Trial & Error (2016) s01e02 Episode Script

1 Do I like the term "accused murderer"? [Sighs.]
If I'm being honest, I do not.
I did not kill my wife.
I mean, back in the day, I was known as a "lady killer.
" [Laughs.]
But I'm out on bail, I have a great legal team, and the support of my friends and neighbors.
And now, if you'll excuse me, heart disease is the real killer.
Don't rock the boat, baby.
Rock the boat Morning, Mrs.
Kratt.
Hope you die, wife killer! Do I think Larry did it? Absolutely not.
I mean, sure, there have been some surprises like he was having an affair with a man.
No judgment.
And his previous wife died exactly the same way as his current wife.
Little judgment, but I still believe in him.
And thankfully, I have a great team.
Those are Larry's rollerskating tracks through her blood.
[Laughs.]
Sometimes I react inappropriately when something awful happens.
A good team.
We need to veer away from the goose.
I have a team.
Okay.
Today is the preliminary hearing.
That's where the prosecution's gonna lay out their case as to how they think Larry murdered Margaret.
Our job Is to say how we think he killed her.
[Clears throat.]
No.
We need to come up with a plausible theory that doesn't involve Larry killing anybody.
Oh, well, that's harder.
It is.
Anne, can you erase the board, please? Okay.
Can I just say how excited I am to have this job.
I promise, I'm going to do my best for you.
Thank you.
[Clicks tongue.]
- Can you erase the board? - Of course.
It's just that nobody's ever given me an opportunity like this.
I remember when I was a little girl, they told me, "You'll never work in an office.
" Well, how you like me now, Pastor Bronson? How you like me now? Why don't I erase the board? Okay, why don't we write down everything we know about the case, right? I'm gonna make two columns "good facts" and "bad facts.
" Start with the bad facts.
I got one childhood obesity.
My nephew's 6 years old and weighs 200 pounds.
That kid barely fits on a tractor.
That is a random awful fact.
- Let's stick to the case.
- Okay.
Larry Henderson's a gay murderer.
- Bad fact.
- No.
- Good fact.
- No.
The gay part is irrelevant and the murderer part is not a fact.
I'll go.
Good fact we found a bloody handprint on the wall at Larry's house! If we can find out who that belongs to, that puts someone else there at the crime scene.
Bad fact if we can't, Larry Henderson may die.
[Laughs.]
Wow.
This is my first time in court without my boss backing me up.
You don't need your boss.
You've got the dream team.
- [Chuckles.]
- We won't let you down, Josh.
Thanks, Anne.
[Gasps.]
Oh, my God! Oh Dwayne, what happened? She's dead! [Screams.]
Thank you for asking.
I suffer from something called Stendhal's syndrome.
Whenever I see something beautiful, like a piece of art, I get so overwhelmed I pass out.
It's a real thing.
You can look it up.
[Metal detector beeps.]
- Hey now, Dwayne.
- Hey now, Clarence.
- Hey now, Anne.
- Hey now, Clarence.
[Metal detector beeping.]
Hello.
[Metal detector whines.]
Oops.
You know what that is? - It's my lip balm.
- That's a bomb? No, not a bomb, a balm.
Like an emollient, a moisturizer.
I'm a lawyer.
My lips get dry when I talk a lot, like now.
- [Metal detector beeps.]
- Excuse me.
I'm late for a preliminary hearing.
- Hi, Clarence.
- Hey now, Carol Anne.
You know what, Clarence, we're actually going to the same hearing.
Whoa! What do we have here? This is a real beaut.
Thank you.
My niece got it for me.
.
38 kept jamming.
I told you, you got to keep it clean.
- I know.
- Good luck at trial.
Thank you.
I can't let you through with this.
Well, security took away my rollerskate wrench.
First I lose Margaret, now my wrench.
[Sighs.]
These things come in threes.
I wonder what's next.
Larry, when you say things like that, it makes people who don't get you think that you're not really upset about what happened.
Oh, no, I'm devastated.
That wrench came from Germany.
It's irreplaceable.
Hey, Dad.
Hi.
I got a really good feeling about today.
You brought a bomb to court? Not a bomb, a balm for my lips.
She has a gun.
Yeah, half the people in here have guns.
Are you sure you're up for this? Trust me, I got this.
I trust you.
Thank you so much for believing in me.
My mother always told me that the eyes don't lie.
When I look into Larry's eyes, I have all the evidence I need.
Bailiff: All rise! [Gavel bangs.]
Josh.
See if you can get my skate wrench back.
Oh, my God.
Well, I would just soak it in Clorox and wait for the swelling to go down.
Hey now.
"Hey now"? May I remind you you are addressing an officer of the court? Oh, no, no.
I'm sorry.
It was just, like, Clarence was doing this thing outside He's not from around here, Your Honor.
- He's a Northeasterner.
- Oh.
I have the ultimate respect for the court, Judge Horsedick ch.
It's pronounced "Hi-sen-dike.
" Really? The "N" is silent.
The "N" is invisible.
Is there a problem, Mr.
Seagull? Not at all.
We're good.
[Gavel bangs.]
If both parties are ready to proceed to the preliminary hearing, the prosecution may present its case.
Hold on.
I was supposed to be taking notes, but my computer froze.
Uh, would anyone happen to have a pen? No? I will just remember everything.
Carol Anne: Your Honor, the People will argue that the defendant was engaged in a homosexual relationship, and when his wife threatened to expose him, he flew into a rage and he threw her through a plate-glass window, killing her.
- Larry: Can I say something? - I wouldn't.
Okay.
I don't have a violent bone in my body.
And if making love to a man makes me a homosexual, then I am guilty as charged.
"Guilty as charged.
" It's working.
[Gavel bangs.]
The People would like to submit into evidence the police video from the night in question.
Now, I would like to warn the court, this video is extremely graphic in nature.
Oh, thank you so much for coming.
Uh, come on in.
The situation's right through here.
Forgive the mess.
Margaret is usually the one who cleans up, but as you can see Objection! Prejudicial.
Overruled.
The People intend to disprove the defendant's alibi that he was outside at the time of the murder, rollerskating.
Objection! Rollercising.
Sustained.
We got one.
And finally, the People would like to submit into evidence the death certificate of Larry's first wife, Adelaide Henderson.
She I definitely did not kill.
Adelaide did too many mushrooms and ran full speed through a window at a poetry rave.
What a wordsmith, though.
Adelaide Henderson's death was never investigated as a murder.
It's what everyone is thinking.
It is what I was thinking.
Objection! He's on my team.
Dwayne.
Your Honor there was never an autopsy done on Adelaide Henderson.
Well, it's my speculation an autopsy would reveal she was murdered.
Objection.
Speculation.
Overruled.
But But she did she said "speculation.
" Your Honor, the People have more than enough evidence to warrant a trial.
Would the defense like to make a motion? Yes.
The defense would.
Josh.
Skate wrench.
We would like to submit into evidence this bloody handprint.
We believe that this handprint proves that someone else was there the night of the murder someone we believe was the actual killer.
The defense requests a continuance so that we have time for further discovery.
How much time would the defense like? The defense would like two weeks.
Fine.
Two days it is, and I suggest you don't waste it.
I'm impartial, but damn, man.
Okay, so, we've got 48 hours, three things to accomplish.
First, we've got to figure out who this bloody handprint belongs to.
Dwayne, do you have a good forensic pathologist? That's the one thing I don't have.
That and a dentist.
- Anne: Oh, I know someone.
- Great! Anne, you're gonna come with me to Larry's house, then, because the second thing we need to do is test his alibi.
And Dwayne, how do you feel about taking care of Larry's first wife? I feel like Larry beat me to it.
I want you to retrieve Adelaide Henderson's body from Virginia to get a proper autopsy.
We are going to prove that she wasn't murdered.
- I'm on it.
- Great.
So, Anne, how do you know this forensic pathologist? He's in my OCD group.
You also have OCD? No.
Oh, my God, can you imagine? I volunteer there.
There's some people out there with issues.
Josh, Larry, this is Thom Hinkle.
He's the best DNA guy in town.
Oh, well, she's just saying that because it's true.
[Laughs.]
But seriously, I have been working in state and federal labs for 20 years, including a stint with the CIA, which I cannot talk about because they wiped my brain clean.
[Chuckles.]
They didn't really.
But they could.
Wow.
That is a really impressive résumé, Thom.
All I can say is, welcome to the team.
- I'll gear up! - All right.
He seems great.
Yeah.
Why is he available? What type of OCD does he have? I don't know.
I compulsively self-stimulate.
It's a physiological response that I have to highly stressful situations.
- Thom.
- Yeah.
- Look at this print.
- Hmm.
We believe that this belongs to someone else who was in the house the night Margaret was killed.
Hmm.
Please find out who it belongs to or he could die.
Oh, boy.
[Sighs.]
Larry, we need a suspect, which means I need to ask you some tough questions.
I know that this is hard, but is there any chance that she was having an affair? Of course not.
Margaret and I were happy.
We had the perfect relationship.
Well, you were having an affair.
I was having sex outside the marriage.
I'd hardly call that an affair.
An affair implies secrecy.
Wait, so Margaret knew about this? Of course.
She knew everything about me.
We were best friends.
We only had one fight our entire marriage.
She wanted to put in a door here.
I said window.
I guess the lesson is: "Careful what you wish for.
" [Chuckles.]
[Radio whines.]
Hello? The night Margaret died, you said you didn't hear her scream because you were wearing headphones.
We're gonna recreate that scenario.
Is this where you were standing? No, I wasn't standing, I was rollercising.
Of course I could show you if I had my skate wrench, but the police took it away from me.
Larry, we really need to focus here.
So, Anne, why don't you start screaming.
We will see if we can hear you.
Copy that.
Help, help! My husband is pushing me through the glass! Larry, you're killing me! [Screams.]
All righty, Anne, why don't you scream something else? Oh, my bad.
And be one with the sidewalk.
And crab walk into toe jab.
And hip it into iceberg.
And snake walk.
Right on home.
Hold on! I can't hear Anne screaming.
Your story checks out.
Finally, some good news.
Anne.
Anne? Anne? Oh, my gosh, Anne! Oh.
Oh, no, not another one.
So, slight hiccup.
Seems here in Virginia, they use footstones instead of headstones, so we unearthed the wrong body.
No biggie.
Luckily, I found a local to help us right the situation.
All he wanted was 20 boxes of antihistamine.
Now Oh.
[Clears throat.]
Slighter hiccup Josh: The prosecution has requested a meeting.
Turns out they don't want this to go to trial, either.
So, now, they'll offer some plea.
You know, it's all part of the dance.
And lucky for me, I got seven years of tap.
Actually, can you just edit that last part out? Death by electrocution.
[Chuckles.]
Death by electrocution.
That is your offer? It's the most compassionate means of execution.
What's the least compassionate? Well, technically, death by bear is still in the books in this county.
Where the hell am I? A long way from home, counselor.
Why are you so desperate to kill Larry? It's nothing personal.
I'm running for D.
A.
, and as a woman, I need to be twice as qualified as any man, which means I need a death-penalty conviction.
I had my chance when I was younger, but let's just say I was not as refined as I am today.
You heard the defendant threaten to hand the victim's head to him? I don't recall.
You don't recall? [Bleep.]
you little [bleep.]
.
[Bleep.]
damn it, he's lying! Mother[bleep.]
.
Mother[bleep.]
.
[Bleep.]
I will not let this one get away.
Well, right now all you have is circumstantial.
I know Larry didn't do it, and I will have the evidence to prove it.
I don't think either of those things is true.
You have what we call in the south a "turd," and I'm afraid this case is unwinnable for you.
We'll let the jury decide.
And how do you think the jury will react to a man who loves his skate key more than he loves his wife? It's a custom-made German skate wrench, and I hate that I know that.
But I do believe in my client and my case, so no deal on the plea.
If you want to make D.
A.
, find someone else to kill.
Well, if you change your mind, here's my number.
Call me if you ever want to come over and see the honey pot.
How do you even sleep at night? Over the sheets, white cotton briefs, men's dress shirt unbuttoned down to here.
[Sighs.]
You're weird.
Hey.
Dwayne, tell me some good news.
Well, I found Adelaide Henderson, and I quit smoking.
Fantastic! Where's the body? Well, it was a routine gas stop.
So, long story short, she was cremated.
Good fact if Larry did kill her, nobody will ever know.
Thank you, Dwayne.
- Thom.
- Yes.
I need news on that print.
From what I can gather, it's from a left hand.
Okay, can you pull fingerprints? No, that's the thing there are none.
I mean, if you can find someone with no prints on their left hand, that's your killer.
He still hasn't regained feeling in his left hand.
Okay, who likes them bloody? No, Larry.
No! Fine.
I'll put it back on again.
People's case hasn't changed.
We intend to argue the defendant, Larry Henderson, murdered his wife, Margaret Henderson, in an act of rage, by throwing her through a plate-glass window.
Counselor.
[Clears throat.]
And we intend to argue he did not.
You needed 48 hours to come up with that? We are still formulating our case and reserve the right to more discovery.
I don't know how it works up in New York, but down here in East Peck, we value our time.
I find there is sufficient cause to charge the defendant, Larry Henderson, with first-degree murder.
The court will set a trial date.
And Ms.
Keane, I will see you at the Rotary Club bake sale.
- [Gavel bangs.]
- Bailiff: All rise! I don't know a lot about law, but that did not seem to go well.
No.
It didn't, Larry, and you want to know why? Because the bloody handprint had no fingerprints, just like you.
Well, I don't know what you're implying, but I would never touch a wall with a bloody hand.
Margaret was a neat freak.
I once got a bunch of chocolate on the wainscoting and never heard the end of it well, until now.
See you later, Larry.
Can I ask just one question? Not if it's about the skate wrench.
Where'd you get those pants? And did you get my skate wrench? Summer: Hey, Josh.
What happened with you and my dad? He's really upset.
I didn't know he was capable of showing emotion.
What are you talking about? Have you ever seen your dad cry? Yes, of course.
About Margaret? No, "Les Mis.
" The play, not the movie.
See, that doesn't make any sense.
Well, he hates Anne Hathaway.
[Knock on door.]
Good news.
Now, I don't want to over-sell this, but I think it more than makes up for me incinerating Larry's first wife's corpse.
What is that? - Larry's skate wrench.
- Right.
I talked to my brother-cousin over at the police department, got it out of impound.
Sorry, I tried to get your lip balm, but they blew it up.
It wasn't a real bomb.
Oh, they know that.
They just like blowing stuff up.
- You know, my dad loves this wrench.
- I know he does.
That, a jury would believe.
What they won't believe is a guy who has no evidence that supports him and who cares more about losing a skate wrench than his wife.
I should've just bought him a stupid skate wrench and been done with it.
You can't buy one like that.
No, you can't.
[Doorbell rings.]
Josh: People express emotion in different ways.
This is a surprise.
Yeah, come on in.
My mom told me, "Never judge someone until you walk a mile in their shoes.
" Or in this case, skates.
I'm so happy to have this back.
Read the inscription.
"To L, my best friend.
" Uh Larry, Larry, I got this.
I got this.
[Crying.]
"To L, my best friend.
I'll love you forever.
M.
" M is Margaret.
L is Larry.
- [Crying.]
- I know.
[Both crying.]
So, after you called me, I went back to the house to look for other DNA evidence.
If you turn to page two, you will see a color-coded chart that I've put together.
Wow.
Look at the pinks and the blues.
Thom, this is beautif - Oh! Is she - No, she's fine.
So, what do we got here, Thom? You'll notice that I found samples of semen in the bedroom.
Male semen? - Is he - He's fine.
It looks like you found two different specimens here.
Well, one of those is mine.
Uh, my dad's been going through some health stuff lately, and it's been pretty stressful, so Anyway, that leaves one unmatched DNA sample in the bed.
Which we assume is Larry's.
Here's the thing It's not.
So, you're saying there was someone else in Margaret's bed? Mm-hmm.
Whoa, that means she was having an affair.
But with who? That's what we have to find out.
That's our alternate theory.
So, is that a good fact? No, Anne, that's a great fact.
Oh! We're back in business! - Yes! - Yeah! Uh Oh.