"Six in the morning." "Good morning, Cicely, "Chris-in-the-morning"" "heralding the dawn on K-BEAR, 570 on your am dial." "The voice of the Borough of Arrowhead County." "What's up today?" "Let's take a look." "Tom Barker shot a moose near Loon Lake yesterday." "He's offering tenerloins to anyone who can haul it to Holling's freezer before it spoils." "Tempus fugit." "Got some lost and found." "Whoever's missing a '66 Studebaker transmission," "Mitch Coleman found one by his smoke house." "Call Mitch or go and claim it yourself." "A reminder, the book club meets tonight at 19:30 at the church." "Maggie O'Connel is reading "The House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton." "What can I do for you, Officer Semanski?" " Christopher Danforth Stevens?" " In the flesh." "There's a warrant for your arrest in the State of West Virginia." "That surprises me, the only thing I was cited for there was the ability to open beer bottles with my teeth." " Stand up, please." " Now?" "Up." "Turn around." "Hands behind your back." "Under the Extradition Act" "I'm placing you under arrest for violating section 62-12-19 of the West Virginia Code." "You have the right to remain silent, and to an attorney present during questioning." "If you cannot afford an attorney the court will appoint one." "Anything you say can and will be used against you." "4x10 "CRIME AND PUNISHMENT" Subtitles subXpacio" " I don't get it, Holling." " Get what?" "Chris has been a marked man since the day I got here." "Why bust him now?" "Why not last week, or last year for that matter?" "The judge only gets here every 15 months." "The police follow the circuit like tending a trap line." "Don't set the snares until just before the judge arrives." "Less holding costs." "Well, what are gonna do?" " About what?" " About Chris." " What do you suggest?" " I don't know." "We can't let him be shipped off to West Virginia." " Why not?" " Because it's Chris." "Holling, I mean, didn't you see, "Deliverance"?" ""Squeal like a pig"?" "If that's what happens on camping trips, imagine life in prison." "Hey, Chris." " Bernard." " Rod, reel, net, creel." "I can't make it, bro." "No?" "Why not?" " I'm under arrest." " Arrest?" "Parole violation in West Virginia." "Extradition hearing's tomorrow." " Tomorrow?" " Yeah." " Do you have a lawyer?" " I don't need one." " Why not?" " Guilty." "Guilty of what?" "That's an interesting question." "I mean the statutory angle." "I skipped town without telling my parole officer." "Chris, you need a lawyer." "You get a new rod?" "Winston graphite." "Form fits the reel." "Nice." "I'm putting you on retainer to represent Stevens, Mike." " You've got the wrong man, Maurice." " Don't sell yourself short, Monroe." " I was a corporate attorney." " But you were a litigator?" "Why not fly in some criminal talent from the lower forty-eight?" "No time." "Judge'll be here pronto." "Get a postponement." "Mike, this is Alaska." "The circus only comes to town once every year or two." "You can do it." "Where'd you graduate from?" "Yale?" "Harvard?" "University of Illinois." "I don't know the first thing about criminal procedure," " ...or extradition." " I need Stevens on the air." "You need him." "The town needs him." "We can't let him go without a fight." "Think of the loss in on-air revenue." "What cologne are you using?" "Don't give me that allergy crap." "You owe me." "What about that space suit?" "Where'd you be without my generosity?" "Yes and I appreciate it," "I just don't think I'd do a good job for him." "You weren't my first choice either." "But we're stuck with each other, so..." "Let's cut to the chase." "Maggie says you need a new air filtration unit." "How much?" "As far as I can tell, an extradition hearing is routine." "All the judge does is determine that the person standing there is the person in the warrant and it's goodnight." "I don't see any room to maneuver." " Mike, what are you, a 44?" "42." " Want this vest?" "100% cotton?" "Levi's finest." "It's flapped in the breeze of a thousand highways and known the clutches of some nasty ladies." "Chris, did you hear what I said?" " Yes, I need a lawyer." " Right." " But I don't have a prayer." " Right." "Basically." "I don't understand why they're going to such trouble." " What were you in for?" " Grand theft auto." "Joey King and I stole a '71 Firebird." "A real rocket." "I hit a telephone pole on 13th Street." "I got two-to-five." "I did 18 months." "And the only illegal thing you've done since is skip town without notifying your parole officer?" "As far as I know." " Is that the warrant?" " Yeah." "Lemme see." ""State of West Virginia, Wheeling City Building, section 62-12"." "What?" "Here's your answer." "Teddy Miller." "You know the Commissioner of Corrections?" "Millers have been jailing Stevens since before the Civil War." "My family was like the James Gang and the Millers like the Earps." "My grandpa shot a Miller in the neck." "He didn't kill him, but he walked around like he was looking at a painting in the Louvre." "Like this." "It's been us against them, ever since." "I used to beat up Teddy Miller in school." "That was fun." "This doesn't bode well." "It's karma, you know?" "The wheel." "What goes around, comes around." "Look at the ptarmigan." " Where?" " There, by that log." " Chris is dead meat." " What?" " Look." " What?" " That lady is the judge." " What, that woman?" " Too bad." " I'll say." " What?" " Dr. Fleischman, she's a woman." " So what?" " Luck of the draw." " Yeah." " Listen to you all." "I can't believe your negative image is based on an erroneous and fatuous sexual stereotype." "In my competitive days, Dr. Fleischman, you could drop a baton, or mess up your statement of goals, none of the men would blink, if you smiled and displayed a well-rounded personality." "But the women." "Try wearing lip gloss they hadn't seen before, or a swim suit they couldn't wear on a bet, they'd mark you down." "It was brutal." "I hate to minimize your experience, but you can't compare a beauty contest with a court of law." "Maybe not." "But they're the same." " What was that all about?" " It's not clear." "Okay, who's nicer, men or women?" " I get it." " What?" "I'm supposed to say "women" and then with sarcasm you'll belittle me, demean me and rip my opinion to shreds, like those sharp tools you work with, right?" " No, wrong." " Why should women be nicer?" "Because men are stronger?" "No, those days are over." "We're not the subservient class." "You can't push us around like you used to." "We have power, and laws and we intend to use them." "Don't expect the batting eyelash routine round here." "From now on, be nicer to us." " Chris is in big trouble." " Yeah." "Bailiff, we're ready to proceed." "Please, call the next case." " Next case:" "Christopher Stevens." " Right here, Your Honor" "I understand you have representation." " Counselor?" " Michael Monroe for the defense." "This is an extradition matter." "Excuse me." "The State of West Virginia..." " ...has requested Chris..." " I can read." "Thank you, Counselor." "You plan to challenge the warrant, Mr. Monroe?" " I do, Your Honor." " On what grounds?" " Identity." " Identity?" " Yes, Your Honor." " Whose identity?" "His, the man on my left." "The alleged Chris Stevens." "Ladies and gentlemen, quiet." "Thank you." "Mr. Monroe, is this some kind of joke?" "Assuredly not, Your Honor." "I submit that this Chris Stevens is not the same Chris Stevens named in the warrant." "Quiet." "I will have order." "One more outburst and I'll clear the court." "Mr. Sizemore?" "In the extradition package there should be a photograph." " Actually, Judge, my defense..." " Just a moment." "Just a moment." "This is terrible, I can't use it." "Where are the fingerprints?" " There weren't any." " There weren't any?" "On oversight by West Virginia." "I didn't anticipate this." "Mr. Sizemore, get the prints." "I can't verify identification on the basis of a lousy faxed photograph." " Yes, Your Honor." " You were saying, Mr. Monroe?" "My challenge is based on a broader interpretation than the physical evidence of identity." "I hope to demonstrate, with the court's permission, that my client has undergone a substantive change in the nature of his character as to constitute a separate and unique identity from the one in the warrant." "Simply stated, the man is not the same man who skipped parole..." " ...six years ago in West Virginia." " Objection, Your Honor." "That's it." "I won't have my orders ignored." "Bailiff, clear the court." " Alright people, let's go." " Counsel." " Come on, move it." " Counsel, approach." "Move it out, alright." "Mr. Monroe, this is an extradition hearing," " ...not the Supreme Court." " I realize that, Your Honor." "I'm willing to postpone until the fingerprints arrive, but..." "At least hear my argument, Your Honor." "A young man's freedom is at stake." "If I haven't convinced you by the time the prints arrive," "I'll abide by your judgment." "You'll abide by my judgment in any case." " Yes, of course." " I have nothing else on and am appalled at the state's lack of preparation." "All right, Mr. Monroe, I'll hear your argument" " ...after a one hour recess." " I could use two, Your Honor." "We will resume in one hour." "About 4,000 years ago, Hammurabi, the King of Babylonia, ordered 3,600 lines of cuneiform carved on a diorite column in the city of Susa." "That was the first known record of a legal code." "Despite all the centuries of effort, the law continues to evolve." "Why?" "If based on fixed principle you'd expect the law to remain constant, but it doesn't." "Conclusion: being the work of man, it's an expression socio-political imperatives." "And as we know, times change." "Thus, despite Hammurabi's efforts, the law's not so much carved in stone, as written in water, flowing with the tide." " That was good." " Thanks, Maurice." " I mean it, just like Stevens." " I am a Stevens." "Keep up the good work." " Mike, I..." " Sorry." "I'm having a formaldehyde reaction." "So much paperwork." "If I'm not the Chris Stevens in the warrant, who am I?" " You should think about that." " Right." "Right." " Mike." " Maggie, I need your help." "Really?" "How?" " Can you go to Anchorage?" " What?" "To the law library." "I need precedents, case citings, anything related to identity." "Okay." " You will?" "You'll go?" " Okay." " Thanks." " You're welcome." "Identity?" "Yes, thanks." " May I help you?" " Just looking for something to read." " Fiction?" "Non-fiction?" " Fiction." "I have the latest Toni Morrison under the counter." " No." " Anne Tyler?" "Jane Smiley?" "Something a little lighter." "I think I have just what you want." " I've read it." " Darn." "Do you have the latest Danielle Steele by any chance?" " I'm out." "It's good." " All of hers are good." "I'm not sure about "Letter from Nam"." "Here's one you'll like." " Susan Crosland?" " The "Sleetmute Sentinel" calls her the thinking woman's Jackie Collins." ""Jock Liddon, Washington's most powerful lobbyist, and his beautiful, amoral associate Lisa Tabor..." "For them, no tactics are out of bounds, in board rooms or bedrooms"." "I'll take it." "Good." "Enjoy." " I'm Elizabeth Percy." " Ruth-Anne Miller." "I need a present for my grandson, he's eight." "My junior armaments section is over there." " Slingshots, bazookas, water pistols..." " Perfect." "Look at her." "She does have an appetite." "Rends the social fabric of a town and then sits down to eat as if nothing happened." "Well, she's obliged to uphold the law." "Yeah, they used that argument at Nuremburg." "Didn't work then and doesn't now." "The woman has no conscience." "Moose burger, medium well." "Thanks, Shelly, but I think I've lost my appetite." "Thinking about Chris?" "Thinking about all the bad things I've done in my life." " Like what?" " Well..." "Me and Dan Richmond used to go to Mosquito Lake and drop boat anchors on frogs." " Why?" " It was fun." "Do Indians believe in sin?" " What do you mean?" " Like, original, venial, mortal." "If you were Catholic, you'd say some Hail Marys and Our Fathers..." " ...and the slate would be wiped clean." " Really?" "You don't get punished?" " What about the frogs?" " What about 'em?" " Well, they're still dead." " That's true." "But if they were good frogs, they're in froggy heaven." "You see, Holling bought me this TV satellite dish and I was zoning out on it morning, noon and night." "Couldn't tear myself away." "It was weirding me out so I went to Chris." "He heard my confession." "After that, everything was cool." "Especially when the dish came down." "You said he heard your confession?" "Chris is a priest." "Minister, Your Honor, Worldwide Church of Truth and Beauty." "I answered an ad in the back of Rolling Stone." " I see." " He does all the major gigs:" "funerals, weddings." "Almost married me and Holling." "He did divorce me and Wayne, which was cool." "Turned out, due to an oversight on my part," "I forgot to pay income tax for 33 years." "I needed 9,000 dollars, and Chris bailed me out." "Bought an interest in the Brick." "Turned things around." "Soon started making money." "Only he wasn't happy." "He said there are two types of people in the world:" "owners and renters, he found out he was a renter." "so he turned his investment into a indefinite loan." "That's the kind of friend he is." "The kind of man he is." "I see." "Proceed, Mr. Monroe." "Dr. Fleischman, which part of the brain is responsible..." " ...for personal identity?" " No one can say, exactly." " No?" " No." "Why not?" "We're talking about hundreds of billions of neurons in a package smaller than a breadbox." "Scientists are just beginning to understand how it works." "Some claim if we do, we'll have to give up the idea of a personal identity or a personally directed consciousness." ""Ghost in the Machine"." "You wish to add something, Mr. Stevens?" "Descartes, a 17th century philosopher claimed the mind and body are two separate entities, the theory of dualism." "Dualists were challenged by materialists, who believed the mind was simply part of the body." "Gilbert Ray scored a major point for the materialists when he ridiculed Descartes concept of the mind as" ""a ghost in the machine"." "That's a very good summary, but even if we accept the materialists' notion of the mind, as just a sophisticated machine, no one has been able to explain what makes it run, or how." "If I understand, from a medical perspective, no one can say for certain what constitutes personality." " Correct." " Which means no one can say how a personality might change over time." "Apart from trauma cases where there's tissue damage." "Yes, I'd say that's right." "Thank you, Dr. Fleischman." "You may step down." "Your Honor, we now turn to the classic question." "Nature or nurture?" "Which is most responsible for the development of the human personality?" "Mr. Monroe, I'm indulgent up to a point." "But draw the line at a lecture on Psychology." " Your Honor." " You're vamping, Mr. Monroe." " A little, but I have my reason." " Then make it." "It is my contention the accused is not the same person as before." "To demonstrate it, I must establish who he was charting the forces that formed the young Chris Stevens." "If you examine the photo in front of you," "I'd like to transport you back to where it was taken." "Wheeling, West Virginia, 1971." "Chris Stevens, eight years old." "A happy domestic scene?" "Not exactly." "That's not allowance money." "It's from the Union 76 station at the corner of Western and Grand." "The men are his uncles, the woman his mother." "Together they were called "the Stevens Band"." "It was no ordinary family." "The men prided themselves on never working a legitimate day in their lives." "An ethos passed onto young Chris." "Daddy Jack Stevens was a salesman, seldom home." "Supposedly on the road selling greetings cards." "Actually he had another family and job in another state." "Suffice to say Chris did not grow up with a respect for authority." "In prison he embraced his mentor, Walt Whitman, and vowed never to hold up shops, steal cars or violate homes again." "He would become an artist, his debt to society paid." "He left jail with 23 dollars, a used Harley and a sense of destiny." "The old Chris Stevens disappeared into his criminal past." "From the ashes, a new Chris emerged to be reborn beyond Virginia under Alaskan skies." " Where are those prints?" " Your Honor, I don't understand." "In view of the hour, court is adjourned till tomorrow." " I'm not done, Your Honor." " Well I am." "Court is adjourned till 10:00." "You may conclude then." "There are lots of legal precedents on multiple personality disorders but not on multiple identities." "Maybe I just didn't look in the right place." "No, no, you did fine." "I just don't have a legal leg to stand on, that's all." "I gotta get away from all this paper." "What about this Massachusetts decision?" "The court ruled out using DNA fingerprinting as evidence:" ""there was a scientific disagreement regarding the validity of the data"." "It's interesting but it doesn't challenge the identification principal only the methodology." "It's hopeless, he's a goner." "You're tired." "You should get some sleep." "Mike, you're doing your best." "Helluva farewell party, Chris." " Good luck in the joint." " Thanks, J.D." " Sweeten your drink?" " Yeah, sure." "Thanks, Holling." "I appreciate the party." "It was Shelly's idea." "It's not every day we have one of our own sent to the slammer." " Well..." " Hi, Marilyn." " I brought burritos." " They go well with meatballs." " Hi, Marilyn, what's up?" " Hi, Chris." "Want my autograph?" "Nobody asked me before." " Thanks." " You're welcome." " Bye." " Adiós." "Not much faith round here." "On the contrary, Joel, this is an outpouring of faith in our legal system." ""The guilty must be punished for the good of the faith"." " Billy Budd." " Who?" "A short story by Melville." "Billy Budd was a saintly sailor, beloved by his shipmates, he unintentionally kills evil petty officer John Claggert." "Anguished Captain Vere has no choice but to hang him to maintain order." "End of story." " That's depressing." " Yeah, well..." "You play, you pay, right?" " Here, let me pour that." " Thanks, Maurice." " Nice party." " Very enjoyable." "This is a nice town." "The kind you could settle down in and make a home." "Listen, I won't mince words, after your brother gets sent up the river, there's gonna be a job opportunity I want to speak to you about." "You want me to replace Chris?" "Don't broadcast it." "You showed me something today." "You showed me a man who is ready to pick up the standard and continue the charge." "You've got a way with words." "You've got the Stevens way with words." "And on top, you don't sound black." "If I close my eyes, you sound white as Caspar." "You know something?" "I like you." "I do." "It worries me." " It worries you?" " This may come as a shock," " ...but you're a bigot." " Bigot?" " And a racist." " Wait a minute, because you don't sound black, I'm a bigot and a racist?" "Look, I know black people, I've been around them." "I know how they talk, they say "thang" instead of "thing", they say "ax", "I ax you this, brother", you don't do that, neither does Colin Powell or that Denzel fella." "It's interesting, the linkage of the King's English with superior breeding with being white." "Instead of saying, "a black person speaking the King's English", we way, "a black person speaking white"." " What's wrong with that?" " For a long time it hung me up." "I tried to talk ghetto in school, but it wasn't me." "Unsettling." " What's your point?" " My point?" "I'm not sure." "Although you're a racist, what you said makes me uncomfortable, there's a kernel of truth in it." "I suspect it has more to do with intellectual and cultural standards than racial distinctions." "Why is it if I say something like that, I'm a racist, but when you do, you're being thoughtful?" "No, I'm a racist too." "For a long time I didn't like being around white people." "But I saw that imperialism, slavery and genocides weren't just white institutions, I loosened up a bit." " What about the job?" " I'll think about it." "Pull." " Good shot." " Thanks." "How about two, Ed?" " I gotta get more rock." " Okay." " Nice young man." " He's a gem." " You have children, Ruth-Anne?" " Two sons, two grandsons." " How about you?" " The same." "My youngest son is Ed's age." "Dropped out of college last year." "Living on his own now." "Doesn't talk to me much." "I don't think he liked having a judge for a mother." "Or maybe it was having a mother for a judge." " Boys are hard." " So are judges." "I wouldn't want your job." "I don't know how you do it." "I've always been a judge." "Even as a kid, people always behaved well around me, as if they sensed an innate judiciousness." "You know?" "When somebody comes in and wants five lbs of apples at 40 cents a lb," "I can tell them it's two dollars." "But you look at them and say:" ""What you did costs three years in jail"." "It's different." "I'm not judging people, I judge their actions." "It's the same distinction I apply to myself:" " ...judge but don't be judgmental." " I don't know, sounds like hooey to me." "With my boys, all I had was my guts to go on." "But I was glad to have that." "You consider facts, and sift evidence." "I don't know, sometimes" "I think it's all a game" "I play with myself to avoid feeling responsible for what I do." "You have doubts?" "An old judge told me to act 100% certain when you feel 51% right." " All set." " Pull!" "I don't know, I feel I've let you down." "Mike, don't be bummed, you're doing a great job." " Everybody's..." " No, thanks." "having a good time." "We're all learning something here." "Chris, you may have to got on the stand." " Cool." " Well, maybe." "It could be risky." "Do you know what'll come out your mouth one minute to the next?" " I usually just let it happen." " That's what I was afraid of." " You want me to tell the truth?" " Absolutely." "But there are different ways of telling the truth." "What he's getting at is most defendants rehearse their testimony before taking the stand." "Really?" "That takes the fun out of it." "The object of a trial isn't to have fun, it's to win." "Right, to win." "What do you want me to say?" "I had Maggie draw up some questions and answers." " What if I don't agree?" " Put it in your own words." "I mean, what if it's not the way I feel?" "Chris, you agreed to the basic framework of your defense, right?" "No." "It happened so quickly." "But you like how it's going?" "Yes, totally." "Absolutely." "These answers fit right in." "You want me to lie?" "No, no one's asking you to lie." "Just to make a good impression." "Oh man." "Attorneys and clients confer all the time." " It's normal procedure." " The American thing to do?" "Is that what the fathers of the Constitution had in mind for due process?" " Manipulation, deception?" " If you can't do it, if you think it's a betrayal of principle, we'll drop it." "Right." "See you in two, three years." "Whenever you get out." "I wouldn't count on leniency." "If you got in, you'll serve the whole term." "In that case, boys, let's give it a shot." "Mother came to say she and Dad were getting divorced." "Then the house burnt down." "My mother was babbling away, I was completely miserable." "Then Chris came around." "Looking for something to fling." " Fling?" " He'd built a giant catapult." " Trebuchet: medieval siege weapon." " Right." "He was going to fling a cow, but decided he'd prefer something else so chose my piano." "He flung your piano instead of a cow?" "It was incredible." "You couldn't believe the G-forces on this thing." "A human body would implode before impact." "My piano went supersonic." "For a brief moment, the instrument I'd sat at, sung to and wept over, defied gravity." "Soared with an unimaginable crescendo as if it would never come down." "And then, boom!" "It was so moving." "I don't know how to describe it." "But I forgot about my house and my mother, and it was Chris who did that." "No one could figure out who was rippin' off the radios." "Then I got my break." "I saw Chris taking a tape deck out of Gary McClellan's truck, and I got him." "I asked him why he'd done it, he said:" ""People gotta be reminded the world is unpredictable, chaos is always there, lurking just beyond the horizon"." "Then he said something else." "He said: "Ed, sometimes you gotta do something bad to know you're alive"." " I like him." " Very good, Marilyn." "Will you tell the court why you like him?" "What is it about him that makes him so special?" "Anything." "Use your own words." "Say what you like." " Nothing you'd like to add?" " No." "Thank you, you may step down." "Your next witness, Mr. Monroe?" "I have the prints, Your Honor, they're an exact match." "Mr. Sizemore, don't interrupt my courtroom." "Yes, Your Honor, but all the whorls, smudges..." " Give them to me." " Yes, Your Honor." "Well, Mr. Monroe, it seems you're out of bullets..." " ...and we're out of time, so..." " Your Honor," "I'd like to call Christopher Danforth Stevens." "Raise your right hand." "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" "Mr. Stevens, is there a problem?" "I may have a conflict of interest here." "Would you care to elaborate?" "I can't swear to tell the whole truth." "When push comes to shove, I'd rather not go to jail." "And I can't stop that from influencing my testimony." "Even if just at a subconscious level." "Mike and I have been over what I'm supposed to say and it's persuasive stuff, but is it the whole truth?" "It's a slice of truth." "A morsel, a refraction." "A piece of the pie, not everything." "Now I think about it," "I don't think I could say the whole truth about anything." "That's heavy burden because we all see the world through distorted glass." "Is there such a thing as objective truth?" " I wonder." "Don't you?" " It is a conundrum?" "But it doesn't help with the problem at hand." "Maybe I can just get up there without the oath." "No, I can't accept that." "Then, I guess I can't testify." "Mr. Stevens, in view of your candor," "I'll break with tradition and give you the opportunity to make a brief statement in your own defense." "It won't go on record, of course." "But I think you've earned it." "I think Carl Jung put it best:" ""We cannot understand the world only by intellect." "We apprehend it as much by feelings." "Therefore, the judgment of the intellect is only half the truth, and must come to an understanding of its own inadequacy"." "Thanks." "Thank you, Mr. Stevens." "The court will take a 20 minute recess to review the physical evidence." "Caller number two, you're on the air." "Hi, this is Debbie, from Salmon Point." "Go ahead, Debbie." "First, I agree with caller one." "Judge Percy shouldn't have stopped us from watching the trial." " Duly noted." " Hear, hear." "Second, if Chris is two people, old Chris and new Chris, why can't old Chris go back to West Virginia and new Chris stay here?" " Interesting, metaphysically." " Well, Debbie, I think on the corporeal plane, West Virginia has first dibs." "Shall we discuss the philosophical question raised here, Chris?" "The state of sin versus the state of grace?" "Does redemption remake a man, or return him to a core being?" "Precisely." "Is the reformed sinner truly different than he was?" "Speaking for Western tradition, I'd have to say no." " Pray tell why." " I think most born-again fundamentalists would disagree." "And most Judeo-Christian theologians would argue the reformed sinner simply discovered a divine spark that had always laid within." " Answer your question, Debbie?" " Um, I guess." "Thank you, Debbie." "Caller number three, this is mea culpa, on the air." "Chris Stevens, this Chris Stevens you see before you bears only coincidental resemblance to the one sought by the State of West Virginia." "To find that Chris Stevens you'll have to look in history books." "Yes, there's evidence that makes the two men, one." "I remind you of the words of the illustrious Court Justice," "Oliver Wendell Holmes." ""Certitude is not the test of certainty"." "Can you be certain, Your Honor, this is the same man in the warrant?" "If not, if the slightest doubt casts a shadow on your deliberations, you must find for the defendant and set him free." "This has been an interesting couple of days." "My compliments, Mr. Monroe, on a spirited and imaginative defense." " Thank you." " However, when this began, it is beyond the scope of this court to rule on anything other than the physical evidence presented." "While the state failed to make its case in a timely fashion, it did finally deliver the goods." "The fingerprints prove the defendant is the Christopher Stevens named in the warrant and leave me no choice but to turn him over to the state of Virginia." "God bless Captain Vere, justice has been served." "Mr. Stevens, sit down, I'm not through." "While the court may have no latitude in rendering its decision, its not true for how the orders are to be carried out." "In special circumstances where the court deems the removal of an individual would place an undue burden upon his or her community, it is accepted practice to delay execution of sentence." "After careful, it is my opinion in virtue of his "Chris-ness", has vital impact upon the life of Cicely." "And to remove him would place undue hardship on the town, exceeding his own offense." "Thus, I order Mr. Stevens free on his own recognizance for a period not to exceed three years, during which time Cicely is to hire another disc jockey who can perform the same services as Mr. Stevens." "If at the end of three years, the town has failed to hire one," "Mr. Stevens will be turned over to the West Virginia authorities regardless." "Should they show up." "That's it, ladies and gentlemen, court is adjourned." "What happened, Mike?" " We won, kind of." " Yeah?" " Stevens!" " Stevens!" "Out of the way, move over." "Congratulations." " I was with you all the way." " I know you were, Maurice." " Hey." " Hey." " Congrats." "You did great." " Yeah?" "Mike says you killed her." "Shrewd defense." " What defense?" " The "no defense" defense." "Whatever happened in there, I want you to know I appreciate it." "It was like being at my own funeral." "I dug it." "Who is Chris Stevens?" "Who are any of us?" "Are we one person fixed at birth?" "Do we grow like a snowball on the mountain of life or can we change, shed our skin?" "Caterpillar becomes a butterfly, leaving his old life behind." "I look at my yearbook photo, Wheeling Central Catholic High School, class of '81 and wonder who that stranger is." "Damned if I know." "Could be the point." "We're not supposed to know." "Maybe that's what this earthly joy ride's all about." "Robert Frost said:" ""We dance around the ring and suppose, but the secret sits in the middle and knows"." "Ripped by subXpacio and TusSeries"