Reilly 04 - Breach of Promise (36 page)

Kevin: Why, Bob. We have the sweet satisfaction of being an integral part of justice in America.

They laugh.

Cliff: Let’s get back to our earlier discussion. We spent a lot of time discussing Mike Markov’s testimony. But whether he lied is not the issue. The issue is, does Lindy have a leg to stand on?

Diane: You know, I just can’t let this go by. Every time you refer to Mike, you call him Mike Markov. Every time you refer to her, you just call her Lindy. Has everyone else noticed that?

Bob: What difference does it make?

Diane: He sounds more important.

Cliff: I’m sorry, Diane. I really am. If I did that, it was unconscious.

Diane: The worst part of it is, I believe you. You are so unaware of the way you are stampeding this woman, and many of the women here right into dust.

Maribel: Will you please quit being my champion, Diane? I do not feel stampeded. You have such a nerve.

Kevin: Ladies, and Diane, I can see this is hard for you. You see a man who has tossed off a good woman. But where, oh, where is it written that he should pay for that for the rest of his life? They had a good run. Now it’s over.

Frank: She needs to forget about him and move on.

Bob: I say we help her along by giving her a kick in the rear end.

Kris: You know what? I’d like to vote again.

Diane: You’re giving up.

Kris: She’s got her rich friends to bail her out. I need to get back to my kids, and in terms of the universe, who cares whether she walks away rich or poor. She’ll toil along like the rest of us.

Diane: Is this the way it works? Somebody wants to go home, so we let Lindy Markov down?

Kris: Diane, I wish I was holier than thou. But I’m not. I’m just a person, trying to scrape by. And I do not have time for this.

Diane: You know what? Up to now I had a shred of faith in the jury system. People would ask me, shouldn’t a smart judge be the one to decide? Why waste everyone’s time? And I’d say, well, a jury of your peers is what stands between you and a bigot, or an ass-kissing politician, or a hard-line Gestapo judge, or . . .

Maribel: Well, that’s a terrible thing to say about Judge Milne . . . .

Diane: God, this is just what I mean! I’m not talking about Judge Milne. I’m talking about a system that is as fair as it’s possible to have. There isn’t one better. And yet, here we are, letting these guys flirt and cajole and bully us into changing our position.

Maribel: Who’s flirting? You just insult people left and right!

Kris: I don’t let men bully me. I make up my own mind. You have a hard time accepting that another woman might not think the same way you do, Diane. But we all have life experience and brains, too.

And, put this in your pipe. He said he’d take care of her. He’s got such a guilty conscience, that’s obvious. So I believe he will. Like I said before, I’d rather she didn’t have to beg, but I can see which way the wind is blowing here, and I’m willing to go with the flow because however it turns out, she’s going to get something out of him, probably more than I’ll ever see in my life. And if she has to beg, well, welcome to the real world, baby.

Diane: Kris, please. You said at the beginning she deserved something. Give this some more thought.

Kris: Didn’t you hear me? I don’t have any more time to spend on this woman’s problems. I have my own. She’s not going to jail for a crime she didn’t commit or anything! This is just about money. This is not life or death.

Diane: I’m just asking you to take your time before deciding to change your vote.

Kris: Courtney’s not the only one who knows something about psychology. I know a few things about your type.

Diane: Huh?

Kris: Yeah, the mountain climber mentality. These are people who are happiest when they are in extreme situations that demand all their attention. They’re lousy at living everyday lives. That’s too boring. I think you’d like to drag this thing out. I think you’re enjoying this. You need to get a life.

Diane: That’s so unfair. I know how to make beds and do dishes, just like you!

Kris: Unlike Lindy. Can we please vote, now?

Cliff: It’s almost lunchtime.

Kris: This shouldn’t take long.

Frank: Chinese today?

Cliff: No, they had something else planned. But if we’re here tomorrow . . .

Kris: Christ, I hope not.

Cliff: Okay, let’s see where we stand.

Mrs. Lim: I would like to say something.

Cliff: And we all want to hear it. After we break for lunch. We’ve just got time for a vote.

They vote. It’s split down the middle, six to six.

>Click<

>Click<

Jury, Day Two, Afternoon:

Cliff: I want to start off this afternoon saying I’ve considered what Diane said earlier, about my referring to Mike more deferentially. That’s exactly the kind of thing that drives me nuts about other people, so it really hurt. So I really thought hard about ways I am influenced by own biases.

You know, I mentioned that I am recently separated. And I’ve searched my heart to see if that has had some impact on how strongly, since the beginning, I have favored Mike’s case. I have to be honest with you: it does. I took that idea, that the business was their child, very much to heart.

I have a child, and I foresee that my wife and I will be engaged in a bitter battle for custody. I see that child will be hurt, no matter what I do, but I can’t give her up. I will fight to the death for her. Just like Mike is fighting for his company. So I guess I understand. I see Lindy’s ownership, in a way, but it can’t be cut in half or it will be destroyed, you know, like in the Bible story where the real mother won’t have the child cut into two pieces, but the false mother will. Their company will be terribly harmed, maybe irreparably, if Lindy is given a big chunk of their assets. He’ll have to cut off an arm, and maybe a leg, and . . .

Diane: Oh, please! He might sell a bunch of buildings and machinery, if it comes to that. Since when does metal bleed?

Grace: Can you let him finish? I want to hear the rest.

Cliff: Thank you, Grace. Anyway, I guess what I’m saying is, it’s right to remove yourself from personal considerations, even if it seems impossible. So I went through my whole chain of reasoning one more time . . .

Diane: Let me guess. Mike still wins!

Cliff: Well, yes. There just is not one iota of evidence to support Lindy’s claim.

Diane: Figures.

Cliff: No written promises, no marriage certificate, no witnesses to direct promises. It just comes down to her word against his, as to an oral contract. How could Mike have made it any clearer that he did not wish to be married? I mean, they were together twenty years. Should he have written it in blood?

No, on the contrary, what I see is that she signed her name to an agreement that said they should separate their property. There were innuendoes made by Lindy’s lawyers that he forced her to do that, using some nasty psychological pressure, but you know, he strikes me as a pretty straightforward person. What she saw was exactly what she got.

Mrs. Lim: Really? What about the fact that for most of those years, he presented her to the world as his wife, and then claimed he didn’t? Doesn’t that prove he’s deceitful?

Frank: He did that out of consideration for her feelings. He wanted to keep her without compromising his own wishes. And as for saying he didn’t recall, well, it’s possible he forgot . . .

Diane: It’s possible I’m a ring-tailed lemur, but I don’t look like one or act like one. But then some people prefer their delusions . . .

Frank: Or his very normal sense of self-preservation kicked in.

Cliff: Anyway, I’m hoping we’re all trying to vote the law, and not self-interest. Let’s make sure in our minds we’re being fair to the evidence. And in spite of how we mock the poor lawyers, they provide a necessary service. They must plow through a lot of garbage to pull out the stuff we need to hear to decide. I think they all presented good cases. It’s just that Mike’s was inherently, objectively better.

Courtney: How can you say that? Lindy’s lawyers made as much sense as they did. Also, to me, Mr. Riesner and Ms. Casey had a little attitude, like, the decision’s so obvious. Well, I don’t think it’s so obvious.

Diane: “Smug” is only one of many good words that describe those two.

Courtney: After all, it’s up to us.

Grace: Cliff, going back to what you were saying, you got me thinking. I’m a very emotional person. I got all wrapped up in Lindy’s problems, because that’s the kind of person I am. I just can’t leave a dead dog in the road, you know? I’m out of my car, finding a sack, burying the poor thing somewhere . . .

Cliff: You have a big heart, Grace. I’m sure we’ve all noticed that.

He asks about her child, and she talks for a long time about what it’s like to be the sole caretaker for a handicapped adult. Many people sympathize with her. You can feel her relaxing, feeling better just to have some recognition for her difficulties. He suggests that after the trial is over, she call his office. He knows of some social service agencies that might be able to find relief for her. There’s a fifteen minute break, and during the break, many people share their worries about how long they’ve been gone from their jobs and daily lives. Everyone except Frank drinks lots of coffee, and many are nibbling on snacks.

Cliff: Like Grace here, it’s clear we all have so many important obligations that are falling by the wayside while we try to decide this thing. So let’s try to be efficient. Let’s try to come to some agreement here. The tide does seem to be moving toward Mike. I’m wondering what the rest of you die-hard Lindy fans need to be convinced.

Diane:
(laughing)
Well, well, well. No more beating around the bush. You think you’ve got it in the bag. You know, I have to admire you, Cliff. Here you are, and almost singlehandedly, with just the occasional, bumbling help of your male compadres, you’re turning this group around to your point of view. I sure see why you’ve been successful in politics. Here’s how it works, right? You target the weakest links and then you whittle away. . . .

Grace: Weakest link?

Diane: I have to wonder about this child of yours, Cliff, that came out of the blue this morning. You never once mentioned her before. Is she real or rhetorical?

Cliff: I’ve been experiencing a lot of personal pain, Diane. I don’t enjoy talking about it. I’m sure you can understand that.

Diane: You didn’t answer the question.

Grace: You see me as a weak link, Diane? Talk about a piece of work. You think a person has to be able to jump up a mountain on a pogo stick to prove their worth, but I see life very differently, lady. Strength is taking care of the people you love, forging lifelong ties, doing whatever you do well, and that includes laundry on a regular basis.

You know what I don’t hear from you, Diane? I don’t hear a word about your family.

Kris: You don’t have kids, do you, Diane? That would be so irresponsible.

Frank: No, people in a risky business like Diane’s have to fight their basic instincts.

Kevin: Ten to one odds she never even married.

Grace: You’re so pro-Lindy because you’re enjoying all this. You haven’t got much else going in your own life.

Diane: I do have family. And I have resolved my issues about what I do already, so please, how about the rest of you get over it, and get back to the case?

Now, Grace, you talked earlier about Lindy Markov’s loyalty, about her deserving something in compensation. That isn’t a legal argument, it’s a moral one. The proper thing to do is not always the right thing. I think Ignacio said that, too.

Ignacio: Yes, I agree.

Diane: Married or not, explicit promises or not, doesn’t she deserve some percentage, even a small one, of their total assets after twenty years? She doesn’t even own her own home! He’s out there living in a mansion with his new tootsie, and she’s left with nothing.

Grace: Well, not everybody gets to own a house. I rent.

Bob: Me, too.

Diane: He violated her faith. He took a new partner, in essence. She never did.

Grace: I do think well of her for that. I do.

Kevin: We all do, I think. She’s a personable girl, Lindy Markov. And she’s been real successful. Don’t you think we aren’t giving her enough credit? She pulled herself up from nothing. If she did it once, she can do it again.

Diane: Why should she? Is Mike Markov going to do that? And aren’t you admitting she was the driving force behind their business success?

Mrs. Lim: I want to say something, but first, I’m not comfortable with Diane characterizing this as a moral choice rather than a legal one. I believe Lindy and Mike had an oral contract, as valid and binding as anything written. I believe that business is, at minimum, half hers. It’s not a matter of him giving her money. It’s a matter of us ensuring that she gets what is already hers.

I’m a businesswoman myself, and I can only marvel at their success. I’m envious, too, and I don’t think I’m the only one here. But to be fair to this situation, I’m trying to put my petty side behind me and give this case the serious concern it deserves.

Grace: Well, we are all doing that.

Mrs. Lim: I hope we are all trying to do that, as best we can. Now, here’s another point I wanted to make. Did anyone notice Lindy hardly paid attention when the receiver testified? Didn’t seem to care about the numbers. Her eyes just glazed over.

Kevin: I thought we discussed this. She was getting her revenge by hitting Mike where he lives, in the pocketbook. The amount of damage probably doesn’t matter too much.

Mrs. Lim: No. The amount is not important to her, but for another reason. She’s suing on principle. We have to consider the principles here. She owns half that company. And even if what she really wants is Mike back, we can give her her share.

Grace: Whatever we decide, she loses. She’ll never get him back, and dividing up the company’s gonna kill anything they had going. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could force Mike to go back to her? That’s what she wants.