Margaret Page #9

half a million dollars

to get a sustainable verdict.

A brain damaged baby

would be three million.

But the truth is, Lisa,

when all is said and done,

it's not a very good case.

Why not?

Because it's your

word against his,

and because you already lied

on your first deposition.

A red light case is a 50-50

proposition already.

And with only one eyewitness,

with two conflicting statements?

I wouldn't take that case.

Nobody really cares about

getting a lot of money here.

I understand that, but...

We just want this

prick to suffer,

and we want

the bus company to take

responsibility

for hiring this guy.

I understand that. But no

matter how you slice it,

the fact that Lisa

lied on her first

statement is a disaster

for your lawyer.

Can't I explain why I

lied the first time?

It's not like I'm trying

to get any money for myself.

That's true. She has

no financial interest,

she can't be

impeached for bias.

Impeached for what?

She can't have her credibility

attacked on financial grounds

because the jury knows you're not

gonna get any money if you win.

So that's something,

isn't it?

But do you really think

we know what that means?

I'm sorry. That's what

it's called.

But who are you

talking to?

You know we don't

know what that means.

It's like you're not really concentrating.

You're not concentrating.

I don't know.

I am concentrating.

I'm just thinking

out loud.

Okay.

All right.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry!

Okay. All right.

He wasn't always

a lawyer, you know.

He used to be

a very nice, little boy.

Anyway-...

Anyway, the whole

point of this

is to get...

To f***ing get this guy!

It was to get him out from

behind the wheel of a bus!

Did she know

she was dying?

I only ask because

the terror of knowing

you're dying

raises the damages.

I think she had

a pretty good idea.

If she had lived for a couple more

days it would make the case better.

Thank you.

Thanks.

I know that sounds horrible, but

that's what it comes down to.

We know, Dave.

It's okay.

I would just like somebody to take

responsibility for what happened.

"As flies to wanton boys

are we to the gods.

"They kill us

for their sport."

"As flies to wanton boys

are we to the gods.

"They kill us

for their sport."

What do you make of that?

Lisa? Lisa?

I don't know.

You know what, Lisa?

That's not good enough.

That's just not good enough.

Shakespeare wrote something.

What's your response?

And don't tell me you don't have

one, 'cause I don't buy it.

I don't really

have a lot to say.

It seems pretty

self-evident to me.

Matthew?

I think it is

self-evident.

I think he's saying

that human beings

don't mean any

more to the gods

than flies do to little boys who

like to torture them for fun.

As far as the gods are concerned,

we're just ants. Nothing.

Darren?

Thank you, Matthew.

Yeah, I agree.

Only it's

not Shakespeare

saying it, it's Gloucester.

Maybe another character would

have a different point of view.

Okay. That's a valid point.

Just because Shakespeare

has one of his

characters say something,

doesn't mean he

personally agrees with it.

Yes, David?

Yeah, maybe Shakespeare isn't saying

the gods don't care about us.

Maybe he's saying there's a higher

consciousness that we can't see.

That the gods'

perception of reality

is so much more

developed than ours

that, compared to

their perception,

our perceptions are like

comparing flies to boys.

Okay, I really don't think that

that's what he's getting at.

What I think

he's getting at here

is a very dark view of the arbitrary

nature of human suffering.

But maybe he's not.

Maybe he's comparing human

consciousness to divine consciousness

and that even

though it seems to us

that human suffering

is just arbitrary,

that's just because we're

limited by our viewpoint.

Okay, I...

I still don't think

that's what he's saying.

No, like, if you say

they kill us for their sport,

when our perception

of the gods is so meager

that we can't even

tell what they're doing,

then how can we be so

arrogant as to think

they'd even bother to

kill us for their sport?

I don't know.

Monica?

I don't think that's

what he's saying at all.

I think he's saying the gods don't

give a sh*t about human beings

and that they just like to

kill and torture us for fun.

But if the gods' consciousness is

so much more developed than ours

that we seem

like flies to them,

then how can we be sure

what they have in mind for us

or why they do anything?

Okay, David, I think

you've made your point.

But it's not what

Shakespeare meant.

Scholarly opinion

is pretty consistent

that he's trying

to say something...

Scholarly opinion?

...about human suffering here.

What are you saying? 1,000

Frenchmen can't be wrong?

No, I'm not saying that.

But I would like to move on...

Well, I think

he is saying that.

Because he's comparing

human consciousness to flies

and he's saying we can't

see the truth around us

because our

consciousness is undeveloped.

No, David, you're wrong. That's

not what Shakespeare meant.

He says it somewhere

else in the play,

but I don't want to

get hung up on this,

because that's not

what Shakespeare meant.

I would really

like to move on.

"Poor Tom's a-cold."

Detective Mitchell.

Oh, hi, it's Lisa Cohen

calling.

Hi, Lisa, what

can I do for you?

I was just wondering whatever

happened, if anything, with the case.

You said you might

re-interview the bus driver.

Yes, we did.

We brought him back in.

You did? What happened?

Well, he basically stuck by

his original representation

and that was pretty much it.

I brought it up with my

sergeant, and he agreed with me

that we still don't have

enough to charge this guy,

so there's not a lot more

we can do at this point.

Well, I'm not trying to tell

you how to do your job,

but how did you

ask the questions?

Excuse me?

He's obviously not gonna

change his statement if you just ask

him really politely. Why would he?

We already know

he's a liar.

Hey, in the old days, Lisa,

we'd just throw him in the

back room with a rubber hose

and get whatever answer

we want out of him.

But, fortunately,

we don't do that anymore.

Yeah, not to white people.

Excuse me?

You don't do it to white people.

Anyway, I'm not saying you...

Wait. We don't

do it to who?

Oh' my God

Shh!

First of all,

I don't understand

why you bring this

guy's race into it.

There's 40,000

cops in this city...

Yes...

And I hate to disillusion you, but

most of them are pretty good guys

just trying' to do their job.

Now, the bottom line is the DA

is not gonna take this case.

Now, you could take it up with my

sergeant if you want to, but he's...

Yes, I would.

Well, I will patch

you through, then.

The original decision was

based on false information.

So what's the point

of even bringing...

So there's no way

to appeal?

But how do you know

Detective Mitchell

interrogated him

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