Close to Home (2005) s02e02 Episode Script
202 - House Divided
Proudly Presents Season 2 Episode 02 okay,I did it.
Why am I here ? Partial confessionat the scene.
Partial ? She caught meby surprise.
How ? She said,"I did it.
" So what's the problem ? I ask her aboutthe blood on the leash,and she blurts out,"I did it.
Please don't arrest mein front of my kids.
" Her son gets in her face,starts accusing her, we pull her off to the side,put the cuffs on her,bring her down here.
After you mirandized her.
I was so rattled,it wasn'tuntil we got in the car.
Your actions on the scenemay have resultedin a questionable confession.
It sounds so much betterwhen you say it.
Her son accused her ? What did he say exactly ? "You finally did it,didn't you ? You killed him,just likeyou always said you would.
" Talk to meabout the victim.
Peter stratton,psychiatrist.
62 years old.
Thriving practiceat the universitymed center.
Married corinna strattonwhen he was 40.
She was 18.
Creepy but not criminal.
Is the confessiongoing to be a problem ? Wouldn't hurtto shore it upwith a littlecorroborating evidence.
Well,here's what we got so far.
Somebody crushed his skull witha blunt object,probably wood.
Techs recovered woodparticles from the scalp.
Body temperatureindicates time of deatharound 9:00 P.
M.
Son found the bodyapproximately 12 hours later.
She let her kiddiscover the body ? Talk about a freudian moment.
Bloody paw printson the front walkpointing away from the house.
And a bloody fingerprinton the leash.
Which she wiped down,but she missed a spot.
His blood,her print,their dog.
Killed her husband,thentook the dog out for a walk.
First things first.
Anyone else in the houseother that the son ? Younger sister.
They'rewith the grandparents now.
The strattons havetwo other kids,one in florida and one in collegehere in towncarly and david.
- Murder weapon ? - Unrecovered so far.
She could have chuckedthe murder weaponwhen she walked the dog.
Pd.
Did a sweep.
Came up with zero.
She's been vague on justwhere she went that night.
Go back and question her again.
It's too late.
She lawyered up.
Public defender.
All right,look.
Talk to the kidsbefore they have a chance to contaminate each other's stories.
And I want to know more aboutmrs.
Strattonand these threats she might have madeagainst her husband.
And find that murder weapon.
She's been threateningto kill him for years.
Ever sinceI can remember.
You know where shemight have went thatnight with the dog ? I don't know.
She usually just takesher around the block.
Was it unusualfor you to come down to the kitchenand your momnot be up yet ? Yeah,but it's obvious why.
She wanted me to find him.
What a crock.
I never heard my momthreaten my dad.
Not once,my whole life.
Your brother jay saidit was an everyday thing.
He says she's paranoid.
He hates my mom.
Always has.
He's a fanatic.
My dad treatedsome very sick people.
Very disturbed people.
Psychotics.
I mean,maniacs.
It had to be oneof his patients.
I just know it.
We got one kidwho says she did it,one says no way,and anotheris in complete denial.
What about theolder sister ? Carly.
We finally got through to her down in boca raton.
She's not even coming backfor the funeral.
She's not coming infor her own father's funeral ? Interesting.
Have her deposed down there.
Absent the weapon,do we have enoughto charge mrs.
Stratton ? A confession should be enoughif it isn't thrown out.
So I understandthere's a new sheriff in town.
Thought I'd pop upand pay my respects.
Doug hellman,jim conlon.
Jim,it's nice to meet you.
Annabeth,maureen.
By the way,I'm going to needall your evidentiary materialon the stratton caseso far.
You're representing her ? Mrs.
Stratton calleda few hours ago and asked me to take over the case,so as soon as you can ? And I havea few thingsto drop off here.
Here's a motionto suppressinitial interview, motion to suppress the second interrogation, and motion to suppressthe so-called confession.
- I assume you arecharging her ? - With murder.
Well,I'll see youat the arraignment then.
Jim,it's nice to meet you.
Annabeth,maureen,always a pleasure.
Better call the babysitter.
Looks like it's goingto be a late night.
- You worriedabout these ? - Not if we'reprepared.
Doug hellman's a big bumpup from public defender.
Yeah ? Well,I'm a giant step upfrom my predecessor.
One count of murder.
How do you plead,mrs.
Stratton ? Not guilty,your honor.
Ask the defendantbe held without bail.
Now,surely,noteven our exuberantprosecuting attorneyis suggesting that corinna strattonis a danger to the community ? We have forensic evidenceand a confession.
Which has little chanceof surviving the motion to suppress.
She was fully mirandized.
Well after she wastaken into custodyby an over zealous police officer.
She freely admittedto the crime.
She was attemptingto spare her childrenfurther trauma.
She would have said anything.
Including "I did it" ? Counsel has not yetaddressed my question.
Now,how is mrs.
Strattona danger to anybody ? She callously lefther husband's bloody bodywhere her own childrencould find it.
She is a danger to themat the very least.
She killed her husband,your honor.
Res ipsa loquitur.
The thing speaks for itself.
That remains to be seen,ms.
Chase.
Indiana criminal code,section 353382.
A murder chargeis bailablewhen the proof of guiltis not sufficiently evident.
Bail is set at $150,000.
The minor children willremain in the custodyof the maternal grandparents.
Assuming you make bail,you are not to go nearthe children,mrs.
Stratton, or I will revokeyour bail soonerthan you can sayjack robinson,do you hear me ? - Yes.
- Your honor.
- Your honor.
- Next case.
- Okay,we did well.
- Case number 52745.
You know and I knowshe did this.
You know and I knowyour evidence is week.
Want to make a deal ? - You're out of your mind.
- Yeah.
Well,when you comecrawling back to me.
I promise to be gentle.
Hellman's just trying to seeif he can make us blink.
Dig into this marriageand find a motive.
We're arrangingfor depositionsfrom the kids.
And we've askeddr.
Parentto do a walk-throughof the crime scene, see if she cangive us any insightinto the psychiatristand his wife.
Takes one to know one.
Look,let me be clear about one thing.
There will be no sweetheartdeals in murder cases.
Amazing how normal they look.
Notice anythingabout these pictures ? the kids.
The kids and mom.
The kids and momand the dog.
The kids at school.
But where's dad ? She excludes himfrom her domain,and she advertises it.
Look in here.
Kids' clothesmeticulously stacked.
Mom does hers out of sight.
Classic actof martyrdom.
And she won't even touchthe husband's laundry.
So he leaves it outto remind herof her misbehavior.
All thatfrom a pile of laundry.
Dad does the same thing.
He wants everyone to knowhe worships his kids.
But no shrine to momor carly,the oldest daughter.
The one who got away.
And just one picture of david.
And look.
Hiseyes are closed.
Now,is that symbolic ? Like he's blindto something or ? I don't know what dr.
Strattonsaw in this picture, but I think we can assumeone thingfrom the fact thathe chose to display it.
Well,he obviously didn't likedavid as much as the other two.
David wason mom's side.
That's interesting.
annabeth,I hope you'rein a receptive frame of mind you should save your breath,we got a really strong case.
I'll save minebut corinna has somethingyou're going to want to hear.
We found the murderweapon,doug.
Which she tried to destroy.
It's a match.
It was self-defense.
He attacked me.
Bruises on herback and shoulder.
That's a shadow,not a bruise.
She bashes his head in,leaves his bodyovernight in his study where her childrencan find itand then goes upstairsand goes to bed.
What part of thatargues self-defense ? Don't forget,she wasso injured that she walkeda good mile and a half to get rid ofthe murder weaponand then walkedback home again.
My adrenaline was pumping.
Yeah,I bet it was.
What precipitatedthis allege attack ? I finally got up the courageand I went to him that nightand said it was over.
I wanted a divorce.
And custody of jayand francesca.
He slammed meagainst the wall.
Shoved me into a table.
Any evidence ofthis,a witness ? Francesca was upstairsand jay was out.
I thought he was goingto kill me.
And I grabbed that bat,his preciouscricket bat which was a joke, he never played cricketin his life,except thesummer he spent at oxford.
- Mrs.
Stratton.
- What happened afterhe attacked you ? - I whirled aroundand hit him.
- Then left him for dead.
I didn't knowhe was dead.
Why didn't you call9-1-1 ? I didn't think he was hurtthat badly.
It was all a blur.
I walked maggie,I went upstairsand I went to bed.
Burning the bat,was that a blur too ? I thoughthe'd be able to use itagainst me to take the kids.
Use itagainst you,you mean yourassault with a deadly weapon ? My defending myself.
I had to get rid of thebat,so I burned it.
doug,come on,are you kidding me ? All right,now look,we are preparedto accept a charge of involuntary manslaughter for four years,two suspended.
Voluntary man,ten years.
Four suspended.
She'll do six.
Stop.
Four years ? Six years,that's completelyunacceptable,I'm innocent.
Why should I haveto go to prison ? Corinna,just let me no,you're not listeningto me,any of you.
I am listening.
We are all listening here.
When I was 15,I waspeter's psychiatric patient.
Is this part of the show ? Well,at the moment,I have to say we'rea little bit offthe map here.
I was 15.
I was troubled,vulnerable.
He was my doctor.
He was supposedto help me.
And instead he seduced me.
He seduced you ? He had sex with me.
Did he ever coerce youinto having sex ? Coerce,what does thatmean,I was a kid.
But you grew up and married him.
You had four children with him.
I was young.
I didn't know what else to do.
He was the only man I getting married made us normal.
It made everythingokay.
For everyone else,for my parents.
As far as everyoneelse was concerned,we were theall-american family.
Mrs.
Stratton,even if whatyou're saying is true,it doesn't justify you murderingyour husband 25 years later.
Well,you have to admitit makes a hell of a story.
so the self-defense waspredicated on the abuse.
The story may ring trueto some people.
It's a guarantee hell man will milk it for everything it's worth.
You got to push back.
Talk about the victim'sstanding in the community.
A respected psychiatristwith a 30 year practice.
Spin the wife asgreedy and conniving.
This is not new york.
People here are not bigon psychiatristsand this one molestedhis teenage patient.
If we hammer on thiswe give it credence.
Look,you got toplay hardball.
Which I'm sayingcould backfire.
I just got a fax frompeter stratton's lawyer.
According to him,dr.
Stratton was the onewho wanted the divorce.
He was all set to file.
He also told his lawyerhe was afraid of his wife.
- Feared for his life.
- Hearsay.
Though we could get it in.
I know the existing mentalcondition exception.
If divorce was his ideait's hard for her to claimthat he attacked herwhen she brought it up.
Well,you've hada busy week.
Two radio shows,an op-ed.
Yes,which generatedthree letters to the editorcalling peter stratton a pervert of one sort or another.
In indiana,grandmas,who happen to makeup at least halfof all jurors,are justgoing to hate your victim.
You really thinkyou can spin the jurypool so blatantly ? Yeah,well,I prefer to thinkof it as setting the tableto insure people keepan open mind.
Speaking ofsetting the table.
Thanks.
Defense attorneys don't usuallyask the people out to lunch,unless they're upto something.
So how are youdoing by the way ? I'm okay.
Thanks for asking.
I just wanted to giveyou a heads-up,uh,corinna wants tobe present at thekids' depositions.
No way.
Not a chance.
She has a legalright to be there.
She has a restrainingorder,doug.
She can't come withintwo miles of her kids.
Already run itpast judge cooperand as long asa bailiff is present you know as wellas I do,she wantsto intimidate the witnesses,aka,her children.
I got her solemn word shewon't open her mouth.
Yeah,that's legally binding.
Doug,come on,who's interested in depositionsexcept lawyers.
Well,apparentlymrs.
Stratton takes anavid interest in the law.
I'm sure she does.
And while you were talkingto your dad ? My mother came in.
I was tired so I saidgood night,went upstairs.
Did you hear them arguingafter you went upstairs ? I heard them,but myparents don't argue.
They're both really good attalking about their feelings,things like that,so it's not so much arguing,more like,you know,discussion.
- Heated discussion.
- Normal.
Could youhear what they were discussing ? I-I was listening to music.
And chatting withmy friends online.
Jay calls me up,mom killed dad.
Mom killed dad ! I'm,like,"did yousee mom kill dad ?" "Uhno.
" "Well,then how doyou know that,jay ?" "She just did.
" I tried talking tohim but you can'ttalk to him.
He hates my mom.
Why does hehate your mom ? To be on my dad's side.
Anything that comes outof my brother's mouthit's like it's coming right outof my dad's mouth.
So your fatheralso hated your mother.
He was always trying to convinceyou that she was wrong.
Or stupid.
Or crazy.
He was a master manipulator.
He could make you thinkthat anything he saidwas your idea first.
You thoughthe was agreeing with youbut really it wasyou agreeing with him.
And was he that waywith your mom ? He was that waywith everybody.
When I was like 11 or 12,mom finally caught onand starteddoing it back to him.
And he really didn'tlike that at all.
She stood up for me.
And she gave me the spineto stand up for her.
Did your father resent youfor standing up for your mom ? That's when thingsreally got bad.
Ever since then,it was likenonstop warfare in our house.
She'd fight withmy dad over anything.
It's like a full-time job.
Fighting with my dad.
She was fighting with himthe day he was killed.
And what wasthat fight about ? One of theirfavorites,the garage door opener,there's nothing wrong with it, but she's so helplessshe can't figure outthe button, so it became allabout my dad keeping herin prison for therest of her life.
He deliberatelyprovided me witha nonworking remote.
- Doug.
- Corinna,you cannot address but it's true he did.
Did you ever hear your motherthreaten your father's life ? She was alwaysthreatening him.
It was like,"I'mgoing to poison you.
" "I'm going to throw a hairdryer in the bath tub.
" Like a jokebut not a joke.
Ha-ha,real funny,right ? Try hearing it every dayof your life.
Did you fathertake these threats seriously ? Sure he did.
He was scared.
Did you ever hearyour mother talkabout getting a divorce ? If she got a divorce,who'd she fight with ? The only reasonI never left your father was to protect you.
I don't need your protection.
- I don't needyour mind games-- - my mind games ? Baby,he was the manipulator.
This is nota family therapy sessionmrs.
Stratton,one more wordand I will haveyour bail revoked.
That's the deal corinna,you cannot talkto the kids.
Okay,I'M okay.
Did you father ever mistreatyou or your siblings ? No.
He yelled at allof them,especially david.
You can'ttalk to me either.
Well,shouldn'tyou object or something,you can't believea word he says.
Can't object ata deposition.
- He mightas well behis father.
- Look,listen.
Listen to me,this is off the record.
Now,listen,this is notthe way we do this.
Now,I need you to trust meand have patienceand let me handle things.
Let me tell you something,I've been patient.
I've been patientmy entire life.
Waiting for somebodyto listen to me.
And you stand hereand you tell me I shouldlet you handle things.
I don't want youhandling things.
I want you gone.
I think we could usea little recess here.
I mean off this case.
Corinna,you don't mean that.
Think about whatyou're saying here.
Please inform the judge I nolonger require your services.
And the next time youfind yourselftalking to a lawyer,young man,you'll be talking to me.
Corinna,this is nota good idea.
I have a constitutionalright to represent myself.
Don't tell me I don'T.
This situation is highly unusualand potentially problematic.
The defendant will becross-examining her own children who are arguably ancillaryvictims of the crime.
Counselor is theattorney of record.
Well,I wouldsimply say,your honor,that I believe mrs.
Strattonwould be more ffectively represented by counsel.
Mrs.
Stratton.
The supreme court affirmed in faretta V.
California,the sixth amendment rightt o self-representation.
Even where such self-representation would beto a defendant's own detriment.
I would like to invoke that right.
You've done your homework.
I always do your honor.
I would like to state forthe record that ithink thisis a misguided idea.
Mrs.
Stratton,wouldyou please acknowledgefor the court reporterthat you've heard me.
Yes,your honor,I understandyou think it's a bad idea.
Counselor,thisis your lucky day.
You will sitsecond chairand participate as needed.
So ordered.
I heard.
Pro se casesrarely work outfor the defendant.
I know.
I should be happy to have herrepresenting herself,but why do I havethis uneasy feeling ? Be careful.
It's like playing tennis againstsomeone worse than yourself.
You play down,you could end up losing.
We're not goingto play down,but corinna's going to betalking to the jury all day, every day,destroyingher dead husband's reputation.
- If hellman's smart - which he is That's exactlywhat he'll get her to do--harp on what a creep he was, hope to peel off a sympatheticjuror or two,and hang the case.
Oh,I got the oldest daughter'sdeposition from florida.
Fills outthe family portrait.
Jay hates mom,david hates dad,francesca's in denial,and this one,carly,hates them both.
Sounds like a perfect storm.
Look,I know you're swamped,but I still needthose indictment status reportsin before you leave.
The entireseventh floorgot theirs in early.
Okay,how do you wantto divvy this up ? You take the M.
E.
And shrinks,I'll take the kids ? Delicious.
The victim was sittingwith his back turnedto his assailant.
The location of the woundclearly indicatesthat he was struckfrom behind.
In your professional opinion,were the victim's woundsconsistent with a claimof self-defense ? In my professional opinion,they were not consistentwith self-defense.
Your witness.
Not consistent.
Does that mean impossible ? I've never seen it.
Objection,your honor.
- What are you objecting to ? - His tone.
You can't objectto his tone.
Counselor,please educateyour client on the basicsof courtroomprocedure.
Move on,mrs.
Stratton.
Do you recognize this ? It's the autopsy reporton dr.
Stratton.
Can you readwhat I've highlighted thereon page seven,please ? "Evidence of silentcerebral infarction.
" - Is that from getting hiton the head ? - No.
It's a smallcerebral stoke.
Many people have silent,non-fatal strokes,mrs.
Stratton.
By some estimates,they're found in12% of autopsies.
What brings on a stroke ? High bloodpressure.
Genetics,stress.
Is it possiblethat this stroke was brought onby the stressof peter attacking me ? Objection.
Facts not in evidence.
Mrs.
Stratton,please rephrase the question.
Make it more hypothetical.
Is it possible thata person could attack someone,have a stroke,and die ? - Well,of courseit's possible.
- Thank you.
I'm finished,your honor.
Redirect,your honor.
Is thatwhat happened here,doctor ? Did dr.
Stratton havea fatal strokecaused by the stressof his fight with mrs.
Stratton ? The state offibrinoid necrosisindicates that this traumahappened a minimumof 12 to 15 months ago.
This stroke was an old event.
Refresh our memory,doctor.
What was the official causeof death again ? Massive blood loss as aresult of severe head trauma.
So,if somebody hadn't hit himon the headwith a heavy,blunt object none of us would besitting here today.
Objection,your honor.
There he goes again.
I agree with you.
Sustained.
I noticed the lightunder the doorin my dad's office.
Keep thinking if I'd havegone in to say good night,if he was still alive,maybe I could have saved him.
What happenedthe next morning ? I found my dad lying onthe floor of his office.
First thing I thought,"she did it.
She finally did it.
" - Speculating.
- Objection,your honor.
The witness was not askedwhat he was thinking.
Sustained.
- Hi,jay.
- Hi,mom.
Your honor,the restraining order requiresmrs.
Strattonto keep her distance.
Mrs.
Stratton,move back,please.
did you ever know anybodynamed danny depaul ? You know I did.
Can you tell the courtwho he was ? He was my best friendin junior high.
What happenedto danny depaul,your friend ? He killed himselfwith his father's gun.
Please tell the courtwhat your fathergot you for your 15th birthday,just six months later.
What he gave me ? It wasit was from both of you.
No,it wasn'T.
Whatever.
It was a hunting rifle.
And didn't thatstrike you as strange ? Yeah,I hadasked for onethe year before.
You guys said I was too young.
Did you ever wonderif your father wanted youto do what danny had done ? Mom youyou need help.
There's no way i ever thought that.
You were the onewho reminded himI'd asked for it.
You told him to buy it for me.
You can't just make stuff up.
That is your father talking,putting words in your mouth.
Objection.
She's testifying.
Sustained.
Tell me this--did you ever go hunting ? No.
II wanted a guitar.
I told dad,he took the gun back,he got me a guitar.
That's what happened.
I wonder what she was tryingto accomplish today.
Did she think jay was suddenlygoing to take her side ? Well,let's hopethe jury sees corinnafor what she is controll in gand border line delusional.
- You okay ? - Yeah.
It's 8:30,I got to getanother report out to conlon.
Change can be good.
Believe me,I've had enough changeto last me a lifetime.
This is hard.
I should be home.
Sometimes I worrythat haley pulled the short straw,you know ? I'm all she has now.
Hey,I was raisedby a single working mom,and look at me.
Yeah.
Question is,do I really want my daughterto grow up to be like us ? so who's their first witness ? david,the loyal one.
Welcome tothe stratton family,home of parallel universes and alternative realities.
David,can you pleasetell the juryhow you feel about spiders ? Spiders ? You know,spider world.
You want me to talkabout spider world ? Please.
When I wasabout eight,you took meand jay to a nature movie.
Only it wasn'tfor little kids.
It was a 3-d movie,andthe spider was,like,two stories high.
We both started crying.
Jay wet his pants.
It was awful.
David,can youread from this ? Your honor,mrs.
Stratton needsto identify that document.
These are psychiatricfiles on my children keptby my late husband.
Side bar,your honor ? Mrs.
Stratton,you cannot with hold evidence so that you can bush whack the people at trial.
Your honor,thesewitnesses are minors.
Their mother cannotexploit access to their confidentialmedical records.
Your honor,I wrestled with this.
There is stuff in these filesthat will be very painfulfor my family, but I finally decidedlate last night that I just hadto share them.
What mrs.
Stratton means,your honor,is that her rightto defend herselfoutweighs any patient's right to confidentiality.
These childrenhave privacy rightsunder state and federal law.
Not when the defendant is facinga murder charge,they don't.
I'm inclined to agreewith you,mr.
Hellman.
Ms.
Stratton,you may continue.
Your honor,the peoplealso need timeto prepare forcross-examination.
After this witness,we will adjourn for the day so that the peoplemay review this new evidence.
I do not like surprises,mrs.
Stratton.
Don't do it again.
Step back.
Can you tell the courtwhat it saysthere,the partI highlighted ? "August 12.
" I took the boysto see spider world.
"It was a significant stressor.
" Later induced hypnosis.
"Suggested their mothertook them.
" Can you openthat second file,and readwhat's on top ? This is from the dayafter your brother jay's15th birthday.
"january 10.
" Jay very upset over gun.
"Calmed him.
" Induced hypnosis.
"Suggested gunwas his mother's idea.
" Suggested I wanted himto have a guitar.
"Upon awakening,jay asked for guitar.
" Affirmative data.
"Stressors seemto increase suggestibility.
" Your honor,I would liketo enter into evidencethese files, which document yearsof psychologicalexperimentation, including behavioral modification and hypnosis, performed on my kidsat the handsof their father.
All of which was raw datafor a clinical trialat indiana universityon adolescent behavior.
My husband used his own childrenas guinea pigs.
The defense rests,your honor.
Where did the children's'files come from ? She claims they were mislabeled among his patient files,and she finally broke the code.
Smart ladyshe knows howto lie to a judgeand get away with it.
He turned hischildren into lab rats.
He deliberatelystressed them out,and then measured them for their susceptibilityto being hypnotized.
I think it's safe to sayshe gained some pointswith the jury.
If she knew where thosefiles were, she must have knownwhat he was up to.
She's complicit.
And we needto use that complicityfor our rebuttal.
This is interesting.
Hypnosis with francesca,dated a couple of monthsbefore the murder.
"Suggested she choseto live with me,not her mother,after divorce.
" According to her deposition,francesca was inher father's studythat night.
What if he washypnotizing herwhen corinna walked in on them ? Using it to influence herin a divorce proceeding.
So she sees himdoing to their daughter what he's beendoing to her for years controlling her,manipulating her.
She might evenfeel jealous.
Francesca's taking her placeas an objectof the doctor's attention.
But she hates him.
Still,it'sthe onlyattention she gets, the only dynamic that she knows.
She's a control freak,too.
Now she's losing controlof the situation.
So she grabs the cricket bat.
If francesca can rememberanything about that night,she may be our rebuttal witness.
Assistant prosecuting attorneyannabeth chase.
Hi.
I'm carly.
We were toldyou were in florida.
I just got in last night.
I came up to be withmy brother and sister,lend them some moral support.
Come in.
I was actually hopingto talk to your sister.
My grandparents are out,and I'm pretty sure grandma doesn't wantfrancesca talking to anyone.
Can I ask you a question ? Why didn't you come homefor your dad's funeral ? 'Cause I'm selfish,according to my mom.
Never mind.
You don't know my family.
I'm beginning to.
Carly,were you aware ofwhat your father was doing ? The hypnosis thing ? Yeah,I figured that one outmy first year of college.
Twisted,huh ? Why do you want to talkto francesca ? I think she canhelp us establishwhat really happenedthat night,definitively.
You mean,convict my mother.
Carly,you realize,if your mom's acquitted, she'll have custodyof francescaand jay.
Francesca,you needto talk to her.
Tell her whatever you know.
I already have.
When you went intoyour father's studythat night, what exactly didthe two of you talk about ? Francesca,don't you realize ? He was hypnotizing you.
- No,he wasn'T.
- Yes,he was.
And you have to understand,franny,he did it to all of us.
The worst part is,mom knew.
She let it happen.
You don't understand--I can'T.
You need to tell the truth,franny,in court.
Can you make me ? I can.
But I'm not going to.
No,I mean,can youmake me,like legally ? Because if you make me,then my momwon't be mad at me.
He called ithis calm down voice.
When I was upset aboutsomething,dad would take meinto his officeand start talking.
I'd listen and breathe.
Like a game,kind of.
Is that what happenedthat night ? I was upset.
We went into his study.
He got out his file,like he usually did,and he started talking.
What were you upset about ? It was something mymom had told me.
She said I neededto come live with her.
And what didshe tell you ? She told me what my dad had doneto her when she was his patient,when shewas my age.
I didn't believeher at first.
So what did you do ? I went to talk to my dad.
I told him what she had said.
What did he say ? He said he'd madea terrible mistake,and that my mom had held itover him their whole lives.
Objection.
She shouldn'thave to talk about this.
She was under hypnosis,her memory isunreliable.
Strong V.
State excludes evidence derived from hypnosis.
I'm merely establishingwhether the hypnosistook place.
Overruled.
Go on.
Francesca,did he talk to youin his calm down voice ? That the thing--he didn't that night.
He didn't usehis calm down voice.
He said he wastoo tired.
Then what happened ? My mom came in.
She said "you can't just put her under" and turn her against melike that.
You can't get rid of methat easily.
" What do you thinkshe meant by that ? At the time,I had no idea,but now I realize she thoughtI was under hypnosis.
Did she sayanything else ? She said she was goingto ruin his reputation.
And he said,"you've been saying thatfor 20 years.
"Go ahead.
" I'm retiring anyway.
I don't careanymore.
" Did your dadsound angry ? He was tired,not angry.
Just really,really tired.
Of everything.
Thank you,francesca.
Nothing further,your honor.
I'm sorry,darling.
I know you didn'twant to be here today,and the prosecution forced you.
You're a brave girl.
I want you to tell the truth.
If you had to decide,would you choose your fatheror would you choose me ? I wish I'd chosen you.
Good girl.
Can you tell us why ? Because maybe then you wouldn'thave killed daddy.
The facts are clearin this case.
The defendantdoes not dispute them.
She murdered her husband,thentried to destroy the evidence.
The children arethe real victims here.
No matter what peter strattondid or did not do, no matter what crimesand injurieshe may have committedagainst his family and his wife, murder was not the remedy.
And corinna strattonis guilty of murder.
I was 15 years old.
He was my doctor.
I had a big crush on him.
One day,I let himknow how I felt.
He stood up,and he locked the door.
And then he asked me if he couldsit next to me on the couch.
I had no experience.
When he sat next to me,I started to cry.
He was very gentle--hugging me,brushing away my tears.
I thought I was in love.
And I thought I was healed.
So when you ask yourself"why didn't she leave him ?" Think back to that little girl--so trusting,so vulnerable.
And the only way she couldmake sense of her lifewas to marry her seducer.
And I did want to leave him,many,many times over the years.
But I just could not walk awayand leave my children with him.
Believe me,if anyone knewwhat he was capable of,it was me.
State of indiana V.
Corinna denise stratton.
The jury finds the defendant,on the charge of murder,guilty.
Hey, hey, Congrats.
You out-lawyered the mother of the year.
If she's the standardfor motherhood,I guess I'm doing pretty well.
Well,speaking of motherhood,child protective servicescalled.
The eldest sister carlyis going for custody.
They'd like you two to testify.
She's takingthem to florida ? She's returning hometo indianapolis.
She wants joint custodywith the grandparents.
- I'll support that,happily.
- Me,too.
You know what I think ? You wondon'trub it in.
I think they lived to fight with each other.
Conflict was their relationship.
Yeah,and the relationshipwas her whole life.
He threatened to takethat away,so she snapped.
They were both getting something out of that sick dynamic.
You know,um,I went through a pretty horribledivorce a few years back.
I know.
Yeah.
Well the paineventually goes away.
I mean,mostly.
But the loneliness you know,when ihave a good day,I still catch myself picking upthe phone to call her.
so,annabeth,how are you doing ? - I mean,really.
- Up and down.
Good days and bad.
Like you.
oh,excuse me.
Hello.
Hi.
Yeahoh,okay.
Well,I amon my way.
See you there.
Ex-wife ? Ah,it's a newgirlfriend.
She's just gettingback from a trip.
Plane just got in;I got to meet her.
Airport rendezvous ? Clearly getting serious.
Well,serious ismeeting the parents.
Airport run is strictly romance.
winner gets the check ? That would be me.
- Good night,counselor.
- Night,counselor.
Hi.
It's annabeth.
She's doing good ? Okay.
Why am I here ? Partial confessionat the scene.
Partial ? She caught meby surprise.
How ? She said,"I did it.
" So what's the problem ? I ask her aboutthe blood on the leash,and she blurts out,"I did it.
Please don't arrest mein front of my kids.
" Her son gets in her face,starts accusing her, we pull her off to the side,put the cuffs on her,bring her down here.
After you mirandized her.
I was so rattled,it wasn'tuntil we got in the car.
Your actions on the scenemay have resultedin a questionable confession.
It sounds so much betterwhen you say it.
Her son accused her ? What did he say exactly ? "You finally did it,didn't you ? You killed him,just likeyou always said you would.
" Talk to meabout the victim.
Peter stratton,psychiatrist.
62 years old.
Thriving practiceat the universitymed center.
Married corinna strattonwhen he was 40.
She was 18.
Creepy but not criminal.
Is the confessiongoing to be a problem ? Wouldn't hurtto shore it upwith a littlecorroborating evidence.
Well,here's what we got so far.
Somebody crushed his skull witha blunt object,probably wood.
Techs recovered woodparticles from the scalp.
Body temperatureindicates time of deatharound 9:00 P.
M.
Son found the bodyapproximately 12 hours later.
She let her kiddiscover the body ? Talk about a freudian moment.
Bloody paw printson the front walkpointing away from the house.
And a bloody fingerprinton the leash.
Which she wiped down,but she missed a spot.
His blood,her print,their dog.
Killed her husband,thentook the dog out for a walk.
First things first.
Anyone else in the houseother that the son ? Younger sister.
They'rewith the grandparents now.
The strattons havetwo other kids,one in florida and one in collegehere in towncarly and david.
- Murder weapon ? - Unrecovered so far.
She could have chuckedthe murder weaponwhen she walked the dog.
Pd.
Did a sweep.
Came up with zero.
She's been vague on justwhere she went that night.
Go back and question her again.
It's too late.
She lawyered up.
Public defender.
All right,look.
Talk to the kidsbefore they have a chance to contaminate each other's stories.
And I want to know more aboutmrs.
Strattonand these threats she might have madeagainst her husband.
And find that murder weapon.
She's been threateningto kill him for years.
Ever sinceI can remember.
You know where shemight have went thatnight with the dog ? I don't know.
She usually just takesher around the block.
Was it unusualfor you to come down to the kitchenand your momnot be up yet ? Yeah,but it's obvious why.
She wanted me to find him.
What a crock.
I never heard my momthreaten my dad.
Not once,my whole life.
Your brother jay saidit was an everyday thing.
He says she's paranoid.
He hates my mom.
Always has.
He's a fanatic.
My dad treatedsome very sick people.
Very disturbed people.
Psychotics.
I mean,maniacs.
It had to be oneof his patients.
I just know it.
We got one kidwho says she did it,one says no way,and anotheris in complete denial.
What about theolder sister ? Carly.
We finally got through to her down in boca raton.
She's not even coming backfor the funeral.
She's not coming infor her own father's funeral ? Interesting.
Have her deposed down there.
Absent the weapon,do we have enoughto charge mrs.
Stratton ? A confession should be enoughif it isn't thrown out.
So I understandthere's a new sheriff in town.
Thought I'd pop upand pay my respects.
Doug hellman,jim conlon.
Jim,it's nice to meet you.
Annabeth,maureen.
By the way,I'm going to needall your evidentiary materialon the stratton caseso far.
You're representing her ? Mrs.
Stratton calleda few hours ago and asked me to take over the case,so as soon as you can ? And I havea few thingsto drop off here.
Here's a motionto suppressinitial interview, motion to suppress the second interrogation, and motion to suppressthe so-called confession.
- I assume you arecharging her ? - With murder.
Well,I'll see youat the arraignment then.
Jim,it's nice to meet you.
Annabeth,maureen,always a pleasure.
Better call the babysitter.
Looks like it's goingto be a late night.
- You worriedabout these ? - Not if we'reprepared.
Doug hellman's a big bumpup from public defender.
Yeah ? Well,I'm a giant step upfrom my predecessor.
One count of murder.
How do you plead,mrs.
Stratton ? Not guilty,your honor.
Ask the defendantbe held without bail.
Now,surely,noteven our exuberantprosecuting attorneyis suggesting that corinna strattonis a danger to the community ? We have forensic evidenceand a confession.
Which has little chanceof surviving the motion to suppress.
She was fully mirandized.
Well after she wastaken into custodyby an over zealous police officer.
She freely admittedto the crime.
She was attemptingto spare her childrenfurther trauma.
She would have said anything.
Including "I did it" ? Counsel has not yetaddressed my question.
Now,how is mrs.
Strattona danger to anybody ? She callously lefther husband's bloody bodywhere her own childrencould find it.
She is a danger to themat the very least.
She killed her husband,your honor.
Res ipsa loquitur.
The thing speaks for itself.
That remains to be seen,ms.
Chase.
Indiana criminal code,section 353382.
A murder chargeis bailablewhen the proof of guiltis not sufficiently evident.
Bail is set at $150,000.
The minor children willremain in the custodyof the maternal grandparents.
Assuming you make bail,you are not to go nearthe children,mrs.
Stratton, or I will revokeyour bail soonerthan you can sayjack robinson,do you hear me ? - Yes.
- Your honor.
- Your honor.
- Next case.
- Okay,we did well.
- Case number 52745.
You know and I knowshe did this.
You know and I knowyour evidence is week.
Want to make a deal ? - You're out of your mind.
- Yeah.
Well,when you comecrawling back to me.
I promise to be gentle.
Hellman's just trying to seeif he can make us blink.
Dig into this marriageand find a motive.
We're arrangingfor depositionsfrom the kids.
And we've askeddr.
Parentto do a walk-throughof the crime scene, see if she cangive us any insightinto the psychiatristand his wife.
Takes one to know one.
Look,let me be clear about one thing.
There will be no sweetheartdeals in murder cases.
Amazing how normal they look.
Notice anythingabout these pictures ? the kids.
The kids and mom.
The kids and momand the dog.
The kids at school.
But where's dad ? She excludes himfrom her domain,and she advertises it.
Look in here.
Kids' clothesmeticulously stacked.
Mom does hers out of sight.
Classic actof martyrdom.
And she won't even touchthe husband's laundry.
So he leaves it outto remind herof her misbehavior.
All thatfrom a pile of laundry.
Dad does the same thing.
He wants everyone to knowhe worships his kids.
But no shrine to momor carly,the oldest daughter.
The one who got away.
And just one picture of david.
And look.
Hiseyes are closed.
Now,is that symbolic ? Like he's blindto something or ? I don't know what dr.
Strattonsaw in this picture, but I think we can assumeone thingfrom the fact thathe chose to display it.
Well,he obviously didn't likedavid as much as the other two.
David wason mom's side.
That's interesting.
annabeth,I hope you'rein a receptive frame of mind you should save your breath,we got a really strong case.
I'll save minebut corinna has somethingyou're going to want to hear.
We found the murderweapon,doug.
Which she tried to destroy.
It's a match.
It was self-defense.
He attacked me.
Bruises on herback and shoulder.
That's a shadow,not a bruise.
She bashes his head in,leaves his bodyovernight in his study where her childrencan find itand then goes upstairsand goes to bed.
What part of thatargues self-defense ? Don't forget,she wasso injured that she walkeda good mile and a half to get rid ofthe murder weaponand then walkedback home again.
My adrenaline was pumping.
Yeah,I bet it was.
What precipitatedthis allege attack ? I finally got up the courageand I went to him that nightand said it was over.
I wanted a divorce.
And custody of jayand francesca.
He slammed meagainst the wall.
Shoved me into a table.
Any evidence ofthis,a witness ? Francesca was upstairsand jay was out.
I thought he was goingto kill me.
And I grabbed that bat,his preciouscricket bat which was a joke, he never played cricketin his life,except thesummer he spent at oxford.
- Mrs.
Stratton.
- What happened afterhe attacked you ? - I whirled aroundand hit him.
- Then left him for dead.
I didn't knowhe was dead.
Why didn't you call9-1-1 ? I didn't think he was hurtthat badly.
It was all a blur.
I walked maggie,I went upstairsand I went to bed.
Burning the bat,was that a blur too ? I thoughthe'd be able to use itagainst me to take the kids.
Use itagainst you,you mean yourassault with a deadly weapon ? My defending myself.
I had to get rid of thebat,so I burned it.
doug,come on,are you kidding me ? All right,now look,we are preparedto accept a charge of involuntary manslaughter for four years,two suspended.
Voluntary man,ten years.
Four suspended.
She'll do six.
Stop.
Four years ? Six years,that's completelyunacceptable,I'm innocent.
Why should I haveto go to prison ? Corinna,just let me no,you're not listeningto me,any of you.
I am listening.
We are all listening here.
When I was 15,I waspeter's psychiatric patient.
Is this part of the show ? Well,at the moment,I have to say we'rea little bit offthe map here.
I was 15.
I was troubled,vulnerable.
He was my doctor.
He was supposedto help me.
And instead he seduced me.
He seduced you ? He had sex with me.
Did he ever coerce youinto having sex ? Coerce,what does thatmean,I was a kid.
But you grew up and married him.
You had four children with him.
I was young.
I didn't know what else to do.
He was the only man I getting married made us normal.
It made everythingokay.
For everyone else,for my parents.
As far as everyoneelse was concerned,we were theall-american family.
Mrs.
Stratton,even if whatyou're saying is true,it doesn't justify you murderingyour husband 25 years later.
Well,you have to admitit makes a hell of a story.
so the self-defense waspredicated on the abuse.
The story may ring trueto some people.
It's a guarantee hell man will milk it for everything it's worth.
You got to push back.
Talk about the victim'sstanding in the community.
A respected psychiatristwith a 30 year practice.
Spin the wife asgreedy and conniving.
This is not new york.
People here are not bigon psychiatristsand this one molestedhis teenage patient.
If we hammer on thiswe give it credence.
Look,you got toplay hardball.
Which I'm sayingcould backfire.
I just got a fax frompeter stratton's lawyer.
According to him,dr.
Stratton was the onewho wanted the divorce.
He was all set to file.
He also told his lawyerhe was afraid of his wife.
- Feared for his life.
- Hearsay.
Though we could get it in.
I know the existing mentalcondition exception.
If divorce was his ideait's hard for her to claimthat he attacked herwhen she brought it up.
Well,you've hada busy week.
Two radio shows,an op-ed.
Yes,which generatedthree letters to the editorcalling peter stratton a pervert of one sort or another.
In indiana,grandmas,who happen to makeup at least halfof all jurors,are justgoing to hate your victim.
You really thinkyou can spin the jurypool so blatantly ? Yeah,well,I prefer to thinkof it as setting the tableto insure people keepan open mind.
Speaking ofsetting the table.
Thanks.
Defense attorneys don't usuallyask the people out to lunch,unless they're upto something.
So how are youdoing by the way ? I'm okay.
Thanks for asking.
I just wanted to giveyou a heads-up,uh,corinna wants tobe present at thekids' depositions.
No way.
Not a chance.
She has a legalright to be there.
She has a restrainingorder,doug.
She can't come withintwo miles of her kids.
Already run itpast judge cooperand as long asa bailiff is present you know as wellas I do,she wantsto intimidate the witnesses,aka,her children.
I got her solemn word shewon't open her mouth.
Yeah,that's legally binding.
Doug,come on,who's interested in depositionsexcept lawyers.
Well,apparentlymrs.
Stratton takes anavid interest in the law.
I'm sure she does.
And while you were talkingto your dad ? My mother came in.
I was tired so I saidgood night,went upstairs.
Did you hear them arguingafter you went upstairs ? I heard them,but myparents don't argue.
They're both really good attalking about their feelings,things like that,so it's not so much arguing,more like,you know,discussion.
- Heated discussion.
- Normal.
Could youhear what they were discussing ? I-I was listening to music.
And chatting withmy friends online.
Jay calls me up,mom killed dad.
Mom killed dad ! I'm,like,"did yousee mom kill dad ?" "Uhno.
" "Well,then how doyou know that,jay ?" "She just did.
" I tried talking tohim but you can'ttalk to him.
He hates my mom.
Why does hehate your mom ? To be on my dad's side.
Anything that comes outof my brother's mouthit's like it's coming right outof my dad's mouth.
So your fatheralso hated your mother.
He was always trying to convinceyou that she was wrong.
Or stupid.
Or crazy.
He was a master manipulator.
He could make you thinkthat anything he saidwas your idea first.
You thoughthe was agreeing with youbut really it wasyou agreeing with him.
And was he that waywith your mom ? He was that waywith everybody.
When I was like 11 or 12,mom finally caught onand starteddoing it back to him.
And he really didn'tlike that at all.
She stood up for me.
And she gave me the spineto stand up for her.
Did your father resent youfor standing up for your mom ? That's when thingsreally got bad.
Ever since then,it was likenonstop warfare in our house.
She'd fight withmy dad over anything.
It's like a full-time job.
Fighting with my dad.
She was fighting with himthe day he was killed.
And what wasthat fight about ? One of theirfavorites,the garage door opener,there's nothing wrong with it, but she's so helplessshe can't figure outthe button, so it became allabout my dad keeping herin prison for therest of her life.
He deliberatelyprovided me witha nonworking remote.
- Doug.
- Corinna,you cannot address but it's true he did.
Did you ever hear your motherthreaten your father's life ? She was alwaysthreatening him.
It was like,"I'mgoing to poison you.
" "I'm going to throw a hairdryer in the bath tub.
" Like a jokebut not a joke.
Ha-ha,real funny,right ? Try hearing it every dayof your life.
Did you fathertake these threats seriously ? Sure he did.
He was scared.
Did you ever hearyour mother talkabout getting a divorce ? If she got a divorce,who'd she fight with ? The only reasonI never left your father was to protect you.
I don't need your protection.
- I don't needyour mind games-- - my mind games ? Baby,he was the manipulator.
This is nota family therapy sessionmrs.
Stratton,one more wordand I will haveyour bail revoked.
That's the deal corinna,you cannot talkto the kids.
Okay,I'M okay.
Did you father ever mistreatyou or your siblings ? No.
He yelled at allof them,especially david.
You can'ttalk to me either.
Well,shouldn'tyou object or something,you can't believea word he says.
Can't object ata deposition.
- He mightas well behis father.
- Look,listen.
Listen to me,this is off the record.
Now,listen,this is notthe way we do this.
Now,I need you to trust meand have patienceand let me handle things.
Let me tell you something,I've been patient.
I've been patientmy entire life.
Waiting for somebodyto listen to me.
And you stand hereand you tell me I shouldlet you handle things.
I don't want youhandling things.
I want you gone.
I think we could usea little recess here.
I mean off this case.
Corinna,you don't mean that.
Think about whatyou're saying here.
Please inform the judge I nolonger require your services.
And the next time youfind yourselftalking to a lawyer,young man,you'll be talking to me.
Corinna,this is nota good idea.
I have a constitutionalright to represent myself.
Don't tell me I don'T.
This situation is highly unusualand potentially problematic.
The defendant will becross-examining her own children who are arguably ancillaryvictims of the crime.
Counselor is theattorney of record.
Well,I wouldsimply say,your honor,that I believe mrs.
Strattonwould be more ffectively represented by counsel.
Mrs.
Stratton.
The supreme court affirmed in faretta V.
California,the sixth amendment rightt o self-representation.
Even where such self-representation would beto a defendant's own detriment.
I would like to invoke that right.
You've done your homework.
I always do your honor.
I would like to state forthe record that ithink thisis a misguided idea.
Mrs.
Stratton,wouldyou please acknowledgefor the court reporterthat you've heard me.
Yes,your honor,I understandyou think it's a bad idea.
Counselor,thisis your lucky day.
You will sitsecond chairand participate as needed.
So ordered.
I heard.
Pro se casesrarely work outfor the defendant.
I know.
I should be happy to have herrepresenting herself,but why do I havethis uneasy feeling ? Be careful.
It's like playing tennis againstsomeone worse than yourself.
You play down,you could end up losing.
We're not goingto play down,but corinna's going to betalking to the jury all day, every day,destroyingher dead husband's reputation.
- If hellman's smart - which he is That's exactlywhat he'll get her to do--harp on what a creep he was, hope to peel off a sympatheticjuror or two,and hang the case.
Oh,I got the oldest daughter'sdeposition from florida.
Fills outthe family portrait.
Jay hates mom,david hates dad,francesca's in denial,and this one,carly,hates them both.
Sounds like a perfect storm.
Look,I know you're swamped,but I still needthose indictment status reportsin before you leave.
The entireseventh floorgot theirs in early.
Okay,how do you wantto divvy this up ? You take the M.
E.
And shrinks,I'll take the kids ? Delicious.
The victim was sittingwith his back turnedto his assailant.
The location of the woundclearly indicatesthat he was struckfrom behind.
In your professional opinion,were the victim's woundsconsistent with a claimof self-defense ? In my professional opinion,they were not consistentwith self-defense.
Your witness.
Not consistent.
Does that mean impossible ? I've never seen it.
Objection,your honor.
- What are you objecting to ? - His tone.
You can't objectto his tone.
Counselor,please educateyour client on the basicsof courtroomprocedure.
Move on,mrs.
Stratton.
Do you recognize this ? It's the autopsy reporton dr.
Stratton.
Can you readwhat I've highlighted thereon page seven,please ? "Evidence of silentcerebral infarction.
" - Is that from getting hiton the head ? - No.
It's a smallcerebral stoke.
Many people have silent,non-fatal strokes,mrs.
Stratton.
By some estimates,they're found in12% of autopsies.
What brings on a stroke ? High bloodpressure.
Genetics,stress.
Is it possiblethat this stroke was brought onby the stressof peter attacking me ? Objection.
Facts not in evidence.
Mrs.
Stratton,please rephrase the question.
Make it more hypothetical.
Is it possible thata person could attack someone,have a stroke,and die ? - Well,of courseit's possible.
- Thank you.
I'm finished,your honor.
Redirect,your honor.
Is thatwhat happened here,doctor ? Did dr.
Stratton havea fatal strokecaused by the stressof his fight with mrs.
Stratton ? The state offibrinoid necrosisindicates that this traumahappened a minimumof 12 to 15 months ago.
This stroke was an old event.
Refresh our memory,doctor.
What was the official causeof death again ? Massive blood loss as aresult of severe head trauma.
So,if somebody hadn't hit himon the headwith a heavy,blunt object none of us would besitting here today.
Objection,your honor.
There he goes again.
I agree with you.
Sustained.
I noticed the lightunder the doorin my dad's office.
Keep thinking if I'd havegone in to say good night,if he was still alive,maybe I could have saved him.
What happenedthe next morning ? I found my dad lying onthe floor of his office.
First thing I thought,"she did it.
She finally did it.
" - Speculating.
- Objection,your honor.
The witness was not askedwhat he was thinking.
Sustained.
- Hi,jay.
- Hi,mom.
Your honor,the restraining order requiresmrs.
Strattonto keep her distance.
Mrs.
Stratton,move back,please.
did you ever know anybodynamed danny depaul ? You know I did.
Can you tell the courtwho he was ? He was my best friendin junior high.
What happenedto danny depaul,your friend ? He killed himselfwith his father's gun.
Please tell the courtwhat your fathergot you for your 15th birthday,just six months later.
What he gave me ? It wasit was from both of you.
No,it wasn'T.
Whatever.
It was a hunting rifle.
And didn't thatstrike you as strange ? Yeah,I hadasked for onethe year before.
You guys said I was too young.
Did you ever wonderif your father wanted youto do what danny had done ? Mom youyou need help.
There's no way i ever thought that.
You were the onewho reminded himI'd asked for it.
You told him to buy it for me.
You can't just make stuff up.
That is your father talking,putting words in your mouth.
Objection.
She's testifying.
Sustained.
Tell me this--did you ever go hunting ? No.
II wanted a guitar.
I told dad,he took the gun back,he got me a guitar.
That's what happened.
I wonder what she was tryingto accomplish today.
Did she think jay was suddenlygoing to take her side ? Well,let's hopethe jury sees corinnafor what she is controll in gand border line delusional.
- You okay ? - Yeah.
It's 8:30,I got to getanother report out to conlon.
Change can be good.
Believe me,I've had enough changeto last me a lifetime.
This is hard.
I should be home.
Sometimes I worrythat haley pulled the short straw,you know ? I'm all she has now.
Hey,I was raisedby a single working mom,and look at me.
Yeah.
Question is,do I really want my daughterto grow up to be like us ? so who's their first witness ? david,the loyal one.
Welcome tothe stratton family,home of parallel universes and alternative realities.
David,can you pleasetell the juryhow you feel about spiders ? Spiders ? You know,spider world.
You want me to talkabout spider world ? Please.
When I wasabout eight,you took meand jay to a nature movie.
Only it wasn'tfor little kids.
It was a 3-d movie,andthe spider was,like,two stories high.
We both started crying.
Jay wet his pants.
It was awful.
David,can youread from this ? Your honor,mrs.
Stratton needsto identify that document.
These are psychiatricfiles on my children keptby my late husband.
Side bar,your honor ? Mrs.
Stratton,you cannot with hold evidence so that you can bush whack the people at trial.
Your honor,thesewitnesses are minors.
Their mother cannotexploit access to their confidentialmedical records.
Your honor,I wrestled with this.
There is stuff in these filesthat will be very painfulfor my family, but I finally decidedlate last night that I just hadto share them.
What mrs.
Stratton means,your honor,is that her rightto defend herselfoutweighs any patient's right to confidentiality.
These childrenhave privacy rightsunder state and federal law.
Not when the defendant is facinga murder charge,they don't.
I'm inclined to agreewith you,mr.
Hellman.
Ms.
Stratton,you may continue.
Your honor,the peoplealso need timeto prepare forcross-examination.
After this witness,we will adjourn for the day so that the peoplemay review this new evidence.
I do not like surprises,mrs.
Stratton.
Don't do it again.
Step back.
Can you tell the courtwhat it saysthere,the partI highlighted ? "August 12.
" I took the boysto see spider world.
"It was a significant stressor.
" Later induced hypnosis.
"Suggested their mothertook them.
" Can you openthat second file,and readwhat's on top ? This is from the dayafter your brother jay's15th birthday.
"january 10.
" Jay very upset over gun.
"Calmed him.
" Induced hypnosis.
"Suggested gunwas his mother's idea.
" Suggested I wanted himto have a guitar.
"Upon awakening,jay asked for guitar.
" Affirmative data.
"Stressors seemto increase suggestibility.
" Your honor,I would liketo enter into evidencethese files, which document yearsof psychologicalexperimentation, including behavioral modification and hypnosis, performed on my kidsat the handsof their father.
All of which was raw datafor a clinical trialat indiana universityon adolescent behavior.
My husband used his own childrenas guinea pigs.
The defense rests,your honor.
Where did the children's'files come from ? She claims they were mislabeled among his patient files,and she finally broke the code.
Smart ladyshe knows howto lie to a judgeand get away with it.
He turned hischildren into lab rats.
He deliberatelystressed them out,and then measured them for their susceptibilityto being hypnotized.
I think it's safe to sayshe gained some pointswith the jury.
If she knew where thosefiles were, she must have knownwhat he was up to.
She's complicit.
And we needto use that complicityfor our rebuttal.
This is interesting.
Hypnosis with francesca,dated a couple of monthsbefore the murder.
"Suggested she choseto live with me,not her mother,after divorce.
" According to her deposition,francesca was inher father's studythat night.
What if he washypnotizing herwhen corinna walked in on them ? Using it to influence herin a divorce proceeding.
So she sees himdoing to their daughter what he's beendoing to her for years controlling her,manipulating her.
She might evenfeel jealous.
Francesca's taking her placeas an objectof the doctor's attention.
But she hates him.
Still,it'sthe onlyattention she gets, the only dynamic that she knows.
She's a control freak,too.
Now she's losing controlof the situation.
So she grabs the cricket bat.
If francesca can rememberanything about that night,she may be our rebuttal witness.
Assistant prosecuting attorneyannabeth chase.
Hi.
I'm carly.
We were toldyou were in florida.
I just got in last night.
I came up to be withmy brother and sister,lend them some moral support.
Come in.
I was actually hopingto talk to your sister.
My grandparents are out,and I'm pretty sure grandma doesn't wantfrancesca talking to anyone.
Can I ask you a question ? Why didn't you come homefor your dad's funeral ? 'Cause I'm selfish,according to my mom.
Never mind.
You don't know my family.
I'm beginning to.
Carly,were you aware ofwhat your father was doing ? The hypnosis thing ? Yeah,I figured that one outmy first year of college.
Twisted,huh ? Why do you want to talkto francesca ? I think she canhelp us establishwhat really happenedthat night,definitively.
You mean,convict my mother.
Carly,you realize,if your mom's acquitted, she'll have custodyof francescaand jay.
Francesca,you needto talk to her.
Tell her whatever you know.
I already have.
When you went intoyour father's studythat night, what exactly didthe two of you talk about ? Francesca,don't you realize ? He was hypnotizing you.
- No,he wasn'T.
- Yes,he was.
And you have to understand,franny,he did it to all of us.
The worst part is,mom knew.
She let it happen.
You don't understand--I can'T.
You need to tell the truth,franny,in court.
Can you make me ? I can.
But I'm not going to.
No,I mean,can youmake me,like legally ? Because if you make me,then my momwon't be mad at me.
He called ithis calm down voice.
When I was upset aboutsomething,dad would take meinto his officeand start talking.
I'd listen and breathe.
Like a game,kind of.
Is that what happenedthat night ? I was upset.
We went into his study.
He got out his file,like he usually did,and he started talking.
What were you upset about ? It was something mymom had told me.
She said I neededto come live with her.
And what didshe tell you ? She told me what my dad had doneto her when she was his patient,when shewas my age.
I didn't believeher at first.
So what did you do ? I went to talk to my dad.
I told him what she had said.
What did he say ? He said he'd madea terrible mistake,and that my mom had held itover him their whole lives.
Objection.
She shouldn'thave to talk about this.
She was under hypnosis,her memory isunreliable.
Strong V.
State excludes evidence derived from hypnosis.
I'm merely establishingwhether the hypnosistook place.
Overruled.
Go on.
Francesca,did he talk to youin his calm down voice ? That the thing--he didn't that night.
He didn't usehis calm down voice.
He said he wastoo tired.
Then what happened ? My mom came in.
She said "you can't just put her under" and turn her against melike that.
You can't get rid of methat easily.
" What do you thinkshe meant by that ? At the time,I had no idea,but now I realize she thoughtI was under hypnosis.
Did she sayanything else ? She said she was goingto ruin his reputation.
And he said,"you've been saying thatfor 20 years.
"Go ahead.
" I'm retiring anyway.
I don't careanymore.
" Did your dadsound angry ? He was tired,not angry.
Just really,really tired.
Of everything.
Thank you,francesca.
Nothing further,your honor.
I'm sorry,darling.
I know you didn'twant to be here today,and the prosecution forced you.
You're a brave girl.
I want you to tell the truth.
If you had to decide,would you choose your fatheror would you choose me ? I wish I'd chosen you.
Good girl.
Can you tell us why ? Because maybe then you wouldn'thave killed daddy.
The facts are clearin this case.
The defendantdoes not dispute them.
She murdered her husband,thentried to destroy the evidence.
The children arethe real victims here.
No matter what peter strattondid or did not do, no matter what crimesand injurieshe may have committedagainst his family and his wife, murder was not the remedy.
And corinna strattonis guilty of murder.
I was 15 years old.
He was my doctor.
I had a big crush on him.
One day,I let himknow how I felt.
He stood up,and he locked the door.
And then he asked me if he couldsit next to me on the couch.
I had no experience.
When he sat next to me,I started to cry.
He was very gentle--hugging me,brushing away my tears.
I thought I was in love.
And I thought I was healed.
So when you ask yourself"why didn't she leave him ?" Think back to that little girl--so trusting,so vulnerable.
And the only way she couldmake sense of her lifewas to marry her seducer.
And I did want to leave him,many,many times over the years.
But I just could not walk awayand leave my children with him.
Believe me,if anyone knewwhat he was capable of,it was me.
State of indiana V.
Corinna denise stratton.
The jury finds the defendant,on the charge of murder,guilty.
Hey, hey, Congrats.
You out-lawyered the mother of the year.
If she's the standardfor motherhood,I guess I'm doing pretty well.
Well,speaking of motherhood,child protective servicescalled.
The eldest sister carlyis going for custody.
They'd like you two to testify.
She's takingthem to florida ? She's returning hometo indianapolis.
She wants joint custodywith the grandparents.
- I'll support that,happily.
- Me,too.
You know what I think ? You wondon'trub it in.
I think they lived to fight with each other.
Conflict was their relationship.
Yeah,and the relationshipwas her whole life.
He threatened to takethat away,so she snapped.
They were both getting something out of that sick dynamic.
You know,um,I went through a pretty horribledivorce a few years back.
I know.
Yeah.
Well the paineventually goes away.
I mean,mostly.
But the loneliness you know,when ihave a good day,I still catch myself picking upthe phone to call her.
so,annabeth,how are you doing ? - I mean,really.
- Up and down.
Good days and bad.
Like you.
oh,excuse me.
Hello.
Hi.
Yeahoh,okay.
Well,I amon my way.
See you there.
Ex-wife ? Ah,it's a newgirlfriend.
She's just gettingback from a trip.
Plane just got in;I got to meet her.
Airport rendezvous ? Clearly getting serious.
Well,serious ismeeting the parents.
Airport run is strictly romance.
winner gets the check ? That would be me.
- Good night,counselor.
- Night,counselor.
Hi.
It's annabeth.
She's doing good ? Okay.