Bobby: (stands up) Your honor, chambers.
Judge’s chambers:
Judge: What’s up?
Bobby: I want you to instruct the jury that a conviction means a life sentence.
Judge: What?
Bobby: She argued sentencing in her closing.
Helen: I did not
Bobby: You said leniency. That implied to the jury that you could be lenient, when that is not the case. A conviction on murder two means life.
Judge: What do you want me to do?
Bobby: Tell them that. He would be looking at life.
Helen: Forget it.
Bobby: You have no discretion to be lenient and right now the jury thinks you do.
Judge: I think you are overreacting.
Bobby: She knew what she was doing.
Helen: Don’t be accusing me.
Bobby: It bordered on prosecutorial misconduct!
Helen: Hey, I stuck to the law. You argued jury nullification.
Bobby: You cannot let that jury deliberate under the false impression that my client might get a lighter sentence.
Judge: There will be no further talk on sentencing. I’m certainly not going to give instruction on it.
Bobby: It was a deliberate act of deception!
Helen: It was not. How could you --!
Bobby: You’re a liar! (Helen slaps him)
Judge: Hey!
Lindsay: (shocked) Helen!
Judge: I’ll hold you both in contempt!
Helen: (To Bobby) You want to fight the fight in the courtroom fine. I will not accept that kind of personal attack. (She walks out of chambers)
Separate room in the courthouse:
Lindsay: You were totally out of line.
Bobby: She said leniency, you heard it!
Lindsay: I’m talking about calling her a liar. Bobby the law is totally on Helen’s side here. Whose kidding who? Yes, she could have gone manslaughter, but the facts easily support murder two.
Bobby: So, I would be a murderer then. Is that what you are saying?
Lindsay: Of course I’m not saying that. Is that what is going on here, you’re defending yourself? My God, have you been carrying that around? You killed your mother?
Bobby: I don’t think that. You said it.
Lindsay: I didn’t say it. It came out of you. Bobby? Bobby?
Back in Pennsylvania, in the justice center…..
Lab worker: Look, I understand your problem, but we send all samples back to the evidence locker. There is very limited storage capacity here. We don’t hang on to rape kits.
Eleanor: But the police don’t have any records of you returning the rape kit on Donovan.
Lab worker: Well we have a record of sending it back to them I could show it to you, it’s right here.
Mrs. Donovan: Well, if you wrote it down.
Eleanor: Can you tell me who you used as a messenger service?
Lab worker: We don’t use services it presents chain of custody problems.
Eleanor: So people here would’ve delivered it directly to the police?
Lab worker: Yes.
Eleanor: So basically you are saying it got lost there; they are saying it got lost here.
Lab worker: Well, if I were a betting man I’d say it got lost there.
Eleanor: Okay, does Jack Semler still work here?
Lab worker: Who?
Eleanor: Jack Semler he was the technician who did the testing back in 92.
Lab worker: Can I see your paperwork?
Eleanor: Yeah, sure.
Lab worker: Yeah, there’s been a mistake here.
Eleanor: What kind of mistake?
Lab worker: We didn’t do this testing.
Eleanor: What?
Lab worker: Jack Semler works for a private lab we sometimes hire out when we are swamped here. I think our records they indicate that we sent it back to the police when we may have sent it to Kendall laboratories.
Eleanor, Mrs. Donovan and a female lab worker at Kendall laboratories:
Female lab worker: well, if we have it this is the only place it could be
Eleanor: How long do you keep samples for?
Female lab worker: It varies….let’s see (looking in a storage area)…Donovan,
Donavan, Donavan First name?
Mrs. Donavan: Stuart.
Female lab worker: 1992?
Eleanor: Yes.
Female lab worker: Nope, nothing.
Eleanor: Well, if you don’t have it and it didn’t make its way back to the police, do you have any idea where it could be?
Female lab worker: Sorry. Unless, what was the victim’s name?
Eleanor: Kearns.
Female lab worker: Sometimes they screw up and store it under the victim’s name. Let’s see, Kearns (looking through bagged lab samples) John, no, Steven, Alyssa?
Mrs. Donovan: Yes.
Female lab worker: 32665?
Eleanor : Yes, that is the file number.
Female lab worker: Huh.
Eleanor: What do you mean huh?
Female lab worker: We have it.
Eleanor : You have it?
Female lab worker: Here it is (handing over the bag to Eleanor).
Commercial.
Back in the DYDF office. Jimmy, Rebecca and Eugene walk into the office.
Rebecca: Is she still there?
Lucy: They tracked down the rape kit.
Jimmy: She still in Philadelphia?
Lucy: She’s meeting with the DA asking for another DNA test.
Eugene: What if this one is conclusive? Did she think about that?
Rebecca: What’s to lose. He’s due to be executed in five weeks.
Bobby: We’re getting paid for this?
Lucy: $500 cash. Hey, now we should expand.
Rebecca: (to Bobby) What’s up with your case?
Bobby: The jury is still out. Anybody seen Lindsay?
Lindsay goes to visit Bobby’s father at his job. Scene takes place in the bathroom.
Bobby’s father: Lindsay, hey.
Lindsey: Hi.
Bobby’s father: You know, you are in a men’s room.
Lindsay: Well, I hear unisex is the new rage.
Bobby’s father: (he laughs) How is Bobby?
Lindsay: Well, he’s a little unsettled at the moment.
Bobby’s father: Something wrong? You two aren’t fighting, are you?
Lindsay: No, no, we are not fighting. He think he killed his mother. You two really need to talk more.
Bobby’s father: He thinks what?
Lindsay: He killed his mother. The last day of her life, you two have never talked about it?
Bobby’s father: It’s not something….It’s not something I can talk about. Lindsay: Well, your son needs to.
Back in Pennsylvania:
DA: I’m afraid I can’t agree
Eleanor: You can’t agree to a DNA test?
DA: No,
Eleanor: Why?
DA: Ms. Frutt, this case is over. It’s been over for 12 years.
Eleanor: He’s about to be put to death
DA: Are you saying that we should go back and reopen an investigation simply because a sentence is about to be carried out?
Mrs. Donovan: You bastard!
Eleanor: Mary! The DNA technology has improved it is possible that a new test can exonerate…..
DA: I couldn’t reopen if I wanted to
Eleanor: This is new evidence , of course you can.
DA: It isn’t new evidence, we had the rape kit at trial.
Eleanor: Look, I understand there might be political gain in seeing this execution through.
DA: It isn’t that and I’m offended at the accusation Eleanor: You are offended at the accusation? How about, I might have an innocent kid…
DA: He isn’t
Eleanor: set to be put to death and all we are asking is for a simple test to confirm that you got the right guy.
DA: It isn’t that simple. You are in here asking that we reopen an investigation . If we did that for you, every defense attorney in town would be lining up outside my office asking for the very same thing….
Eleanor: I’m the only defense attorney with a client slated for execution.
DA: The answer is no.
Eleanor: Then we will go to court.
DA: Do what you think you must.
Back in Boston in the judge’s chambers: Judge meets with Bobby and Helen.
Judge: The jury has asked whether they can come back with manslaughter
Bobby: What did you say?
Judge: I told them no. It’s murder one, murder two, or straight acquittal. It’s poker time folks. Obviously they don’t want to convict on murder two, but they might be more reluctant to set him free. Whose going to blink?
Bobby: I’m still willing to take manslaughter.
Helen: No.
Bobby: Helen.
Helen: No.
Outside chambers:
Bobby: Helen (grabbing her arm)
Helen: You are grabbing me again.
Bobby: Sorry, I called you a liar
Helen: Okay
Bobby: You don’t think we can deal this?
Helen: You know Eleanor has been asking why I push this, Lindsay asked, truth is I don’t know. I’ve been asking myself .
Bobby: What is the answer?
Helen: We live in a country where people kill each other a lot, mostly with guns and whether I feel for your client or not, and I do, the thought of expanding the boundaries, even microscopically, where it becomes excusable to shoot somebody I can’t do it. It has to stay repugnant, excusable is to short of a leap to acceptable. I can’t do it.
Back in Pennsylvania court room.
Eleanor: All we are asking to do is a simple DNA test to confirm whether Stuart Donovan, was in fact the man who raped Alyssa Kearns.
Judge: My understanding is we had a match.
Eleanor: A blood type match, but that is hardly conclusive.
Judge: We also had an eyewitness , plus his finger prints.
Eleanor: This isn’t about that.
Judge: Young lady, I was the trial judge in this case . If you are suggesting that Mr. Donovan didn’t get a fair trial -
Eleanor: That is not my suggestion, to repeat I’m only asking that you authorize a DNA test.
Judge: Mr. Platt.
DA: Under Pennsylvania law, new evidence must be introduced within 60 days of its discovery. The rape kit is 12 years old. Defense had opportunity to analyze it before trial.
Eleanor: Technology is different. The new evidence is not the rape kit, it wold be the results of the testing. So the 60 day statute of limitations has not even begun to toll.
DA: Analysis of evidence is not new evidence
Eleanor: This is suppose to be about the truth. One lousy test brings us to the truth.
Judge: A judicial system is a process, Ms. Frutt. We have rules of procedures, new evidence is one thing but three evaluations of all evidence is quite another.
Eleanor; Your honor -
Judge: The petition is denied.
Eleanor: He is facing a death penalty.
Judge: We are adjourned. (He walks out)
In Jail:
Stuart: Where’s my mother
Eleanor: She um….She’s going to come by a little later.
Stuart: She’s some place crying, huh?
Eleanor: No, she’s upset, Stuart.
Stuart: She just doesn’t know when to quit, that’s all.
Eleanor: Well, I guess she and I have something in common then, because I’m not quitting.
Stuart: What are you going to do?
Eleanor: I don’t know, but I’m not going to go back to Boston. I can tell you that.
Back in the Boston courtroom: Jury reached its verdict.
Judge: The jury has reached its verdict?
Juror: We have.
Judge: Defendant, please rise . What say you?
Juror: On Commonwealth versus Scott Simpson, on the charge of murder in the first degree, we find the defendant Scott Simpson not guilty. On the charge of murder in the second degree, we find the defendant Scott Simpson guilty.
(Simpson is shocked, so are Bobby and Lindsay)
Judge: Members of the jury this completes your service, the court thanks you. This matter is adjourned. Security will take the defendant into custody.
Mr. Simpson looks at Bobby and turns to his children.
Mr. Simpson: (to his children)Aunt Lori is going to take you guys home and you will stay with her for a little while like we talked about. Everything is going to be okay.
Aunt Lori: They’ll be okay, Scott.
Mr. Simpson: I’ll call you tomorrow guys, okay?
Son: Goodnight, dad. I love you.
Lindsay: (to Bobby) I’ll go with the boys, I’ll take them home. Bobby: Okay.
Lindsay: Are you okay?
Bobby: Yeah. ( he nods, still looking shocked over the verdict)
Lindsay leaves. In the background, sitting on a bench, is Bobby’s father, watching Bobby.
----End of Episode----