The Onion Field Page #7

Thank you.

Do you want to sign your resignation

papers or fight the charge against you?

- Sir, what if I don't sign?

- You'll be charged with shoplifting.

The witness is positive,

so you'll possibly be found guilty...

and get fired from the department.

Then you might find yourself

in criminal court on a petty theft charge.

Captain, what should I do?

Officer, if you're guilty,

there's only one thing to do.

Are you guilty?

You're not a thief.

You have no idea.

You think that's all I stole.

I've been stealing for over a year.

I deserve to be in jail.

You're the most honest man

I've ever known.

I stole so many things.

Some I kept, some I just...

I can't even remember

all the things I stole.

I don't know a lot.

But I know one thing.

If you stole, it wasn't Karl Hettinger.

It wasn't you.

There are reasons people do things.

Maybe you could talk to someone else.

Maybe...

a doctor could help.

A doctor?

For me?

I can't afford a doctor for you and the baby.

How am I gonna afford a doctor for me?

Helen, I don't have a job.

Two years of pretrial motions.

It's a war of attrition,

and the obstructionists are winning.

Our judge almost dies of a heart attack,

so we get a new judge.

Start all over again.

Two years.

Phil, I've been on this case for six years.

There's no finality in the law.

Our system of justice

is incomprehensible to the world.

Mr. Halpin.

Could you please lower your voice, sir?

I'm trying to prepare a new motion.

Motions.

Motions to exhume Campbell's body.

Motions to quash the jury panel for racism.

Demands for softer beds.

Pierce.

What worries me is what

it's doing to me personally.

I worked 15 hours a day

to get myself through law school.

Now it just seems like...

a silly thing to devote one's life to.

Justice.

That's not even an issue here.

Your Honor, at this time,

the defense would like to renew...

the motion to reenact,

film a reenactment of...

I strongly object to this frivolous motion

to film a reenactment of the crime.

These pretrial motions will go on forever

if you don't stop them.

The district attorney's rhetoric

is delaying these proceedings.

- If Mr. Halpin would please...

- Please! Please!

And may I add, Your Honor...

that Mr. Halpin said

he would knock me on my ass?

- I didn't. I didn't say that.

- He did, Your Honor.

And he directed his face

to my co-counsel and said, "F*** you."

Bailiff! Everyone, sit down!

Did you see it? He struck my lawyer!

You try that with me,

and we're going to war!

- Order!

- He actually hit my counsel!

Just a second.

You are instructed to say nothing.

I would ask that Mr. Halpin

be arrested immediately.

The court is calling a recess at this time.

The court is calling a recess!

Your Honor, I would ask

that you have him arrested immediately.

The court is calling a recess

at this time!

I would ask that Your Honor

have him arrested immediately.

The judge ordered us

to sit and be silent.

Counsel for the defense refused...

but said that he wanted it

read into the record...

that he was deemed to have been

forced to sit and be silent.

"Deemed."

That's when it hit me.

Physical fact is meaningless.

Lawyers can deem that fantasy is real.

Lie is truth.

Now Jimmy Smith's decided

he wants a brand new lawyer.

I guess it'll take a few more weeks...

for the new lawyer to acquaint himself

with the case and...

So I decided to quit the law.

I'm finished.

Why don't you take some time

and think about it, Phil?

Campbell's forgotten.

He may as well never have lived.

Hettinger's a ghost.

Only the legal process has meaning.

I've got to get away.

You know what I was thinking?

I was thinking

that if it were in my power...

I'd release Powell and Smith,

drop all the charges.

Let 'em walk.

If only I could send some lawyers

and judges to the gas chamber.

How about going out

for some Mexican food tonight?

You can afford to support a husband

and children...

and still go out for dinner?

At least we don't have to worry

about any more kids.

Not the way I've been

performing in bed lately.

Karl, it's just temporary.

You think you should see another doctor

about those headaches?

Maybe when this new trial is over,

things will get better.

I better get going.

Trial will never end.

Trial is never going to end.

Never.

Please, shut up.

Daddy!

Yes, darling? I'm here.

Daddy! The baby's crying.

Go back to bed, darling.

I'll take care of our baby.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Hello, Karl.

- Pierce, how are you?

- Getting older.

Friend of yours.

Emmanuel. How are you?

I'm still digging in the dirt.

I pass by Bakersfield

on my way to my fishing spot.

I stopped by there about...

a year ago, looking for you.

I hear there was a white man looking

for me. I figured it was you.

They want you now, Mr. Hettinger.

How are they treating you, Karl?

Fine.

Just fine.

How many times have you testified

to these events over the years?

Maybe eight times.

I don't quite remember.

And when you testify, does it bring

the events back to your mind?

Sometimes it fades away between trials.

Sometimes...

then...

I'm sorry.

Could you repeat that question,

please, sir? I can't...

I'm going to renew my motion...

that this witness'

entire testimony be stricken.

Will counsel for both defendants

please approach the bench?

All right, off the record, Your Honor...

let me read a subpoenaed

psychiatric report on my chief witness.

"Mr. Hettinger is undergoing

severe depression...

formerly masked by

a compulsive need to steal.

His former thefts were

obviously a crying-out for help...

a desire to be punished.

He's experiencing

overwhelming unconscious guilt...

which he associates with not having

done his duty the night of the murder.

Suicidal behavior

is a distinct possibility."

Would the defense

like the jury to hear...

what Mr. Hettinger has suffered

the past seven years?

Your Honor, the question is

whether or not Hettinger...

is mentally competent at this time.

His testimony of seven years ago

is no longer relevant.

You may step down.

I believe he is competent.

Your Honor,

I'm gonna call Gregory Powell right now.

I object, Your Honor.

He must not be allowed

to take the stand at this time.

This is a jailhouse legal trick.

I know it, you know it,

the defense knows it.

Mr. Powell will be allowed to testify.

A trier of fact cannot draw an inference

about what a witness will or will not do.

Call your witness.

- May I stand with my client, Your Honor?

- You may.

Call Gregory Ulas Powell.

Do you solemnly swear

that the testimony you shall give...

in the cause now pending

in this court...

shall be the truth, the whole truth, and

nothing but the truth, so help you God?

I do.

Mr. Powell, how many times

did you shoot Officer Campbell?

I repeat my objection to this

as being asked in bad faith.

Overruled.

Based on the Fifth Amendment

to the Constitution of the United States...

I refuse to answer that question

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