Marshall Page #9

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You get the picture

Renie left you?

Yes.

Now, what kind of plane is this?

She said

it's supposed to be you.

Those are ears, not wings.

She's quite a talent.

You were right, you know.

About what?

"Why would she lie?"

That is the question

we needed to answer.

Well...

I'm thankful Renie got to see

there's men like you in the world.

I don't understand how you can

leave before closing arguments.

Doesn't do anyone any good having

me sit around waiting on a verdict.

What if something comes up?

The case is in, Sam.

Walter will represent the NAACP.

And you'll be there for Spell.

Sam, did you know

I only have one testicle?

No.

Yeah.

In my college years, I found myself

running from a gang of bigots

in a part of town they didn't

believe I should be in.

My buddies, they're

ahead of me in a truck.

I jump for the back,

and I'm pulling myself up,

but there's a jagged spike

of metal I don't see.

It slashes

right through my sack.

Yeah.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, I want you to know

that even sitting

in the back of that pickup,

my scrotum torn,

every bump sending shocks

of pain down my leg,

even that wasn't as

excruciating as sitting there

watching you argue this case

these past few weeks.

But I did learn something.

I need an army of lawyers

just like you, Sam.

Lawyers who don't even know

they want to make a difference,

who with just a little bit of training

can be just as capable as me.

Well, almost as capable.

And until then what?

You just travel around the

country on this crusade?

Putting out fires

in Mississippi,

Oklahoma, Bridgeport?

It's not really fires

I'm after, Sam.

It's fire itself.

Get out your pen now.

Here's the closing argument

you're gonna give.

Who is telling the truth?

A woman from a fine family

with an unblemished background,

or a depraved man,

a repeat criminal

with no morals,

a man whose whole life has been

composed of a series of lies?

Did this decent, church-going,

intelligent woman,

the graduate of a top college,

engage in voluntary sexual

relations with her Negro servant

and then jump

into the water, for what?

For pleasure, as the defense

would have you believe?

Of course not.

Joseph Spell raped

Eleanor Strubing.

Then he hurled her over the bridge to

kill the only witness to his crime.

Acquit him, and you will set a

wild panther loose in our midst

to stalk more victims,

to threaten the safety

and security

of each and every woman

in the State of Connecticut.

As a jury, you have been exposed

to the darkness

of a sinister man's soul.

But you're also in a

position of great privilege.

Because you...

you have the power

to do justice

on behalf of all of us.

Bullshit.

Thank you.

And God bless.

Mr. Friedman.

Why would a woman

like Eleanor Strubing

consent... no, encourage...

sexual relations

with a man like Joseph Spell?

Let me tell you why.

Eleanor Strubing's story

is nothing less than tragic.

She is a respectable woman

from a fine family.

She attended the best schools.

She went to church

each and every Sunday.

As the good book says, she was

"spotless as the lamb of God."

She was "spotless

as the lamb of God."

She and her husband John

move to Greenwich.

He travels frequently,

leaving her alone in a new town,

away from her friends

and family,

in a vast, empty house.

The pangs of loneliness

hit hard.

She has some drinks.

A knock at the door.

- Joseph.

- Joseph.

She was not expecting this.

A young man, a handsome man.

In a moment of weakness,

her judgment impaired

by the alcohol of the evening...

Consumed by loneliness,

she invites him to share

her bed to ease her pain.

As the evening goes on,

she becomes panicked

that they will be discovered.

She must leave the house,

must escape her sin.

- What if she is pregnant...

- And with a colored child?

What if her husband were to find out?

What would he do to her?

She cannot live

with the fear, the shame.

So then there they are,

at the reservoir.

An opportunity to escape

her life, her despair.

Joseph tries to hold her back, but she

wrangles free, runs from the car.

And she plummets into the water.

Only as soon

as she hits the surface,

her years of training take over.

See, she is a swimmer.

And she simply cannot drown.

With the zeal

to end her life gone,

her only escape...

She must accuse him.

And so a story is created.

A web of...

desperate lies

filled with inconsistencies,

absurdities,

reasonable doubts.

The State must prove its case

beyond a reasonable doubt.

It must be a clear case.

No scream for help

all night long.

Doubt.

No call on

the four family phones.

Doubt.

No cry to the officer

just a few feet away.

Doubt.

No rocks on a bridge.

Doubt.

Doubt, doubt, doubt.

The doubt, my friends,

is overwhelming.

This is why you must find

Joseph Spell not guilty.

Ladies and gentlemen

of the jury,

you've heard the arguments

of counsel.

You may now retire to the jury

room to begin your deliberations.

Court is in recess.

Who is it?

It's me.

You're supposed

to be on a train.

I have a little time.

I heard you were looking for me.

Well, Friedman, it seems

you have beginner's luck.

John Strubing just called me.

This whole thing has been a terrible

strain on Ellie, as you can imagine.

They want it over, now.

I'm prepared to offer

one final deal.

What is it?

Five years.

He'll have to enter a guilty plea right

away and admit he lied on the stand.

I'll speak with him.

Do it now.

If the jury comes back in,

the deal is off.

You'd be out after three

years, with good behavior.

Possibly sooner. You

think I should take it?

I don't know

what the jury will do.

It's a good deal.

And if they convict me?

Most likely you'll spend the rest

of your life in a prison cell.

And I got to decide right away?

What I gotta do for the deal?

Admit that you raped her and that

you lied on the witness stand.

Can I talk

to Mr. Marshall?

He's on a train probably

somewhere in Tennessee by now.

I would never be able

to reach him in time.

What do you think he would say?

So, give me good news.

No deal.

You did advise him

to accept?

I told him it was a good offer.

I told him

what the alternative is.

I told him if it was me,

I would take it.

And I told him that no man should ever

confess to a crime he did not commit.

I thought Jews were

supposed to be smart.

But you sound

just like the Negro.

Why, thank you, Lorin.

That's possibly the greatest

compliment you could've given me.

There's a verdict.

Will the foreman please rise.

I'm the forewoman, Your Honor.

Very well.

Have you reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

Mr. Spell.

Rise and face the jury.

It's time.

Madame Forewoman,

what is your verdict?

We, the jury, find,

on the charge of rape,

that the defendant,

Joseph Spell,

is not guilty.

Order.

Is this your verdict,

so say you all?

We do, Your Honor.

That's it, Joseph.

We did it.

Mr. Spell, the jury

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