Conviction (2010) Movie Script
(WIND CHIMES TINKLING)
(DOOR OPENING)
Betty Anne Waters?
Please define
"contract" for us.
Um...
A contract is a promise
or a set of promises
that the law in some way
recognizes as a duty,
and when it's breached,
the law provides a remedy.
BEN: (SOFTLY) Ma. ma.
(BETTY INHALES SHARPLY)
What time is it?
BEN: 8:15.
Shit. I didn't
finish my paper!
Thanks, sweetie.
You did your math?
No, l left my book
at Dads.
Richard!
I'll do it in school.
Eat, Mom.
Mmm.
Did you finish
your poem, Ben?
Yeah.
RICHARD: Thanks to me.
You get yourselves ready, we're
gonna leave in a minute.
"If There Was Peace in the
World by Ben Currente."
Here, here. Come over here.
Read it over here.
"If There Was Peace in the
World by Ben Currente.
"Children would no longer
have bad dreams
"of guns, bombs
and deadly screams."
"Deathly."
I wrote that line.
You did not!
It's beautiful.
Come on, read me the rest.
(PANTING) Wait, wait.
One more.
It's 10:00.
You're late.
Shit.
Can't believe ii.
(BAND PLAYING
WHISKEY IN THE JAR)
(SINGING) Whack for my daddy-0
whack for my daddy-0
There 's whiskey
in the jar
You keep watching my ass, Aidan,
I'm gonna have to clock you!
You keep wearing those jeans,
I'm gonna have to marry you.
Here you go.
Hey, I know you!
Hi.
She's the other
old lady in my class.
(MEN LAUGHING)
AIDAN: Still thirsty?
A Bushmills, please.
You her boss?
Well, technically.
But she's the one who's
a little bossy. Hmm.
Bummer about your paper.
I'm Abra Rice.
Oh, yeah, well...
Okay, now you're starting
to hurt my feelings.
What?
We're gonna be friends
'cause we're the only ones in class
who've been through puberty.
I'm just...
I'm really busy.
Okay, I'll start.
So, I got these lefty parents
and they're always telling me I
should put my big mouth to good use
and try to change
the system.
So, I ignored them,
of course.
And after partying for
a few too many years,
I finally figured out what I
wanted to be when I grew up.
And it turned out my parents
were right, God damn it!
So, here I am.
What about you?
Look, I'm not
trying to be rude,
I just don't really have
time for a friend right now.
Oh... Yeah, you do.
I mean, I'm all you got!
I don't want anyone in school
to know what I'm doing there.
Oh.
Well, I mean,
I do have a big mouth,
but I know how
to keep a secret.
My brother Kenny, he got
screwed by the system.
He's been in prison for 12
years, life without parole.
Whoa.
He's innocent.
Okay.
Yeah, I'm gonna find
a way to get him out.
Okay.
He's innocent of what?
(CHAINSAW WHIRRING)
NANCY: Kenneth Waters?
Mr. Waters?
(CHAINSAW STOPS WHIRRING)
Hey.
(PANTING)
Finally someone who looks
good in a uniform.
I'm Officer Nancy Taylor.
I need you to come with me.
I'd love to, but I'm
already spoken for.
Where'd you get
those scratches?
Look around you, sweetheart.
See the branches?
Sir, I need you to step
into the patrol car.
Uh... Well...
My grandpa needs
this tree out of here.
(FIRMLY) Now, Mr. Waters.
Put down the chainsaw.
(SIGHS)
I tell you what, buttercup, why don't
you go give out some parking tickets
and then come back when I'm done.
How's that?
Put down the chainsaw, now.
Get the fuck off my grandpa's property.
You're trespassing.
Drop the weapon.
You're shitting me, right?
(FIRMLY) l said
drop your weapon.
Take ii easy there, Angie
Dickinson, it's okay.
I'm putting it down,
I'm putting it down.
Every time something happens
in this godforsaken town,
you have to pick him up?
You know the drill,
Betty Anne.
He's got a record,
we gotta bring him in.
That just sucks.
I mean, he would never hurt Mrs. Brow.
(CHUCKLING) Hey! Hey, Tommy,
Boisseau finally got my clothes off.
He's been wanting to get
me alone naked for years.
You have to make an honest man
of me now, you know that.
Let's go.
KENNY: What's going on?
I'm picking you up.
You're picking me up?
I love you. Look at my sis.
Isn't she beautiful?
(LAUGHS) No.
Here she is to save the day.
She's got her cape on.
(MUFFLED) Hey, listen.
No hard feelings, okay?
And may I say that you are one
of my absolute favourite arrests.
What, you think
this is a joke?
She was stabbed 30 times
and her head bashed in
till her brains flew out.
You think
that's funny?
No, l don't think it's...
OFFICER: Listen, don't leave
town for a while, all right?
We might have some more
questions for you.
There goes my trip
to Aruba. Okay.
So long,
gentlemen and lady.
BETTY: You an right?
KENNY: Yeah, you an right?
Carry you?
No, I don't want...
(KENNY GRUNTS) BETTY:
(CHUCKLES) Kenny, I'm...
(CLANKING)
(KIDS SHOUTING)
BOY: Good one, Kenny.
No, don't ring it
till the end.
(BETTY SCREAMING)
GIRL: Get him,
Betty Anne.
BOY: Come on, Kenny.
(GIRL WHOOPS)
Someone's gotta
talk to her.
They ain't my
fucking kids.
GRANDPA:
She won't listen to me.
ELIZABETH:
How'd you get so filthy?
Elizabeth, you treat them like trash,
they're gonna
grow up to be trash.
You go to hell.
I work day and night for these kids.
Everything l do
is fol' them.
Get upstairs
and take a bath.
And you're going to school
tomorrow, you hear me?
Hey, where the hell
are you going?
ELIZABETH: I don't have
to answer to you.
BOYFRIEND:
The fuck you don't.
GRANDPA: Elizabeth, get back here.
They're your kids.
Who's supposed to
look after them?
He got down on his knee in the
middle of the freaking restaurant.
It was so sweet.
(BAND PLAYING
LONG TRAIN RUNNIN')
Yeah, it was totally, what
do you say, conventional,
Talking about marriage?
BRENDA: Traditional.
Traditional is what I meant.
Thank you.
KENNY: Don't give Brenda any ideas.
BRENDA: I love you, baby.
KENNY: I love you.
BRENDA: Mmm.
Mandy, you wanna dance?
Congratulations.
BETTY: Thanks.
Congratulations.
(SINGING) Down along
the tracks
She lost her home
and her family
She won't be comin' back
Without love
Where would you be now
Without love
He's such a good dad,
isn't he?
You'll be a good dad.
I will.
Well, the Illinois Central
And the Southern
Central Freight
You gotta keep
on pushin', Mama
You know
you're runnin' late
Without love
Where would you be now
(LIQUID SPLASHING)
(MAN GROANS)
God, I'm sorry, man.
I'm sorry. You okay?
Who the hell brings
a baby into a bar?
She likes the band!
Well, if you can't
take care of your kid,
you should keep your
dick in your pants.
What did you say?
You heard me.
Absolutely, I'm sorry, man.
I'm sorry.
Here, hold Mandy
for a second.
What are you doing?
Kenny...
(TABLE THUDDING)
(BOTTLES RATTLING)
Kenny!
(CROWD EXCLAIMING)
You ever say another word about my
daughter and I'll fucking kill you.
(BAND STOPS PLAYING) I'll
take your fucking eye out.
You understand me, motherfucker?
BETTY: Kenny, get off him.
You understand me?
Hey, hey, Kenny, easy.
Come on.
Enough.
He's okay, all right.
No, he's all right,
he's all right.
We clear? We're clear, right?
Mano a mano, huh?
BETTY: Come on.
KENNY: Hey, we're Cool.
We're cool, he's all right.
Get some Wild Turkey.
Wild Turkey for my buddy here.
You okay, man?
Get some ice for my buddy here.
Sit down. Sit down.
This one's okay.
He's fine.
No.
We're sitting here having fun
and you had to go and do that.
Who's your buddy?
Who's your pal?
(BAND PLAYING MY SHARONA)
Come on, now it's a party.
You know what I'm saying?
Come on, come on!
Come on, come on, come on.
Come on, let's dance.
Give the baby to Betty and let's dance.
Let's dance.
Come on, let's dance.
Fuck you.
My, my, my
Whoo!
My my, my Sharona
When you gonna
give me some time, Sharona?
My my, my Sharona
My Sharona
Never gonna stop,
give it up
Such a dirty mind
Always get it up for the
touch of the younger kind
My, my, my
Whoo!
My my, my Sharona
(CROWD WHISTLING)
(CROWD WHOOPING)
Right here!
Right here!
Never gonna stop,
give it up
Such a dirty mind
Always get it up for the
touch of the younger kind
My, my, my, my
Whoo!
MAN: I dare you, Kenny!
I dare you!
Kenny!
Kenny!
(CROWD CHEERING)
BETTY: (WHISPERING)
He's awake.
(GURGLING)
(MOUTHING)
(WHISPERING) Betty Anne.
He won't let go
of my hand.
You keep waking him up because
you keep checking on him.
You gotta calm down. Babe.
I don't want to turn out
like my mother.
Oh, baby.
(PHONE RINGING)
Oh, shit. Quiet.
Hello?
Oh, no.
(SIGHS DEEPLY)
Benjamin Davenport,
beloved father,
grandfather and
great-grandfather,
was a hard-working man who
always put his family first.
Devoted to his wife, Eliza,
until the day she died,
his daughter, Elizabeth,
and all his grandchildren.
When times
were roughest,
Benjamin made sure there
was food on the table.
Can I help you,
Officer?
OFFICER:
Excuse me, Father.
Kenneth Waters,
you're under arrest.
What?
What?
We need you
to come with us.
Can't it wait? Show some respect!
It's my grandfather's funeral.
Now, Mr. Waters.
Please, can't it just wait
until after the funeral?
All right, okay. I'm coming.
Just take care of Mandy.
Okay.
Okay, I'm coming.
I'm coming, all right?
Please, can't this wait?
KENNY:
What's this for?
Just until after the funeral.
Come on, guys.
Give me a break over here.
What is this for?
A goddamn parking ticket?
What the fuck?
Kenneth Waters,
you're under arrest
for the murder of Katharina Brow.
Are you out of your
fucking mind?
You let me off
two years ago!
We got you now.
Look, these lawyers
want 25,000 up front.
(SCOFFS) 25 grand?
If I had 25 grand,
I'd buy a fucking yacht.
This is a joke.
They got nothing on me!
They arrested you
for murder.
They must think
they have something.
No. The police
are fucking with me.
A public defender
will be fine.
Hey, come on,
you're gonna get wrinkles.
Cops are drawn to me like
bees to honey, you know that.
I have a gift.
Yeah, some gift.
Hey, don't worry.
They got nothing.
It's gonna be okay.
He had a scratch on his face.
On the morning of
February 21, 1980,
he came home with
a scratch on his face?
Yes. Right here.
For the record,
you're showing them
just below the eye
to just below your lip?
Right
Did you have an argument with Mr.
Waters in July, 1980,
five months after the murder?
Yeah, he tried throwing me
out a second-floor window.
And at some point during the argument,
did he say something to you?
I asked him if he
killed that Woman.
He said, "Yeah,
what's it to you?"
FAHEY: Ms.
Marsh, can you please tell the jury,
why did you wait more than
two years to tell the police
that Kenny said
he had killed Mrs. Brow?
I was afraid of him.
I thought he'd kill me, too.
(WHISPERS)
What is she doing to him?
I show you, Ms. Marsh, what's
marked as Exhibit number 64,
and I would ask if you
could identify that.
It's the same knife
Kenny carried.
And when Kenneth Waters
was brought in as a suspect,
did he have an alibi for the period
between midnight and 9:00 a.m.
On February 21 st?
He claimed that he was working
as a cook at the Park Diner.
And what did you discover when
you checked out his alibi?
We confirmed that he was
at work until 5:00 a.m.,
but beyond that, there were no
witnesses who saw when he left.
His time cards
were never found.
KATSAS: The head and chest were struck
with a ceramic lamp and a metal toaster,
and there were 30 stab wounds.
Six to the head and neck,
three to the back, one to the
abdomen and 14 to the chest.
Five of them
penetrated to the heart,
and one time it went through the
front and almost came out the back.
HIGGINS: There was an enormous amount
of blood, mostly from the victim,
but some from
the perpetrator.
And what, if anything,
did you determine
With respect to the blood
of Katharina Brow?
Katharina Brow would be
identified as blood group B.
And with respect to
Exhibits SSA through F,
did you examine those items
from the murder scene
and determine the blood
group present on each?
Yes. The blood on each of those
items was from blood group O.
And did you have occasion
to test a sample
from the defendant, Kenneth Waters?
Yes. His sample is
from blood group O.
FAHEY: And what was
your relationship
with Mr. Waters after you
met the summer of 1980?
ROSEANNA: Mmm...
I guess you could say we were lovers
for a while, about six months.
FAHEY: On those occasions when you
did some drinking with Mr. Waters,
do you recall anything he said to you?
(MOUTHING)
He told me he got picked
up for a murder in Ayer
and that they couldn't pin it on
him, and he laughed about ii.
FAHEY: Sometime after
the summer of 1980,
did you have another conversation with Mr.
Waters about this murder?
YES.
Um...
He told me he stabbed her and
he took her money and jewellery
Did he tell you
anything else?
He called her an old German bitch,
a fucking old German bitch.
After Kenneth Waters supposedly
told you, "I killed her,"
did you terminate
seeing him?
No. So you believed
him to be a murderer,
but you continued to be
romantically involved?
Yeah. Until he bashed
my teeth in.
FAHEY: You have nine children by seven
different fathers, is that correct?
Objection!
Sustained.
Didn't the state, in fact,
declare you an unfit mother
and take your children
away from you?
Objection!
Irrelevant.
Sustained.
Watch yourself, Ms. Fahey.
Wasn't Kenny sent
to training school
for breaking into
K. Brow's home?
No! That wasn't...
And didn't your son
regularly break into houses
in the neighbourhood?
(STAMMERING) I never condoned that
type of behaviour from my children...
Just answer the
question, please.
Yes.
BETTY: I hope
our place is as nice.
KENNY: I'm not gonna
live in no trailer.
I'm gonna have a mansion
with 100 rooms.
(CHUCKLES) And 10 refrigerators
filled with candy.
And our own
private lake.
Lake Betty Anne
and Kenny.
Lake Kenny
and Betty Anne.
I Said it first.
Well, I'm older.
No, stop it!
Where's my candy?
Calm down, Mrs. Brow.
We'll take care of it.
Lee, around back.
(BANGING ON DOOR)
Open up in there.
Police.
Where do you think you're going?
Come here.
KENNY: Go, go, go, go.
God damn it! What did I tell
you kids about trespassing?
Kenny, get over here. Stand right there.
Betty Anne, come on. Ow!
Come here, Betty Anne, come here.
(BETTY SHRIEKS)
Get over here.
Hey, fat ass, your
mother's a dirty whore.
Come here. Ow!
You don't touch my sister.
Don't you touch my sister.
Don't touch her.
OFFICER:
Take him to the ground.
Get down.
(GRUNTING)
Kenny!
Go, run.
Run, Betty Anne. Run!
BETTY:
we were just kids.
We'd play in people's houses and
pretend we had a normal life.
I don't know what
you're talking about.
You had a perfectly
normal life.
Yeah. Eight foster homes.
Perfectly normal.
There, baby.
ELIZABETH: The only reason
they took you away from me
is because l worked too much.
I had no life
except for you kids.
We know, Mother.
You were practically a nun.
But Kenny, he'd be
like a wild animal.
I'm not saying he was born
bad, but he had that temper.
I was always afraid
he might kill somebody.
Don't you ever say that
to me or anyone else!
Don't you even think ii,
you understand me?
I mean, what kind of mother
would say something like that?
ELIZABETH: They're my babies!
They can't do this!
GRANDPA:
They bloody well can.
ELIZABETH: Why do they
have to separate them?
Why can't they go
to one foster home?
Shh!
BOISSEAU: I hate
to split them up.
Okay, Kenny.
Come with me.
Where you raking mm?
You are gonna
come with me, honey.
No, I don't want to.
Come on, fellow, now.
Stop! No!
Let go of him!
Betty, stop, stop. Let him go.
You gotta let him go.
Please, no!
BETTY: Don't take my brother!
Betty Anne!
We have to stay together!
Kenny, stop!
(BETTY SCREAMS)
(SOBBING)
JUDGE: Will the defendant
please rise?
On indictment 82-4115,
this indictment charging
Kenneth Waters with murder,
what say you,
Madam Foreman?
Is the defendant
guilty or not guilty?
We find the defendant
guilty, Your Honor.
CLERK:
Guilty of what?
Murder in the
first degree.
this indictment charging Kenneth
Waters with armed robbery.
What say you,
Madam Foreman?
Is the defendant
guilty or not guilty?
We find the defendant guilty.
(EXHALES)
We'll appeal it, Kenny!
We'll get you out!
We'll get you out, Kenny!
You hear me?
(SOBBING)
I'm sorry, baby.
Honey, I want to go see him.
Can I go see him?
You can't.
GUARD: And if you keep
acting like that,
we're gonna take
your ass to the hole.
KENNY: I want my
fucking phone call now.
You will obey the rules
in this facility.
I want my fucking
phone call.
(INMATES SHOUTING)
GUARD: You about that
close, motherfucker!
Settle down! I said
you gotta settle down!
You want some of this shit?
Fuck you!
Fuck you! Fuck!
Get down!
You fucking cocksuckers.
That's all you got,
you fuckers.
BETTY: Did you tell
Mr. Peters it was urgent?
I haven't heard
from Kenny in two weeks.
RICK: Not in your
mouth, buddy.
BETTY: He's called me every
Sunday for the past three years.
Something's happened.
Ow! Shit!
Son of a...
BETTY:
Just find my brother.
Damn it, where is he?
Something's wrong,
I know it.
We should have heard
from Kenny by now.
You gotta make
peace with this.
Make peace?
We got a family here.
This is us now.
Babe, Kenny's in prison for the
rest of his life. Accept it.
I will never accept it.
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
Hello.
It's Harvey Peters.
Finally. I haven't heard from
Kenny since we lost the appeal.
Everything's okay now.
You got nothing to worry about.
What do you mean?
What happened?
Your brother's in
isolation, so no calls...
Why is he in isolation?
He tried to
kill himself
(SIGHS)
What?
KENNY: Kiddo.
How are you?
How could you do this?
What, this?
(LAUGHS)
You'd be better off.
God damn it, Kenny.
Promise me you'll never do this again.
There's nothing left.
It's over.
There's still
the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court?
The Supreme Court ain't gonna
fucking hear this case. I'm fucked.
I was fucked
right from the start.
You can't give up.
We'll find somebody else.
I'll take out a loan.
We'll get a top
lawyer this time.
Hey, when are you gonna get it, Betty Anne?
There is no one else.
There's not a lawyer on earth
to give a fuck about me.
There has to be.
You're innocent.
(SCOFFS)
Are you sure about that?
How could you ask me that?
How could you ask me that?
Doesn't matter whether
I killed Mrs. Brow or not.
I'm a piece of shit, aren't I?
I'm no good to anybody.
(CRYING)
What about your daughter?
What daughter?
She's being poisoned against me.
I'm never gonna see her again.
That is not true.
I gotta go.
I'm doing Mandy a favour
She's the one good thing I ever
did in my piece of shit life
and I got nothing
to give her.
Please, Kenny, Wall.
You promise me you'll never
hurt yourself again.
Promise me.
(WHISPERS) I can't spend
the rest of my life in here.
(SHAKILY) Kenny, wait.
(BREATH ES DEEPLY)
What's this?
I thought maybe I could
get a degree, finally.
Why?
I just thought, maybe...
I don't know.
Maybe I could eventually
apply to law school.
You're not doing this.
You're not doing this.
I could go part time,
I Could Still...
Enough.
So, this is what I'm gonna do and...
Don't laugh, all right?
I'm gonna start by
trying to get a BA
after I finally take
the stupid GED test,
and after that,
if I even get that far,
and there's no guarantee
I'll even get in,
I'll apply to law school.
But it is gonna take along time,
Kenny, a really long time,
and, I mean,
I might be 80 years old
before I finally
become a lawyer,
and even then, I still don't know
if I'm gonna find the answers.
But you just have
to promise me,
you just have to,
that you will never try to
Kill yourself ever again,
'cause if you do...
Just don't.
Okay.
(SIGHS DEEPLY)
May it please the court,
my name is Betty Anne Waters
and the issue today
is whether my client...
The issue is
whether Ms. Cooper...
No, the issue is whether...
Shit.
Start again, Ms. Waters.
And breathe.
Right, breathe.
JESUS.
What are you doing, Ben?
You guys okay?
Hey, you got them,
didn't you?
Oh, shit.
Did you forget?
You forgot
the fishing trip?
No, of course not.
I just...
I just didn't remember
it was this weekend.
Guys, I'm so sorry,
I can't go.
I have to argue a brief in front
of real judges and lawyers.
You promised.
I know, honey.
We'll go another weekend, okay?
When? When Uncle Kenny
gets out of jail?
BETTY: Richard.
Honey, I'm sorry.
I know.
KENNY: I found this
book in the library.
It says that women hardly ever shoot
themselves when they commit suicide.
So Romeo Collad's
screwing Mrs. Brow, right?
His wife puts a bullet
in her head. You follow?
Yeah.
What if we can prove
he shot her?
How we gonna do that?
I don't know,
we'll investigate.
And then they'd take him more seriously
as a suspect in the Brow case.,.
But Romeo Collad's dead, so...
(SIGHING)
So... So, what?
It could still be enough
to re-open the case.
We just gotta find a precedent.
Ask your Evidence teacher.
I really can't right now.
I got a ton of work and...
What's going on?
Tell me.
It's nothing. I'm fine.
(SCOFFS)
Is something going on
with the boys? No.
Look, I'm...
Just forget it!
Did they
strip Search you?
No.
Betty, it's me.
Now, come on, stop.
I'm on probation at school.
Probation? What do you mean?
I'm the one in jail.
What are you talking about?
What does that mean?
It means that if I don't
improve, I'm out,
But you're doing... You're doing so...
You're doing great.
No, I'm not. I've had late papers
and I flunked my Torts exam.
They can't
do that to you.
You're the smartest person
in the whole goddamn school.
Fuck that! I'm gonna write a letter
to those scum-bag teachers...
Yeah, and make sure you call
them scum-bags in the letter.
Fuck them! You should
at least get extra credit
for working on
a real fucking case.
They don't care about that.
Look, don't worry
about this, okay?
I'm gonna
take care of it.
Okay?
Okay, okay.
Hey, don't cry, honey.
You're worth a thousand
of them preppy shitheads.
Don't cry, okay?
I know, I'm sorry.
GUARD: No touching.
(INDISTINCT)
Hi.
RICHARD: Hi.
You guys have
a nice weekend?
Yeah.
BETTY: Yeah?
Get any homework done?
A little.
BEN: Yeah.
BETTY: Yeah?
Okay, what's going on?
Hmm?
Come on, talk.
What happened?
We were thinking, you know, since
you've been so busy and all...
We were thinking that maybe
we wanna live with Dad.
That son of a bitch!
He put you up to this?
No.
Did he?
No.
I need a guy around,
you know? For guy things.
You feel the same way?
Kind Of.
(SIGHS)
Call me, okay? Lei me know how
you do on your math test.
Okay.
I love you.
And you, you don't forget
to set your alarm.
If you're late for English again...
I know, Mom, I know.
Watch your head.
Come here. (KISSING)
All right,slop, Mom. Stop!
I love you. I love you so much.
I love you, too, Mom.
Okay.
I'll see you Friday.
We'll go to the movies.
Bye, bye.
(PANTING)
(SOBBING)
PROFESSOR BLOCK: Samson.
Here.
Shaw.
Here.
Stevens. Taylor.
TAYLOR: Present.
Thomassen.
Yeah.
Vaughn.
Here.
Waters. Waters?
Betty Anne Waters?
ABRA: Come on, up.
I'm unfit.
Just like my mother.
Will you knock ii Off?
That is not true.
But I'll tell you what.
If you keep missing classes, you will fail.
I've already failed.
I lost my boys.
Betty,
you didn't lose them.
I wasn't there for them.
I wasn't.
I can't help Kenny.
Especially if you get
kicked Out Of law School.
There's your underwear,
there's your jeans,
(SNIFFS) that's clean.
Come on, get dressed.
I can't. I can't.
Just come to school today.
Start there.
(SIGHING)
KENNY: Life's swell here at the
Hilton, food's fucking fantastic,
just like Ma used to make.
Can you send me
more white socks?
I love you and
I miss you very much.
I, Kenneth Waters,
being of sound mind,
leave all my
worldly possessions
to my sister,
Betty Anne Waters.
Also, most important, I'm giving her
full authority on any decisions
concerning my daughter
Mandy Marsh's well-being.
SCOTT: So, two of us
will be defense attorneys,
two will be
the prosecutors.
Thanks for
dropping by, Waters.
Nice ironing job.
SCOTT: And then we need a
defendant, and a paralegal.
I nominate Betty Anne
to be the defendant.
What's my alleged crime?
Uh... Rape.
Oh. Gee, thanks.
What case did they assign us?
You'd know that if you
actually came to class.
Shut the fuck up.
Sewell v. State, 1992.
Sewell had already served 10
years in prison for rape,
and then he sued the state for the
right to DNA test the rape kit.
DNA test?
Yeah, the semen in the rape kit wasn't his.
The DNA didn't match.
And he won?
YES.
Yeah, look. "Advances in technology
may yield protection for exculpation
"where none
previously existed."
SCOTT: All right, so who
wants to be the paralegal?
(KNOCKING AT DOOR)
BETTY: Abra.
It's the blood.
This is the key.
What?
There was so much blood.
Look, I'm gonna
get Kenny out.
There were no
DNA tests then.
They only knew that the murderer
was type O and so is Kenny.
But now, if we can DNA test the
murderers blood and Kenny's,
it'll prove Kenny's innocent,
just like in the rape case.
Berry.
I'm sorry, Don.
There are 49 other cases
like this.
(STAMMERS)
Wait. How do you know the
blood evidence still exists?
'Cause we're gonna find it.
And Barry Scheck
is gonna help.
Here, look.
Oh, I see.
Barry Scheck.
This is what he does. Look, he has
this Innocence Project in New York.
And you're just gonna call him up
and he's gonna take your case?
Yes!
Are we both gonna sleep
with him or just you?
Abra, God. Look.
Dear Mr. Scheck, I would greatly
appreciate any assistance
you and the Innocence
Project can provide
in helping me free
my brother, Kenny,
From a life-without-parole sentence.
In 1983, Kenny was convicted in
Massachusetts of first-degree murder
with extreme atrocity
and armed robbery.
I have done everything in my
power for the last 16 years
to prepare myself to prove
my brother's innocence.
You good?
I can't find it.
I can't find my ID.
ABRA: You checked your whole wallet?
BETTY: Twice!
AERA: You can't take
the Bar exam without ID.
Abra Rice.
WOMAN: Rice.
ABRA: Thank you.
Thanks. WOMAN: Next.
I'm sorry, I can't find my ID.
Just one second.
Look what I found
in my...
There.
You bitch.
(LAUGHS)
it's funny.
I can't believe you did that.
WOMAN: Waters.
You almost gave me a heart attack.
She's very old and she can't
remember a single thing.
BETTY: Mr. Scheck,
the day that my brother was
unjustly convicted of this crime,
changed not only
his life, but mine.
HUY: Dear Ms. Waters, I've enclosed
an application for your brother Kenny
to complete and return
to our office.
I must stress that
we only accept cases
where DNA evidence
can exonerate the accused.
It will be vital for us to determine
if any such evidence still exists.
Without DNA evidence, it will be
impossible for us to proceed.
The Innocence Project has a
backlog of several hundred cases,
so I must caution that it
will be at least 18 months
before we can begin to
evaluate your brother's case.
Ii however, you pass the Bar exam
and become your brother's attorney,
you yourself can begin looking for
the DNA evidence immediately.
If you manage to find ft,
Mr. Scheck may agree to act
as consulting attorney,
in which case
we can work together
towards exonerating
your brother.
RICHARD: Mom?
BETTY:
I'm in the kitchen.
Damn thing's
still frozen.
(RICHARD SIGHS)
Thin's good, right?
Didn't you say that?
Open it.
Are you sure?
Don't look at it.
Just hold it up for me to read.
Don't look!
I'm not.
Thank you, God.
Did you hear
what I said?
Kenny?
(WHOOPS) Yeahs
We did its We did in
My baby sister!
GUARD 1: Muddy,
would you please sit down?
My baby sister did it!
My baby sister just passed the Bar.
Yeah, yeah. I understand,
but you have to sit down.
GUARD 2:
Waters, have a seat.
You have to take
a seat, now!
Right, okay.
I'm gonna take a seat.
Sit down. No, come on.
(KENNY WHOOPS)
Gel the hell off of me!
What the hell is wrong with you?
Sit down! Sit down.
(LAUGHS) Okay.
I'm cool.
I'm all right.
Okay, okay.
So proud of you.
I'm proud of you.
OFFICER: Ayer police.
Hi. I'm an attorney, and I'm calling
regarding evidence from a 1983 case.
Your flame, please?
Um...
Abra Rice.
If they realize I'm one
of the Waters kids,
God knows what they'd do
to the evidence. You know?
I just don't trust them.
ABRA: You could have
used your married name.
Yeah, but then
when I want to be me,
I won't be able to
'cause I was someone else.
I want to be me
when I need to be me.
So to solve this problem,
you decided to be me?
Just this once.
Nice. Yeah,
l love those shoes.
But from this point on...
You need me to be me.
Right.
Okay. So what did the Ayer
Police tell me, again?
They don't have the
evidence there anymore.
It's at the courthouse
where we had Kenny's trial.
That's where I need you
to call on Monday.
On Monday. Okay.
I understand
if you can't help.
I mean, I don't wanna do anything
to jeopardize your new job.
I mean, this is my cause, not yours.
It's my cause, too.
Okay. Does this make me
look like Barbara Bush?
A little.
Yeah.
I don't deserve
a friend like you.
You're damn right
you don't.
That's right.
Waters. 1983.
Okay, well, isn't it possible
that it's still In.,.
(WHISPERING) What?
What are they saying?
Do you have an actual date
when that would have happened?
(WHISPERS)
What happened?
Okay. Thank you.
What? What did they say?
What did they say?
Aura.
(SIGHS)
Berry, they destroyed n.
What?
According to
Massachusetts law,
they destroy evidence
after 10 years,
and Kenny's evidence was
destroyed in April, 1993.
(VOICE BREAKING)
That is not possible.
I did come this far,
after all this time...
I'm sorry.
No, wait
It has to be there. No. It has to be there.
it's his only chance.
Look, we're gonna
make them look for it.
Honey, there's
nothing to look for.
We're gonna make them look for it.
Sorry.
We're gonna make
them look for it.
ABRA: I understand
what your records...
BETTY: I know,
but I was hoping that
by some chance, the sample might
have been left at your lab.
But the woman I spoke to last
week said she would look.
Alice O'Malley.
Okay, well, is Kathleen
Higgins still working there?
She testified at
the original trial.
Linda Clarke.
And she checked every single
box in that basement?
(WHISPERS)
Ask for the supervisor.
Can I speak to your
supervisor, please?
(EXHALES)
Okay. Well,
thanks for looking.
Mrs. Halloran?
Hi, this is Abra Rice again.
I'm sure Ms. Clarke
searched thoroughly.
Yeah, if you yourself
could look.
(WHISPERS) Yeah.
What?
No, I didn't realize
you already...
Yeah. Okay, thanks.
Your mother's not
in the best mood.
Something happen?
Okay. Start eating.
Here, baby. Aura?
(SIGHING)
What's wrong, Ma?
Naming.
Come on, start eating your
food, it's gonna get cold.
So, how's your
fathers new girlfriend?
What is She, 14? 15?
You tell them.
They have a right to know.
What?
What?
It's just a setback.
Berry.
What am I gonna do, Abra? Give up?
Is that what you're saying?
It's gone.
They maxed?
Can't they look again?
They did.
Mistakes happen.
Obviously, or Kenny
wouldn't be in prison.
Berry, they destroyed n.
No.
That evidence exists Somewhere
and I'm gonna find it.
Okay. Let's say
you do find it.
What if the DNA
matches Kenny's?
Get out. Get the hell out
of my house right now!
No, you gotta hear this.
Even if you're
the most amazing fighter,
the most brilliant
lawyer in the world,
there are forces greater than
you and you may not win!
You think I haven't
thought of that?
No. You haven't.
Just go.
Sorry, boys.
(DOOR CLOSING)
It's just a setback.
Eat your food.
Come on.
Good morning.
Can I help you?
Yeah.
I'm an attorney, Abra Rice,
and I'm trying to locate evidence
from the Kenneth Waters trial.
Yeah, we spoke
on the phone.
Did you check
with the courthouse?
Yeah, and they
can't locate it.
Yeah, well, like I said, they
probably destroyed it by now.
I mean, it's been,
like, what...
Betty Anne Waters?
You know, I'm sorry,
I don't....
Lieutenant Daniels.
I knew your brother Kenny.
I was a rookie here when...
You're his sister?
But I am an attorney,
and he is my client.
DANIELS: Holy shit!
My sister won't even
send me a birthday card!
I was just telling Ms.
Waters that we don't have any evidence here.
Here? From back then?
That's a lot of years.
Would you mind looking?
You're really
his lawyer, huh?
Yeah.
That's it for the old evidence.
And there's nowhere else?
That's it,
just supplies.
Working hard for your brother.
I wish I had better news for you.
How's Kenny holding up?
Not so great.
I remember that case.
Funny guy, that Kenny.
I gotta tell ya,
even with what he did...
He didn't do it.
I liked Kenny.
We all liked him.
Nancy Taylor didn't.
Yeah, well, Nancy Taylor
doesn't work here anymore.
Why new
She got herself into
a little hot water.
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
Groton Police Department.
Chief O'Connell's office.
No. He's not available
right now, sir.
I gave him
your message.
I understand.
I will let him know.
Why aren't you
a cop anymore?
I left the force
when I got married.
Really? You mean it had nothing to
do with you framing another cop?
I beg your pardon?
What was his name?
Oh, yeah, Stanley Randall.
He found out
that you were dirty,
so you got a waitress from the Rusty
Scupper to accuse him of rape.
(SCOFFS)
Is that what they
told you over in Ayer?
I'm sure you can imagine
what it was like
to be the only woman on
that police force. Hmm?
I wasn't dirty, and the
rape charge wasn't false.
The truth is, they never got
over me solving the Brow murder.
You didn't solve it.
You put an innocent man in prison.
I am sorry you have
wasted your life on this.
Your brother
killed that Woman.
(CLANKING)
(KIDS SHOUTING)
Hi, Don.
Hi, Betty.
Is she sleeping?
She usually is at 5:00
in the morning. (LAUGHS)
Come on in.
I'll get her up.
Thanks.
Baby, sweetheart.
Guess who?
I wish we could use this.
I mean, she framed a cop, for Chrissakes.
It still doesn't prove
she framed Kenny,
I mean,
it wouldn't be enough.
Thank you.
ABRA: No.
it's not enough for a new trial.
God, I hate the damn legal system.
it's so fucking inconvenient.
I'm sorry I kicked you
out of my house.
It's okay.
Your mac and cheese sucks.
You were wearing that outfit
when you said you were me?
Yeah. Too bad being you
didn't get me anywhere.
Uh-huh?
You know, there is one thing
we haven't tried yet.
How long will it take you to make
yourself look like a lawyer?
Hi. I'm attorney Abra Rice
and this is my associate.
I'd like to talk
to Mrs. Halloran.
Do you have
an appointment?
It's a pressing legal matter.
Mrs. Halloran's aware of it.
I'm Mrs. Halloran.
Hello. I'm Abra Rice,
we spoke earlier.
Yes, but as I told you
on the phone...
I'm Betty Anne Waters.
And the evidence in question
is from my brother's trial.
Well, we can't just
have family members...
I'm also his attorney, and I became
an attorney just to help him.
I understand that you looked, but if you
could please just look one more time.
If we did this for every
person who came in here...
We don't have the Staff.
Look, I don't know
what else to do but beg.
I'm asking
for a favor,
a favor from a complete
stranger, but, please.
You're talking about evidence
that's 16 years old.
Our record shows
it was destroyed.
Is it possible that the
record could be wrong?
That's highly unlikely.
But possible.
Are those
you r g rand kids?
Yes.
Beautiful.
They look like you.
Oh.
Please.
My brother's innocent.
And you're right, it's been 16 years.
And our family
really wants him home.
(SIGHS DEEPLY)
She's there.
Why don't we
come back here?
Just set it
right there.
Thank you.
it's okay,
Here you go.
You're allowed to touch.
(BREATHING NERVOUSLY)
BETTY: 14B.
Victim's blood.
BETTY: Number 29?
Victim.
Exhibits,
A through F.
Perpetrator.
Good job, Counselor.
(CRYING)
I'll need to file a Motion
to Preserve the Evidence.
Well, that office
is closed now,
but I'll file it
for you in the morning.
I'll get you
the paperwork.
You're gonna... You're just gonna
leave the box out on the table?
It'll be fine.
My brothers life
is in there. Please.
Could I just put a sign
on it with my name?
That really isn't necessary.
Please.
If anything
happens to this...
Well, all right.
Okay. Thank you.
Yeah.
Could I borrow
some tape?
It's right over there.
Okay.
Here you go.
(SIGHS)
BETTY: Thank you.
All right.
BETTY: Okay.
You missed a spot.
(BOTH SHRIEKING EXCITEDLY)
(WHOOPS)
(WHOOPING)
lNMATE: He's getting
out of here!
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
Shit.
Hello.
BARRY: Is this Betty Anne Waters?
- Yes.
This is Barry Scheck.
Oh, my God. Hi.
Hi.
How are you?
Fine, fine! Great!
Congratulations on
finding the evidence.
It's extraordinary.
Thank you, but I really
didn't do anything.
You mean, besides
becoming a lawyer?
No, I mean, you know, we were just
lucky that the box was still there.
I hear you beat up
an old lady to find it.
(CHUCKLES) No, but that
was gonna be my next step.
Kenny thinks he's
getting out tomorrow.
I wish.
DAs don't like to admit they put
an innocent person in prison.
And this DA,
Martha Coakley,
has just gotten elected, so
she's really not gonna like it.
How long do you think
it's gonna take?
We're gonna have some
hoops to go through,
it might be
a couple of months.
A couple of months?
It may be less.
But the important thing is,
if your brother's innocent...
He is.
Then this is a travesty of justice,
and we will get him out.
Thank you, Barry. Thank you.
Thank you so much for calling.
No hugging.
I'm his sister!
He's in segregation.
And that's the rules.
Let's go.
Thanks, Dad.
(EXHALES)
What were you thinking?
Why wouldn't you just take the test?
It's been a year, Betty Anne.
A fucking year.
I don't trust them.
I'm not doing it.
What?
I'm not doing it.
Jesus Christ, Kenny,
are you out of your mind?
This is it.
This is what we've been waiting for!
What, you're not gonna
take the fucking test?
Why now, all of a sudden,
out of the blue?
Why can't you be in the
room when they test me?
They won't allow that.
They're not gonna agree to that!
So, I'm supposed to trust a
bunch of staties to do it?
This isn't a choice.
You have to do this.
It's gonna
test positive.
They'll find a way.
They're gonna fuck me again.
You'll see.
I'm leaving.
You'll do it,
or I'll kill you.
That's your sister
and your lawyer talking.
(DOOR OPENING)
What the hell is
going on over there?
Why don't we have
the test results yet?
The evidence is still
sitting in the crime lab.
Just sitting there?
It takes six months
to approve the testing,
five to decide how to test it,
and now they're doing nothing?
That's what
you're telling me?
Martha Coakley is definitely
stonewalling this.
Are we having
a famine?
I have teenagers, remember?
Look, do we even know if Kenny's
DNA ever made it to the lab?
Or if the crime samples
are still there?
It's there.
Have you seen them?
Why aren't you doing
anything about this?
We call the DA's office every
day, and the crime lab,
the interns have sent,
like, 8,000 e-mails.
Interns? Jesus, Barry,
this is beyond interns!
It's just gonna take
some more time.
Great. You and your interns take
your time while Kenny rots in jail.
Fuck.
Okay.
You shouldn't
take it out on Barry.
You're right.
Are you Dr. McGilvray?
Yes, l am.
Betty Anne Waters.
I need the evidence for my
brothers trial sent today.
Excuse me? I'm sorry,
I'm don't know who...
The DNA evidence from
Kenneth Water's trial..
Why is it just
sitting here?
We have procedures
to follow...
I'll tell you the procedures.
Test the goddamn evidence today
and fedex the result to Ed
Blake's lab in California,
How hard is that?
Why don't you
leave your name and number with
Lois here, and someone will...
So, what is it? Martha Coakley's
telling you not to do it?
Excuse me, I have a meeting
that I'm late for.
Or is there some promotion
you'll get if you kiss her butt?
You can't keep fucking with
my brothers life like this!
You have my name and number.
I called, many times.
Mom, let's go!
We're gonna miss the kick-off!
BETTY:
I'll be right down!
Shit. I forgot my phone!
(SIGHS)
When's the last time you used it?
I don't remember.
Can it.
Maybe it'll ring.
Yeah. You check my desk.
RICHARD: Okay.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Where's it coming from?
The COUCH.
Holy shit.
BETTY: What?
He's innocent!
What?
Uncle Kenny's innocent!
It wasn't his DNA.
"Kenneth Waters is eliminated as
the source of the male blood."
(KEYS CLANK)
(SIGHS)
RICHARDS Oh, my God.
(ALL SHOUTING EXCITEDLY)
BETTY: You guys...
BEN: Oh, my God.
We did it. You...
We did it. We did it.
We did it. We did it.
BEN: We...
I love you guys.
I love you.
RICHARD:
It was all you.
Is this what
I think it is?
Yup.
(BREATH ES DEEPLY)
Is this for real?
Yeah. We did ii.
(CHUCKLING)
You did it.
You fucking did it.
When am I getting out?
A few days.
A few days?
(LAUGHING) I can't wait
a few days!
There's paperwork, Kenny, you
can't just walk out of here.
Why not?
They know I'm innocent!
Hey. Do you hear that, motherfuckers?
Waters.
I'm innocent. Negative DNA test.
Waters. Waters.
I'm very happy for you,
but take your seat.
Okay. My baby sister's
a fucking genius.
You look great.
They can still kick your ass.
She's getting me
out of here.
Sit down and finish
your visit.
So when? What do you think?
Monday? Tuesday?
No. I have to
hear back from Barry.
As soon as he reaches Martha Coakley
and she vacates the conviction.
Well, you tell Miss
Martha fucking Coakley
I want a shiny new limousine picking
me up, with a fully stocked bar!
(SIGHS)
You gotta call
Mandy for me.
You gotta call her and tell
her they know I'm innocent.
I will. As soon as I
get out of here, I will.
Tell her
I'm getting out.
Tell her I miss her
and I wanna see her.
Will you tell her that?
I will.
I love you, Kenny.
I love you.
I love you.
Mandy, this is
your Aunt Betty Anne.
You probably
don't remember me,
but I really need to talk
to you about your dad.
It's very important.
it's nothing bad.
I mean,
it's great. We finally found the
evidence that proves he's innocent.
So he wanted me to call
you and let you know.
So he thought...
AUTOMATED VOICES:
You have zero messages.
(HAMMERING)
BETTY: Hey,
you guys hungry?
I'm gonna throw you a sandwich up.
I've got ham and tuna.
Mom, if you throw a sandwich up
here, the roof will cave in.
Very funny. I'll remember that when
you wanna bring a girl up here.
At least Uncle Kenny'll think
it's nice compared to jail.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Barry?
BARRY: Hr.
Thank God!
I'm going crazy here,
and Kenny's going
absolutely insane.
I know. I'm sorry.
Did you reach
Martha Coakley?
Yes.
What'd she say?
How long is it gonna take?
There 's a problem.
(GLASS SHATTERING)
(THUDDING)
She said...
Thai there was still enough evidence
to try you as an accomplice.
So I'm not getting out?
Not now. But.,.
I'm sorry, Kenny.
It's okay.
I can't do this anymore.
Kenny.
Can't
It's not fair, you know.
It's not fair.
(CRYING)
I gotta go.
Kenny.
I'm gonna kill that fucking bitch!
Kenny.
I'm gonna kill her.
Waters. Sit down.
Kenny.
Kenny, Kenny,
listen to me.
We can't give up.
We... We have Barry on our side now.
No, no, no.
And we will fight her
in court.
Hey, you tell Barry
forget it, okay.
We're way past that,
little Sis.
Take care of your boys.
You gotta move on. it's over.
It's not over.
It's over, honey.
It's not over. Why?
it's over, honey.
(CRYING) Fuck her.
I fucking knew it. Motherfucker.
Kenny, sit...
GUARD: Waters!
Motherfucker.
Sit down,
or you're out of here!
Hey, man. Haven't you heard?
I'm never getting out of here. Never.
I'm here forever, man.
Remain down.
Hey, get out of my face, shithead.
Come on, sit down.
I tell you that it's over.
You understand?
I said, sit down!
I'm talking to
my sister. Move...
Visit's over.
KENNY: Take your hands off.
BETTY: Kenny, Kenny...
Kenny, don't.
That's not nice...
Motherfucker. Kenny!
Motherfucker.
I told you to stay out of it.
Kenny!
GUARD: Take him down.
BETTY: Don't.
KENNY: Motherfucker!
Motherfucker!!
Motherfucking bitch!
I told you. Don't.
Didn't I fucking tell you?
They made fools
out of both of us.
They made fools
out of both of us,
Betty Anne.
GUARD: Settle down now.
We're fucking chumps.
We're fucking chumps.
I told you.
Kenny's in solitary,
for Chrissakes!
Why is everyone
congratulating me?
You proved
he's innocent.
Yeah, well, not to
Martha Coakley, I didn't.
We'll fight her.
We are not going
back to court.
Kenny will not survive
another trial!
And I'll be damned if we have to
prove his innocence all over again
just because of
that evil bitch.
There won't be atrial
if we gather new evidence.
How are we
gonna do that?
Think about it.
The DNA doesn't just prove
that Kenny's innocent...
It proves all those
witnesses were lying.
Rosseanna?
Oh, shit.
ROSEANNA: Well,
see, what happened was
I was threatened, okay?
Who threatened you?
Don't I know you from TV?
Oh, yeah! I know!
You're that famous Jew lawyer.
Roseanna,
who threatened you?
You know, that fucking cop, Nancy
Taylor, had it out for Kenny.
She kidnaps me, right?
Her and this Chief of Police.
And they take me to this room,
this hotel, against my will.
That ain't legal.
And they get me drunk.
You know, am I gonna argue?
And the Chief of Police, he's
wanting me to pray with him.
You know?
So I get down, I pray,
for forgiveness, forgiveness...
Forgiveness for what?
'Cause they
fucking lied,
saying they had all this
evidence they didn't have,
telling me that I'm
gonna be an accessory,
and threatening to take
my daughters away.
I was absolutely,
totally sick.
I mean, I puked. I mean,
you should have seen it.
I never seen pictures
like that before in my life.
Oh, my God.
This is the part.
(TV VOLUME INCREASING)
Pictures of Mrs. Brow?
WOMAN ON TV:
...just happened.
MAN ON TV: He's your
husband's best friend.
(TV TURNS OFF)
Yeah, the pictures.
You know,
the fucking pictures.
You know,
you've seen them.
She had stab wounds
all over her body,
and her brains are coming
out and everything.
And I just went...
You know, I went hysterical.
I was hysterical.
And I broke down
and, you know,
they were
talking at me, like,
"You want this
to happen to you?"
You know, "You want a fucking
murderer walking out on the street?
"It could happen
to anybody.
"Your mother, your kids, you.
" You, meaning me.
So Nancy Taylor said that Kenny could
murder you or your mother or your girls?
Yeah, she fucking did.
That's exactly right.
Excuse my French.
I mean, there was a lot of thing
that wasn't quite right in Denmark.
And I was trying to put
it together, I just...
I mean,
I was telling them.
I was, like, I was fucking
plastered at the time.
I don't remember
what Kenny said.
And you'll sign this
affidavit once we're done?
(CRYING)
I can't live
like this any longer.
Betty Anne, I'm sorry.
I know I put your brother in there.
I know I did, I did.
I'm sorry.
But I was up against a wall,
you know, I was railroad.
I told them
Kenny is innocent.
You know?
Nancy Taylor,
she fucking...
She says, "Once I get my
lead, I never let it go."
So, I just need to know, you'll
sign this affidavit, then?
Yeah.
So, after we leave here,
we'll just...
You can come with us, we'll
just quickly get it notarized.
(SCOFFS)
Oh.
What about perjury, then?
What about perjury?
Yeah. If I sign this,
then everybody's
gonna know I lied before.
What's the statute of limitations?
I didn't know she could
say so many syllables.
I'd like to knock out
the rest of her teeth.
Taste in women was not one of
your brother's strong points.
(DOORBELL RINGS)
Mandy?
Yeah.
I'm your Aunt Betty Anne.
You r father's sister.
What do you want?
Did you get
my messages?
I... I gotta go.
I really need to
talk to your mother.
She's not home.
Please,
your father's innocent.
My father's a murderer.
No. The DNA test
proved he's not.
Wait. Did she give you
his letters?
He wrote to you
every week!
On
(BANGING ON DOOR)
BETTY: He's innocent!
(CHATTERING ON TV)
Ma, are the pancakes
almost ready?
BETTY: Hey, guys.
Anybody up for a drive?
RICHARD: Any pancakes
left back there?
Oh. You wanted some?
(GROANS)
Richard!
Give me One.
BEN: Forget it, you lose!
Hey!
BEN: Immature. Immature.
Hey, come on. Come on.
You're gonna
make me crash. Here.
One pancake.
Okay.
(SIGHS)
You guys gonna tell your father this
is how I made you spend Christmas?
Your secret's
safe with us,
Besides, we're
willing accomplices.
You guys would do this
for each other, right?
If Ben tried to go to law school for
me, I'd die an old man in prison.
Don't worry about it,
I Wouldn't do it.
You wouldn't?
I mean, I'd want
to help and all,
but I don't think I could give
up what I really wanted to do.
Which is what? Sleep till noon
and hang out at the mall?
Shut up. What,
you'd do it for me?
Yeah. I would.
You'd sacrifice
your whole life for me?
When you put it
like that...
Forget n.
You think I sacrificed
my whole life?
It's okay. Come on.
Hey, give me the gift.
Come on, let's go.
Merry Christmas.
Mandy, these are your cousins.
Thanks, but this isn't
a good time right now.
BETTY: I'm sorry.
Merry Christmas.
Okay, here.
Sorry, I can't take that.
Come on.
BETTY: The boys
got you a video.
God knows long it'll
take to approve it.
Do you remember the year they
wouldn't let me give you Babe?
Hey, here we go.
Happy New Year.
We're getting close,
everyone!
ALL: Nine, eight,
seven, six, five, four...
..."three, two, one...
(ALL CHEERING)
(CAR ENGINE STARTING)
I'm working.
Please.
MANDY:
l have this memory
where I'm sitting on the
kitchen floor and I'm like
three or four years old,
and my mom and aunt are talking about
Daddy's shirt being covered with blood.
I couldn't figure it out.
You know, I just
didn't understand why Daddy's
shirt was covered in blood.
It wasn't..
She lied?
The DNA proves she did.
Why would she
lie like that?
I don't know, honey, but that's
what we need to ask her.
Did he really
write me every week?
For 18 years.
Even when you
were just a baby.
Is he getting
out of jail?
They're not gonna let him
out without new evidence.
Why new
Because people don't like to admit
when they've made a mistake.
We need a statement
from your mother.
I can't control what she does.
Yeah, I know.
Either could Kenny.
You know,
if Massachusetts had the death penalty,
your father would be
dead by now.
He made that for you.
He's had that on the wall of
his cell this whole time.
(DOORBELL RINGS)
(DOGS BARKING)
After me and Kenny split up,
I had this boyfriend,
Robert.
And he says that we could get money
from the cops if we rat on Kenny.
So he goes to Nancy Taylor
and says that
I told him that Kenny confessed to Mrs.
Brow's murder.
Nancy Taylor tells Robert
he can fuck himself.
And she hauls me in,
brings me to this hotel,
makes me look at all
these gross pictures.
And she says
that they can prove
I was an accessory,
And that they'll
take Mandy away.
Hi. Do you guys have
a printer I can use?
Can you guarantee I won't
go to jail if I sign this?
No. l can't.
Sign it, Ma.
Martha Coakley, please.
No. I have Barry Scheck
calling and it's urgent.
Ms. Coakley?
Betty Anne Waters.
Look, Barry's tied up
right now,
but he wanted me
to let you know
that Brenda Marsh, your key witness
in the Kenneth Waters case,
has just recanted
her original testimony.
(WHISPERING)
And we just faxed
the affidavit,
and so you should be
getting it shortly.
Hang on,
here's Barry now.
Martha! Yeah. That's something
about Brenda Marsh, isn't it?
Oh, really?
Listen, I just wanted
to give you a heads up
while you're deciding whether or
not to vacate Kenny's conviction,
the folks over at the Boston
Globe and the New York Times,
they just love this story.
No. They're all over it.
Yeah, the phone's
been ringing. Yeah.
Great. All right
Okay, bye-bye.
(CHUCKLING)
(GATE UNLOCKING)
(EXHALES)
JUDGE: Are all sides in agreement
to vacate the conviction?
Yes, Your Honor.
Yes, Your Honor.
Yes, Your Honor.
Kenneth Waters,
you're free to go.
That's it?
That's it.
(REPORTERS CLAMORING)
(CAMERAS CLICKING)
Hey, those 18 years, man,
they're gone. (LAUGHS)
Right now, I'm...
How could you possibly
thank your sister
for what she's
done for you?
I don't know. How would you thank her?
it's a good question.
MALE REPORTER: Betty, you have any
big cases lined up after this?
No, no, no. I never really planned
on practicing law, so... (LAUGHS)
Is this for us?
This is for you.
We chipped in.
Hey. Kenny, Kenny, Kenny.
KENNY: Hey.
What?
Look who's here.
Where?
BETTY: it's Mandy.
That's Mandy?
Yeah.
Go talk to her.
Just two seconds, guys.
Hi.
Hi.
You're so beautiful.
I'm sorry,
I can't just...
My whole life,
I thought...
Not your whole life.
(INHALES DEEPLY)
What my mother
did to you...
I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
That's not your fault.
That's not
your fault, honey.
Oh, come on, let's get out of here.
Come on.
Come on.
KENNY: Lake Betty Anne
and Kenny.
BETTY: Lake Kenny
and Betty Anne.
Even if it had taken you
another 20 years or so,
I would've been okay.
Another 20 years?
Jesus. I would've
lost my mind!
(CHUCKLES)
No, I mean, you know...
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
Knowing you
were out here,
working so hard for me,
knowing that you
loved me that much.
What goes on
inside your head
Walking slowly
towards the night
There's nothing wrong
with me you say
You kept me
spellbound by the hour
And f fry
I tried with all my might
And I try
I tried with all my might
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Saw you again the other day
Walking fast into the night
There's nothing wrong
with me you say
I think I just saw the lie
And I try
I tried with all my might
And I try
I tried with all my might
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Well, I've been
bad before
And I know the feeling well
They're always there
I can sense you
There's always a heaven
where there's a hell
Oh, did I fer you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
(DOOR OPENING)
Betty Anne Waters?
Please define
"contract" for us.
Um...
A contract is a promise
or a set of promises
that the law in some way
recognizes as a duty,
and when it's breached,
the law provides a remedy.
BEN: (SOFTLY) Ma. ma.
(BETTY INHALES SHARPLY)
What time is it?
BEN: 8:15.
Shit. I didn't
finish my paper!
Thanks, sweetie.
You did your math?
No, l left my book
at Dads.
Richard!
I'll do it in school.
Eat, Mom.
Mmm.
Did you finish
your poem, Ben?
Yeah.
RICHARD: Thanks to me.
You get yourselves ready, we're
gonna leave in a minute.
"If There Was Peace in the
World by Ben Currente."
Here, here. Come over here.
Read it over here.
"If There Was Peace in the
World by Ben Currente.
"Children would no longer
have bad dreams
"of guns, bombs
and deadly screams."
"Deathly."
I wrote that line.
You did not!
It's beautiful.
Come on, read me the rest.
(PANTING) Wait, wait.
One more.
It's 10:00.
You're late.
Shit.
Can't believe ii.
(BAND PLAYING
WHISKEY IN THE JAR)
(SINGING) Whack for my daddy-0
whack for my daddy-0
There 's whiskey
in the jar
You keep watching my ass, Aidan,
I'm gonna have to clock you!
You keep wearing those jeans,
I'm gonna have to marry you.
Here you go.
Hey, I know you!
Hi.
She's the other
old lady in my class.
(MEN LAUGHING)
AIDAN: Still thirsty?
A Bushmills, please.
You her boss?
Well, technically.
But she's the one who's
a little bossy. Hmm.
Bummer about your paper.
I'm Abra Rice.
Oh, yeah, well...
Okay, now you're starting
to hurt my feelings.
What?
We're gonna be friends
'cause we're the only ones in class
who've been through puberty.
I'm just...
I'm really busy.
Okay, I'll start.
So, I got these lefty parents
and they're always telling me I
should put my big mouth to good use
and try to change
the system.
So, I ignored them,
of course.
And after partying for
a few too many years,
I finally figured out what I
wanted to be when I grew up.
And it turned out my parents
were right, God damn it!
So, here I am.
What about you?
Look, I'm not
trying to be rude,
I just don't really have
time for a friend right now.
Oh... Yeah, you do.
I mean, I'm all you got!
I don't want anyone in school
to know what I'm doing there.
Oh.
Well, I mean,
I do have a big mouth,
but I know how
to keep a secret.
My brother Kenny, he got
screwed by the system.
He's been in prison for 12
years, life without parole.
Whoa.
He's innocent.
Okay.
Yeah, I'm gonna find
a way to get him out.
Okay.
He's innocent of what?
(CHAINSAW WHIRRING)
NANCY: Kenneth Waters?
Mr. Waters?
(CHAINSAW STOPS WHIRRING)
Hey.
(PANTING)
Finally someone who looks
good in a uniform.
I'm Officer Nancy Taylor.
I need you to come with me.
I'd love to, but I'm
already spoken for.
Where'd you get
those scratches?
Look around you, sweetheart.
See the branches?
Sir, I need you to step
into the patrol car.
Uh... Well...
My grandpa needs
this tree out of here.
(FIRMLY) Now, Mr. Waters.
Put down the chainsaw.
(SIGHS)
I tell you what, buttercup, why don't
you go give out some parking tickets
and then come back when I'm done.
How's that?
Put down the chainsaw, now.
Get the fuck off my grandpa's property.
You're trespassing.
Drop the weapon.
You're shitting me, right?
(FIRMLY) l said
drop your weapon.
Take ii easy there, Angie
Dickinson, it's okay.
I'm putting it down,
I'm putting it down.
Every time something happens
in this godforsaken town,
you have to pick him up?
You know the drill,
Betty Anne.
He's got a record,
we gotta bring him in.
That just sucks.
I mean, he would never hurt Mrs. Brow.
(CHUCKLING) Hey! Hey, Tommy,
Boisseau finally got my clothes off.
He's been wanting to get
me alone naked for years.
You have to make an honest man
of me now, you know that.
Let's go.
KENNY: What's going on?
I'm picking you up.
You're picking me up?
I love you. Look at my sis.
Isn't she beautiful?
(LAUGHS) No.
Here she is to save the day.
She's got her cape on.
(MUFFLED) Hey, listen.
No hard feelings, okay?
And may I say that you are one
of my absolute favourite arrests.
What, you think
this is a joke?
She was stabbed 30 times
and her head bashed in
till her brains flew out.
You think
that's funny?
No, l don't think it's...
OFFICER: Listen, don't leave
town for a while, all right?
We might have some more
questions for you.
There goes my trip
to Aruba. Okay.
So long,
gentlemen and lady.
BETTY: You an right?
KENNY: Yeah, you an right?
Carry you?
No, I don't want...
(KENNY GRUNTS) BETTY:
(CHUCKLES) Kenny, I'm...
(CLANKING)
(KIDS SHOUTING)
BOY: Good one, Kenny.
No, don't ring it
till the end.
(BETTY SCREAMING)
GIRL: Get him,
Betty Anne.
BOY: Come on, Kenny.
(GIRL WHOOPS)
Someone's gotta
talk to her.
They ain't my
fucking kids.
GRANDPA:
She won't listen to me.
ELIZABETH:
How'd you get so filthy?
Elizabeth, you treat them like trash,
they're gonna
grow up to be trash.
You go to hell.
I work day and night for these kids.
Everything l do
is fol' them.
Get upstairs
and take a bath.
And you're going to school
tomorrow, you hear me?
Hey, where the hell
are you going?
ELIZABETH: I don't have
to answer to you.
BOYFRIEND:
The fuck you don't.
GRANDPA: Elizabeth, get back here.
They're your kids.
Who's supposed to
look after them?
He got down on his knee in the
middle of the freaking restaurant.
It was so sweet.
(BAND PLAYING
LONG TRAIN RUNNIN')
Yeah, it was totally, what
do you say, conventional,
Talking about marriage?
BRENDA: Traditional.
Traditional is what I meant.
Thank you.
KENNY: Don't give Brenda any ideas.
BRENDA: I love you, baby.
KENNY: I love you.
BRENDA: Mmm.
Mandy, you wanna dance?
Congratulations.
BETTY: Thanks.
Congratulations.
(SINGING) Down along
the tracks
She lost her home
and her family
She won't be comin' back
Without love
Where would you be now
Without love
He's such a good dad,
isn't he?
You'll be a good dad.
I will.
Well, the Illinois Central
And the Southern
Central Freight
You gotta keep
on pushin', Mama
You know
you're runnin' late
Without love
Where would you be now
(LIQUID SPLASHING)
(MAN GROANS)
God, I'm sorry, man.
I'm sorry. You okay?
Who the hell brings
a baby into a bar?
She likes the band!
Well, if you can't
take care of your kid,
you should keep your
dick in your pants.
What did you say?
You heard me.
Absolutely, I'm sorry, man.
I'm sorry.
Here, hold Mandy
for a second.
What are you doing?
Kenny...
(TABLE THUDDING)
(BOTTLES RATTLING)
Kenny!
(CROWD EXCLAIMING)
You ever say another word about my
daughter and I'll fucking kill you.
(BAND STOPS PLAYING) I'll
take your fucking eye out.
You understand me, motherfucker?
BETTY: Kenny, get off him.
You understand me?
Hey, hey, Kenny, easy.
Come on.
Enough.
He's okay, all right.
No, he's all right,
he's all right.
We clear? We're clear, right?
Mano a mano, huh?
BETTY: Come on.
KENNY: Hey, we're Cool.
We're cool, he's all right.
Get some Wild Turkey.
Wild Turkey for my buddy here.
You okay, man?
Get some ice for my buddy here.
Sit down. Sit down.
This one's okay.
He's fine.
No.
We're sitting here having fun
and you had to go and do that.
Who's your buddy?
Who's your pal?
(BAND PLAYING MY SHARONA)
Come on, now it's a party.
You know what I'm saying?
Come on, come on!
Come on, come on, come on.
Come on, let's dance.
Give the baby to Betty and let's dance.
Let's dance.
Come on, let's dance.
Fuck you.
My, my, my
Whoo!
My my, my Sharona
When you gonna
give me some time, Sharona?
My my, my Sharona
My Sharona
Never gonna stop,
give it up
Such a dirty mind
Always get it up for the
touch of the younger kind
My, my, my
Whoo!
My my, my Sharona
(CROWD WHISTLING)
(CROWD WHOOPING)
Right here!
Right here!
Never gonna stop,
give it up
Such a dirty mind
Always get it up for the
touch of the younger kind
My, my, my, my
Whoo!
MAN: I dare you, Kenny!
I dare you!
Kenny!
Kenny!
(CROWD CHEERING)
BETTY: (WHISPERING)
He's awake.
(GURGLING)
(MOUTHING)
(WHISPERING) Betty Anne.
He won't let go
of my hand.
You keep waking him up because
you keep checking on him.
You gotta calm down. Babe.
I don't want to turn out
like my mother.
Oh, baby.
(PHONE RINGING)
Oh, shit. Quiet.
Hello?
Oh, no.
(SIGHS DEEPLY)
Benjamin Davenport,
beloved father,
grandfather and
great-grandfather,
was a hard-working man who
always put his family first.
Devoted to his wife, Eliza,
until the day she died,
his daughter, Elizabeth,
and all his grandchildren.
When times
were roughest,
Benjamin made sure there
was food on the table.
Can I help you,
Officer?
OFFICER:
Excuse me, Father.
Kenneth Waters,
you're under arrest.
What?
What?
We need you
to come with us.
Can't it wait? Show some respect!
It's my grandfather's funeral.
Now, Mr. Waters.
Please, can't it just wait
until after the funeral?
All right, okay. I'm coming.
Just take care of Mandy.
Okay.
Okay, I'm coming.
I'm coming, all right?
Please, can't this wait?
KENNY:
What's this for?
Just until after the funeral.
Come on, guys.
Give me a break over here.
What is this for?
A goddamn parking ticket?
What the fuck?
Kenneth Waters,
you're under arrest
for the murder of Katharina Brow.
Are you out of your
fucking mind?
You let me off
two years ago!
We got you now.
Look, these lawyers
want 25,000 up front.
(SCOFFS) 25 grand?
If I had 25 grand,
I'd buy a fucking yacht.
This is a joke.
They got nothing on me!
They arrested you
for murder.
They must think
they have something.
No. The police
are fucking with me.
A public defender
will be fine.
Hey, come on,
you're gonna get wrinkles.
Cops are drawn to me like
bees to honey, you know that.
I have a gift.
Yeah, some gift.
Hey, don't worry.
They got nothing.
It's gonna be okay.
He had a scratch on his face.
On the morning of
February 21, 1980,
he came home with
a scratch on his face?
Yes. Right here.
For the record,
you're showing them
just below the eye
to just below your lip?
Right
Did you have an argument with Mr.
Waters in July, 1980,
five months after the murder?
Yeah, he tried throwing me
out a second-floor window.
And at some point during the argument,
did he say something to you?
I asked him if he
killed that Woman.
He said, "Yeah,
what's it to you?"
FAHEY: Ms.
Marsh, can you please tell the jury,
why did you wait more than
two years to tell the police
that Kenny said
he had killed Mrs. Brow?
I was afraid of him.
I thought he'd kill me, too.
(WHISPERS)
What is she doing to him?
I show you, Ms. Marsh, what's
marked as Exhibit number 64,
and I would ask if you
could identify that.
It's the same knife
Kenny carried.
And when Kenneth Waters
was brought in as a suspect,
did he have an alibi for the period
between midnight and 9:00 a.m.
On February 21 st?
He claimed that he was working
as a cook at the Park Diner.
And what did you discover when
you checked out his alibi?
We confirmed that he was
at work until 5:00 a.m.,
but beyond that, there were no
witnesses who saw when he left.
His time cards
were never found.
KATSAS: The head and chest were struck
with a ceramic lamp and a metal toaster,
and there were 30 stab wounds.
Six to the head and neck,
three to the back, one to the
abdomen and 14 to the chest.
Five of them
penetrated to the heart,
and one time it went through the
front and almost came out the back.
HIGGINS: There was an enormous amount
of blood, mostly from the victim,
but some from
the perpetrator.
And what, if anything,
did you determine
With respect to the blood
of Katharina Brow?
Katharina Brow would be
identified as blood group B.
And with respect to
Exhibits SSA through F,
did you examine those items
from the murder scene
and determine the blood
group present on each?
Yes. The blood on each of those
items was from blood group O.
And did you have occasion
to test a sample
from the defendant, Kenneth Waters?
Yes. His sample is
from blood group O.
FAHEY: And what was
your relationship
with Mr. Waters after you
met the summer of 1980?
ROSEANNA: Mmm...
I guess you could say we were lovers
for a while, about six months.
FAHEY: On those occasions when you
did some drinking with Mr. Waters,
do you recall anything he said to you?
(MOUTHING)
He told me he got picked
up for a murder in Ayer
and that they couldn't pin it on
him, and he laughed about ii.
FAHEY: Sometime after
the summer of 1980,
did you have another conversation with Mr.
Waters about this murder?
YES.
Um...
He told me he stabbed her and
he took her money and jewellery
Did he tell you
anything else?
He called her an old German bitch,
a fucking old German bitch.
After Kenneth Waters supposedly
told you, "I killed her,"
did you terminate
seeing him?
No. So you believed
him to be a murderer,
but you continued to be
romantically involved?
Yeah. Until he bashed
my teeth in.
FAHEY: You have nine children by seven
different fathers, is that correct?
Objection!
Sustained.
Didn't the state, in fact,
declare you an unfit mother
and take your children
away from you?
Objection!
Irrelevant.
Sustained.
Watch yourself, Ms. Fahey.
Wasn't Kenny sent
to training school
for breaking into
K. Brow's home?
No! That wasn't...
And didn't your son
regularly break into houses
in the neighbourhood?
(STAMMERING) I never condoned that
type of behaviour from my children...
Just answer the
question, please.
Yes.
BETTY: I hope
our place is as nice.
KENNY: I'm not gonna
live in no trailer.
I'm gonna have a mansion
with 100 rooms.
(CHUCKLES) And 10 refrigerators
filled with candy.
And our own
private lake.
Lake Betty Anne
and Kenny.
Lake Kenny
and Betty Anne.
I Said it first.
Well, I'm older.
No, stop it!
Where's my candy?
Calm down, Mrs. Brow.
We'll take care of it.
Lee, around back.
(BANGING ON DOOR)
Open up in there.
Police.
Where do you think you're going?
Come here.
KENNY: Go, go, go, go.
God damn it! What did I tell
you kids about trespassing?
Kenny, get over here. Stand right there.
Betty Anne, come on. Ow!
Come here, Betty Anne, come here.
(BETTY SHRIEKS)
Get over here.
Hey, fat ass, your
mother's a dirty whore.
Come here. Ow!
You don't touch my sister.
Don't you touch my sister.
Don't touch her.
OFFICER:
Take him to the ground.
Get down.
(GRUNTING)
Kenny!
Go, run.
Run, Betty Anne. Run!
BETTY:
we were just kids.
We'd play in people's houses and
pretend we had a normal life.
I don't know what
you're talking about.
You had a perfectly
normal life.
Yeah. Eight foster homes.
Perfectly normal.
There, baby.
ELIZABETH: The only reason
they took you away from me
is because l worked too much.
I had no life
except for you kids.
We know, Mother.
You were practically a nun.
But Kenny, he'd be
like a wild animal.
I'm not saying he was born
bad, but he had that temper.
I was always afraid
he might kill somebody.
Don't you ever say that
to me or anyone else!
Don't you even think ii,
you understand me?
I mean, what kind of mother
would say something like that?
ELIZABETH: They're my babies!
They can't do this!
GRANDPA:
They bloody well can.
ELIZABETH: Why do they
have to separate them?
Why can't they go
to one foster home?
Shh!
BOISSEAU: I hate
to split them up.
Okay, Kenny.
Come with me.
Where you raking mm?
You are gonna
come with me, honey.
No, I don't want to.
Come on, fellow, now.
Stop! No!
Let go of him!
Betty, stop, stop. Let him go.
You gotta let him go.
Please, no!
BETTY: Don't take my brother!
Betty Anne!
We have to stay together!
Kenny, stop!
(BETTY SCREAMS)
(SOBBING)
JUDGE: Will the defendant
please rise?
On indictment 82-4115,
this indictment charging
Kenneth Waters with murder,
what say you,
Madam Foreman?
Is the defendant
guilty or not guilty?
We find the defendant
guilty, Your Honor.
CLERK:
Guilty of what?
Murder in the
first degree.
this indictment charging Kenneth
Waters with armed robbery.
What say you,
Madam Foreman?
Is the defendant
guilty or not guilty?
We find the defendant guilty.
(EXHALES)
We'll appeal it, Kenny!
We'll get you out!
We'll get you out, Kenny!
You hear me?
(SOBBING)
I'm sorry, baby.
Honey, I want to go see him.
Can I go see him?
You can't.
GUARD: And if you keep
acting like that,
we're gonna take
your ass to the hole.
KENNY: I want my
fucking phone call now.
You will obey the rules
in this facility.
I want my fucking
phone call.
(INMATES SHOUTING)
GUARD: You about that
close, motherfucker!
Settle down! I said
you gotta settle down!
You want some of this shit?
Fuck you!
Fuck you! Fuck!
Get down!
You fucking cocksuckers.
That's all you got,
you fuckers.
BETTY: Did you tell
Mr. Peters it was urgent?
I haven't heard
from Kenny in two weeks.
RICK: Not in your
mouth, buddy.
BETTY: He's called me every
Sunday for the past three years.
Something's happened.
Ow! Shit!
Son of a...
BETTY:
Just find my brother.
Damn it, where is he?
Something's wrong,
I know it.
We should have heard
from Kenny by now.
You gotta make
peace with this.
Make peace?
We got a family here.
This is us now.
Babe, Kenny's in prison for the
rest of his life. Accept it.
I will never accept it.
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
Hello.
It's Harvey Peters.
Finally. I haven't heard from
Kenny since we lost the appeal.
Everything's okay now.
You got nothing to worry about.
What do you mean?
What happened?
Your brother's in
isolation, so no calls...
Why is he in isolation?
He tried to
kill himself
(SIGHS)
What?
KENNY: Kiddo.
How are you?
How could you do this?
What, this?
(LAUGHS)
You'd be better off.
God damn it, Kenny.
Promise me you'll never do this again.
There's nothing left.
It's over.
There's still
the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court?
The Supreme Court ain't gonna
fucking hear this case. I'm fucked.
I was fucked
right from the start.
You can't give up.
We'll find somebody else.
I'll take out a loan.
We'll get a top
lawyer this time.
Hey, when are you gonna get it, Betty Anne?
There is no one else.
There's not a lawyer on earth
to give a fuck about me.
There has to be.
You're innocent.
(SCOFFS)
Are you sure about that?
How could you ask me that?
How could you ask me that?
Doesn't matter whether
I killed Mrs. Brow or not.
I'm a piece of shit, aren't I?
I'm no good to anybody.
(CRYING)
What about your daughter?
What daughter?
She's being poisoned against me.
I'm never gonna see her again.
That is not true.
I gotta go.
I'm doing Mandy a favour
She's the one good thing I ever
did in my piece of shit life
and I got nothing
to give her.
Please, Kenny, Wall.
You promise me you'll never
hurt yourself again.
Promise me.
(WHISPERS) I can't spend
the rest of my life in here.
(SHAKILY) Kenny, wait.
(BREATH ES DEEPLY)
What's this?
I thought maybe I could
get a degree, finally.
Why?
I just thought, maybe...
I don't know.
Maybe I could eventually
apply to law school.
You're not doing this.
You're not doing this.
I could go part time,
I Could Still...
Enough.
So, this is what I'm gonna do and...
Don't laugh, all right?
I'm gonna start by
trying to get a BA
after I finally take
the stupid GED test,
and after that,
if I even get that far,
and there's no guarantee
I'll even get in,
I'll apply to law school.
But it is gonna take along time,
Kenny, a really long time,
and, I mean,
I might be 80 years old
before I finally
become a lawyer,
and even then, I still don't know
if I'm gonna find the answers.
But you just have
to promise me,
you just have to,
that you will never try to
Kill yourself ever again,
'cause if you do...
Just don't.
Okay.
(SIGHS DEEPLY)
May it please the court,
my name is Betty Anne Waters
and the issue today
is whether my client...
The issue is
whether Ms. Cooper...
No, the issue is whether...
Shit.
Start again, Ms. Waters.
And breathe.
Right, breathe.
JESUS.
What are you doing, Ben?
You guys okay?
Hey, you got them,
didn't you?
Oh, shit.
Did you forget?
You forgot
the fishing trip?
No, of course not.
I just...
I just didn't remember
it was this weekend.
Guys, I'm so sorry,
I can't go.
I have to argue a brief in front
of real judges and lawyers.
You promised.
I know, honey.
We'll go another weekend, okay?
When? When Uncle Kenny
gets out of jail?
BETTY: Richard.
Honey, I'm sorry.
I know.
KENNY: I found this
book in the library.
It says that women hardly ever shoot
themselves when they commit suicide.
So Romeo Collad's
screwing Mrs. Brow, right?
His wife puts a bullet
in her head. You follow?
Yeah.
What if we can prove
he shot her?
How we gonna do that?
I don't know,
we'll investigate.
And then they'd take him more seriously
as a suspect in the Brow case.,.
But Romeo Collad's dead, so...
(SIGHING)
So... So, what?
It could still be enough
to re-open the case.
We just gotta find a precedent.
Ask your Evidence teacher.
I really can't right now.
I got a ton of work and...
What's going on?
Tell me.
It's nothing. I'm fine.
(SCOFFS)
Is something going on
with the boys? No.
Look, I'm...
Just forget it!
Did they
strip Search you?
No.
Betty, it's me.
Now, come on, stop.
I'm on probation at school.
Probation? What do you mean?
I'm the one in jail.
What are you talking about?
What does that mean?
It means that if I don't
improve, I'm out,
But you're doing... You're doing so...
You're doing great.
No, I'm not. I've had late papers
and I flunked my Torts exam.
They can't
do that to you.
You're the smartest person
in the whole goddamn school.
Fuck that! I'm gonna write a letter
to those scum-bag teachers...
Yeah, and make sure you call
them scum-bags in the letter.
Fuck them! You should
at least get extra credit
for working on
a real fucking case.
They don't care about that.
Look, don't worry
about this, okay?
I'm gonna
take care of it.
Okay?
Okay, okay.
Hey, don't cry, honey.
You're worth a thousand
of them preppy shitheads.
Don't cry, okay?
I know, I'm sorry.
GUARD: No touching.
(INDISTINCT)
Hi.
RICHARD: Hi.
You guys have
a nice weekend?
Yeah.
BETTY: Yeah?
Get any homework done?
A little.
BEN: Yeah.
BETTY: Yeah?
Okay, what's going on?
Hmm?
Come on, talk.
What happened?
We were thinking, you know, since
you've been so busy and all...
We were thinking that maybe
we wanna live with Dad.
That son of a bitch!
He put you up to this?
No.
Did he?
No.
I need a guy around,
you know? For guy things.
You feel the same way?
Kind Of.
(SIGHS)
Call me, okay? Lei me know how
you do on your math test.
Okay.
I love you.
And you, you don't forget
to set your alarm.
If you're late for English again...
I know, Mom, I know.
Watch your head.
Come here. (KISSING)
All right,slop, Mom. Stop!
I love you. I love you so much.
I love you, too, Mom.
Okay.
I'll see you Friday.
We'll go to the movies.
Bye, bye.
(PANTING)
(SOBBING)
PROFESSOR BLOCK: Samson.
Here.
Shaw.
Here.
Stevens. Taylor.
TAYLOR: Present.
Thomassen.
Yeah.
Vaughn.
Here.
Waters. Waters?
Betty Anne Waters?
ABRA: Come on, up.
I'm unfit.
Just like my mother.
Will you knock ii Off?
That is not true.
But I'll tell you what.
If you keep missing classes, you will fail.
I've already failed.
I lost my boys.
Betty,
you didn't lose them.
I wasn't there for them.
I wasn't.
I can't help Kenny.
Especially if you get
kicked Out Of law School.
There's your underwear,
there's your jeans,
(SNIFFS) that's clean.
Come on, get dressed.
I can't. I can't.
Just come to school today.
Start there.
(SIGHING)
KENNY: Life's swell here at the
Hilton, food's fucking fantastic,
just like Ma used to make.
Can you send me
more white socks?
I love you and
I miss you very much.
I, Kenneth Waters,
being of sound mind,
leave all my
worldly possessions
to my sister,
Betty Anne Waters.
Also, most important, I'm giving her
full authority on any decisions
concerning my daughter
Mandy Marsh's well-being.
SCOTT: So, two of us
will be defense attorneys,
two will be
the prosecutors.
Thanks for
dropping by, Waters.
Nice ironing job.
SCOTT: And then we need a
defendant, and a paralegal.
I nominate Betty Anne
to be the defendant.
What's my alleged crime?
Uh... Rape.
Oh. Gee, thanks.
What case did they assign us?
You'd know that if you
actually came to class.
Shut the fuck up.
Sewell v. State, 1992.
Sewell had already served 10
years in prison for rape,
and then he sued the state for the
right to DNA test the rape kit.
DNA test?
Yeah, the semen in the rape kit wasn't his.
The DNA didn't match.
And he won?
YES.
Yeah, look. "Advances in technology
may yield protection for exculpation
"where none
previously existed."
SCOTT: All right, so who
wants to be the paralegal?
(KNOCKING AT DOOR)
BETTY: Abra.
It's the blood.
This is the key.
What?
There was so much blood.
Look, I'm gonna
get Kenny out.
There were no
DNA tests then.
They only knew that the murderer
was type O and so is Kenny.
But now, if we can DNA test the
murderers blood and Kenny's,
it'll prove Kenny's innocent,
just like in the rape case.
Berry.
I'm sorry, Don.
There are 49 other cases
like this.
(STAMMERS)
Wait. How do you know the
blood evidence still exists?
'Cause we're gonna find it.
And Barry Scheck
is gonna help.
Here, look.
Oh, I see.
Barry Scheck.
This is what he does. Look, he has
this Innocence Project in New York.
And you're just gonna call him up
and he's gonna take your case?
Yes!
Are we both gonna sleep
with him or just you?
Abra, God. Look.
Dear Mr. Scheck, I would greatly
appreciate any assistance
you and the Innocence
Project can provide
in helping me free
my brother, Kenny,
From a life-without-parole sentence.
In 1983, Kenny was convicted in
Massachusetts of first-degree murder
with extreme atrocity
and armed robbery.
I have done everything in my
power for the last 16 years
to prepare myself to prove
my brother's innocence.
You good?
I can't find it.
I can't find my ID.
ABRA: You checked your whole wallet?
BETTY: Twice!
AERA: You can't take
the Bar exam without ID.
Abra Rice.
WOMAN: Rice.
ABRA: Thank you.
Thanks. WOMAN: Next.
I'm sorry, I can't find my ID.
Just one second.
Look what I found
in my...
There.
You bitch.
(LAUGHS)
it's funny.
I can't believe you did that.
WOMAN: Waters.
You almost gave me a heart attack.
She's very old and she can't
remember a single thing.
BETTY: Mr. Scheck,
the day that my brother was
unjustly convicted of this crime,
changed not only
his life, but mine.
HUY: Dear Ms. Waters, I've enclosed
an application for your brother Kenny
to complete and return
to our office.
I must stress that
we only accept cases
where DNA evidence
can exonerate the accused.
It will be vital for us to determine
if any such evidence still exists.
Without DNA evidence, it will be
impossible for us to proceed.
The Innocence Project has a
backlog of several hundred cases,
so I must caution that it
will be at least 18 months
before we can begin to
evaluate your brother's case.
Ii however, you pass the Bar exam
and become your brother's attorney,
you yourself can begin looking for
the DNA evidence immediately.
If you manage to find ft,
Mr. Scheck may agree to act
as consulting attorney,
in which case
we can work together
towards exonerating
your brother.
RICHARD: Mom?
BETTY:
I'm in the kitchen.
Damn thing's
still frozen.
(RICHARD SIGHS)
Thin's good, right?
Didn't you say that?
Open it.
Are you sure?
Don't look at it.
Just hold it up for me to read.
Don't look!
I'm not.
Thank you, God.
Did you hear
what I said?
Kenny?
(WHOOPS) Yeahs
We did its We did in
My baby sister!
GUARD 1: Muddy,
would you please sit down?
My baby sister did it!
My baby sister just passed the Bar.
Yeah, yeah. I understand,
but you have to sit down.
GUARD 2:
Waters, have a seat.
You have to take
a seat, now!
Right, okay.
I'm gonna take a seat.
Sit down. No, come on.
(KENNY WHOOPS)
Gel the hell off of me!
What the hell is wrong with you?
Sit down! Sit down.
(LAUGHS) Okay.
I'm cool.
I'm all right.
Okay, okay.
So proud of you.
I'm proud of you.
OFFICER: Ayer police.
Hi. I'm an attorney, and I'm calling
regarding evidence from a 1983 case.
Your flame, please?
Um...
Abra Rice.
If they realize I'm one
of the Waters kids,
God knows what they'd do
to the evidence. You know?
I just don't trust them.
ABRA: You could have
used your married name.
Yeah, but then
when I want to be me,
I won't be able to
'cause I was someone else.
I want to be me
when I need to be me.
So to solve this problem,
you decided to be me?
Just this once.
Nice. Yeah,
l love those shoes.
But from this point on...
You need me to be me.
Right.
Okay. So what did the Ayer
Police tell me, again?
They don't have the
evidence there anymore.
It's at the courthouse
where we had Kenny's trial.
That's where I need you
to call on Monday.
On Monday. Okay.
I understand
if you can't help.
I mean, I don't wanna do anything
to jeopardize your new job.
I mean, this is my cause, not yours.
It's my cause, too.
Okay. Does this make me
look like Barbara Bush?
A little.
Yeah.
I don't deserve
a friend like you.
You're damn right
you don't.
That's right.
Waters. 1983.
Okay, well, isn't it possible
that it's still In.,.
(WHISPERING) What?
What are they saying?
Do you have an actual date
when that would have happened?
(WHISPERS)
What happened?
Okay. Thank you.
What? What did they say?
What did they say?
Aura.
(SIGHS)
Berry, they destroyed n.
What?
According to
Massachusetts law,
they destroy evidence
after 10 years,
and Kenny's evidence was
destroyed in April, 1993.
(VOICE BREAKING)
That is not possible.
I did come this far,
after all this time...
I'm sorry.
No, wait
It has to be there. No. It has to be there.
it's his only chance.
Look, we're gonna
make them look for it.
Honey, there's
nothing to look for.
We're gonna make them look for it.
Sorry.
We're gonna make
them look for it.
ABRA: I understand
what your records...
BETTY: I know,
but I was hoping that
by some chance, the sample might
have been left at your lab.
But the woman I spoke to last
week said she would look.
Alice O'Malley.
Okay, well, is Kathleen
Higgins still working there?
She testified at
the original trial.
Linda Clarke.
And she checked every single
box in that basement?
(WHISPERS)
Ask for the supervisor.
Can I speak to your
supervisor, please?
(EXHALES)
Okay. Well,
thanks for looking.
Mrs. Halloran?
Hi, this is Abra Rice again.
I'm sure Ms. Clarke
searched thoroughly.
Yeah, if you yourself
could look.
(WHISPERS) Yeah.
What?
No, I didn't realize
you already...
Yeah. Okay, thanks.
Your mother's not
in the best mood.
Something happen?
Okay. Start eating.
Here, baby. Aura?
(SIGHING)
What's wrong, Ma?
Naming.
Come on, start eating your
food, it's gonna get cold.
So, how's your
fathers new girlfriend?
What is She, 14? 15?
You tell them.
They have a right to know.
What?
What?
It's just a setback.
Berry.
What am I gonna do, Abra? Give up?
Is that what you're saying?
It's gone.
They maxed?
Can't they look again?
They did.
Mistakes happen.
Obviously, or Kenny
wouldn't be in prison.
Berry, they destroyed n.
No.
That evidence exists Somewhere
and I'm gonna find it.
Okay. Let's say
you do find it.
What if the DNA
matches Kenny's?
Get out. Get the hell out
of my house right now!
No, you gotta hear this.
Even if you're
the most amazing fighter,
the most brilliant
lawyer in the world,
there are forces greater than
you and you may not win!
You think I haven't
thought of that?
No. You haven't.
Just go.
Sorry, boys.
(DOOR CLOSING)
It's just a setback.
Eat your food.
Come on.
Good morning.
Can I help you?
Yeah.
I'm an attorney, Abra Rice,
and I'm trying to locate evidence
from the Kenneth Waters trial.
Yeah, we spoke
on the phone.
Did you check
with the courthouse?
Yeah, and they
can't locate it.
Yeah, well, like I said, they
probably destroyed it by now.
I mean, it's been,
like, what...
Betty Anne Waters?
You know, I'm sorry,
I don't....
Lieutenant Daniels.
I knew your brother Kenny.
I was a rookie here when...
You're his sister?
But I am an attorney,
and he is my client.
DANIELS: Holy shit!
My sister won't even
send me a birthday card!
I was just telling Ms.
Waters that we don't have any evidence here.
Here? From back then?
That's a lot of years.
Would you mind looking?
You're really
his lawyer, huh?
Yeah.
That's it for the old evidence.
And there's nowhere else?
That's it,
just supplies.
Working hard for your brother.
I wish I had better news for you.
How's Kenny holding up?
Not so great.
I remember that case.
Funny guy, that Kenny.
I gotta tell ya,
even with what he did...
He didn't do it.
I liked Kenny.
We all liked him.
Nancy Taylor didn't.
Yeah, well, Nancy Taylor
doesn't work here anymore.
Why new
She got herself into
a little hot water.
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
Groton Police Department.
Chief O'Connell's office.
No. He's not available
right now, sir.
I gave him
your message.
I understand.
I will let him know.
Why aren't you
a cop anymore?
I left the force
when I got married.
Really? You mean it had nothing to
do with you framing another cop?
I beg your pardon?
What was his name?
Oh, yeah, Stanley Randall.
He found out
that you were dirty,
so you got a waitress from the Rusty
Scupper to accuse him of rape.
(SCOFFS)
Is that what they
told you over in Ayer?
I'm sure you can imagine
what it was like
to be the only woman on
that police force. Hmm?
I wasn't dirty, and the
rape charge wasn't false.
The truth is, they never got
over me solving the Brow murder.
You didn't solve it.
You put an innocent man in prison.
I am sorry you have
wasted your life on this.
Your brother
killed that Woman.
(CLANKING)
(KIDS SHOUTING)
Hi, Don.
Hi, Betty.
Is she sleeping?
She usually is at 5:00
in the morning. (LAUGHS)
Come on in.
I'll get her up.
Thanks.
Baby, sweetheart.
Guess who?
I wish we could use this.
I mean, she framed a cop, for Chrissakes.
It still doesn't prove
she framed Kenny,
I mean,
it wouldn't be enough.
Thank you.
ABRA: No.
it's not enough for a new trial.
God, I hate the damn legal system.
it's so fucking inconvenient.
I'm sorry I kicked you
out of my house.
It's okay.
Your mac and cheese sucks.
You were wearing that outfit
when you said you were me?
Yeah. Too bad being you
didn't get me anywhere.
Uh-huh?
You know, there is one thing
we haven't tried yet.
How long will it take you to make
yourself look like a lawyer?
Hi. I'm attorney Abra Rice
and this is my associate.
I'd like to talk
to Mrs. Halloran.
Do you have
an appointment?
It's a pressing legal matter.
Mrs. Halloran's aware of it.
I'm Mrs. Halloran.
Hello. I'm Abra Rice,
we spoke earlier.
Yes, but as I told you
on the phone...
I'm Betty Anne Waters.
And the evidence in question
is from my brother's trial.
Well, we can't just
have family members...
I'm also his attorney, and I became
an attorney just to help him.
I understand that you looked, but if you
could please just look one more time.
If we did this for every
person who came in here...
We don't have the Staff.
Look, I don't know
what else to do but beg.
I'm asking
for a favor,
a favor from a complete
stranger, but, please.
You're talking about evidence
that's 16 years old.
Our record shows
it was destroyed.
Is it possible that the
record could be wrong?
That's highly unlikely.
But possible.
Are those
you r g rand kids?
Yes.
Beautiful.
They look like you.
Oh.
Please.
My brother's innocent.
And you're right, it's been 16 years.
And our family
really wants him home.
(SIGHS DEEPLY)
She's there.
Why don't we
come back here?
Just set it
right there.
Thank you.
it's okay,
Here you go.
You're allowed to touch.
(BREATHING NERVOUSLY)
BETTY: 14B.
Victim's blood.
BETTY: Number 29?
Victim.
Exhibits,
A through F.
Perpetrator.
Good job, Counselor.
(CRYING)
I'll need to file a Motion
to Preserve the Evidence.
Well, that office
is closed now,
but I'll file it
for you in the morning.
I'll get you
the paperwork.
You're gonna... You're just gonna
leave the box out on the table?
It'll be fine.
My brothers life
is in there. Please.
Could I just put a sign
on it with my name?
That really isn't necessary.
Please.
If anything
happens to this...
Well, all right.
Okay. Thank you.
Yeah.
Could I borrow
some tape?
It's right over there.
Okay.
Here you go.
(SIGHS)
BETTY: Thank you.
All right.
BETTY: Okay.
You missed a spot.
(BOTH SHRIEKING EXCITEDLY)
(WHOOPS)
(WHOOPING)
lNMATE: He's getting
out of here!
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
Shit.
Hello.
BARRY: Is this Betty Anne Waters?
- Yes.
This is Barry Scheck.
Oh, my God. Hi.
Hi.
How are you?
Fine, fine! Great!
Congratulations on
finding the evidence.
It's extraordinary.
Thank you, but I really
didn't do anything.
You mean, besides
becoming a lawyer?
No, I mean, you know, we were just
lucky that the box was still there.
I hear you beat up
an old lady to find it.
(CHUCKLES) No, but that
was gonna be my next step.
Kenny thinks he's
getting out tomorrow.
I wish.
DAs don't like to admit they put
an innocent person in prison.
And this DA,
Martha Coakley,
has just gotten elected, so
she's really not gonna like it.
How long do you think
it's gonna take?
We're gonna have some
hoops to go through,
it might be
a couple of months.
A couple of months?
It may be less.
But the important thing is,
if your brother's innocent...
He is.
Then this is a travesty of justice,
and we will get him out.
Thank you, Barry. Thank you.
Thank you so much for calling.
No hugging.
I'm his sister!
He's in segregation.
And that's the rules.
Let's go.
Thanks, Dad.
(EXHALES)
What were you thinking?
Why wouldn't you just take the test?
It's been a year, Betty Anne.
A fucking year.
I don't trust them.
I'm not doing it.
What?
I'm not doing it.
Jesus Christ, Kenny,
are you out of your mind?
This is it.
This is what we've been waiting for!
What, you're not gonna
take the fucking test?
Why now, all of a sudden,
out of the blue?
Why can't you be in the
room when they test me?
They won't allow that.
They're not gonna agree to that!
So, I'm supposed to trust a
bunch of staties to do it?
This isn't a choice.
You have to do this.
It's gonna
test positive.
They'll find a way.
They're gonna fuck me again.
You'll see.
I'm leaving.
You'll do it,
or I'll kill you.
That's your sister
and your lawyer talking.
(DOOR OPENING)
What the hell is
going on over there?
Why don't we have
the test results yet?
The evidence is still
sitting in the crime lab.
Just sitting there?
It takes six months
to approve the testing,
five to decide how to test it,
and now they're doing nothing?
That's what
you're telling me?
Martha Coakley is definitely
stonewalling this.
Are we having
a famine?
I have teenagers, remember?
Look, do we even know if Kenny's
DNA ever made it to the lab?
Or if the crime samples
are still there?
It's there.
Have you seen them?
Why aren't you doing
anything about this?
We call the DA's office every
day, and the crime lab,
the interns have sent,
like, 8,000 e-mails.
Interns? Jesus, Barry,
this is beyond interns!
It's just gonna take
some more time.
Great. You and your interns take
your time while Kenny rots in jail.
Fuck.
Okay.
You shouldn't
take it out on Barry.
You're right.
Are you Dr. McGilvray?
Yes, l am.
Betty Anne Waters.
I need the evidence for my
brothers trial sent today.
Excuse me? I'm sorry,
I'm don't know who...
The DNA evidence from
Kenneth Water's trial..
Why is it just
sitting here?
We have procedures
to follow...
I'll tell you the procedures.
Test the goddamn evidence today
and fedex the result to Ed
Blake's lab in California,
How hard is that?
Why don't you
leave your name and number with
Lois here, and someone will...
So, what is it? Martha Coakley's
telling you not to do it?
Excuse me, I have a meeting
that I'm late for.
Or is there some promotion
you'll get if you kiss her butt?
You can't keep fucking with
my brothers life like this!
You have my name and number.
I called, many times.
Mom, let's go!
We're gonna miss the kick-off!
BETTY:
I'll be right down!
Shit. I forgot my phone!
(SIGHS)
When's the last time you used it?
I don't remember.
Can it.
Maybe it'll ring.
Yeah. You check my desk.
RICHARD: Okay.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Where's it coming from?
The COUCH.
Holy shit.
BETTY: What?
He's innocent!
What?
Uncle Kenny's innocent!
It wasn't his DNA.
"Kenneth Waters is eliminated as
the source of the male blood."
(KEYS CLANK)
(SIGHS)
RICHARDS Oh, my God.
(ALL SHOUTING EXCITEDLY)
BETTY: You guys...
BEN: Oh, my God.
We did it. You...
We did it. We did it.
We did it. We did it.
BEN: We...
I love you guys.
I love you.
RICHARD:
It was all you.
Is this what
I think it is?
Yup.
(BREATH ES DEEPLY)
Is this for real?
Yeah. We did ii.
(CHUCKLING)
You did it.
You fucking did it.
When am I getting out?
A few days.
A few days?
(LAUGHING) I can't wait
a few days!
There's paperwork, Kenny, you
can't just walk out of here.
Why not?
They know I'm innocent!
Hey. Do you hear that, motherfuckers?
Waters.
I'm innocent. Negative DNA test.
Waters. Waters.
I'm very happy for you,
but take your seat.
Okay. My baby sister's
a fucking genius.
You look great.
They can still kick your ass.
She's getting me
out of here.
Sit down and finish
your visit.
So when? What do you think?
Monday? Tuesday?
No. I have to
hear back from Barry.
As soon as he reaches Martha Coakley
and she vacates the conviction.
Well, you tell Miss
Martha fucking Coakley
I want a shiny new limousine picking
me up, with a fully stocked bar!
(SIGHS)
You gotta call
Mandy for me.
You gotta call her and tell
her they know I'm innocent.
I will. As soon as I
get out of here, I will.
Tell her
I'm getting out.
Tell her I miss her
and I wanna see her.
Will you tell her that?
I will.
I love you, Kenny.
I love you.
I love you.
Mandy, this is
your Aunt Betty Anne.
You probably
don't remember me,
but I really need to talk
to you about your dad.
It's very important.
it's nothing bad.
I mean,
it's great. We finally found the
evidence that proves he's innocent.
So he wanted me to call
you and let you know.
So he thought...
AUTOMATED VOICES:
You have zero messages.
(HAMMERING)
BETTY: Hey,
you guys hungry?
I'm gonna throw you a sandwich up.
I've got ham and tuna.
Mom, if you throw a sandwich up
here, the roof will cave in.
Very funny. I'll remember that when
you wanna bring a girl up here.
At least Uncle Kenny'll think
it's nice compared to jail.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Barry?
BARRY: Hr.
Thank God!
I'm going crazy here,
and Kenny's going
absolutely insane.
I know. I'm sorry.
Did you reach
Martha Coakley?
Yes.
What'd she say?
How long is it gonna take?
There 's a problem.
(GLASS SHATTERING)
(THUDDING)
She said...
Thai there was still enough evidence
to try you as an accomplice.
So I'm not getting out?
Not now. But.,.
I'm sorry, Kenny.
It's okay.
I can't do this anymore.
Kenny.
Can't
It's not fair, you know.
It's not fair.
(CRYING)
I gotta go.
Kenny.
I'm gonna kill that fucking bitch!
Kenny.
I'm gonna kill her.
Waters. Sit down.
Kenny.
Kenny, Kenny,
listen to me.
We can't give up.
We... We have Barry on our side now.
No, no, no.
And we will fight her
in court.
Hey, you tell Barry
forget it, okay.
We're way past that,
little Sis.
Take care of your boys.
You gotta move on. it's over.
It's not over.
It's over, honey.
It's not over. Why?
it's over, honey.
(CRYING) Fuck her.
I fucking knew it. Motherfucker.
Kenny, sit...
GUARD: Waters!
Motherfucker.
Sit down,
or you're out of here!
Hey, man. Haven't you heard?
I'm never getting out of here. Never.
I'm here forever, man.
Remain down.
Hey, get out of my face, shithead.
Come on, sit down.
I tell you that it's over.
You understand?
I said, sit down!
I'm talking to
my sister. Move...
Visit's over.
KENNY: Take your hands off.
BETTY: Kenny, Kenny...
Kenny, don't.
That's not nice...
Motherfucker. Kenny!
Motherfucker.
I told you to stay out of it.
Kenny!
GUARD: Take him down.
BETTY: Don't.
KENNY: Motherfucker!
Motherfucker!!
Motherfucking bitch!
I told you. Don't.
Didn't I fucking tell you?
They made fools
out of both of us.
They made fools
out of both of us,
Betty Anne.
GUARD: Settle down now.
We're fucking chumps.
We're fucking chumps.
I told you.
Kenny's in solitary,
for Chrissakes!
Why is everyone
congratulating me?
You proved
he's innocent.
Yeah, well, not to
Martha Coakley, I didn't.
We'll fight her.
We are not going
back to court.
Kenny will not survive
another trial!
And I'll be damned if we have to
prove his innocence all over again
just because of
that evil bitch.
There won't be atrial
if we gather new evidence.
How are we
gonna do that?
Think about it.
The DNA doesn't just prove
that Kenny's innocent...
It proves all those
witnesses were lying.
Rosseanna?
Oh, shit.
ROSEANNA: Well,
see, what happened was
I was threatened, okay?
Who threatened you?
Don't I know you from TV?
Oh, yeah! I know!
You're that famous Jew lawyer.
Roseanna,
who threatened you?
You know, that fucking cop, Nancy
Taylor, had it out for Kenny.
She kidnaps me, right?
Her and this Chief of Police.
And they take me to this room,
this hotel, against my will.
That ain't legal.
And they get me drunk.
You know, am I gonna argue?
And the Chief of Police, he's
wanting me to pray with him.
You know?
So I get down, I pray,
for forgiveness, forgiveness...
Forgiveness for what?
'Cause they
fucking lied,
saying they had all this
evidence they didn't have,
telling me that I'm
gonna be an accessory,
and threatening to take
my daughters away.
I was absolutely,
totally sick.
I mean, I puked. I mean,
you should have seen it.
I never seen pictures
like that before in my life.
Oh, my God.
This is the part.
(TV VOLUME INCREASING)
Pictures of Mrs. Brow?
WOMAN ON TV:
...just happened.
MAN ON TV: He's your
husband's best friend.
(TV TURNS OFF)
Yeah, the pictures.
You know,
the fucking pictures.
You know,
you've seen them.
She had stab wounds
all over her body,
and her brains are coming
out and everything.
And I just went...
You know, I went hysterical.
I was hysterical.
And I broke down
and, you know,
they were
talking at me, like,
"You want this
to happen to you?"
You know, "You want a fucking
murderer walking out on the street?
"It could happen
to anybody.
"Your mother, your kids, you.
" You, meaning me.
So Nancy Taylor said that Kenny could
murder you or your mother or your girls?
Yeah, she fucking did.
That's exactly right.
Excuse my French.
I mean, there was a lot of thing
that wasn't quite right in Denmark.
And I was trying to put
it together, I just...
I mean,
I was telling them.
I was, like, I was fucking
plastered at the time.
I don't remember
what Kenny said.
And you'll sign this
affidavit once we're done?
(CRYING)
I can't live
like this any longer.
Betty Anne, I'm sorry.
I know I put your brother in there.
I know I did, I did.
I'm sorry.
But I was up against a wall,
you know, I was railroad.
I told them
Kenny is innocent.
You know?
Nancy Taylor,
she fucking...
She says, "Once I get my
lead, I never let it go."
So, I just need to know, you'll
sign this affidavit, then?
Yeah.
So, after we leave here,
we'll just...
You can come with us, we'll
just quickly get it notarized.
(SCOFFS)
Oh.
What about perjury, then?
What about perjury?
Yeah. If I sign this,
then everybody's
gonna know I lied before.
What's the statute of limitations?
I didn't know she could
say so many syllables.
I'd like to knock out
the rest of her teeth.
Taste in women was not one of
your brother's strong points.
(DOORBELL RINGS)
Mandy?
Yeah.
I'm your Aunt Betty Anne.
You r father's sister.
What do you want?
Did you get
my messages?
I... I gotta go.
I really need to
talk to your mother.
She's not home.
Please,
your father's innocent.
My father's a murderer.
No. The DNA test
proved he's not.
Wait. Did she give you
his letters?
He wrote to you
every week!
On
(BANGING ON DOOR)
BETTY: He's innocent!
(CHATTERING ON TV)
Ma, are the pancakes
almost ready?
BETTY: Hey, guys.
Anybody up for a drive?
RICHARD: Any pancakes
left back there?
Oh. You wanted some?
(GROANS)
Richard!
Give me One.
BEN: Forget it, you lose!
Hey!
BEN: Immature. Immature.
Hey, come on. Come on.
You're gonna
make me crash. Here.
One pancake.
Okay.
(SIGHS)
You guys gonna tell your father this
is how I made you spend Christmas?
Your secret's
safe with us,
Besides, we're
willing accomplices.
You guys would do this
for each other, right?
If Ben tried to go to law school for
me, I'd die an old man in prison.
Don't worry about it,
I Wouldn't do it.
You wouldn't?
I mean, I'd want
to help and all,
but I don't think I could give
up what I really wanted to do.
Which is what? Sleep till noon
and hang out at the mall?
Shut up. What,
you'd do it for me?
Yeah. I would.
You'd sacrifice
your whole life for me?
When you put it
like that...
Forget n.
You think I sacrificed
my whole life?
It's okay. Come on.
Hey, give me the gift.
Come on, let's go.
Merry Christmas.
Mandy, these are your cousins.
Thanks, but this isn't
a good time right now.
BETTY: I'm sorry.
Merry Christmas.
Okay, here.
Sorry, I can't take that.
Come on.
BETTY: The boys
got you a video.
God knows long it'll
take to approve it.
Do you remember the year they
wouldn't let me give you Babe?
Hey, here we go.
Happy New Year.
We're getting close,
everyone!
ALL: Nine, eight,
seven, six, five, four...
..."three, two, one...
(ALL CHEERING)
(CAR ENGINE STARTING)
I'm working.
Please.
MANDY:
l have this memory
where I'm sitting on the
kitchen floor and I'm like
three or four years old,
and my mom and aunt are talking about
Daddy's shirt being covered with blood.
I couldn't figure it out.
You know, I just
didn't understand why Daddy's
shirt was covered in blood.
It wasn't..
She lied?
The DNA proves she did.
Why would she
lie like that?
I don't know, honey, but that's
what we need to ask her.
Did he really
write me every week?
For 18 years.
Even when you
were just a baby.
Is he getting
out of jail?
They're not gonna let him
out without new evidence.
Why new
Because people don't like to admit
when they've made a mistake.
We need a statement
from your mother.
I can't control what she does.
Yeah, I know.
Either could Kenny.
You know,
if Massachusetts had the death penalty,
your father would be
dead by now.
He made that for you.
He's had that on the wall of
his cell this whole time.
(DOORBELL RINGS)
(DOGS BARKING)
After me and Kenny split up,
I had this boyfriend,
Robert.
And he says that we could get money
from the cops if we rat on Kenny.
So he goes to Nancy Taylor
and says that
I told him that Kenny confessed to Mrs.
Brow's murder.
Nancy Taylor tells Robert
he can fuck himself.
And she hauls me in,
brings me to this hotel,
makes me look at all
these gross pictures.
And she says
that they can prove
I was an accessory,
And that they'll
take Mandy away.
Hi. Do you guys have
a printer I can use?
Can you guarantee I won't
go to jail if I sign this?
No. l can't.
Sign it, Ma.
Martha Coakley, please.
No. I have Barry Scheck
calling and it's urgent.
Ms. Coakley?
Betty Anne Waters.
Look, Barry's tied up
right now,
but he wanted me
to let you know
that Brenda Marsh, your key witness
in the Kenneth Waters case,
has just recanted
her original testimony.
(WHISPERING)
And we just faxed
the affidavit,
and so you should be
getting it shortly.
Hang on,
here's Barry now.
Martha! Yeah. That's something
about Brenda Marsh, isn't it?
Oh, really?
Listen, I just wanted
to give you a heads up
while you're deciding whether or
not to vacate Kenny's conviction,
the folks over at the Boston
Globe and the New York Times,
they just love this story.
No. They're all over it.
Yeah, the phone's
been ringing. Yeah.
Great. All right
Okay, bye-bye.
(CHUCKLING)
(GATE UNLOCKING)
(EXHALES)
JUDGE: Are all sides in agreement
to vacate the conviction?
Yes, Your Honor.
Yes, Your Honor.
Yes, Your Honor.
Kenneth Waters,
you're free to go.
That's it?
That's it.
(REPORTERS CLAMORING)
(CAMERAS CLICKING)
Hey, those 18 years, man,
they're gone. (LAUGHS)
Right now, I'm...
How could you possibly
thank your sister
for what she's
done for you?
I don't know. How would you thank her?
it's a good question.
MALE REPORTER: Betty, you have any
big cases lined up after this?
No, no, no. I never really planned
on practicing law, so... (LAUGHS)
Is this for us?
This is for you.
We chipped in.
Hey. Kenny, Kenny, Kenny.
KENNY: Hey.
What?
Look who's here.
Where?
BETTY: it's Mandy.
That's Mandy?
Yeah.
Go talk to her.
Just two seconds, guys.
Hi.
Hi.
You're so beautiful.
I'm sorry,
I can't just...
My whole life,
I thought...
Not your whole life.
(INHALES DEEPLY)
What my mother
did to you...
I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
That's not your fault.
That's not
your fault, honey.
Oh, come on, let's get out of here.
Come on.
Come on.
KENNY: Lake Betty Anne
and Kenny.
BETTY: Lake Kenny
and Betty Anne.
Even if it had taken you
another 20 years or so,
I would've been okay.
Another 20 years?
Jesus. I would've
lost my mind!
(CHUCKLES)
No, I mean, you know...
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
Knowing you
were out here,
working so hard for me,
knowing that you
loved me that much.
What goes on
inside your head
Walking slowly
towards the night
There's nothing wrong
with me you say
You kept me
spellbound by the hour
And f fry
I tried with all my might
And I try
I tried with all my might
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Saw you again the other day
Walking fast into the night
There's nothing wrong
with me you say
I think I just saw the lie
And I try
I tried with all my might
And I try
I tried with all my might
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Well, I've been
bad before
And I know the feeling well
They're always there
I can sense you
There's always a heaven
where there's a hell
Oh, did I fer you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?
Did I let you down?
Did you want too much?
Did he steal your heart
when you felt his touch?