Angel Face Page #7

Sustained.

Jurors are instructed

to disregard counsel's statement.

With his knowledge of mechanics

and her familiarity

with the victims' habits,

they plotted this murder.

Premeditated cold-blooded murder.

But the plot did not stop there.

They planned every detail,

even beyond the crime itself.

Her breakdown, when taken to the morgue

to identify the bodies of

Charles and Catherine Tremayne,

was a calculated bid for public sympathy.

However, they made

one seemingly insignificant mistake.

Diane Tremayne's suitcase was found

in the garage apartment of Frank Jessup.

And then, in desperation, when confronted

with the growing chain of evidence,

they sought to remedy the situation

by getting married

and playing the part

of the two young lovers

for the benefit of every

tabloid scandal sheet in the country.

I say the word "love" is profaned

when applied to their unhealthy,

shameless passion!

And their marriage,

under these circumstances,

is a travesty.

I could have stopped it,

ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

but I did not.

Because, in the last analysis,

I knew it would damn them

as utterly in your eyes as it did in mine.

I must admit I had a few anxious moments

under the spell of the district attorney's

brilliant eloquence.

For a while, he almost had me believing

the prosecution had a case.

Until you strip away the opulent phrases

and get down to facts

and then you discover he has no case.

He argues that Frank Jessup's

mechanical skill and knowledge

was necessary to transform

the automobile into a murder weapon.

Yet, his own witness,

in answer to a question put by one of you,

ladies and gentlemen,

clearly stated that anyone

without any special technical skill

could have rigged that car

in a few minutes

in the way the district attorney

imagines it was rigged.

But why linger on details

when the district attorney has not

presented one bit of conclusive evidence

that the car ever was tampered with.

And here, I must remind you,

the burden of proof is on the prosecution.

If there's the slightest bit of doubt

left in your minds,

then your verdict must be "not guilty. "

But the district attorney asked you

to send these two young people

to the gas chamber

for yet another reason,

because they're in love.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I was shocked and surprised

to hear Mr. Judson blacken the characters

of a man and woman

whose only offense to society

is that they happened to fall in love.

A young girl

wanted to leave a luxurious home,

elope with a hard-working,

ambitious war veteran

and build a simple life together.

Is this profane and shameless?

I leave the answer to you,

ladies and gentlemen.

If love is a crime,

Diane and Frank Jessup are guilty.

But this is the only crime that can be,

or has been, proved against them.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

have you reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

The clerk will please read the verdict.

"People of the State of California v.

Frank Jessup and Diane Tremayne Jessup,

"number 542341.

"We, the jury in the above entitled action,

"find the defendants not guilty. "

Quiet, please! Order in the court!

Well, we deserve a little rest, all of us.

- Won't you come in, Arthur?

- Some other time maybe.

- I've hardly seen my family in weeks.

- Thanks again, Mr. Vance.

The best of luck to both of you.

Goodbye, Diane.

Welcome home, Mr. and Mrs. Jessup.

Very happy occasion.

- Thank you both.

- Hello, Ito, Chiyo.

- Lunch is ready anytime, Miss Diane.

- Not quite yet, Ito.

- We'll let you know.

- Yes, sir.

Well, somebody thinks

we ought to celebrate. Why not?

Champagne?

I'd much rather have bourbon

but I guess this'll do.

- I'll get some bourbon for you.

- Don't bother.

- Oh, it's no trouble at all.

- I said never mind!

I guess I don't feel like a drink anyway.

I don't suppose you'll ever forget

or forgive me for...

I shouldn't even have asked.

But I want you to know one thing

and believe it.

I would give my life gladly

to bring them back, both of them.

I was only 10 when my mother

was caught in that air raid.

I had no friends

so my father became everything to me.

And then he met Catherine.

I resented her from the first.

I remember I used to play a game,

a game of pretend.

It always began, "If Catherine were dead. "

I used to imagine all the wonderful things

that Daddy and I would do together.

Death was only a word.

I never really knew what it meant

until I saw his body and hers,

hurt and broken.

And then I suddenly realized

that she had loved him, too,

and had done actually nothing to harm me.

Well, it's done.

All the talk in the world won't change it.

Please don't leave me.

I wouldn't know

what to do with my life without you.

Oh, you'll make out.

You're in the clear now.

You don't need me anymore.

We've gone through all this together...

We've gone through all this together

because a smart lawyer

had his jury figured right

and for no other reason.

Don't try to make anything else of it.

I don't blame you for being bitter

but I did try to tell the truth.

I wanted to confess.

He told me they wouldn't believe me

and they'd find you guilty, too.

Oh, I see. This was all for my sake.

Well, all right,

if that makes you feel any better.

But you might as well tell your lawyer

to start preparing the divorce papers

because I'm clearing out.

Mary won't take you back.

You want to bet?

She wouldn't want to

spend the rest of her life

wondering whether her husband

really committed a murder.

What do you know about a girl like Mary?

You don't even think the same.

No, and we don't love the same either.

It wouldn't matter to me what you were

or what you did, and you know it.

You don't hate me, really.

You couldn't hate anybody

who loves you as much as I do.

No, I don't hate you

but I'm getting out just the same.

- Do you still want to make that bet?

- Name it.

Remember, I'm not in the same league

with you, financially.

Take my car.

If I'm wrong, it's yours.

If I'm right, bring it back.

You mean, bring the car back.

That's right.

Fair enough.

I could say

I just happened to be passing by.

- Come in, Frank.

- Thanks.

Mary, it meant a lot to me

to see you in court every day,

- knowing that you were rooting for me.

- That's all right.

Hey! I might have known it.

One cold beer in the house

and you show up.

It's all yours.

We couldn't get near you

in court this morning.

Anyhow, I guess you know

without our saying.

Let's skip it.

I'd like to forget the whole thing.

Right now I'd like to talk to Mary alone.

Objection.

And I'm not going to be overruled

by anyone either.

Anything you want to say to Mary,

you can say in front of me.

Okay.

Mary, about my marriage,

I just want you to know

that there never really was anything to it.

Just something

that Barrett cooked up for the trial.

I'm getting a divorce.

And that's supposed to

make everything just dandy, huh?

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