The Practice (TV Series)
Checkmates (2000)
Jason Kravits: A.D.A. Richard Bay
Quotes
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A.D.A. Helen Gamble : I want to quit.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : You can't quit. I need you to talk me out to quitting.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : Why is it getting so hard to get convictions these days?
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Because people are becoming more distrustful of the police, and D.A.'s - we don't have the presumption of integrity anymore.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : But why? I don't understand.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Tell me. Did you send the father in there for the purpose of getting kid's confession?
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : Yes.
[Richard sees that]
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : So?
[Helen wipe the napkin off her lips]
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : If he were innocent, there'd be no confession to be had.
[Richard heard that]
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Can I have your pickle?
[Helen toss her pickle in the plate for Richard Bay. Helen gets drink, a glass of wine. Helen sighs]
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : I need it, Richard. Give it to me.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : What?
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : The speech - why we do what we do.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Oh, I am not really in the mood after the...
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : Oh, please, Richard, I need it. Please give it to me, and you don't just phone it in.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Helen.
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : Please. Can't you see how demoralized I am?
A.D.A. Richard Bay : [Richard give this a shot for the speech and will give it a try] Okay.
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A.D.A. Richard Bay : There are heroes in this world. They're called district attorneys. They don't get to have clients, people who smile at them at the end of the trial, who look them in the eye and say, "thank you." Nobody's there to appreciate the district attorney because we worked for the state, and our gratitude comes only from knowing there's a tide out there - a tide the size of a tsunami coming out of a bottomless cesspool, a tide called crime, which, if left unchecked, will rob every American of his freedom, a tide which strips individuals of the privilege of being able to... to walk down a dark street or to take $20 out of an ATM machine without fear of being mugged. All Congress does is talk, but it's the district attorney who grabs his sword, who digs into the trenches and fights the fight, who dogs justice day after day after day without thanks, without so much as a simple pat on the back, but we do it. We do it. We do it because we are the crusaders, the last frontier of an American justice, knowing that of a man cannot feel safe, he can never, never feel free.
[Customers, bartender, and waiters hear Richard Bay's speech]
A.D.A. Helen Gamble : Thank you.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : What about your other pickle?
[Helen gives another pickle for Richard Bay and take a good taste. They're going back and continue eating their dinner for the rest of the evening at the restaurant in Boston]
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Ellenor Frutt : You want to call me as a witness?
A.D.A. Richard Bay : I know what he told you. You can vilify that his testimony was a total fabrication.
Ellenor Frutt : Are you on drugs?
A.D.A. Richard Bay : As a matter of fact, I am. I've been pounding aspirin for 3 hours.
Judge Roberta Kittleson : Mr. Bay.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Your Honor, Eddie Chessler just proffered false testimony. She knows it.
Ellenor Frutt : You can't call me to testify against the interests of my client.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : I believe I can in the interest of justice. You can excuse yourself. He can...
Ellenor Frutt : Oh, come on.
Judge Roberta Kittleson : Look, what happened here? I have to admit, this all seems very strange.
Ellenor Frutt : The guy flipped on me, then he flipped on Richard - anything to get into the witness chair.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : You didn't orchestrate this, did you?
Ellenor Frutt : I'm sorry?
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Oh, how ingenious. Get the prosecution to call him. That way, his testimony becomes a total bombshell.
Ellenor Frutt : Hey, I am the one who excused his testimony when I knew he was going to lie.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Which goes totally against your character. Oh, I should've known something was up the minute you started acting ethically.
Ellenor Frutt : Have another aspirin.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Your Honor, she has information. She's a witness.
Judge Roberta Kittleson : [Judge Kittleson declines] I'm sorry, Mr. Bay. I'm not going to allow the prosecution to call defense counsel to impeach a state's witness. You got a bad bounce. You'll just have to deal with it.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : What a gyp!
Judge Roberta Kittleson : Excuse me?
A.D.A. Richard Bay : This is a total gyp.
Judge Roberta Kittleson : Oh, that argument you'll definitely want to save for appeal. For now, let's go.
[They march back into the courtroom]
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A.D.A. Richard Bay : [Hops out of the elevator. Mr. Bay declines] Forget it.
Ellenor Frutt : Richard, he is 17 going on 12.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : You had your evaluations. The kid can stand trial.
Ellenor Frutt : Come on, I know there's a big humanitarian trapped inside that little Nazi body.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Oh, yes, make "little" jokes. That's very big of you, Ellenor.
Ellenor Frutt : Look, Richard, I know you and I have had our differences.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Ask Brian Tabbitt's parents what they'd like to work out. You client killed their 8-year-old son for sport.
Ellenor Frutt : Darryl Hutchins has the I.Q...
A.D.A. Richard Bay : I am not making any deals. I'm sorry.
[Mr. Bay leaves]
Ellenor Frutt : Midget.
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Judge Roberta Kittleson : If you think I'll tolerate any of the nonsense that went on in that last trial...
Ellenor Frutt : I'm not entitled to freedom of speech?
A.D.A. Richard Bay : That wasn't about free speech. That was intended for the jury.
Ellenor Frutt : It was not.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Oh, give me a break, Ellenor.
Judge Roberta Kittleson : Both of you...
A.D.A. Richard Bay : They're not sequestered. She's hoping one or two of them will catch that little sound bite on the news.
Judge Roberta Kittleson : Look, I am this close to ordering that you two never be allowed in the same courtroom again.
[to Mr. Bay]
Judge Roberta Kittleson : Mr. Bay, take something, please.
[And to Miss Frutt]
Judge Roberta Kittleson : Miss Frutt, consider yourself gagged. No more talking to the press.
[Anything else?]
Judge Roberta Kittleson : That's all.
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A.D.A. Richard Bay : You try to agitate me, Ellenor. Why can't you just admit it?
Ellenor Frutt : This is a case we should plead out, but you personalize everything because you need to beat me, so...
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Your client, committed a murder. D.A.s should take that personally.
Ellenor Frutt : Oh, go away.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Can I ask you something, Ellenor?
[Ellenor turned back to Mr. Bay]
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Your guy picked up a board and clubbed an 8-year old to death. Does that even bother you? Or - Or what if you win and put the 17 going on 12 killer back out there. That thought didn't even give you a twinge?
Ellenor Frutt : First of all, he said he didn't do it.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Oh, well, I didn't know that. Let's dismiss, then.
[But guess who's here]
Eddie Chessler : Ms. Frutt? My name's Eddie Chessler. I'm kind of a friend of Darryl's.
Ellenor Frutt : And?
[Eddie is looking. Mr. Bay hears from Eddie Chessler]
Ellenor Frutt : What can I do for you?
[They're going to talk about it in private]
Eddie Chessler : Darryl didn't kill that kid.
[Ellenor is pause]
Eddie Chessler : Can we, like, go someplace, talk?
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Ellenor Frutt : I just found put about the witness this morning.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Oh, right.
Ellenor Frutt : You were there when he walked up to me, Richard.
Judge Roberta Kittleson : What is your offer of proof?
Ellenor Frutt : He was in the area. He may be no good to me at all, who knows, but I'm desperate, okay? My client doesn't have enough of an I.Q. to contribute to his own defense.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Here we go again.
Ellenor Frutt : He knows that... and I should be allowed to add one lousy witness.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Your Honor, if I may respond.
Judge Roberta Kittleson : No, you may not. The witness is allowed. Let's go into court and get this over with.
[Ms. Frutt nodded. Mr. Bay will explain before he exits]
A.D.A. Richard Bay : It's not an official objection, but I think you favor her.
[They leave. And Judge Kittleson is writing her wordpad]
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Lambert : The victim died of blunt-force trauma to the head.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Were you able to determine the cause of the trauma?
Lambert : Yes. Wood fragments were recovered from the boy's skull, indicating he had been beaten with a wooden object.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Did you subsequently the source of those fragments?
Lambert : They came from a plank removed from the flooring of the house and later recovered by the officers in the alley behind the crime scene.
[Assistant D.A. Richard Bay shows the wood of objects]
A.D.A. Richard Bay : This would be the piece of wood?
Lambert : Yes, and further analysis found it to be covered with blood matching the victim's.
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A.D.A. Richard Bay : And you tested for prints?
Donald Kent : Yes, I performed a fingerprint analysis of the latent prints lifted off that same piece of wood.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : And what did your analysis reveal?
Donald Kent : Comparison revealed those prints to match the fingerprints of the defendant.
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Mr. Tabbitt : He was always afraid of him.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Your son was afraid...
Mr. Tabbitt : Of him -- the defendant.
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Did he say why?
Mr. Tabbitt : Not really. Brian would just say that he was a little off.
[Darryl slams the table. Judge Kittleson turns to Mr. Hutchins to control himself]
Judge Roberta Kittleson : Mr. Hutchins.
Darryl Hutchins : [Protesting] I'm not off!
Ellenor Frutt : [Whispering] Darryl.
[Continue]
A.D.A. Richard Bay : Mr. Tabbitt, did you regard your son's fears to be serious?
Mr. Tabbitt : Not enough. I just wish I had done something -- Gone to his grandmother, checked him out.
Ellenor Frutt : Objection.
Mr. Tabbitt : How could someone so clearly disturbed be on the street unsupervised? How does that work?
Ellenor Frutt : Objection.
Judge Roberta Kittleson : Sustained.
[Turns to Mr. Bay]
Judge Roberta Kittleson : Mr. Bay.
[Mr. Bay's time is up]
A.D.A. Richard Bay : That's all I have.
[Mr. Tabbitt gasps]