New Orleans, good morning. It's Rob Ryan in with you.
Coming up, tickets for the big Voodoo Fest coming to town...
Ponchartrain, to the banks of the Mississippi,
from Baton Rouge to Bayou Boutin,
this is Hooks checking your news headlines.
Good day to be in New Orleans...
How's the birthday boy? Huh?
- And this is for Mommy. - Thank you, sweetheart.
Look at Grandpa. Look at Grandpa. Say hi.
- You wanna open a present? - Yeah!
- Good morning, Mr. Wood. - Morning, Katie.
- Paper. - Oh.
- Thank you. How was your weekend? - Great. How was yours?
- Very nice. - Good.
- How are the kids? - Great.
Oh, sh...
Henry!
Jacob.
- Ted. Morning. - It's happening.
- What? What's happening? - Does your car have a radio?
Greenspan's speech was delayed after the FOMC meeting.
Rumor is he's sick, and my screen looks like
the end of the world is factored into prices.
Let's have everyone in the conference room in ten minutes.
Deborah, I need you for five minutes.
Ted, it's Monday, buddy. There'll be a Tuesday.
OK, you have a conference call
about the anti-trust approvals with Hallory at 11.
Close the door, please.
- So, how did Henry's party go? - Terrific. He had a great time.
Good.
- I-I have a problem. - OK. What is it?
He taught me a song for his birthday, and I have to sing it for him
tonight at bedtime, and I can't think, for the life of me, what it is.
OK, OK. Just, you know, sing me a little and we'll figure it out together.
Whoo!
What the hell is this?
Call 911!
- 911. - Yes, I wanna report a shooting.
- Get behind the desk. - What?
- Get behind the desk and stay there! - Ma'am?
Uh, the Laurel-Morgan Building.
- Third floor, Pete Murray and Colfax. - How many are injured, ma'am?
- Ma'am? - I don't know.
I don't know how many... No, you gotta stay with me! God!
- Quiet... - They put me on hold.
- Hello? - Oh, shit.
- Deborah. Deborah, calm down. - Can you see anything?
- It's gonna be fine. I promise. - Hello?
Hello? Come on...
Come on. Please send somebody.
Somebody pick up. Please pick up.
- Good morning, Mr. Pulaski. - Morning, Nick.
- Do you need some help with that? - Ah, bilge ring keeps crappin' out,
blocking up the damn pump. I got it now, Nick.
Last time, you nearly took out every sink in the quarter, you know.
Hey, that was those kids messing with the water main.
You know, you should really quit those things.
What for?
Christmas comes a little early this year.
Ah, there's our boy. So, what do you say?
Does he stop in for coffee and a cruller?
- Ah, let's give him a cruller. - Oh, bingo! We have a winner.
I can smell the fried dough over here.
And... Ah, there he is. Breakfast of champions, right there.
Oh, and we're losing him. I'll take just a couple more.
Say good-bye to Mr. Nicholas Easter. Who's next on the hit parade?
- Hi. - Bonjour.
- Can I look at that candle? - C'est la?
No, I'm sorry. The red one.
It's just to the left of that scary pentacle and the jar of bloodroot.
Right there?
Oh!
Oh, thank you. What did you say?
She's Cajun. I told her that you wanted the St. Nicholas candle.
- Right? Is that what you wanted? - Yeah, that's the one I was pointing to.
Now, what happened right there? What did she say?
She said you're a nice-looking boy, but she doesn't trust you.
She didn't say that, did she?
You know what it is?
Jury duty. Got a summons in the mail. Just trying to pray my way out of it.
- Where's your sense of civic duty? - Um, I flunked civics.
- Oh. - Do you have any other tips?
I would go with the St. Catherine candle.
- What did she do? - She's the patron saint
of unmarried women and... jurors.
- Really? - Really.
That's not what that candle really is, is it?
This your first time in New Orleans?
No, no. I've been here a number of times.
Hm. I had you pegged as a first-timer.
- Is that right? - Yeah.
- How's your mother? - Excuse me?
- Is she feeling better? - How do you know about my mother?
She was in the hospital, but now you're taking care of her at home.
She had a stroke.
Your wife wants you to put her in a home,
but you're feeling guilty about that. You've checked out a few of them,
and it doesn't feel like the Christian thing to do.
My advice: Reconsider the home.
Better an unhappy mother than an unfriendly wife.
I'm up here on the right.
The same thing with guns and Vicksburg Firearms.
The only thing that's gonna win the case for us is because for the first time,
we got a gun company ex-executive who's gonna go up against his former employer
and, with good conscience, he's gonna testify for us.
I promised Celeste that I would win it for her
and all the other victims that died that day.
You're gonna make history, Celeste.
We're gonna make history together. Thank you for your courage.
Barry, we got the Strickland SUV case at noon,
and, Celeste, I'm gonna see you and your son at Arnaud's at six...
- Just as long as we don't talk about... - Nothing about the case.
This is dinner with you and Henry. Barry, you got time to see her to her car?
- Absolutely. - Thank you.
- Mr. Rohr. - Yeah?
Lawrence Green. Lindus Hostetler.
- Ah, Hostetler. - We... Yeah.
- Yes, jury consultants, New York City. - Philadelphia.
I wanna thank you for agreeing to meet with me, sir. Thank you.
I just want you to guess how many phone calls and letters
I get from expert jury consultants such as yourself.
- I can imagine, sir. - Go on, take a guess.
Well, I appreciate that you invited me down here, sir.
Well, this is more important now. Which one?
- I'm sorry? - Well, I'm off to court.
This is the striped, non-striped. Striped, non-striped.
Go... I would go with the striped one, sir. It matches your jacket.
And you have a striped one because you're from New York City.
Philadelphia, sir.
I think we're gonna go with the non-striped one, Phyllis.
You know, as a clever jury consultant,
you should know that jurors down here don't trust a lawyer
- who's too nattily turned out. Huh? - It's...
- How familiar are you with my case? - Very, sir.
- You think it's a strong case? - Yes, sir.
- Ooh. Do you think it's a winning case? - People don't win gun cases, Mr. Rohr.
I think I can help you with that, sir.
There's gotta be another commuter flight.
Have you tried one in Richmond or Atlanta?
I gotta call you back. He's here.
You represent the widow of a man shot by a Vicksburg Firearms gun.
That gun company's finding out things about prospective jurors
their husbands and their wives don't even know.
- Is that right? - Yeah. And the word is,
the defense has retained Rankin Fitch as their lead jury consultant.
- Rankin Fitch? - You don't...
No, I know who he is.
Mr. Fitch, how was your flight?
Fine. Are we up and running, Miss Monroe?
We are. Kaufman's inside with Birk and the kid from MIT, Lamb, he's here, too.
- What about Broussard, Forensic... - Linguistics out of Rochester.
He missed his connecting flight in Atlanta, but he'll be here by three.
- Who's our backup? - Sir, he'll be here by three.
- Who is our backup? - Levon Raines, out of Dallas.
All right. Call Mr. Broussard. Tell him his service is no longer required.
- See what time Raines can be here. - Yes, sir.
Mr. Fitch.
I just want you to tell me why I need a jury consultant.
Fitch's team will be scientifically picking jurors predisposed in his favor
by using video surveillance, wiretaps, psych profiles, graphology...
- Barry, where's my car? - It's where you parked it.
All right, come on. We're going together.
Sir, I have a master's in psychology from the University of Chicago.
I know handwriting analysis. I know this stuff. I really do. Plus civics, OK?
Delores Kinnerly, registered Democrat,
46 years of age, unmarried, occupational therapist. Devout cat lover.
Yeah, look at the way she turns away from the man walking his dog.
She's definitely self-conscious about her weight.
Maybe she just hates dogs.
- Good morning. - Morning.
Freeze that, Mr. Lamb.
We love fat women, people.
They're tight-fisted, unsympathetic.
I want her on my jury. Ladies and gentlemen, let's find 11 more jurors
and three alternates just like her.
- Who's next? - Jerry Fernandez, 40 years old.
Puerto Rican. Works for a local moving company...
I got 35 years of experience in courtrooms,
and my instincts for picking jurors
has served me quite nicely so far. I wanna thank you for your time.
Mr. Rohr, I flew down here on my own dime.
- Why? - Because I... I...
Because I believe in... I believe in this case!
- Why? - I... I believe in a world without guns.
That's very sweet, but a little naive.
- 30 percent. - I'm sorry. Excuse me?
30 percent of your usual fee, you're hired, strictly probationary status.
You don't wanna check out my resumé
Already did. It's impressive.
- OK, here's the thing. - What've you got?
"The following are automatically exempt... "
- I read through that stuff. - "Not a resident of New Orleans Parish. "
That's not gonna work. What am I gonna say?
- We have to be thorough. - Russell, I'm gonna tell these people
- I'm just gonna pack up and leave? - Number two...
What do you mean, pack up and leave? I've seen your stuff.
- You ain't got nothing to pack. - No, it's true. They own you.
But I'll tell you this. One thing you can do: Leave the country.
Why am I gonna leave the country?
- Uh, church convention. - Sex change.
You're leaving because you're becoming a woman.
Yeah. You got a goat farm...
This whole thing is a disaster because I got my life, I got my work
and I got my training. The Challenge. The Challenge.
- Ooh! Ooh! You can claim hardship. - That's eight weeks away...
- Eight weeks and you're gone. - I can't do it.
And you can't do it.
You've got the Challenge. You can't go.
All right, all right. Check this. "If you have been convicted of a felony... "
- Have you been convicted of a felony? - No.
You should commit a felony. Just commit a crime.
- Are you serious? - It doesn't have to be a bad crime.
- You're out. You're gone. - I should commit a crime?
You're asking to get out of it, are you not?
You registered to vote. That's the problem.
If you register to vote, then they got you in that jury pool.
We need to de-register him.
You know, one of these days, I'm gonna get organized, throw half this stuff away.
Oh, what's that? A Walther PPK. That's a nice piece.
That's the same gun James Bond uses. You know that?
Really? Can't be too safe these days. Walking on the streets all alone.
- Smooth, Maxine. - Tell you what.
It's easier to find an honest firearm these days than a good man.
- Ouch! - You know how to use it?
Oh, my brother took me out to the dump one time.
Mm-hm. You should let me take you down to a firing range, really.
- Attaboy. Attaboy. - Yeah, I'll show you how to shoot.
- I got a few ideas. - I bet.
- Nice job, Maxine. - Way to go.
Frank Herrera, Cuban, 43 years old. Retired Marine sergeant.
Served tours in Panama and Grenada. Twice divorced.
Now he makes his living cleaning swimming pools.
Fair to say that he misses his former position of authority.
I think Frank would make an excellent jury foreman, don't you, Mr. Cable?
Well, I'm only lead counsel for the defense, Mr. Fitch.
I don't pretend to know very much about jury selection.
- Really? - Really.
- Who's next? - Next is Nicholas Easter.
34, co-manager of Game Trader in the Esplanade Mall.
- Who's it for? - Oh, he's gonna love this.
Yeah. Now watch me hit this lady in the head.
- See how her head explodes? - It completely explodes!
You're not supposed to hit her. You know, you hit the bad guys.
- I can try? - Give it a shot, yeah.
OK. Show me how to hold it.
- Here you go. - Thank you.
I threw in this little, um, sniper game. I thought he might like it.
Uh, I wrote down my phone number.
Oh, OK. So that's a local number. You're here.
- Yeah, we're close. Perfect. - Right on.
- I'm Maxine. - I'm Nick Easter.
He calls himself a part-time student.
- Uh, Tulane? City college? - Currently nowhere.
So he's lying. Where's he from?
Moved here eight months ago. Trail's cold.
Just dropped out of the sky like the Archangel Gabriel, huh?
You put him on a jury with Sergeant Herrera,
he's gonna be doing dog tricks inside five minutes.
Look, without reviewing his questionnaire,
without a formal Q and A, I don't think I can trust this.
Well, you're only lead counsel for the defense, Mr. Cable.
You shouldn't pretend to know very much about jury selection.
Nicholas Easter, he's an entertainer. Wants to make everybody happy.
Not a bad way to go through life, making everybody happy.
But in court, it's not that simple.
Somebody always loses.
Just not me.
He's a risk. Let's move on.
The case stems from the shooting death
of New Orleans stockbroker Jacob Wood two years ago.
Seating a panel won't be easy in this highly watched,
politically charged trial that begins with jury selection today.
On the defense, Vicksburg Firearms.
Attorneys will begin questioning potential jurors today...
The gun industry has never lost in the courts,
but this time, the man leading this fight, attorney Wendall Rohr,
says it'll be different. He says this time, the gun industry will pay.
- It's not sticking. I need the other tape. - Ah, for pity's sake.
- You know what you're doing? - You're good to go.
- Could I get your glasses, big guy? - Perfect. Same prescription.
The frames, however, will feel a little bit heavier. Put 'em on.
Right side of the table. Keep it square. Keep it clear.
Mr. Cable. I'm gonna be putting this behind your right ear.
- What is it? - Well, it ain't Dramamine.
Right there. All set.
- You're done? - I am.
Mr. Rohr.
- Can you smell that? - 200-year-old mahogany.
Furniture polish, cheap cologne and body odor.
Wendall.
How you doin'? I'm Nick.
- Lydia. - So, what are we supposed to do?
Are we supposed to sit here all day? Is that it?
- What do they want us to do? - I'm sure we can think of something.
All rise!
Oyez, oyez, oyez, civil district court for the Parish of Orleans is now in session.
The Honorable Frederick Buford Harkin presiding.
God save this state and this honorable court.
Thank you, bailiff. You may take your seats.
This suit is brought by the plaintiff Celeste Wood...
Over your left shoulder. Rankin Fitch, 2:00.
Dark suit. You've heard the myth.
- Now meet the man. - I'm quaking in my Florsheims.
used to kill Jacob Wood. Celeste Wood claims
that Vicksburg Firearms is liable for her husband's wrongful death
and seeks special damages for loss of Mr. Wood's future earnings,
as well as general damages, including pain and suffering.
Plaintiff has exercised her right to a jury trial.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are now ready to begin the voir dire.
Miss Coleman.
- Mrs. - Mrs. Coleman. Excuse me.
I see from your questionnaire
that you have no particular feeling about guns one way or another.
- Briefcase on the jury. - Would you say that's correct?
Yes, sir, that's correct.
I don't feel one way or another about guns,
but I sure hate to see people get hurt, though.
I understand. Do you or your husband own a gun?
We do not.
Ever fired a gun for sport or in self-defense?
Uh, look at the shoulder shrug. Now, she's evaluating
the person asking the question before she ever answers.
I mean, she's telling Rohr exactly what he wants to hear.
- So you think she's lying? - Not necessarily.
- But she knows how to. - Rikki Coleman, 36 years of age.
Her husband's a Baptist minister.
She's a card-carrying member of the Sierra Club and a registered Democrat.
Ah, I hate Baptists almost as much as I hate Democrats. What else you got?
- She had an abortion two years ago. - And, and, and?
And the guy holding her hand at the clinic, not the Baptist minister.
Ooh!
Tone of voice, body language. She's got an open mind.
I like her. She's gonna be fair and sympathetic to Ms. Wood.
Mr. Rohr, do you wish to exercise challenge for cause?
No, Your Honor. We accept this juror.
- Mr. Cable? - Take her. Take her.
- No objections here, Your Honor. - Enter Mrs. Coleman as a juror.
I'm co-manager of Circle Foods. It's a local grocery chain.
I've been living here about 14 years.
Circle Foods. Take him, Mr. Cable. Take him.
- We accept this juror, Your Honor. - Mr. Rohr?
- No objections, Your Honor. - Thank you.
You may enter Mr. Shaver as a juror. Next?
Prison. Prison for those people who break the law.
Your Honor, we'll accept this juror.
- She looks good. - No objection, Your Honor.
Enter Miss Hullic as a juror.
It's ridiculous. They're just floodin' the community with...
- No, no, no. - Preemptory challenge, Your Honor.
Go ahead, sir. What are your grounds?
- We accept this juror. - Mr. Rohr?
- No objection. - We accept this juror.
Do you have a gun in your home?
- I'm thinking about getting one. - Thank you, Mr. Black.
- A Mossberg Pump. - I like him! Yes!
Thank you, Mr. Cable.
- Your Honor, we accept this juror. - No objection.
Frank Herrera as a juror.
- I'm an auto mechanic. - What about gun control?
Same way I feel about birth control, man.
- It doesn't work. - We accept this juror.
- Please enter Eddie Weese as a juror. - Yes. Yes, definitely yes.
- Rohr? - No challenge.
No, we accept this juror, Your Honor.
They call me Millie. I'm an ironwork sculptress.
- Accepted. - Go ahead and take her.
Deshazo as a juror.
- We accept. Ms. Deets as a juror.
- We accept this juror. - Having an AK-47 overstates the case.
- I want her. Yes, I want her. - No objection, Your Honor.
Vanessa Lembeck as a juror. - Mr. Cable?
- No challenge. - No, let's challenge.
Preemptory challenge, Your Honor.
Nine-millimeter. It was more of a man's kind of gun.
Jerry Fernandez as a juror. - We talked about this.
- I like him a lot. We know about her... - I don't carry a gun.
Your Honor, we accept...
- Let's not do down this road. - Thank you, Mr. Rohr.
Well, thank you all for being here. Thank you.
- Mr. Docken? - Yes, sir.
- How do you do? - Fine, thank you.
How do you feel about being a juror in this trial? Do you feel you could be fair...
Look at the way he's hunched over and his fingers are interlaced.
I mean, he's trying too hard not to be too obvious.
Yeah, but he's definitely on our side of the fence.
It's a veneer. He's campaigning. He wants on. Bounce him, Cable.
- Go ahead and bounce him. - We're almost out of challenges.
I don't care! Bounce him! Bounce him, Cable! Bounce him!
Preemptory challenge, Your Honor.
- Hold on. Hear me out. - Thank you, Mr. Docken.
- You're excused. - No, I wanna be heard!
- Mr. Docken, you may be excused. - I wanna be heard!
Bailiff!
- I wanna be heard! - Get that man out of the courtroom.
This is the blood of innocent children gunned down by greedy corporations!
Get this self-righteous lunkhead outta here!
- You son of a bitch! - Help him! Help him!
Come on! Help this man! Help this man! Get him out of here!
- Let me go! - It's not a show in here.
- How does it feel? - Get him outta here!
Our nation's trying to kill itself, and you wanna give it
the weapons to do it! You son of a bitch! Let me go!
Let me go! Let me go! Greedy bastards!
I guess that's lunch.
Somebody add "class clown" to Mr. Easter's ever-expanding resumé
Court's adjourned. Voir dire will resume tomorrow at 9:00am.
Attorneys, both of you, see me in my chambers right now.
Good call.
There are some things, however, that seem to live eternal.
That's a tendency to always come back, asking for more.
A total of 12 million more.
Now, each of our gun companies has already ponied up $4 million
into this Sportsman's Legacy Fund.
Now, that may not seem like a hell of a lot of money where you come from,
but we think $20 million ought to be enough to secure
a jury in the People's Republic of Berkeley, California, let alone here.
- How about 30,000? - 30,000? What are you talking about?
It's an interesting amount to reflect on. The number of gun deaths every year.
Or the number of men, women and children who are disabled
by your gentlemen's products last year alone: 100,000.
Or we could focus... on the number one.
Because one is all they want. One win, one precedent.
Because once they get that, they're gonna be traveling around this country,
filing civil actions and siphoning away
at that $2 billion that you gentlemen sell in firearms and ammo every fiscal year.
$2 billion. Whoo!
Where I come from, that's a lot of money.
What I'm asking for is a pittance
compared to what a negative verdict is gonna cost you.
Our share price is down 25% just on word of this trial.
I'm down almost 30.
I'll kick in an extra 1.5, but no.
- 1.5 each. That's 7.5 total. - Well, I'll take it.
Do you have any additional plans for this pittance?
- Matter of fact, I do. - Lonnie Shaver. Manager here?
- All day. - Ernie Strode.
I'm gonna put you gentlemen in the grocery business.
Grocery business?
We're in the process of acquiring your store.
meeting with all the store managers
to discuss their future roles in the organization...
Poor bastard hadn't had a promotion in five years.
Not all employees are gonna make the transition.
We've identified you as one of our candidates
for the Superhouse program. How soon can we fly you up?
Mr. Shaver, in subtle and unspoken ways, will be made to appreciate
the terms of advancement in the Hammond Foods empire.
- I don't like the looks of this one. - Ex-Marine drill instructor.
These people are looking for a leader. They'll follow Frank Herrera.
And if they elect someone else foreman?
Whoever they vote for will be following me.
Just like in Cincinnati and Oakland and Pittsburgh.
Gentlemen, trials are too important to be left up to juries.
God save this state and this honorable court.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. You may take your seats.
- Who's next? - Herman Grimes.
Who? Who'd did he say?
Is there a Herman Grimes in the court?
Mr. Grimes is not on my list.
There's a swinging door ahead of you, honey. You got it?
45 degrees to your left, then 20 degrees to your right.
Uh, hold on a minute there, Mr. Grimes.
There's no need for you to have come down here today.
You're excused for reasons of disability.
And what if I do not wish to be excused, sir?
Well... I've never known a blind man to serve on a jury,
and I must say, I can't recall any case or law
or statute that would permit or prevent...
State v. Jack, Your Honor. The Louisiana Supreme Court has held
that it is a violation of constitutional due process
to just automatically dismiss the visually impaired...
- He's right. from jury service.
Well, Mr. Grimes, that's very impressive.
Why are you smiling, sir?
Mr. Rohr, Mr. Cable, any objections to Mr. Grimes serving on this jury?
The plaintiffs would welcome Mr. Grimes to our jury, Your Honor.
- "Our jury. " - Mr. Cable?
As would we on the defense, Your Honor.
- Who's next? - Nicholas Easter.
Mr. Easter?
- Mr. Rohr. - Your Honor.
- Good morning, Mr. Easter. - Good morning.
Well, it says here that you work in an electronics store.
Yes, sir, that's correct.
How would you feel if you knew there was a gun
behind the counter in case of a robbery?
- Well, we're in the mall, sir. - But I think you'd agree
that robberies take place in malls on occasion, do they not?
Yes, but we're in the Esplanade Mall,
which is right across the street from the sheriff's office in Jefferson Parish.
Yes, I'm familiar where it is.
Well, I mean, you'd have to be on crack to try to rob it. I guess that's my point.
I see. Well, tell me...
Mr. Easter, that's the second time you've looked at your watch.
Are we keeping you from something?
No, Your Honor. I wouldn't presume to waste your time.
I just... I think if you knew my situation,
you might be inclined to excuse me from...
- Your situation, Mr. Easter? - Yes, Your Honor.
- It's the Madden Challenge. - The Madden what?
You know, "Madden Football. " It's a video game.
Well, you'd be surprised at how many people play. At any rate,
every year, they choose the best 15 players from across the country
to compete in a kind of tournament, you know,
- against NFL players and celebrities... - I'm not following you.
It's like this, Your Honor: The prize is $100,000. So I just don't know
if I can afford to pass up the opportunity to make that kind of cash. It's a big deal.
I'd like this boy to have a lesson in civic responsibility.
Do you have any objection to that, Mr. Rohr?
Your Honor, it's something I've been doing for a very long time.
The jury system was originated, Mr. Easter,
because, for thousands of years before that, an individual judge
had the power to hang, for example, any young man he simply did not like.
- Yes, Your Honor. - Any objections, Mr. Rohr?
I have no objection whatsoever, Your Honor.
- Mr. Cable? - What do I do?
- Any time today, counselor. - Harkin sandbagged us.
- Go ahead and take him. Take him. - Uh, no objections, Your Honor.
- Enter Mr. Nicholas Easter as a juror. - Freeze that right there, will ya?
Freeze it.
30 years in the trenches have taught me this:
There's always a loose end.
Everybody has a secret they don't want you to find. Find it.
First group, Ms. Monroe: Rikki Coleman, Sylvia Deshazo, Vanessa Lembeck.
Mr. Klein: Herman Grimes, Millie Dupree, Eddie Weese.
Mr. Garson: Loreen Duke, Lonnie Shaver, Frank Herrera.
Mr. Lamb: The three alternates. Lydia Deets, yoga teacher,
Phillip Seville, shrimp fisherman. Henry Wu.
Let's find out everything we don't know.
Mr. Doyle, you know the city better than anyone.
You take Jerry Fernandez, Stella Hullic, Nicholas Easter.
These are your babies, people. This is what you live for.
I think you got the wrong apartment.
What are you gonna do? Call the cops? Hm?
- You weren't there today. - I couldn't. I was too nervous.
What are you gonna do? You gonna hit me in the head with my...
my George Foster big stick?
What are you nervous about, huh?
You are not juror number nine in the biggest case of the year.
You're kidding. You're kidding me!
- You're kidding me! - No, I'm not kidding you.
- How'd you do it? - Let go of that thing.
- How'd you do it? - Madden Challenge.
It was a thing of beauty. The judge even threatened to hang me.
- Juror number nine. - Juror number nine.
What do you have for me?
I love St. Catherine.
- How do I look? - Handsome.
- Do I look honest and trustworthy? - Hm... To an innocent eye.
Good enough to survive 10 to 15 in the state pen?
Don't say that. It's bad luck.
Look... We're not gonna be seeing each other for a while.
They're gonna be watching us. You have to come back to bed. Now.
We're just gonna have to be more careful then, aren't we?
- How much do you think it's worth? - 10, 15 million. Maybe more.
Look, that's enough. Come back to bed.
We only need eight of them for a verdict.
Everybody's got a button. We just gotta find out where and push.
You have them.
We don't have anything yet.
Celeste Wood. You'll recall that two years ago,
Wood's stockbroker husband Jacob was gunned down in a mass slaying
inside the brokerage firm where he worked.
two years ago by a failed day-trader who later turned the gun on himself.
Never before has a jury found the gun industry liable for murder.
You might remember also the former mayor of the city...
after her husband was gunned down in the prime of his life.
The man leading this: Famed New Orleans attorney Wendall Rohr...
Mr. Cable, do you feel that this lawsuit is frivolous?
Uh, it's capricious. I find it's unfortunate that Mr. Rohr has chosen
to use Miss Wood and the courts as vehicles...
Mr. Rohr, how do you expect to win this case?
It's very simple.
Reckless, profit-hungry gun companies like Vicksburg
have been getting away with murder for too long, and we have...
I'm losing a lot of money on this jury thing.
Oh, really?
- What? - 16.
- 16? - Yeah.
No way. $16 a day? What is this, 1892?
Well, you're not supposed to do it for the pay, darling.
You're supposed to do it out of civic duty.
- Nice to meet you. Frank Herrera. - Henry Wu. I became a citizen...
Well, he deserves it. He's the president of the free world.
There's coffee and donuts over there. Now, these muffins, I made 'em myself.
A treat for the first day.
These look like they are a treat.
OK. Morning.
Well, everyone's here. All accounted for? Good.
I think we should elect a jury foreman, like Judge Harkin instructed us.
And who would that be, Mr. Man?
Well, if no one else feels strongly about it, I'd like to throw my hat in the ring.
Uh-uh, excuse me...
- Mister... - Herrera, ma'am. Frank Herrera.
Mr. Herrera. Out of all of us,
what makes you think you're the best person for the job?
- Well, Miss... - Mrs. Loreen Duke.
- Mrs. Duke. - Mm-hm.
I was a master sergeant in the Marine Corps.
I served my country in Panama, Grenada, Beirut.
- You name it, I was there. - I can run a 6-minute mile.
Young lady...
Well, if nobody minds, I'd also like to be considered for foreman.
I mean, I might not have served in Grenada or Panama,
but I'm the mother of two small children...
In that case, y'all ought to consider me. Hell, I got three kids.
Ladies and gentlemen, with all due respect,
I think I know who would make an excellent foreman.
- Oh, and who might that be, Mister... - Easter. Nicholas Easter, sir.
I was watching a lot of people very closely
during the jury selection, and only this man... I don't know your name, sir.
- What is your name? - Herman Grimes.
- Only Mr. Grimes... - No, just Herman.
Only Herman had the guts to stand up to the judge,
and only Herman seems to know a little something about the law.
So, in my book, you know, I think it'd be a good idea for him to represent us.
- But... - But he's blind, man. So what?
- So is justice, right? - That's right, brother.
What do you think, Herman? Are you up to it?
- Well, of course I am. - All in favor of Herman.
- Did I get any votes? - Hey, it's unanimous. You're in.
- Congratulations. - All right, listen up.
Court's in session. Lunch is set for 1:00.
We order out from Verdi's Mart. Please fill out a menu.
Make sure you circle what you want, now.
Don't make it too expensive. Thank you.
Oh, I had this last week. It's really good. Thank you.
- Think I'm gonna have salmon. - Nothing on that menu.
All right, all right. Thank you.
October, two years ago, at 8:45 am on a Monday morning,
a man by the name of Kevin Peltier casually walks though
the brokerage house from which he was fired the previous Friday morning.
He walks into the elevator. He loads a 36-round magazine
into his Performa 990 semiautomatic, and when he reaches the third floor,
he opens fire on his former coworkers, killing 11 and critically wounding five
before turning the gun on himself. Now, they never had a chance.
This was all less than two minutes. They couldn't stop him.
11 lives ended. That's all you jurors, minus one.
And among them was Jacob Wood,
the husband of my client, Celeste Wood,
and the father of their son Henry, six years old.
I don't know about you, but I'm angry at the tragic and senseless loss of life.
Why does the Vicksburg Firearms company make it so easy
to buy these guns on the underground market?
Because they care more about making money than they do about your life
or my life or the life of that woman's husband.
A very courageous former executive of Vicksburg Firearms
is gonna come in here, and he's gonna testify
criminals, all those others poised for violence.
Excuse me. Would you please give these to Mr. Rohr and Mr. Cable?
into a very efficient mass murderer.
Yes, it was Mr. Peltier that squeezed the trigger that awful Monday morning.
But it was the Vicksburg Firearms company,
through a deliberate and negligent distribution policy,
that put that assault-type weapon into the hands of Mr. Peltier.
As such, they were complicit in those murders.
And this I'll prove to you during the course of the trial.
Thank you very much. Your Honor.
- Mr. Cable. - Thank you, Your Honor.
- I feel so nervous. - You'll be fine.
That was quite provocative.
Now, I wanna tell you two things about guns today.
I don't think either of them will be news to you,
but the first is guns are dangerous. They're guns. This is their function.
And I wanna tell you today that no one is more aware of that
or takes more responsibility for it than the gun industry,
especially Vicksburg Firearms,
as a company that's been in business since before the Civil War.
Now, the automobile industry works every day
to ensure that their cars are safe.
Why? Because they drive them.
Now, the people at Vicksburg work every day
to keep the guns out of the hands of the criminals.
Why? Because they have families with children...
Did you see who handed this to you?
Well, it was a woman. She had blond hair.
She had pretty blond hair, just like that woman on television.
We didn't catch her on any of the CCTVs.
Doesn't matter. I'm sure she was wigged.
I doubt you'll find any, but have this sprayed for prints. Anything turns up...
I'll process it through the Printak database.
- We're not here to legislate. - Mr. Cable is winding up.
Well, ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
amidst all the finger-pointing, Mr. Rohr did say one true thing:
This case is about money.
Hi, I'm calling from the courthouse.
You know, it looks like Judge Harkin won't be breaking till after two.
Would you mind holding his jury's lunch order till then? Thank you.
What do you think about her? I hear she teaches a class over at Tulane.
- Yeah? - Wouldn't mind takin' that class.
- What subject? - Yeah, well, she's a tall glass of iced tea.
A little too much lemon, a little too much ice.
Um, I'm sorry,
but would you mind not doing that in here? I'm predisposed to asthma.
Come on, I'll open the window. It ain't gonna bother you.
Actually, I mind, too. Sorry. Secondhand smoke.
I gotta tell you, Mr. Shaver, I don't wanna smoke your cigarettes, either.
Damn. I can't smoke, can't leave the room. What is this, California?
- It is against the rules. - Aw, man, be quiet.
You're just an alternate, man.
What does that have to do with anything?
Come on, come on. We're gonna be here for a while together.
So why are you bothering me?
You know that I think? I think we're all just really hungry.
And where's our lunch they promised us? It's 1:30.
That's why I wanna smoke. I'm starving. Tamp down my appetite.
Herman, you want me to go check out what's going on with lunch?
Good idea, Nick. Go see what's taking 'em.
So they go over there and he sees a cow
and he sees a golf ball up in that cow's ass.
And he says - well, this is delicate - "Excuse me, ma'am. "
And he raises that cow's tail and says, "Does this look like yours?"
And she hit him with a four-iron!
- Excuse me, Judge. - Huh?
- There's someone to see you. - All right, all right.
Excuse me, gentlemen.
- You are? - Nick Easter, juror number nine.
Yes. Now, what do you think you're doing outside of that jury room,
Mr. Easter-juror-number nine? And where's Lou Dell?
- She's chattin' it up in the hallway, sir. - Well, Mr. Easter,
I would strongly advise you to return to that jury room and finish your lunch.
That's the problem, sir. I think somebody forgot to order our lunch.
- The jury has no lunch? - That's why I'm here, sir.
Everybody knows you here in the parish.
They know you like to keep a tight schedule on your bench.
If we're gonna be back in less than 45 minutes...
I gotta be honest with you, sir. We're hungry.
Well, what exactly, Mr. Easter, would you like me to do?
Hey, Lonnie, Lonnie! Could you pass me some garlic bread?
- You got any over there? - Oh, absolutely, man. Stuff is delicious.
I'm not sure, but I believe I'm buying lunch for this jury.
Jury's right there.
Well, in 35 years, that is the most absurd thing I've ever seen.
- You got a little mustard on your tie. - I did it on purpose.
First day of the trial, judge is having lunch with the jury. What's that about?
- Look at that. - What?
Let's go.
- Hey, hey, hey! To Nick! - To Nick!
- This is horseshit. - It wasn't me.
It wasn't me. It was Judge Harkin. Judge Harkin!
OK, that's enough. Thank you very much. All right.
- Here's the deposition you needed. - Thank you, thank you.
We gonna talk about this?
I cannot believe you had the nerve to bring that in this office.
- I think we ought to discuss it at least. - Well, a better idea:
- Why don't you just give it to the judge? - 'Cause they'd throw the case out.
Let me explain something to you. That's a defense tactic, OK?
All it's meant to do is just throw our focus off,
so that we can just move toward a mistrial.
But I'd really like it out of the office, so give it to me, please.
Barry, after you shred it, burn it. OK?
You know how many of those crank things I get?
What if it's for real?
- No, it's not for real. - What if it is?
Well, if it's for real, then this isn't a trial, is it? Then this is just an auction,
and I might as well get on this phone here
and call up all those anti-gun activist friends of mine in Washington
and tell 'em we're just gonna put on a telethon and we will buy this verdict.
'Cause they're not gonna think of that, are they?
Somebody wanna get that phone? You got any other suggestions?
Well, look at it. Syntax, handwriting, word choice.
Clearly a woman did the note. Someone's working the inside. A juror.
Miss Monroe, I think seven hours spent on this topic is sufficient.
- Can we agree? - Mr. Fitch, I got a call for you.
Line seven.
- Yes. - Hello, Rankin.
I'm the agent handling the property you were notified about earlier today.
- I'd like to know who I'm speaking with. - You can call me Marlee.
Pay phone, 15 miles away.
- You can call me Marlee. - Where are we going with this, Marlee?
All the way to the verdict.
The fact is, the jury's mine, and I can push it either way. For a price.
Sounds good. So good, in fact, I don't believe you can do it.
I'll bet you're old enough to remember a time
when people delivered on what they promised. I'm one of those people.
I'm also old enough to remember Watergate, Abscam, Linda Tripp...
and a whole bunch of other times people got entrapped
for engaging in conversations just like this, and you'd do very good
to remember that, young lady. There are consequences.
Well, let me worry about those. For now, I just hope you're feeling patriotic.
- You hope I'm feeling... - Patriotic?
- Morning, Nick. - Morning, Lou.
- Good morning, Vanessa. - Morning.
- Nick. - Hey, guys.
- How you doin'? - What's up?
OK.
- Hey, Lonnie, Sylvia. - Hey, man.
Good morning, Frank.
Frank, you were in Panama and Grenada, right?
- And Beirut. - Wow.
That really must've been something, huh?
Yeah. Pulling the bodies of friends of mine out of the rubble.
- It was really something, Nick. - No, no, no, no. You don't understand.
I had a friend who was in Desert Storm. He was in the Corps, too.
- What division? - The 1-4 out of Pendleton.
Yeah, well, that was mostly air power.
Not much real action down there anyhow.
Actually, there was, Frank.
You don't know what the hell you're talking about, Easter.
My friend's name was Donny Rabbs, and his helicopter was shot down
in a Kuwaiti oil field. He was killed 12 years ago today.
- Sorry to hear that. - I'm sorry. It's just a strange day.
I always figure, if I don't remember him today, nobody else will.
That's the way people are. Short memories.
That's a terrible thing, y'all, but we don't always know God's plan.
Listen, I don't know if it'd be inappropriate,
but do you think we could do something today to remember him?
- We could say the Lord's Prayer. - Well, I don't wanna ask people to pray.
- How about "God Bless America"? - I couldn't ask people to sing.
- I don't sing. - I don't sing, OK?
You know what? I have an idea.
Good morning. You may take your seats, please.
I pledge allegiance
to the flag of the United States of America
and to the republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
I don't know about you, Wendall, but I'm feeling pretty patriotic.
Uh, thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Will you please take your seats?
Jesus.
Shit.
Pull!
You wanted to see me?
Mr. Cable called me last night in a bit of a panic.
Now, he's concerned that someone's trying to monkey with our jury.
As am I. As are my associates.
- Who is it? - It's a parlor game.
Just because somebody can influence where a jury has lunch,
that doesn't mean they can hand us the verdict.
Ah, well, you see, Mr. Fitch, this is where I get a little confused,
because I was under the impression
that we had already purchased ourselves a verdict.
You know what I love best about this gun?
Though it's 70 years old, it's just as reliable as the day it was made.
Mr. Fitch!
You find out who it is, will you?
Pull!
one nation under God...
At some point, everyone on the jury
acknowledges Herrera, like they're doing it for him.
It's not him. Right here at the end, Loreen Duke, our juror number 10...
Right there. Freeze there. Yeah. Tighten in on her left hand.
Right there.
Isn't that sweet?
Nicholas Easter, our song and dance man, has an agenda.
Mr. Lamb, how did this confidence man crash my jury pool?
I don't know. I'd-I'd need some time, sir.
Now. I'm asking for an educated guess.
Maybe he just did it. I mean, who wants jury duty? Nobody, right?
It's like going to the dentist. It's worse than going to the dentist.
It's a municipal database that nobody would ever wanna hack into.
The security protocol is weak, so he'd put a name on the list...
I got it. I got it, Mr. Lamb. Thank you.
- Mr. Doyle? - I'm on it.
Your Honor. Good afternoon, Mr. Murphy.
- You own and operate Excalibur Guns. - Yes, sir, I do.
Yes, and isn't Excalibur Guns a retail outlet store
- for Vicksburg Firearms? - Yes, sir.
Would you tell us about your arrangement with a man,
Michael Kincaid, who illegally sold this Performa 990 semiautomatic
to Kevin Peltier smack-dab out of the trunk of his car?
- My arrangement? - Yes, sir.
Well, Mikey... Mr. Kincaid bought guns from my store...
At a rate of more than 25 guns a month, didn't you ever wonder
who your friend Mikey was turning around and selling these guns to?
- Well, that's none of my business. - Oh, you mean it's not your problem.
- Now, hold on there. I didn't say that. - Objection, Your Honor.
- The counsel is testifying. - Sustained. Mr. Rohr...
Yo! Thanks a lot.
- Afternoon. - Afternoon.
your friend Michael Kincaid 28 guns in December.
Now, did you ever wonder why one man
would buy 112 guns in a period of four months?
- A collector? - A collector, sir?
112 weapons, and all of them semiautomatic assault weapons?
- I don't know. - Come on, take a guess.
- Christmas presents? - That's a guess.
Objection, Your Honor. This is all speculation.
- Sustained. - Did they send a field rep
- out to investigate? - No, sir.
No, because they were very pleased with your success, weren't they?
- Say again? - Is it not true that Vicksburg Firearms,
instead of investigating the increasing number of guns that were being sold
to one man, instead send you and your wife on a trip to Jamaica.
- No. - No?
My wife hates Jamaica. We switched to Cancun.
I have no further questions, Your Honor.
Thank you, Mr. Rohr. We'll adjourn today. Hold cross till tomorrow.
Release the jury 45 minutes early. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Oh, hi. Yeah, the landlord let me in.
He said some of the tenants had been having trouble with the cable.
- Uh-huh. - But, uh... I checked yours out and, uh...
Hey!
Whoa!
Hey!
looks fine. I don't think you have anything...
- What do we got, people? - The drive's been erased twice over.
It's empty. But it's not zeroed out.
He may have been more sloppy than he thought.
- Give me a few moments. - Mr. Fitch.
Lamb, trace it.
Fitch here.
- You don't play nice. - What are you talking about?
You broke into Nick Easter's apartment.
You freely assume it was me.
Oh, wouldn't you be disappointed if I didn't?
I'm bumping a juror. One of yours.
This time it's just gonna be a pinprick.
Next time it's really gonna hurt.
Looks like somebody had themselves a good time last night.
I woke up on my stove. Oh, man.
- You don't got any aspirin, do you? - Uh-uh.
I think I can do a little bit better than an aspirin.
- Yeah? - Mm-hm. A little hair of the dog.
- Oh. Can you sweeten this up for me? - Yeah, put it under the table.
You're an angel.
- No, let me pour it. - I'll pour it.
Let me do it. Let me do it!
It's mine, sir.
I didn't take you for a day drinker, Mr. Easter.
I'm usually not.
You still trying to get off my jury? Is that it?
Your Honor, I took an oath to do my level best, and I meant it.
Difficult as that is to believe, Mr. Easter,
it's even more difficult to believe this is your liquor.
I might be wrong, but I don't think that's your shade of lipstick.
Ms. Hullic?
And moving into Ms. Hullic's spot will be first alternate Ms. Lydia Deets.
Ms. Deets... will you join the jurors in the box, please?
Welcome to our jury. I trust you got
the same instructions the rest of the jurors did.
- You ready to go? - Yes, sir.
Very good. Well...
- Cell phone, untraceable. - Marlee?
- I'd like your offer, Mr. Fitch. - Not over the phone.
If you thought this whole thing was gonna take place long-distance,
you're mistaken.
- You wanna lose another juror? - Anybody can get a juror booted.
That doesn't show me that you can deliver a verdict.
Hell, I could get Nick Easter canned if I put five man-hours into it.
But you won't do that. You need him to guarantee the jury swings your way.
So next time I call, have your offer ready.
Ladies and gentlemen, this girl is an amateur.
You understand? A dilettante! And I want this nonsense ended today!
I want you to find her! I want you to contain her!
Because you're losing me my jury!
Now find something on every one of them!
Pull their files! Review every word, every photo, every medical record. Do it!
- Who do we have? - Rikki Coleman's boyfriend's name
is Neil Pollard. Mrs. Coleman broke it off with him two months after the abortion.
- Who's gonna help Daddy? - Me, me!
And there's no way she would've cried on his shoulder about it.
Your husband looks a lot different than your boyfriend with you at the clinic.
We'll be in touch.
Back up, back up!
About four months ago, Mr. Weese began filling prescriptions
for the following drugs: Crixivan, Epivir, and AZT.
Unbeknownst to his mother, his employer, his church and his friends,
Mr. Weese is HIV-positive.
Get off me!
That's what I'm talkin' about!
- Get a little present for ya. - Who are you?
- An NBA scout or something? - This is gonna change your life.
- Yeah? - We'll be in touch.
- Hey! - Millie Dupree,
- married 18 years to Hoppy Dupree. - Hey, Hoppy...
One of the city's more unprincipled real estate agents.
OK. Nice meeting you.
As you know, our Mr. Ringwald has set the bait.
You know, Mr. Ringwald, if anybody can help you walk that land deal
through with the county, it'd be me.
Owens and Strode are about to close the snare as we speak.
Is that convincing enough for you?
- Freeze! Nobody move! Get down! - FBI!
Gentlemen, keep your hands on the table.
Hoppy Dupree, you're under arrest.
Hoppy Dupree, you're in violation of federal code,
attempting to bribe a government official.
Mr. Kincaid, you wanna tell the court just a little bit about your schooling?
Well, not a whole lot to tell. I mean, I guess most people got a college degree,
and about the only thing I ever got was the third degree.
I appreciate your sense of humor, but let's try to stay a little more on the topic.
Stay more on Kyle Murphy and his shop, Excalibur Guns.
All right.
Now, when you went over there to get your shipment of guns,
did Kyle Murphy ever say to you, "Sorry, we're out,"
or, "Now, why do you need 25 assault-style pistols in a month?"
- Did he ever say anything like that? - No, he never said anything like that.
- He always had plenty of guns around. - Gotcha. Thank you, Mr. Kincaid.
Your witness.
Mr. Kincaid, you were the one who sold the gun used by Kevin Peltier
in the brokerage house shootings. Is that correct?
Yeah, that is correct, and I did a stretch for that, too.
Now, to your knowledge, was Vicksburg Firearms aware that
you were out there reselling their product?
No, not to my knowledge.
He flipped on us.
Or endorsed or fostered you selling their guns in any way.
- Is that correct? - Yeah, that's correct.
But I wish they had. I wish they had endorsed me, like they did Kyle,
'cause I saw some pictures he brought back from the trip he took
down to Cancun, and, man, livin' it up down there.
I could've gone for some of that. I wish they had sent me. I'd have been
on the beach right there with him, looking at some big ol' butt thongs
and sipping on margaritas. It would've been great.
- Simple answer, please. - Simple answer is no...
And I want it on record here now, too. I didn't have any idea what Peltier
was gonna do with that gun when I sold it to him.
He was a wack job. I wasn't about trying to get anybody hurt.
OK, I've retrieved some fragments. I've got two things.
One: List of registered voters for Cincinnati.
Why would Nicholas Easter want a list of registered voters in Cincinnati?
Because voter registration lists lead to potential jury pools.
- What else you got? - Well, this is from the drive's directory.
It's time-stamped the day he got his jury summons.
He synchronized the data on his drive to another device.
That's what you should've snagged.
Doyle, you're going back in, and this time I want you to take Mr. Janovich.
Oh... Why do I have to take him?
Because Mr. Janovich can find anything.
I'm going for it. Thank you, thank you. Watch this.
- Nick... - Got one for me?
What's going on, Eddie? You seem kind of gloomy. You all right?
Oh, no, no, I'm fine. You know, I just got a lot on my mind, that's all.
You OK? You wanna talk about it or anything?
I'm cool.
- Really. - OK.
- Here's one more for you, Miss. - Thank you very much.
Sorry, man.
I left my key inside.
Congratulations.
We got it. Let's go.
Janovich, you don't have to do this. I said you don't have to do this!
Did you hear me?
Hey, guys. There's something really wrong with Rikki.
I mean it. Come on!
See? Right there.
Come on, Rikki.
- Oh, God! - Give me a towel.
Give me a paper towel. Paper towel, now!
Oh, that's nasty.
She's had five shooters. It's no wonder.
- Call for help. - What? She just had too much to drink.
- Call 911 now! - OK, OK!
Damn!
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Rikki.
- Is she breathing, Nick? - Yeah, she's gonna be OK, I think.
I can't believe this.
Damn lucky the place is still here and no one was hurt.
People can't move back into this place.
They got to Rikki Coleman. The woman was president of the PTA.
She bakes cookies for her kids. And whatever that son of a bitch had on her,
he brought out the heavy lumber. She swallowed a fistful of sleeping pills.
- Who's her replacement? - Who's her...
Did you hear what I just said? The woman almost killed herself tonight.
I'm sorry.
And they're putting the heat on the others.
Eddie Weese and Millie Dupree. They torched my place tonight.
Well, at least we know we have them motivated.
Oh. Here's the fun part. They got the MP3 player.
Those files are encrypted.
Yeah, they're encrypted, but these guys are good. They got teams of people.
You don't think they're gonna crack that? We got three, four days, tops
before the walls cave in.
If we stay.
If we stay? What do you mean, if we stay?
What are you saying to me, Nicky? You saying to me you wanna run away?
- Is that what you're saying? - Listen, Marlee.
- People are getting hurt. - We're inside.
- People could get killed. - No.
- No, I'm inside. You're on the street! - Don't say that to me.
We're in this together, and it is your job - it is our job - to protect ourselves.
Well, there's only so much I can do, all right?
It's not just them that I worry about.
I can't protect you.
- Where are we with Rohr? - He hasn't stepped up yet.
He will.
And Fitch wants to meet.
I mean, we knew I'd have to go face-to-face with him.
It's OK. I can play him. I can...
- Set a date. - OK.
We can't afford to lose any more jurors.
I know the math.
And we put Fitch on his heels right now.
This video is from a security camera inside juror number nine's apartment.
Take a good look.
Oh, hi. The landlord let me in.
Lot of people had been complaining about their cable,
but, uh, I checked yours out. I don't think you have...
Gentlemen, this malfeasance will not stand.
Now, I don't know which of you this man was working for, and I don't care.
But you are lucky I can't make out his face,
because if I could, I'd be inclined to turn this matter over to the DA's office.
- Outside. - Your Honor, I move for a mistrial.
No, Mr. Cable. There is not gonna be a mistrial here!
Motion denied! Not because of maneuvers like this!
Now, for the remainder of this trial, our jury is to be sequestered.
Bailiff, would you please inform...
- The guy in the video... - Yeah?
Set fire to Nick Easter's place last night.
- What? - Set fire to his place last night.
- How would you know that? - Because I was there.
You were there? You went to a juror's residence...
- Yes, yes. without asking me?
I'm gonna tell you what. Wendall, listen to me.
- We're done. We're finished. - That's what you pay me for.
No, no, no, no. You're a young punk, and you should've asked me.
- You're fired. You're... - Nick Easter is spinning this jury.
That's why Fitch ransacked his place.
There's some kind of twisted power play going on between these two.
You're afraid, you go to the judge and you tell him, they're gonna call a mistrial.
- The defense would love nothing more. - That's right.
Why hasn't the defense told the judge about Nick Easter?
Because they're really gonna buy this verdict.
- Bastards. - Celeste, behind you.
Hey, Celeste! Henry! Wham!
- Mr. Rohr... - What's going on?
- That reporter just told me... - Yeah?
She said something about a mistrial.
No, that's nonsense. Don't worry about that.
- Well, she said the judge is gonna... - No, no, now listen to me.
Let me explain something. Everything's fine.
The judge has sequestered the jury. You understand that?
And it's not unusual when you have a heated trial.
- You said we had an excellent case. - Yes.
When I met with you a year ago, you said that
we could change the way these people do business,
that my husband's life, that all of those lives wouldn't be...
What?
- What's the matter, Celeste? - I just need to hear it.
- Tell me we can win this. - We can.
- We are gonna win it. - OK.
- OK? - Come on, Henry.
- Henry, you going to the park? - Yeah!
I'll see you later.
How about we walk over to Jackson Square...
I got Mr. Easter's list of potential jurors. Boston, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
- What are the dates? - Boston, 2000,
Pittsburgh and Brooklyn, '99, and Cincinnati, '98.
They've been stalking gun cases.
Now they're in the house.
All right.
Amanda, I want the jury files on all four cities. I want 'em tonight.
Line two. It's her.
Good afternoon, Marlee.
I see you and Mr. Easter are keeping busy, busy, busy.
The Palace Cafe on Canal Street. Downstairs,
main dining room. 15 minutes.
Thank you.
- Mr. Fitch? - Marlee.
Good. I just won a bet with myself.
I figured you for blond. Oh, please have a seat.
Nice mass¨¦, sequestering the jury.
Close ranks. Makes them harder to rea...
- Mr. Fitch? - Yes?
- This is for you. - Thank you.
- What's your price? - 10 million. Nonnegotiable.
This is made out to cash. $500,000.
To walk away from my jury.
I wouldn't drop off your dry cleaning for that.
You wanna ask Nick about that?
OK, OK. How do I know that you can provide the verdict?
We got the jury sequestered, didn't we?
Look, we know you're leaning on a couple of jurors,
but it's not enough. You need nine warm bodies.
Nick Easter can deliver them. He's very persuasive.
- You're such a good hustler. - Mm. You're a good arsonist.
We both know what's at stake here. You lose this one,
and every civil lawyer in the country is gonna be holding out his hand.
This is mine.
You won't get off until the next stop. It's the zoo.
I'm gonna give you a second chance to take this.
I want you to consider it. I think it's fair. I do. I really do.
Listen, Fitch, when you're ready to pony up the ten,
email me at this address. It's a free account, untraceable.
But then I'm sure you already knew that.
Here you are, sir.
OK. I get the being sequestered part, but why put us all the way out here
- by the east Texas border? - I know.
Hell, I can see Port Arthur from the parking lot.
Does anyone know how Rikki's doing?
Oh, she was released from the hospital about an hour ago.
- That's good. - Lovely girl. She seemed fine to me,
but you never really know what's going on with a person.
Could be her marriage, her church...
No, no, no. It was nothing like that. Look, somebody got to that girl.
Oh, now that's hokum. Why would anyone wanna get to her?
The same reason they wanna get to any of us.
To influence the outcome of the trial.
- My Lord, are we safe? - OK, here are your keys.
We are now.
Hoppy was arrested.
They said they would put him in jail for life
if I didn't vote in favor of the gun company.
It's OK, sweetheart.
- We'll talk about it in the morning. - Thanks. Good night.
Good night.
Didn't take you for a man who goes for the big girls, Easter.
You're just full of surprises, ain't you?
I'm fine, Frank. How are you?
- Can I get by? - I've been watching you, Easter.
- From day one. - I just wanna go to my room, Frank.
You're a real boy scout, aren't you? Playing everybody.
Playing the judge. Playing Millie?
I've put up with guys like you my whole life.
Now, I want you to understand something. OK?
I don't like my hand being forced. You understand?
Get some sleep, Frank.
Mr. Rohr?
May I sit down?
- I know you're playing both sides. - We are.
- May I sit down? - Yeah, go on. Sit down. Sit down.
Now you tell me...
you tell me why I shouldn't go to the judge, get a mistrial
and have that provocative little bottom of yours thrown into jail.
You know how serious we are about jury tampering down here?
- You wouldn't do that. - Oh, don't you be so sure.
You wouldn't put Mrs. Wood through the pain
and the expense of a mistrial. She couldn't afford it.
You don't know anything about Celeste Wood. You don't know what drives her.
Unlike you, young lady, she's not in it for the money.
- And what are you in it for, Mr. Rohr? - Oh, you're something, aren't you?
- What do you think I'm in it for? - You tell me.
I'd like to get the law changed.
That's why you're here. But you need help.
It's up to you. You can be a good boy, play by the rules...
or you can win a huge victory for gun control. The choice is yours.
You know, this may come as a surprise to you,
but I don't have to make that choice.
Don't tell me. Your whistle-blower from Vicksburg is gonna testify
his company knows about the number of guns that wind up on the black market.
That's right. That's precisely what's gonna happen.
- Mr. Rohr. - What?
What makes you think this witness is ever gonna make it to the stand?
Because that whistle-blower came to us.
- Fitch is gonna get to him. - We didn't call him. He came to us.
- He's your star witness. - We didn't... Listen to me.
You don't know what this man's capable of!
Sweetheart! Hey! Hey! Hey!
He came to us. He's tucked away right now. I'm not gonna tell you where.
The man, out of conscience, cannot wait to get on that stand and testify.
Anyone can be gotten to.
What do you know? Hm?
How much are we talking about here? What do you wanna bleed me for?
- Five, six, seven million? - Ten million.
Ooh, that's a... big number.
That's a big number.
With Rankin Fitch in the game, you can't win.
So if you just match his offer, I'm gonna swing it your way. Good-bye.
Who hurt you?
Who made you this way? Come on.
You know what you're messing with here? You know how important this is?
We've been poring over those boxes of jury files.
We found this in the Cincinnati stack. He used the name David Lancaster.
He was prospective juror number 54, but he didn't make it on.
Call Doyle. Tell him to pack.
He's gonna be on the first flight out to Cincinnati.
Let's see if Mr. Lancaster has left any loose ends behind.
Everybody's got a dirty little secret. Let's find out what his is.
Where the hell is he?
- He was in his room an hour ago. - No, I know that. I know that.
Now, where is he? I thought you had someone baby-sitting him.
- I'll keep trying the hotel. - Find him. Get him here.
Mr. Rohr, is everything all right down there?
Go find him. Everything's fine, Your Honor.
Well, you called Mr. Kriegler ten minutes ago.
- Could we show him in, please? - Your Honor...
- Your Honor, may I approach? - You may. Mr. Cable.
Your Honor, I'd like to request a brief adjournment at this time.
- Where's your witness, Mr. Rohr? - We're looking... we're looking into that.
Your request for an adjournment is denied.
Your Honor, this is my key witness.
Well, then you should have kept a tighter leash on him.
Now, I told both of you,
I'm not gonna stand for any more foolishness during this trial.
- We will proceed on schedule. - But, Your Honor...
Now, Mr. Rohr... is there another request you'd like to make at this time?
Your Honor, it would be highly prejudicial to my client if we are not permitted to...
I will take that as a motion for reconsideration.
- Your Honor. - Denied. Call your next witness.
- Call your next witness, Mr. Rohr. - I have no next witness.
If so, Mr. Rohr, then plaintiff rests. Thank you, gentlemen.
Wendall Rohr. An overdue pleasure. Rankin Fitch.
Nice suit. Very, um, "of the people,"
Yours is nicer. What would you call it? "Gun lobby protecting its own"?
Oh! Swank shoes. Big tobacco?
Big alligator. Wrestled it myself.
Excuse me, we're cleaning up in here.
Am I gonna get beat up now, Mr. Rohr?
What'd you do to my witness? Threaten his family?
Write him a check? Just curious about what your technique is, Mr. Fitch.
Maybe he, uh, decided against biting the hand that fed him these past few years.
You know exactly why he came to us.
Oh, please. Don't tell me you hung your case on somebody's conscience.
I hung my case on my own conscience.
Oh. I get it now.
You are a moral man living in a world of moral relativity.
- It's just so quaint, so precious. - Hey! Don't do that.
This is about my witness, right? This is about you messing with my client,
my case and the rules of law that govern our country!
- Our country? - Yes!
I didn't figure you for a patriot, Mr. Rohr, what with your blatant disregard
for the people's right to bear arms. You know, the Second Amendment?
Is that why you're doing this? To protect the Constitution, is that it?
Of course not. I'm in it to win. Just like you are.
- Because that's what I was hired to do. - Uh-huh.
- Everything else is colored bubbles. - Colored bubbles? Colored bubbles?
A system that calls for 12 people to sit and listen to testimony of witnesses, fella!
And that includes my witness, who you've disappeared!
If you're relying on testimony to win this case, you've already lost it, fella!
You think this jury cares anything about negligent distribution?
- Product liability? - You bet your ass they do!
Oh, most of 'em can't even say the words, let alone understand the meaning.
You think your average juror is King Solomon? No!
He's a roofer with a mortgage. He wants to go home
and sit in his Barcalounger and let the cable TV wash over him.
And this man doesn't give a single, solitary droplet of shit
about truth, justice or your American way.
- They're people, Fitch. - My point, exactly.
You don't have an idea of what I've been talking about, do you, sir?
What do you hope to achieve if you win?
What do you mean?
You gonna bring Jacob Wood back to life? No.
You just ensure that his wife goes to the cemetery in a better car.
And that the heel that she snaps on the way to the graveside
belongs to a $1200 shoe. You get your name in the paper.
But Jacob Wood and all the other gun violence victims
remain rotting in their crypts.
You know what, Fitch?
- You're gonna lose. - I doubt it.
Well, maybe not this case, maybe not the next, but someday,
you know, someday. I've seen it before with guys like you.
- You wanna know why? - Why?
Because you cannot carry that much contempt
without it becoming malignant, until you're gonna be all alone
in a room full of shadows, and all you're gonna have
is the memories of all those people's lives you have destroyed.
That's a good story, Wendall.
But it's just further proof of why you can't beat me.
Because you may be right...
but the thing of it is, I don't give a shit.
What's more... I never have.
That suit.
- Good evening, Wendall. - George. Mason.
So... what's this about?
I'm going to need access to the firm's emergency reserve.
- Emergency reserve? - Yeah.
- In what amount? - Ten million.
Gentlemen, I've lost my footing in this trial.
- Yeah? - I'm looking for a David Lancaster.
You a bill collector?
I work for Dodge and I track people down
who have rebates that they forgot to apply for.
I don't know where he went. No forwarding address.
Wish I did, though. Got this letter for him.
- Kept it right here. - Wow. Can I... can I take a look at that?
"Jeff Kerr, care of David Lancaster. "
- You know Jeff Kerr? - No.
"Professor Frank Phelan at Bloomington University. "
Mm-hm.
You know I could maybe split the rebate with you if you wanted to let me...
Jeff Kerr.
David Lancaster.
Lots of aliases.
Jeffrey Kerr.
Hello there, Jeffrey.
So, as CEO of Vicksburg Firearms, you were unaware
that your company's product was being sold illegally?
- Yes, sir. Absolutely, sir. - Mr. Jankle, are you a family man?
Yes, sir, I am. I have a son and I have an eight-year-old grandson.
Anything else you'd like to add?
The Second Amendment
permits every good citizen of this country to keep and bear arms.
Now, we at Vicksburg Firearms, we didn't write it.
But as long as it stands, we're gonna continue
- to operate under its protections. - Thank you, sir. Nothing further.
Counselor. Mr. Rohr, do you care to cross?
- Yes, Your Honor. - Proceed.
- Now, Mr. Jankle... - Yes, sir.
The, uh, ad copy used to sell the Performa 990,
- would you read it to the court, please? - It's right there, Counselor.
Oh, but I think that the jury would like to hear it from the head of the company here.
If you could say it, starting with, "Also available in... "
"Also available in a print-resistant finish. "
I see. Now, who in your mind, sir, might be eager to purchase a Performa 990
semiautomatic assault-type weapon in a fingerprint-resistant finish?
- Anybody. - Anybody?
Fingerprints are 90% water. Water corrodes metal. Metal rusts.
Wouldn't it be more appropriate then to use the word "rustproof"
than "fingerprint-resistant" when you're trying to sell this weapon
- to the general public? - Well, you know,
I didn't write the copy for that advertisement, sir. I think you know that.
- Did you see it? - Objection: Prejudicial.
- Sustained. Mr. Rohr. - My apologies, Your Honor.
- Uh, now, Mr. Jankle? - Yes, sir.
Tell me, sir, how much of Vicksburg's profits come from
assault-type weapons, would you say?
Oh, I have to apologize to you, Mr. Rohr, I do not know the answer.
I'm not familiar with that percentage.
But you are familiar with who buys a weapon of this sort, aren't you, sir?
Well, the gun's intended for recreational use.
Ah. For who? Farmers or weekend sportsmen?
- Home protection. - Or disgruntled day-traders?
- Objection, Your Honor. - Sustained.
We sell these guns legally.
Oh, come on, Mr. Jankle, you know that this gun is favored by criminals.
The statistics of your gun company show that fact!
- Sir, that is up to law enforcement. - I see. So that's not your problem.
- Why don't you just say it? - Objection, Your Honor.
- Sustained. - It is the government's responsibility!
Say it to the jury, sir, that it's not your problem.
- Well, I... - Say it to my client, Celeste Wood,
who lost her husband, that it's not your problem.
- Tell it to the whole court... - You amaze me, Mr. Rohr.
that this Performa 990 with the print-resistant finish is not your problem.
I stand on the Second Amendment, goddammit!
Look, we've got damage-control strategies
and your testimony before cross was more than strong.
Oh, you... you are the one that told me denial was the route to take here.
- I was improperly prepped. - Now, look, Mr. Jankle...
You get outta here.
Mr. Fitch, I looked into the faces of those jurors,
I didn't see any friends sitting there.
Now where the hell are we with securing my verdict?
It's a cat-and-mouse game. We're about to change all that...
You just be a little more cat, little less mouse.
Yes, sir.
- Hello, Marlee. - Hello, Rankin.
I'm ready to make a deal. I'll meet your terms.
I'll pay you the money. I wanna meet Nick Easter.
Won't happen. Wendall doesn't need to meet him.
And besides, you know he's sequestered.
Well, fine. How about his pal Jeffrey Kerr?
Now we meet or there's no deal.
Nonnegotiable. What's it gonna be?
I hope you don't mind. I was waiting so long, I made a sandwich.
It's a fine piece, Nick. Longines hunter case, circa 1908.
1910, actually.
- You filming this? - No, no, no.
I couldn't use it. Neither of us wants a mistrial.
- No. - Can we walk?
Our bus is leaving at 8:00 am, so that gives us a little time together.
Marlee, please come out of the kitchen.
I'm not here to hurt you.
Please, sweetheart, sit down. Relax.
So, what? I'm supposed to convince you that I have them, right?
Oh, I-I think you've probably got them, or you will have.
- I just wanna know why. - Money.
Safer ways for a sharp kid like you to make money.
What's the real reason?
Business, politics, sports - you tell me what isn't rigged.
I mean, is there even such a thing as an objective jury, Mr. Fitch?
Not if I can help it.
Then why should the lawyers and guys like you make all the profit?
- You don't have much faith in the law. - I'm agnostic.
I knew there was something I liked about you.
And Marlee?
I'll leave it to her to tell you her reasons.
- That's not what I'm talking about. - What are you talking about?
How well do you know her?
Did you really bring me out here to talk about her?
What's this about?
Well, tomorrow's the big day and we need a little insurance.
So... let's talk.
Come on out here, sit down, we'll talk.
I'll make you a sandwich.
I'm ready to pay the money.
I can have ten million wire-transferred to the Caymans,
- subject to verification, of course. - Of course.
But tell me, who have you got?
Fernandez, Deshazo, Grimes and Dupree are in the bag.
Deets and Duke pretty much follow the others.
- Herrera and Shaver are wild cards. - No... Shaver's taken care of.
- Weese, too. - Oh.
Herrera... I wouldn't worry about him.
- Are you gonna swing this my way? - If you pay, yes. I will.
Good. Good. Tell Marlee I'm ready to conclude our business.
Done.
- I must say I'm impressed, Mr. Kerr. I... - Easter.
- Easter, correct. - Yeah.
I didn't see you coming. Obviously, I underestimated you.
And as a rule, I don't do that.
Make damn sure you don't underestimate me.
I'm sure one of us will be in touch.
I have a feeling after tonight, we're gonna be fast friends.
Who is it?
Who is this?
Bet you didn't expect to hear from me so soon.
Is this a bad time?
- No, not at all. - Oh, good.
Listen, I just wanted you to know your associate with the accent...
he won't be coming home tonight. At least he won't be walking home.
Aah!
And the price just went up.
15 million. Nonnegotiable.
Get some sleep, Rankin.
You're gonna need it.
- What's wrong? - Nothing, I just, uh...
I just wanted to hear your voice.
- You sure? - Yeah, I'm sure.
- I want you to get some sleep. - Yeah.
I miss you. Good night.
Today, lawyers Wendall Rohr and Durwood Cable
will have their last chances to strike the winning blow for their client
in the case of Celeste Wood v. Vicksburg Firearms.
Closing arguments will begin shortly.
The jury has now heard all the evidence in this landmark case...
It's been a very highly charged trial.
The jury has been sequestered for some time.
- This is a nightmare, man. - This could be the day...
that they finally get this case and begin their deliberations...
a high-stake decision will soon be in the hands of the jury.
This decision could be a quick one,
with the jury delivering a verdict perhaps by day's end.
All Jacob Wood and those ten other people did, all they did wrong...
on that Monday morning, was to go to work.
And there's gonna be another shooting and another shooting
and it's not gonna let up... until we demand a change.
You heard Mr. Garland Jankle,
the chief CEO of Vicksburg Firearms, sit in that chair
and say to you that what we do with his guns
is not his problem, and he's right.
You can make it his problem with your verdict.
You may for the first time make gun violence...
the gun industry's problem.
If you do, you are going to see fewer senseless deaths.
Like my client's husband, Jacob Wood.
- Make a big wish. Big wish! - Big wish! Big wish!
Yeah!
That's my boy.
And the reality of how a big firm actually practices law
just knocked some of the idealistic wind right out of him.
The following spring, after Gabby got her undergraduate degree,
- he dropped out and they left. - Um, I'm sorry. Did you say Gabby?
Gabrielle Brandt. She was Jeff's girl from back home in Gardner.
- Gardner, Indiana? - Only one I know of.
Jacob Wood, a man in his prime,
leaves behind a wife and little boy. I mean, the sadness of that,
the incomprehension, that gives way to anger. We must even the score
and not just those that are directly affected, but all of us.
We all experience these emotions.
Which is precisely why the law exists. To do what is just.
Now these families grieve and we all grieve for them.
But that is all the law will allow us to do.
Doyle, where the hell are you?
Headed for exit 245. Some backwater town in central Indiana.
- But I think I got a good lead on the girl. - Well, move it along.
The judge is about to give this thing to the jury. Shit.
Ladies and gentlemen, you've heard the evidence
and the arguments of counsel. I will now give you some instructions,
after which we will hold recess for lunch,
and then you will begin your deliberations.
- Wendall Rohr. - Hello, Wendall.
Well, hello, Marlee.
Good to hear your voice. Did you come up with the money?
You know, it's amazing how easy it is to procure $10 million.
It's an interesting exercise. $10 million. Like it was nothing.
But, as bad as I wanna win this case,
and I do...
after 35 years of doing this, you know...
I think it's more important that I can rest my head on the pillow tonight.
What are you saying?
I will take my chances. I'm not giving you a dime. Not a dime.
Well, I am sorry about this 'cause you're giving it to Fitch.
I'm giving it to Fitch? I'm gonna take my chances.
Hello. Hello there.
- I'm sorry to bother you. - Hi.
Um, I'm thinking of buying this house down here.
My wife and I have a three-year-old and another one on the way.
Do you think this is a good neighborhood for kids?
Oh, this is a great neighborhood for kids. I raised my girls here.
- Oh, really? - I sure did.
This man's life was taken from him, these other people were hurt and killed,
and the big-ass gun company made it happen by flouting the law.
Come on, Loreen, where does it end, huh?
All these folks suing for profit. What next? Have a heart attack,
sue McDonald's? Sue my grocery store 'cause you went in there
- and bought some pork chops... - Go on!
now you got clogged arteries? - Oh, brother, you've been smoking.
Guess what? It is still our right to keep and bear arms. Remember that.
Well, Mr. Fitch, are we concluding our business today or not?
Could you hold for just one minute, please?
One minute.
Doyle, give me something.
Well, I can't really talk right now, sweetheart.
I met this nice lady and she's telling me all about the neighborhood.
The jury has the case.
- There could be a verdict any second. - I hear you, sweetheart.
I tell you what. I'll call you back as soon as I get on the road, OK?
- Doyle. - I love you, too. All right. Bye.
Word just in. Rohr's not paying. It's yours.
Marlee? Unhappy news, I hear.
Rohr has taken himself out of the game.
I thought maybe you might be inclined to make a reduction in your selling price.
Look, Rankin, in 30 seconds you're still gonna lose. Understand?
Now, do we have a deal or don't we?
We have a deal. I'm wiring the money.
Congratulations, Mr. Fitch. You just bought yourself a verdict.
It's not our job to change the law. It is our duty to serve it.
And the law says this guy Kevin Peltier was responsible.
- Not the gun company. - Right.
Yes, we as a people, we are meant to serve the law,
but the law is also meant to serve the people.
- That's right. - I'm with you, Frank, all right?
Whoa, whoa. Ladies and gentlemen, whoa.
I think a preliminary vote here would help us along
if nobody has anything new to say.
- Let's vote. - I'd like to say something.
Couldn't be easy.
Hey, Frank, let him speak.
Well, I hope you like lots of sugar in your iced tea.
- Oh, yes, ma'am, I surely do. - Good.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
- Are these your daughters? - Mm-hm.
Gabrielle and Margaret.
They were Irish twins. You know, just one grade apart.
Mm-hm.
Forgive me.
It's still hard to talk about.
I'm sorry?
Well, it was bad enough losing Margaret,
but it's been so long since I've spoken to Gabby,
I just feel like I've lost them both.
Well, um, what happened? Uh, how did Margaret pass away?
You're not from around here. You wouldn't know about the shooting.
I don't think this case is about guns. I think this case is about the law,
and like Frank says, it's about serving the law.
But guns are involved and I don't know anybody in the room or in the world
- who doesn't feel strongly about guns... - Oh, please.
- What's wrong, Frank? - I can guess which way you lean.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
You've had an agenda the whole time you've been here.
- You got that right. - You're the plaintiff's boy.
Hey, come on, Frank. What are you saying?
- It's the truth. - What are you saying?
- Let him speak. - Well, what's the problem here?
They made a good product. It worked. Case closed.
It's a little more complicated than that, Frank.
A boy, James Pratt,
showed up at the high school with some guns that he bought
off the street in Indianapolis and he just started firing.
Yeah, I'm sorry the lady lost her husband. I am, but that's life.
I mean, I know a lot of other people had bad times, but they never sued anybody.
- Like who? - Like buddies of mine. Lost their arms,
- their legs. Never got a thin dime. - And they deserved better. You're right!
You bet I'm right. We're done here, Easter.
- Could we vote, please? - That's not good enough.
- Let's vote. - That's not good enough.
I wanna talk about the law. I wanna talk about Celeste Wood.
I got a call from the school and they said that something
had happened to Margaret. That she had died.
- She doesn't deserve that money. - Well, maybe she does,
maybe she doesn't. But she deserves a few hours of our time.
- Can we vote, please? - Yeah.
- Tell me why. Tell me why. - I wanna vote.
Anybody else wanna vote? Come on, I wanna vote.
- Tell me why. - Well, I wanna vote.
- Does anyone else here... - Let's vote.
- How does it work, Frank? - Pipe down, Easter.
- Tell me why. - We all got problems here, don't we?
- Amen. - All of us. But we don't get paid for it.
- She suffered! - Hell, I suffered.
I worked my ass off 12 years of crummy jobs for shit pay!
I have never asked anybody for a handout.
- She's not asking for a handout. - That is bullshit and you know it.
She was with Jeff. That's Gabby's boyfriend.
He told me that my girl, she froze.
She just stood there. It took seconds.
Jeff just kept saying, "I couldn't reach her. I couldn't pull her down. "
He always thought there was something that he could have done.
So what are we gonna tell Celeste Wood?
I don't know. I don't know what we're gonna tell her.
"Life isn't fair"? Write that on a postcard? Is that the best we've got?
I'll tell you what else. That lawyer can show me all the home movies he wants.
I deserve a hell of a lot more for what I've been through
than that woman out there. I mean, forget her!
- What about the law? - Fuck the law!
I don't care if the gun company gave that guy an M-16
with his morning donut. I'm not giving her a cent!
- That's bullshit, Frank. Bullshit. - Who's with Frank?
Yes, I'd like to report a robbery in progress at Mardi Gras Costumes,
6510 Charter Street.
Maybe some of you are afraid or intimidated.
Maybe some of you are just out for yourselves.
Frank is right about me. I'm the worst offender here.
I made up my mind about this case before I stepped through that door.
But this trial's not about me. It's not about you.
Now we owe it to Celeste Wood to sit in this room
and deliberate the facts of the case for as long as it takes.
Now if you don't mind, there's some testimony I'd like to review.
Mr. Fitch?
Yeah?
- Don't wire the money. - What? What's going on?
- Where are you? - I'm in Gardner. Gardner, Indiana.
- It's a setup. - Gardner.
- Get it open! - Oh, shit. We got company.
Take the network down now. OK, people, pack it up, tear it down.
Now. This is not a test. Clear your drives, wipe the screens.
Let's go. Let's go. Box all photos and files.
No monitors. Leave the monitors. Code four, people.
- Mr. Fitch? - 30 seconds!
Mr. Fitch, we really need to go, sir.
20 seconds!
Lamb, what the hell happened in Gardner?
1989. Gardner v. Blackwell Arms.
Town sued the gun manufacturer, town lost.
Town went bankrupt. Fitch worked the case.
You got it? Fitch worked the case.
to hear the jury's decision.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
Would you hand it to the bailiff, please?
Thank you, Bailiff.
In the matter of Celeste Wood v. Vicksburg Firearms,
the jury finds for the plaintiff Celeste Wood.
They award special damages in the amount of $1 million
and general damages in the amount of $110 million.
This court is still in session.
Court is in session. Order, please. Order.
- That's bullshit! - That's enough. Court's adjourned.
When Judge Harkin read this verdict,
a spontaneous round of applause from the entire courtroom. Obvious support
for the teary-eyed widow who waged war on the entire gun industry...
No matter what the anti-gun lobbyists say, or the NRA says,
on this day, in this courtroom, the final word was given by the jury.
There have been other lawsuits filed
against gun manufacturers in the past
and juries have traditionally sided with the gun industry, until today.
The $110 million award, which the jury handed Celeste Wood today,
could cripple the gun industry.
And to say it's been an uphill battle for Mr. Rohr is an understatement.
In fact, you might say it's been a David and Goliath battle.
But today, one gun industry giant has fallen.
Ten years, Fitch.
They're gonna appeal, the gun company. You know that, right?
Of course. But not with you.
You show up on another case, any case,
even a contested parking ticket, this gets faxed to the IRS.
And the Justice Department, the Federal Board of Judicial Review.
You're out. Retired as of today.
Gardner, Indiana.
- School shooting. - He remembers.
Blackwell Arms.
The town really thought they had that one, didn't they?
We did have it.
Now what?
What on earth are you gonna do with all that money, huh?
- $15 million, that changes people. - Yeah, well, that's what we're hoping.
See, back home, the victims' families could really use that money.
- Good-bye, Fitch. - Well, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
How did you swing 'em, huh?
How'd you swing 'em your way? I hear you got ten votes.
- How'd you do that? - I didn't swing anybody.
I just stopped you from stealing the thing.
We let 'em vote their hearts. That means you lose. Enjoy your drink.
What, do you think you can just walk away from this? Huh?
And I'm betting that the two of you, you can't stop!
Because if you did, what would you have?
Nothing!
That's why we're gonna have lunch. We're celebratin', that's why.
- Do you know why we're celebrating? - Yeah.
We are very happy today.
Celeste, Henry, go on inside, get me an extra order of cornbread.
Get 'em that table, Milton. Just gonna be one minute.
- You got it. - Thank you.
I wanna go home.
OK. Let's go.