Christopher McDonald: Rex Weller

Quotes 

• Rex Weller : First thing you gotta know is your father's a good man, second thing is you know how he told you it's always important to tell the truth?

  Charlie Sullivan : Yeah.

  Rex Weller : That's wrong. In this world you gotta learn quick who you can trust with the truth and who you can't. The police, someone's trying to hurt you, you should run to them, but do not make this mistake, they're not your friends, they're the police, their job is to put people in jail. A situation like this, there's only one person in the world you can trust with the truth, and that's your lawyer, because no matter what you tell me, I can never use that truth to hurt you. You understand?

  Charlie Sullivan : Yeah.

  Rex Weller : Good.

• Rex Weller : Rex Weller, I'm counsel for Charles Sullivan, an 8-year-old you have back there.

  Desk Sergeant : Then these are for you: copy of the boy's statement and preliminary forensics report. I'll tell the detectives you're here.

  Rex Weller : If you're questioning him, stop now.

  Desk Sergeant : I'll pass it along.

• Rex Weller : This the younger one?

  Lynn Holt : Yeah, he was crying, I had him lay his head on my lap and he just fell asleep.

  Rex Weller : He tell you what happened?

  Lynn Holt : No, he just kept saying he's sorry.

  Rex Weller : How's his brother?

  Lynn Holt : I don't know, his father arrived just a few minutes ago, he's in the trauma center with Mary. I always liked that suit on you.

  Rex Weller : Thanks. Where'd the bullet hit him?

  Lynn Holt : In the head.

  Rex Weller : [under his breath]  My Lord. Those the cops?

  Lynn Holt : Yeah, they haven't taken any statements yet, they're waiting for the investigators to arrive.

  Rex Weller : You know where he got a hold of a gun?

  Lynn Holt : There was an open lock box sitting on the bed, I guess it was hers.

• Rex Weller : Mr. Sullivan, first I want to say how sorry I am for your loss, I have no way of knowing what you could be going through.

  Richard Sullivan : Thank you.

  Rex Weller : That said, I gotta tell you're one of the stupidest people I've ever met in my life.

  Richard Sullivan : What?

  Rex Weller : I phrased it that way because I need you to understand the gravity of this mistake. You bring your 8-year-old down to a police department and have him make a statement like this?

  Richard Sullivan : He woke up and told me that he killed his brother.

  Rex Weller : So your first impulse was to turn him in? He's your son.

  Richard Sullivan : What was I supposed to do, cover it up and hope the cops don't think to ask any questions?

  Rex Weller : Okay, let's dial this back down, you did what you thought was right, now you got to turn this over to me, because reading his statement I can think of at least two interpretations. One of which will put your son behind bars for 13 years, another will make sure you can take him to Little League this weekend. Now the D.A.'s going to see this in about 20 minutes, which version would you like her to believe?

  Richard Sullivan : Okay.

  Rex Weller : Okay, I'm going to have to ask you to wait out here.

  Richard Sullivan : Wait, you're going to speak to my son without me?

  Rex Weller : If you're in there, you can be subpoenaed to testify to anything he says, there's no such thing as parent-child privilege. You want to find yourself testifying against your son?

  Richard Sullivan : No.

  Rex Weller : Thank you.

• Rex Weller : I just got off the phone with the ex-husband, Charlie stayed at his house last night, he said the kid just woke up, slept over 18 hours.

  Viveca Foster : Probably just went into shock, shut his whole system down.

  Joe Celano : He tell his father what happened?

  Rex Weller : Hasn't said a word. Anyone hear from Lynn?

  Randi King : She's over at Mary's, she got somebody over there ripping up the carpet, cleaning, she didn't want Mary to have to deal with it.

  Joe Celano : Oh man.

  Danni Lipton : What do you do, do you just move? How do you live in a house after something like this happens?

  Rex Weller : I told the dad to bring him down here as soon as possible, we have to know what he's going to tell the police.

• Rex Weller : [reading over Charlie's confession]  Four lines long, the centerpiece is 'We were fighting, and I shot him'. Dammit, we could still argue it's consistent with an accident.

  Lynn Holt : Gunshot residue on Charlie's right hand.

  Rex Weller : You were there, what did it sound like?

  Lynn Holt : You ever hear two boys fighting? It *always* sounds like they're trying to kill each other.

• Alex Trujillo : It's common sense, Your Honor, either the safe was already open which constitutes criminal negligence, or the child knew how to open it which constitutes criminal negligence.

  Judge William Otis : Mr. Weller?

  Rex Weller : Approximately a million Americans own this type of gun safe, it's easy to open in an emergency, yet the locking mechanism has over a thousand possible combinations, referring to Defense Exhibit 2. With the court's indulgence we'd like to perform a demonstration.

  Judge William Otis : What kind of demonstration?

  Rex Weller : I'd like to ask my co-counsel, Miss Holt, who does not know the combination of this lock, to try and open this safe.

  Alex Trujillo : And are we really supposed to believe Mr. Weller hasn't imparted this information to Miss Holt?

  Rex Weller : Miss Holt and I haven't imparted anything to one another for a day and a half, Your Honor.

  Judge William Otis : Pick someone else.

  Rex Weller : If your bailiff would agree. Thanks, push any three buttons in any order.

  Alex Trujillo : Your Honor, I only have so many *hours* I'm allowed to be in court.

  Judge William Otis : You have two minutes, Mr. Weller.

  Rex Weller : Your Honor?

  Judge William Otis : Two.

  Rex Weller : Your Honor, this is a safe, it's not a piggy bank.

  Judge William Otis : You asked for the demonstration, Mr. Weller.

  Rex Weller : Then let me just explain a theory we are relying on. Any home security firm will tell you that out of the hundreds of thousands of alarm codes available to their clients, most choose from less than a few dozen different patterns. If you choose spatially you pick the four corners, if you choose by a number, it's your wife's birthday, and if it's an abort code, you use the name of your dog. But, with a gun safe, you need a combination you can open in the dark and in a high stress situation. When presented with only five buttons, 65% of people will choose 3 of them. 50% of those will choose either 1, 3 and 5, or 5, 3 and 1. After that there's only about a dozen combinations that the majority of people choose.

  [looks to the bailiff, everybody looks and sees the safe is open] 

  Judge William Otis : How long has that been open?

  Bailiff : I wasn't sure I was supposed to interrupt.

  Alex Trujillo : Your Honor, we have no way of knowing if...

  Rex Weller : I believe I still have another minute.

  Judge William Otis : Yes you do.

  Rex Weller : Your Honor, I had no idea whether that was going to happen or not. Your bailiff could've sat there for an hour punching all the wrong combinations, but he didn't, Your Honor, he did what any child could do. That's our reasonable theory, our client relied on this being a safe, it turned out to be a piggy bank.

  Alex Trujillo : Your Honor, we haven't heard testimony, he could've just made up those statistics, we have no way of knowing...

  Judge William Otis : What, Mr. Trujillo? The safe opened, don't pretend like it's nothing.

  Alex Trujillo : She chose the safe, Your Honor, and the combination.

  Judge William Otis : The law requires that she keeps the gun in a safe, not that the safe be impenetrable. And although I find this demonstration very disturbing, I can't say that had I been a gun owner, I would not have made the exact same mistake. I find no negligence here, the case is dismissed in the interest of justice.

• Lynn Holt : We're arguing this in Santa Monica, the odds are really good that any judge we pull is going to be just as anti-handgun as the rest of us.

  Rex Weller : You're presuming a lot.

  Lynn Holt : Oh please, I'm on board with this because I care about Mary and she's dealing with an unthinkable tragedy, but let's not pretend everyone of us in this room doesn't secretly blame her for this child's death. A handgun in the home is something like 20 times more likely to kill a family member than an intruder. Anyone who'd *own* a gun knowing that, is criminally irresponsible.

  [Rex takes a handgun out of his drawer and lays it on the desk. Joe and Dani quietly get up and leave] 

  Lynn Holt : How long has that been in that drawer?

  Lynn Holt : Since I moved in.

  Lynn Holt : And when were you planning on telling me?

  Rex Weller : When I decided it was your business to know. The gun is registered, I have a carry permit in my wallet, and the drawer is locked.

  Lynn Holt : And who can argue on the dependability of locks? How dare you bring that into my firm?

  Rex Weller : I don't see any children working around here.

  Lynn Holt : My son has been in this office!

  Rex Weller : Have you ever been shot at?

• Rex Weller : Detective Davies and his partner will be here shortly, they'll want to ask you what happened, we just need to know it before they do, okay?

  [Mary sits down] 

  Rex Weller : Okay, let's talk about the gun, how long have you owned it?

  Mary Sullivan : About a year, I got it at R&J Guns in the Valley.

  Rex Weller : Does the gun safe open with a key or a combination?

  Mary Sullivan : It's got these five raised buttons on the outside so you can feel it in the dark, you push in the right buttons and it pops open.

  Rex Weller : Did you ever show your son the combination?

  Mary Sullivan : No, of course not.

  Rex Weller : Did you know the gun was loaded?

  Mary Sullivan : That's the point of a gun safe, you keep it loaded but it's locked.

  Rex Weller : You lived along before, right? When you were single?

  Mary Sullivan : Yes.

  Rex Weller : But this is the first time you felt a need to own a firearm.

  Mary Sullivan : Yes.

  Rex Weller : You want to tell me why?

  Mary Sullivan : [pause]  I was attacked a year ago in my house. It was about a month after we separated.

  Rex Weller : Attacked?

  Mary Sullivan : I was raped, several times.

  Mary Sullivan : Oh my God, Mary, why didn't you tell me?

  Mary Sullivan : I'm okay.

  Rex Weller : Did you report it?

  Mary Sullivan : No. Graham and Charlie had taken the trash out that night. It wasn't even their job, they were doing it for me because I had a headache, they kissed me goodnight, tucked me in, went to bed, but they'd left the back door open. This person came down the alley, saw the door open and came in. If I had reported it, the boys would've thought it was their fault. I couldn't let them think that. You do not do that to kids. A couple of days later, I bought the gun.

  Rex Weller : [long pause]  That's all we need, you'll be fine.

• Rex Weller : Yes or no question, are you filing charges on Charlie Sullivan? Because no matter what evidence you think you have, bottom lime: he's 8 years old. There's no way you can convince a judge the kid has the ability to form specific intent.

  DDA Ann Hoffner : Rex, I'm not gonna file charges on an 8 year old.

  Rex Weller : Thank you.

  DDA Ann Hoffner : I'm filing on the mother.

  Rex Weller : Oh come on, her 12 year old just died in her arms, that's not punishment enough for you?

  DDA Ann Hoffner : No, which is why I'm charging gross negligence manslaughter.

• Charlie Sullivan : Remember you said if I tell you something, you can't tell anyone? Is that still true.

  Rex Weller : Yes it is.

  Charlie Sullivan : I lied to you. It wasn't an accident.

  Rex Weller : ...Okay...

  Charlie Sullivan : Graham was always sad all the time, ever since Dad left, he kept asking why? And everyone kept telling him that it wasn't his fault. I told him, he wouldn't believe me. When I went into the room, Graham had the gun, he had it in his mouth like this, I grabbed it and I pulled it away, but it still went off. I couldn't stop him.

  Rex Weller : Why'd you lie, Charlie?

  Charlie Sullivan : Mom and Dad would've thought it was their fault, and that would've made them really sad. You're not gonna tell them, right?

  Rex Weller : No.

  Charlie Sullivan : Thanks.

• Lynn Holt : [Rex racks his gun and puts it on her desk]  What the hell are you doing?

  Rex Weller : You better get damn comfortable with that and everything it represents, because that is our whole case, and if you flinch like that every time you even see one, one might get the sense you're not totally committed.

  Lynn Holt : Get that thing out of here.

  Rex Weller : This thing? This is a thing that can be used safely and effectively for self defense, and it's no more likely to cause injury to the...

  Lynn Holt : [talking over him]  That's...

  Rex Weller : [talks over her]  -the position of the NRA and it's gotta be our position too if we're gonna have any hope of our client keeping her kid. I don't care if you believe it, and it's none of your business if I do, but you better be able to convince a judge that you do. If you can't, just keep sitting there and we'll take that gun and this case off your desk. Hey, if you want to learn how to load it, call me.

• Danni Lipton : What're the odds the kid could've figured out the combination himself?

  Rex Weller : There *are* only 5 buttons on this thing.

  Danni Lipton : Still, gotta be hundreds of possibilities.

  Rex Weller : Patricia was a math major... Patricia!