Dr. Palmer

before repeating again and again and again

a rumor you knew would result in his professional death?

-Objection. Argumentative. -I'd like to answer that.

Maybe I did have a special obligation,

and maybe I did fail to uphold it,

but if that's the case, then the same can be said

for every dentist and doctor in this city,

because everyone of them that heard the rumor repeated it.

I'm no more or less guilty than they are.

Dr. Joseph Palmer's professional life has been destroyed by a lie.

What he has spent years building has been reduced to ruin in a matter of a year.

Is the defendant responsible for that?

I submit to you that he is.

I submit to you that he spread this rumor deliberately and insidiously.

He said things within earshot of others

that had the calculated effect of marking Joseph Palmer

as a dentist with AIDS.

The defendant knew what would happen.

He knew that he spoke with authority

having "doctor" before his name.

He knew what makes for a good rumor,

and he knew how fast a rumor spreads.

He also knew what this rumor would do

to Joseph Palmer's practice.

Frederick Schodel wanted to wipe out

a particularly successful competitor.

He did what he set out to do.

We ask that you find for the plaintiff

and award him the sum of one million dollars in special damages,

five million dollars in general damages.

Ladies and gentlemen, nobody here is arguing

that what happened to Joseph Palmer is right

or just or anything...

anything but tragic.

But that by itself does not entitle him to be compensated.

Now, the defendant did not start this rumor.

In the course of conducting his business, he repeated what he had heard.

He commentated on what he had seen.

But there was not one single piece of evidence

that what he did was malicious.

There was not one single piece of evidence

that he set out to harm this man.

The worst thing that Dr. Frederick Schodel can be accused of

is being possessed of a human nature.

If you make him responsible for the damages unto the plaintiff,

you will have seen to it that this rumor

has destroyed two innocent men

rather than one.

Yes, you give Daddy kisses.

Give Daddy kisses. Who is your daddy?

Yeah. Who is your daddy.

-[chuckling] -[dog snarling]

Now, now, Snuggle, don't get jealous and exhibitionistic.

-Come on over here. Hey! -[dog snarling]

Help! Help! The wild dogs have got me!

Help! Help!

-[chuckling] -[growling]

[dog barking]

[clears throat]

I was just playing with my dogs.

Uh, yes, Your Honor.

We believe an examination of these puppies

will prove dispositive in the issue of paternity.

Your Honor, I would categorically object

to the use of visual examination

as a means of establishing paternity.

Are you suggesting the plaintiff spring for DNA tests, Counselor.

They chose to pursue the claim, Your Honor.

I'm suggesting that they offer up appropriate proofs.

Hmm.

-[puppies yipping] -You're saying I can't tell by look at 'em, huh?

-Yes, I am. -JUDGE: Aha.

Well, sir. [sighs]

I am going to go way the heck out on a limb, Mr. McKenzie,

and say that visual examination tends to point

almost definitely to Duke's paternity.

Assuming arguendo that that's true,

it still has nothing to do with the issue of liability.

[slurping, giggling]

-Judge Zimring! -Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Here. Hold on to him.

[growling, snarling]

[continues]

Now, here's what I propose we do.

There aren't any more witnesses are there?

LELAND: We have no further witnesses.

-Nor do we, Your Honor. -All right, good.

Now, here's what I propose we do.

Lets suspend oral arguments and let me decide the case

based on testimony and trial memoranda.

Unless, of course, someone insists on giving a summation.

-Not I, Your Honor. -Nor I, Your Honor.

Excellent!

Well, then I shall see you all in court!

On the morrow! [barking]

-[barks] -Shh.

[dog panting]

JUDGE: Has the jury reached a verdict?

-We have, Your Honor. -What say you?

In the case of Dr. Joseph Palmer v. Dr. Frederick Schodel,

-we find for the defendant. -Yes.

JUDGE: The jury is dismissed with the thanks of the court.

We're adjourned.

So that's it, right?

Pretty much, yeah.

No appeal?

I can go through the transcript,

I can ask the opinion of of some of the attorneys in the office.

Do you know what it's like to have people look at you and be afraid?

They don't wanna talk to you. They don't wanna touch you.

They don't wanna go near you.

[sighs] I might as well have AIDS.

You know, I never expected to get the kind of money we were asking for,

but I was hoping we'd get something, though.

I know you were.

Just enough so I can move to another town, you know?

Start from scratch.

Come on.

You're still mad about what happened at the office, aren't you?

No.

I told you I was sorry.

I heard something that I wanted to ask you about.

-What did you hear? -I heard that you were involved with Frank Gurney

when he got busted for taking bribes.

I heard that you wore a wire so that your office could nail him.

-Who told you that? -Is it true?

I wanna know who told you.

It was told to me in confidence. I can't say.

Really?

Okay. Yes, I had a relationship with Frank Gurney.

Yes, I wore a wire.

Is there anything else you'd like to know?

Whatever else there is that you'd like to tell me.

I can tell you that it was the hardest thing I ever did.

I can tell you that I felt as though I had no choice.

But the problem with telling you that

is that it sounds like I'm asking for forgiveness.

Sounds like an explanation.

Oh!

Oh, I love this.

You with your past should be asking me for an explanation?

When were you gonna tell me about the blonde associate in your office?

-Who? -Jane Halliday, I think, is her name.

I heard that she's a devout Christian

and that two of you are something of an item.

-Who told you that? -It was told to me in confidence, Arnie.

-I can't say. -Whoever told you was wrong.

How could you bring up Frank Gurney to me?

How could you be talking about me behind my back?

It came up in the course of a conversation.

You have to concede it's a somewhat disquieting piece of information.

Do you think I did it because I wanted to?

Because I'm wicked?

I mean, are you afraid that I'll do it to you?

Are you afraid that-- Are you afraid that I'm doing it to you?

Oh...

Lets just check and see.

-All clear, Arnie. -Belinda, don't do this.

Right.

Belinda!

Is there a problem here?

No.

No problem.

♪♪ [humming tune]

Who is that?

I like to get in early, get a jump on the day myself.

-What do you want? -I want to talk to you.

-About what? -About how we can resolve this case.

-I thought it was resolved. -No.

What do you want, Mr. Flanagan?

And shouldn't my lawyer be here?

I want $,, Doctor.

Give that to me again?

One payment, non-negotiable.

In case no one mentioned it to you, I won.

The jury came back for me.

According to my lawyer, you've got a less chance at appeal

than you had at trial.

So if you're gonna thr*aten me with that, forget it.

I don't think your lawyer's taking all the facts into account.

Like what facts? Like things about you

that, uh, would, unfortunately, become public should we be unable to settle.

"Things" about me? What things?

Like what happened to your practice in Philadelphia.

-I never had a practice in Philadelphia. -I think you did.

I think you had to pack up and leave Philadelphia

just like you had to pack up and leave Framingham,Massachusetts

and Exeter, New Hampshire.

-I've never even been to those places. -I think you have.

You think I have?

I'm telling you I haven't.

What do you think it would do to your reputation, Doctor,

if it came out that the reason you left those places was

because you'd been caught molesting female patients anesthetized?

-Who told you that? -I honestly don't recall.

"It might have been at a party. It might have been at some sort of professional function.

All I remember is that I heard it, and I took note of it."

End quote.

So you're telling me you're going to start this rumor.

I'm just telling you what I heard.

JUDGE: Consider the dog.

In it's heart, there's no pretension

no prejudice, no vanity.

It cares nothing for titles or pedigrees or breeds.

As Juliet Capulet once so wisely pointed out,

"What's in a name?"

However, we must recognize

that this is a court of humans.

Thus, it is humans that we must consider.

Doing so, this court finds

that by leaving a prize-winning animal out of doors

during the full bloom of estrus,

the plaintiff was contributorily negligent

and partially responsible for the act of nature

that henceforth occured.

That, however, does not relieve the defendant of responsibility.

Yes, I-- I find the evidence that Duke,

that is to say, the defendant's dog,

is the sire of the litter is overwhelming

and that the act of sexual congress between the dogs occured

against the express wishes of the plaintiff.

As such, I award her the sum of $,.

-Yes. -$,?

As for the application for a court order

to have Duke-- that is to say, the defendant dog neutered,

said application, Duke...

is denied.

[both barking]

This court is adjourned.

Come, boys. [chuckles]

-I'm gonna have to declare bankruptcy. -Well, we could appeal,

but that process could cost you as much as the judgment.

Excuse me.

-Have you got a moment? -What is it?

Miss Stanton has generously offered to forego the cash award

on the condition that Mr. Frye neuter his animal.

My concern is protecting my dog. This would seem more than fair.

Well, what do you think of that, Ernest?

What about this? I agree to keep him inside except when I walk him.

No. I don't want to run the risk he'll get out.

All right.

-All right, a vasectomy. -A vasectomy?

If I can find a vetranary uruoligist to perform a reversible vasectomy,

I'll have that procedure performed.

Why does it have to be reversible?

At some point, I may want to breed him.

-He's a mutt. -At some point, he may want to sire another litter.

The answer is no, Mr. Frye. I'm not interested in a reversible vasectomy.

Would you excuse us for a moment, please?

Ernest, I think you're letting some kind of emotional attachment

get in the way of common sense.

I can't do it, Leland. I can't do that to my dog.

But Duke has had his day. He's sewn his oats.

And with so many dogs looking for homes,

it could be said you were being socially responsible by having it done.

Duke, is this something I should be considering?

[barking]

Isabella! Isabella!

-Stop! Don't! Don't! -[bell dings, doors slide]

Dukey! Don't-- Hey!

-Hey! Dukey? -Isabella!

Dukey? Dukey?

-[gasps] -That's my dog.

Oh, my God.

♪♪

-Leland? -Yes.

-You wanted to see me. -Yes, I did.

Come in. Close the door.

I wanna talk to you about the Rudolph case.

I know that Arnold feels as though I engineered the whole thing

and deliberatley went behind his back.

That's really not the case.

You know, Patrick...

I've always thought of McKenzie Brackman

as more of a family than a law firm.

I want the people who work for me to be happy.

I also want them to be honorable.

There are some cases we won't take on.

There are some things we won't do.

I don't believe I've done anything wrong in this case, sir.

I'm going to ask you one question, Patrick,

and I want you to look me in the eye and tell me the truth.

-All right. -Did you give assurances

that that girl would not testify?

No, I did not.

Okay.

Before you say anything,

I just wanna tell you

that I'm very sorry about what happened last night.

I would have told you that over the phone,

but you didn't return any of my calls.

Belinda, look.

You're a very attractive, very intriguing woman.

And you're a very attractive, very intriguing man.

This isn't gonna work out.

I never thought I'd hear myself say this,

but I need someone who is more predictable.

So I'll be more predictable.

It's not that simple.

You're looking for a certain level of commitment

that I'm not ready for.

If you wanna go a little slower, we can go a little slower.

That's not a problem.

And that so not what we're talking about.

You brought up the subject of Frank Gurney,

and that's what set me off.

But it's over.

[stammering] It's done with.

And now we can go back to exactly the way we were.

-No, we can't. -Yes, we can.

-No, we can't. -Yes, we can.

Stop!

You're hurting me.

I think we should call it a day, Belinda.

I should have seen it.

What the hell are you talking about?

I'm a prosecutor. I deal with domestic v*olence every day.

And I can promise you it's not gonna happen to me.

I will not be a victim.

Now, explain this to me again.

I went to see him, and he acknowledged he was wrong.

And he offered compensation.

Why didn't hwe acknowledge it in court?

Because then his reputation would be ruined.

-But he won! -Right.

So why would he pay anything?

I convinced him that we viewed this trial

as beginning rather than the end.

That there would be appeals and depositions

and private investigators

and publicity.

And that in the end, the best

and cheapest way to put an end to it was to pay the money.

[sighs]

-Was his lawyer there? -Of course, he was.

I could never have spoken to him otherwise.

I can't believe this.

I only wish that it was more.

Oh, it's enough. [chuckles]

Good luck.

Thanks, Patrick.

Yeah.

♪♪ [theme]