Previously on The Practice
What?
There is a had in the bag.
It's a woman I met a bar last night.
What are you doing with her head?
Somebody put it there.
George Vogleman
you are under arrest for the murder of Susan Robin.
The guy who killed your girlfriend is not George Vogleman.
Part of their case is the notion
that Susan could never have gone off on some one nighter.
Can you think of anything
that could explain why she would?
I had been a little unfaithful to Susan.
As I said to your dad
I am convinced that they got the wrong guy.
That means that this thing was either mission to frame George Vogleman
or somebody was after your sister.
Is it possible that your sister
could have kept some part of her life secret?
She did spend a lot time on the internet.
Your guy was last seen with her.
He had her head.
If George Vogelman didn't do it
he certainly represents reasonable doubt for whoever did.
What are you saying?
They are not gonna reopen the investigation.
I don't give orders to the police
on how to investigate their cases.
I am asking you to order them to investigate period!
Well I can't order them to keep looking
if they are convinced they have the killer.
If they are thinking he is a suspect
we have a device to deal with that,
we call it the trial.
Jay, I really appreciate your willingness to testify.
I'm not gonna be that much help, Ms. Frutt.
I can't say I think your client is innocent.
I know, but you are the only one
who can supply a possible reason
why your girlfriend would have
gone to a motel with George Vogelman.
I'm not crazy about helping
the guy who killed my sister.
All we're asking is that
you talk about the internet thing.
I can't.
Dr. Roberts,
you know George Vogelman better than anybody.
But I wouldn't be able to say that I truly know him.
I see him at work, I...
look,
his being arrested for this crime
It's hurt the whole office.
I really don't want to step into a witness chair
and associate our medical corporation
He was an usher at your wedding.
And I couldn't imagine him doing what they're accusing him of.
But nor could I imagine his taste for pornography
or his going home from bars with strangers.
At best,
all I could testify to is that I thought I knew him.
Even his friends have pulled away.
What have you got?
No history of violence.
Reputation for honesty.
Came forward on his own volition.
Loner.
Advertises in the personals.
Likes porno.
Keeps to himself.
All right.
How many friends or associates you talk to?
A dozen, maybe more.
Anybody say they really knew the guy,
I mean completely?
No.
Great.
Ok, this is what I think.
They go to the motel,
then this woman rejected him at the wrong time.
Maybe he felt sexually humiliated or whatever.
This is the ultimate ridicule,
and then he snapped.
Chopped off her head?
Now, what's he gonna do?
He's got no chance of getting away with it.
He's got a better shot at
making it look like he was framed.
So he sticks her head in his medical bag
and the big show begins.
Loner.
Foot doctor.
He did it.
Got mad. Lost his head.
The loner.
Is that it? Anything else?
There's no death penalty in Massachusetts, right?
You keep your head up, George.
Don't be shaking it "no, no, no."
Just keep your head up.
They're gonna tell their story,
and then we're gonna get to tell ours.
Ok.
Bathroom? Anybody need to go?
All set.
I went.
Ok.
Last seen with her.
Her severed head was in his possession.
Her blood was in his car.
As our case will show,
there is not one piece...
not one piece of physical or testimonial evidence
that points to anybody other than George Vogelman.
That's because George Vogelman gruesomely,
hideously murdered Susan Robin.
It's not even a question.
Sometimes how things look are not how they are.
And there's a reason we bother with the trial.
All we ask is that you be objective
and you pay close attention to everything you hear.
Mr. Tisbury.
The Commonwealth calls Helen Gamble to the stand.
His attorneys called and asked me to come down to their offices.
Why did they call you, ms. Gamble?
One of the attorneys there is my roommate,
another one I've dated.
So they figured in you they'd get a sympathetic district attorney.
I don't think they were expecting special treatment.
They wanted to surrender a client
and hoped I could help them do it quietly.
Did they tell you any details about the case?
No. They simply asked me to come to the offices.
They said is was serious.
So you went.
Yes.
And what happened after you got there?
They took me into a room
and informed me that their client
had a human head in his medical bag.
How did you respond?
I thought they were joking.
Then they pointed to the bag.
Is this the bag?
Yes.
Mark and identify, your honor.
Marked, exhibit one.
And what happened next, Ms. Gamble?
They asked me to look in the bag.
And did you?
Yes.
And what did you see?
A human head.
Now, ms. Gamble, if I could
You gotta be kidding me.
Objection!
Counsel...
is what's in that cooler what I think it is?
-Chain of custody, your honor. -I object to that!
In chambers, counsel.
Members of the jury,10 minutes.
Let's go.
Just bringing that thing in is grounds for a mistrial.
You want a mistrial on the first witness, Ellenor?
That's a stunt to inflame the jury.
Would it be all right if I talk?
It better be good.
Your honor
the fact that this is so grotesque,
it's relevant.
How?
He had it in his bag.
Anybody who could carry something like that around,
it's evidence of the kind of psychotic mind
that goes with the very crime
First of all, he didn't know it was in his bag.
Even under your theory he didn't do it,
he knowingly had it in his bag
for more than 3 hours before he called...
because he panicked.
You make your arguments, I'll make mine.
Your honor,
they'll be saying he behaved like an innocent man.
As soon as he saw it, he called the police.
Well, that's not what he did.
He carried it back to his car,
drove to his lawyer's office,
carried it up the elevator
You can introduce all that
without bringing the head into court.
He wants to horrify the jury, your honor. That's...
And I maintain that's relevant.
A reasonable person would be horrified.
A reasonable person would repulse
and not even approach the bag again,
much less pack it up, go to the car
Counsel
It's legitimate for the jury to experience some of the horror
so they can assess what's a reasonable reaction
under the circumstances.
The head is inadmissible.
I want him sanctioned in open court, your honor.
The cooler alone...
Why don't you just be satisfied with my ruling
and leave it there?
That's just ice settling.
He then gave me the address of the motel
that he and the victim had gone to.
And did you go there?
Yes.
Along with detective McKrew and attorney Frutt.
We went there and discovered the body.
Mr. Vogelman cooperated at all times, did he not?
Yes, he did.
In fact, the only reason you or the police
know a crime had even been committed
is because Mr. Vogelman came forward.
That's true.
And blood scrapings from the floor boards of his car.
Exact genetic match with the victim.
They seemed friendly at the bar,
but there was nothing sexual going on.
Did they leave your bar together, sir?
No. He left,
and then she left about 10 or 15minutes later.
My daughter was not a promiscuous woman.
Well, even if she would go to a bar,
which I guess she did,
I couldn't ever see her going back to a motel
with some guy she just met. Plus
Plus what?
Sorry, but...
he's kind of old and not very good-looking.
The only samples in the room
belonged to the victim or the defendant.
So if somebody else did go in there
It had to be immaculate.
It's happened,
murderers leaving behind no physical evidence whatsoever?
It has happened?
Yes, but the odds are...
It's happened?
Yes or no, detective.
Yes.
And, detective,
you're familiar with a serial killer known as the poet?
We don't believe that...
The question is,
are you familiar with a serial killer known as the poet?
Yes.
Again, yes or no
this person decapitates his victims?
Yes or no.
Yes.
But you ruled him out.
The poet severs the hands as well
and leaves the head behind.
He doesn't take it with him.
It's gone as well as can be expected.
This is going well?
Even I'm beginning to think I'm guilty.
Look, everything they put in,
we were ready for.
It's not like they put up some surprise witness
that you've done some strange things to cats or something.
George, you know what I mean.
We've expected all of this testimony.
It's not that it's not damaging,
but there haven't been any surprises.
So what now?
We might want to rest.
-Rest? -What?
Well, think about it.
All they've proven is 2 things:
He was with her. He had her head.
Pretty good proof, ask me.
No weapon. No eyewitness.
They've tied him to a corpse, not a crime.
-Still, Eugene -You can't rest on that.
Look, I'm not sayin' it's the thing to do,
but let's face it
what do we have?
Nice guy?
Maybe we should just say to the jury,
hey, we were ready to put on a defense,
but since they didn't make their burden,
we don't need to.
That is such a risk.
We already sprinkled on the idea of the poet.
Internet. Maybe a stalker?
You can't rest.
Pretty lame.
Eugene, he looks completely guilty.
You can't just get up and say they didn't make their burden.
That's stupid.
Maybe we could say he involuntarily cut her head off 5 times.
-Oh, that's real funny. -Are you calling me stupid?
-All right. -I didn't call you stupid.
I said it would be stupid to rest.
All right. Ellenor...
what do you think?
Well, I see Eugene's point,
but I don't think a jury is gonna let him go
on a burden of proof thing.
I think our best defense is George.
He's honest, and he plays honest.
If George didn't do it, then who?
It's not our job to answer that question.
I realize this,
but it's the question I keep asking,
and the jury's gonna be asking it back in that room.
Hold on. Hold on.
If I understand your thinking on this, Ellenor,
the police basically stopped looking.
That should be our defense.
The only reason we don't know who else if not George is
because the police never asked that question.
That's what you have to key on.
But the guy had her head in his bag.
We're gonna put the police on trial for not asking
-who else could have done it? -We're not putting the police on trial.
You guys are playing games.
At the end of the day, he had her head.
That's got nothing to do with any faulty investigation.
He had her head.
So tell us what to do, Einstein.
You know something, Lindsay?
You've been bitchy a lot lately
This isn't helping anything.
I agree with Jimmy.
I'm a bitch?
On his defense theory.
You have to defend George.
You can't be attacking the police.
We gotta do both.
We gotta put George up,
let him be as convincing as he can be,
and we gotta open the door to other possibilities.
Excuse me. Hello.
Boyfriend lives alone.
Brother, big house.
So?
So, the murder took place between 1:00 and 3 A.M.
Why weren't they considered?
They were checked out.
They're both choirboys.
Yeah, but still,
no official alibi if everyone's asleep.
Why not plan B them?
They're going to testify anyway.
What's plan B?
It might be worth a try.
Give them a soft plan B.
What's plan B?
Talk about a risk
Have you got any better ideas?
All right.
But first we have to be sure it won't backfire.
Comb every report.
Make sure it's really available.
They both gave statements.
Dissect them.
You take the boyfriend.
I got the brother.
What the hell is plan B?
Basically it means we point the finger at other people.
It's very dangerous, because normally,
when the defense starts hatching theories of their own,
the jury can shift the burden back to us,
which we definitely do not want.
And when you say soft
Our soft plan B is we do it more gently.
Instead of accusing,
it's more like "what if-ing.
" It's less likely to alienate the jury...
but it's a risky strategy.
Well, then why do it?
Because we don't have much else to go with.
What?
The things that I've been reading about myself in the papers.
I'm not a big fan of accusing people falsely.
George, this is a murder trial here.
You're the defendant.
First, I want to thank you for testifying, Jay.
And second, I want to convey my sympathy.
You were Susan Robin's boyfriend?
Yes.
And you loved her?
I did.
Jay, we've heard a lot of testimony to the effect that
it was uncharacteristic for Susan to have gone to a bar alone
and especially to a motel with a man she had just met.
Would you agree with that testimony?
Yes.
I know this is a difficult question,
and I thank you in advance for your honesty.
But you do know of a reason
why she may have behaved uncharacteristically that night,
don't you?
A possible reason.
Could you share that with us?
Susan had discovered me with another woman
the day of her death.
So it could have been she went to a bar
and then to a motel with another man out of hurt?
As a way of lashing back?
I don't think she would do that.
I really don't.
But I can't exclude the possibility? No.
Jay, do you have any information on Susan's death?
No.
You were home when this happened, asleep?
Excuse me, your honor.
Could I confer with counsel one second?
Make it fast.
Jimmy interviewed one of the cops.
This guy supposedly was on the phone with the other woman
till 2:00in the morning.
Why wasn't that in the report?
I don't know, but you can't plan B him.
We'll get clipped.
What about the brother?
Still a shot there.
I hope.
Ok, Jay.
That's all I have.
What happened?
He had an alibi.
Look, it still went ok.
Any idea that you maybe abducted her,
we put a dent in that.
These are very small victories, it seems.
Anything new on the brother, at all?
No.
I'd go hard.
What, and look like a monster
I will soften it on close.
Go for him.
Something about somebody on a chat line.
That's all she said.
Somebody she was having a relationship with on the internet?
She didn't really give details.
My sister and I weren't too close lately.
Why was that?
Well, since my father had become ill,
there was a lot of tension.
I had a business that failed and had moved back home.
She didn't think that was helping my dad's stress level.
It was just family stuff.
The point is, we didn't share a lot of intimate secrets.
do you think this stuff
your dad's illness,
your business problems
could they have added to your sister's stress level?
I'm sure they did.
Maybe caused her to go to a bar
just to have a drink, talk to somebody?
That I don't know.
You didn't know she'd gone to a bar?
Me? No.
Or to a motel with Mr. Vogelman?
No. How would I have known that?
Well, you'd know if you'd followed her.
What?
Did you follow your sister that night?
-Excuse me? -Objection.
Permission to treat this witness as hostile, your honor.
Your honor
This witness is the brother of the victim.
Permission to treat him as hostile.
Go ahead.
This business failure yours
did you incur any debt
-What's going on? -Is there offer of proof.
Sit down down, Mr. Tisbury.
How much money did you lose, Steve?
About $300,000.
You owed this amount to people?
I had investors, yes.
Your father, he has liver cancer,
isn't that right?
Yes.
He was diagnosed with about 8 months to live?
Yes.
According to his will, if you know,
who inherits his estate?
I guess me.
You guess you.
You're the sole beneficiary.
Yes.
But if your sister were still alive,
there'd be 2 beneficiaries, wouldn't there?
What are you saying?
I'm saying that it works out well for you
having your sister die before your dad.
-What?! -Objection!
If she'd outlived him,
the estate goes sideways, maybe splits.
Objection!
All right. Mr. Young?
This witness has testified as to
his estrangement with his sister.
He has testified to his debt.
He is also the only one to serve up the internet red herring,
perhaps to use as a safety net
in case suspicion ever fell to him.
Move to strike all of that.
I am entitled to question this witness.
Go ahead.
Anybody with you the night of your sister's murder, Steve?
I was home.
My father was home.
Were you home before you father went to bed?
No.
When did you get home?
Probably around midnight.
Did he see you come in?
He goes to bed at 10:00.
Ever take any medication for depression, Steve?
Objection.
Overruled.
You ever take any medication for a mental condition, Steve?
I take lithium.
For depression.
Yes.
Did you murder your sister and frame George Vogelman?
-What?! -Objection!
Did you follow her to the bar,
then go to the motel?
-Are you crazy? -Objection!
Overruled.
It was a perfect opportunity, wasn't it?
You could get George Vogelman's address
by running down his plates.
After he leaves the motel,
you go inside and make yourself the sole beneficiary
and then go to plant the head in George's car.
You see the bag and think,
"ah, even better."
Wipe out a debt and sibling rivalry all in a night's work.
That's sick!
Did the police ever question you
in connection with your sister's death?
Of course they didn't.
They never even brought you down for questioning?
No, they did not.
Maybe you pulled off the perfect crime, Steve.
Objection!
Sustained!
Maybe you're that good.
Objection!
Mr. Young!
Withdrawn.
It's a shame they never checked you out.
Well, the jury either really hates us...
Or we created some doubt.
I think you did great.
Ellenor, the kid lost his sister.
I just accused him of killing her.
Meanwhile, his dad is dying.
Do not try to make me feel good.
Is it possible he could have done it?
That's not important.
What is, is you're up next.
Ok.
George, you've got to just speak the truth,
from your heart.
If the jury can see you for who you really are,
they will have to question whether you could have done this.
And remember...
remember, remember,
you cannot say anything that goes to your character.
We cannot open that door.
We cannot give them any chance
to introduce those porno videos.
Ok.
And don't be afraid to look at the jury.
You've got nothing to hide.
Right.
Ok.
See you after lunch.
It's in his hands now.
He'll be fine.
You asked us to trust you.
My boy got up because you convinced him to honor the truth.
Mr. Robin,
I got an innocent man about to go down for a crime
he didn't commit.
Eugene?
You just stole my son's innocence.
You're garbage.
Last one.
I can freeze it some more.
It's ok.
Excuse me.
I'm Lucy Hatcher.
I have new clothes for him.
He's due back in court.
Well, can you wait outside?
Sure.
Wow.
He just bashed your head in
for calling his son the killer?
Something like that.
Make sure you tell him to rub vitamin e on.
It'll help with the scar.
Thank you.
You know, you really could wait outside.
Sure.
Ellenor says it's a half hour till George.
And when I opened my bag, there it was.
Her head?
Yes.
And what did you do next?
First I went into a little shock.
I came to you, my lawyer..
and together we went to the police.
Do you know of anybody who would
want to incriminate you like this?
No.
George...
you have to know how this looks.
Can't you tell us anything?
All I can tell you is,
I didn't kill this woman.
We made love.
I left.
And she was alive.
Why didn't you go back to your place?
Why a motel?
My place wasn't very impressive or neat.
You leave a bar after midnight with a woman you just met.
You're worried about neatness?
Yes.
So you said, let's go to a motel,
and she said yes.
A 23-year-old beautiful woman,
she said, "sure."
That's what happened.
And after you made love,
why'd you leave?
Why not spend the night?
I had a very early morning at work.
Anybody see you leave the motel?
Not that I know of.
Anybody you know of who could testify
that it's against your character to kill a person?
Objection.
Sustained.
Mr. Vogelman,
basically, all you have to suggest your innocence
is your word.
Do you have any evidence or witnesses
to corroborate your word is worth anything.
Objection. Sidebar.
Step Up
He's trying to force us into character testimony
so he can back door the videos on impeachment.
Any witness who takes the stand
puts his truthfulness in issue.
I'm entitled to cross.
Attack him on truthfulness if you want,
but don't be asking what witnesses
or evidence he has.
Step back.
Mr. Vogelman, are you married?
No.
Girlfriend?
No.
Have you ever had a girlfriend?
No.
Ever been in any relationship?
I've dated.
You've dated?
How old are you, sir?
43.
43 years old,
and you've never had a relationship.
Asked and answered.
Sustained.
Do you meet women through the personals?
Sometimes I do.
You sometimes go to bars, meet women there?
Yes.
Ever meet a woman on the internet?
Ever meet a woman on the internet, Mr. Vogelman?
Yes.
Are you the man Susan Robin met on the internet?
No.
Did she go to that bar to meet you,
the man on the internet?
No. I met her at the bar.
I never communicated with her on the internet.
Just one last hypothetical, Mr. Vogelman,
and then I'll be done.
Say this woman meets a man on the internet.
He maybe oversells himself just a little.
She agrees to meet him.
She's disappointed. Rejects him.
And this man,
who's been rejected so many times,
has finally had enough.
Objection.
This is an argument, not a question.
Enough is enough, right, George?
-Objection! -Sustained.
Do you have any more questions, Mr. Tisbury?
No, your honor,
I don't believe I do.
Counsel?
Ms. Frutt?
Nothing, you honor.
The witness may step down.
Any ideas?
I hate to rest on that
Shall we redirect?
I don't think so.
It could get worse.
Maybe we...
What?
I have an idea.
The defense recalls Helen Gamble.
She's right back there.
Ms. Gamble, step up, please.
What are you doing?
Ms. Gamble, please take the stand.
You testified the reason we called you that day
is because of your relationship with our office.
I assumed that was the reason you called me.
Well, does our office enjoy a certain trust with you?
I would think so.
And a candor?
Yes.
And in the spirit of that candor,
did you and I have a conversation about this case last week?
Objection.
Overruled.
Did we talk about this case?
Ms. Gamble,
did you and I discuss this case?
Briefly...
and generally.
And did you tell me that the police
and the D.A.'S office both
just wanted to check "solved" in the little box...
Objection!
Overruled.
Let me speed things up.
Did you basically tell me
that given the publicity,
a conviction is desperately needed here,
that if anybody else were charged with this crime,
your office would never get that conviction,
since George Vogelman,
having the head in his medical bag,
would guarantee reasonable doubt
to whoever else was charged?
And because of that,
the police and the D.A.'S office,
on at least an unconscious level,
might want to believe that George Vogelman
is the killer and therefore
not bother to look for anybody else?
Did you share all that with me?
First, I have no direct information on this case.
Second...
Please just respond...
I am responding.
It was a long question, counsel.
Your honor?
She can answer.
I never suggested or even hinted that
somebody else besides George Vogelman committed this crime.
I didn't ask what you thought.
And I never suggested that the D.A.'S office
wasn't convinced of your client's guilt.
Did you say they might not want to look further,
that it's easier to believe
that you've got the right guy
when there's pressure to get a conviction?
I said sometimes it's been known to happen.
I didn't say it happened here.
Yes, but you said it's been know to happen
in a conversation about this case, didn't you?
Again, I have no reason to believe
that this particular investigation
has been anything but proper and thorough.
Thank you.
That was a good answer for the team.
Are you suggesting the investigation's tainted?
Do you think there was collusion
between the police and the D.A.'S office?
I've got nothing to say right now.
I'm sorry.
Any suspects?
Get out!
What the hell was that, Ellenor?
Helen, I'm sorry.
You just cut my legs out!
Sorry?
I tell you something in confidence
and you ambush me in open court?
I had to make a choice.
I had a duty to my client
No good!
You screwed me in this office for the last time!
I was backed into a...
That's crap!
She's right.
What was I gonna do,
tell George, "hey, I could've saved you, but..."
George isn't the only client in this firm.
No. Pearson is.
She's right, Ellenor.
We need our credibility with every case,
not just this one.
It's not something I planned to do.
But you did it!
We have to rely on relationships with D.A's a lot.
Sometimes those off-the-cuff conversations
make the difference.
Do you think any D.A. Down there
is gonna want to talk to us again?
So I should let George go down
so we can preserve our invites to the Christmas parties?
Yes!
Our dialogue with that office is more important
than any one case.
I gotta deal with them on sentencing next week.
I'm sure they'll be in great moods to...
Oh, get over your professor, Lindsay.
What did you do, sleep with the guy?
Ellenor!
I love it when girls fight.
It's better than hockey.
Quiet, Lucy!
Back up, Ellenor.
Back up!
You too.
I don't care what the stakes are.
If the D.A. has an off-the-record conversation
with any of us,
it stays off the record.
Otherwise, it's like Lindsay says.
We lose our credibility in every case.
Well, tell that to the drowning man,
that you're more concerned about the boat.
I am not talking to a drowning man, Ellenor.
I am talking to you.
Let's everybody settle down a little.
There's a lot of stakes for a lot of people.
Tearing each other new armpits
isn't going to help anybody.
Of course they had to arrest George Vogelman.
The victim's head was in his possession.
I don't blame the police for thinking he did it.
How could they not?
How could you not?
But there's a reason nobody saw him commit the crime.
There's a reason there was no weapon connected to him.
He didn't do it.
Who did?
I don't know.
You heard my co-counsel grill Susan Robin's brother
as a possible suspect.
Well, let me admit a truth.
We don't have any direct evidence
to conclude the brother did it.
If so, we certainly would have offered it.
But he did have a motive.
He was estranged from her.
His debt. The will.
His whereabouts at the time
can't really be accounted for.
He could have done it.
The reason we can't know
is because the police never really
bothered to check that out.
Steve Robin said himself
that they never even questioned him.
Imagine.
He has motive,
opportunity,
no alibi,
and they didn't even investigate him as a possibility.
Why?
Because the head was found in George Vogelman's medical bag.
And Jay Hickman,
Susan's boyfriend?
I have no reason to believe that he killed her,
but his whereabouts can't be accounted for either.
Motive?
Well, she was with another man in a motel.
There are a lot of questions left unanswered here
because the police never really looked.
You heard district attorney Helen Gamble admit
it's possible they didn't want to find anybody else
because they needed to get a conviction on this.
And the head being in George Vogelman's bag,
he was the only one they could possibly convict.
Easier to stay with him and not complicate it.
Any evidence offered
as to George Vogelman's motive?
No. And why,
if he is supposedly trying to get away with a crime,
does he put the victim's head in a bag
and go to the police with it?
Does that make sense?
And let's not forget about the poet.
A known serial killer out there,
in the Boston area,
that has an M.O. For decapitating victims.
Has anybody accounted for him?
There are a lot of questions that need answering.
Questions that were never asked or explored
because this just seemed so simple.
The head was in his bag.
He must have done it.
Well, he didn't.
I have no doubt the prosecution needs that conviction.
They surely do.
But they are prosecuting the wrong man.
No evidence,
not even microscopic,
of anybody else being in that room
except George Vogelman.
Defense counsel gave us quite a show, didn't they?
The brother did it.
No, maybe it was the boyfriend.
How about that serial killer?
Forensics combed that room.
There were saliva samples.
Fibers from clothing.
Semen.
Hair strands.
Fingerprints.
They didn't go to a serial killer
or Susan Robin's brother
or her boyfriend.
They all belonged to George Vogelman.
The man who says he went home alone.
The man who sits there with no alibi.
Yes,
it was easy to conclude he did it.
And on top of all the insurmountable evidence at the scene,
he had the victim's head.
My god, he decapitated a woman,
and his lawyers have offered you nothing
but spin as a defense.
Did they put in one piece of
physical or testimonial evidence,
anything at all exculpatory?
No.
Just spin.
He did it.
No, he did it.
Look there.
Over here.
Don't forget that police conspiracy,
collusion with the D.A.
And they expect you to let him go?
They're not insulting your intelligence,
ladies and gentlemen.
They're assuming you just don't have any.
Got any predictions?
Innocent, guilty, or hung.
How long before...
There's no telling.
Eugene.
Could you excuse us a second?
Sure.
All the evidence is closed, right?
Yeah.
Then I'm going to tell you something.
We both know I've always had some motive
to tell you I'm innocent.
It allowed you to let me testify.
It allowed you to...
I don't know,
try harder.
But now, the evidence being closed,
it doesn't matter what I tell you.
I didn't do it.
When you looked at me a few months ago,
you said you believed in me,
but you couldn't fully trust yourself
to believe in what you believe.
You can trust yourself, Ellenor.
You've been right all along.
I didn't do it.
You know, in the future,
if you're going to hurl a book at someone,
it should be at somebody your own size.
She was about to flatten you.
I'll try to remember that.
And also,
I'm a pretty good judge of character.
Ellenor...
I think normally she's peaceful.
But when riled,
she looks dangerous.
Well, maybe you should tell her that.
You think I'm crazy?
I knew you were there.
I'm sorry what I said about Pearson.
I know.
I'm sorry...
about the book.
Donnell, Young, Dole & Frutt.
And I'm sorry about my intent to flatten.
I know saying sorry isn't gonna cut it for Helen.
I'll work on her.
You guys
verdict.
Will the defendant please rise.
Mr. Foreman,
the jury has reached a unanimous verdict?
We have.
What say you?
Commonwealth vs. George Vogelman,
on the count of murder in the first degree,
we find the defendant George Vogelman
not guilty.
I thought I'd never hear that.
The defendant is free to go.
-Dr. Vogelman,are you surprised by the verdict? -Can you give us a statement?
-What do you think changed the jury for you? -What are your plans after this?
Is it really over?
Yeah.
Thank you .
I don't know, really, what to say.
For so long...