Bull (2016) s04e18 Episode Script
Off the Rails
1
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
Want to see what you're
gonna look like in 30 years?
Honey, don't you know
no woman wants to see
what she's gonna look
like when she's older?
- Come on.
- It's just an app.
I take your picture and
then it makes you look old.
- I really don't want
- [SHUTTER CLICKS]
You closed your eyes. One more.
And then you'll let me
read my book in peace?
[LAUGHS SOFTLY] Probably not.
[SCREAMING]
[PEOPLE PANTING, GROANING]
WOMAN: Welcome back.
Happy you finally decided to join us.
All right, careful. Don't
look directly at the light.
Look above the light.
Look at the tip of my nose.
Good.
Tell me your name.
Uh, Walt Mora.
What day is it today, Mr. Mora?
I have no idea.
Well, what's the last thing
you can remember?
Being at work.
Piloting a train out of Grand Central,
heading towards, uh, Westchester County.
Where am I?
[INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER P.A.]
Am I in the hospital?
St. Benjamin's, honey.
This is Dr. Medawar.
She's been taking great care of you.
What kind of care?
You've been here six days, Mr. Mora.
There was an accident.
Huh.
I don't remember any accident.
Are you sure?
Completely sure.
You ran headfirst into another train
that was parked on the tracks.
Four people died.
This true, Gloria?
CT scans of your brain
show that you suffered
a traumatic brain injury.
With traumatic brain injury,
it's quite common
to lose memories associated
with the incident
in which the injury occurred.
In this case, the crash.
Will I ever remember
what happened, how it happened?
It's possible.
But not terribly likely.
BULL: I guess most of all,
we're looking for more space.
We just had a baby girl and, uh,
it would be great
if the building had a playroom
- or maybe a pool.
- [KNOCKING]
Not right now. Come back in half an hour.
Why wouldn't you want your baby
welcomed into the Catholic faith?
I'm gonna have to call you back.
A religious fanatic
just walked into my office.
He's foaming at the mouth
and speaking in tongues.
It's not pretty.
This is not healthy, Benny.
Your sister getting you involved
in our private business
It is not good for my home
life and it is not good
for your professional life,
if you follow my drift.
You know, Bull [CLEARS THROAT]
Baptism is a holy sacrament.
It frees your child
from original sin.
It cleanses her soul.
Really?
You think my daughter's soul
needs cleansing?
Hmm. What do you think she does
after we put her down at night?
Maybe she sneaks out, robs a bank?
Maybe she's having a torrid affair
with the neighbor's husband.
Go ahead and make fun.
Okay, I will.
Okay, I won't. Look
I respect how devout you are, Benny.
In fact, I even find it
somewhat inspiring.
But not everyone
feels the way you do, uh,
esp including your sister.
Really? And you know that?
[SOFT CHUCKLE]
Benjamin Colón, your sister
is the living definition
of a C.E.O. Catholic.
A C.E.O. Catholic?
Christmas, Easter only.
Bull
every single member of the
Colón family has been baptized.
E-Every single one.
W-Why would you want to prevent
that tradition from continuing?
You know what else has been
a family tradition of yours?
Being married when you have a baby.
And unless the Vatican
put out a memo that I missed,
that's still one of the sacraments, too.
What does that have to do with anything?
I'm just saying, I asked your
sister to marry me, she said no.
How come she's the one who gets
to pick and choose
the sacraments that matter?
[KNOCKING]
- Go away.
- Go away.
This a bad time?
Okay, then. Uh, your next
appointment is here.
Walter and Gloria Mora.
WALTER: The truth is
I can't remember
anything about the accident.
I just can't.
They say I fell asleep,
and I can't say that I didn't.
You know
All I know is that four people are dead.
And I was the one driving the train.
Hmm.
And you came to us through
The locomotive operator's union.
They gave us a list of lawyers.
And, uh,
they said you two were very good.
Uh, they told me
to give you this letter.
Okay, so
the union will pay your legal bills.
Well,
u-uh, can you tell me anything
about the moments before?
You were going to work.
Did you maybe have a drink beforehand?
Take any cold medicine?
Maybe any other drugs?
Were you unusually tired?
I mean, sure, I was tired.
Yeah, it was midnight
when my shift started.
Any body'd be tired.
Yeah, um uh, normally,
I try to work days.
Yeah. Well, the problem is, uh,
when we get into court,
the other side is gonna ask,
"If you were so tired,
why did you go to work
and agree to drive a train?"
That's my job.
You know?
Uh, any time I work nights, I'm tired.
Everybody is, but it doesn't
stop me from working.
Doesn't stop me from doing a good job.
The truth is my husband
hasn't been sleeping well for a while.
We
Our daughter passed away
six months ago from leukemia.
Neither of us have been
sleeping well for a while.
I'm so sorry.
I can only imagine how
painful that must have been.
It was a long battle, and
she fought hard,
but the good Lord needed her in Heaven.
And on top of that,
the train company
is working Walter to the bone.
Long hours. Sometimes days,
sometimes nights.
Anytime they call, he goes,
no questions asked.
Feels like he can't say no.
'Cause if he does, then they start
scheduling him for fewer hours.
It's their way of keeping you in line.
He was back on a train
three days after we buried our daughter.
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
Okay, boss,
how do we convince a jury our client
didn't do it when even our client
isn't sure he didn't to it?
I honestly don't know, but that man's
looking at spending the rest
of his life in prison.
Four lives have already been lost.
We just have to try and not make it five.
You know, even if Walter did fall asleep,
it doesn't necessarily mean
the crash was his fault.
Really?
Well
we may have to agree to
disagree on that one.
Do you follow tennis, Benny?
I've, uh, watched a couple
of matches here and there.
Well, you know,
in tennis there are two types of errors:
there's forced error
sand unforced errors.
Okay.
So, say you serve the ball,
you hit it out of bounds
that is an unforced error.
But if you're hitting it back and forth
and the other guy hits a great shot
and you chase the ball,
you barely reach it, but
you hit it out of bounds
that's a forced error.
You hit it out of bounds'
cause of the position
the other guy put you in.
And what, if anything,
does that have to do with our client?
You remember what Walter's wife said
about the way the company
scheduled Walter's work?
Very last-minute.
How if he said no to a
shift, they'd often retaliate
by not offering him another
one for a long time.
Well
what if we argued that
if Walter did fall asleep
it was because of the way the
company scheduled his work,
and they forced the error
by working him to the point of exhaustion
and making it impossible
for him to maintain
a predictable or healthy sleep schedule.
[GAVEL BANGS]
We are in the business
of moving people and things
from one point to another,
safely, in a timely way.
Unfortunately, no matter how many
safety measures are put in place,
we can't fully control
the human element.
Trains are piloted by people, and
people are fallible.
We did a thorough and comprehensive
internal investigation.
The NTSB did its own
independent investigation.
We all came to the same conclusion:
the fault lies with the
man piloting the train.
The fault
lies with the engineer.
Objection. Your Honor,
isn't that for the jury to decide?
The witness has been qualified
as an expert, counselor.
Overruled.
Nothing further, Your Honor.
ROBINSON: Your witness, Mr. Colón.
Thank you, Your Honor.
Mr. Peterman
let's talk about
Mr. Mora's work schedule.
Are you familiar with it?
Specifically? No.
But I can assure you our company
follows all national railway
regulatory standards
for hours worked.
Be that as it may,
we should take a look at
Mr. Mora's work schedule
just prior to the accident.
Ah, I have it right here.
Okay.
So
Mr. Mora worked Monday
from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
12 hours the maximum allowed by law.
Then, 12 hours later,
he was back at work.
Tuesday, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Again, the maximum allowed by law.
Luckily, Mr. Mora had off on Wednesday.
Was told he wouldn't be
needed again until Thursday.
But at 10:00 p.m. Wednesday night,
your company contacted him
to pull an emergency shift,
midnight until noon.
So
the man works all day Monday,
all day Tuesday, then,
was ready for bed on Wednesday night,
maybe even already asleep,
when you called him
with less than two hours notice,
told him to get out of bed
and come to work for 12 hours.
In darkness and inclement weather.
Remind me of what you said earlier
about your commitment to safety?
Objection, Your Honor.
Counsel is badgering the witness.
I'd like to answer the question,
if that's okay with the court.
Objection overruled.
You may answer the question.
What you don't seem to understand
is that if Mr. Mora felt
that he wasn't rested enough
to take the shift,
he could have simply said no.
Mr. Mora was not forced to work.
But isn't it true that
when an engineer is offered last-minute
or less-desirable shifts,
if he or she makes
a habit of turning them down,
your company reciprocates by offering him
less and less hours overall?
- Mr. Peterman?
- The witness
will answer the question.
Our company
never put any pressure on any employee
to accept additional shifts.
And in the case of Mr. Mora,
he himself asked for extra shifts.
[GALLERY MURMURING]
In fact,
Mr. Mora put in a request
to work the maximum amount
of shifts available.
He volunteered for the relief list,
and to be contacted whenever
there was a last-minute shift opening.
By the way, I have
those requests in writing.
I'd be happy to share them if
it would be any help whatsoever.
[GALLERY MURMURING]
Is there anyone on our side in this?
MARISSA: Not in the jury box.
Mm.
- You talk to him?
- Who's that?
Walter.
About what?
Abo [SIGHS]
Bull, the man sat in our conference room.
He and his wife told us, plain as day,
that the company made him work.
That they demanded it.
Even after his daughter's funeral.
We built our entire case around that,
and the railroad just
blew it out the water.
And our client let us walk right into it.
I know.
And no, I haven't talked to him yet.
I will.
Though I don't think
it's gonna do any good.
What are you talking about?
Walter doesn't care.
In fact I'm willing to bet, deep down,
he just wants it all to be over with.
The trial?
His life.
Oh.
Man's still in mourning.
For the people that died on his train.
For his little girl.
The man is a walking wake.
He has no will to survive,
no will to live.
He believes he's guilty of all of it.
And even if he isn't,
he believes he deserves to be.
So where does that leave us?
Same place we were before
we had this conversation.
We have to defend the man.
Whether he wants us to or not.
TAYLOR: You know,
just because Walter
asked for those shifts
doesn't mean the company
should have let him take them.
And what about the thousands of people
who ride the trains every day?
Doesn't the railroad
have an obligation to them?
You're not wrong, but think about it
from the jury's perspective.
All they see is four dead people
and a tired engineer
who asked to drive the train.
Okay.
Don't laugh.
I've been poking around a bunch
of conspiracy theory websites.
Different ones about
catastrophic accidents.
Boeing Max 737, the Challenger explosion.
That kind of thing.
CHUNK [SING-SONGY]: I'm telling Bull.
Taylor's a nut job.
Okay, make fun.
But let mere mind you
that in the case of the Challenger
and the case of
the Boeing airline crashes,
it was the conspiracy theorists
who blew the whistle first.
I can only imagine what kind of crackpots
you've been talking to.
The thing is
I may have found something.
There's this one Internet forum
where this anonymous poster
has been ranting and raving
ever since Walter's train crash
made the news.
He's telling anyone who will listen
that the railroad is covering
up what really happened.
He says pardon the pun that
they're railroading Walter.
You think he's legit?
I do, actually.
You have a name?
I have a name.
I have a background file.
And I may even have a point of contact.
Well, this sounds like
a job for Danny James.
MAN: Ms. James?
One of those for me?
I'm Frank Uzarski.
Mr. Uzarski, thank you for coming.
So
you working for Walter?
For his defense team, yeah.
Well, good luck.
You're up against a very
formidable adversary.
Oh, no thanks, never before,
uh, 9:00 a.m. for me.
You were saying?
I was saying this whole
situation with your client
got a very déjà vu quality to it for me.
I was a engineer for almost
14 years at the same railroad.
I had a very similar experience
to his about six months back.
Wait, you hit a train?
No.
But I came awfully close.
Tell me.
Just what I said.
One day, I was driving a train
on the northern line,
I almost collided with another one.
Luckily for me, there was no weather,
it was 2:00 in the afternoon,
so I could see what was coming
and I got on the brake in time.
So, wait, you didn't hit a train,
but they fired you anyway?
That's my point.
Whole reason I almost
hit that train is because
when I approached the switch
I was given a green signal.
Green means go.
So I went.
And did you tell the company that?
I sure did.
How did they respond?
They drug tested me.
What did they find?
Exactly what they wanted to find.
Exactly what they were hoping to find.
Which is fascinating to me, because,
to the best of my knowledge, I didn't
have anything in my system
that could have tested positive.
Look
I'm no saint.
But I don't drink or drug when I work,
and I certainly don't drink or drug
when I'm trying to convince
somebody I saw a green light
when they're insisting I saw a red one.
[GAVEL BANGS]
DONOGHUE: Now,
can you please tell the court
how it is you know Walter Mora?
We attend the same church.
Saint Catherine's of Brooklyn.
And then we've been
getting to know each other
even better these past few months.
DONOGHUE: And why is that?
We've both been attending
a grief group at church.
My husband passed away about a year ago.
And Walter lost his daughter to cancer.
DONOGHUE: My condolences.
To both of you.
Now, Ms. Combs,
you contacted the district attorney's
office yesterday afternoon, did you not?
I did.
I've been following the trial
on the Internet
and in the paper.
And there are just
some things that Walter said
when we were in grief group
together, things that
well, they made me uncomfortable.
And can you share with us
what those things were?
Objection. I have to believe
that these conversations
are protected under the
therapist-patient privilege,
and are afforded the
same protections as those
between an attorney and his client.
DONOGHUE: Actually, Your Honor,
to qualify for that privilege,
the group must be moderated
by a licensed therapist,
psychologist or social worker.
None of which were present
at this church-sponsored gathering.
Do you have proof
to the contrary, Mr. Colón?
I do not, Your Honor.
Objection overruled.
The witness may answer the question.
I like Walter.
I really do.
And he and Gloria have
been through so much.
But there was a grief group meeting
three days before the train wreck.
And after the meeting,
we were leaving together,
and Walter was saying that
he was having a tough week.
Tougher than most.
He said
his pain was so great
he was thinking about ending it all.
[GALLERY MURMURING]
That some days,
living felt like it was too much to bear.
DONOGHUE: It sounds like you're saying
Walter Mora saw the red light
signal and knew a train
was parked on the tracks in front of him.
That perhaps instead of seeing it
as an obstruction on the tracks,
he saw it as an opportunity.
An opportunity to, to use his own words,
"end it all."
Is that what you're trying to tell us?
Your Honor, objection. Speculation.
Counsel is testifying.
DONOGHUE: I withdraw the
question, Your Honor.
- And, in fact,
- I have no further questions.
How bad is it, Marissa?
The jury finds this witness
extremely credible.
They no longer appear to be questioning
whether or not it was Walter's fault.
They're only questioning whether or not
he crashed the train on purpose.
Either way, my monitors look
like Carrie on prom night.
How did it go today?
It went.
Well, ask me about my meeting
with Frank Uzarski.
What, the, uh,
disgruntled engineer
that Taylor found online?
Yes, indeed.
Turns out he, too,
had a run-in with a train
he had no idea would be there.
Only, in his case, he was able
to avoid a collision.
Did he report it to the railroad?
Uh, he sure did.
And then they drug tested him
and then fired him for his efforts.
Um, I'm-I'm confused.
Sounds like they fired
a cannon to kill a flea.
Uh, there was no crash.
There was no accident.
Why fire him?
Well, he claims that the signal
that's supposed
to alert an engineer to stop
when there's a train in his path
told him to go.
I'm not sure how that
applies to our case.
Well, in our case, Walter
was dealing with bad weather.
Extremely low visibility.
So if there was a signal malfunction,
if he saw green,
that would explain why he didn't brake.
And with all the rain and fog,
by the time he saw the
parked freight train,
it would have been too late.
Well, that's an interesting theory,
but need to remind you
that the NTSB investigation
found no such signal malfunction.
Okay. I'll play devil's advocate.
What if this signal
malfunction only happened once?
The same signal performed perfectly
immediately after
Frank's encounter with it
and right up until Walter's.
An intermittent error.
How about an incident report?
Did he at least file an incident
report after his near miss?
I didn't ask that specific question,
but I know he went to the railroad
and reported the signal problem.
Then they should have a record of it.
Which would prove they were on notice
about a potential signal malfunction.
BENNY: Maybe you can just do it for me.
What's that?
Agree to let Astrid be baptized.
[SIGHS]
You don't want to put yourself
in the middle of this.
I already am. She's my niece.
Benny, I have nothing against baptism.
In fact, knowing that it
would make Izzy happy,
make you happy
It's just
[EXHALES]
Even though we're not married,
it's a marriage,
except when your sister decides it isn't.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
It's okay, 'cause it's not
for you to understand.
It's really between Izzy and me.
All right.
I'll keep my nose out of it.
Thank you.
BENNY: Would you think any less of me
if I confessed to you I wasn't
looking forward to this?
You mean you're not excited
to present our case?
Not excited to put Walter on the stand?
Yeah. I have my concerns as well.
Maybe I'll have a little
pep talk with our client.
[KNOCKING]
Come in.
[DOOR OPENS]
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
So, you understand
you're about to be called to testify.
Yes, sir.
This will be your chance
to tell your story.
Your chance to convince that jury
that you are not responsible
for what happened that night.
Okay.
Um
But I can't swear
that I'm not responsible.
I just can't.
I see.
Hmm.
Well, then I've come to a decision.
What's that?
Mr. Colón and I
will go right to the judge
and withdraw from this case.
You, sir, do not want to win.
You want to use the justice system
to help you punish yourself.
For what, I'm not sure.
Maybe it's your child's cancer.
Maybe it's those people
who died on that train.
Which is fine.
It's your life.
But I am not gonna let the fact
that you have so little regard
for your wife,
so little regard for life itself,
blemish my record in the legal community.
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait.
What-what would you like me to do?
You want me to lie?
I want you to care.
I want you to give a damn.
I'd even consider staying on board
if you'd just be honest.
What do you mean, be honest?
You don't know what happened that night.
So, for God's sake, stop guessing.
Testify to who you are
and what you do know,
not what might have been.
And stop doing
the other side's job for them.
So what's it gonna be?
BENNY: Now, the prosecution
would have this jury believe
that you were suicidal on
the night of the accident,
that you allowed
your train to collide
with the freight train on purpose.
Is that true, Mr. Mora?
Of course it's not true.
BENNY: And why should
this jury believe that?
Well, because, if you know me,
you know that I believe in God.
You know that I believe
in the church's teachings.
I go to church every week.
My wife and I
took our little girl every week.
So I know that she's in heaven.
I know that the good Lord
has welcomed her soul.
And I know if I were to commit suicide,
I'd never see heaven.
Which means
that I wouldn't ever
see my little girl again.
BENNY: Thank you, Mr. Mora.
- No further questions,
- Your Honor.
He's a pretty good witness.
What'd you say to him?
Nothing much.
I just lied.
Smart.
I guess.
DONOGHUE: Thank you for your testimony,
Mr. Mora.
It was very moving.
But the fact remains
that four people are dead.
And despite what you've said,
an investigation concluded
that it was human error that killed them.
Your error.
Even if you didn't
cause the collision intentionally,
can you say with 100% certainty
that you didn't fall
asleep at that wheel?
In over 14 years and 25,000 hours,
I've never nodded off.
Not once.
Not for a single second.
Really?
And how do we prove that?
Or do we just accept it,
because you've never
crashed a train before?
Just like we're supposed
to accept the fact
that you can't remember anything.
BENNY: Objection. Your Honor,
counsel is testifying
and badgering the witness.
Sustained.
Ask a question, please.
That's all right, Your Honor.
I have no further questions.
Talk to me.
They were moved,
but not enough to change their minds.
Yeah.
We got to their hearts
but not their heads.
I can see it from here.
They want someone to hold accountable,
and he was the man at the controls.
Do me a favor.
Call Izzy.
Tell her I'm gonna be home late.
I need to get measured for a new suit.
Sure.
What's the occasion?
Baptism.
The baby, not me.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
"I'm sure you've all heard
that old saying,
"'If a tree falls in the forest
"'but there's no one there to hear it,
"does it make a sound?'
"Likewise, if a man is driving a train
"and it has a fatal accident
"but the man can't remember
what happened,
"does it automatically make
him the cause of that accident?
- Because, at
- [KNOCKING]
Hey. How's the closing argument coming?
Well, I'm not convinced,
and I'm the guy writing it.
Yeah.
Oh, hey.
I hear we're having a baptism.
Oh, yeah.
It suddenly occurred to me
last night none of my teams
- are playing three Sundays from now.
- Mm.
I'll take it.
God moves people in strange ways.
Thank you.
Oh, don't thank me.
Thank the NBA.
TAYLOR: I couldn't help myself.
I spent the night working from home.
You want the good news,
the bad news or the good news?
Is this a trick question?
Okay, I'll start with the good news.
Don't ask me how,
but I was able to locate
the incident report
Danny said you wanted me to find.
The one that was filed
when Frank Uzarski complained
to the company that he was given
a green signal instead of a red
and almost ran into a train.
That is good news.
So what's the bad news?
Well, nowhere in it does it say anything
about a signal malfunction.
The thing is,
whether Frank was drunk, stoned
or just lying,
his statements should have
been included in that report.
And they aren't.
You have a theory about why?
Maybe the company deleted
any mention of signal failures
from their records
in the wake of Walter's crash.
They heard about his brain injury,
heard he couldn't remember anything.
It's kind of perfect.
If you can make it look
like there's never been a signal problem,
you can blame the whole thing on Walter.
Interesting theory.
How are you gonna prove it?
Ask me about the good news.
Oh. You have any good news?
I see no additional names
on the witness list today.
Does that mean the defense
is prepared to rest
and we can commence
with closing arguments?
Actually, Your Honor,
the defense is not
quite ready to rest yet.
In fact, we'd like to recall a witness.
If it pleases the court,
the defense would like to call
Ray Peterman back to the stand.
Mr. Peterman, I've just got
a couple of brief follow-up questions.
Now, uh,
you told the court previously
that there was no evidence
of a mechanical failure
on any of the railroad safety systems.
Do you still believe that to be true?
I do.
Okay. All right.
Oh, and let me remind the court
that you are certified
as an expert witness.
Now, with that in mind,
let me ask a hypothetical.
Let's say my client, Walter Mora,
is piloting a train late at night,
and there is another train
stopped on the track in front of him.
The weather is bad,
it's really dark outside,
so he really can't see that train.
But the rail signal
The railroad stop light
The one he depends on, is green.
And it was supposed to be red
to tell him to stop,
because there was another
train in front of him,
but it doesn't.
It's just a steady green.
Now, could something like that happen?
This is my favorite part.
Coyote first sees the Road Runner
and thinks, "Dinner."
PETERMAN: Honestly,
rail signal malfunctions
are extremely rare.
Got it, got it. Extremely rare.
Now as I understand it,
the way it works is
the rail signal apparatus
senses when there's a
train up ahead of it,
so it knows to display the red light
and stop the train behind
it from proceeding.
Do I have it right?
Yes. The weight of the train
serves to stop the circuit,
which triggers the red light.
- And the chase begins.
- BENNY: Okay.
So if there was a signal malfunction,
which you already testified
is extremely rare,
the light would just stay green
- instead of turning red, right?
- PETERMAN: Again,
kind of like a snowstorm
in the Mojave Desert, but
yes, that is what would happen.
BENNY: So Mr. Mora
would be driving the train,
he would see that green light
and believe he was supposed
to keep right on going,
but the signal malfunction
would actually be leading him
to a head-on collision with
another train, wouldn't it?
Objection. Relevance?
Why are we spending
this kind of time with a witness
we've already heard from
to offer an opinion on a hypothetical
when we've tasked this jury
with making a decision
about a very real,
very deadly accident?
And now is when the Road
Runner gets the Coyote
to chase him really fast.
So fast the Coyote doesn't even realize
the Road Runner's
tricked him into running
right off the edge of a cliff.
Beep-beep.
BENNY: I apologize, Your Honor.
He's right.
Forget what I said about
this being a hypothetical.
Let's talk about the real signal,
the one that was supposed to separate
the train my client was piloting
with the one he hit.
Let's talk about that signal.
And, of course,
now the Coyote looks down,
realizes there's nothing
but air beneath him,
and goes falling hundreds
of feet into the canyon below.
That particular signal
was tested by the NTSB
and our own investigators.
To be clear, the signal
that Mr. Mora ignored
- was working properly.
- Yeah, but
these signals are machines, right?
Uh, they're capable of
failure, aren't they?
I mean, isn't it possible
that the signal could have failed
intermittently?
Isn't it possible
that the signal could have
malfunctioned this one time
despite working properly
every other time?
I'm not sure I understand the question.
If you're asking
if anything is possible,
well, then yes, of course,
anything is possible.
But if you're asking
if that's what happened here,
let me repeat myself.
According to the NTSB
and our own investigators,
that is not what happened here.
Okay.
Well, then can you explain this to me?
Now, this here
is a maintenance report
for work ordered after the accident
that we would like to enter into evidence
as defense exhibit A.
Now, do you recognize
this maintenance report, Mr. Peterman?
Sure. It's a routine report.
We put them out whenever repairs
or maintenance need to be done.
Okay. And-and can you
explain to the court
what maintenance was ordered?
[CLEARS THROAT] It says
that the signal at marker 264
needed to be replaced.
BENNY: And isn't the signal
- at marker 264
- [MOUTHING]
The same signal
that was supposed to separate
the train Walter was driving
from the train he collided with?
[GALLERY MURMURING]
Yes, I believe it was.
BENNY: Mr. Pete man,
if the signal wasn't faulty
then why are you replacing it?
Well
we aren't just replacing that one signal.
We're replacing all the
signals on that line.
It's part of a routine
system upgrade.
But
according to this report,
those signals are only ten months old.
I mean, does your company
routinely replace
entire lines of signals
after only ten months?
Never mind. Never mind.
I have another question.
Uh
Mr. Peterman, you see this
heavy file folder here?
There's a bunch of work orders in here.
Work orders to replace
the same type of signal on a
freight line in Missouri,
on a passenger line
just outside of D.C.,
and a line in Canada.
These are all lines
that are owned by your railroad company.
Coincidence?
I'm sorry, Mr. Peterman,
I can't hear you.
I'm gonna need you to speak up.
I wouldn't want this
jury to misunderstand.
No.
I wouldn't want them
to think that you knew
this wreck wasn't Walter Mora's fault.
That you and the railroad you work for
covered up an earlier incident
involving faulty signals.
Objection.
Counsel is testifying.
- And by ignoring that earlier incident,
- Your Honor.
You and the railroad you work for
are actually directly
responsible for this disaster.
Or
that you and the company you work for
are more than willing to send
an innocent man to prison
if it means you'd bear no responsibility
for your mistakes.
I wouldn't want the jury
to jump to that conclusion,
- Objection.
- So speak up.
Objection!
- Objection!
- Quiet.
I need order. Quiet.
Mm. Okay.
I see he doesn't want to discuss it.
Your Honor, a little help, please.
Objection overruled.
The witness will answer the question.
Questions.
I'm afraid I'm going
to have to plead the Fifth.
[GALLERY MURMURING]
[SIGHS]
[GROANS]
Oh.
[CHUCKLES]
What a great concept, Bull.
What a great idea.
A-A victory dinner.
We should do that after
every case we win.
Yeah. But in order to be a dinner,
you have to
actually eat something.
Mm-hmm.
Damn, I knew we forgot something.
- Well, next time.
- [GRUNTS]
Here's a little something for you.
- From me.
- What?
- Yeah.
- Oh
I have never
received a gift after winning
a case, Bull. Thank you.
- No, that's not what it's for.
- Go ahead, open it.
Wha
[CHUCKLES]
I don't get it. What is it?
How are you gonna be a godfather
without watching The Godfather?
Uh, g godfather?
You want me to be Astrid's godfather?
Yes, I do.
And so does Izzy.
And maybe it's the liquor talking,
but I'm pretty sure I heard Astrid say
that she wanted you, too.
Wow.
I could not be more honored, Bull.
- Thank you.
- Eh.
Thank you. This is
[IMITATES MARLON BRANDO]: You
made me an offer I can't refuse.
Please don't do that.
[IMITATES AL PACINO]:
Just when I thought I was out,
you pull me right back in.
No, no, no, you're not even
doing the same charac
Attica! Attica!
- Pull over.
- I'm gonna take an Uber.
[IMITATES ROBERT DE NIRO]:
Hey. You talkin' to me?
MAN: What?
You talkin' to me?
Well I'm the only one here. Right?
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
Want to see what you're
gonna look like in 30 years?
Honey, don't you know
no woman wants to see
what she's gonna look
like when she's older?
- Come on.
- It's just an app.
I take your picture and
then it makes you look old.
- I really don't want
- [SHUTTER CLICKS]
You closed your eyes. One more.
And then you'll let me
read my book in peace?
[LAUGHS SOFTLY] Probably not.
[SCREAMING]
[PEOPLE PANTING, GROANING]
WOMAN: Welcome back.
Happy you finally decided to join us.
All right, careful. Don't
look directly at the light.
Look above the light.
Look at the tip of my nose.
Good.
Tell me your name.
Uh, Walt Mora.
What day is it today, Mr. Mora?
I have no idea.
Well, what's the last thing
you can remember?
Being at work.
Piloting a train out of Grand Central,
heading towards, uh, Westchester County.
Where am I?
[INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER P.A.]
Am I in the hospital?
St. Benjamin's, honey.
This is Dr. Medawar.
She's been taking great care of you.
What kind of care?
You've been here six days, Mr. Mora.
There was an accident.
Huh.
I don't remember any accident.
Are you sure?
Completely sure.
You ran headfirst into another train
that was parked on the tracks.
Four people died.
This true, Gloria?
CT scans of your brain
show that you suffered
a traumatic brain injury.
With traumatic brain injury,
it's quite common
to lose memories associated
with the incident
in which the injury occurred.
In this case, the crash.
Will I ever remember
what happened, how it happened?
It's possible.
But not terribly likely.
BULL: I guess most of all,
we're looking for more space.
We just had a baby girl and, uh,
it would be great
if the building had a playroom
- or maybe a pool.
- [KNOCKING]
Not right now. Come back in half an hour.
Why wouldn't you want your baby
welcomed into the Catholic faith?
I'm gonna have to call you back.
A religious fanatic
just walked into my office.
He's foaming at the mouth
and speaking in tongues.
It's not pretty.
This is not healthy, Benny.
Your sister getting you involved
in our private business
It is not good for my home
life and it is not good
for your professional life,
if you follow my drift.
You know, Bull [CLEARS THROAT]
Baptism is a holy sacrament.
It frees your child
from original sin.
It cleanses her soul.
Really?
You think my daughter's soul
needs cleansing?
Hmm. What do you think she does
after we put her down at night?
Maybe she sneaks out, robs a bank?
Maybe she's having a torrid affair
with the neighbor's husband.
Go ahead and make fun.
Okay, I will.
Okay, I won't. Look
I respect how devout you are, Benny.
In fact, I even find it
somewhat inspiring.
But not everyone
feels the way you do, uh,
esp including your sister.
Really? And you know that?
[SOFT CHUCKLE]
Benjamin Colón, your sister
is the living definition
of a C.E.O. Catholic.
A C.E.O. Catholic?
Christmas, Easter only.
Bull
every single member of the
Colón family has been baptized.
E-Every single one.
W-Why would you want to prevent
that tradition from continuing?
You know what else has been
a family tradition of yours?
Being married when you have a baby.
And unless the Vatican
put out a memo that I missed,
that's still one of the sacraments, too.
What does that have to do with anything?
I'm just saying, I asked your
sister to marry me, she said no.
How come she's the one who gets
to pick and choose
the sacraments that matter?
[KNOCKING]
- Go away.
- Go away.
This a bad time?
Okay, then. Uh, your next
appointment is here.
Walter and Gloria Mora.
WALTER: The truth is
I can't remember
anything about the accident.
I just can't.
They say I fell asleep,
and I can't say that I didn't.
You know
All I know is that four people are dead.
And I was the one driving the train.
Hmm.
And you came to us through
The locomotive operator's union.
They gave us a list of lawyers.
And, uh,
they said you two were very good.
Uh, they told me
to give you this letter.
Okay, so
the union will pay your legal bills.
Well,
u-uh, can you tell me anything
about the moments before?
You were going to work.
Did you maybe have a drink beforehand?
Take any cold medicine?
Maybe any other drugs?
Were you unusually tired?
I mean, sure, I was tired.
Yeah, it was midnight
when my shift started.
Any body'd be tired.
Yeah, um uh, normally,
I try to work days.
Yeah. Well, the problem is, uh,
when we get into court,
the other side is gonna ask,
"If you were so tired,
why did you go to work
and agree to drive a train?"
That's my job.
You know?
Uh, any time I work nights, I'm tired.
Everybody is, but it doesn't
stop me from working.
Doesn't stop me from doing a good job.
The truth is my husband
hasn't been sleeping well for a while.
We
Our daughter passed away
six months ago from leukemia.
Neither of us have been
sleeping well for a while.
I'm so sorry.
I can only imagine how
painful that must have been.
It was a long battle, and
she fought hard,
but the good Lord needed her in Heaven.
And on top of that,
the train company
is working Walter to the bone.
Long hours. Sometimes days,
sometimes nights.
Anytime they call, he goes,
no questions asked.
Feels like he can't say no.
'Cause if he does, then they start
scheduling him for fewer hours.
It's their way of keeping you in line.
He was back on a train
three days after we buried our daughter.
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
Okay, boss,
how do we convince a jury our client
didn't do it when even our client
isn't sure he didn't to it?
I honestly don't know, but that man's
looking at spending the rest
of his life in prison.
Four lives have already been lost.
We just have to try and not make it five.
You know, even if Walter did fall asleep,
it doesn't necessarily mean
the crash was his fault.
Really?
Well
we may have to agree to
disagree on that one.
Do you follow tennis, Benny?
I've, uh, watched a couple
of matches here and there.
Well, you know,
in tennis there are two types of errors:
there's forced error
sand unforced errors.
Okay.
So, say you serve the ball,
you hit it out of bounds
that is an unforced error.
But if you're hitting it back and forth
and the other guy hits a great shot
and you chase the ball,
you barely reach it, but
you hit it out of bounds
that's a forced error.
You hit it out of bounds'
cause of the position
the other guy put you in.
And what, if anything,
does that have to do with our client?
You remember what Walter's wife said
about the way the company
scheduled Walter's work?
Very last-minute.
How if he said no to a
shift, they'd often retaliate
by not offering him another
one for a long time.
Well
what if we argued that
if Walter did fall asleep
it was because of the way the
company scheduled his work,
and they forced the error
by working him to the point of exhaustion
and making it impossible
for him to maintain
a predictable or healthy sleep schedule.
[GAVEL BANGS]
We are in the business
of moving people and things
from one point to another,
safely, in a timely way.
Unfortunately, no matter how many
safety measures are put in place,
we can't fully control
the human element.
Trains are piloted by people, and
people are fallible.
We did a thorough and comprehensive
internal investigation.
The NTSB did its own
independent investigation.
We all came to the same conclusion:
the fault lies with the
man piloting the train.
The fault
lies with the engineer.
Objection. Your Honor,
isn't that for the jury to decide?
The witness has been qualified
as an expert, counselor.
Overruled.
Nothing further, Your Honor.
ROBINSON: Your witness, Mr. Colón.
Thank you, Your Honor.
Mr. Peterman
let's talk about
Mr. Mora's work schedule.
Are you familiar with it?
Specifically? No.
But I can assure you our company
follows all national railway
regulatory standards
for hours worked.
Be that as it may,
we should take a look at
Mr. Mora's work schedule
just prior to the accident.
Ah, I have it right here.
Okay.
So
Mr. Mora worked Monday
from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
12 hours the maximum allowed by law.
Then, 12 hours later,
he was back at work.
Tuesday, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Again, the maximum allowed by law.
Luckily, Mr. Mora had off on Wednesday.
Was told he wouldn't be
needed again until Thursday.
But at 10:00 p.m. Wednesday night,
your company contacted him
to pull an emergency shift,
midnight until noon.
So
the man works all day Monday,
all day Tuesday, then,
was ready for bed on Wednesday night,
maybe even already asleep,
when you called him
with less than two hours notice,
told him to get out of bed
and come to work for 12 hours.
In darkness and inclement weather.
Remind me of what you said earlier
about your commitment to safety?
Objection, Your Honor.
Counsel is badgering the witness.
I'd like to answer the question,
if that's okay with the court.
Objection overruled.
You may answer the question.
What you don't seem to understand
is that if Mr. Mora felt
that he wasn't rested enough
to take the shift,
he could have simply said no.
Mr. Mora was not forced to work.
But isn't it true that
when an engineer is offered last-minute
or less-desirable shifts,
if he or she makes
a habit of turning them down,
your company reciprocates by offering him
less and less hours overall?
- Mr. Peterman?
- The witness
will answer the question.
Our company
never put any pressure on any employee
to accept additional shifts.
And in the case of Mr. Mora,
he himself asked for extra shifts.
[GALLERY MURMURING]
In fact,
Mr. Mora put in a request
to work the maximum amount
of shifts available.
He volunteered for the relief list,
and to be contacted whenever
there was a last-minute shift opening.
By the way, I have
those requests in writing.
I'd be happy to share them if
it would be any help whatsoever.
[GALLERY MURMURING]
Is there anyone on our side in this?
MARISSA: Not in the jury box.
Mm.
- You talk to him?
- Who's that?
Walter.
About what?
Abo [SIGHS]
Bull, the man sat in our conference room.
He and his wife told us, plain as day,
that the company made him work.
That they demanded it.
Even after his daughter's funeral.
We built our entire case around that,
and the railroad just
blew it out the water.
And our client let us walk right into it.
I know.
And no, I haven't talked to him yet.
I will.
Though I don't think
it's gonna do any good.
What are you talking about?
Walter doesn't care.
In fact I'm willing to bet, deep down,
he just wants it all to be over with.
The trial?
His life.
Oh.
Man's still in mourning.
For the people that died on his train.
For his little girl.
The man is a walking wake.
He has no will to survive,
no will to live.
He believes he's guilty of all of it.
And even if he isn't,
he believes he deserves to be.
So where does that leave us?
Same place we were before
we had this conversation.
We have to defend the man.
Whether he wants us to or not.
TAYLOR: You know,
just because Walter
asked for those shifts
doesn't mean the company
should have let him take them.
And what about the thousands of people
who ride the trains every day?
Doesn't the railroad
have an obligation to them?
You're not wrong, but think about it
from the jury's perspective.
All they see is four dead people
and a tired engineer
who asked to drive the train.
Okay.
Don't laugh.
I've been poking around a bunch
of conspiracy theory websites.
Different ones about
catastrophic accidents.
Boeing Max 737, the Challenger explosion.
That kind of thing.
CHUNK [SING-SONGY]: I'm telling Bull.
Taylor's a nut job.
Okay, make fun.
But let mere mind you
that in the case of the Challenger
and the case of
the Boeing airline crashes,
it was the conspiracy theorists
who blew the whistle first.
I can only imagine what kind of crackpots
you've been talking to.
The thing is
I may have found something.
There's this one Internet forum
where this anonymous poster
has been ranting and raving
ever since Walter's train crash
made the news.
He's telling anyone who will listen
that the railroad is covering
up what really happened.
He says pardon the pun that
they're railroading Walter.
You think he's legit?
I do, actually.
You have a name?
I have a name.
I have a background file.
And I may even have a point of contact.
Well, this sounds like
a job for Danny James.
MAN: Ms. James?
One of those for me?
I'm Frank Uzarski.
Mr. Uzarski, thank you for coming.
So
you working for Walter?
For his defense team, yeah.
Well, good luck.
You're up against a very
formidable adversary.
Oh, no thanks, never before,
uh, 9:00 a.m. for me.
You were saying?
I was saying this whole
situation with your client
got a very déjà vu quality to it for me.
I was a engineer for almost
14 years at the same railroad.
I had a very similar experience
to his about six months back.
Wait, you hit a train?
No.
But I came awfully close.
Tell me.
Just what I said.
One day, I was driving a train
on the northern line,
I almost collided with another one.
Luckily for me, there was no weather,
it was 2:00 in the afternoon,
so I could see what was coming
and I got on the brake in time.
So, wait, you didn't hit a train,
but they fired you anyway?
That's my point.
Whole reason I almost
hit that train is because
when I approached the switch
I was given a green signal.
Green means go.
So I went.
And did you tell the company that?
I sure did.
How did they respond?
They drug tested me.
What did they find?
Exactly what they wanted to find.
Exactly what they were hoping to find.
Which is fascinating to me, because,
to the best of my knowledge, I didn't
have anything in my system
that could have tested positive.
Look
I'm no saint.
But I don't drink or drug when I work,
and I certainly don't drink or drug
when I'm trying to convince
somebody I saw a green light
when they're insisting I saw a red one.
[GAVEL BANGS]
DONOGHUE: Now,
can you please tell the court
how it is you know Walter Mora?
We attend the same church.
Saint Catherine's of Brooklyn.
And then we've been
getting to know each other
even better these past few months.
DONOGHUE: And why is that?
We've both been attending
a grief group at church.
My husband passed away about a year ago.
And Walter lost his daughter to cancer.
DONOGHUE: My condolences.
To both of you.
Now, Ms. Combs,
you contacted the district attorney's
office yesterday afternoon, did you not?
I did.
I've been following the trial
on the Internet
and in the paper.
And there are just
some things that Walter said
when we were in grief group
together, things that
well, they made me uncomfortable.
And can you share with us
what those things were?
Objection. I have to believe
that these conversations
are protected under the
therapist-patient privilege,
and are afforded the
same protections as those
between an attorney and his client.
DONOGHUE: Actually, Your Honor,
to qualify for that privilege,
the group must be moderated
by a licensed therapist,
psychologist or social worker.
None of which were present
at this church-sponsored gathering.
Do you have proof
to the contrary, Mr. Colón?
I do not, Your Honor.
Objection overruled.
The witness may answer the question.
I like Walter.
I really do.
And he and Gloria have
been through so much.
But there was a grief group meeting
three days before the train wreck.
And after the meeting,
we were leaving together,
and Walter was saying that
he was having a tough week.
Tougher than most.
He said
his pain was so great
he was thinking about ending it all.
[GALLERY MURMURING]
That some days,
living felt like it was too much to bear.
DONOGHUE: It sounds like you're saying
Walter Mora saw the red light
signal and knew a train
was parked on the tracks in front of him.
That perhaps instead of seeing it
as an obstruction on the tracks,
he saw it as an opportunity.
An opportunity to, to use his own words,
"end it all."
Is that what you're trying to tell us?
Your Honor, objection. Speculation.
Counsel is testifying.
DONOGHUE: I withdraw the
question, Your Honor.
- And, in fact,
- I have no further questions.
How bad is it, Marissa?
The jury finds this witness
extremely credible.
They no longer appear to be questioning
whether or not it was Walter's fault.
They're only questioning whether or not
he crashed the train on purpose.
Either way, my monitors look
like Carrie on prom night.
How did it go today?
It went.
Well, ask me about my meeting
with Frank Uzarski.
What, the, uh,
disgruntled engineer
that Taylor found online?
Yes, indeed.
Turns out he, too,
had a run-in with a train
he had no idea would be there.
Only, in his case, he was able
to avoid a collision.
Did he report it to the railroad?
Uh, he sure did.
And then they drug tested him
and then fired him for his efforts.
Um, I'm-I'm confused.
Sounds like they fired
a cannon to kill a flea.
Uh, there was no crash.
There was no accident.
Why fire him?
Well, he claims that the signal
that's supposed
to alert an engineer to stop
when there's a train in his path
told him to go.
I'm not sure how that
applies to our case.
Well, in our case, Walter
was dealing with bad weather.
Extremely low visibility.
So if there was a signal malfunction,
if he saw green,
that would explain why he didn't brake.
And with all the rain and fog,
by the time he saw the
parked freight train,
it would have been too late.
Well, that's an interesting theory,
but need to remind you
that the NTSB investigation
found no such signal malfunction.
Okay. I'll play devil's advocate.
What if this signal
malfunction only happened once?
The same signal performed perfectly
immediately after
Frank's encounter with it
and right up until Walter's.
An intermittent error.
How about an incident report?
Did he at least file an incident
report after his near miss?
I didn't ask that specific question,
but I know he went to the railroad
and reported the signal problem.
Then they should have a record of it.
Which would prove they were on notice
about a potential signal malfunction.
BENNY: Maybe you can just do it for me.
What's that?
Agree to let Astrid be baptized.
[SIGHS]
You don't want to put yourself
in the middle of this.
I already am. She's my niece.
Benny, I have nothing against baptism.
In fact, knowing that it
would make Izzy happy,
make you happy
It's just
[EXHALES]
Even though we're not married,
it's a marriage,
except when your sister decides it isn't.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
It's okay, 'cause it's not
for you to understand.
It's really between Izzy and me.
All right.
I'll keep my nose out of it.
Thank you.
BENNY: Would you think any less of me
if I confessed to you I wasn't
looking forward to this?
You mean you're not excited
to present our case?
Not excited to put Walter on the stand?
Yeah. I have my concerns as well.
Maybe I'll have a little
pep talk with our client.
[KNOCKING]
Come in.
[DOOR OPENS]
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
So, you understand
you're about to be called to testify.
Yes, sir.
This will be your chance
to tell your story.
Your chance to convince that jury
that you are not responsible
for what happened that night.
Okay.
Um
But I can't swear
that I'm not responsible.
I just can't.
I see.
Hmm.
Well, then I've come to a decision.
What's that?
Mr. Colón and I
will go right to the judge
and withdraw from this case.
You, sir, do not want to win.
You want to use the justice system
to help you punish yourself.
For what, I'm not sure.
Maybe it's your child's cancer.
Maybe it's those people
who died on that train.
Which is fine.
It's your life.
But I am not gonna let the fact
that you have so little regard
for your wife,
so little regard for life itself,
blemish my record in the legal community.
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait.
What-what would you like me to do?
You want me to lie?
I want you to care.
I want you to give a damn.
I'd even consider staying on board
if you'd just be honest.
What do you mean, be honest?
You don't know what happened that night.
So, for God's sake, stop guessing.
Testify to who you are
and what you do know,
not what might have been.
And stop doing
the other side's job for them.
So what's it gonna be?
BENNY: Now, the prosecution
would have this jury believe
that you were suicidal on
the night of the accident,
that you allowed
your train to collide
with the freight train on purpose.
Is that true, Mr. Mora?
Of course it's not true.
BENNY: And why should
this jury believe that?
Well, because, if you know me,
you know that I believe in God.
You know that I believe
in the church's teachings.
I go to church every week.
My wife and I
took our little girl every week.
So I know that she's in heaven.
I know that the good Lord
has welcomed her soul.
And I know if I were to commit suicide,
I'd never see heaven.
Which means
that I wouldn't ever
see my little girl again.
BENNY: Thank you, Mr. Mora.
- No further questions,
- Your Honor.
He's a pretty good witness.
What'd you say to him?
Nothing much.
I just lied.
Smart.
I guess.
DONOGHUE: Thank you for your testimony,
Mr. Mora.
It was very moving.
But the fact remains
that four people are dead.
And despite what you've said,
an investigation concluded
that it was human error that killed them.
Your error.
Even if you didn't
cause the collision intentionally,
can you say with 100% certainty
that you didn't fall
asleep at that wheel?
In over 14 years and 25,000 hours,
I've never nodded off.
Not once.
Not for a single second.
Really?
And how do we prove that?
Or do we just accept it,
because you've never
crashed a train before?
Just like we're supposed
to accept the fact
that you can't remember anything.
BENNY: Objection. Your Honor,
counsel is testifying
and badgering the witness.
Sustained.
Ask a question, please.
That's all right, Your Honor.
I have no further questions.
Talk to me.
They were moved,
but not enough to change their minds.
Yeah.
We got to their hearts
but not their heads.
I can see it from here.
They want someone to hold accountable,
and he was the man at the controls.
Do me a favor.
Call Izzy.
Tell her I'm gonna be home late.
I need to get measured for a new suit.
Sure.
What's the occasion?
Baptism.
The baby, not me.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
"I'm sure you've all heard
that old saying,
"'If a tree falls in the forest
"'but there's no one there to hear it,
"does it make a sound?'
"Likewise, if a man is driving a train
"and it has a fatal accident
"but the man can't remember
what happened,
"does it automatically make
him the cause of that accident?
- Because, at
- [KNOCKING]
Hey. How's the closing argument coming?
Well, I'm not convinced,
and I'm the guy writing it.
Yeah.
Oh, hey.
I hear we're having a baptism.
Oh, yeah.
It suddenly occurred to me
last night none of my teams
- are playing three Sundays from now.
- Mm.
I'll take it.
God moves people in strange ways.
Thank you.
Oh, don't thank me.
Thank the NBA.
TAYLOR: I couldn't help myself.
I spent the night working from home.
You want the good news,
the bad news or the good news?
Is this a trick question?
Okay, I'll start with the good news.
Don't ask me how,
but I was able to locate
the incident report
Danny said you wanted me to find.
The one that was filed
when Frank Uzarski complained
to the company that he was given
a green signal instead of a red
and almost ran into a train.
That is good news.
So what's the bad news?
Well, nowhere in it does it say anything
about a signal malfunction.
The thing is,
whether Frank was drunk, stoned
or just lying,
his statements should have
been included in that report.
And they aren't.
You have a theory about why?
Maybe the company deleted
any mention of signal failures
from their records
in the wake of Walter's crash.
They heard about his brain injury,
heard he couldn't remember anything.
It's kind of perfect.
If you can make it look
like there's never been a signal problem,
you can blame the whole thing on Walter.
Interesting theory.
How are you gonna prove it?
Ask me about the good news.
Oh. You have any good news?
I see no additional names
on the witness list today.
Does that mean the defense
is prepared to rest
and we can commence
with closing arguments?
Actually, Your Honor,
the defense is not
quite ready to rest yet.
In fact, we'd like to recall a witness.
If it pleases the court,
the defense would like to call
Ray Peterman back to the stand.
Mr. Peterman, I've just got
a couple of brief follow-up questions.
Now, uh,
you told the court previously
that there was no evidence
of a mechanical failure
on any of the railroad safety systems.
Do you still believe that to be true?
I do.
Okay. All right.
Oh, and let me remind the court
that you are certified
as an expert witness.
Now, with that in mind,
let me ask a hypothetical.
Let's say my client, Walter Mora,
is piloting a train late at night,
and there is another train
stopped on the track in front of him.
The weather is bad,
it's really dark outside,
so he really can't see that train.
But the rail signal
The railroad stop light
The one he depends on, is green.
And it was supposed to be red
to tell him to stop,
because there was another
train in front of him,
but it doesn't.
It's just a steady green.
Now, could something like that happen?
This is my favorite part.
Coyote first sees the Road Runner
and thinks, "Dinner."
PETERMAN: Honestly,
rail signal malfunctions
are extremely rare.
Got it, got it. Extremely rare.
Now as I understand it,
the way it works is
the rail signal apparatus
senses when there's a
train up ahead of it,
so it knows to display the red light
and stop the train behind
it from proceeding.
Do I have it right?
Yes. The weight of the train
serves to stop the circuit,
which triggers the red light.
- And the chase begins.
- BENNY: Okay.
So if there was a signal malfunction,
which you already testified
is extremely rare,
the light would just stay green
- instead of turning red, right?
- PETERMAN: Again,
kind of like a snowstorm
in the Mojave Desert, but
yes, that is what would happen.
BENNY: So Mr. Mora
would be driving the train,
he would see that green light
and believe he was supposed
to keep right on going,
but the signal malfunction
would actually be leading him
to a head-on collision with
another train, wouldn't it?
Objection. Relevance?
Why are we spending
this kind of time with a witness
we've already heard from
to offer an opinion on a hypothetical
when we've tasked this jury
with making a decision
about a very real,
very deadly accident?
And now is when the Road
Runner gets the Coyote
to chase him really fast.
So fast the Coyote doesn't even realize
the Road Runner's
tricked him into running
right off the edge of a cliff.
Beep-beep.
BENNY: I apologize, Your Honor.
He's right.
Forget what I said about
this being a hypothetical.
Let's talk about the real signal,
the one that was supposed to separate
the train my client was piloting
with the one he hit.
Let's talk about that signal.
And, of course,
now the Coyote looks down,
realizes there's nothing
but air beneath him,
and goes falling hundreds
of feet into the canyon below.
That particular signal
was tested by the NTSB
and our own investigators.
To be clear, the signal
that Mr. Mora ignored
- was working properly.
- Yeah, but
these signals are machines, right?
Uh, they're capable of
failure, aren't they?
I mean, isn't it possible
that the signal could have failed
intermittently?
Isn't it possible
that the signal could have
malfunctioned this one time
despite working properly
every other time?
I'm not sure I understand the question.
If you're asking
if anything is possible,
well, then yes, of course,
anything is possible.
But if you're asking
if that's what happened here,
let me repeat myself.
According to the NTSB
and our own investigators,
that is not what happened here.
Okay.
Well, then can you explain this to me?
Now, this here
is a maintenance report
for work ordered after the accident
that we would like to enter into evidence
as defense exhibit A.
Now, do you recognize
this maintenance report, Mr. Peterman?
Sure. It's a routine report.
We put them out whenever repairs
or maintenance need to be done.
Okay. And-and can you
explain to the court
what maintenance was ordered?
[CLEARS THROAT] It says
that the signal at marker 264
needed to be replaced.
BENNY: And isn't the signal
- at marker 264
- [MOUTHING]
The same signal
that was supposed to separate
the train Walter was driving
from the train he collided with?
[GALLERY MURMURING]
Yes, I believe it was.
BENNY: Mr. Pete man,
if the signal wasn't faulty
then why are you replacing it?
Well
we aren't just replacing that one signal.
We're replacing all the
signals on that line.
It's part of a routine
system upgrade.
But
according to this report,
those signals are only ten months old.
I mean, does your company
routinely replace
entire lines of signals
after only ten months?
Never mind. Never mind.
I have another question.
Uh
Mr. Peterman, you see this
heavy file folder here?
There's a bunch of work orders in here.
Work orders to replace
the same type of signal on a
freight line in Missouri,
on a passenger line
just outside of D.C.,
and a line in Canada.
These are all lines
that are owned by your railroad company.
Coincidence?
I'm sorry, Mr. Peterman,
I can't hear you.
I'm gonna need you to speak up.
I wouldn't want this
jury to misunderstand.
No.
I wouldn't want them
to think that you knew
this wreck wasn't Walter Mora's fault.
That you and the railroad you work for
covered up an earlier incident
involving faulty signals.
Objection.
Counsel is testifying.
- And by ignoring that earlier incident,
- Your Honor.
You and the railroad you work for
are actually directly
responsible for this disaster.
Or
that you and the company you work for
are more than willing to send
an innocent man to prison
if it means you'd bear no responsibility
for your mistakes.
I wouldn't want the jury
to jump to that conclusion,
- Objection.
- So speak up.
Objection!
- Objection!
- Quiet.
I need order. Quiet.
Mm. Okay.
I see he doesn't want to discuss it.
Your Honor, a little help, please.
Objection overruled.
The witness will answer the question.
Questions.
I'm afraid I'm going
to have to plead the Fifth.
[GALLERY MURMURING]
[SIGHS]
[GROANS]
Oh.
[CHUCKLES]
What a great concept, Bull.
What a great idea.
A-A victory dinner.
We should do that after
every case we win.
Yeah. But in order to be a dinner,
you have to
actually eat something.
Mm-hmm.
Damn, I knew we forgot something.
- Well, next time.
- [GRUNTS]
Here's a little something for you.
- From me.
- What?
- Yeah.
- Oh
I have never
received a gift after winning
a case, Bull. Thank you.
- No, that's not what it's for.
- Go ahead, open it.
Wha
[CHUCKLES]
I don't get it. What is it?
How are you gonna be a godfather
without watching The Godfather?
Uh, g godfather?
You want me to be Astrid's godfather?
Yes, I do.
And so does Izzy.
And maybe it's the liquor talking,
but I'm pretty sure I heard Astrid say
that she wanted you, too.
Wow.
I could not be more honored, Bull.
- Thank you.
- Eh.
Thank you. This is
[IMITATES MARLON BRANDO]: You
made me an offer I can't refuse.
Please don't do that.
[IMITATES AL PACINO]:
Just when I thought I was out,
you pull me right back in.
No, no, no, you're not even
doing the same charac
Attica! Attica!
- Pull over.
- I'm gonna take an Uber.
[IMITATES ROBERT DE NIRO]:
Hey. You talkin' to me?
MAN: What?
You talkin' to me?
Well I'm the only one here. Right?