Conviction Page #4

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And then they'd take him more seriously

as a suspect in the Brow case.,.

But Romeo Collad's dead, so...

(SIGHING)

So... So, what?

It could still be enough

to re-open the case.

We just gotta find a precedent.

Ask your Evidence teacher.

I really can't right now.

I got a ton of work and...

What's going on?

Tell me.

It's nothing. I'm fine.

(SCOFFS)

Is something going on

with the boys? No.

Look, I'm...

Just forget it!

Did they

strip Search you?

No.

Betty, it's me.

Now, come on, stop.

I'm on probation at school.

Probation? What do you mean?

I'm the one in jail.

What are you talking about?

What does that mean?

It means that if I don't

improve, I'm out,

But you're doing... You're doing so...

You're doing great.

No, I'm not. I've had late papers

and I flunked my Torts exam.

They can't

do that to you.

You're the smartest person

in the whole goddamn school.

F*** that! I'm gonna write a letter

to those scum-bag teachers...

Yeah, and make sure you call

them scum-bags in the letter.

F*** them! You should

at least get extra credit

for working on

a real f***ing case.

They don't care about that.

Look, don't worry

about this, okay?

I'm gonna

take care of it.

Okay?

Okay, okay.

Hey, don't cry, honey.

You're worth a thousand

of them preppy shitheads.

Don't cry, okay?

I know, I'm sorry.

GUARD:
No touching.

(INDISTINCT)

Hi.

RICHARD:
Hi.

You guys have

a nice weekend?

Yeah.

BETTY:
Yeah?

Get any homework done?

A little.

BEN:
Yeah.

BETTY:
Yeah?

Okay, what's going on?

Hmm?

Come on, talk.

What happened?

We were thinking, you know, since

you've been so busy and all...

We were thinking that maybe

we wanna live with Dad.

That son of a b*tch!

He put you up to this?

No.

Did he?

No.

I need a guy around,

you know? For guy things.

You feel the same way?

Kind Of.

(SIGHS)

Call me, okay? Lei me know how

you do on your math test.

Okay.

I love you.

And you, you don't forget

to set your alarm.

If you're late for English again...

I know, Mom, I know.

Watch your head.

Come here. (KISSING)

All right,slop, Mom. Stop!

I love you. I love you so much.

I love you, too, Mom.

Okay.

I'll see you Friday.

We'll go to the movies.

Bye, bye.

(PANTING)

(SOBBING)

PROFESSOR BLOCK:
Samson.

Here.

Shaw.

Here.

Stevens. Taylor.

TAYLOR:
Present.

Thomassen.

Yeah.

Vaughn.

Here.

Waters. Waters?

Betty Anne Waters?

ABRA:
Come on, up.

I'm unfit.

Just like my mother.

Will you knock ii Off?

That is not true.

But I'll tell you what.

If you keep missing classes, you will fail.

I've already failed.

I lost my boys.

Betty,

you didn't lose them.

I wasn't there for them.

I wasn't.

I can't help Kenny.

Especially if you get

kicked Out Of law School.

There's your underwear,

there's your jeans,

(SNIFFS) that's clean.

Come on, get dressed.

I can't. I can't.

Just come to school today.

Start there.

(SIGHING)

KENNY:
Life's swell here at the

Hilton, food's f***ing fantastic,

just like Ma used to make.

Can you send me

more white socks?

I love you and

I miss you very much.

I, Kenneth Waters,

being of sound mind,

leave all my

worldly possessions

to my sister,

Betty Anne Waters.

Also, most important, I'm giving her

full authority on any decisions

concerning my daughter

Mandy Marsh's well-being.

SCOTT:
So, two of us

will be defense attorneys,

two will be

the prosecutors.

Thanks for

dropping by, Waters.

Nice ironing job.

SCOTT:
And then we need a

defendant, and a paralegal.

I nominate Betty Anne

to be the defendant.

What's my alleged crime?

Uh... Rape.

Oh. Gee, thanks.

What case did they assign us?

You'd know that if you

actually came to class.

Shut the f*** up.

Sewell v. State, 1992.

Sewell had already served 10

years in prison for rape,

and then he sued the state for the

right to DNA test the rape kit.

DNA test?

Yeah, the semen in the rape kit wasn't his.

The DNA didn't match.

And he won?

YES.

Yeah, look. "Advances in technology

may yield protection for exculpation

"where none

previously existed."

SCOTT:
All right, so who

wants to be the paralegal?

(KNOCKING AT DOOR)

BETTY:
Abra.

It's the blood.

This is the key.

What?

There was so much blood.

Look, I'm gonna

get Kenny out.

There were no

DNA tests then.

They only knew that the murderer

was type O and so is Kenny.

But now, if we can DNA test the

murderers blood and Kenny's,

it'll prove Kenny's innocent,

just like in the rape case.

Berry.

I'm sorry, Don.

There are 49 other cases

like this.

(STAMMERS)

Wait. How do you know the

blood evidence still exists?

'Cause we're gonna find it.

And Barry Scheck

is gonna help.

Here, look.

Oh, I see.

Barry Scheck.

This is what he does. Look, he has

this Innocence Project in New York.

And you're just gonna call him up

and he's gonna take your case?

Yes!

Are we both gonna sleep

with him or just you?

Abra, God. Look.

Dear Mr. Scheck, I would greatly

appreciate any assistance

you and the Innocence

Project can provide

in helping me free

my brother, Kenny,

From a life-without-parole sentence.

In 1983, Kenny was convicted in

Massachusetts of first-degree murder

with extreme atrocity

and armed robbery.

I have done everything in my

power for the last 16 years

to prepare myself to prove

my brother's innocence.

You good?

I can't find it.

I can't find my ID.

ABRA:
You checked your whole wallet?

BETTY:
Twice!

AERA:
You can't take

the Bar exam without ID.

Abra Rice.

WOMAN:
Rice.

ABRA:
Thank you.

Thanks. WOMAN:
Next.

I'm sorry, I can't find my ID.

Just one second.

Look what I found

in my...

There.

You b*tch.

(LAUGHS)

it's funny.

I can't believe you did that.

WOMAN:
Waters.

You almost gave me a heart attack.

She's very old and she can't

remember a single thing.

BETTY:
Mr. Scheck,

the day that my brother was

unjustly convicted of this crime,

changed not only

his life, but mine.

HUY:
Dear Ms. Waters, I've enclosed

an application for your brother Kenny

to complete and return

to our office.

I must stress that

we only accept cases

where DNA evidence

can exonerate the accused.

It will be vital for us to determine

if any such evidence still exists.

Without DNA evidence, it will be

impossible for us to proceed.

The Innocence Project has a

backlog of several hundred cases,

so I must caution that it

will be at least 18 months

before we can begin to

evaluate your brother's case.

Ii however, you pass the Bar exam

and become your brother's attorney,

you yourself can begin looking for

the DNA evidence immediately.

If you manage to find ft,

Mr. Scheck may agree to act

as consulting attorney,

in which case

we can work together

towards exonerating

your brother.

RICHARD:
Mom?

BETTY:

I'm in the kitchen.

Damn thing's

still frozen.

(RICHARD SIGHS)

Thin's good, right?

Didn't you say that?

Open it.

Are you sure?

Don't look at it.

Just hold it up for me to read.

Don't look!

I'm not.

Thank you, God.

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