Ghostbusters II Page #7

JUDGE:

So noted.

PROSECUTOR:

Now, Mr. Fianella, can you identify the

substance in the jar on the table marked

Exhibit F?

PROSECUTOR:

She goes to the exhibit table and picks up a specimen jar containing the

slime sample Stantz removed from the tunnel.

CON ED:

I been working underground for Con Ed for

27 years and I never saw anything like that

in my life. We checked out that tunnel the

next day and we didn't find nothing. If it

was down there, they must have put it there.

DEFENSE TABLE:

Venkman and Spengler look at Stantz.

STANTZ:

(defensively)

Hey, I didn't imagine it. There must have

been ten thousand gallons of it down there.

SPENGLER:

It may be ebbing and flowing from some tidal

source.

LOUIS:

(nervously)

Should I say that?

SPENGLER:

I doubt that they'd believe us.

Louis moans and goes back to his notes.

WIPE TO:

INT. COURTROOM - WITNESS STAND - LATER

Venkman himself is on the stand and Louis is questioning him.

LOUIS:

So like you were just trying to help out

your old friend because she was scared and

you didn't really mean to do anything bad

and you really love the city and won't ever

do anything like this again, right?

PROSECUTOR:

Objection, your Honor. He's leading the

witness.

JUDGE:

The witness is leading him. Sustained.

LOUIS:

Okay, let me rephrase that question.

(to venkman)

Didn't you once coach a basketball team for

underprivileged children?

VENKMAN:

Yes, I did. We were city champs.

PROSECUTOR:

Objection. Irrelevant and immaterial.

JUDGE:

Sustained. Mr. Tully, do you have anything

to ask this witness that may have some

bearing on this case?

LOUIS:

(to Venkman)

Do I?

VENKMAN:

No, I think you've helped them enough already.

LOUIS:

(to the Judge)

No, I guess not.

(to the Prosecutor)

Your witness.

The Prosecutor rises and approaches the witness stand with relish.

PROSECUTOR:

So, Dr. Venkman, please explain to the court

why it is you and your co-defendants took it

upon yourselves to dig a big hole in the

middle of the street.

VENKMAN:

Seventy-seventh and First Avenue has so many

holes already we didn't think anyone would

notice.

The gallery laughs and the Judge gavels for order.

JUDGE:

Keep that up, mister, and I'll find you in

contempt.

VENKMAN:

Sorry, your Honor, but when somebody sets

me up like that I can't resist.

PROSECUTOR:

I'll ask you again, Dr. Venkman. Why were

you digging the hole? And please remember

that you're under oath.

VENKMAN:

I had my fingers crossed when they swore me

in, but I'm going to tell you the truth.

There are things in this world that go way

beyond human understanding, things that

can't be explained and that most people don't

want to know about anyway. That's where we

come in.

PROSECUTOR:

So what are you saying? That the world of

the supernatural is your special province?

VENKMAN:

No, I guess I'm just saying that sh*t happens

and somebody has to deal with it.

The spectators in the gallery cheer and the judge gavels for order.

WIPE TO:

INT. COURTROOM - LATER

The trial is nearing its end. The Judge calls on Louis to make his

summation.

JUDGE:

Does the counsel for the defense wish to

make any final arguements?

Louis rises.

LOUIS:

Your honor, may I approach the bench?

JUDGE:

(impatient)

Yes.

Louis crosses to the judge's bench.

LOUIS:

(to the judge)

Can I have some of your water?

JUDGE:

Get on with it, counselor!

LOUIS:

(scared)

Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the --

(he remembers there's no

jury)

audience. I don't think it's fair to call

my clients frauds. Okay, the blackout was

a big problem for everybody. I was stuck in

an elevator for about three hours and I had

to go to the bathroom the whole time, but I

don't blame them because once I turned into

a dog and they helped me. Thank you.

He goes back to the defense table and sits down. Stantz and Spengler

hang their heads. Venkman pats Louis on the back.

SPENGLER:

(to Louis)

Way to go. Concise and to the point.

JUDGE:

He stares at Louis, astonished at his summation.

JUDGE:

That's it? That's all you have to say?

LOUIS:

Did I forget something?

He searches through a disorderly pile of notes.

JUDGE:

That was unquestionably the worst

presentation of a case I've ever heard in a

court of law! I ought to cite you for

contempt and have you disbarred. As for

your clients, Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz

and Egon Spengler, on the charges of

conspiracy, fraud and the willful destruction

of public property, I find you guilty on all

counts. I order you to pay fines in the

amount of $25,000 each and I sentence you to

eighteen months in the city correctional

facility at Ryker's Island.

STANTZ:

He sees the activity in the jar

STANTZ:

Uh-oh, she's twitchin'.

THE BENCH:

The Judge continues

JUDGE:

And on a more personal note, let me go on

record as saying that there is no place in

decent society for fakes, charlatans and

tricksters like you who prey on the

gullibility of innocent people. You're

beneath the contempt of this court. And

believe me, if my hands were not tied by the

unalterable fetters of the law, a law which

has become in my view far too permissive and

inadequate in it's standards of punishment,

I would invoke the tradition of our

illustrious forebearers, reach back to a

sterner, purer justice and have you burned

at the stake!

He hammers the bench with his gravel as the gallery erupts noisily. Then

he feels a LOW RUMBLING TREMOR in the courtroom.

SPECIMEN JAR:

The slime starts to pulse and swell, pushing up the lid on the jar.

DEFENSE TABLE:

Stantz anticipates big trouble.

STANTZ:

Under the table, boys!

The Ghostbusters duck under the defense table.

LOUIS:

He stands up and looks around fearfully.

INT. COURTROOM - GHOST BATTLE - DAY

Everybody is silent now as the rumbling increases. All eyes turn to the

exhibit table. Then suddenly all Hell breaks loose as TWO FULL-TORSO

APPARITIONS explode out of the specimen jar.

JUDGE:

He looks up in terror at the two huge apparitions looming above him and

recognizes them immediately.

JUDGE:

(in horror)

Oh, my God! The Scoleri Brothers!

SCOLERI BROTHERS

Big in life, even bigger in death, the ghostly Scoleri brothers seem ten

feet tall. They are strapped into electric chairs and on their heads are

metal electrocution caps with live, sparking electrical wires still

attached. Twenty-five hundred volts of electricity shoot through their

bodies as they start to break free of the leather restraints, trying to

get at the Judge.

JUDGE:

Holding his gavel like a pitiful weapon, he crawls over to the defense

table where Venkman, Stantz and Spengler are now crouched, assessing the

spectral intruders.

JUDGE:

(terrified)

You've got to do something!

VENKMAN:

Who are they?

JUDGE:

They're the Scoleri Brothers. I tried them

for murder. They were electrocuted up at

Ossining in '48. Now they want to kill me.

VENKMAN:

Maybe they just want to appeal.

SCOLERI BROTHERS

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