"Hey,grab your gear,Billy." "You know,you played great out there today." "That corner kick was a thing of beauty." "Thanks." "I'm really psyched about going camping." "The fishing up in Yosemite is great this time of year." "Can we hike El Capitan?" "If you think you can handle it." "LAPD!" "Dad!" "Jackie Buckner?" "Jackie, it's okay-- you're safe now." "Dad?" "!" "Dad!" "Leave him alone!" "My name is Billy Wallace." "Jackie?" "My name is Billy Wallace." "Jackie,it's okay, it's okay." "BOY:" "What's going on?" "It's okay,we're here." "It's all right,honey." "Dad!" "Four years." "That's a long time not to see your kid." "At some point,you figure he'd find a way to escape." "Child predators are twisted, but they're smart, and manipulative as hell." "Billy!" "Let's see how this bastard does against someone his own size. sync:" "FRM@ºÃÍÞ" "LAPD found Jackie Buckner off an anonymous tip." "How's he doing?" "They're still checking him out." "I sure hope this freak takes the stand, so I can show him what abuse really feels like." "Oh,and speaking of freaks" "I caught the 30-second spot that Cutler's running against you,huh?" "Yeah." "The one with Wayne Callison hacking up women or the one questioning my late husband's finances?" "This guy doesn't have the stones to be DA." "You are a lock for reelection." "I'm hoping the debate puts me over the top." "I'll rip Cutler's nasty little head off." "Love the democratic process." "RAINA:" "When he's not kidnapping kids," "Wallace has been working as a medical supply sales rep, spotless record,twice named salesman of the month." "Jackie is an honor student at the local elementary school." "Incredible!" "Doesn't anybody check the back of milk cartons anymore?" "Jackie's medical exam is back." "Any signs of abuse?" "Nothing." "Not even a bruise." "Well,we go with kidnapping and wrongful imprisonment." "Hey,this guy's a pedophile-- he needs to go down for 25 years." "We nail him for kidnapping, he'll get 15, then we let the pedophile fan club at Lompoc throw him a little housewarming party." "So what's the game plan?" "For kidnapping?" "Kid disappears, we find him living in Wallace's house-- game over." "Kidnapping requires that an individual be taken against his will by force." "And,according to the original police report, we have no witnesses." "Wallace could argue this kid rode his bike to the front door and pitched a tent for four years." "No one's going to buy that." "The only person who can testify it didn't happen is Jackie Buckner." "And he's not talking." "He's going to have to." "The problem is Jackie loves this guy." "Wallace really got to him." "So,how do we get to him?" "I'm going to bring in Connie Vasquez, top child shrink in L.A." "If anyone can turn this kid around,she can." "How is it being back with your parents?" "I don't want to live with them." "I just want to see my dad." "I understand." "But first,I need to know, how did you end up living with Mr. Wallace?" "I don't remember." "You were seven years old." "You must remember something,Jackie." "My name's Billy." "Billy Wallace." "Didn't you miss your real parents,Billy?" "No." "Why not?" "I don't want to talk about that." "VASQUEZ:" "Okay." "But I need you to be totally honest with me right now." "Did Mr. Wallace ever hurt you?" "No." "Of course not." "Did he ever touch you inappropriately?" "No." "My dad would never do that." "Okay." "STARK:" "Talk to me,Connie." "He knows more than he's saying about the abduction." "Whether or not there's been abuse, that'll take more time." "Doesn't seem like he's a big fan of his parents." "Well,it's clear there's been some intense programming." "Chances are Wallace has been trashing the Buckners to this kid for years." "How long will it take before he opens up about the kidnapping?" "It's tough to tell." "He's firmly embraced his new identity." "Right now,he's Billy." "The longer he stays away from Wallace, the easier it will be to break through and find Jackie." "What are you doing home?" "Forgot my cell phone." "I'm heading over to see the parents of that boy we found." "They must be incredibly happy." "Speaking of which..." "Yeah?" "You know,I thought you might have something to tell me." "Actually,I do." "Ah." "I won't be home for dinner." "Great." "Anything else?" "Megan and I are working at the food drive." "I'll be home around 8:00." "See you then." "How's it going with Jackie?" "It's been pretty hard." "He barely speaks with us." "MAN:" "He'll be fine." "It's only been a couple of days." "He just needs some time to adjust." "Can you tell me about the day Jackie disappeared?" "March 14,2003." "Jackie had asked if he could ride his bike home through the park after school." "And when he didn't come home, the police thought that maybe he had been kidnapped for ransom, but no one ever contacted us." "And so,for all we knew..." "Look,what's the point of going over all this again?" "I know this is painful." "But,to convict Russell Wallace," "I have to establish the facts of the kidnapping." "And Jackie is our only witness." "Wait a second-- are you talking about putting my son on the stand?" "I'm afraid we have no other choice." "No-- forget it." "There's no way in hell" "Jackie's testifying." "Stuart." "He's been through enough,Gail." "They found him living with the bastard." "That's kidnapping." "What more do you need?" "If you let me explain..." "No." "Save it,okay?" "He's my son." "It's my decision." "Well,there's something else." "Russell Wallace has retained Nora March to defend him." "She's tough." "Takes no prisoners." "So what does that mean?" "In cases like this, the defense will often demonizehe parents." "We're not on trial here." "It's not fair, it's not pretty, but it's what they're going to do." "Is there anything damaging that Nora March can dig up and use against us?" "I am a major real estate developer." "You know what kind of press that attracts?" "We have nothing to hide." "Really?" "Everybody's got something to hide." "I'm getting pretty sick of your tone,Stark." "We just got our boy back after four years." "We are the victims here." "You're right." "You are." "You take this attitude in front of the jury, and Russell Wallace is going to walk." "Don't worry about us,okay?" "Just get the monster who stole our son." "Our shrink's working full-time with Jackie Buckner." "Think he'll be ready to take the stand next week?" "Too soon to tell." "So you think March is going to go after the Buckners?" "Smart move." "Kid ran away,parents are monsters,yada,yada." "It's a tough sell." "Maybe, but this Wallace comes off like the all-American soccer dad." "The search of his place turned up nothing; good lawyer..." "I'm not taking anything for granted." "Hey,I got a call from Manny." "He wants an update on the case." "Yeah." "That would be because Stuart Buckner is a major contributor." "Yeah." "Oh,and next time you chat with the mayor, tell him I'm still waiting for that endorsement he promised me three months ago." "You know Manny-- he's probably waiting for the last minute so he can come riding in on his white horse." "Well,it's traditional to rescue the damsel in distress before she's actually been beheaded." "You want me to make a call?" "No." "I couldn't ask you to do that." "Fine." "I wouldn't impose on your friendship." "Okay." "Can you call him today?" "No problem." "Jackie Buckner was seven years old when he was stolen off the street in broad daylight, torn from his loving parents, ripped from the life he knew." "Russell Wallace kidnapped Jackie Buckner, changed the boy's name, and forced him to masquerade as his own son for four long years." "Do you have children?" "I do." "And every parent knows what it's like to lie awake at night, praying for their child to come home safe." "Jackie Buckner represents every parent's darkest fear." "And Russell Wallace?" "He is our worst nightmare." "You have the power to end that nightmare." "What would it take for you to confront impossible odds to save a child's life?" "Russell Wallace saw a helpless child in pain, and while it would've been far easier to turn a deaf ear, my client instead listened to his conscience." "Rather than return Jackie Buckner to an unsafe home, a toxic environment we will describe to you in harrowing detail, he decided to protect this defenseless child from his abusive parents." "He saved a boy's life, and that should never be a crime." "Jackie was downstairs watching TV." "The Buckners went to check on him." "An hour later,he was gone." "Any sign of a break-in?" "No." "Looks like he just took off on his own." "Why would this kid take off again?" "I don't know." "?" "?" "he name Billy Wallace." "My office is working closely with the LAPD to locate this boy,and we're counting on the public's help." "If someone has taken Jackie, or knows where he is," "I'm begging you, please bring him back to us." "where's Jackie Buckner?" "I have no idea." "But I'm not surprised he ran away from those people." "No one knows this kid like you do." "He's confused." "He's scared." "If my client were able to help you find this boy, and I'm not saying he can, what are you offering?" "I'm guessing that peace on earth and good will toward men won't cut it." "Drop the charges." "Dream on." "I'll recommend that his sentence be capped, providing there is no evidence of abuse." "Don't you get it?" "I'm not the one who abused Billy." "This little boy is out there on his own." "You say you care about him?" "Prove it." "I love Billy and I'm worried sick about him, but even if I did know where he was,I wouldn't tell you." "He ran away because he's scared to death of his parents, and he should be." "Look,I-I know you think you're helping him,Mr. Stark, but you're putting his life in danger." "Get him out of here." "If he is lying, he's damn good at it." "Allowing the jury to walk through Russell Wallace's home would be prejudicial, not to mention irrelevant." "It's completely relevant." "We're claiming my client provided safe haven to Jackie Buckner." "It just so happens safe haven was also prison." "Jackie's living conditions are critical to proving our theory." "The jury has a right to see the kind of home" "Mr. Wallace provided." "With all due respect, Your Honor, the boy could've been living in the Taj Mahal." "It has nothing to do with whether or not he was kidnapped." "Mr. Stark has intimated abuse and mistreatment." "We have a right to rebut that argument." "The home provided by the defendant is relevant to his defense." "I'll allow the jury to take a supervised tour of Mr. Wallace's home." "Mrs. Buckner." "It's so... normal." "I'd always imagined well,a lot of things." "Am I allowed to go inside?" "The judge's order only applies to the jury." "So... we won't tell anyone." "He looks happy." "He should've been with you." "For four years,I've dreamed about the day that I would see Jackie again." "And I thought I could just... throw my arms around him and everything would be okay." "And that day finally comes, and it's like meeting someone else's son." "It's going to get better." "Maybe." "But we'll never get back the years we lost." "And no matter what happens, there will always be a part of my child that I don't know." "STARK:" "Mr. Lopez,were you hired in 2003 by Gail and Stuart Buckner as a private investigator to aid in the search for their son?" "That's right." "Were they committed to finding their child?" "Oh,totally." "They never lost hope." "We came up empty on lead after lead, but they were always determined to find Jackie." "And did you feel that they were... traumatized by this event?" "It-It just tore them apart." "Jackie was their whole life." "No further questions." "Mr. Lopez,did you see this alleged kidnapping take place?" "No." "Were there any witnesses at all?" "No one came forward." "Jackie was seen leaving school on his bike,but... never made it back home." "Do you have any evidence that proves" "Jackie didn't run away?" "No." "So,in fact,it is possible that Jackie fled his parents voluntarily." "Yes,but..." "Thank you." "You're Russell's neighbor." "You must have some opinion of the man." "Like I told the police, Russell was a great dad." "He said his wife left when Billy was two and never looked back." "Well,we found several pictures of your son with Jackie Buckner." "They were best friends." "They had sleepovers all the time." "Russell drove them to school." "CASEY:" "Did you ever see anything inappropriate take place between Russell and Billy?" "Never." "He was totally devoted to that boy." "Well,can we speak with your son?" "Randy..." "CASEY:" "Hey,Randy,uh, we're trying to find Billy." "Do you know where he is?" "No." "Look," "I know you want to help your friend." "Now,the best way to do that is to tell us what you know." "Really,I don't know where he is." "Do you guys talk a lot?" "MOTHER:" "Every day." "And when they weren't on the phone, they were going back and forth on the computer." "Well,have you talked with Billy on-line since he went away?" "No." "He hasn't been on at all." "We'd like to access your son's Web account,if that's okay." "If Billy logs on and tries to contact Randy, it'd really help us bring him home." "Which home?" "STARK:" "Did you have a good relationship with your son before he was abducted?" "We were so close." "He was everything to us." "And when he disappeared, we were devastated." "STARK:" "Was Jackie your only child?" "Yes." "Stuart and I had a difficult time getting pregnant." "And so,when we finally did, it was..." "like a miracle." "I mean,Jackie was our miracle." "No further questions, Your Honor." "That's a very touching story, Mrs. Buckner, but it's not the whole story, is it?" "I don't understand." "Isn't it true you used to crawl into bed with your son?" "Objection." "Foundation." "JUDGE:" "Overruled." "When Jackie was little,I would stay with him if he couldn't sleep,but..." "Is it true you used to lock him outside when he misbehaved?" "Objection." "The witness's relationship with her son speaks directly to our theory." "The witness will answer." "Jackie was accidentally locked out of the house for a couple hours, when he was five." "Did you physically abuse your son when he was four years old?" "No." "STARK:" "Your Honor1" "MARCH:" "Jackie Buckner suffered a broken arm when he was four years old." "Isn't that right,Mrs. Buckner?" "Mrs. Buckner?" "JUDGE:" "The witness will answer." "Yes." "Was the fractured arm the extent of those injuries?" "No." "There were a few bruises on his face." "MARCH:" "Can you tell the court how those injuries occurred?" "He fell." "It was an accident." "MARCH:" "I have an affidavit from a nurse,Alex Lawry, stating that David Lopez, the very same investigator you and your husband hired to find your son,paid her $500 to destroy your son's file." "Your Honor,we've not had an opportunity to review this affidavit." "JUDGE:" "I'll allow it." "Did you and your husband pay to have the hospital record of your son's injury destroyed?" "Yes." "I can't help but wonder what you two were so desperate to hide." "It's all right,Billy." "Dad!" "?" "there was anything" "March could ambush us with-- I want an explanation." "We don't have to explain ourselves to you." "Actually,you do." "I have given you the benefit of the doubt since day one." "Now,ever since Jack ran away, I've been wondering whether Wallace was telling the truth about you two." "If I find out that you abused your son," "I will bury you." "We never abused Jackie." "Then why pay to have the hospital records destroyed?" "A couple of years before Jackie disappeared," "I was up for a post on a governor's council on urban development." "I had to be vetted." "The staffers overseeing my appointment were paranoid about a scandal." "A four-year-old with a spiral fracture and certain types of bruising...." "The doctors are trained to ask about abuse." "And note it in the file." "And something like that can be twisted around to look incriminating." "They told me to get rid of it and rather than tell them to go to hell,like I should've," "I paid Lopez to make the files go away." "How did Jackie break his arm?" "We were playing outside." "It was getting late." "Jackie didn't want to go inside, so he threw a tantrum and he was running out towards the street." "A car was coming." "I grabbed him." "Hard." "I pulled him to me and he fell." "I swear to God, it was an accident." "Mr. Stark,you have to believe me." "Stuart and I would die before we ever hurt Jackie." "STARK:" "Thank you for taking the time to see me,Principal Saunders." "So what can I do for you, Mr. Stark?" "Does the school offer any prep courses for the S.A.T.'s?" "Well,yes." "Are you interested?" "That's cute." "Julie obviously needs to improve her study habits." "Julie?" "She's one of our hardest- working students." "Well,hard work is fine, but without results, you might as well be digging ditches,you know?" "Look,Julie's hiding her test results from me, which can only mean she bombed." "Your daughter never bombed anything in her life." "She picked a hell of a time to start." "So..." "I thought if she were to take this, uh,prep course this summer, I would hire a private tutor..." "Julie scored a 2310 out of a possible 2400 points." "That's the mid- 99th percentile." "Wow." "Pretty good." "Yeah,it is." "So if you don't tell Julie I gave you her scores," "I won't tell her you had her digging ditches." "Please tell us how you met Jackie Buckner." "I'd just moved down from Sacramento six months before, to work for an accounting firm, and I was renting a place in Studio City." "One day,this little boy just showed up in my front yard." "And he was... terrified, crying hysterically and..." "Did you help him?" "Yeah,of course." "I took him inside, calmed him down." "After about an hour, he started to open up." "What did Jackie say?" "That his parents beat him up all the time." "He was scared to death of them." "Did you believe him?" "I wasn't sure at first." "In fact,I sent him home." "But then, a few days later, he came back and I saw." "He had... bruises all over his body." "I mean, he'd been beaten." "Did you alert the authorities?" "No." "Why not?" "Well,at first, Billy-- um,Jackie-- wouldn't tell me who his parents were." "And when he did," "I looked his father up on the Internet." "And Stuart Buckner is a powerful man." "People like him can get away with anything." "They hire fancy lawyers, they make a few phone calls." "I just,I couldn't let that poor boy go back to that situation." "I was afraid they'd kill him." "So what did you do?" "I helped him the only way I could." "We moved up to Simi Valley, started fresh;" "I raised him as my own son." "But you had to know you could be accused of kidnapping." "I was willing to take that risk." "MARCH:" "Even if it meant going to jail?" "If I had to do it over again," "I would do exactly the same thing." "Jackie Buckner showed up at your house, claiming he'd been abused by his parents?" "Yes." "You failed to alert the authorities." "Yes." "How about Child Services?" "Or any of the 58 nonprofit organizations that exist in Southern California solely to help endangered youth." "No." "So you didn't seek help or support,and yet you, a single man, never married, no children of your own, formed an intimate bond with a young boy." "No,he needed me." "Sounds like you needed him,too." "Objection." "Argumentative." "Withdrawn." "Are you a pedophile, Mr. Wallace?" "Of course not." "And yet you bring someone else's child into your home, give him a new identity, assume control of his life." "Yes,but..." "Got a Mrs. Wallace tucked away somewhere?" "You don't have a girlfriend, do you?" "Not right now." "How long has it been since you dated?" "It's been a while." "Because you've been spending all your time with Jackie Buckner?" "Yes." "So you build your entire life around a young boy who is not yours." "You spend every waking minute with him, and you expect us to believe that you're doing all of this... for him?" "MARCH:" "Your Honor." "STARK:" "Withdrawn." "Thanks for your candor, Mr. Wallace." "Lewis logged on to Randy Caster's MySpace account." "Tons of hits, Jackie hasn't signed on." "But Isaac said that Randy wasn't exactly cooperative." "Are you sure he gave us Jackie's real screen name?" "Who knows?" "I mean,a lot of kids have multiple I.D.'s." "And Jackie knows we're looking for him, so he's going to be careful." "There could be a reason why Randy didn't want to help us." "Such as?" "Maybe Wallace is telling the truth." "Maybe we're on the wrong side here." "No,no." "I went at the Buckners hard." "I believe they're telling the truth." "What if you're wrong?" "We have an obligation to make sure we don't endanger this boy if his parents really are abusive." "Et tu,blondie?" "I just think we need to look at the whole picture." "Tell you what, I'll paint the picture for you." "There is zero evidence the Buckners abused their son." "Wallace admitted to stealing their kid-- end of story." "Looking a little haggard,pal." "How about I run around shaking hands, you bust the bad guys." "Speaking of which,where are you on the Buckner case?" "Interview with the Times tomorrow." "No witnesses, no evidence of abuse, no victim to testify." "Sorry I asked." "Wallace's counsel made the Buckners look like the Manson family." "I know Stuart, he's a good man." "He's a pillar of his community." "The community that writes the big fat campaign checks?" "Just keep me posted." "Don't do it,Manny." "Do what?" "Jessica." "Don't hang her out to dry." "I don't know what you mean." "Cut the crap." "You said you'd endorse her." "Did I?" "Three months ago." "That's a tough one." "Cutler's made a serious run." "Cutler is a knock-knock joke and you know it." "A lot of people disagree." "I'm not sure it's right for me to step in and decide this stuff." "Jessica's been good for this city,Manny." "She's been good for you." "And you gave her your word." "Have we met?" "Eight months ago, you could barely stand her." "Yeah,well,she's the best person for the job." "Besides,what's it going to cost you,huh?" "Tell Jessica she has nothing to worry about." "So,are you and Madeleine..." "Together?" "No." "So do you think she and I..." "Yeah." "Really?" "No." "Hang on." "There." "That's him,that's Jackie." "BeckhamBoy?" "The kid's way into soccer." "Answer him." "What should I say?" "Just keep him talking." "Ask him where he is." "Do you think he knows it's not Randy?" "Wait for it." ""Need your help." "Can you get money?"" "Ask him how much." "We got him." "Where is he?" "He said he'd be here at 8:00." "Over there." "Who the hell is that?" "I have no idea." "You know what,pick him up." "?" "Hey,hey!" "I didn't do anything!" "What's your name?" "Frank Cooley." "Well,Frank Cooley,I'm looking for an 11-year-old boy who's supposed to be standing here instead of you." "I don't know what you're talking about." "There's a time for screwing around,son,this isn't it." "Where is Jackie Buckner?" "Tell us where he is right now." "You don't understand." "No,you don't understand!" "This is something you do not want to be in the middle of." "I'm already in the middle." "Jackie's my brother." "I happen to know for a fact the Buckners have no other children." "I'm not their son, I'm Russell's." "Russell Wallace?" "He took me,too." "STARK:" "Frank,you need to tell us where Jackie is." "trust me, he's safe." "But I can't;" "I promised him." "How'd you end up with Russell Wallace?" "I grew up outside Spokane." "My mother used to drink a lot." "It was a bad scene." "I took off when I was 12, headed down to Sacramento." "Where you met Russell?" "He gave me a place to stay." "Pretty soon,I was calling him Dad." "It was better than what I left behind." "At least for a while." "What happened,Frank?" "About a year later," "Russell took me on a camping trip to Yosemite." "That's when it started." "He started,you know, uh... touching me." "It was..." "I knew it was wrong, but Russell said he needed it, and he'd done so much for me." "CASEY:" "When Russell moved to L.A., did you go with him?" "Yeah." "A few months later, he brought Jackie home." "Did Jackie ever talk about his parents?" "We didn't talk about that stuff." "He was too freaked out." "Later,when he started to trust me, he told me things about his parents-- good things-- that didn't match up with what Russell said." "By then,Russell started the whole father-son thing." "I knew it was going to happen, but..." "I couldn't take it anymore." "I needed to get out of there." "You left?" "I wanted to take Jackie, but I knew Russell would come after us." "Alone,I had a chance to get away." "I never forgot about Jackie." "We kept in touch by e-mail." "I was trying to get set up somewhere,get us a place." "I thought I had more time." "But when he told me Russell was taking him to Yosemite," "I knew I had to do something." "I had to stop it." "It was you." "You placed the anonymous call to the police." "You told them where to find Jackie." "I couldn't let Russell hurt him." "Did Jackie e-mail you from the Buckners?" "Yeah... and he was confused and scared." "Were they abusing him?" "No." "Jackie told me they were good people." "He just got freaked out." "He needed to see someone he could talk to." "You did the right thing,Frank." "You protected your brother." "But we still need your help,son." "It's okay." "He's here to help you." "I promise, it's gonna be okay." "Jackie Buckner has every right to testify, but anything Frank Cooley has to say about his relationship with Mr. Wallace is clearly irrelevant." "Wallace kept Frank Cooley prisoner for years, subjecting him to constant physical abuse." "Frank Cooley was a runaway." "He lived with my client voluntarily." "My point exactly." "He lived with the accused and Jackie Buckner." "But did Mr. Cooley witness the specific count of kidnapping with which the defendant is charged?" "No,he didn't witness the actual abduction,of course..." "I'm sorry,Mr. Stark, but the defendant is on trial solely for the kidnapping of Jackie Buckner." "Frank Cooley's experiences, while painful,are not relevant." "STARK:" "Well,back to square one,kids." "At least we have Jackie Buckner." "An emotionally damaged 11-year-old who won't tell us what really happened to him." "He's gonna have to, or Russell Wallace is gonna walk." "See you up at the office." "I talked to Delgado." "DEVLIN:" "Excuse me." "Wild guess-- he denied ever promising an endorsement." "Well,let's just say his memory is spotty." "Classic." "I leaned on him." "He came around." "Seriously?" "You're in." "Okay,so now I guess the only bad news is that I owe you big-time." "I was thinking a cozy little bungalow up in Santa Barbara..." "Yeah,maybe when I run for governor." "Okay." "Sebastian." "Thanks." "Jackie?" "That's not my name." "I'm Sebastian." "I'm here because I need your help." "It's my job to make sure that Russell doesn't take any more kids away from their families." "I've already told everyone-- he didn't do anything to me." "And I believe you." "But what about your brother Frank?" "What about him?" "Did Russell ever hurt Frank?" "No." "I don't know." "I don't want to talk anymore." "Fine." "You know,Frank,uh,told me that he was looking for a place for you guys to live... because he wanted to protect you,Jackie." "That's what brothers do." "They protect each other." "Frank really loves you..." "Jackie,and I know you..." "love him,too." "It's time for you to tell the truth,son." "One night..." "I left my soccer ball in Frank's room." "When I went in to get it, Frank was in bed." "Russell was with him." "They didn't have their clothes on." "I could hearFrank crying." "Did you run away to live with Russell... because you wanted to get away from your parents?" "No." "Russell was at the playground where I used to live." "I used to ride my bike down there." "And... he said he knew my parents." "He said they were going on a long trip." "They wanted me to stay with him." "It sounded weird at first, but he was so convincing." "It was like... it was like he already knew me." "But didn't you start to wonder about things as you got a little older?" "Yeah,but Russell always had an explanation." "He told me that my parents came back... but that they didn't want me anymore." "He even showed me a letter... from them that said... they never really loved me." "That must have been..." "tough to hear." "Yeah." "He said it was gonna be okay." "That he would be my dad from now on." "JUDGE:" "The prosecution may call its next witness." "Will the witness please state his name for the record." "My name..." "My name is Jackie Buckner." "Thank you for giving us back our son." "Well,he's still got a long road ahead." "He's gonna need a lot of help." "He'll get it." "With Frank's help," "I'm gonna prosecute Wallace for child molestation." "You know,my husband and I have talked,and... we'd really love you to come and live with us,Frank." "I know it'd be great for Jackie." "Thank you." "Oh,my God." "STARK:" "You like it?" "Are you kidding?" "It's gorgeous." "What's the occasion?" "Well,let's just say that I have 2,310 reasons to be very proud of you." "You know." "I have a confession to make." "I went to your school." "I know" " I was out of line." "But I found the empty envelope, and when you still hadn't told me how you did..." "I started to panic." "Dad..." "Fine." "I'm compulsive... but I am also the father of a genius." "I'm so proud of you,honey." "Thank you." "Mm." "So,were you ever gonna tell your old dad?" "I'm sorry," "I promised Mom I'd tell her first." "Did she go nuts?" "Yeah." "My phone has not stopped ringing for two days." "You told her two days ago?" "Uh... yeah,well,uh..." "I was waiting for the right time to tell you." "You and I have been at each other's throats for three months." "Finally something good happens, and suddenly you,what, forget my number?" "Look,I-I didn't want us to go backwards,okay?" "Backwards?" "When I first moved in here," "I was your perfect little girl, everything was safe and easy." "And... what's wrong with that?" "Nothing." "But... that's not who I really am." "And... with all the bad stuff that happened this year, you finally found that out." "That was incredibly hard." "But at least it was real." "You know,maybe I need to take the S.A.T.'s,'cause," "I'm sorry,I just..." "you've lost me here." "When we were fighting, we were really angry at each other." "For the first time,it-it felt like it does with me and Mom." "Like... we could say anything to each other, and it would still be okay." "I love you,Dad, but..." "I can't be your perfect little princess." "Not anymore." "I want you to join me in a warm welcome for my friend, and the new district attorney," "Mr. Brian Cutler!" "Hey." "Hey,you gave a great speech." "Trust me,my victory speech was better." "You know,I figured Delgado wouldn't endorse me, but I never thought he'd actually come out for Cutler." "He looked me right in the eye, Jess,and he lied." "That's what he does." "Oh,he called me-- he said it was nothing personal, but his polling showed that I'm the only one who could've given him a race for reelection." "The funny thing is, I never even wanted to be mayor." "I didn't want to turn into someone like him." "I can't tell you how sorry I am,Jess." "About me leaving the D.A.'s office before you?" "Trust me,after a week with Cutler," "I'll be calling you for a reference." "You know,you're the last person" "I ever thought would go to bat for me." "I'll never forget it." "Even though we lost?" "Especially 'cause we lost." "What are you gonna do now?" "Well,I've always wanted to be a fireman." "Promise you'll send me a picture of you on the pole?" "You got it."