you
/ be on this boat sit down
yeah you're doing it every captain
coming we must get 20 people on board
that's not your folks
Oh
new hair Jeffery's or whatever your name
is for the passengers aboard and the
crew in the water
where's the captain
Jefferies where'd you do my festival
Jefferies what overs those are here sink
oppressor home sir Holmes come aboard
No thank you sir I'm right down here
Holmes I said come aboard
yes sir mr. Holmes
can I come aboard sir I burn my hands in
a galley mr. Holmes yes Tommy you're
gonna die
there's too many water keeps coming in
she was more than three feet from us
that pretty black woman with the little
girl she begged us to take the child
he couldn't homes homes you know these
boats now where's the first aid kit
batted down the board well how do you
expect me to get up there somebody throw
me over the side yes you can Michael
boom there are people dying I know
Holmes captain sir for God's sakes what
happened in the main boat we had 24 both
some of the muscle set adrift mr. Holmes
you're in command
oh yeah sure
I can't take responsibility please
tsunami you're the senior man Alex I
have no choice
Siri romantic pronto here or jeffries
and Madam's across there are aboard sir
they've had more experience than me
I mean wrong man for the job believe me
sir I've never been through anything
like this before
were you hit by another typhoon sir
please I don't have to responsibility
please sir they're looking at us
turn your face so they whent see your
fear this is Sun tea demise amuse em
with games spank their hands Pat their
heads but never let them see your fear
captain
oh we do better strip him of his clothes
everybody please I'm second purse their
homes USA my name is second purser Alex
Holmes
captain is dead
I think man
what's your name son Billy sir you be my
assistant look after fumbly yes sir
Oh
shark repellent keep it out of your eyes
your mouth
can you say something
captain
the injured
Michael did you find a first-aid kid
yeah I found it but I'm a musician man
I'm not a doctor and this man's lost a
lot of blood here forgot about me take
care hi has anyone here had any medical
training anything at all come on now
we're long at the help each other I'm
sure someone's had some experience as a
lifeguard I don't know a Boy Scout and
there is something anything come on now
I know first aid Chris look what's your
name sir Douglas Sid Douglas Thank You
mr. Debbie mr. Holmes this man is my
husband
the girl jenny is my daughter I'll try
to get you aboard as soon as I possibly
can
Thank You captain Oh already owner/agent
aboard mrs. peters what's wrong I think
I broke my foot all right hang on we'll
try to get her to you as soon as we
possibly can don't forget me mr. Holmes
I won't charlie try to hang on ah you
Adam
miss Dickson yes would you see what you
can do for that young man lying under
the seat there I can lead you yes mr.
Adams
check the c-ration and give me an
accounting please yes sir
mr. Holmes
what is it seen people doing
she's doing I can't seem to get her to
respond she's had a very bad concussion
mr. Holmes sir you're the best you can
there's no water sir
and the food is how many teens not
enough the sprout sir not unless
somebody gets here pretty alright look I
know we have the sound on the zation
tablets divorce we can make our own
water this fishing gear in cakes me
wouldn't find us before the food runs
out good good
mr. Holmes how about a rotation
you've got abled body crew in this boat
that should have been in here long ago
please I can't hold on much longer my
husband all right
Holmes you better see if there any bail
is aboard we're getting lowered by the
minute yes uh mr. Franco see to the
Baylor's please we need volunteers
replace those in the water for sale to
our ship who volunteered to start the
rotation
anyone just tell him
what do you want me to do it no no no
I'll do it
um hi mr. Adams mr. Franco you mr.
Jeffries uh sir I don't know your name
broadhead mr. broadhead you I you to
Sonia let's take your turn in the water
as well I understand sir good boy ah you
mr. mrs. Haynes yes you too also um and
I I don't know your name either mrs.
George Carlos will you stay aboard I
think we have enough for now
all right then with all those name
please start the rotation
I'm sorry is the way we'll do it then
one at a time and starting here at the
start as soon as one person goes over
the person nearest him in the water will
come aboard and take his exact same
place now is that clear all right let's
begin again one at a time mr. Franco
here Billy put this on now let's help
one another quickly mr. Franco go aboard
mr. cross here teddy I decide now as
soon as you can mr. Adams's nigger water
okay mr. askin alright Billy your turn
the easy sounds easy come ahead mrs.
wine girl
total fee come on fill it
come on exit man up boy homes good boy
you can't keep that dog aboard and for
human beings down there with the sharks
and continue the rotation
I said continue the rotation please no
sir I'm not going down there
while that dogs up here if this cloud
cover keeps him from finding us for a
long time this dog would be a lot more
important to all of us than you sir why
is that for food mr. Jeffries
continue the rotation please mr.
Jeffries please pass the pistol of me
thank you
continue the rotation
right
No
go
Udrih
you'll drown too
mr. Jeffries the desalinization town is
a fine but we lost half off from supply
plus the first aid yet and the fishing
gear anyway oh sorry don't you poo
Tommy you can't save them all this boat
was meant for eight some of them will
have to go if help doesn't come soon
you're gonna have to make a choice how
when I knew
everybody may have you attention please
um I'm gonna issue food water rations
few minutes to all hands but first there
are some realities I think you should
know oh what that boy said he was
hysterical forget what he said at the
homes is it true we lost half our food
when we capsized where's your food
listen we did lose part of our supply
but we still have enough we're gonna get
by all right now rest assured they're
looking for us right now but understand
this please if we stay put there isn't a
search craft that could spot a tiny boat
like this under these conditions unless
they stumble on us by pure actually we
must row out from under this cloud cover
which direction third Southwest sir away
from land sir away from this cloud cover
mr. Adams not following it hope I've got
a small boat sailor all my life with
this crowd wouldn't we be better off
just stay put
take our chances no sir not in this case
mr. cross there to pass out the oars ah
man the killer I thought this was a
discussion we're not little children mr.
Holmes we have a right to a saying what
happens to us sitting here and hoping
for the best would mean giving up all
saying what happens to you now that's
what you want then you our children
could we send up a flare or something we
do have players don't we she's got a
point someone could be closer than we
know we do have flares don't we
if there are no flares how we ever gonna
signal a folder a plane get back in the
water mr. Brown yeah
boy
oh the flares were wet I understand this
all of you I will not tolerate any more
disobedience on this boat I am the
captain here when I give an order that's
it there will be no discussion is that
Claire gross pass out the oars on the
starboard side you mr. Jeffrey's mr.
Adams good man mr. Bronco pass them out
on the portside those in the water hang
on tight stay clear from the oars
mr. cross will count out occasions until
we get a rhythm going
commence rowing I put your blades back
my
Oh
whoa
looking at us that way for a reason mr.
Holmes it's like you're trying to figure
out who's gonna make it and who isn't
we're all gonna make it miss Dickson I'm
gonna make it I know I am Billy how's my
assistant
fine sir do got the cap yes sir
see good boy
you know the truth just hang on to it
where'd he get to a hospital not gonna
know what to do she's gonna be all right
and you're gonna be all right to just
know it
miss Victor someone mentioned when you
first came aboard the ship that you
remember the u.s. women's softball team
is that so yeah what position do you
play I'm a pitcher you had a really good
season
I teach physical education for a living
in Arizona I went on this cruise just
for my luck I take a band gig on the old
Honolulu run it's my first time and see
I've seen you on a number of our cruises
do you work for the company I book the
entertainment well I do and I'm an
honest man the entertainment that mr.
Damian is talking about in foods ranging
escorts retired businessman and
arranging movies for tired businessmen
and their escorts full range of service
the backs are lie that's a lie I got a
wife and five kids and I don't have to
make any apologies to anyone hey you two
there will be no bickering on this boat
mr. broadhead how are you feeling sir
scared homes this isn't gonna make it
any easier
mr. mrs. hey Danny children no I am I
have a husband I appreciate the man Cham
you retired I deserved yeah we run a
school together for emotionally
disturbed children we started it when
Hal was retired from the public school
system and hey go Oklahoma where we live
we're 40 children now and the fork turns
gotcha a week from Monday
see what pertinent data you could
stomach hearing on a fire we're still
renovating
I never been married
problem never really on the capper part
I see such carcass
I wish you stop sitting back there
looking at us right there like this in
front of the judge or something I could
take a turn in the water miss Dixon no
no mr. Franko come aboard and take miss
Dixon's place no no I need seat I need
sleep and I need to go to bathroom
sleeping the water miss Dixon do
together in the water also
come aboard mr. Bronco quickly
commence rowing
tell us about yourself mr. Holmes well
there's not much to tell ready I spent
four years in the Navy aboard a
destroyer when I came out I went to
school I have a degree in psychology I
also have one in French literature in
the county I read a lot
now I also write poetry what nothing are
you married No
mrs. Peters how you feelin ma'am mrs.
Peters
Oh
she's throwing mr. Douglas she was wrong
with mrs. Peters hurry please
she's dead No
are you sure no yeah remove her life
jacket and all usable Chloe is there any
personal items please pass them to me
Mr Man Chan you will assist mr. Douglas
and lowering the body away
mr. ass can wake up please this picture
please wake up mister askin get up come
on get up
look alive sir come on man this or
please
quickly sir
the men's rowing
plus the clouds
we've lost them
red sky at night sailor's delight Oh red
sky at morning sailor take warning
bring this round as mr. Holmes we're
gonna make it stranger we're gonna be
okay
I mean before rain sir
yes I know mister
mr. Holmes
is it miss Victor
took a place in the last rotation she
was sitting right there
how many of you know the story of Eddie
Rickenbacker survival let's see
in 1942 his plane went down in the South
Pacific and he was set adrift in a life
raft for 23 days with nothing no food no
water no clothing no rejection of the
Sun nothing
you know why because he wanted to live
he wanted to live more
you think about that all of you
you
Frank
Oh
people
you yourself
save the women
you are
come
we lost nine since the beginning is only
sixteen we know more
Wow
Oh
Hey
Oh
you
No
mr. Krown
the three bailing
where
we'll be shot
she's throwing all hands press period
mr. Adams mr. cross see to the Rajah mr.
Holmes
someone should clean and bandage your
shoulder I could do it you're all right
sir
barnyard
he brought us through
homes we're gonna have a rough time
getting the boy on the stand his
grandparents don't want him undergoing
anything that could prove traumatic it
doesn't matter mr. Holmes as I say it
doesn't matter do you have a pension
check it out everyone please rise the
United States District Court of San
Francisco is now in session the
Honorable Henry Baldwin judge presiding
please be seated and come to order
- Burton yes I have number one criminal
the United States of America versus
Alexander William Holmes jury trial both
sides of answers ready your honor
come on they give their opening
statement our immediate and overwhelming
was the danger of the moment when the
defendant took it upon himself to eject
human beings from that ill-fated
lifeboat did the moment allow for any
other alternatives were such
alternatives discussed and decided upon
by all or did the defendant become as we
intend to prove an almost Hitlerian
leader bent from the very beginning on
exercising a god-like control over his
fellow man allowing for no other
alternative than the wholesale
manslaughter of the weak the helpless
the innocent
this case should be tried in a tiny
eight-man backup lifeboat sunk to its
guns with 25 half-naked starved and
shivering wretches a hundred miles from
land in the midst of a typhoon we
ordinary men and women a full six months
after the events took place going to sit
down now with a bathroom scale and a
tape measure and way these people
discussed specific gravities and
calculate by the tables of a life
insurance company the chances of life
raised right hand please you solemnly
swore to tell the truth the whole truth
and nothing but the truth so help you
God I do please be seated and state your
full name
Michael LaRue mr. Luo what is your
occupation I'm a first year student at
USC med school
in your opinion how immediate and
overwhelming was the danger at the
moment when the first homicide took
place if this is any indication roughly
an hour before it even began to get
choppy he had already started denying
food to an injured man that I had
previously been trying to take care of
what makes that memory so painful to see
all the veils of civilization swept away
like nothing to see men become animals
doing things to one another ugly heathen
things he got us through but he took
something away from us too I mean he was
as much a part of the overwhelming
danger as to see if we became animals it
was because he was our model he made us
that way
do it do it
doing
right inflation you solemnly swear to
tell the truth the whole truth and
nothing but the truth so help you God I
do please be seated in state your full
name Marcus Damien mr. Damien what is
your occupation I'm an entertainment
booking agent for many of the larger
passenger lines you married are you
kidding I'm a bachelor why did you tell
mr. Holmes and the others that you had a
wife and five children well I know he
was already making up his mind as to who
he was gonna throw overboard and I was
just protecting my chances I don't think
you were right mr. Holmes but personally
I'm sure none of us would be here if you
hadn't done what you did and I'm glad
I'm alive mr. Adams mr. cross we
understand the United States Attorney's
Office has dropped all charges of
complicity against you both did that
influence your testimonies at all no
comment no comment
I've thought about it a lot over the
last six months a lot so many of those
people were giving so much more of the
world than I am than any of us made it
it's good to be alive at what price how
do you live with it
how do you live with it
thank you Miss Texan the government
calls mrs. Marilyn west to the stand
hey who is that
I don't remember his name mrs. West you
alone among the survivors suffered a
direct personal loss through the
defendants actions now we've heard that
moment described by all of the other
adult survivors if you're feeling up to
it would you please do the same you
offered me life I tried to throw it away
I couldn't The Trews died
blamed him for that then I blame myself
now I don't blame anyone Your Honor may
I please continue one I'm sick to my
stomach from what I've seen and heard in
this room I can't believe that these
people appear the same people I knew on
that boat why are you doing this to him
why are you crucifying him can't you see
what he did he made us hate him for a
reason because we didn't understand the
danger like he did because we were all
acting like animals I had to do
something to keep us alive
and you know as well as I do that it's a
miracle that any of us made it through
that night that oh oh no twelve of us
the homes it's time to go
thank you
prosecution is free to cross-examine mr.
Holmes why did you take a dog aboard
adding to the panic of an already
overcrowded boat I've already explained
sir the dog was a potential food source
but you threw the dog overboard later
now was that an admission of a mistake
you'd made by bringing the dog on
earlier oh no sir
I threw the dog overboard because at
that moment in time
food was no longer the primary issue
what had become critical now was the
weather the storm was growing worse and
worse by the second panic and reached
almost epidemic proportions aboard that
boat people were coming in out of the
water against my orders and we were
sinking sir why did you wait that long
before throwing the dog overboard
were you talking about seconds here
fractions of seconds that's the way the
sea is how much time for example e we
have before the typhoon hit the ship it
happened like that there wasn't enough
time to unlatch the safety boats there
wasn't even enough time to put on a pair
of trousers but time enough to deny a
passenger foods sir I've already
explained that in my personal opinion
the man was dying now it's true I had
continued his water supply but I had
ended his food supply because at that
time food was still a critical issue so
critical was the dog was still avoid yes
it's eating food sir I understand the
dog only ate food from the rations of
the little boy there was never any a lot
in of rations to the dog ever why did
you shoot seaman Jefferies he panicked
and started throwing people over well in
a matter of seconds should be doing the
same yes but I didn't know at the time I
shot mr. Jefferies that I would have to
do the same thing myself but you are
already denying a living
man food so the process of selection had
already begun had it not miss Downes the
process began when the typhoon hit the
ship sir your process of selection mr.
Holmes not the godly process in case you
get too confused
mr. Jeffries would have thrown all the
passengers off the healthy along with
the rest to save himself had you
considered going over to save the life
of a passenger yes I considered it why
didn't you do it because I could work I
was performing a needed function y12 sir
why not 13 14 15 well there was no
Enduro judgments could you have strapped
the unconscious young girl to the bottom
of the boat and still had room to roam
maybe I mean I say maybe we could have
saved her but I do not think so at the
time judgments life-and-death judgments
with the young girl strapped to the port
side couldn't you have found room on the
starboard side for those old people no
sir your friend the cook sir
12 people survived out of 697 passengers
two hundred and seventy-four crew
members aboard the SS Liberty tower 12
survived doesn't that mean anything to
you of course it does mr. Holmes but my
concern is you could have saved more you
didn't it was a desperate situation you
should have been there sir and I'm
asking myself why and while Leonard
counsel is correct and that hindsight is
no yardstick for guilt still looking
back on all those judgments gives us a
hint as to why doesn't it mr. Holmes I'm
sorry sir I don't follow in all those
judgments you chose the road of greatest
doubt of absolute pessimism the road of
a man who perhaps deep down inside him
wanted a situation to develop in which
he could exercise a god-like control
over his fellow man no sir that's absurd
I didn't want the job in the first place
I never wanted I begged the captain to
choose someone else
well the testimony of your fellow
survivors indicates the exact opposite
that you cease command and exercise that
command with cool uncompromising
despatch that's not entirely Howard Wes
sir will name one person who heard the
captain give you that command
mr. Holmes I can't we'll name one person
who heard you begged the captain to give
someone else the responsibility I can't
the only one who was close enough to
hear was mr. Franco name one person
other than mrs. West who's apparently
forgiven you after the fact one person
who ever saw you evidence aboard that
boat the slightest start the smallest
reservation the tiniest element of fear
one person who saw you reveal the
tiniest twinge of conscience he told me
uh the captain told me not to show any
fear not to show any feelings no matter
what I had to do he was right right
couldn't have gotten us through and as I
made them hate me more than they figured
the see that's I kept it all myself how
frightened I was for me for my own life
how much doubt I felt
how much I just wanted to be one of you
with someone else telling me what to do
someone else making those horrible
decisions was it exhilarating mr. Elms
sir was it exhilarating at moment when
you played God
I hate it
God forgive me I hate it
you
ladies and gentlemen of the jury have
you reached a verdict yes your honor we
have
yeah
the defendant please rise
the clerk will read the words the United
States of America versus Alexander
William Holmes verdict we the jury in
the above-entitled action find the
defendant guilty of manslaughter as
charged in each count of indictment
you