The Practice (TV Series)
Checkmates (2000)
Dylan McDermott: Bobby Donnell
Quotes
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Ellenor Frutt : I can either go to the D.A., turn over the new evidence, ask them to reopen the investigation...
Eugene Young : Richard Bay.
Ellenor Frutt : Exactly. He won't do anything.
Lindsay Dole : You have to add him to your witness list.
Ellenor Frutt : I'm doing that. My question is do I come clean with what I've got or do I just play the card at trial?
Bobby Donnell : Spring it at trial.
Lindsay Dole : Wait a second. If they investigate and this guy's story checks out, you might avoid a trial.
Bobby Donnell : Doesn't sound like he totally blows the prosecution's case, and if the trial goes forward, the less prepared Richard Bay is...
Jimmy Berluti : Unfair surprise.
Rebecca Washington : No, it isn't. The witness is on the list.
Jimmy Berluti : Are you telling them what the witness will say?
Ellenor Frutt : No, just that he was in the area, and that he went into the house with this Kenny person. Nothing about hearing screams. I don't have to tip that.
Jimmy Berluti : Unfair surprise.
Eugene Young : It is not.
Ellenor Frutt : It isn't.
Eugene Young : Look, put him on the witness list. Let him give his testimony. Let that be that. No way do you tip off Richard Bay.
Lucy Hatcher : [Door opens is Lucy Hatcher] Bobby, there's a detective here to see you.
Detective Frank Lopes : Bobby.
Bobby Donnell : Frank, what's up?
Detective Frank Lopes : It isn't good. Can I talk to you?
Bobby Donnell : Sure.
Detective Frank Lopes : Thanks. Hey, Eugene, could you sit in?
Eugene Young : Sure.
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Judge Emily Harrison : [Coming back to the courtroom] We've had parents extract confessions before and the test has always been was the parent acting as a parent, or, rather, as an agent of the state when speaking with his or her arrested child? Nobody here seems to be doubting Detective Lopes went into that room as a father, not as a police officer, but to me, the question doesn't end there. Anything designed to elicit an incriminating response by definition is an interrogation. Therefore, Ms. Gamble, if you send the father into that room as part of a design to collect information, the court holds that to be an interrogation, even if the father was an unwitting participant. The question here is, what was in your mind? Only you know. The court, however, is allowed to take note of your competitive reputation. The court also takes note that Detective Lopes never would have entered that room unless you send for him, and since you sent for him after you struck out with the police interrogation, and since the defendant have invoked his right to counsel, I smell a foul ball. The confession is suppressed. The gun and the bullet are deemed fruits of the poisonous tree and are similarly suppressed. In the absence of this evidence, I find no cause to hold the defendant, and he is therefore free to go. Adjourned.
[Bangs the gavel. Scott is saved by his father Detective Frank Lopes. And Detective Lopes giving thanks to Mr. Donnell]
Detective Frank Lopes : Thank you. Thank you. I have to admit, I hate what you guys do, but I love it today.
[Ms. Gamble have one final word]
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : Would Your Honor have a big long stick handy, preferably barbed?
Judge Emily Harrison : I'm sorry?
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : I'd like to bend over and have it run up my ass to complete the experience of appearing before you.
Judge Emily Harrison : I'll let that go, Counsel... once.
Detective Frank Lopes : I won't let it go, Helen. You sent me in there to do your work with my own son.
Bobby Donnell : Come on, Frank. Come on.
[Mr. Donnell taking Detective Lopes and leave the courtroom]
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Detective Michael McGuire : And at that point, he asked to see his lawyer.
Bobby Donnell : And then what happened?
Detective Michael McGuire : We stopped the interrogation. Then, since his father was a colleague, out of courtesy, we gave him a call.
Bobby Donnell : And then?
Detective Michael McGuire : His father came down, went in, and talked to his son. Then, when Frank emerged, he said that his son was ready to make a statement.
Bobby Donnell : Detective, did Scott Lopes ask to see his father?
Detective Michael McGuire : Actually, no. He just asked to see his lawyer.
Bobby Donnell : Whose idea was it to call Detective Lopes?
Detective Michael McGuire : Helen Gamble's.
Bobby Donnell : Your Honor, at this point, I'd like to call Helen Gamble.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : I'm the prosecuting D.A.
Bobby Donnell : This is just an evidentiary hearing.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : [Protesting] So what? I'm the D.A. of record. I can't be...
Bobby Donnell : Then maybe you shouldn't be.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : What the hell are you up to now?
Bobby Donnell : Your Honor?
Judge Emily Harrison : Ms. Gamble, please take the stand.
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Bobby Donnell : I don't question that Frank Lopes went into that room as a father, not as a cop.
Judge Emily Harrison : Then what's the issue?
Bobby Donnell : The issue is he was used unwittingly by the district attorney. She called him to get a confession. Regardless what was in Frank Lopes' mind, Helen Gamble's thinking was, "Let's use the father to get the information," knowing the father, a good, straight cop, would turn it over.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : So you're a mind reader now.
Judge Emily Harrison : Well, Ms. Gamble, if professional courtesy was the goal, why did you not call the father before you hit the wall with the police interrogation?
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : The police interrogation had started before I got there.
Bobby Donnell : Scott Lopes asked for his lawyer. By law, all questioning must stop.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : And all questioning did stop. It was his father, and on cases where the father is also a cop, the courts look to the totality of circumstances to determine, "Was the statement given voluntarily?" Here, it was, and everyone knows it.
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Clerk : Case number 42643, Commonwealth vs. Scott Lopes.
Bobby Donnell : Bobby Donnell for the defendant, Your Honor. Waive reading, ask for personal recognizance.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : Murder two.
Bobby Donnell : No flight risk. This was accidental...
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : Murder two, the commonwealth opposes bail.
Judge Emily Harrison : Bail is denied.
Bobby Donnell : The defense moves to suppress my client's confession. 6th amendment grounds - he asked for his lawyer and was denied.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : The confession was made to his own father...
Bobby Donnell : My client's father is a police officer who went in to interrogate, and since Scott Lopes is his son...
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : You got to be kidding.
Bobby Donnell : He asked for a lawyer. They sent in a police officer.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : Bobby, even for you...
Bobby Donnell : Helen, even for you...
Judge Emily Harrison : All right, what's going on?
Bobby Donnell : It's exactly what I said.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : Detective Lopes entered that room as a father, not a police officer. There's no state action here.
Bobby Donnell : And I disagree.
Judge Emily Harrison : Mr. Donnell, you're suggesting that Detective Lopes assumed the role of police officer when talking to his own son.
Bobby Donnell : I request a short evidentiary hearing, Your Honor. I'd like to call Detective Michael McGuire to the stand.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : What are you trying to scam now?
Bobby Donnell : I object to that, but as long as we're throwing words like "scam" around...
Judge Emily Harrison : We're not. The detective will take the stand at 11:00.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : You're joking.
Judge Emily Harrison : Next case.
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Bobby Donnell : You let him talk?
Detective Frank Lopes : He's not a criminal.
Bobby Donnell : I understand, Frank, but he's facing criminal charges.
Detective Frank Lopes : Bobby, I know the way police think, okay? You don't talk, you're a suspect, automatic.
Eugene Young : Well, it seems he is anyway. They going to arraign him?
Detective Frank Lopes : I don't know on what. Helen Gamble promised me...
Bobby Donnell : Helen Gamble's the D.A.?
Detective Frank Lopes : Yeah. She said she might have to withdraw, since, you know, if she's going to help me, I guess she'd have to.
Bobby Donnell : Frank, she might want to help you, but this is a homicide.
Eugene Young : It is not going to slip by quietly, and D.A.'s rarely cut favors on murder cases. Trust me on that.
Lucy Hatcher : [Opening the door] Bobby, Helen Gamble's here.
[It's about time]
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A.D.A. Helen Gamble : We're charging him with second-degree murder.
Detective Frank Lopes : What did you say?
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : Unfortunately, they're all over this upstairs.
Bobby Donnell : Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Helen. Second-degree? That's life.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : With the possibility of parole.
Detective Frank Lopes : You heard it. It was an accident, for God's sakes. He's going to go to prison because of what - politics?
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : It isn't politics, Frank.
Detective Frank Lopes : Helen, you and I go back pretty good. I mean... You look me in the eye, you said you'd do what could, and now...
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : And I am. Frank, when you brought us in there for his statement, I thought he was an accessory at best.
Eugene Young : It was an accident. Guy falls down a flight of stairs, you bring murder charges? How is that anything...
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : He fired the gun.
[Eugene didn't notice. Bobby is chagrined]
Detective Frank Lopes : What?
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : The gun had been discharged. We did a trace metal on Scott. He fired it. He then dug the bullet out of the wall to avoid us finding it. I'd like to help, but we've got an armed assault in a dwelling. We've got enough to make first-degree, in which case there's no chance of parole.
[Detective Lopes look weird]
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : Murder two's a break, believe it or not. I'm sorry.
[Ms. Gamble is leaving]
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Scott Lopes : I didn't shoot at him, just to the side to scare him.
Detective Frank Lopes : For God's sakes, why didn't you tell me?
Scott Lopes : I was afraid of how it would look.
Detective Frank Lopes : You aimed the gun...
Scott Lopes : I shot 6 ft. wide of him, dad, at 4 ft. away. There's no way...
Detective Frank Lopes : But you lied! Okay? You lied to me, you lied to them, and any chance of cooperation - God!
Bobby Donnell : All right, all right. Yelling's not going to solve anything. We need to think.
Scott Lopes : I didn't shoot at him, and I didn't push him. It was an accident.
Detective Frank Lopes : Well, now what?
Bobby Donnell : He's being arraigned tomorrow. After that, we dig in.
Detective Frank Lopes : He's going to go trial for murder.
Scott Lopes : I don't believe this.
Eugene Young : There may be another way to go.
Bobby Donnell : What?
Eugene Young : I don't want to speak too soon. I - I need to do a little research, but we may have an out.
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Bobby Donnell : What are you thinking?
Eugene Young : Their case is that confession, after he asked for his lawyer.
Bobby Donnell : He confessed to his father.
Eugene Young : Who's a cop.
Bobby Donnell : But he didn't confess to him as a cop. He was talking to his dad.
Eugene Young : That'll be Helen's argument. Doesn't have to be ours.
[Eugene Young leaving and walk away. Bobby is walking]