"Go, Ferret!" "Get up, now!" "Get up!" "Get in there!" "Yeah!" "Take it to him, Duke!" "Come on!" "Get down!" "Good punch!" "What's up, Wild Bill?" "!" "He's half your size!" "The new champ!" "The new champ!" "Yeah!" "Stand fast!" "Wild Bill... you do this?" "Yeah, I guess so, but I was defending myself." "Save it for your defense counsel." "He's out cold, Chief." "You two men, take him down to Sickbay." "Better make it four." "You come with me." "To where?" "The brig." "Where else?" "Enter." "How's that look?" "A bit higher on the left." "You know, sir, that's how Jesse James bought it:" "shot in the back while hanging up a picture." "You don't have any reason to shoot me, do you, Lieutenant?" "No, sir, not that I can think of." "Well, that's a relief." "I got a call from my brother William." "How's that?" "A bit lower." "He spoke, uh, highly of you." "But...?" "No buts." "Uh... he was particularly impressed with your initiative and your unorthodox methods." "Oh, thank you, sir, but Lieutenant Graves deserves a lot of the credit." "She was the driving force behind the investigation." "Really?" "That's kind of you to acknowledge that, Lieutenant." "Well, sir, we both know that behind every successful man there's a good woman pushing him on." "Something to say, Petty Officer?" "Yes, sir, I..." "A little bit lower on the right, sir." "That's good enough." "What do you think?" "Ah, I think it looks great." "Perfect, sir." "Thank you, Petty Officer." "You don't think I came across as a little too sexist there, do you, sir?" "Your views on women don't interest me, Lieutenant, as long as they don't affect your work." "Understood, sir." "I have some news you're not going to like." "The sailor your client clocked on the Carl Vincent in that fight..." "Petty Officer Sanguinius?" "He died last night." "Never regained consciousness." "I'm sorry to hear that, sir, but according to official statements, it was a fair fight, and if anything," "Petty Officer Ferro was at a disadvantage." "The guy's half his size." "You implying small men can't fight?" "No, sir, of course not." "I assume Commander Barnes will go for involuntary manslaughter." "You assume right." "Commander Barnes is one of the toughest prosecutors on my staff." "He eats young defense counsel for breakfast." "That doesn't scare me, sir." "Mm." "You think you can handle him, huh?" "Yes, sir, I do." "Well, I don't." "That's why I'm assigning you some help." "Commander Rabb will assist." "Sir, I assure you I don't need any help... but I would be happy to work with Commander Rabb." "Thank you, sir." "Look, you're primary." "You don't have to take Commander Rabb's suggestions, but I advise you to listen to him." "I will do that, General." "I hear you and Lieutenant Graves had a pretty good time in Mississippi." "It was a working trip." "Must have been a terrible hardship." "It was." "Driving the Blues Highway in a convertible, watching Indira Diamond sing, cavorting on Beale Street." "Cavorting, sir?" "Spending the night together in the Rest In Peace Motel." "Separate beds, one assumes." "No, no." "Same bed, separate sides." "You must be exhausted." "Can I share something with you, Petty Officer?" "I'm not sure, sir." "Nothing happened." "Nothing." "Nothing." "But, uh, don't spread that around, okay?" "I have a rep to maintain." "So the dolphin did come back?" "Apparently." "What's going to be the charge?" "Sturgis hasn't decided yet." "Hasn't decided what?" "Oh, sir, you gotta hear this." "It's ridiculous." "In a serious sort of way, sir." "I'm representing" "Seaman Apprentice Charles Bander." "He released two Navy dolphins from a marine mammal deployment center." "Why?" "They think that he did it on porpoise, sir." "He felt he owed them a debt." "You know, kind of a squid pro quo, sir." "He was caught by one of the trainers in the dolphins' pen with a bucket of fish." "Red herring, probably." "You know, trying to avoid pursuit." "One more fish joke and I will have you filleted." "What happened to the dolphins?" "Well, they, uh, came back on their own." "What would you charge him with, sir?" "Well, there's, uh, Article 96:" "Releasing a prisoner without authorization." "You enjoying yourselves?" "Room for one more?" "Yeah, if you promise no fish jokes." "Oh, not even one, just for the halibut?" "How's it going, Lieutenant?" "Ah, hanging in there, Commander." "I heard your assault case turned into manslaughter." "Yeah, how about that?" "You sound pleased." "Well, it's more challenging and it's higher-profile." "I'm not so sure your client or the victim would share your glee." "Uh, it's not glee, Commander." "It's zeal." "Something every good lawyer should feel." "Oh, you've been a lawyer for what, a minute and a half?" "I apologize if I seem too enthusiastic," "Commander." "Blame it on youthful exuberance." "You must remember what that feels like." "Youthful exuberance, huh?" "Well, hopefully, it will serve you where you lack experience." "Hey, how about this Jell-O, huh?" "Mm." "This is SOP, Bud." "Whenever two or more alpha males get together, this happens." "Why can't guys be more like you?" "Who's prosecuting?" "Commander Barnes." "Barnes, huh?" "Good luck." "You'll need it." "We'll need it." "The general made you second chair." "We're working together." "Well, at least you'll have the advantage of youth and experience." "It was a victimless crime, Sturgis." "You admit it was a crime." "Look, all I'm asking is that you consider the context." "And what context is that?" "Well, for one thing, there was no criminal intent." "You're saying" "Seaman Apprentice Whitman's motives were altruistic?" "He felt he was doing something for the good of the dolphins." "He's a dolphin whisperer." "That's funny, Sturgis." "Have you decided on the charges?" "Attempted unlawful disposition of military property." "You're going to put this kid away for ten years because he tried to help some animals?" "I'm not going to do anything except present the evidence." "Let the hearing officer decide if there should be a court-martial." "To be continued." "Hey." "Wow." "I must have dozed off for a second." "You work all day, you sit up with Mattie all night, drive back and forth to Blacksburg." "It's a wonder you can function at all." "Oh, yeah, I'm real amazing." "You know, you won't do Mattie any good if you fall asleep and drive under an 18-wheeler on the I-81." "That's not going to be happening, Mac." "What's her doctor saying?" "Same thing:" "spinal injury, minimal brain damage." "Minimal's good, right?" "Well, if it's so damn minimal, why won't she wake up?" "Maybe you should take a few days' leave." "I'm sure the general would understand." "See this backlog?" "Not to mention this case I was just handed with Vukovic." "What do you know about this guy anyway?" "You worked with him." "Is he as arrogant as he seems?" "He's a handful." "In what way?" "He's young; he's brash, full of himself." "He thinks he invented the courtroom con." "It'll be good for him to work with you." "Why?" "He'll learn from you." "Oh, yeah?" "He learn from you?" "We haven't slept together, if that's what you're asking." "Go home, Harm, and get some sleep." "I can't." "I got a meeting." "Excuse me." "Lieutenant." "Commander, ready to get to work?" "Yeah, I am." "Listen, if we're going to work together, there's going to have to be some ground rules." "Absolutely, sir." "I don't want to waste my time," "When I speak, I expect you to listen." "No surprises." "If you plan to pull anything," "I want to know about it ahead of time." "Our client's welfare is primary at all times." "Anything else, Commander?" "If I think of something, I'll tell you." "Four:" "This is my case." "All final decisions are mine." "I always put the client's welfare first." "With all due respect, please don't speak to me in that condescending tone again." "The client's waiting." "Thank you, Sergeant." "Sit down, Petty Officer." "I'm Commander Rabb." "Commander Rabb is joining the defense team, Tony." "Anything you tell him is privileged, just as anything you tell me." "We'll fight like hell to get you an acquittal." "In return, we expect you to be completely honest and open." "Yes, sir." "Lieutenant Vukovic already told me that." "Well, now I'm telling you." "Commander Barnes will be here in a moment to ask you some questions." "It's a good way for us to learn his strategy." "Answer honestly, but don't volunteer anything." "I just can't believe this is happening..." "I" " I never meant..." "I never killed anybody before." "That's exactly what Commander Rabb is talking about." "You can't say things like that." "Until proven otherwise, you haven't killed anyone, got it?" "Yes, sir." "Gentlemen." "Bud?" "You're working with Barnes?" "Commander Barnes has been reassigned to Iraq." "I'll be prosecuting this case." "They called him "Wild Bill. "" "Everybody below deck was afraid of him." "But not you." "No, I-I was afraid of him." "I tried to avoid him, but he was always at me, you know?" "In the chow line, in the snake pit, on deck." "Did he ever physically threaten you?" "He-He'd come up behind me, jostle me, whisper in my ear how, if he ever caught me on his turf, he'd kick my butt." "Why did he pick on you?" "Well, this, this one day, a couple weeks into the cruise, he came into the ship's store, which is where I work." "I saw him taking a Power Bar." "Whoa there, little buddy." "You charged me twice." "Yeah, that's right:" "for that one and the one in your pocket." "There's nothing in my pocket." "What the hell do you think you're doing?" "Let go of me." "You put that there." "No." "You took it." "From now on... you stay out of my way." "Damn little ferret." "The name "Ferret" stuck, sir." "I hate it." "And from then on, he had it in for me." "He subjected you to months of public humiliation?" "Yes, sir." "Did he ever strike you?" "No." "Not until the fight." "But he grabbed your wrist, right?" "And that hurt." "Yes, sir, but I-I wouldn't let him see it." "Didn't want to give him the satisfaction." "Do you feel as if...?" "Lieutenant, why don't we let Commander Roberts ask the questions?" "How did the fight actually start?" "Well, we were just out of Yokosuka, steaming for home, and it was blowing real hard across the decks, so I was cutting across the hangar deck and Sanguinius started hassling me." "Hey, Ferret." "Catch any thieves lately?" "Not since you." "You're a little pissant, you know that?" "Don't you ever get tired of picking on me?" "Let me think about that one." "Uh... nope." "Hey." "You like reaching into other people's pockets, right?" "Got anything in yours?" "Eh?" "Get off me!" "Quit, quit it!" "That's enough, all right?" "!" "Oh, is it?" "It's enough... when I say it's enough." "You shouldn'ta done that." "I never meant to kill him." "I didn't even want to fight him." "But it must've felt good to strike him after all that abuse you'd been taking." "Don't answer that." "No, go ahead and answer." "Uh..." "This meeting's over." "Petty Officer." "A word of advice, Lieutenant?" "Yes, sir." "Try not to help the prosecution." "Oh, and how'd I do that, Commander?" "We wanted to learn his strategy." "Instead, you revealed yours." "Was it that obvious?" "Not only is it obvious you're going for self-defense, you basically handed Roberts his motive." "What motive was that, sir?" "He's gonna argue that Ferro killed Sanguinius in retaliation for months of public humiliation." "In Ferro's own words, he'd had enough." "If that's not motive, then..." "I see your point, sir." "Always let the other side reveal their plan to you." "In other words, keep my mouth shut." "Hey, look." "This is your case." "I'm just here to help and advise." "I welcome your support, sir." "Except I'm not going for self-defense." "Ladies and gentlemen, after months of being goaded beyond all endurance, the accused was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions at the time of the offense." "Lack of mental responsibility." "That's our strategy, yes, sir." "Well, you realize," ""lack of mental responsibility"" "is an affirmative defense." "Requiring proper notification to the prosecution." "I understand that." "Not to mention your co-counsel." "no surprises." "I apologize for that, sir, but to make it seem authentic," "Roberts had to see you chastising me, which you did very well." "Well, I'm glad I could be of service." "Thanks for your advice, Commander." "I feel privileged to have you on my team." "Wish I thought of that." "Kidding." "Colonel." "Lieutenant." "Sir?" "Are you coming?" "Um, I'll catch the next one." "Thank you." "How are things going with, uh, you and Commander Rabb?" "Oh, things are going great." "We're probably going to be out for beers later." "Really?" "You seem surprised." "More like stunned- beyond belief." "You know, now that I've gotten to know Commander Rabb a little bit better, I, um, I understand what you see in me." "And what do I see in you?" "Him." "Come in." "I'm not sleeping." "Long day?" "Aren't they all?" "So, you going to see Mattie later?" "Probably." "I'd like to come with you." "Well, that's not necessary." "I know it's not necessary, but I'd like to." "Another time." "When I needed support, you were there, and I pushed you away, so I suppose I deserve this." "I'm not pushing you away, Mac." "This isn't about payback." "Harm, you can't keep going on like this." "You have to let someone in." "Not me, fine, but someone." "Say hi to Mattie for me." "Now when you went down to the dolphin enclosure, what did you find, Chief?" "The bottlenose were agitated, sir." "Swimming fast, thrashing their tails, jumping." "Then I saw this guy in the enclosure with them." "He was splashing around, slapping the water." "I was thinking, broken ribs, ruptured liver, collapsed lung." "The dolphins?" "No." "Him." "One swipe of a tail from an angry bottlenose can do a lot of damage." "I ordered him out immediately." "And did he get out?" "Reluctantly, sir." "Did he say what he was doing there?" "Feeding the dolphins." "Our marine mammals are on a strict diet:" "mackerel, squid, smelt, herring." "All restaurant quality." "This guy had a bucket of sardines." "Anyway, I didn't buy his story." "He wasn't just feeding them." "What was he doing?" "Chasing them from their pens." "He finally admitted he was trying to free them." "And did he, in fact, free any?" "He scared a couple away." "They were missing a few hours, and then they came back." "But he didn't free them." "Could you explain that, Chief?" "Our dolphins are not captives, ma'am." "They're free to jump over the sides of their pools and swim in the open water whenever they want." "But they're not free." "Chief Petty Officer Ansen, are you" "They're trained to go back to their pens." "aware that many people feel that using innocent animals in war is unethical and immoral?" "We never let our animals do anything that's dangerous for them." "Locating mines is not dangerous?" "There's very little risk to the animal." "They're trained to stay a safe distance from any mines they find." "Also, sea mines are designed to explode only when a large metallic object, like a ship, passes by." "Otherwise they'd explode whenever a big fish swam past." "Thank you, Chief." "You stated that the dolphins regularly swim out to open water." "Yes, ma'am." "So the two dolphins who jumped out of their pen were only doing what they normally do." "They normally leave their pens when they want to, or for a mission, not because they're frightened." "But they couldn't have been that frightened because they came back a few hours later, correct?" "These mammals are intelligent and highly trained." "They protect our ships and harbors." "We can't have people interfering with them, no matter how well-meaning." "And Seaman Apprentice Bander was well-meaning." "Thank you, Chief." "It's getting late." "We'll recess and pick this up in the morning." "0930." "How are we doing?" "We're doing fine." "Brought you a gift, Commander." "Preliminary coroner's report on Sanguinius." "I'm abandoning the lack of responsibility defense." "Why?" "We don't need it." "Wild Bill didn't die from a blow to the head or any other trauma." "He died from respiratory failure." "Caused by?" "Well, for starters, his blood alcohol level was.05%." "Unlawful aboard ship underway, but not legally drunk." "It gets better, sir." "Traces of gamma hydroxybutyric acid." "GHB, a steroid." "Explains how he got so big and the aggressive behavior." "No." "It explains more than that." "GHB is known to cause breathing problems, especially when taken with alcohol." "Huh." "Sanguinius was on steroids and alcohol when he picked the fight with the ferret." "That's what killed him, sir." "Roberts will argue that even drunk and on steroids," "Sanguinius would still be alive if Ferro hadn't punched him." "Better go back to self-defense." "Damn it, Mattie." "You've got to give me something." "I've been coming here for weeks now to watch you suck air out of a tube." "You got to give me a sign." "You got to give me some hope." "I can't keep doing this." "Wheelchair to Three West." "I didn't expect to see you tonight." "Mattie and I always hung out on Wednesday nights." "Why don't you let me take over for a while?" "All right." "I'll... try and get some air." "Sir?" "Sir!" "You need to see this." "Mattie?" "Can you hear me?" "I got to get a doctor." "We spoke to a lot of people, Seaman." "They all said you had the best seat in the house for the fight between Ferro and Sanguinius." "I got a pretty good look, sirs." "We also heard that you egged Ferro on." ""Finish him, ferret." "Kill him. "" "You got your wish." "It's a... it's a figure of speech, sir." "Besides, I wasn't the only one cheering on Ferro." "Every guy out there was yelling the same thing." "Because Sanguinius was a bully." "You were happy to see him get a little payback, right?" "Yes." "I mean, no." "It was good seeing him get knocked on his ass, but I didn't want to see him get killed, sir." "This is not my fault what happened." "Nobody's blaming you." "How'd the fight start?" "Sanguinius was hassling Ferro and Ferro stood up to him." "I'd never seen him do that before." "I guess everybody has their breaking point, right?" "Who threw the first punch?" "Sanguinius took the first shot." "He slapped Ferro." "But Ferro came right back at him." "I thought Sanguinius was gonna kill the ferret, but he held his own." "He had Wild Bill messed up pretty bad." "The big man was really out of it, flailing." "I guess Ferro saw his opening, 'cause he just hauled off and nailed Wild Bill right on the button." "Dude went down like a redwood." "Never saw anything like it." "Never saw anything like what?" "You mean a smaller man knocking out a guy nearly twice his size?" "Well, it wasn't just the size difference." "Sanguinius was a boxer." "Maybe Ferro got in a couple good shots, he's no Mike Tyson." "So you think there might be more to the story?" "Maybe the ferret delivered a final blow, but not necessarily a fatal blow?" "Goliath got his butt whupped, but I don't think the little guy had the stuff to put out Wild Bill's lights for good." "That went well." "Think so?" "I think we got what we needed." "You left little room for doubt about that." "I'm not sure I get your meaning, sir." "If you led the witness any harder you'd could've put a bit in his mouth and a saddle on his back." "I don't have a problem with that." "Not now." "But when the government puts Plummer on the stand, it's going to look like he was coached." "To get to the truth." "Your truth." "I think we've established you don't like my interview style, sir." "On the contrary, your interview style is great." "It's in between amateurish and incompetent." "Better than somewhere in between "namby" and "pamby. "" "Sir." "Are you guys using the, uh, fax machine?" "No, no, no." "Go right ahead." "Great, thanks." "So, how's the case going?" "Great." "Great." "The commander and I were just going over pretrial strategy." "Yeah, oh, yeah, the, uh, lieutenant has some innovative ideas about, uh... prepping witnesses for court." "Just taking the commander's lead." "Benefiting from his experience and his level head." "Back to work?" "Yeah, let's, uh, talk in my office, shall we?" "Great idea." "They're becoming buddies." "You think so?" "Well, look at them." "They're the Dream Team." "I wouldn't worry about it, Bud." "Martin and Lewis," "Shaq and Kobe," "Brad and Jen..." "Deep down every dream team is a nightmare waiting to happen." "Petty Officer Coates said I might be able to find you here, sir." "You must be on a mission." "I don't figure you for a gym rat." "No, I fought my battles on the gridiron, sir." "Be all for today, sir?" "That's enough punishment, Master Sergeant." "Thanks for the tune-up." "Anytime, General." "Aren't you fighting a little bit out of your weight class, General?" "I like a challenge." "Good." "I came to the right man then." "Sir, it's about the Ferro case." "Some things just aren't making sense." "Like what?" "Like how a guy who has limited experience with his fists, weighs about 140 soaking wet, can take on the fleet heavyweight champ and survive." "You never know with these little guys, Lieutenant." "There's a long history of smaller boxers taking on the big boys." "Stanley Ketchel was a middleweight when he dropped the great Jack Johnson to the canvas." "Of course, that's when old Jack stopped messing around and put his lights out." "Well, how about someone hitting a bigger, more experienced opponent so hard that he kills him, sir?" "That's tough." "Prizefighters have died in the ring on the rare occasion, but... and we're talking bare knuckles here, but still, it's... it's pretty hard for an untrained fighter to kill a man with a single punch." "Check the medical report?" "Just the autopsy findings." "But what are you thinking, sir?" "The petty officer may have been an accident waiting to happen." "Preexisting condition?" "Heart condition, aneurysm- any number of things could've done him in." "It's too early to tell." "But we have more to work with today than we did yesterday." "So I've had Mattie taken off the respirator." "Then what?" "Then we look for signs of a return of sensation and bodily function." "Such as?" "Well, when she can scratch her nose on her own, we're on the way home." "Any sign of Mr. Johnson?" "No." "You have any experience with alcoholics, Commander?" "Had my share." "Then we both know the odds, don't we?" "I'll see you tomorrow." "Do you deny going to the dolphin pens on the night of the incident, with the intention of setting the dolphins free?" "No, ma'am." "Do you deny urging the dolphins out into open water?" "No, ma'am." "Not much, uh, debate about your intent, is there, Seaman?" "Ma'am?" "You wanted to free the dolphins." "Oh." "Yes, ma'am." "And you knew what would happen if you were caught." "I was willing to take that risk, Colonel." "And take my lumps." "Why?" "I just, I couldn't stand seeing those beautiful creatures penned up like that, ma'am." "Explain, please." "I've had past experiences with dolphins, ma'am." "Objection." "I don't see how the defendant's past history with sea mammals has any relevance here." "On the contrary," "Seaman Apprentice Bander's history is the key to motive in this case." "This is just a hearing, so let's hear it." "Tell us what happened, please." "Last year I went surfing off Half Moon Bay." "I was waiting for a wave, and I spotted a fin..." "a great white." "I was too far out to swim back to shore." "The shark made a couple passes around me, closer each time." "I spotted more fins." "More sharks, I figured." "But then this dolphin jumped out of the water, kind of slapping its tail when it landed, you know?" "And then more dolphins appeared." "And they just started swimming around me for, like, an hour." "The shark gave up." "They swam with me all the way back to shore." "Protecting you." "Yes, ma'am." "Look, I know what I did was against regs." "I accept that." "But seeing those dolphins penned up like that," "I just had to do something." "Thank you, Seaman Apprentice." "You okay, Commander?" "You look like you had a rough night." "Yeah, I did, but not the kind you're used to." "How's, uh..." "Mattie, right?" "Oh, she's about the same." "You got another gift for me?" "Of sorts." "Sanguinius' medical record." "You'll want to pay special attention to a visit he had to the sick bay at 1000, the day he died." ""He visited the ship's medical officer," ""complained of nausea, perioral and lingual numbness, dysaesthesia of the extremities, vertigo... "" "he was feeling like crap." "He had tingling around his mouth, a weakness of the limbs, and he felt dizzy." "Apparently Sanguinius had tied one on the night before, his last night of liberty in Yokosuka." "Well, that would explain his condition." "Read on, Commander." ""The examination revealed low blood pressure" ""and a mild heart arrhythmia." "Doctor wanted the petty officer to stay for observation... "" "But he begged off." "He said it was just a hangover, asked the doc for a couple aspirin, said he'd call him in the morning." "Couple hours later, he was dead." "But not by our client's hand, not if we read between these lines, sir." "Well, the autopsy showed no preexisting or life-threatening conditions." "Maybe the ME didn't catch it." "Maybe we can." "So, uh, this is the autopsy report?" "Yes, this is the patient's medical history." "He checked into sick bay the morning of his death with multiple complaints." ""Hypertension, bradycardia." "Patient complains of muscle weakness. "" "He attributed that to a hangover." "Was the victim on sea duty at the time of his death?" "Serving aboard the Carl Vinson." "Had the ship been to Japan?" "Twelve hours before." "They'd made a port-of-call in Yokosuka for three days." "They got underway the morning of the petty officer's death." "Why?" "You know, I don't want to speculate until I have all the facts, but I'm assuming samples of the victim's tissue, blood, urine, stomach contents are all still in the possession of the medical examiner." "It's an ongoing investigation." "How soon could you have something for me, Doc?" "How soon can you get me those samples?" "You're bringing me presents now, Commander?" "More like a gift to our client, Lieutenant." "The toxicologist's preliminary findings." "He still has the stomach contents to examine, but blood and urine analysis are there." "Okay, what do we have, sir?" "Well, he's confirmed the elevated alcohol levels in Sanguinius' blood, also the presence of GHB." "Which we already know." "He has, uh, found something else, though." "Traces of tetrodotoxin." "Most likely source:" "pufferfish, but we'll have to confirm that." "So we're going to go with the bad sushi defense?" "Yeah, it would appear that petty officer didn't die from a lucky punch." "Just an unlucky meal." "Great." "Our client's off the hook." "Nice work, Commander." "Do you want to tell Roberts, sir, or may I have the pleasure?" "He was killed by a pufferfish?" "How's that even possible?" "Well, the Carl Vinson left Yokosuka at 0800 the morning of Sanguinius' death." "Sanguinius reported to sick bay at 1000, complaining of nausea, tingling around the mouth, vertigo, muscle weakness..." "All symptoms of tetrodotoxin poisoning." "Sanguinius told the doctor that he'd gotten drunk in port while on liberty the night before." "We assume he ingested some tainted fish at a local restaurant." "It's all in the report, Commander." "Poisoning causes paralysis of the muscles of the respiratory system which would match the cause of death." "Witnesses at the fight say Sanguinius looked sluggish, disoriented." "Which would explain how Ferro would happen to get those punches in." "But it wasn't the beating that killed Sanguinius." "It was the fish?" "We're going to move that the case be dismissed, unless, of course, you're willing to recommend the charge be dropped." "Which one of them turned up this new evidence, Bud?" "They didn't say, ma'am... but Commander Rabb wouldn't do anything so underhanded, if that's what you're thinking." "The commander isn't first chair." "Vukovic is." "If I were you, Bud, I would take a closer look." "Do you know something I don't, Colonel?" "Yes." "I can't believe it." "Believe it, Petty Officer." "You're about to be a free man." "We met with Commander Roberts." "The government has no choice but to concede." "It's just a formality now." "By week's end, you'll be back to full duty on the Carl Vinson." "Thank you, Commander, and Lieutenant, for not giving up on me." "You didn't do anything wrong." "Standing up for yourself is not a crime." "Well, I guess the scuttlebutt I heard's true, sirs." "What scuttlebutt is that?" "Well, you and, uh, Commander Rabb are the Johnnie Cochran and F. Lee Bailey of the JAG Corps, sir." "I had the dream team." "You had justice on your side, Petty Officer." "Nice job, Lieutenant." "Oh, I couldn't have done it without you, Commander." "Come on, you're the one who came up with the theory for a preexisting condition." "Yeah, but I was going with asthma or a heart condition." "I would've never gone with a toxin in the bloodstream." "That was all you." "Really, we should be thanking Dr. Gasden." "Look at this." "I" " I-It's a love-fest." "First the Red Sox win the World Series, and now this." "I mean, how many horsemen does it take to usher in the apocalypse?" "Have you verified the new evidence?" "Yeah." "I talked to Dr. Gasden." "He's convinced that Sanguinius died from a lethal dose of pufferfish poison." "It's just..." "What?" "Well, his shipmates say that he hated fish." "You found it, Bud." "What's that, ma'am?" "The anomaly." "A man who hates eating fish dies from eating fish." "You explain it, and you've got your case." "Hi." "Hi, yourself." "That's... what... you said..." "That's what I said to you when we first met outside Grace Aviation." "I remember." "And you rode up on your cool bike." "It's never going to be like that again." "Hey..." "Trust me?" "I trusted you with my life." "It's going to be okay." "It may take a little while, but you're going to get there again." "This will all just be a bad dream." "Where's Dad?" "Well, he's, uh..." "There's a lot of work to get the house ready for you to come home, so..." "That's the first time you ever lied to me." "It took him so long to get sober." "He'll get there again." "You know what they say, Mattie." "We take it one day at a time." "We?" "I'm not leaving." "Accused and Counsel will rise." "Seaman Apprentice Bander, we have heard ample evidence of your culpability." "We have also heard testimony to your good character, and I was moved by your own personal history." "I see in it some justification for mitigation in this matter, but mitigation is not exoneration, understood?" "I think so, ma'am." "Given the circumstances," "I've decided not to recommend the matter to court-martial." "I believe non-judicial punishment will be sufficient." "It's my hope that I will not see you again in this hearing room." "Next time, I won't be quite so open-minded." "Clear?" "Yes, ma'am." "If I may, Commander," "I respectfully request that Seaman Apprentice Bander not get off quite so easily for the offense committed." "Commander, given that you've already announced your recommended disposition, Counsel is out of order." "I'd like to hear what he has to say." "Commander, I suggest you might have a word with the commanding officer of the Marine Mammal Program." "To what end, Commander?" "Well, given Seaman Apprentice Bander's past experience and clear sensitivities, I think it might be useful for him to be reassigned from desk duty to sea duty, working in the pens with the dolphins." "I think that's an excellent idea, Commander." "How about you, Seaman?" "Yes, ma'am." "The general said he'll be a few minutes delayed." "Mm-hmm." "Anybody seen Commander Roberts?" "Probably off somewhere licking his wounds." "Sorry." "Well, I suppose when the general gets here, the first order of business will be the Ferro case." "How is that going anyway?" "Well, I think Commander Roberts should be the one who elaborates." "Uh..." "Lieutenant Vukovic and Commander Rabb have uncovered evidence that the victim," "Petty Officer Sanguinius, did not die from a blow to the head, but from tetrodotoxin:" "pufferfish poison." "Given this revelation, the government has no choice but to withdraw its charge of manslaughter against Petty Officer Ferro... and instead recommend a charge of premeditated murder be preferred." "What?" "!" "What?" "!" "Well, as I said, the defense has shown that the toxin was in the victim's body and that it was the cause of his death." "I didn't think it would hurt to double-check the source, and I found something interesting." "I thought you said you eliminated all other possible sources." "You said the source had to be the fish." "I said it was likely, but it needed to be checked." "I guess you didn't check." "Where did the poison come from?" "Petty Officer Ferro, ma'am." "Well, how is that possible, Bud?" "Well, he purchased it from a fish market in port, sir." "They sell the poison?" "Why?" "Well, in minute amounts, pufferfish poison can be used as a painkiller for arthritis, rheumatism, cancer." "It's more powerful than morphine." "I had the Shore Patrol over in Yokosuka take" "Petty Officer Ferro's service photo and show it around, and they were able to come up with a positive ID." "That doesn't prove he poisoned Sanguinius." "Well, we do know that Petty Officer Ferro has motive to harm Petty Officer Sanguinius, and in Petty Officer Ferro's statement, he said that the troubles began when he and Sanguinius had their dispute over the sale" "of protein bars at the ship's store." "From that moment on, for the rest of the cruise, Sanguinius bullied Ferro mercilessly." "Still a long way from pinning any of this on our client, Commander." "Well, I'm getting to that, Lieutenant." "This is a list of transactions from Petty Officer Sanguinius'" "Navy cash card, with dates and times recorded." "On the morning of Sanguinius' death, he missed morning chow." "He had a hangover, so he went to the ship's store and bought himself a protein bar." "The sailor that sold him that bar was Petty Officer Ferro." "When Dr. Gasden completed his examination of the victim's stomach contents, he didn't find any pufferfish, but he did find traces of that protein bar." "With all due respect, Commander, that still doesn't prove anything except that Sanguinius ate a snack." "Ah, a tainted snack." "This wrapper was found in the decedent's pocket." "It tested positive for traces of tetrodotoxin." "Also, the lab found latent prints on the wrapper from Petty Officer Ferro." "That makes sense if his prints were on the wrapper, since he sold the bar to the victim." "The prints were on the inside of the wrapper, Lieutenant." "In addition, the lab also found evidence that the wrapper had been opened on one side, and then reglued." "Petty Officer Ferro bought the toxin in powder form, added water, injected it into the protein bar, resealed the wrapper." "And then all he had to do was wait." "He had the means, the motive and the opportunity." "Sanguinius reported to the sick bay two hours after he ingested the tainted protein bar." "A few hours after that, he was dead." "Nice work, Bud." "I second that." "Very cool, sir." "One question, Commander." "If Ferro took such care in plotting to poison his victim, why would he get into a fistfight with the guy and put himself in jeopardy of a manslaughter charge?" "Smallest kid on the block." "He'd been picked on day after day." "He had dreamed of the moment that he could face his tormentor and fight back." "Ferro couldn't resist." "Very impressive." "I'm sure defense counsel agrees." "Nice job, Bud." "Congratulations." "Can we talk plea bargain?" "Anytime." "Attention on deck!" "As you were." "Everyone's here." "Good." "Uh..." "I'd like to table our regular order of business." "There's been a new development." "With the, uh, CNO and commandant's blessing," "SECNAV is standing up a prototype" "Joint Legal Service Center." "Navy and Marine lawyers in the field under one command." "Colonel MacKenzie... you've been selected for command of that unit." "Your orders." "Sir, I..." "I don't know what to say." "It's Joint Legal Service Center Southwest." "You'll be stationed in San Diego." "San Diego, sir?" "Well, it's only, uh, five hours away." "Wouldn't make my vacation plans just yet, Commander." "I hope you like Yorkshire pudding." "Force Judge Advocate, Naval Forces Europe?" "You'll be stationed in London." "You have two days' travel, four days' proceed." "By the way, it's a captain's billet." "The 0-6 board just reported out." "Frocking's been authorized." "Congratulations, Captain Rabb."