"Next." "Come on, step right through." "Sir, I need you to take your belt off and go back through." " Good, Mick." " Hello." "Mick!" "Mick, I was just calling you." "Hey, I was just calling you at the office." "I gotta talk to you." " Come on, stick with me." " How long are you gonna be here today?" "Depends on when the judge calls my client." "See, what does it say about me that I let you treat me like this, huh?" "I'm giving you a big chance to move up in the world and help me." " My daughter's about to go to surgery." " I've heard it all before, Val." "Come on, baby, talk to me." "What do you got?" "Okay, I got something big for you." "This guy's gonna be the big money." "It's in Inglewood." "But the problem is that he goes up before the judge at noon, okay?" " You listening to me?" " I'm listening." "So the client, his mother and his mother's lawyer comes to my office at 8:00 a. m." "in the morning..." " He's already got a lawyer?" " Just listen." "Listen, it's not criminal, it's just real estate, okay?" "And I made them so crazy about you that now they want to put up their Malibu beach house against a million." " The bail's a million?" " Yeah." " What did they book this guy for?" " I say it's a romantic tiff." "The cops are saying he beat up the girl really bad." "They want assault with a deadly weapon, throw in a GBI." " Has the DA filed yet?" " Yes, he did." "See, I take care of my friends." "I even take care of you, bubba." "Inglewood by noon." "You could do it, man." "Go through some red lights," " break the speed limit." " Be honest with me, Val." "Is this real?" "Don't bullshit me." "Is this gonna stick?" "Of course it is." "Would I lie to you?" "And you're gonna take care of me, right?" "Make them forget the beach house and go for my bond." " What's his name?" " Louis." "Louis Roulet." "R-O-U-L-E-T, like the wheel." "That's not how you spell the wheel, but got it." "Roberto!" "Do you mind checking that list, seeing where my man Harold Casey is on it?" "Don't go that low." "I got a case across town at noon I gotta get to." "Do you mind just bringing him down?" "I'll only be a second." " Reynaldo." " Pardon me?" "My name's Reynaldo, not Roberto." "Us bailiffs all look alike, right?" " Your man white?" " Yeah, he's white." " I got blacks down here right now." " All right, listen, Reynaldo." "My bad on your name." "I took a wild-ass guess." "I was wrong." "But I didn't forget you at Christmastime, did I?" "Remember that jar of nuts with the prize inside?" ""Happy holidays." "Your friend, Mick."" " I went through those pretty fast." " All right, let's make it two this time." "Okay." "I'll bring your body down, but you better make it quick." "Gracias, Reynaldo." "Harold Casey." "Yeah, bring him down." "Harold." "You shouldn't be running from your lawyer." "It's bad form." "Now, you know what I want to talk about." "In a minute, Judge Powell's gonna call us down." "He's gonna want to know if we're ready for trial." " We are." " We are not." "And you know why not." "Rule one, I get paid or I don't work." " Don't worry, I got your money." " Exactly." "You got it, I don't." "It's coming." "I talked to my boys." "Listen, Harold, I looked on the list of people I trust." "You're not on it." "The law says you can't just quit." "The judge won't let you." "I looked it up." "Pay close attention." "Michael Haller for the defense, Your Honor." "If I may, I'd like to carry this over." "Do you have a reason, Mr. Haller?" "I'm having trouble locating a witness, Your Honor, an indispensable witness." "A Mr. Green?" " How much time do you need?" " That's hard to say." " Does the state object?" " No, Your Honor." "All right, I'm gonna hold this over pending notification from counsel." " That was some bullshit, man." " Yeah." "I expect to hear from you, Harold." "Inglewood, Earl." "Keep it on the surface streets." "Earl, headphones." " This is Haller." " And this is your office." "Actually, I'm in my office, Miss Lorna, on my way to the courthouse in Inglewood." "Listen, jot down to remind me to give Reynaldo, the bailiff over in San Fernando, 200 bucks for Christmas, all right?" "Got it." "Hey, did Val reach you about his customer?" "Yeah. "I got something big for you, Mick." Every time." "Any other calls?" "No, just some odds and ends." "A few DUIs." "I just quoted them the house number." " Gloria Larson called from county lockup." " She got popped again?" "The usual with a complication, /cocaine possession." "" " Her first appearance is right after lunch." " Look, tell her I'll try." "So, I was thinking, boss, you know, when you get your license back or whatnot, maybe I can stay on, like, a permanent thing or something, you know?" "I got my license back three months ago, Earl." "Hey, boss." "Do you want me to do something about that?" "'Cause I can." "No, just keep doing what you're doing." "Boss." "All right." "Pull over up here." " Counselor." " Eddie." " How's it hanging?" " A little to the left, my man." "How about you?" "Not bad." "Your ride's a little messy." "Yeah, the maid doesn't come till Tuesday." "What can I do for you, big man?" "Our boy Harold called from the pen, said you're stalling his case till you see some more green." " I don't get paid, I don't work." " We paid you. $5,000." "That's long gone, Eddie." "Look, I could tell you that half of it went to an aerial-photo expert." "He's gonna blow the state's case by showing that the DEA violated the airspace over Harold's farm by flying too low." "I could also tell you that I gotta fly that guy in from New York City, get him to testify, put him up in a hotel and all that kind of stuff, but you don't need to know that." "All you need to know is that we had a deal." "It's time to refill the tank." " What, another five grand?" " Ten." "He wants to fly business, wants a first-class hotel." "And we want Harold back on the farm." "He's our best farmer, if you know what I mean." "I don't, and I don't want to." "Now, look, either pay me or go with a public defender." "He won't know much about airspace, but..." " Ain't you gonna count it?" " I just did." "Keep that rubber on the road, Eddie." "Let's roll, Earl." "So, this expert flying in from New York, do you want me to pick him up at the airport?" " There's nobody coming in." " What?" "The best camera experts in the world are right here in Hollywood." "Nice." "You know what?" "You would've done all right on the streets." "Shit." "Where do you think I am, Earl?" " Louis Roulet?" " Yes." "I'm Michael Haller." "Mr. Haller, I called you because I need someone." "This whole thing is a setup." "I made a mistake with that woman, and she was setting me up." "Keep your voice down." "Hear me?" "Don't say anything about the case until I get you out on bail." " I understand your family lawyer's in court." " Yes." "His name's Cecil Dobbs." "He's here somewhere." "I'll find him." "Tell me about yourself." "How old are you?" "Thirty-two." "Ties to the community?" "Did you grow up here?" "Yeah, Beverly Hills." "I went to USC." "I work for my mother's business." " How about your father?" " He died when I was two." " How much did you make last year, Louis?" " My taxes said $600,000." "I want a lawyer, too." "My name's Corliss, two "S's"." "Do you got a card on you?" "Listen, buddy, they'll have a lawyer for you out there." "Right now I need you to back away and give us a little space." "Can you do that, pal?" " I'm backing, boss." " There we go." "Okay." "There we go." "There we go." "Listen, they've put some heavy charges on you, Louis." "The DA's probably going to ask for no bail." " Wait, no bail?" " I said they're gonna ask for it." "When was the last time you were arrested?" "Never." " So, if I checked your record..." " You'd find parking tickets." "Are you gonna get me out of here?" "I'm gonna try, Louis." "Are you the prosecutor who used to have the Roulet case?" " Haller!" "Son of a bitch." " Rules are rules." "I wanted this one." "Okay, okay, I'll go quietly." "But after today's hearing, if you don't object." " It depends." "Are you going for no bail?" " That won't change with the prosecutor." "Not after what your guy did." " If he did it." " Sure, if." "They only picked him up in her home with blood all over him." "I love it when you get sarcastic." "Can I at least see the arrest report?" "You get it from whomever takes over." "No favors on this one." "How's Hayley today?" " She's good." " Good." "I'll pick her up the usual time on Saturday." "Because of the seriousness of the offense, the financial resources of the accused, the state requests no bail." "Your Honor, there's no way the state can claim that my client is a flight risk." "He's not." "With resources like this man has, flight is always a risk." " Are there any priors?" " No, Your Honor." "Then I'm going to reduce the risk of flight by ordering him to wear a tracer anklet and I'm going to set bail at $1 million." " Judge, have you seen the photo?" " Miss McPherson, bail is set." "Thank you, Judge." "Mick." "Feeling compelled to thank me and speak well of me, 'cause this one's gonna be the money, I'm telling you." " We'll see, we'll see." " There's his lawyer right there." "Cecil Dobbs." "Hey, Mick, don't forget our deal." "A possibility, but..." "He's here now." "I'll talk to you later." " Cecil Dobbs." " Mr. Haller." "It's depressing to see the boy caught up in that cattle call." "The boy?" "I've represented the family for a long time." "Listen, my advice is, let Val fix you up with a bond." "Then you take the boy home." "But we were thinking of putting up property, Mrs. Windsor's beach house." "The mother's name is Windsor?" "Her second husband's name." "He's dead now." "Assessing the house will take days." "Trust me, you don't want the boy in the clink for even that long." "So tap Val, take Louis to your office." "I'll meet you there at 4:00." "Here, let me give you my business card." "Oh, boy." "Media?" "Yeah, they're already on us." "Mrs. Windsor is sensitive about the press," "but I guess there's not much /we can do about that." "Let me see." "Say, bub, come here." "Come here." "I saw you filming in there." "What's your name?" " The name's Rob Gillon." "They call me Sticks." " Sticks, you freelancing on this?" "Yeah, your client's got profile." "I figure I'd sell it to local news." " How much?" " How much what?" "How much they pay you for what you shot in there?" "That depends. $700, $750." "Yeah?" "How about we take it off your hands for $800?" "No?" "Too short?" " All right, let's make it a grand." "Deal?" " It's yours." "Sold." " I can expense this, right?" " Of course." "Absolutely." " Thank you, Sticks." " Thank you." "You know, Mr. Haller, you weren't my choice." "I'll bet I wasn't." "A firm like yours must have some heavy hitters on call." "We do." "But Louis insisted." "Frankly, I've never heard of you, but maybe I should have." " Did you say I was Louis' choice?" " Yes." "He'd read about a case you handled." "I'll need 100 grand up front, working off $550 an hour." "Another 100 if we go to trial, more if we go past a week." "Appeals, we start over." "I take it none of that's a problem." " No." " See you at 4:00." " Where we headed now?" " We're gonna go meet Sticks at Jim's." "That same spot?" "All right." "There he is." "There we go." "Eight for me, two for you." "Thank you, Sticks." "Anytime." "Hey, my tape." " You don't look good, girl." " Thanks." "Something new, booked on possession of coke, plus the usual." "I know, it was dumb." "This guy paid me with it, and I had it on me when I went to the next." " And the next was a cop." " Yeah." "Look, can't you get me into one of those rehab places that gets you straight?" "We did a pretrial rehab last time." "The DA's never gonna go for it again." "You may have to do some jail time, Gloria." " Mickey, I can't." " Yes, you can." "Yes, you can." "Hey." "They have programs in jail, too." "Now, look, you've had a long run." "Maybe after this, you can get out of the life." "Yeah." "Housewife of the year, that's me." "Maybe I can turn some tricks with the PTA." "It's not funny." "I'd like to see that." "All right, give it to me." "All right, I did a guy at the Travel Inn on Santa Monica." "The guy who paid you with coke instead of money?" "Yeah, and he had a shitload of coke in there." "I saw." "Do you know him?" "No, he reached me through my Web site." "He was..." " He was Mexican or something." " Did you screen him?" "Don't I screen them all?" "Okay, with what?" "He had his driver's license?" "No, his passport." "Damn, what was his name?" " His name was Hector." " Hector what?" "What's his last name?" "Think, Gloria, think." "Hector "Arrande" Moya is what you get if you run a trace." "He's a fugitive from a grand jury down in Florida." "The DA wants him for drug trafficking." "And Leslie?" "They want him a lot." " And your girl's looking to trade?" " She'll give you his hotel and room number." " She'll also have to testify on the coke." " No, location only." "Your guys take it from there." "My investigator says Hector hasn't checked out yet." "And in exchange?" "You drop all charges." "All she does is a pretrial rehab." "The facility at USC Med would be nice." "Or I can take it to the Feds." "They'll cut this deal in a minute." " All right, you fucking asshole." " After you." " You'd go head first?" " I'd give it a shot if I was gonna do it." " Why?" " Style points." "You're so vain." "Nobody cares if you kill yourself." "It'd look cool." "What do you think the last thing to go through your mind would be?" " Your asshole." " Yeah." " Mr. Haller." " Louis, good morning." " Thank you." " It's just a start." "This is Frank Levin." "Frank's my investigator." " Louis Roulet." " Good to meet you." "We're in here." " I got a..." " Tracer anklet." "A present from your friend Mr. Valenzuela, by order of the court." "As if I'd go anyplace before this thing's over." " Gentlemen, welcome." " Mr. Dobbs." " Mr. Haller." " Good to see you." "This is Frank Levin." "Mr. Levin is my investigator." "His fees are in addition to mine." "Of course." "Gentlemen, this is Mary Windsor." "She's Louis' mother." " Mr. Haller." " Mrs. Windsor, pleasure to meet you." "How do you do?" "I'm fine, thank you." "This is Frank Levin, my investigator." "How do you do?" "The charges against my son are ridiculous, and so is that woman." "Here's a check for you, Mr. Haller." "This is going to have to come from your son, Mrs. Windsor." "You can give him the money, he can write the check, but it must come from him." "He's my client, and that has to be clear from the start." "I can't thank you enough for being here." "Sincerely, it's good to know that you're gonna be there." " When we need you." " But not now, is that it?" "No, ma'am." "The DA could make you testify about what you hear." "Attorney privilege does not cover you." "I'll see you at home." "Mary, I'll call later." " She's not used to being told what to do." " I can believe that." "So, how fast can I go to trial?" "I want this behind me." "Are you sure?" "You can stretch it out, enjoy your freedom." "Most clients choose..." "Guilty clients, you mean." "Okay, then I insist on going to trial right away." "Or perhaps it never goes to trial at all." "My firm can bring considerable influence to bear." "Don't kid yourself, Cecil." "There's no way the state's dropping these charges." "As a matter of fact, they've already upped them to improve their negotiating position." "There won't be any negotiating." "No plea bargain, no nothing." "I'm not going to jail for something I didn't do." "I'm innocent." "And if there is a trial, I want to take the stand and tell the jury that I'm innocent." "Now, if that's a problem, we can part company right now." "Time to tell me what happened." "I was having a drink at the Association." "The Association?" "That's the bar on 6th Street, /the one with a lot of young women?" "Right." "It's good for pick-ups." "What's the file say /about the girl, Frank?" "Regina Campo, known as "Reggie."" "Twenty-six years old, part-time actress, part-time office temp." "And hoping to retire after suing my client." " Did you know her before last night, Louis?" " No." "I'd seen her around, but we'd never spoke." "She was always with another guy." "Last night, too." "I got it that she wasn't /too into her date." "She brushed by me /on her way to the bathroom." "I hope I see you tonight." "And she basically /just laid her address on me." "On a napkin." "She said she /could get rid of him by 10:00." "Do you still have it?" "What she wrote down?" "No." "I didn't keep the napkin." "Frank, check that file." "See if the police report has any of this." "Frank here has already worked us a little miracle." "He happened to score us a copy of the discovery file." "Everything the DA has." "They would have had to turn it over eventually, but it would have taken awhile." "No, they don't have the other guy." "They don't even have the bar." "So, what, all they've got is Louis shows up at her apartment" " and she gets beaten?" " That is such bullshit!" "Just keep telling me your story." "Okay." "I got there early /and waited until he came out." "" " Did you see what he was driving?" "" " A blue Mustang." "All right, so he comes out, you go in." "She saw it was me and opened the door." "The hallway was tight," "so I had to walk past her /so she could close the door." "So my back was to her," " and that was it." " What was it?" "She hit me with something." "I went down, and everything got black fast." " Show me where she hit you." " Like, right here." "It still hurts." "And that blow knocked you out." "Just keep him down!" "Can someone get the police?" "Next I know, two fags are sitting /on me holding me down." "Police report has it." " "Homosexual couple from across the hall."" " Like I said, faggots." "I stand corrected." ""Faggot couple from across the hall."" " Go on, Louis." " I was still foggy when the cops came." "Ma'am, my name is Officer Maxwell." "I just need to ask you a few questions." " Can you tell me your full name, please?" " Reggie Campo." "Do you know this gentleman?" "Have you met him before?" " No." "" " And that's when I saw she'd set me up." " Set it up how?" " She put blood on my hand." "My left hand." "He said he was gonna rape me." "And kill me." "And then he said he was gonna come back here and rape me again." "You said she left the door open a crack." "Did you happen to see her face?" "Not all of it." "Mainly her eye." " Wait, her left eye?" " Yes." "All right, so she already had the injuries to the right side of her face." "She opens the door, conceals that from him, and as he enters, she clobbers him." "So, our case is, what, she beat herself up?" "If she already had the injuries, she either did just that or she had her boyfriend do it." "Yeah, she must have." "I mean, she saw Louis' Maserati, his watch." "It's known the family has money." "I'll wager she'll be filing in civil court the moment this is over." "Let's hear the police report." "How's Reggie tell it?" "Okay. "According to the victim, /she was at home alone" ""when the suspect presented himself /at the door as someone she knew." ""Upon letting him in, /she was immediately struck."" "Does it say he knocked her down?" "Yes. "There was a struggle that continued from the hallway to the stairs."" "Come back here!" ""He held the victim by the neck /and forced her down." ""The suspect maintained a position /behind her, holding a knife" ""against the left side of her throat."" " That's not my knife." " Are his prints on here, Frank?" "Well, it stands to reason, if she put blood on his hand, she put his prints on the knife." " I just told you, though, that isn't my knife." " Keep talking, Frank." ""As Miss Campo ran for the stairs, /they fought," ""and she kicked the intruder backwards." ""Realizing her attacker had her /cornered, she fought free" ""and seized a nearby bottle of vodka."" "" " And that's when she clonked him." "" " That's her story." "Those are all lies." "Look, if everything she's saying is a lie, then this is going to be the easiest case ever." "But you swear it's all lies?" "All of it?" "Are you sure there's not anything that you're not telling me?" "Nothing." "Why'd he choose you, Mick?" "Rich kid, spoiled as shit, never heard the word "no."" "Yeah, but the damn thing is the way he tells the story, Frank." "It's just quirky enough to be true." "I don't know, Mick." "This kid feels wrong to me." " But I'll check out his story." " All of it." "You know the moves." "Start at the Association bar." "And then Miss Regina Campo." "The way he said she came on to him, sounds like a pro." "Yeah, run it down." "Also, Mr. Mustang." "All right, now, I still don't get how that works." "What, he and Reggie got into some rough trade and then he punched her?" "Unless he was in on it." " Meaning he hit her afterwards?" " Bingo." "Jesus, Mick, are you starting to think Louis is innocent?" "He just might." "Besides, you know what my father always said about an innocent client?" "No, I've never heard this." "Hi." "He said, "There's no client as scary as an innocent man."" "That's right." "Because if you screw up and he goes to prison, you're never gonna be able to live with yourself." "So there's only one verdict you can put on the board, baby, and that's an NG." "What do you say, Mags?" "Frank, if you let a man drive home in this condition," "I think that I can charge you both." " I'll take him to his house." " How you gonna get home?" "Earl can pick up the car from me in the morning." "I came with friends." " Later." " Thank you, baby." "No, no, I got this." "I insist." "What?" "Moonlight becomes you." "You're not doing me any good, Haller." "Hey, Mick!" " Jesus, Frank, what couldn't wait?" " Want to watch a movie?" "We caught a break." "The owner had a camera system set up last month." "I had the security tape transferred to a disk so I could manipulate." "I know this place." "All right, and there's our boy Louis." "And I would like you to meet Miss Reggie Campo." " And there's Mr. Mustang." " Are you sure?" "I wouldn't have popped a grand for the tape if I wasn't sure." "Now, watch." "Reggie gets up, goes to the ladies' room." "Mr. Mustang chats up the bartender, so that's where he goes." " That gives Reggie her chance." "Watch her." " Wait, that's not how he said it went down." "He said she gave him her address on a napkin." "Okay, hold on, hoss, hold on." "Let her go pee." "Okay, here she comes." "There's your napkin." "Now, watch this." "She and Mr. Mustang decide it's time to split." "Look, look." " Look at his hand." "Look at his watch." " It's on his left hand." "That's no good." "The facial blows are from the left." "This guy's right-handed." "Babe, you haven't been drinking enough." "You said you knew the Association." "You would realize this shot is into the mirror behind the bar." "That's where the owner set up the camera so he could watch his register." " So everything's backwards." " And Mr. Mustang punches with his left." " You proud of yourself, Frank?" " I really, really am." "But not just about this." "That feeling I had about Reggie, that she was selling it?" " I did a little bit of research." "She's a hooker." " You're telling me the cops don't have this?" "How can they?" "There's only one and it's not a copy." "Then make a copy." " Why, you gonna give it to the prosecutor?" " Yeah, a new guy named Ted Minton." "He's gonna hand over the discovery file." "Poor bunny." "He's not gonna know what hit him." " How long till you think your man's back?" " Probably just a few more minutes." " Mr. Haller?" " There he is." "Sorry to keep you waiting." " The discovery file." " I hope this will be worth your while." "It's kind of light." "You got somewhere we can play this?" "What else do you have?" "What else do I have?" "Come on, Minton, let's cut the bullshit here, all right?" "Look, not only is your so-called victim a prostitute, but I have her soliciting my guy on video." "You think a jury's gonna see this and think he had to rape her at knifepoint just to have sex with her?" "No." "Are you listening to what I'm saying?" "Yes, and it doesn't change the offer I'm prepared to make." "Offer?" "You're going forward?" "We will drop down to assault with a deadly, attempted sexual battery." "Guidelines put that at seven years." "Maybe he'll do four." "What am I missing here?" "Yeah, you want it." "Hey, Frank." " What's up?" " Look here." "These files look identical to me." "All right?" "There's something we're missing and we're not seeing it." "Well, here's the discovery file I got from my clerk in the DA's office." "And this is the one I got from Minton." "There's Reggie Campo." "Reggie." "That's the door chain." "No, it's the same." "Here we go." "Here we go, here we go." "Son of a bitch." "They switched out the files." "This is a different knife." "I've been taking care of this guy for 10 years, and he set me up." " Well, he's off the Christmas list." " He's on the shit list." " Good shot, E." " Nice shot." " Thank you." " Very nice." "Looks a little short to me." " You guys finish up." "I'll see you later." " You're closed out, anyway." "Louis." " So what happened?" "Did you see Minton?" " I saw him." "We need to talk." "You lied to me, Louis." "You didn't tell me you were paying Reggie Campo for sex." "Now, don't go looking surprised." "You could have easily told me that in Cecil's office." "I didn't want my mother to find out." "Cecil tells her everything." "So, you decide to keep from me the one thing" " that could have made this trial go away?" " Is that what Minton said?" "No more trial?" "I said "could have." If that had been the only lie you told me." " What do you mean?" " Do you recognize that?" "It's a picture of your knife, the one you had on you when you went to Reggie's." "The one the cops have." "That's why Ted Minton didn't fold his tents, and shit, why should he when he's got a knife with her blood and your initials?" " That wasn't the knife that was in the file." " That's right." "It wasn't." "The file Frank got us is what we call a loaded deck." "The cops used it to set us up, to make us think they didn't have anything, when, in fact, they've got enough to put your golf-playing ass away for 20 years, big boy." "Why'd you lie about the knife?" "Christ, why would you lie about anything?" "Everything you tell me is confidential, attorney-client privilege." "All right, I didn't lie." "I said the knife in the picture wasn't mine." " I said it twice and nobody listened to me." " What are you now, the goddamn lawyer?" "You said it wasn't yours?" "What you should have said was, "I had a knife, Mick, but this isn't it."" "You brought a weapon to a meeting with a prostitute." "You tell me, how the hell am I supposed to make that look like she set you up?" "I did not do this!" "It's custom-made, serrated tip." " It has your initials engraved on the handle." " I always carry it." "We show homes to people we don't know." "This one time, my mother was showing a place." "It was in Bel-Air, so she thought it was okay to go alone." " But he was there." " Who was there?" "The man who raped her." "When she didn't come back, I went to the house and found her." "That's when she stopped showing property, and I started carrying a knife." "Always." " Your mother will have to testify." " No, I don't want that." "I don't give a damn what you want." "If you want to stay out of the shithouse, you do exactly as I tell you from now on." "You got it?" " Hey." " Hey." "Success." "We had fun." " Got her?" " Yeah." " At least we did one thing right, huh?" " We did a couple." "Good night." " Well, look who's come calling." " Detective Kurlen." "Have you been to San Quentin lately?" "See our boy Martinez?" "I asked you something." "How's Martinez doing up there?" "He make the pucker-up-and-kiss-me team?" " I haven't talked to him." " Right." "I guess once they plead guilty and go down, you don't have much use for them, huh?" "But he's away forever, right?" " He got life, yeah." " So, he'll be out in 15." "Too bad." "Because his victim, Donna Renteria, she's dead forever." "How does someone like you sleep at night, with all the scum you represent?" "Sorry." "Hey, Kurlen." "Come here a second." "I had a client once, he decapitated his ex-wife." "Kept her head in the refrigerator." "Nice." "Sweet." "The DA got greedy, tried to pile on two unsolved murders, trick up the evidence to make it look like my guy did it." "But you got your boy off." "And he's out walking around now, right?" " Well, fuck you, Haller." " No, fuck the DA, and the cops who helped him." "It's called the justice system, Kurlen." "That's not the way it's supposed to work." "Ernie and Rich." " How are you?" " Monica." " Well, look who's here." " Hello, kids." "Maggie." "Hey, hey, Haller." "Do you want a beer?" " I'd love a cold beer." "Scotty." " Yeah, Mick." " We can share this." " No, I'm good." "Why, why?" "We've swapped spit before." " Tell me about your buddy Minton." " Who says he's my buddy?" " He sandbagged me but good." " With that guy Corliss, right?" "Yeah." "How'd you know?" " You'll take the guy's head off on the stand." " I hope so." "So, what, Ted talked to you about Corliss?" "No, no, I sent him to Ted." "He thought I was on the case because I made first appearance." " But I should not be telling you any of this." " No, I knew." "Look, I knew a guy like Minton wasn't above putting a jailhouse snitch on the stand." "And that's what he is, right?" "Can we just have a friendly beer and not talk about work, please?" "Let's get a table out back, grab something to eat." " We can talk about our daughter." " Okay." "Yeah." "I bet you didn't know 3-D movies could be so much fun." "The fun is watching her." " Join the club." " Right?" "Yeah." "Hey, you didn't know Minton had Corliss till I blabbed, did you?" "I knew he was hiding something." "Screw it." "I'm not going to defend Minton." "He fights too dirty." "This from Maggie McFierce?" "You know there are lines I won't cross." "Don't you?" "Can you give me a lift?" "She's going to wake up and she's going to see us here." "It's not fair." " How'd she get in here?" " She comes in when she has nightmares." "How often does she have nightmares?" "Don't start." "You don't know what it's like to raise a child alone." "I'll leave, come back in an hour, we'll go together to pick up your car and then I can take Hayley to school." "Just like that, you're going to start taking her to school?" "Do you remember what we talked about last night?" "Yes, I remember what we talked about last night, but I thought you were just trying to get my head into your case or get me in bed." "I can't win with you, can I?" "No, you can't." "Not when you're being a defense lawyer." "Not when I'm trying to keep dirtbags off the street" " and you keep putting them there." " I've heard it all before, Mag." "Donna Renteria." "Man, they had my picture everywhere, man." "They were gonna bring me in anyways, so I'm like, "Fuck."" "Yeah, but you told Kurlen you were in her apartment, all right?" "He didn't have that." " No, no..." " He didn't have it." "He didn't even have any prints." "No, but that shit I said was true." "I saw her at La Zona Rosa, and she said if I paid her more money than the other guy, then we can go to her place." " Nobody saw any other guy." " There was another guy!" "It was a white guy!" "He was right by the bar." "The coroner says her vagina was brutalized." " Are you my lawyer, man?" " I'm trying to be." "Look, when I left, that chick was fine." "Look, I slept with her, okay, I did, but I didn't hurt her, I promise." "Three people saw you throw a knife into the LA River." "Help me." "I had that knife in my car." "I knew they were gonna find it, man." "They were gonna pin it on me, I know!" "Look, if all you did was have sex with her, then why didn't you leave any prints?" " I mean, the place was wiped down clean." " I didn't wipe it down, though." "You left semen on the towel." "Do you remember that?" "Did you forget the towel?" "No!" "I didn't forget anything, man." "I just used that towel, I paid her, and I left." " That defense isn't gonna make." " Don't say that!" "It won't make, man." "There's not a chance in hell with that defense." " You know what they're asking for?" " What?" "They want the death penalty, man." "They want to take your ass down." "They want to burn you, man." "Listen," "I can see to it that that never happens, but not if we don't plead." "You want me to say I did it?" "There's a deal to be made here, and I can do it." "I can get you life." "Life means you're paroled in 15." "It keeps the needle out of your arm, man." "It's our only play, man." "I'm innocent, bro." "Do you know what that means?" " That means I didn't do it!" " It's the best I can get for you, man." "I don't want to go to jail for something I didn't do, man!" "You know what that's gonna do to my mom, bro?" "I ain't going to jail for something I didn't do, bro!" "Come on, man." "Please, help me, bro." "Please, help me." "I'm not gonna ask how you are, 'cause I know." "No, bro." "You don't know." " I need to ask you some questions, Jesus." " Questions?" "Now?" "You know what?" "You didn't ask me a lot of questions back then." " You never asked me, "Did you kill her?" No." " Please." "I am trying to make this right." "I need you to tell me what happened at the La Zona Rosa bar that night." "One more time." "Please." "She was working." "I liked her." "Right off the bat, I liked her." "I knew she was the one." "You know, she caught my eye." "They were going around in a little circle." "She was acting all cute and shit." "Listen, I don't know how this works." "I don't know..." " It's fine." "You want a dance?" " Yeah, I want a dance." "I can give you a private dance." "I picked her." "I asked her to dance for me." "Then we started talking." "You know /what she said?" "I could take her home." "" " So, how much for me to come over?" "" " Usually, I charge $1,000." "But for you, $300, 'cause you're sexy." "And she was good, man." "Yeah, so I did." "But I didn't kill her." "Okay, but you said there was another guy, right?" "Yeah." "She was talking to him." "And then she came back to me." "Okay." "I have some pictures, all right?" "Some mug shots." "I want you to see if you can ID that other guy at the club." " Tell me if you recognize him." " No." "How about this guy?" "Jesus?" "You recognize him?" "Okay, take your time." "Yeah, how about this guy?" "Is this the other guy?" " Was this guy in the club that night?" " Guard!" " Jesus?" "Is this the other guy?" " You know what?" "You played me, bro." "Why are you bothering me with this?" " Jesus, is that the guy from the club?" " What does it matter, man?" "I'm right here." " Right where you wanted me, bro!" " This is the guy." " You know what?" "I don't trust you, dawg!" " I'm trying to make it right!" " And I never will!" " Interview's over!" "Okay, Ahab." "That's my boy." "That's my boy." "Get out of here." "Hey." "You okay?" "Where you been today?" "I've been trying to call you." "I've been to San Quentin." "To see Jesus Martinez." "About what happened after he left Donna Renteria's apartment." " After he killed her." " He didn't kill her, Frank." "He went there, had sex, flushed the condom down the toilet, wiped his prick on a pink towel, and then he went home, but he didn't kill her." "Come on, Mick, we've been through this 100 times." "The real killer, she lets him in." "Maybe he fakes like he's Martinez /and he forgot something." "Maybe he had an appointment." "" " Like the guy in the bar?" "" " Right." "He comes in." "He punches her /a few times to soften her up." "But she's not gonna be lucky /like Reggie Campo is," "'cause this son of a bitch pulls a knife, /takes her and bends her over the table," "puts on a condom and rapes her," "and when he's done, /he stabs her over and over," "52 times," "while he works something out /in his sick goddamn mind." "Do I have to tell you what kind of knife it was?" " A short-blade folding knife?" " Just like Roulet's." "Okay, okay, let's take it a little bit easier on that, okay?" "Why, Frank?" "Why didn't I listen?" "Listen, I got a baseball bat if you really want to beat yourself up." "No, I'm not beating myself up." "The son of a bitch told me he didn't do it." "All right?" "There was the DNA and there was the knife that he ditched, but there was no way I was gonna listen to him." "There was no way I would believe that he didn't do it." "I couldn't believe him!" "I couldn't believe that I actually was representing an innocent man." "Just like my father warned me about." "Mick, come on." "They all say they didn't do it." "You know that." "Yeah, so what do I do?" "I get him to plead." "I get his sister to beg him to plead." "'Cause he's got no case." "So I get him the best deal I can, and I feel pretty goddamn good about it, 'cause, hey, I got the son of a bitch off death row." "I got him 15 years instead of the needle." "Yeah." "I showed him Roulet's picture." "Okay." "Roulet is using Martinez as the other guy in the bar?" "Like Mr. Mustang in this case?" "So, he's not just getting off on killing women." "It's seeing somebody else do the time." "That's his MO." " What did Martinez say?" " Enough." "Enough for me to know I gotta find another way." "What you have to do is find a way to put Roulet in Renteria's apartment the night she was murdered." "That's what you..." "I have to find a way to make it right, Frank." "I gotta make it right." "Well, you can't bring it to the cops, 'cause he's your client." "And you can't take it to the DA, 'cause you'd lose your license." "Worse." "Any evidence we found would be inadmissible." "Attorney-client privilege." "It would ruin any case they could ever have against him." "That's why that son of a bitch hired me." "He's got me in his trick bag." "You got one client in jail for what your other client did." "What you gonna do, Mick?" "Hey, Mick, you okay, buddy?" " Frank, Frank, listen to me." "I got it." "" " What?" "You know how Roulet said all we'd find on him was parking tickets, right?" "Right." "Listen, I don't buy that anymore." "No, there were others." "Other girls he did." "Renteria and Campo." "I mean, they look too much alike." "It's like they're sisters." "And the injuries to the right side of their faces are too similar, man." "This guy's got a type, Frank." "There's other cases out there, and you can find them." " You gotta do this." "I can't." "I'm his lawyer." "" " Okay." "Okay, I'm on it." "All right, I gotta take this." "Maggie, hey." "Hey, did you get my voicemail?" "I've been up to San Quentin to see an old client." "How's Hayley?" "She's good." "You know, /she has soccer this weekend." "Saturday, right?" " I look forward to it." "" " Great, we'll talk later." "If you're wondering how I got in, I'm in real estate," " so if I want to get into a friend's house..." " No, we're not friends." "You're my client." " I'm your lawyer." " My lawyer." "See, that's exactly what I wanted to remind you of." "I'm about to go on trial, and yet I couldn't reach you." "Now I find out where you were all day." "Heard you tell Maggie." " You shit." " You went to see Jesus Martinez." "And I know what you talked about." "Donna Renteria." "You're right, Mick." "I killed her." "There." "No reason I shouldn't tell my own lawyer, since it's all confidential." "Attorney-client privilege." "Isn't that what you told me?" "It's time for you to go, Louis." "All right." "That's a cute picture of your daughter Hayley." "She's very pretty." "She's got soccer practice tomorrow, right?" "Don't." "Don't what?" "You think you're the first client to ever threaten me or my family?" "All I said was she's pretty." "Are you scared, Louis?" "'Cause where you are right now, you're in a very dangerous place." "And so, in conclusion, what this case is about, what this case is all about, is a predator." "On that night of March 6th, Louis Roulet was out stalking his prey." "Now, you are gonna hear from the victim herself about her lifestyle, one that we would not condone." "But remember, anyone, anyone can be the victim of a violent crime." "This case is clear." "It's straightforward." "A man attacked a woman in her home in order to rape and kill her, and it is only by the grace of God that she's here to tell her story." "Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Michael Haller, and I'm representing Louis Roulet." "Now, Mr. Minton doesn't want to use the word "prostitute"" "for the woman who is supposed to be Louis' victim." "He needn't worry, 'cause this case isn't about how she makes her money." "This case is about her actions." "How she saw a young man with signs of wealth as a ticket out of the life she was in, and chose to target him." "Now what she didn't count on was you." "How you'd put two and two together and let your common sense tell you who the real predator is in this case." "Thank you for your time." "Court will adjourn until Monday, when the state will call its first witness." " Go, Hayley, go!" "Turn it, turn it, turn it!" "Go!" " Nice, baby, nice shot!" " Left foot!" "Left foot!" " Take it away, take it away!" "Go, Hayley!" "Stay on it!" "Get on it." "Hey, Mick." "Hey, Maggie." " What are you doing here?" " I'm going to take Hayley home." "You've got someplace to be." "What are you talking about?" "What happened?" " Hey, hey, sir, stop, please." " Ma'am, I'm family, okay?" "I'm family." " This is a closed crime scene." " Sir, the name's Mick Haller..." "Sobel!" " Sobel!" " Yeah, but, listen, slow down a second." " Slow down." " Talk to me." "What happened?" "Somebody shot him in the chest and the head, and then they shot the dog, too." "His body is right in front of the door." "Great, this is just what we need." "Okay, so you've been here before." "You can tell us if anything is unusual." "Anything weird?" "Like, throughout this whole house, why is it that all I see are pictures of this guy?" "My partner's asking if Frank Levin was gay." " Is that relevant?" " Yeah, it's all relevant." "He was an ex-cop." "Crimes against persons, in Chicago." "Is that butch enough for you, Lankford?" " I don't see anything that can help you here." " All right." "Hey, Haller." "I don't need to tell you to stick around town where I can find you, do I?" "Am I a suspect?" "When do you retire, Lankford?" " When do I retire?" " Yeah." "Eighteen months." "Why?" "I want to make sure I show up the next morning so I can kick your ass." "Val!" "Hey, Mick!" "What the hell are you banging on the door like that for, man?" "Are you nuts?" " Dude, dude, you look terrible." " Frank Levin was murdered." " Man, I'm sorry." "I'm sorry to hear that." " Roulet did it." "Roulet?" "I thought you and Frank were defending him." "Why would he take Frank out?" "That makes no sense." "You know, Val, I figure you know exactly how it went down." "How do I know about it?" "What are you talking about?" "'Cause you lied to me." "You didn't send me the Roulet case." " He asked for me." " Okay, okay, that's true, man." "That's true." "But you know what?" "I said, "Haller's your man." "Go for Haller."" " I did that for you." " You lied to me once." "So, what, you think I'm gonna lie about this?" "Give me a little respect." "Give me a little credit." "I'm not gonna lie about this kind of shit." "The police tracked the tracer that you put on Roulet." " It said he was nowhere near Frank's house." " So maybe it wasn't him, Mick." "So maybe it wasn't him." "Nobody can beat the tracer, huh?" " It was him." "Roulet killed Frank, Val." " I don't like the way you're following me." "I don't like the way you're cornering me, man." " I don't like the way you're talking to me." " Roulet killed Frank, Val." "Do you think I cut the kid loose so he could murder Frank?" "Did Roulet kill Frank?" "Mick, I'm sorry about Frank, but I didn't do it, man." "You're the only one that could've taken it off him." "Being married to you sucked, but it beat being your car service." " Maggie." " Yeah?" "You know what I used to be afraid of, Maggie?" " Yeah." "Me." " That I wouldn't recognize innocence." "That it would be right there in front of me and I just wouldn't see it." "Yeah." "I'm not talking about guilty or not guilty, just innocence, you know?" "You know what I'm afraid of now?" "Evil." "Pure evil." "Maggie." "Did I get Frank Levin killed?" "Mickey, no." "Go to sleep, honey." "New message, yesterday, 11:07 a. m." "Mick, it's me." "I tried you on your cell." "Sorry to interrupt your day with Hayley," "but you asked me /to do some digging on Roulet." "Well, I might have found Martinez's ticket, /Mick, his ticket out of Quentin." "Someone's at the door." "Look, you go /and you have a good time with Hayley," "and I'll fill you in when I know /it's for sure." "I gotta go." " Detective Sobel." "" " Sobel, Mick Haller here." "Listen, I just checked my messages." "It turns out Frank called me just before he was killed." "The message came in at 11:07." "He said he found something, something that could help an old client of ours get out of prison." "" " Okay, who is the client?" "" " Jesus Martinez." "He's in San Quentin." " Okay, did he say anything else?" "" " Yeah, he made a joke." "He said something about finding Martinez's ticket out of the Q, and then someone came to the door." "That's when he hung up." "All right, listen." "Whoever came to the door, that's who killed him." " Okay, you get me a copy of the tape." "" " I'll get it to you right away." "How's it going on the case?" "You getting somewhere?" "Yeah." "We did catch a break." "We found a bullet casing in the room from a. 22." "That's good." "Frank Levin owned a. 22." "You'll find it registered to him." "Yeah, we did." "Yeah, but it wasn't a Woodsman." " A what?" " A Colt Woodsman." "It's an old antique job." "That's the gun that killed him." "Fuck!" "Morning, Mick." "It's too bad about Frank Levin." "Got any idea who did it?" "Yeah, I'm pretty certain I do." "Mr. Talbot, you were with Miss Campo on the night of March 6th." "Yep." "We went on a date to the Association." "Then I took her back to her place for another date." " And did you have sexual relations?" " About 400 bucks worth." "And she earned every single cent." "What time did you leave her apartment?" "I don't know." "About five minutes before 10:00." "Did she say whether she had another appointment?" "Oh, no, no." "She acted like she was done for the night." "Objection, Your Honor." "I don't think Mr. Talbot's qualified to interpret Miss Campo's thinking or plans." " I mean she acted satisfied." " Sustained." "Go on, Mr. Minton." "When you left, Mr. Talbot, what condition was she in?" "Was she hurt?" "No." "She was fine." "She did not look like this?" "Man, what kind of sick bastard does something like that?" "Answer the question." "No." "No, we made pleasurable and consensual love." "I mean, that's what life's all about, right?" "Then I paid her." "Mr. Talbot, are you right-handed or left-handed?" "Left." " Left?" " Yeah." "Isn't it true that before you left Miss Campo's apartment, she asked you to repeatedly strike her in the face with your left fist?" "Your Honor, Mr. Haller is just muddying the waters with outrageous statements." " It's part of the defense theory, Your Honor." " The witness can answer." "I'm sorry." "Can you repeat the question?" "This is by your hand, isn't it, Mr. Talbot?" "Admit it." "This whole thing is a setup by you and Miss Campo, framing my client, Louis Roulet, isn't it?" "I never hit her or any other woman, you understand?" "Do you know a prostitute named Shaquille Barton?" " Work name is Shaquilla Shackles?" " Yeah, yeah, I seen her once." "And if I brought her in here and she said," ""Yes, Mr. Talbot, he did strike me with his left fist in my face."" "She'd be lying." "I tried Shaquilla once, but I'm not into that rough stuff." "I'm a missionary man." " With a strong left." " Am I on trial here?" "Not yet." "Good afternoon, detectives." "What can I do for you?" " This warrant's bullshit." " It's good enough to search your house." "It would have been smart if you had told me that you had a Woodsman." " There's one registered to you." " Let's go for a drive." " All right." "Let's bag the box." " You can't do ballistics on a box, can you?" " Modern technology." " So, why didn't you report this stolen?" " I don't know." "But maybe I should have." " You think?" "Still and all, we're gonna have a look around the place, huh?" " Go crazy." "You got the warrant." " All right." "Let's start with the couch." "Sir, stand up." "You know, we got a history on the piece." "It turns out it once belonged to Mickey Cohen, the gangster from the '40s." "I know." "My father, he represented him." "Got him off for using it in self-defense, so Mickey made him a present of it." "It's a nice present." " Pearl handle, collector's piece." " How sweet." "You know, that Mickey Cohen shooting is pretty famous." "It turns out that the county still has the evidence in storage." "The bullet." "You can match the casings from a slug that's 50 years old?" "Well, I mean, it would be easier with the gun, but, yeah." "How long will ballistics take?" "Hey, Mick, I got something for you." " You asked me to run that witness' name." " Is that Corliss?" "Dwayne Jeffrey Corliss, right." "He's this lowlife type, not much came up, but sometimes he goes by DJ, no punctuation," " and when you run it that way..." " Tell me." "He's played the courtroom snitch a lot." "Here and in Arizona." " Both times, it got him early release." " All right, this could be good." "All I gotta do is find him." "They put him in pretrial rehab at USC." "I just got lucky." "There she is." "How are you, sweetie?" " You all right?" " Yeah." "All right, listen." "I'm actually not even here about you today." "I need you to do something for me." "Keep moving!" "Let's go, let's go!" "Stay on the wall all the way down." "Nuts to butts, boys." "Let's go." "Shut up." " That's it." "Stay on the line." " Corliss, right?" "I'm gonna say this real quiet." "Trustee, away from the line!" "You don't know me, but I talked to the DA, and he gave me a way to get us both out." "So, Haller, I hear you had interesting visitors last night." "Worry about yourself, Ted." "You're dying the death of a thousand razors up there and you don't even know it." "One last witness, Your Honor." "The prosecution calls Regina Campo." "It's true that I lied to the police." "I knew the defendant when he came to the door." "Miss Campo, why did you lie?" "Because I was scared." "I didn't think the police would believe me, and I wanted to make sure they arrested him." " 'Cause he's an animal." " Do you regret your decision now?" "Yes." "If it helps him get free and do this to somebody else." " Objection." "It's prejudicial, Your Honor." " Sustained." " I have no further questions for Miss Campo." " Your witness, Mr. Haller." "Miss Campo, have you engaged an attorney to sue Louis Roulet for the events that happened on the eve of March the 6th?" " No, I haven't." " Have you talked to an attorney?" " I haven't hired anyone." " No, have you talked to one?" "About a possible lawsuit?" "It was nothing more than talk." "Did you ask if you could sue him for damages?" "I thought what you say to a lawyer is private." "If you wish, you can tell the jurors." " I think I'd like to keep it private." " Okay." "Let's talk about the night at the Association bar." "Had you ever seen Louis Roulet before that night?" " Yes." "There and other places." " Ever notice that he wore a Rolex watch?" "No." "Or that he drove one of two vehicles, a Maserati and a Range Rover?" " I never saw him driving." " And what made you approach him?" " I saw him leave with girls who do what I do." " With prostitutes?" "They go to a hotel or one of their apartments, right?" "I don't know where." "Well, how do you know they left?" "Maybe they just went out for a smoke." "Because I saw them get in his car and drive away." "Now, wait a minute." "You just testified that you had never seen Mr. Roulet drive." "Now you are saying that, yes, you did see Mr. Roulet get in his car and leave with a prostitute like yourself." "Which one is it?" "I saw him get in his car, but I didn't know what kind of car it was." "Do you know the difference between a Maserati and a Range Rover?" " One is small and one is big, I guess." " Okay." "The other women that left with Louis, when you saw them again, did any of them have injuries or were any of them beaten?" "I don't know." "I didn't ask." "But girls in your profession, you do talk to each other about customers, right?" "You warn each other if someone's a freak or something?" "Yeah, usually." "And did any of them ever warn you or have one bad thing to say about Louis Roulet?" "No." "No one." "So you believed you'd be safe?" "I thought he was a known quantity, and I needed the money, so..." "So you thought he could solve your problems with money." " No!" " No?" "Isn't that why you're sitting here?" "Because you zeroed in on him?" "No!" "I mean, yes, but it wasn't like that." "He attacked me, I swear!" "And..." "All right, let's pause that right there." "Just to confirm, this is you, right, Miss Campo?" " Yes." " What was on the napkin?" "My name and address." " And your price?" " Yes. $400." " It's a hard line of work." " Yes, and dangerous." "In fact, haven't you told your friends many times that you were looking for a way out?" " I'm not proud of what I do." " I know." "And isn't it true, and nothing would be easier to understand, that you saw Louis Roulet and his money as that way out?" "No, that's not what this is about!" "Are you not listening to me?" "No further questions, Your Honor." "Mr. Minton, do you have another witness for us?" "He really looks worried." "Not worried enough." "No." "The state rests, Your Honor." "Then the defense will call its first witness after lunch." "Yes, I recognize this knife." "It's the one that my son has carried with him for protection" " for the last four years, almost exactly." " Why would he need protection?" "Realtors alone in a house are sometimes robbed or hurt, even raped or murdered." "But has Louis ever been the subject of such a crime?" "No." "But he knew someone who was raped and robbed by a man." "Louis found her." "It was terrible." "So the first thing he did afterwards was get himself a knife," " to carry with him at all times." " Thank you, Mrs. Windsor." "I have no further questions, Your Honor." " Your witness, Mr. Minton." " Miss Windsor, you seem pretty exact about when it was your son started carrying around this..." "This weapon." "A five-inch folding knife." "Yes, I am." "The incident took place on June the 9th, 2007." " Was it in the newspapers?" " No." "Do you somehow remember it because the police came to talk to Louis?" "No, there was no police investigation." "Then how do you remember the exact date?" "Were you given it before your testimony here today?" "I remember the date because I'll never forget the day I was attacked." "And Louis won't forget it, either." "He found me in the house, tied up." "My clothes were ripped." "It was traumatic for him." "Mr. Minton, is there anything else you wish to ask?" "No, Your Honor." "So, I've been thinking about those thousand razors." "We've had an offer." "You can spend six months in a county jail." "Like I told you from the beginning, no deals, no bargaining, I'm innocent." "Save it." "You make the call." "I don't give a shit." " You got my answer." " Yes, I do." "I'll pass it along." " You do that." " Louis, tomorrow," "I'm putting you on the stand." " I'm ready." " You better be." "Hey, Earl." "There's something I need you to get for me." "Your Honor, the defense calls Louis Ross Roulet." "I knocked." "She looked through a side window and saw that it was me and opened the door." "Then I walked past her toward the living room." " What happened next?" " Something hit me from behind." "I blacked out." "I have no idea for how long." "Is that all?" "When I woke up, two guys were sitting on me, telling me not to move." "I couldn't anyway." "I was scared." "But you had blood on your sweater." "And on your left hand." "Someone put it there because I didn't." "You didn't strike Miss Campo with your left fist?" " No." " Threaten to rape her?" "Threaten to kill her?" "No, I am not that guy!" "Do you have any idea what it's like to be accused of something like this?" "To sit there and listen to people tell lies about you, about your having done something this sick and depraved, call you an animal, talk about your sex life, humiliate you?" "Listen, I understand the process." "I know I had to sit there and be quiet and wait my chance, but if guilty people have rights, then what about innocent people?" "I am innocent!" "I'm innocent and I want this behind me!" "I have no further questions, Your Honor." "According to you, Miss Campo punched herself, or she had someone she had never met violently and viciously beat her as a part of a setup?" " All I know is that I didn't." " And this knife that you always carry." "How did she know she'd find it on you as part of the setup?" "I guess she couldn't, could she?" "I never take it out, I never show it to anyone, so she must have just found it in my pocket after she, or whoever, knocked me out." "Isn't that right?" " I would prefer if I asked the questions." " Okay." "Mr. Roulet, I'd like you to take a..." "Take a look at this photo." "Tell me again." "Do you think Regina Campo would or could have done this to herself?" "I don't know who did it, but it wasn't me." "Nobody deserves that to happen." "What do you mean by "deserves"?" "Do you mean crimes of violence only come down to a woman getting what she deserves?" "I mean, no matter what she does, or who she is, no woman deserves that." "I have nothing further, Your Honor." " Mr. Roulet, you are excused." " Thank you." "The defense rests, Your Honor." "Before deciding to rest its case, the state would like to take the night, Your Honor." " For what purpose?" " To consider a rebuttal witness." " What witness is he talking about?" " I have no idea." "The court will adjourn until 10:00 tomorrow." "" " Morning, Bill." "" " Morning." "I want to go grab some coffee." "You want some?" " No, man." "I'm off caffeine." " Right." "Say, is that the custody list?" "Yeah." "Let me see if any of my no-good clients are on there." "Sure." "Lorna." "Okay, Minton's putting Corliss on." "He's already in lockup." " That's great." " Yeah, it's good." "How'd it go with you?" "Did you serve Kurlen?" " Yes, I did." " Okay." "I'm going back to the courtroom." "Stand by." "Okay." "Hey, Haller, what is this bullshit?" "I have nothing to do with this case." ""Subpoena to appear as a witness."" "You'll just have to wait and see." "It's a legal document, Detective." " Hey." "Glad you made it." " Working your magic?" " I got a little something up my sleeve." " See you later." "Mr. Minton, does the state have any rebuttal?" "The state intends to call Dwayne Jeffrey Corliss as a rebuttal witness, Your Honor." "Judge, who is this witness?" "And why wasn't I told about him until now?" "Bailiff, remove the jury." "A fair question." "Mr. Minton." "Dwayne Corliss is a cooperating witness who spoke with Mr. Roulet in custody following his arrest." " That's a lie!" "I didn't speak to anyone!" " Be quiet, Mr. Roulet!" " Mr. Haller, control your client." " Good." "Let me take it from here." "Judge, I share my client's outrage." "And how long has the state been sitting on this testimony?" "Mr. Corliss just came forward yesterday, Your Honor." "Yesterday?" "This is incredible." "Do you want to go back and talk to him?" "Given the timing, I'd allow it." "No." "Thank you, though, Judge." "I think we all know what this is." "Mr. Minton's putting a jailhouse snitch on the stand, and everything he says will be a lie." " That's groundless, Your Honor." " I want my objection noted." "Then I'm going to rule." "He can testify." "Call the jury in." "May I ask one indulgence, Your Honor?" "May I step into the hallway and make a call to an investigator for whatever good it may do at this late date?" "Thank you, Your Honor." "Yep, I'm here." "Come to the courthouse at exactly 10:15 with the printouts." "Mr. Corliss, are you incarcerated at this time?" "No, now I'm just in a courtroom." "But you are currently being held in the jail ward at USC hospital, correct?" " Yeah." "Since I got arrested." " For burglary and drug possession?" " That's right." " Now, do you know the defendant?" "Yeah." "I met him in lockup." "We was bused over from jail." "Then we were together in the tank when we came for first appearances." " Did you talk at that time?" " Yeah." "Talked about how bad we needed cigarettes." "Anything else?" "You know, "What are you in for?" Like that." "And did he say what he was in for?" "He said, "For giving a bitch exactly what she deserved."" "Those were his words." ""For giving a bitch exactly what she deserved."" "Now, have I or anyone else promised you anything in exchange for your testimony today?" " No." "It's just the right thing to do." " Thank you, Your Honor." "How many times have you been arrested, Mr. Corliss?" "About seven times in LA." "A couple more in Phoenix and New York, if you want to count those." "Yeah, so you know how the system works, yeah?" " I try to survive." " Right." "Does that sometimes mean ratting out fellow inmates?" "Your Honor, I object." "Take a seat, Mr. Minton." "I gave you leeway bringing this witness in." "Thank you, Your Honor, but I'll rephrase." "What I'm asking you is how many times have you snitched on a fellow inmate?" " This makes my fourth." " This makes your fourth time." "Four times you've testified for the prosecution against a fellow inmate." "It makes you a popular man, Mr. Corliss." "It sounds like people just come up to you, tell you the crimes that they've committed, so you can come in here and testify against them." "People talk to me." "I'm a friendly guy." "You're a friendly guy?" "And you're saying you and my client were friends?" "We was friendly." "So, he just said to you what you just told us and told the jury, that he gave a woman "what she deserved"?" "And then the two of you went back to talking about cigarettes?" "Not exactly." "It's like he was bragging." "He told me he did it before." "Said the other time he killed the bitch." "He got away with it then, he'd get away with it now." "Mr. Haller." "I have no more questions, Your Honor." "Redirect, Your Honor." "What the hell is this?" "You tell me." " What the hell did you say to this guy, huh?" " Nothing." "This is a setup." "You're doing this." "How?" "How am I doing this?" "You say he was bragging." "How?" "Well, like, he told me the details." "Of the other one, that he killed." "She was a dancer at some club, and she had a sexy snake tattoo wrapped around her body." " Did he say anything else?" " No." "The snake girl stuff was it." " How does he know this, Louis?" " Do you think I know?" "No." "If you didn't tell him this shit, somebody did." "I'd start thinking about who that could be." "Then I have no further questions, Your Honor." "Any recross from the defense?" " A moment with my staff, Your Honor?" " Be quick." " Is it all here?" " Yeah." "Okay, good." "Now listen, you go now." "Leave the building." "I don't want anyone asking you questions," " you got it?" " Okay." "All right." " Dwayne." "Mind if I call you that?" " Sure, man." "Wow on the assistant." "You're a funny guy, DJ." ""DJ."" "Isn't that what they call you, for example, down in Phoenix?" "Maybe." "Well, my assistant, the one whose number you want, she was reading on the Internet about a DJ Corliss, arrested in 1989 on drug charges, hometown of Mesa, Arizona." " Yeah, that'd be me." " You do remember Fred Bentley, right?" "Your Honor, where is the defense going with this?" "Make a connection soon, Mr. Haller." "But the witness will answer." " I don't remember any Bentley." " Sure you do." "You testified that he confessed to you the crime that he was charged with." "Raping a 10-year-old girl." "But he denied it in court." "Am I ringing any bells, DJ?" "In 1989, I was high a lot." "I don't..." "Not much I recall." "Then I'd like you to read this for us." "Your Honor, this is a news report from the Arizona Star, 1997, eight years after Mr. Bentley was convicted." "I ask that it be admitted into evidence." "Your Honor, a news report?" "Let's see where it takes us." "The state can object later." "Thank you, Your Honor." "If you could read this for us, Mr. Corliss." "I've highlighted the part I'd like for you to read." " I'm not good at reading." " That's okay." "You can take your time." "We'll make it through it." ""A man, Frederick Bentley," ""wrongly convicted of rape, was released Saturday" ""after conclusive DNA results cleared him of the crime." ""The case was bolstered at trial by testimony from an informant," ""DJ Corliss of Mesa, who claimed Bentley had bragged to him" ""about the rape while together in the holding cell."" "That's enough." "Thank you, Mr. Corliss." "Were you charged with perjury in this incident, DJ?" "No, I was not." "Is that because the prosecution was complicit in your confession?" "Judge!" "Were you promised the same thing here, Mr. Corliss, to say that Louis Roulet bragged to you in the holding cell?" "Isn't that what happened?" "You lied then and you're lying now!" " All right, Mr. Haller!" "That will do!" " Objection, Your Honor!" "I'm sorry, Your Honor." "I have no more questions." "I'm excusing the jury for an early lunch." "Bailiff, see them out." "Mr. Minton, do you know what you have done?" "You've put a documented liar on the stand, a man with a record of putting innocent people in prison..." " Your Honor." " Shut the hell up when I'm talking to you!" "I can think of nothing more prejudicial or corrupt than what I just saw out there." "Do you realize what you've done to my trial?" "He's going to talk to his boss to decide what they want to do before the judge comes down with a directed verdict." "What's a directed verdict?" "It's where the judge takes the case from the jury's hands, declares an acquittal." "Oh, my God." "We'll know more in a few minutes." "I want to know how Corliss got that shit he's saying!" "Maybe Frank Levin told him." "Maybe he found something and gave it to Corliss, and that's why you killed him." "Court's back in session." "Your Honor, I spoke with the district attorney." "The state wishes to dismiss all charges." "You have the motion in front of you." "This is a motion to dismiss with prejudice." " Case closed." " Yes, Your Honor." "Mr. Roulet, you're free to go." "Court's adjourned." " Mr. Haller, thank you so much for my son." " You're welcome." " You were splendid." " Thank you." " I want the gun." " Of course you do." "I want to talk." "Mr. Haller," "I insist you join us for dinner tonight for a celebration." " I don't think so." " Louis Roulet," " you're under arrest." " What do you think you're doing?" " Be quiet, Mother." " Hands behind your back!" "What's the charge?" "He's under arrest for the murder of Donna Renteria." " Everything that man said was a lie!" " You have the right to remain silent." "You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning." "If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." "Do you understand your rights as I've read them to you?" "Hey!" "Look at me!" "Do you understand your rights?" "Detective, can I have a word with him?" "Well, that's it, Louis." "I got you off." "Time to find yourself a new lawyer." "I've still got your gun." "And you're gonna have to explain how you got it." " Thank you, Detective." " Come on, Louis." " Mary..." " Not a word." "You get my kid out of jail." "Haller, you are one messed-up son of a bitch." "First you get your client off for assault, only to burn him for murder." "You don't have enough to charge him with the Renteria murder, do you?" "They've got enough to screw with him." "There's no way the DA was letting Roulet walk out of here, not after what just happened." "I don't get you, Haller." "Whose side are you on, anyway?" "God damn it!" "Earl!" "Dude." "Hey, I'm sorry, boss." "Look, I stepped away for half a minute, all right?" " All right." "All right, all right." " You can take the ticket out of my pay." "You don't make enough." "This one's on me." "Let's roll." "All right." "All right, let's go to the house, Earl." "Hey, boss." "You know that favor you asked me?" "A guy I know, he picked it up on the street." "Real clean." " Hey, boss, be careful, all right?" " Yes, sir." "Mick, it's me." "I tried you on your cell." "Sorry to interrupt your day with Hayley," "but you asked me to dig on Roulet." "Remember?" "You said you didn't buy it /that all he had was parking tickets?" "Well, I might have found..." "Maggie, I got it." " I think I know why Frank Levin got killed." "" " Yeah?" "All right, call Lankford." "Have him pull up Roulet's driving record, every ticket he ever got." "That's what Frank did." "He said he found Martinez's ticket out of the Q." "I just never knew what he meant." "Okay, done, /but I have to tell you something." "They let Roulet go." "They didn't have enough to hold him." "You were right." "I guess the family got involved." " Maggie, is Hayley with you?" " She's at my sister's." "Why?" "Go to your sister's, stay with Hayley, and wait for my call." "You got it?" "Okay." " Val, it's Mick Haller." " Hey, Mick, haven't heard from you since you busted into my office and accused me of conspiracy to commit murder, huh?" "If I had any self-respect, I'd hang up on you right now." "It was Frank dying, all right?" "I was out of my head." "" " I need you to do me a favor." " You need a favor?" "Okay." "You got more balls than a Chinese ping-pong tournament." "I'll give you that." "Listen, man, you can kick my ass later, all right?" "It's important." " Is Roulet still wearing the tracer?" "" " Yeah, yeah, he is, yeah." "I got a call." "He's coming in the morning to get it off." "I guess they kicked him, huh?" " Yeah." "I need you to track him for me." "" " Man, I can't." "I can't." "I got a little biddy coming in a few minutes." "Val, Val!" "Stop whatever you're doing." "I need it, man." "I need you to do it now." "It's about my family." "Yeah?" "It's me." "He's headed up north on San Fernando." "Mick, I think he's headed for your house." "Do you want me to call the cops for you?" "Bullshit." "I'm telling you, he just passed Dodger Stadium." "No, no, no, he's not going to my house, Val." "You're right, you're right, Mick." "He just shot past your street." "He's not headed for your house." "I know where he's going." "Hello?" "You're welcome." "No, it's all right." "Don't worry about it." "Hello, Louis." "My family's here." " I know." " You bring your knife?" "And my gun?" " Maybe." " Good." "'Cause I brought this." "You got one chance to turn around and leave." "And then what?" "You gonna keep coming back every night?" "Every day?" "Or just try to get me sent up to San Quentin like Jesus Martinez?" "No." "I'm not quitting until Martinez is free and you're convicted of murder." "And when that needle goes in your arm, that will be me." "Well, why don't you just shoot me right now?" "I don't think I'll have to." "Hey!" "That's my car!" "What are you doing?" "Come on, now, get him up." "Get up!" "Hospital, not the morgue." " Hey, Mags." "" " You were right, Mick." "Roulet got a ticket outside of Renteria's apartment on the night that she was murdered." "It's all gonna be on the DA's desk in the morning." "" " Where are you?" " Just about home." "What do you say I come pick up you and Hayley at your sister's place" "in an hour and we go /out for a nice dinner, huh?" "Great." "Yeah." "See you in an hour." "Breaking and entering, huh?" "Just like your son." "You knew, Mr. Haller." "You need to get the hell out of my house, Mrs. Windsor." "You knew." "You set him up." "The only person who was set up here was me." " And how'd that turn out for you?" " You have no idea who we are." "I know that your son Louis is going down for the murder of Donna Renteria." "I also know that I'm gonna burn his ass for killing my friend, Frank Levin." " He didn't kill him." " Yes, he did." "He beat the tracer and he killed him." "Look, I'm not gonna talk about it with you." "Now, for the last time, get the hell out of my house." " You're not listening to me." " No, you're not listening to me." "Mrs. Windsor, get the hell out of my house." "I told you my son didn't kill Frank Levin." "I did." "911, what's your emergency?" "I thought I told you to be careful, man." " Yeah, that's enough." " Nobody till somebody shoots you." " Hey, boss, feeling all right?" " Yeah, Earl." "Solid." "Yeah, I heard down at the courthouse that Martinez is out." "Is that right?" "Yeah, it is." "And Roulet, they're going for the death penalty on him?" "Martinez is free." " Boss, we got company." " Yeah, I see that." "Pull over up here to the left, say hello." "What do you say, Eddie?" " You took one for the team, huh?" " Yeah." " Did you really shoot your client's mother?" " Damn right I did." "She shot me first." "Well, I'm glad you're better, 'cause my boy Harold, old hard case..." "Don't tell me." "Yeah, he got caught with 50 kilos in his girlfriend's minivan." "The girlfriend's some cop's wife." " That doesn't help." " No." "You're the only help he's got, Counselor." "All right." "Call me with the details." "I gotta say, though, the way things went down," "I think we earned a little discount." "Say, half your fee." "I tell you what, Eddie." "How about I do this one for free?" " Are you sure you're feeling all right?" " Repeat customers, Earl." "We'll stick it to them next time."