04x02 - Captain Hurt

[bunniefuu]

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

What's up?

My friend, Alice...

she's going to the hospital for an operation.

What sort of operation?

One that makes it so that she won't have a baby.

Whoa. I don't know what Benny's told you,

but my daughter is not pregnant.

and she's not going in for any abortion.

Then what's going on?

Alice is going in to be sterilized.

Sterilized? Why?

Because she and Benny are having sexual intercourse, that's why,

and she could never take care of a baby.

I really think I'm making the right call, Leland.

Well, could be right, could be wrong.

The only thing I'm telling you is that it's premature.

And what do we do?

I talk to Benny.

I make sure he wears a prophylactic.

Okay. For now, I'll hold off.

Randy and I were childhood sweethearts.

Thanks.

He was literally the boy next door.

We got married and had Chloe while he was still in design school.

For about five years, everything was great.

When did things start to go wrong?

Right about the time he started making money.

I helped him finish school, helped him build his business,

put my own ambitions on hold.

But he was this great architect now.


-Nothing else mattered.
-What do you wanna do?


-What do I wanna do?
-It's your call.

Probably wanna run him over with a car.

The problem is we have a seven
-year
-old daughter

who loves us both.

So what I think I need to do is resolve this thing

as quickly and peacefully as possible.


-Okay?
-Whatever you want.

I will need a $ retainer from you.


-Okay.
-And today,

not tomorrow, today,

we change the locks on your house.

Is that really necessary?

It is if you have anything you don't want him to take.

I don't think Randy would do that. Who do I make this out to?

McKenzie Brackman.


-You have a key to his place?
-No.

Why should he have a key to yours?

Just seems a little drastic. I don't know.

Deal from strength, Corrinne.

That's the way to resolve this quickly.

All right.

I'll change the locks.

But I want you to understand, divorced or not,

to our daughter, we're still a family.

What does that say?

"Arnold Becker, Family Law."

I am nothing if not sensitive.

♪♪ [theme]

♪♪

A black college professor is accused of k*lling

his pretty, white research assistant.

How big a part is race going to play in this trial?

Well, it shouldn't play any part at all.

I'm trying this case on the facts.


-How's your client holding up?
-Right now,

he's anxious for the trial to start.

And we both feel confident that once all the facts are laid out,

he will be exonerated,

and he can put this whole mess behind him.

Both sides should conclude jury selection today.

From the Los Angeles Criminal Court Building,

I'm Hal Ochoa.

Since we can assume

that Michael's lost to us for the duration of this trial,

Victor, would you make sure that his more drab,

less news
-worthy cases don't require


-immediate attention?
-Will do.

DOUGLAS: Ah, Benny! Very good. Just set it down right here.

Good God! Where are the togas?

DOUGLAS: People, you can't eat too much fresh fruit.

High water content to cleanse the gastro
-intestinal tract.

Zero cholesterol.

These are things we need to pay attention to,

try though we might to ignore them.

In fact, I've instructed Benny

to put fruit in all our offices.

Thank you, Douglas. Can we move on with the meeting?

Ah!Hammond v. Hammond.


-Arnold?
-ARNIE: Yeah.

Hotshot architect walks out on wife and child.

I should be able to carve out a major counsel fee

right out of his mid
-section.

Hear, hear. Having just seen the quarterly reports,

would that we were all doing likewise.

Yes, uh, Stuart, you might fill us in

on a few of these horrible details.

Yeah, uh, our gross income is down %.

Malpractice premiums are up again.

And, uh, there's this balloon payment due next month


-on the office renovations.
-We're sluggish

and bloated.

We need to be lean and mean.

On that, we're adjourned.

Mmm.

Uh, Victor.

Last week, I promised Leo Hackett

that I would make sure that, uh...

I'd make sure that Benny was practicing,


-uh, responsible, uh, sex.
-Uh
-huh.

And I figured that you might help me share the burden.

Now, Arnie spoke to him once,

but Benny didn't wish to entertain the discussion,

and I figured since you had such a successful trip with him to the zoo
-
-

I don't know, Leland.

You're the fatherly figure.

Oh, no. No, no.

I figure, coming from me,

that would make him too nervous, no...

Please?


-Mm
-hmm.
-Hmm?

Yeah. Thanks.

Sucker.

Mr. Nevins, do you believe

that black people are discriminated against

in this country?

Let's just say that it's my experience,

not my belief.

Do you think that experience is shared by all black people?

I do.


-Including the defendant?
-Yes, ma'am,

including the defendant.

Prosecution asks

that Mr. Nevins be excused for cause.

Objection. What's the cause?

I believe that Mr. Nevins is predisposed

to view the charges against the defendant as r*cist,

and is incapable of judging this case on the facts.

There's no showing of cause here.


-Denied.
-In that case,

prosecution would exercise one of its preemptory challenges

and ask that Mr. Nevins be excused.

Mr. Nevins is excused. Thank you for your time.

Mr. Metoyer, do you have many black friends?

No.

You have any black friends?

None.

How would you feel if your daughter married a black man?

Well, if he was a decent sort, I don't think it would bother me much.

MICHAEL: The defense would accept this man.

Mr. Metoyer,

how do you feel about capital punishment?

I guess I'm on the fence.

Do you think, sir,

that the possibility of execution

would prevent you from rendering a guilty verdict

if the facts supported it?

Not if the facts supported it, no.

In other words, you're capable of sending this man to his death.


-Yes.
-Thank you.

The prosecution accepts this man.

I did the best I could picking 'em,

but with juries, you just never know.

So it's a crapshoot.

We got a good case, Earl. That's not a crapshoot.

Jackie, tomorrow, don't forget to bring a dark suit,

a white shirt, and a tie for Earl.

And I want the kids dressed like they're going to church.

Uh, the kids are supposed to be in school.

It's important that they be here.

They told me this morning that they want to be here with their father, Earl.

Your family's behind you. I want the jury to see that.

All right.

Good.

Miss Vytek, in what capacity did you work for the defendant?

I was his secretary.

Are you familiar with People's exhibit number one?

Yes, it's a claims form for a Jaguar.

And what about People's exhibits numbers two through ninety
-seven?

Are you familiar with these forms?

They're all automobile claim forms that Mr. Knipp put through.

Can you tell the court, ma'am,

if the automobiles that these forms refer to


-ever actually existed?
-They did not.

And for each and every instance, Miss Vytek,

who received the money that Pioneer Insurance paid on these policies?


-He did.
-Let the record reflect that the witness has indicated

the defendant, Leonard Knipp.

Tell us, ma'am. Didn't the company have ways of verifying claims?

Leonard was senior claims adjustor. He knew exactly what to do.


-Objection. The witness has no idea what Mr. Knipp knew.
-Sustained.

Did the defendant admit to falsifying claims?

[chuckles] Admit it?

He used to brag to me about it.

He thought it made him a big man.

Guess what, Leonard.

ANN: Thank you, Miss Vytek.

I have no further questions.

Miss Vytek, you're testifying under a grant of immunity,


-are you not?
-Yes, Miss Korngold,

that's what I'm doing.

In other words, you yourself could have been prosecuted

for these crimes.

Tell us, did Leonard ever buy you anything

out of the monies he received from these policies?

Listen, he was constantly buying me things.

KORNGOLD: Yes, he was. He bought you a Mercedes.

He bought you a co
-op apartment in Century City.


-What your point?
-My point is, Miss Vytek,

that you are what is known as a dominatrix.

Objection. Irrelevant.

KORNGOLD: Your Honor, this is cross
-examination.

The sexual persona of the witness

is wholly appropriate subject matter.

Objection is overruled.

KORNGOLD: You specifically ordered

Leonard Knipp to falsify those claims.

Leonard's a big boy.

He did what he wanted.

Did you or did you not spank Leonard?

Very rarely.

KORNGOLD: He referred to you as Mistress Irma,

and you called him Little Lenny the Worm.

What have you been telling people, Leonard?

ANN: It's all irrelevant, Your Honor.

It is not irrelevant, Your Honor.

The relationship between these two people

is central to the question of guilt or innocence.

No speeches, Miss Korngold. The objection is overruled.

Don't you feel just the tiniest bit strange, Miss Vytek?


-What does that mean?
-You had an intimate relationship

with Leonard for more than seven years,

and you not only disavowed any personal responsibility,

you turned on someone who still adores you.

[chuckles] So what?

He loves it.

All these big, strong women around him.

So much abuse, so little time.

[siren wails]


-What's going on, Arnie?
-Just part of the process, that's all.

Well, I never thought we'd have him arrested.


-Don't worry, okay?
-What do you mean, don't worry?


-You're putting him in jail.
-Corrinne, we're putting him in jail.

We're sending him a message.

Here's what I want you to do.

I want you to stand behind me and not say a word.

Here's who you should have arrested, the two of them.


-Uh
-huh. Who are they?
-She's your complainant, Sergeant.

That's right, and I'm her lawyer.

You're pushing it, Arnie. On this one, you're pushing it.

Hey, last time I looked, breaking and entering was still a crime.

It's his own house.

He abandoned this woman, he abandoned the house.

All right, bring him over here.

What were you doing there?

I was picking up some of my daughter's things for the weekend.

Did he harass you in any way?


-No.
-She wasn't even home.

Why the hell did you ever arrest him?


-He set off the alarm.
-Security patrol responded.


-They called us.
-Then they called him.

They're instructed to call me.

He told me the guy didn't live there anymore

and that they were pressing charges.

I thought we weren't gonna do this, Corrinne.


-Take the cuffs off him.
-Wait a minute.

I said take the cuffs off him

and get outta here, all of you.

You might be looking at a false arrest beef here, miss.

Save the bravado, my friend.

In the future, he wants anything from us.

you tell him to have your office call my office.

Let's go.

He knows we mean business now. This is good.

Her name was Nina Corey.

She wrote poetry.

And she dreamed of becoming a reporter.

She loved a gray and white cat

named Emma.

She made the mistake of loving the defendant.

And that mistake, ladies and gentlemen,

cost Nina Corey her life

three days shy of her st birthday.

The defendant, that man, k*lled her.

Oh, it wasn't quick.

And it was anything but painless.

In fact, he wanted her to suffer.

He wanted her to cry out in pain.

We will place him at her apartment on the night she was k*lled.

We will prove beyond all reasonable doubt

that he took a baseball bat

and systematically broke her legs,

ruptured her spleen,

and crushed her skull with such fury,

positive identification was only possibly by using dental records.

After you've been shown all that,

I have every faith, ladies and gentlemen,

that each and every one of you

will do the right thing

and find the defendant

guilty.

A terrible crime was committed.

A brutal m*rder.

And as is always the case,

we are desperate to find someone to blame.

Now, the police felt that desperation.

They felt the public clamoring for this k*ller to be caught.

And the people of Los Angeles,

almost as one,

wanted to know his name.

They wanted to see his picture in the paper,

and they wanted it fast.

Now, it offends us as deeply as anything can,

that a crime like this one goes unpunished,

but it also has to offend us just as much, however,

that the wrong man be punished.

And this man is the wrong man.

He wasn't Nina Corey's lover.

And he wasn't Nina Corey's k*ller.

The police will tell you that he is,

because they wanna know that they have solved this crime.

The prosecutor will tell you that he is,

because prosecutors like to win.

All I ask is that you honor your oath.

Honor your oath.

If you do that, ladies and gentlemen...

you will set Earl Williams free.


-Okay.
-Sit down. Have a seat.

Now, I know Arnie spoke to you about this last week,

and I know that you do not like talking about it,

but we have to, Benny, okay?

Now, you know what I'm about to say, don't you?


-Sex.
-That's right, sex.

Now, nobody here thinks it's wrong for you and Alice to have sex.

Benny?

Benny, I need you to listen to me.

And I want you to look at me, okay?

Sexual intercourse is a very big step in a relationship.

Now, some people feel that you need to be married first,

and other people don't.

Personally, I think it's okay

if the two people really care very strongly for each other

and are really committed to one another.

Now, if you and Alice decide to have sex,

that's nobody's business.

But it's really important that you actually responsibly,

so that you can prevent the spread of disease,

and so that you can prevent Alice from becoming pregnant.

Benny, when you and Alice have sex, do you wear a condom?

Well, we only had sex one time.

Okay. Did you wear a condom?

What's that?

Benny, I thought Arnie told you

that you have to wear something

when you're having intercourse.

He said I had to wear a rubber.

Yeah, right. Well, that's the same thing.

Did you wear one?


-No.
-Well, why not, Benny?

It's really important.

I'm afraid to buy them.

[chuckles]

Oh, Benny, everyone feels awkward about buying them at first.

You get used to it.

Okay, I'll tell you what.

Um, we'll go to the drugstore,

and we'll buy them together,

so that way you can see how easy it could be.

I don't know.

Benny, tomorrow you and I are going condom shopping.

Okay?

Okay.


-Corrinne.
-This is too rough on me, Arnie.

It's too rough on my daughter. I just want it to be over.


-What do you mean?
-I don't want any more scenes like last night's.


-Hey, me neither.
-In that case,

let's just shut it down as quickly as possible, okay?

Fine. Let's shut it down.

Towards that end, what can you tell me

about your husband's discharge from the service?


-Excuse me?
-He was given a general,

rather than an honorable discharge from the army.

Would you happen to know why?


-Leave that alone, okay?
-We're on the same side, remember?

When I negotiate a deal, the more I know

about whoever's across the table,

the better I can do my job.

Well, you're gonna have to do it without Randy's service record.

There are certain confidences I just can't betray.


-Corrinne
-
-
-Just settle it, please.

You've all the information you need.

I'll do my best.

[door closes]

Rox, get me Dave Stapleton at the Veterans Administration.

Leonard Knipp is a masochist.

This is combined with an abnormally high sex drive.

The result is an individual

who lives in a state of virtual bondage to the will of another.

WOMAN: And in the defendant's case, who is that other?

His former secretary, Irma Vytek.

Doctor, what does this bondage, as you call it, entail?

Well, one ritual was that Ms. Vytek

would order Leonard to clean her bathroom,

then let him chew on one of her dirty socks as a reward.

Would ordering him to falsify claims qualify as bondage?

Absolutely. Regardless of the demand,

Mr. Knipp was wholly incapable of disobeying.

Was he capable of telling right from wrong?

In my opinion, he was not.

Thank you, Doctor, no further questions.

Tell us, Doctor, what was the effect on the defendant

of obeying Ms. Vytek?

Very, very intense physical gratification.

In other words, he did it for pleasure.

Ms. Van Owen, pleasure to Mr. Knipp

is not the same as pleasure to you or me.


-You're right about that.
-What I'm trying to say is

that Mr. Knipp's behavior can only be understood

in the context of his condition.


-What condition?
-Masochism.

Coprolagnia, hyperesthesia.

I'm not talking through my hat here.

Flagellum Salutis was first published in .

It specifically refers to this phenomenon.

Doctor, have you ever known a patient to fake it?


-Leonard Knipp is not faking it.
-No?

This sniveling, whining attempt

at self
-justification
-
-

this couldn't be an act?

I would see through it, Ms. Van Owen.

But then you wouldn't be paid to testify, Doctor.

If you had said that Leonard Knipp grovels,

because, and only because,

it's in his best interest to grovel,

then you wouldn't have been hired, would you have?

I didn't enquire into the conditions of my employment.

Would you have been hired? Yes or no?


-No.
-ANN: Thank you.

MAN: By this time, she'd been his assistant for about two years.

Mr. Corey, was your daughter romantically involved

with the defendant at the time of her death?

It's my belief that she was, yes.

What do you base that belief on?

At first, she'd just talk about him.

How much she was learning in his class.

How he wasn't like any of her other professors.

Then, like I said, she became his research assistant.

They went away together for weekends.

I asked her about it once.

All she said was,

"Daddy, I know what I'm doing."

When was the last time that you saw your daughter, sir?

The night he k*lled her.


-MICHAEL: Objection.
-JUDGE: Sustained.

The night that she got k*lled. Okay, is that better?

Go on, Mr. Corey.

The police called me. I saw her lying there

on her bedroom floor while they took pictures.

This little bit of a thing lying in a heap...

...with her skull crushed.

Thank you. I have no further questions.

[coughs]

Uh, did you ever see your daughter and the defendant holding hands?

Or kissing?

Or doing any of the things that people who are romantically involved might do?


-She wouldn't have done that around me.
-So the answer's no.

Now, these weekends, when they went away together,

these were, in fact, academic conferences

that were sponsored by the university

and were attended by hundreds of others, is that right?


-That doesn't change anything.
-You testified

that your daughter was having an affair with Mr. Williams,

and you're basing that on her having spoken about his teaching,

or having worked with him,

and her having gone away with him on academic conferences.

Now, forgive me, but that doesn't sound like very conclusive proof, sir.

I knew my daughter.

Well, did she ever tell you that she was seeing Mr. Williams?


-Not in so many words.
-In any words.

In any words, Mr. Corey,

did she ever tell you she was seeing him?

No, she never told me.

MICHAEL: Thank you.

I have no further questions.

JUDGE: Thank you, Mr. Corey.

♪

Irma Vytek was everything, I was nothing.

I only wanted to serve her.

How did you know Irma Vytek wanted you to file those claims?

She told me to do it. She said she couldn't waste her time

with someone who showed no initiative or courage.


-So you were willing to break the law?
-I obeyed her.


-You're a grown man.
-Age has nothing to do with it.

Leonard, why couldn't you just say no?

Total obedience is total obedience.

You can't pull back. That wrecks it.

I know you all think I'm some sick freak,

but you don't know what it's like to obey.


-I live for it.
-Thank you, Leonard.

No further questions.

Let's see, Mr. Knipp, you
-
-

you sent in these false claims

for two
-and
-a
-half years without being caught.

You had bank accounts under different aliases.


-You're a pretty clever guy.
-Not really.

No?

Well, Miss Vytek certainly couldn't have done it.

She didn't know how to send in claims forms

that would pass muster with your company.

She wasn't a claims adjuster, you were.

In fact, you were her boss.

What a charade that was.

I was her sl*ve, her plaything.

No, Mr. Knipp, you were and are a liar and a thief.


-[moans]
-Objection!


-Sustained.
-You knew you were committing a crime


-when you filed those claims.
-Yes.

You even took precautions so that you wouldn't be caught.

Only so that I could keep on doing it.

Filling out those forms was the greatest sexual experience I've ever had.

And you can laugh at that all you want to. I know it's true.

Ask that the witness confine his remarks to answering the question.

I'm sorry.

Ask that the witness stop embellishing his answers

with submissive behavior,

specifically calculated to support his defense.


-JUDGE: Mr. Knipp.
-I'm sorry.

I won't do it anymore.

Uh
-huh. Thank you.

Benny? Ben
-
-

Benny. Come on, the coast is clear. It's okay. Come on.

Can I help you?

I, uh...

I w
-
- wanna buy a condom.

What kind?

The kind for sex.

Do you think that's funny?

Uh, Pentrex, please.

I'll be with you in a moment. I'm waiting on him right now.


-I'm with him.
-Oh, I see.

Pentrex, non
-lubricated, no reservoir, please.

Phil! Pentrex condoms, there's no price!


-Is that the right size?
-One size fits all, Benny.

Pentrex non
-lubricated.


-Mint?
-Not mint.

Who may I help here?

Well, the condoms are for him. He's doing the shopping.


-We're together.
-Uh
-oh.


-They're together.
-Just
-
- How much is that, please?


-MAN: Two seventy
-nine.
-Thank you.

That's . with the tax.

Pay her, Benny.

[coins clatter]

Two dollars.

Ten.

[muttering]

Eighty...


-Ninety.
-[coin clatters]

Ninety
-one, ninety
-two,

ninety
-three, ninety
-four,

ninety
-five, ninety
-six,

ninety
-seven.

Thank you.

I did it, Victor. I bought my condom.

Yes. Yes, you did, Benny. Now, come on, let's go.

See how easy that was?

WOMAN: You were living in the apartment

directly underneath Nina Corey's,


-is that right?
-Yes.

Were you home on the evening of November , ?


-Yes, I was.
-Tell us what happened.

Well, around :,

I heard a lot of screaming and yelling up there.

There was a loud thud and then this pounding,

like somebody was pounding on the floor with a hammer.

It seemed to go on for a long time.


-What did you do?
-I called the police,

and then I went upstairs to see what was going on.

And when I got to the top of the steps,

I saw a man run out of Nina's apartment.

Was the man that you saw in this courtroom now?

Yes. He's sitting right over there.

Let the record reflect that the witness

has identified the defendant, Earl Williams.

I have no further questions.

Amy, it was an outdoor staircase that you were on


-when you saw this man, right?
-Yes.

Now, according to the records of the U.S. Meteorological Service,

the sun set that day at :.

And you testified that you went upstairs around :.

[chuckles] I could see fine.

How much time would you estimate you had to observe this man?

A few seconds. I don't know know exactly.

But he passed right next to me.


-Were you frightened?
-Sort of.

You're not used to seeing a black face where you live, are you?

Objection. That has nothing to do with the witness's identification of the defendant.


-It has everything to do with it, Your Honor.
-Overruled.

Amy, in the statement you gave to the police,

you described the man you saw as being a male black,

to years of age,

medium height, medium build, medium complexion.

Now, that really narrows it down, doesn't it?


-I also picked him out from a photograph.
-Right.

A photograph that you saw a month later

that had a caption on it that identified Earl Williams

as a suspect in the case.

Do you have a question for the witness, Mr. Kuzak?

What did you do when this black man ran past you?

I didn't do anything. I stood there.

MICHAEL: Did you look at him? You look away from him? What?


-I looked at him long enough.
-Long enough for it to register that he was black,

that he was a stranger, and that he was in a hurry.

One split second.

And then you did what anybody else in your position would do.

You put your head down and you stayed out of trouble.


-Counsel's making speeches.
-JUDGE: Mr. Kuzak.

That is the man that I saw.

What color is my tie?

Objection! The witness is being asked to jump through hoops


-under pressure.
-She was under a lot more than pressure that night.


-She was scared to death.
-The witness can answer.


-Your tie is red.
-What's the pattern?

Polka dots.


-MICHAEL: You sure?
-AMY: Yes.

[sighs]

MICHAEL: At least you got the color right.

♪

Arnie, you've got the house.

You've got the Volvo.

They can divvy up the art with alternate picks.

The Idyllwild cabin was designed by Randy.

built by Randy.

The title is held by his corporation.

It's a marital asset.

Like hell, it is.

Does Corrinne say she wants me to sell it?

Stuart, would you please advise Mr. Hammond

that whatever my client tells me is privileged communication?

She would never want me to sell it.

It's the first house I ever designed.

And she's not entitled to it.

She is entitled to it, and a great deal more.

Like what?

Like a major piece of that burgeoning architectural firm


-that your client owns.
-Wait a minute.

I'm not gonna dismantle my firm.

Come up with a $, lump sum payment, you won't have to.


-You are way out of line.
-Am I? I don't think so.

But, hey, there's an easy way to find out.

Let's bring an appraiser in to take a look at the business.

Hey, I have partners. I'm carrying a large debt.

I'm up to my neck in work.

You are not about to start pawing around through my firm.


-Is that a no?
-I thought you wanted to settle, Arnie.

It doesn't mean I wanna drop my pants and bend over.

You shysters. You just see the dollar signs, don't you?


-Shysters?
-The shysters.

Blood
-suckers, leeches.

You can show your client out now.

Stuart, let him do what he's gonna do.

I'm not giving up Idyllwild.

And I'm not negotiating on my business.

Believe me, this isn't coming from Corrinne.

Let me ask you something, Randy.

Does getting the better of a woman make you feel like a man?

What's that supposed to mean?

Your client got caught in a little h*m* activity

while stationed at Fort Benning, Stuart.

She told you that?

I think it's left him feeling like he has something to prove.

Maybe b*ating up on his wife in a divorce settlement is one way to do that.

Why don't you shut your mouth?

Hey, what's done is done, babe.

Oh, is that it?

Huh? you gonna hit me?

Is that gonna make you feel like a man?

Is it difficult for you to believe

that this man lost the ability to tell right from wrong?

Consider this.

We live in a vast, sprawling metropolis.

Within it are countless walking bundles

of psycho
-sexual pathology.

Sadists, masochists, frotteurs,

apron freaks, all of them living

ostensibly normal lives

while nurturing their own particular little kink or quirk.

The difference, in Leonard Knipp's case,

is that his grew too powerful to resist.

So he bartered his will

for the whip point of happiness.

You might say strange. Yes, but is it insanity?

I submit to you it's precisely that.

Leonard Knipp was unable to tell right from wrong.

He was unable to control his impulses.

Leonard wasn't sane, and Leonard wasn't free.

He was held c*ptive by his own obsession.

Ladies and gentlemen, don't make him a criminal.

Understand him for the tormented, sick individual that he is.

Thank you.

First off, ladies and gentlemen,

let me say that nothing you do

can make Leonard Knipp a criminal.

If he's a criminal, it's because he elected to commit a crime.

Secondly, I don't think this case is all that strange.

When you cut through all the lurid details,

it's about greed.

Mr. Knipp wanted things he couldn't afford,

so he defrauded his employer to get them.

The fact than Irma Vytek

may have benefitted from these crimes,

or even encouraged their commission,

doesn't absolve the defendant.

There is no criminal insanity here.

Leonard Knipp likes to be abused.

I don't condemn him for that.

I don't seek to ridicule him.

All I've been trying to do is to demonstrate

that he was possessed

of criminal intent.

That he planned, carried out,

and benefitted from the crime,

of embezzlement.

Punish him for that.

Punish him for each and every one

of those counts.

Find him guilty and punish him.

Thank you.

In the m*rder trial of Earl Williams,

defense attorney Michael Kuzak

appeared to score a few points of his own today

as he shook the testimony of an eyewitness.

Additional eyewitnesses expected to play for the defendant

at the scene of the crime did not materialize.

And prosecutor Margaret Flanagan

has announced that she will proceed without them.


-Well.
-Gracie.


-Hi.
-How you doing?

I'm great.

You look like you've lost already.

Oh, I'm just tired, that's all.

You know you've got the department squirming on this one.

We're not exactly relaxed, either.

Did you know that he was fluent in Russian?


-Who?
-Earl Williams.


-Oh, yeah.
-He had to read Tolstoy

in its original in order to get his doctorate.

The man is fluent in Russian.

You think you've found an innocent one here, don't you?

I know he's innocent.

You wanna come join us for a beer?

It's a fun group.

No, I think I'll finish this and go home.


-I got a big day tomorrow.
-Okay.


-Hang in there, Mickey.
-I will.

See ya.

Oh, hang in there, Mickey.

Mr. Forrester, what's your background, sir?

I'm a molecular biologist by training.

Now, your lab has positively placed the defendant

inside Nina Corey's apartment by means of DNA testing.

Can you explain to the jury just what that is?

MICHAEL: I renew my pretrial objection, Your Honor.

With respect to DNA testing,

there is no evidence of conformity

with scientifically accepted standards.

You're free to cross
-examine on the point, Mr. Kuzak.

The witness can answer.

Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA,

is found in every cell in our body.

And each person's DNA is different.

How do you match one sample with another?

We enlarge them until they almost resemble a barcode

that you'd see in a supermarket.

Then we compare them.

The likelihood of two people having matching samples

is statistically insignificant.

Based on the comparison of DNA samples,

is it your opinion that the defendant

was present in Nina Corey's apartment?

Objection. Irrelevant.

The defendant has already admitted being in the apartment in the past.

The issue is whether he was there at the time of death.

I'm getting there, Your Honor.

JUDGE: The objection's overruled.

Tell us how you identified the defendant.

Two hairs were located that were left behind on the bed.

I object to the implication, Your Honor. For all Mr. Forrester knows,

those hairs could have been carried in on Nina Corey's coat.

Sustained.

What else is your opinion based on?

Fresh semen was found on Nina Corey's bed sheets

at the time her body was discovered.


-Objection. Move to strike.
-JUDGE: Overruled.


-Whose semen was it?
-MICHAEL: Objection!


-Overruled, Mr. Kuzak.
-Whose semen was it?


-MICHAEL: Your Honor, I object!
-It was the defendant,


-Earl Williams'.
-Your Honor, the defense moves for a mistrial


-right here and now.
-JUDGE: I'll see both counsel in chambers.

Where's the surprise, Your Honor?

Mr. Kuzak knew we were calling a DNA expert.

Well, not to testify to sexual intercourse,

I sure as hell didn't know that.

The only thing I knew about were the hair samples.

You have some explaining to do, Miss Flanagan.

Your Honor, the semen report only got to me the day before yesterday.

I barely had time to go over it myself.


-I don't believe it.
-You think I'm lying?


-Yes, I think you're lying.
-JUDGE: Wait a minute.

Why was there no evidence of sexual intercourse

in the autopsy report?

I don't know, Your Honor.

But I'm told if he were wearing protection, there might not be.

Well, the fact of the matter is, Mr. Kuzak.

you knew that the prosecution was going to try to establish

that a romantic relationship existed.

Yes, I did. But I didn't know they were gonna do it by this offer of proof.

I understand. And that being the case,

I'll give you time to prepare for cross
-examination.

Also, you can hunt up your own DNA expert

to refute these findings,

assuming that's what you're going to try to do.

That's gonna take a little more than an afternoon, Your Honor.

You want a continuance, you got it.

With all due respect, I think that the prosecutor's

conduct here warrants a mistrial.

JUDGE: Mr. Kuzak, right now I am not granting a mistrial.

Until you decide whether or not to contest this evidence,

I don't know that your client has been prejudiced at all.

Also, I cannot conclude that an officer of the court

willfully concealed evidence,

if she denies it.

Of course, you have to show him.

What good is a condom

if he doesn't know how to put it on?

Abby, what am I supposed to do,

give this guy a demonstration?


-Use a model.
-I don't have a model.

Oh, here.

Here.

Use this.


-A banana.
-Yeah.

Looks about right.


-Go get 'em, Victor.
-Abby
-
-

[chuckles]

Please be advised that unless an appropriate response

is forthcoming,

we are fully prepared

to do that which is necessary

to enforce the aforementioned judgment.


-You bastard.
-What?

You went behind my back.

You did exactly what I asked you not to do.

I did what I felt was necessary.


-What you felt was necessary!
-Yes.

Maybe you oughta wait and see what kind of offer

they come back with before deciding I was wrong.

Here. Everything you asked for.


-This is fantastic.
-Maybe to you.

My daughter is seven. She doesn't seem to think it's so fantastic.

She wasn't quite ready to have all the venom

and the hatred that grownups heap on each other

dumped into her lap.

I think she was entitled

to just a few more years of being a kid.

Look, I played rough, yes.

But I got you what you wanted.

I didn't want for my little girl to grow up breathing poison.

Look, it'll pass.

Who deals with it

if it doesn't pass?

Corrinne? Corrinne!

Corrinne, could we discuss this?

There's nothing to discuss.

Corrinne, come on.

Come on, honey, let's go.

That's nice.

Thank you for the paper.

You're very welcome.

Bye.

[sighs]

Benny?

Are you going to eat that banana?


-No.
-May I have it?

I'm feeling a potassium low.

I guess so.

Thank you.

[sniffs] Fresh.

JUDGE: Has the jury reached a verdict?


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

We find the defendant guilty.

JUDGE: I would like to thank the jury for it's effort.

Sentencing will be set down for Tuesday, December th.

Your Honor, my client has made a request that I'm duty
-bound


-to convey to the court.
-JUDGE: What is it?

He's asked that his bail be revoked,

and that he be remanded to custody pending sentencing.

Might I ask why, Mr. Knipp?

Your Honor, Miss Van Owen...

Mistress Van Owen was right.

The things I did were bad. I belong in jail.

GRACE: Your Honor, I object.

This man is doing nothing more

than continuing to trot out this canard


-in an effort to gain lenience
-
-
-Miss Van Owen, please.

Mr. Knipp, you want me to send you to jail.

Fine. That's where you're going.

Let me be your serf.


-JUDGE: Mr. Knipp
-
-
-KNIPP: Let me do your wash.

Your Honor, the man needs professional care.

He needs to be held accountable for his actions.

Let me lie face down in your dirty bathwater.


-That's it.
-The court officer will remove this man


-and place him in custody.
-Let's go.

Oh, my.

[door opens]

Earl, you gotta get real straight with me real fast.

I can go in there and att*ck the prosecution's DNA expert,

or I can find one of our own

to testify that that semen wasn't yours.

But before I do, I gotta know...

Did you go to bed with her that afternoon?

Yes or no?

Yes or no, damn it!


-Yes.
-Earl...

You're a smart man.

You know how sophisticated the crime labs are.

Did you think they weren't gonna find out?

I didn't think they could trace it to me.

So you sent me in there spewing bald
-faced lies.

Now the D.A. has cut the legs out from under both of us.

I thought you'd do a better job if you believed I was innocent.

Meaning what?

You're not?

I'm innocent of m*rder!

Well, it sure as hell doesn't look like that!

I know!

What did your wife say?

I'd rather not get into it.

You don't have a choice!

It's between her and me.

Look, I am not asking you this because I'm nosey.

I have to know whether or not I can put her on the stand!


-Then talk to her.
-I'm talking to you!

Now, you better give me some answers that aren't lies,

or stop wasting my time!

I went to Nina's early that afternoon...

and made love.

Afterward, we sat in the kitchen, had a cup of tea.

About :, I kissed her good
-bye and I left.


-You think I'm a liar?
-I know you're a liar.

So does the jury.

The question now is whether or not they think you're a k*ller.

[tapping on door]

We're done.

♪♪

♪♪ [theme]