Justice (2006) s01e01 Episode Script
Pilot
- 9-1-1.
What's your emergency? - It's my wife.
She's not breathing.
- Does she have a pulse? - No, and there's all this blood! - Sir, what is your name? - Kevin.
Kevin O'Neil.
Please, help me! Murder near Malibu.
Caitlin O'Neil, 34, was found dead in her mansion swimming pool.
Police have always focused on one suspect, Kevin O'Neil, the victim's own husband.
Now live, you're watching as LAPD units move in to arrest O'Neil in his home.
A stunningly quick arrest in a case that has shocked the city of Los Angeles, today on "American Crime.
" That's right, sweetheart.
Keep it up.
The meter's running.
We're suing you for defamation now.
A week ago, O'Neil hired the law firm of TNT&G, headed by attorneys Ron Trott and Tom Nicholson.
Trott, the master of media spin, and Nicholson, the all-american face of "not guilty," live for this kind of high profile murder case.
She keeps saying I did it like it's true.
Why is she doing that? Because it's her act.
It's what gets her ratings.
And you're a great news hook, Kevin.
O'Neil allegedly beat his wife to death and threw her in the pool to wash away evidence.
Everybody thinks the husband killed the wife.
Ron, please.
Mr.
O'Neil, as your lawyers, we want this.
We want a trial.
And you're innocent, and when we win, everybody's gonna know that.
Police say he bludgeoned her with a golf club, but so far, the murder weapon has not been found.
Tom, wait.
So I'm being arrested for sure? I though the D.
A.
said I could turn myself in if I was being charged.
He lied, Kevin.
They do that.
You're the district attorney.
If we can't trust your word, just tell me.
You agreed that he could turn himself in on monday and that he would be released until trial.
That agreement was with his old lawyers, Luther.
Once he hired the great Ron Trott, all deals are off.
Ron gets no breaks from me or this office ever.
D.
A.
set us up.
It's friday.
They arrest you now, they can hold you all weekend without bail.
Monday, after you've spent two nights in jail and you look like crap, they perp walk you into court.
Nothing says "guilty" to potential jurors like a mug shot and an orange jumpsuit.
Alden, what are your contacts downtown saying? This is all a media play.
The D.
A.
put out a press release before the warrant was even signed.
Nice.
Police and media vans are arriving simultaneously to the O'Neil house.
Things have got to be tense inside, where Kevin is meeting with his attorneys.
Okay, the D.
A.
screwed us.
What are we gonna do about it? Get Kevin out the back.
We surrender him before they arrest him.
Nice.
There's nothing illegal about it.
A guy's got a right to turn himself in anytime he wants.
Great way to get him shot.
If Kevin stays here, we'll be giving the D.
A.
just what he wants- photos of Kevin looking guilty as hell.
I'm not saying run him to Mexico.
I'm saying surrender him to face the charges.
Yeah, they see us, and this becomes a high-speed chase, prime time.
we will not get a fair jury.
- So don't drive fast.
- What? What's going on? The D.
A.
's playing hardball, partly because this case has gotten a lot of press.
Mostly because he's an ass.
Turning you in would give us a better chance of getting you bail.
What we need to do is turn you in someplace quiet with no cameras, no press.
Does Malibu have a substation? Yeah, a nice one.
I handled one of Downey's rearrests there.
I don't want Kevin dragged out in front of his neighbors.
He's still gotta live here when this is over.
Daddy, who's there? - Grace.
- Grace, look, your daddy and I have to go somewhere.
What's wrong? Nothing.
We're taking care of it, okay? I don't want her to see her father in handcuffs.
Get him out of here! Pull the car around the back.
Baby, I have to go in a second, but- Kevin, go now.
We gotta go.
come on.
We gotta go.
Go ahead.
- What if the police see us? - They better not.
The minute you go over that wall, they're gonna say you're a fugitive.
Look, don't worry about it.
You're only a fugitive if we don't turn you in.
All right? You good? - Um, yeah.
- Let's do this.
It's okay.
It's our ride.
Come on.
Hurry up, we gotta get to the sheriff's station.
Detective Franklin, are you here to arrest him? Free air, and it buys us time while Kevin's turning himself in.
Franklin, you the lead detective on this? Yeah.
you got a problem with that? No, but Ron's gonna make a statement first.
Is that a problem for you? I am outraged and disgusted that the D.
A.
continues to persecute my client.
Trials are supposed to be conducted in courtrooms before juries.
This is trial by TV.
This was an accident, and Grace asked me if I killed mommy.
You got any idea how that feels? She's heard it on the TV.
And I try to - I keep her away from it, but it's on all the time, everywhere.
It's a nightmare, but I can't wake up.
I mean, who's gonna raise Grace if-if I go to prison? Hey, you are not going to prison.
All right? We're going to win this.
I've watched the D.
A.
since day one.
The press leaks, the rumors, what he just tried to pull- they don't do that if they have a good case.
They do it if they have a bad case.
I am not gonna let them convict you for something you didn't do.
The D.
A.
doesn't want to try him on the facts.
He wants to lynch him in the media.
They were married almost ten years.
They had a beautiful daughter Grace.
Kevin loved his wife.
He did not kill her.
This is my client, Kevin O'Neil.
There is a warrant out for his arrest.
You either book him in now or you turn him loose.
Either way, you write this down - he's here voluntarily and he's innocent.
Kevin O'Neil is 100% innocent.
Listen to me.
Not "not guilty.
" Innocent.
In fact, he's so eager to fight these charges, he just turned himself in to the sheriff's office in Malibu.
Show's over.
No comment at this time.
We beat 'em on the arrest.
Now we just got to beat 'em at trial.
All I'm saying is that there are as many reasons to love someone as there are reasons to kill them.
Ron's wife ends up dead.
He's probably good for it, right? Kevin? No way.
The man's not angry enough.
That's funny about my wife, Tom, but, um I wouldn't mention it in your closing.
- So you're sure Kevin's innocent? - Does it matter to you if he is? No, but I know it matters to you, and you're the one trying the case.
You do better when you think they're innocent.
It's a weakness.
Yes, Ron.
I am sure he's innocent.
Great.
Tom's first chair, front man, the good-looking, all-american face of "not guilty.
" Alden takes the physical evidence.
Nobody does scientific testimony like you or scares experts more.
I'll hire Dr.
Palermo to do our accident re-creation.
What? the man's a genius.
That's his problem, he's too smart.
Can't talk to juries.
I'll take charge of Palermo, remake him.
I've done it with enough boyfriends.
Luther, get inside the D.
A.
's head.
You know how these guys think.
Figure out what he's gonna prove and tear it up.
I'll keep spinning.
Biggest media case we've had in years.
Be nice to win it.
Bail, not jail, is what attorney Ron Trott seeks today in a downtown L.
A.
courtroom.
This isn't my suit.
Yours are too nice.
We don't want people thinking you're rich.
Here, put these on.
- I haven't worn those in years.
- Cover up those bags under your eyes.
Better.
When we walk into that courtroom, make sure you look the judge in the eye - not to the side, not down, in the eye.
And when the judge asks how you plead, you're gonna say loudly and with sincerity Not guilty.
I'm shocked the judge gave O'Neil bail.
That man is a dangerous, cold-blooded killer.
I just hope he doesn't flee before trial.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if he left the jurisdiction.
Again.
Losing my wife was a nightmare.
So was being wrongly accused of causing her death.
Now that I'm free on bail, - I wanna be with my daughter- - Grace.
Say "Grace.
" More personal.
Grace, right.
Does this have to be word for word? Look, you're the defendant in a high profile murder case.
We don't get to trial for months, which means you're gonna be under a microscope and analyzed 24 hours a day until then.
You know why? entertainment.
Right now, your guilt or innocence is determined by a 60-second video byte on CNN.
Losing my wife was a nightmare.
So was being wrongly accused of causing her death.
And now that I'm free on bail, I want to be with my daughter Grace.
I look forward to proving my innocence at trial.
I can't go back to jail, okay.
I can't.
They're animals in there.
I never appreciated being free before- You're not free.
Your jail has just gotten bigger.
I've filed an in liminemotion with the court.
It puts the cops on notice that you're invoking your right not to be interviewed except with an attorney present.
It's as close to a restraining order as I can get on them.
As for the press, your neighbors- Talk to no one, trust no one, assume they all wanna sell your story to the tabloids or the D.
A.
because they do.
Our decoy mercedes is leaving the courthouse now.
It'll draw most of the media away, but not all of it, so take side streets.
No freeways.
The trial isn't for weeks.
What am I supposed to do, hide in my house? Pretty much, yeah.
That's your schedule.
We can't afford to risk you being ambushed by a reporter or set up by the cops.
I don't want you getting convicted because you said or did something stupid - before the trial.
- Take my daughter to church, visit my wife's grave - you gonna take photos of that? No, but some media will probably be following you, and they may grab a shot.
Let's hope so.
I don't need you to tell me to spend time with Grace or visit my wife, and I am not using my daughter or my wife's grave as a prop! I'm not asking you to.
I'm a trial lawyer, Kevin, not a publicist, and i've been trying cases a long time.
I know what works.
When I started, it was about knowing the law.
Now it's about knowing the law and the press.
The jury that's going to decide your case, they're out there and they're watching.
We want to give them images of you as the grieving husband, not a worried defendant.
If this offends you, I'm sorry.
You hired us to win your case.
This is what we do.
Now that I'm free on bail, I want to be with my daughter Grace.
I look forward to proving my innocence at trial.
Oh, please.
You can see Ron Trott's lips moving.
How does he get his hand that far up a guy's ass? If you're just joining us, we're listening to Kevin O'Neil from earlier today.
Does he sound believable to you? At trial, both sides tell the jury a story.
The best story wins, the one the jury thinks is based on the facts.
The D.
A.
can prove that Kevin had opportunity, means, access, motive- her money.
The D.
A.
's got the bomb - a husband.
Everybody knows the husband did it.
"Husband kills wife for money.
" Not a bad story.
I mean, a jury can follow that story.
What's our story? What do we tell the jury to convince them that he didn't do it? And don't say accident.
Kevin wasn't outside when it happened, all right.
He thinks she must have slipped coming out of the pool, hit her head.
She had five head lacerations, Tom.
She fell down five times? That's not a story.
That's a confession.
I'm not afraid to go with accident if it's the truth.
Accident is what my daughter says when she gets caught hitting my son.
"Sorry, daddy, that was an accident.
" If he had a good story, he wouldn't need us, right? He could use any law firm.
If we're going with accident, our accident re-creation had better be great.
It will be.
It's what I do.
Did you get it this time, doctor? Possibly.
Let's rewind the motion capture.
This last take was the best.
So, Dr.
Palermo, she falls, strikes her head, tries to stand falls, strikes her head again, then falls into the pool.
That might be what happened.
- "Might"? - Ron- That's the best you can do, "might"? Well, I could be 100% sure with exact measurements of the spatter size.
We don't have them.
We're the defense.
We only get to the crime scene after the cops are done picking through it and cleaning it up.
We're stuck with what they bother to get us.
Yes, but abyssus abyssum invocat.
"One missed step leads to another.
" Yeah, let's avoid latin with the jury.
There was blood spatter here and here where she could've fallen.
Unfortunately, autopsy photos show that she had five head lacerations- Five lacerations? She banged herself five times? Actually, they're called hematoma laceriduras.
What? What is that? Is that a word? Does that mean she fell? Ron.
go away.
Get him a haircut at least.
The D.
A.
has dumped a ton of discovery on us, but he doesn't have to tell us what any of it is, and we don't have time to read it all.
So we are going to scan every page of every document from the discovery boxes.
Then run a word search looking for documents relevant to the case.
Right now,we are looking at motive- any motive, every motive.
Key words, people.
Scan every page for key words that could prove or disprove motive.
Look for what the D.
A.
buried but does not want us to find.
Be careful.
Don't miss anything.
Because if you miss anything, it could cost our client everything.
I lost a 6-iron a year ago.
The cops took my clubs the night she died, but that one was missing.
Explains why they're saying it's the murder weapon.
Let's take a break, eat something.
now, come on.
We got you some more food.
I'll eat with you, and then we'll go over the timeline.
You know, I just- I wanna do this now before my daughter gets home from school, okay? Okay, so after I put Grace to bed, I started to make dinner.
Okay, you turned on the oven.
Now do you rememberturning it off? - What? - The oven.
I was asking you- You know what? We can do this later.
No, no.
I'm okay.
It's just seeing her picture still you know Uh, we went outside.
Um, Caitlin and I swam, we made love we stayed out there for a while and then, uh I came in to check on Grace.
Kevin, any of your family or friends coming to the trial? Ron, we're in the middle of something here.
I know, but a big case like this, the court only reserves the defendant five seats.
No, nobody's coming.
Since I got charged, nobody wants to have anything to do with me.
Too bad.
Could've helped with jury sympathy.
No chance, huh? Dominick Dunne called looking for a seat.
I'll give him one of ours.
Great.
Kevin, you wanna go upstairs, uh, take a shower, get something to eat then? Thanks.
Wait - wait a minute, you hate Dominick Dunne.
Yeah, because he writes terrible things about me, and those things get us a lot of work, not to mention our own table at the Ivy.
- So how's Kevin doing? - Not great, Ron.
The guy can't pay his bills because the court froze his assets.
I got a paralegal picking up Grace from school because the press is there waiting for him.
The guy's already in prison.
Is he gonna crack? They crack sometimes, you know.
I know.
Look, don't worry.
You handle Dominick.
I'll handle Kevin.
Mr.
Walsh Luther Graves.
So you're the O'Neils' business manager.
Kevin speaks so highly of you.
Really? Nice to meet you, Mr.
Graves.
Oh, that's my father.
You can call me Luther.
So tell me.
Tell me about these ugly rumors - I'm hearing.
- What ugly rumors? The D.
A.
is telling people Kevin had a financial motive to kill Caitlin.
Is that true? It's hard to answer.
The O'Neils had a very complex family will.
Well, I'm very, very good at complex, and I'm a fast learner, too, so Why don't you just give it a try and explain it to me? This way.
We found this during your key word search of their financial documents.
"sperm" and "semen"? Why the hell are those words coming up in a financial document search? The D.
A.
buried it.
They were in a pathology report on Caitlin O'Neil.
Where'd you find this report? In the discovery the D.
A.
gave us, stuck in the O'Neils' old bank statements.
A path report buried in old bank statements? It's not good for us.
No.
It's not good for us at all.
You gave "no comment" to "the New York Times"? Well, i'd rather spend my time trying cases than hanging out with reporters.
Ugh, math.
- No jury appeal.
- You wanted to see us? We need to talkabout motive.
According to the business manager and the discovery we went through, when Caitlin died, all their money went to their daughter.
Kevin didn't get anything.
I love it.
They can't prove motive.
Take it off the board.
- Nice.
- Not so fast.
I said they couldn't prove money was a motive.
I didn't say they couldn't prove motive at all.
Path analysis report of Caitlin.
It was hidden in the discovery.
It turns out it was Kevin's sperm inside her the night she died.
- That's no surprise.
- It wasn't all Kevin's sperm.
There was somebody else's, too.
How could you not know she was banging another guy, Tom? Kevin didn't tell me.
Maybe he didn't know.
Didn't know? Your wife's banging another guy, you know.
Trust me.
Kevin found out his wife was cheating on him.
The D.
A.
's gonna say that's why he killed her.
It was never about money.
Stormer was going with jealousy all the time.
Yeah, and counting the arrest,that makes twice he screwed us.
"Jealous husband kills wife in rage.
" Now that's a story.
Don't you go speech lesson me.
Did you know about the affair or not? Listen, I loved her, all right? She swore she wouldn't see him again.
- Who is he? - A man she works with.
I thought it was over.
She told me it was.
The guy was in New York the night she died, all right? We already checked it out.
They must have made love that morning before he left.
Ever talk to the other guy or threaten him? I never threatened him.
Never.
We might be okay then.
We stipulate to the affair, we keep the other guy off the stand.
The D.
A.
has no evidence that Kevin was ever jealous enough to kill over this.
They don't need it.
The jury will fill in the blanks for them.
I didn't kill her, all right! I can't prove this.
I can't prove anything, but I didn't do this! I want proof that you loved her, understand? Cards, letters, receipts that you sent her flowers, gifts.
The more intimate, the more personal, the better.
We need to let people know that jealousy wasn't the motive.
You knew she was unfaithful, but you were committed to making the marriage work.
Why do I have to say anything? Why? Because the D.
A.
will.
It's bad! So we wanna get in front of it, spin it, make it work for us.
Make sure we got a focus group watching me on "American Crime.
" Focus groups are how we test our trial theories.
I wanna see how the jealousy thing might play with potential jurors.
Wh-why Yeah, why does he have to be such a jerk about it? Look, if I got charged, I'd hire Ron, and that's the nicest thing a lawyer can say about anybody.
- Then why doesn't he try the case? - Do you like him? Neither do juries.
Look, he's better in small doses.
A little bit of Ron goes a long way.
Today, our guest is Ron Trott, founder of the defense firm TNT&G, an all-star lineup of top trial lawyers and pretty good-sized egos, right, Ron? Trial lawyers, Tv hosts, we all got big egos, right, Suzanne? Not as big as yours, Ron.
Look at that.
The focus group is loving him.
So this is your first big media case in a long time.
Can you win it? We better.
The man is innocent.
- Aren't all your clients innocent? - No, some of them are guilty.
That's what keeps me up at night on this case.
He didn't do it.
He had no motive.
The D.
A.
knows money wasn't the motive.
That's why he's gonna talk about sex and jealousy.
And you know this how? 'Cause you can read their minds? Caitlin had affairs, but my client knew all about that.
What affairs are you talking about? Caitlin caused pain in their marriage.
Kevin knew that.
We wanna try this case on the facts that have to do with guilt or innocence.
- It's not about personal issues.
- What issues are you talking about? Private issues having nothing to do with this case.
Private issues? Ron, it's a murder case! Maybe we can sell this to a jury after all.
Tell the jury consultant to pick jurors who get what we're putting out there.
Which is what, exactly? That a man can know his wife cheated on him and still not kill her.
It had to come out.
I'm sorry.
Now Grace is gonna know her mom had an affair, her dead mom.
- Why did that have to come out? - If we talk about it first, it proves we weren't afraid of it, that we weren't hiding it.
It's just the way juries think.
Look at Ron.
He's loving it.
The man's just doing his job, Kevin.
He's doing it for you.
Does he like it? Yeah, he likes that he's good at it.
You ever go to a great doctor? Those guys are the same way.
You depend on them to save your life.
You don't pay them to be your friend.
Listen, he's talking about my wife, her lover, okay? I would've done anything to keep this quiet,to keep Grace from knowing.
I told you, we were having problems in our marriage, okay? But we were working them out.
I'm not ashamed of that.
Kevin, that's all Ron's trying to tell the jury, all right? Now you need him.
Like a guy with cancer needs a doctor, you need him.
And as much as the D.
A.
wants to besmirch her character, we won't do it.
Kevin loved his wife,period, no matter what she did.
And what do you do for a living, sir? I'm an engineer by training, uh, aerospace.
But I'm not working right now.
- Married? - I'm divorced.
- Get rid of him.
- No.
We're paying Miranda a lot to do our jury consulting.
- Why don't you listen to her? - I only have one strike left.
Use it on this guy.
We'll never win the case with him on the panel.
No, I say leave him.
We did some surveillance, took some photos this guy is bad for us.
Too smart, too analytical, too conservative, no empathy, and he's divorced.
He'll resent Kevin because he probably wishes he could've killed his ex-wife to get her money.
She said, "pick hispanic women.
" Does he look like an hispanic woman? What? Picking a jury is kind of politically incorrect.
Hispanic women, especially older ones, empathy levels are off the charts on this one.
Kevin is being blamed for doing something he didn't do.
Stormer's already knocked all the hispanic women off the panel.
Now this guy could work for us.
Our whole case is based on a head wound, and everything is just noise.
Now a smart guy like this has a better chance of following what we have to say and convincing the others on how to vote.
Your honor the defense accepts juror number three.
And they say I've got the biggest ego.
This is your guy, Tom.
If he reams us, it's on you.
Thanks, Ron.
That helps a lot.
This is not a good panel for you guys.
Again, doctor, if you could just focus on the initial trauma.
The initial head trauma, quite possibly eliciting secondary splintering- - Doctor, could you simplify this? - Which part? All of it.
Wait "secondary splintering"? That's new.
What does that mean? That two hematomas can cause the appearance of five lacerations.
How? - The-the physical composition of bone - Simpler.
- Skulls are matrixed bone - Simpler! If you drop a watermelon once, it cracks all over like you dropped it a lot of times.
- How'd the final pretrial hearing go? - Good.
How'd Palermo do with the mock jury panels? Not great.
I'm getting him there, Ron.
Today, for the first time, he told me two head blows can cause five lacerations, which explains our accident theory.
You're kidding? That's great! So how'd we do? Give me results.
We tried our case using the accident theory six times.
Yeah? And so? 0- for-6.
We lost every time.
That's okay.
I only gotta win once with a real jury.
Right? Finally, the day of judgment arrives for Kevin O'Neil, and we're hearing reports that the murder weapon, a golf club, has been found.
No comment yet from the defense on this bombshell.
Any comment on the golf club they found? Luther says it's not true.
The D.
A.
swears it's a rumor.
They don't have the club, but who knows? But so what if they do have it? It wouldn't matter.
I didn't do it.
We know, Kevin.
We know.
Look, take notes.
The jury likes to see that you're listening.
And look confident.
If we look like winners, the jury thinks we're winning.
When the judge comes in and we all rise, help us kick our table up a couple of inches.
It gives us a better sight line with the jury.
Hey, every little bit helps.
You are our shadow jury.
You're being paid to watch the case live from beginning to end as it comes in, just like the real jury.
We'll follow what they think, and make adjustments to what we do in court.
- Which side are we on, anyway? - Doesn't matter.
Watch the closed-circuit coverage, then we'll talk about the evidence and what you would like to see if you were the jury in court.
Okay? Are the people ready to proceed? Your honor, the people call lead detective Joe Franklin to the stand.
Detective Franklin,you may approach.
And what did you find when you got to the house? Blood was everywhere.
In the pool, outside the pool Where he hit her, on the steps, on the pool tile everywhere.
It was one of the worst beatings I ever saw.
Her head was almost caved in.
Your friend hates our guts.
Now Kevin talked to you the night his wife died.
He didn't have to, but he did, right? He told me what he said happened.
And you checked it all out to make sure it was true.
To the degree that I could, yeah.
Right, because that's your job, to find the truth.
So you asked his little girl if he came into kiss her good night, and then you checked the oven to make sure it was warm, proving that he made dinner, and then later you verified how much he was in love with his wife, how close they were.
Objection, compound.
Actually, his objection ought to be facts not in evidence, because this witness didn't do any of these things, not one.
- Your honor- - hey, if you want me to break it down and go over every little thing he didn't do.
No problem.
We got time.
Why don't we just stipulate that he didn't do the things you just asked him about and call it even? Fair enough.
No further questions.
I just have one follow-up, detective.
Was there a shred of evidence that anyone else was responsible for this murder? No.
From the moment I got there and saw him covered in his wife's blood, he was our only suspect.
Thank you.
The shadow jury trusts Tom more than Stormer.
But Kevin looks cold.
They don't like him.
- Warm him up.
- Got it.
How they liking the D.
A.
's case so far? Even though they like Tom more, most of them like the D.
A.
's case better.
The others haven't decided, but they're following it.
Sure, why not? It's a good story.
Smile.
Warm, not smug.
The jury ain't feeling you right now.
D.
A.
's theory is coming in strong.
He approached her from behind,then attacked her with a club.
As our reenactment shows, the first blow sent her to the ground.
He kept hitting her.
Then he dumped her body in the pool, probably to wash evidence away.
You can see what a violent, bloody, horrific attack this was.
It was just horrible.
Thank you, doctor.
No further questions.
They're ready to convict him right now off that demonstration.
You're the first defense witness, so be strong in there.
Look, I've handled a lot of expert witnesses, and of all of them, you've been my favorite.
Really? Ms.
Tuller Are you married? Um, I wear it in trial.
I think it gives jurors more confidence in me if they think I'm married.
Just be yourself in there.
Only much, much simpler.
And follow my lead.
Answer my questions precisely, all right? So we can see the victim tripped, hit her head here at this precise angle.
Yes.
Then, disoriented, she stumbled and struck her head again.
These two falls led to a series of splintering cracks, which appeared as five head lacerations.
Like, if you dropped a watermelon once, it would cause a lot of cracks, as if it had been dropped more than once.
Am I getting it right, doctor? Yes.
And your re-creation approximated the actual forensic evidence almost perfectly.
Yes.
So it's not real hard to explain.
She falls, hits her head once, then again, then falls into the pool.
- That's what the evidence shows.
- Thank you, Dr.
Palermo.
Oh, sorry, one last thing.
Would you say the wounds in Caitlin's skull were more consistent with a blow from a golf club or contact with a hard surface, say the edge of a pool? Well, contact with the edge of a pool.
A golf club would have left more concave and-and deeper patterns.
Thank you.
Nothing further.
Great job.
Let me ask you about the murder weapon.
- They found his golf club.
- Hold on.
Did you know the defendant claims to have lost this golf club? Objection! Sidebar.
Sorry.
Excuse me, you honor, I didn't say it was this 6-iron.
We are not introducing this 6-iron.
This is just a piece of demonstrative evidence for the jury, an example of the club type we think was used.
We still haven't found the actual murder weapon.
Though the defense does seem awfully worried that we did, don't they? - Why is that? - Objection overruled.
The wounds in Caitlin's skull were caused when Kevin O'Neil smashed her head with this.
Once twice three times four times five times.
As I said, in my opinion, they were most likely caused by a fall, not by that or any other golf club.
Yes, we know.
You're being paid by the defense to say that.
You can stop now.
We're losing.
Are you telling me the shadow jury isn't buying accident at all? According to the jury consultant, a few jurors are open to it, but the rest of them believe the police couldn't be so wrong about everything.
They will, when they see this.
In Strickland's video, did you notice there was no umbrella? It was there the night Caitlin died.
So where is it now? If Kevin beat her, there would be blood on the umbrella.
Son of a bitch.
They're right.
They're covering up evidence or they lost it.
We got to go back at their reenactment hard.
We can't.
We'd be calling the D.
A.
and the cops liars for hiding evidence.
The jury will not like it.
Here's what the jury doesn't like- Kevin- and it's because of the D.
A.
's reenactment.
That thing was a bloodbath.
It made me wanna convict him myself.
But how do you know Stormer's not sandbagging us again? For all we know, the prosecution left out the umbrella to set a trap for us.
Plus, to prove that they left it out, you know what I'm gonna have to do, and I'm gonna have to do it in court in front of the jury.
We get this wrong, we could end up convicting our own guy.
It's way too risky.
We started with accident.
That's our story.
- We are sticking with it.
- We're losing with that! Look, maybe juries don't love me, but I know how they think.
We need to give them something they can use to acquit our guy.
If they want blood, let's give them blood.
You're all sure about this? Okay.
If they want blood, let's give 'em blood.
Your honor, at this time, the defense calls its last witness.
We call the D.
A.
's lead detective, Joe Franklin.
Let me ask you something You helped Dr.
Strickland prepare his video presentation, helped him re-create the scene of the crime.
Do you see anything in this picture that's not in evidence inventory? No.
You see the umbrella right here beside the patio table? That umbrella was there the night Caitlin O'Neil died.
If it's in the photo, it was there that night.
Yes.
Yeah, so where is the umbrella now? It's a 5-word question, detective.
Where is the umbrella now? - I don't know where it is.
- You don't know? You're in charge of maintaining the evidence.
Let me help you.
Does this look like the umbrella? - I guess.
- You guess? It is the exact model the O'Neils bought just last year.
We have the receipt to prove it, your honor.
Defense exhibit 288b.
I want the witness to help me demonstrate a point.
Why this witness? Sidebar, your honor.
For the record, this was cleared with the court ex parte, but hey, if Mr.
Stormer wants to object to his lead detective trying to get to the truth of this thing I didn't object.
I asked for a sidebar.
But we can proceed.
Stand here on this marked spot.
Let the record reflect that it's 5 feet from the umbrella.
5 feet is the distance you estimated that Caitlin was standing from the patio table.
As well as the umbrella you forgot to put in your video, isn't it? Yes.
Let the record reflect he's holding the 6-iron the D.
A.
claims is the murder weapon.
Swing the club like you were striking Caitlin O'Neil.
Just do it however you think it happened.
Come on, detective.
We're trying to kill somebody here.
At least swing it as hard as you did in the D.
A.
's reenactment.
Stop.
Now that was one hit.
Not five.
One.
Members of the jury Look at the umbrella.
Let the record reflect the umbrella is bloodstained, spattered.
If Kevin O'Neil killed his wife the way you say he did, then the umbrella would have been more red than that one.
And if my client's wife slipped and fell accidentally, there wouldn't be any blood on that umbrella at all.
I can't say.
Well, neither can we, because the umbrella isn't here, because you didn't want to know the truth! Your honor, objection.
Argumentative.
Move to strike.
Caitlin O'Neil slipped and fell.
She was not murdered.
- Your honor, objection! - The defense rests.
He couldn't stand the idea that his wife made love to another man.
So he took a golf club to her head to make sure it would never happen again.
- He's keying in on seven and ten.
- He thinks one of them will be foreman, thinks they'll break the others in deliberations.
While his little girl slept in the house, he killed her mother.
That is who Kevin O'Neil is.
People think that jurors can be manipulated by the lawyers, the TV.
You know what? They can be.
That's the kind of world that we live in now.
But what if it were you on trial? What if you were sitting right here where my client is now? You'd want a lawyer fighting for you, and you'd want a jury who cared enough about the evidence and made sure to bring back the right verdict.
They don't have a murder weapon.
Why? Because there was no murder.
They don't have a motive.
Why? Because he loved his wife.
They don't have the umbrella.
Why? Because it didn't fit their story, so they lost it.
But that umbrella was our whole story.
Now what I want is for you to bring back a verdict based on the facts, period.
Do that, and Kevin O'Neil walks out of here the same way he walked in here an innocent man.
Ron told me that if they find me guilty, they'd cart me off to jail immediately.
So I wrote this letter to my daughter, trying to explain to her why I won't be coming home.
Will you make sure she gets that? We're not losing.
What the hell is taking so long, huh? It's been four days.
I should've bumped that juror.
Ron was right.
He was absolutely right.
Look, you don't need to stay here, Alden.
I just wanna make sure you don't hurt yourself.
Nice.
I swear, this is the last trial I'm going to do.
You say that every time, but you live for it.
That moment right before the verdict Come on.
Hey, Alden, Tom.
Tom, you okay? They're back.
The parties will rise.
The court has received a note.
Will the foreman please identify himself? Have you reached a verdict? We have, your honor.
The clerk will record the verdict.
"In the matter of the people vs.
Kevin O'Neil, How say you? We, the jury find the defendant not guilty.
- Oh! - Oh, god! Kevin You take this.
And you go home and you hug your daughter, all right? Thank you.
If you're just joining us, we have the privilege of having Ron Trott with us, off his unexpected victory in the Kevin O'Neil case.
- So, Ron, are you surprised you won? - Great to be back on your show, Suzanne.
Like I always say, if you got the right lawyer with you, we've got the greatest legal system in the world.
I'm gonna get dinner, honey.
What's your emergency? - It's my wife.
She's not breathing.
- Does she have a pulse? - No, and there's all this blood! - Sir, what is your name? - Kevin.
Kevin O'Neil.
Please, help me! Murder near Malibu.
Caitlin O'Neil, 34, was found dead in her mansion swimming pool.
Police have always focused on one suspect, Kevin O'Neil, the victim's own husband.
Now live, you're watching as LAPD units move in to arrest O'Neil in his home.
A stunningly quick arrest in a case that has shocked the city of Los Angeles, today on "American Crime.
" That's right, sweetheart.
Keep it up.
The meter's running.
We're suing you for defamation now.
A week ago, O'Neil hired the law firm of TNT&G, headed by attorneys Ron Trott and Tom Nicholson.
Trott, the master of media spin, and Nicholson, the all-american face of "not guilty," live for this kind of high profile murder case.
She keeps saying I did it like it's true.
Why is she doing that? Because it's her act.
It's what gets her ratings.
And you're a great news hook, Kevin.
O'Neil allegedly beat his wife to death and threw her in the pool to wash away evidence.
Everybody thinks the husband killed the wife.
Ron, please.
Mr.
O'Neil, as your lawyers, we want this.
We want a trial.
And you're innocent, and when we win, everybody's gonna know that.
Police say he bludgeoned her with a golf club, but so far, the murder weapon has not been found.
Tom, wait.
So I'm being arrested for sure? I though the D.
A.
said I could turn myself in if I was being charged.
He lied, Kevin.
They do that.
You're the district attorney.
If we can't trust your word, just tell me.
You agreed that he could turn himself in on monday and that he would be released until trial.
That agreement was with his old lawyers, Luther.
Once he hired the great Ron Trott, all deals are off.
Ron gets no breaks from me or this office ever.
D.
A.
set us up.
It's friday.
They arrest you now, they can hold you all weekend without bail.
Monday, after you've spent two nights in jail and you look like crap, they perp walk you into court.
Nothing says "guilty" to potential jurors like a mug shot and an orange jumpsuit.
Alden, what are your contacts downtown saying? This is all a media play.
The D.
A.
put out a press release before the warrant was even signed.
Nice.
Police and media vans are arriving simultaneously to the O'Neil house.
Things have got to be tense inside, where Kevin is meeting with his attorneys.
Okay, the D.
A.
screwed us.
What are we gonna do about it? Get Kevin out the back.
We surrender him before they arrest him.
Nice.
There's nothing illegal about it.
A guy's got a right to turn himself in anytime he wants.
Great way to get him shot.
If Kevin stays here, we'll be giving the D.
A.
just what he wants- photos of Kevin looking guilty as hell.
I'm not saying run him to Mexico.
I'm saying surrender him to face the charges.
Yeah, they see us, and this becomes a high-speed chase, prime time.
we will not get a fair jury.
- So don't drive fast.
- What? What's going on? The D.
A.
's playing hardball, partly because this case has gotten a lot of press.
Mostly because he's an ass.
Turning you in would give us a better chance of getting you bail.
What we need to do is turn you in someplace quiet with no cameras, no press.
Does Malibu have a substation? Yeah, a nice one.
I handled one of Downey's rearrests there.
I don't want Kevin dragged out in front of his neighbors.
He's still gotta live here when this is over.
Daddy, who's there? - Grace.
- Grace, look, your daddy and I have to go somewhere.
What's wrong? Nothing.
We're taking care of it, okay? I don't want her to see her father in handcuffs.
Get him out of here! Pull the car around the back.
Baby, I have to go in a second, but- Kevin, go now.
We gotta go.
come on.
We gotta go.
Go ahead.
- What if the police see us? - They better not.
The minute you go over that wall, they're gonna say you're a fugitive.
Look, don't worry about it.
You're only a fugitive if we don't turn you in.
All right? You good? - Um, yeah.
- Let's do this.
It's okay.
It's our ride.
Come on.
Hurry up, we gotta get to the sheriff's station.
Detective Franklin, are you here to arrest him? Free air, and it buys us time while Kevin's turning himself in.
Franklin, you the lead detective on this? Yeah.
you got a problem with that? No, but Ron's gonna make a statement first.
Is that a problem for you? I am outraged and disgusted that the D.
A.
continues to persecute my client.
Trials are supposed to be conducted in courtrooms before juries.
This is trial by TV.
This was an accident, and Grace asked me if I killed mommy.
You got any idea how that feels? She's heard it on the TV.
And I try to - I keep her away from it, but it's on all the time, everywhere.
It's a nightmare, but I can't wake up.
I mean, who's gonna raise Grace if-if I go to prison? Hey, you are not going to prison.
All right? We're going to win this.
I've watched the D.
A.
since day one.
The press leaks, the rumors, what he just tried to pull- they don't do that if they have a good case.
They do it if they have a bad case.
I am not gonna let them convict you for something you didn't do.
The D.
A.
doesn't want to try him on the facts.
He wants to lynch him in the media.
They were married almost ten years.
They had a beautiful daughter Grace.
Kevin loved his wife.
He did not kill her.
This is my client, Kevin O'Neil.
There is a warrant out for his arrest.
You either book him in now or you turn him loose.
Either way, you write this down - he's here voluntarily and he's innocent.
Kevin O'Neil is 100% innocent.
Listen to me.
Not "not guilty.
" Innocent.
In fact, he's so eager to fight these charges, he just turned himself in to the sheriff's office in Malibu.
Show's over.
No comment at this time.
We beat 'em on the arrest.
Now we just got to beat 'em at trial.
All I'm saying is that there are as many reasons to love someone as there are reasons to kill them.
Ron's wife ends up dead.
He's probably good for it, right? Kevin? No way.
The man's not angry enough.
That's funny about my wife, Tom, but, um I wouldn't mention it in your closing.
- So you're sure Kevin's innocent? - Does it matter to you if he is? No, but I know it matters to you, and you're the one trying the case.
You do better when you think they're innocent.
It's a weakness.
Yes, Ron.
I am sure he's innocent.
Great.
Tom's first chair, front man, the good-looking, all-american face of "not guilty.
" Alden takes the physical evidence.
Nobody does scientific testimony like you or scares experts more.
I'll hire Dr.
Palermo to do our accident re-creation.
What? the man's a genius.
That's his problem, he's too smart.
Can't talk to juries.
I'll take charge of Palermo, remake him.
I've done it with enough boyfriends.
Luther, get inside the D.
A.
's head.
You know how these guys think.
Figure out what he's gonna prove and tear it up.
I'll keep spinning.
Biggest media case we've had in years.
Be nice to win it.
Bail, not jail, is what attorney Ron Trott seeks today in a downtown L.
A.
courtroom.
This isn't my suit.
Yours are too nice.
We don't want people thinking you're rich.
Here, put these on.
- I haven't worn those in years.
- Cover up those bags under your eyes.
Better.
When we walk into that courtroom, make sure you look the judge in the eye - not to the side, not down, in the eye.
And when the judge asks how you plead, you're gonna say loudly and with sincerity Not guilty.
I'm shocked the judge gave O'Neil bail.
That man is a dangerous, cold-blooded killer.
I just hope he doesn't flee before trial.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if he left the jurisdiction.
Again.
Losing my wife was a nightmare.
So was being wrongly accused of causing her death.
Now that I'm free on bail, - I wanna be with my daughter- - Grace.
Say "Grace.
" More personal.
Grace, right.
Does this have to be word for word? Look, you're the defendant in a high profile murder case.
We don't get to trial for months, which means you're gonna be under a microscope and analyzed 24 hours a day until then.
You know why? entertainment.
Right now, your guilt or innocence is determined by a 60-second video byte on CNN.
Losing my wife was a nightmare.
So was being wrongly accused of causing her death.
And now that I'm free on bail, I want to be with my daughter Grace.
I look forward to proving my innocence at trial.
I can't go back to jail, okay.
I can't.
They're animals in there.
I never appreciated being free before- You're not free.
Your jail has just gotten bigger.
I've filed an in liminemotion with the court.
It puts the cops on notice that you're invoking your right not to be interviewed except with an attorney present.
It's as close to a restraining order as I can get on them.
As for the press, your neighbors- Talk to no one, trust no one, assume they all wanna sell your story to the tabloids or the D.
A.
because they do.
Our decoy mercedes is leaving the courthouse now.
It'll draw most of the media away, but not all of it, so take side streets.
No freeways.
The trial isn't for weeks.
What am I supposed to do, hide in my house? Pretty much, yeah.
That's your schedule.
We can't afford to risk you being ambushed by a reporter or set up by the cops.
I don't want you getting convicted because you said or did something stupid - before the trial.
- Take my daughter to church, visit my wife's grave - you gonna take photos of that? No, but some media will probably be following you, and they may grab a shot.
Let's hope so.
I don't need you to tell me to spend time with Grace or visit my wife, and I am not using my daughter or my wife's grave as a prop! I'm not asking you to.
I'm a trial lawyer, Kevin, not a publicist, and i've been trying cases a long time.
I know what works.
When I started, it was about knowing the law.
Now it's about knowing the law and the press.
The jury that's going to decide your case, they're out there and they're watching.
We want to give them images of you as the grieving husband, not a worried defendant.
If this offends you, I'm sorry.
You hired us to win your case.
This is what we do.
Now that I'm free on bail, I want to be with my daughter Grace.
I look forward to proving my innocence at trial.
Oh, please.
You can see Ron Trott's lips moving.
How does he get his hand that far up a guy's ass? If you're just joining us, we're listening to Kevin O'Neil from earlier today.
Does he sound believable to you? At trial, both sides tell the jury a story.
The best story wins, the one the jury thinks is based on the facts.
The D.
A.
can prove that Kevin had opportunity, means, access, motive- her money.
The D.
A.
's got the bomb - a husband.
Everybody knows the husband did it.
"Husband kills wife for money.
" Not a bad story.
I mean, a jury can follow that story.
What's our story? What do we tell the jury to convince them that he didn't do it? And don't say accident.
Kevin wasn't outside when it happened, all right.
He thinks she must have slipped coming out of the pool, hit her head.
She had five head lacerations, Tom.
She fell down five times? That's not a story.
That's a confession.
I'm not afraid to go with accident if it's the truth.
Accident is what my daughter says when she gets caught hitting my son.
"Sorry, daddy, that was an accident.
" If he had a good story, he wouldn't need us, right? He could use any law firm.
If we're going with accident, our accident re-creation had better be great.
It will be.
It's what I do.
Did you get it this time, doctor? Possibly.
Let's rewind the motion capture.
This last take was the best.
So, Dr.
Palermo, she falls, strikes her head, tries to stand falls, strikes her head again, then falls into the pool.
That might be what happened.
- "Might"? - Ron- That's the best you can do, "might"? Well, I could be 100% sure with exact measurements of the spatter size.
We don't have them.
We're the defense.
We only get to the crime scene after the cops are done picking through it and cleaning it up.
We're stuck with what they bother to get us.
Yes, but abyssus abyssum invocat.
"One missed step leads to another.
" Yeah, let's avoid latin with the jury.
There was blood spatter here and here where she could've fallen.
Unfortunately, autopsy photos show that she had five head lacerations- Five lacerations? She banged herself five times? Actually, they're called hematoma laceriduras.
What? What is that? Is that a word? Does that mean she fell? Ron.
go away.
Get him a haircut at least.
The D.
A.
has dumped a ton of discovery on us, but he doesn't have to tell us what any of it is, and we don't have time to read it all.
So we are going to scan every page of every document from the discovery boxes.
Then run a word search looking for documents relevant to the case.
Right now,we are looking at motive- any motive, every motive.
Key words, people.
Scan every page for key words that could prove or disprove motive.
Look for what the D.
A.
buried but does not want us to find.
Be careful.
Don't miss anything.
Because if you miss anything, it could cost our client everything.
I lost a 6-iron a year ago.
The cops took my clubs the night she died, but that one was missing.
Explains why they're saying it's the murder weapon.
Let's take a break, eat something.
now, come on.
We got you some more food.
I'll eat with you, and then we'll go over the timeline.
You know, I just- I wanna do this now before my daughter gets home from school, okay? Okay, so after I put Grace to bed, I started to make dinner.
Okay, you turned on the oven.
Now do you rememberturning it off? - What? - The oven.
I was asking you- You know what? We can do this later.
No, no.
I'm okay.
It's just seeing her picture still you know Uh, we went outside.
Um, Caitlin and I swam, we made love we stayed out there for a while and then, uh I came in to check on Grace.
Kevin, any of your family or friends coming to the trial? Ron, we're in the middle of something here.
I know, but a big case like this, the court only reserves the defendant five seats.
No, nobody's coming.
Since I got charged, nobody wants to have anything to do with me.
Too bad.
Could've helped with jury sympathy.
No chance, huh? Dominick Dunne called looking for a seat.
I'll give him one of ours.
Great.
Kevin, you wanna go upstairs, uh, take a shower, get something to eat then? Thanks.
Wait - wait a minute, you hate Dominick Dunne.
Yeah, because he writes terrible things about me, and those things get us a lot of work, not to mention our own table at the Ivy.
- So how's Kevin doing? - Not great, Ron.
The guy can't pay his bills because the court froze his assets.
I got a paralegal picking up Grace from school because the press is there waiting for him.
The guy's already in prison.
Is he gonna crack? They crack sometimes, you know.
I know.
Look, don't worry.
You handle Dominick.
I'll handle Kevin.
Mr.
Walsh Luther Graves.
So you're the O'Neils' business manager.
Kevin speaks so highly of you.
Really? Nice to meet you, Mr.
Graves.
Oh, that's my father.
You can call me Luther.
So tell me.
Tell me about these ugly rumors - I'm hearing.
- What ugly rumors? The D.
A.
is telling people Kevin had a financial motive to kill Caitlin.
Is that true? It's hard to answer.
The O'Neils had a very complex family will.
Well, I'm very, very good at complex, and I'm a fast learner, too, so Why don't you just give it a try and explain it to me? This way.
We found this during your key word search of their financial documents.
"sperm" and "semen"? Why the hell are those words coming up in a financial document search? The D.
A.
buried it.
They were in a pathology report on Caitlin O'Neil.
Where'd you find this report? In the discovery the D.
A.
gave us, stuck in the O'Neils' old bank statements.
A path report buried in old bank statements? It's not good for us.
No.
It's not good for us at all.
You gave "no comment" to "the New York Times"? Well, i'd rather spend my time trying cases than hanging out with reporters.
Ugh, math.
- No jury appeal.
- You wanted to see us? We need to talkabout motive.
According to the business manager and the discovery we went through, when Caitlin died, all their money went to their daughter.
Kevin didn't get anything.
I love it.
They can't prove motive.
Take it off the board.
- Nice.
- Not so fast.
I said they couldn't prove money was a motive.
I didn't say they couldn't prove motive at all.
Path analysis report of Caitlin.
It was hidden in the discovery.
It turns out it was Kevin's sperm inside her the night she died.
- That's no surprise.
- It wasn't all Kevin's sperm.
There was somebody else's, too.
How could you not know she was banging another guy, Tom? Kevin didn't tell me.
Maybe he didn't know.
Didn't know? Your wife's banging another guy, you know.
Trust me.
Kevin found out his wife was cheating on him.
The D.
A.
's gonna say that's why he killed her.
It was never about money.
Stormer was going with jealousy all the time.
Yeah, and counting the arrest,that makes twice he screwed us.
"Jealous husband kills wife in rage.
" Now that's a story.
Don't you go speech lesson me.
Did you know about the affair or not? Listen, I loved her, all right? She swore she wouldn't see him again.
- Who is he? - A man she works with.
I thought it was over.
She told me it was.
The guy was in New York the night she died, all right? We already checked it out.
They must have made love that morning before he left.
Ever talk to the other guy or threaten him? I never threatened him.
Never.
We might be okay then.
We stipulate to the affair, we keep the other guy off the stand.
The D.
A.
has no evidence that Kevin was ever jealous enough to kill over this.
They don't need it.
The jury will fill in the blanks for them.
I didn't kill her, all right! I can't prove this.
I can't prove anything, but I didn't do this! I want proof that you loved her, understand? Cards, letters, receipts that you sent her flowers, gifts.
The more intimate, the more personal, the better.
We need to let people know that jealousy wasn't the motive.
You knew she was unfaithful, but you were committed to making the marriage work.
Why do I have to say anything? Why? Because the D.
A.
will.
It's bad! So we wanna get in front of it, spin it, make it work for us.
Make sure we got a focus group watching me on "American Crime.
" Focus groups are how we test our trial theories.
I wanna see how the jealousy thing might play with potential jurors.
Wh-why Yeah, why does he have to be such a jerk about it? Look, if I got charged, I'd hire Ron, and that's the nicest thing a lawyer can say about anybody.
- Then why doesn't he try the case? - Do you like him? Neither do juries.
Look, he's better in small doses.
A little bit of Ron goes a long way.
Today, our guest is Ron Trott, founder of the defense firm TNT&G, an all-star lineup of top trial lawyers and pretty good-sized egos, right, Ron? Trial lawyers, Tv hosts, we all got big egos, right, Suzanne? Not as big as yours, Ron.
Look at that.
The focus group is loving him.
So this is your first big media case in a long time.
Can you win it? We better.
The man is innocent.
- Aren't all your clients innocent? - No, some of them are guilty.
That's what keeps me up at night on this case.
He didn't do it.
He had no motive.
The D.
A.
knows money wasn't the motive.
That's why he's gonna talk about sex and jealousy.
And you know this how? 'Cause you can read their minds? Caitlin had affairs, but my client knew all about that.
What affairs are you talking about? Caitlin caused pain in their marriage.
Kevin knew that.
We wanna try this case on the facts that have to do with guilt or innocence.
- It's not about personal issues.
- What issues are you talking about? Private issues having nothing to do with this case.
Private issues? Ron, it's a murder case! Maybe we can sell this to a jury after all.
Tell the jury consultant to pick jurors who get what we're putting out there.
Which is what, exactly? That a man can know his wife cheated on him and still not kill her.
It had to come out.
I'm sorry.
Now Grace is gonna know her mom had an affair, her dead mom.
- Why did that have to come out? - If we talk about it first, it proves we weren't afraid of it, that we weren't hiding it.
It's just the way juries think.
Look at Ron.
He's loving it.
The man's just doing his job, Kevin.
He's doing it for you.
Does he like it? Yeah, he likes that he's good at it.
You ever go to a great doctor? Those guys are the same way.
You depend on them to save your life.
You don't pay them to be your friend.
Listen, he's talking about my wife, her lover, okay? I would've done anything to keep this quiet,to keep Grace from knowing.
I told you, we were having problems in our marriage, okay? But we were working them out.
I'm not ashamed of that.
Kevin, that's all Ron's trying to tell the jury, all right? Now you need him.
Like a guy with cancer needs a doctor, you need him.
And as much as the D.
A.
wants to besmirch her character, we won't do it.
Kevin loved his wife,period, no matter what she did.
And what do you do for a living, sir? I'm an engineer by training, uh, aerospace.
But I'm not working right now.
- Married? - I'm divorced.
- Get rid of him.
- No.
We're paying Miranda a lot to do our jury consulting.
- Why don't you listen to her? - I only have one strike left.
Use it on this guy.
We'll never win the case with him on the panel.
No, I say leave him.
We did some surveillance, took some photos this guy is bad for us.
Too smart, too analytical, too conservative, no empathy, and he's divorced.
He'll resent Kevin because he probably wishes he could've killed his ex-wife to get her money.
She said, "pick hispanic women.
" Does he look like an hispanic woman? What? Picking a jury is kind of politically incorrect.
Hispanic women, especially older ones, empathy levels are off the charts on this one.
Kevin is being blamed for doing something he didn't do.
Stormer's already knocked all the hispanic women off the panel.
Now this guy could work for us.
Our whole case is based on a head wound, and everything is just noise.
Now a smart guy like this has a better chance of following what we have to say and convincing the others on how to vote.
Your honor the defense accepts juror number three.
And they say I've got the biggest ego.
This is your guy, Tom.
If he reams us, it's on you.
Thanks, Ron.
That helps a lot.
This is not a good panel for you guys.
Again, doctor, if you could just focus on the initial trauma.
The initial head trauma, quite possibly eliciting secondary splintering- - Doctor, could you simplify this? - Which part? All of it.
Wait "secondary splintering"? That's new.
What does that mean? That two hematomas can cause the appearance of five lacerations.
How? - The-the physical composition of bone - Simpler.
- Skulls are matrixed bone - Simpler! If you drop a watermelon once, it cracks all over like you dropped it a lot of times.
- How'd the final pretrial hearing go? - Good.
How'd Palermo do with the mock jury panels? Not great.
I'm getting him there, Ron.
Today, for the first time, he told me two head blows can cause five lacerations, which explains our accident theory.
You're kidding? That's great! So how'd we do? Give me results.
We tried our case using the accident theory six times.
Yeah? And so? 0- for-6.
We lost every time.
That's okay.
I only gotta win once with a real jury.
Right? Finally, the day of judgment arrives for Kevin O'Neil, and we're hearing reports that the murder weapon, a golf club, has been found.
No comment yet from the defense on this bombshell.
Any comment on the golf club they found? Luther says it's not true.
The D.
A.
swears it's a rumor.
They don't have the club, but who knows? But so what if they do have it? It wouldn't matter.
I didn't do it.
We know, Kevin.
We know.
Look, take notes.
The jury likes to see that you're listening.
And look confident.
If we look like winners, the jury thinks we're winning.
When the judge comes in and we all rise, help us kick our table up a couple of inches.
It gives us a better sight line with the jury.
Hey, every little bit helps.
You are our shadow jury.
You're being paid to watch the case live from beginning to end as it comes in, just like the real jury.
We'll follow what they think, and make adjustments to what we do in court.
- Which side are we on, anyway? - Doesn't matter.
Watch the closed-circuit coverage, then we'll talk about the evidence and what you would like to see if you were the jury in court.
Okay? Are the people ready to proceed? Your honor, the people call lead detective Joe Franklin to the stand.
Detective Franklin,you may approach.
And what did you find when you got to the house? Blood was everywhere.
In the pool, outside the pool Where he hit her, on the steps, on the pool tile everywhere.
It was one of the worst beatings I ever saw.
Her head was almost caved in.
Your friend hates our guts.
Now Kevin talked to you the night his wife died.
He didn't have to, but he did, right? He told me what he said happened.
And you checked it all out to make sure it was true.
To the degree that I could, yeah.
Right, because that's your job, to find the truth.
So you asked his little girl if he came into kiss her good night, and then you checked the oven to make sure it was warm, proving that he made dinner, and then later you verified how much he was in love with his wife, how close they were.
Objection, compound.
Actually, his objection ought to be facts not in evidence, because this witness didn't do any of these things, not one.
- Your honor- - hey, if you want me to break it down and go over every little thing he didn't do.
No problem.
We got time.
Why don't we just stipulate that he didn't do the things you just asked him about and call it even? Fair enough.
No further questions.
I just have one follow-up, detective.
Was there a shred of evidence that anyone else was responsible for this murder? No.
From the moment I got there and saw him covered in his wife's blood, he was our only suspect.
Thank you.
The shadow jury trusts Tom more than Stormer.
But Kevin looks cold.
They don't like him.
- Warm him up.
- Got it.
How they liking the D.
A.
's case so far? Even though they like Tom more, most of them like the D.
A.
's case better.
The others haven't decided, but they're following it.
Sure, why not? It's a good story.
Smile.
Warm, not smug.
The jury ain't feeling you right now.
D.
A.
's theory is coming in strong.
He approached her from behind,then attacked her with a club.
As our reenactment shows, the first blow sent her to the ground.
He kept hitting her.
Then he dumped her body in the pool, probably to wash evidence away.
You can see what a violent, bloody, horrific attack this was.
It was just horrible.
Thank you, doctor.
No further questions.
They're ready to convict him right now off that demonstration.
You're the first defense witness, so be strong in there.
Look, I've handled a lot of expert witnesses, and of all of them, you've been my favorite.
Really? Ms.
Tuller Are you married? Um, I wear it in trial.
I think it gives jurors more confidence in me if they think I'm married.
Just be yourself in there.
Only much, much simpler.
And follow my lead.
Answer my questions precisely, all right? So we can see the victim tripped, hit her head here at this precise angle.
Yes.
Then, disoriented, she stumbled and struck her head again.
These two falls led to a series of splintering cracks, which appeared as five head lacerations.
Like, if you dropped a watermelon once, it would cause a lot of cracks, as if it had been dropped more than once.
Am I getting it right, doctor? Yes.
And your re-creation approximated the actual forensic evidence almost perfectly.
Yes.
So it's not real hard to explain.
She falls, hits her head once, then again, then falls into the pool.
- That's what the evidence shows.
- Thank you, Dr.
Palermo.
Oh, sorry, one last thing.
Would you say the wounds in Caitlin's skull were more consistent with a blow from a golf club or contact with a hard surface, say the edge of a pool? Well, contact with the edge of a pool.
A golf club would have left more concave and-and deeper patterns.
Thank you.
Nothing further.
Great job.
Let me ask you about the murder weapon.
- They found his golf club.
- Hold on.
Did you know the defendant claims to have lost this golf club? Objection! Sidebar.
Sorry.
Excuse me, you honor, I didn't say it was this 6-iron.
We are not introducing this 6-iron.
This is just a piece of demonstrative evidence for the jury, an example of the club type we think was used.
We still haven't found the actual murder weapon.
Though the defense does seem awfully worried that we did, don't they? - Why is that? - Objection overruled.
The wounds in Caitlin's skull were caused when Kevin O'Neil smashed her head with this.
Once twice three times four times five times.
As I said, in my opinion, they were most likely caused by a fall, not by that or any other golf club.
Yes, we know.
You're being paid by the defense to say that.
You can stop now.
We're losing.
Are you telling me the shadow jury isn't buying accident at all? According to the jury consultant, a few jurors are open to it, but the rest of them believe the police couldn't be so wrong about everything.
They will, when they see this.
In Strickland's video, did you notice there was no umbrella? It was there the night Caitlin died.
So where is it now? If Kevin beat her, there would be blood on the umbrella.
Son of a bitch.
They're right.
They're covering up evidence or they lost it.
We got to go back at their reenactment hard.
We can't.
We'd be calling the D.
A.
and the cops liars for hiding evidence.
The jury will not like it.
Here's what the jury doesn't like- Kevin- and it's because of the D.
A.
's reenactment.
That thing was a bloodbath.
It made me wanna convict him myself.
But how do you know Stormer's not sandbagging us again? For all we know, the prosecution left out the umbrella to set a trap for us.
Plus, to prove that they left it out, you know what I'm gonna have to do, and I'm gonna have to do it in court in front of the jury.
We get this wrong, we could end up convicting our own guy.
It's way too risky.
We started with accident.
That's our story.
- We are sticking with it.
- We're losing with that! Look, maybe juries don't love me, but I know how they think.
We need to give them something they can use to acquit our guy.
If they want blood, let's give them blood.
You're all sure about this? Okay.
If they want blood, let's give 'em blood.
Your honor, at this time, the defense calls its last witness.
We call the D.
A.
's lead detective, Joe Franklin.
Let me ask you something You helped Dr.
Strickland prepare his video presentation, helped him re-create the scene of the crime.
Do you see anything in this picture that's not in evidence inventory? No.
You see the umbrella right here beside the patio table? That umbrella was there the night Caitlin O'Neil died.
If it's in the photo, it was there that night.
Yes.
Yeah, so where is the umbrella now? It's a 5-word question, detective.
Where is the umbrella now? - I don't know where it is.
- You don't know? You're in charge of maintaining the evidence.
Let me help you.
Does this look like the umbrella? - I guess.
- You guess? It is the exact model the O'Neils bought just last year.
We have the receipt to prove it, your honor.
Defense exhibit 288b.
I want the witness to help me demonstrate a point.
Why this witness? Sidebar, your honor.
For the record, this was cleared with the court ex parte, but hey, if Mr.
Stormer wants to object to his lead detective trying to get to the truth of this thing I didn't object.
I asked for a sidebar.
But we can proceed.
Stand here on this marked spot.
Let the record reflect that it's 5 feet from the umbrella.
5 feet is the distance you estimated that Caitlin was standing from the patio table.
As well as the umbrella you forgot to put in your video, isn't it? Yes.
Let the record reflect he's holding the 6-iron the D.
A.
claims is the murder weapon.
Swing the club like you were striking Caitlin O'Neil.
Just do it however you think it happened.
Come on, detective.
We're trying to kill somebody here.
At least swing it as hard as you did in the D.
A.
's reenactment.
Stop.
Now that was one hit.
Not five.
One.
Members of the jury Look at the umbrella.
Let the record reflect the umbrella is bloodstained, spattered.
If Kevin O'Neil killed his wife the way you say he did, then the umbrella would have been more red than that one.
And if my client's wife slipped and fell accidentally, there wouldn't be any blood on that umbrella at all.
I can't say.
Well, neither can we, because the umbrella isn't here, because you didn't want to know the truth! Your honor, objection.
Argumentative.
Move to strike.
Caitlin O'Neil slipped and fell.
She was not murdered.
- Your honor, objection! - The defense rests.
He couldn't stand the idea that his wife made love to another man.
So he took a golf club to her head to make sure it would never happen again.
- He's keying in on seven and ten.
- He thinks one of them will be foreman, thinks they'll break the others in deliberations.
While his little girl slept in the house, he killed her mother.
That is who Kevin O'Neil is.
People think that jurors can be manipulated by the lawyers, the TV.
You know what? They can be.
That's the kind of world that we live in now.
But what if it were you on trial? What if you were sitting right here where my client is now? You'd want a lawyer fighting for you, and you'd want a jury who cared enough about the evidence and made sure to bring back the right verdict.
They don't have a murder weapon.
Why? Because there was no murder.
They don't have a motive.
Why? Because he loved his wife.
They don't have the umbrella.
Why? Because it didn't fit their story, so they lost it.
But that umbrella was our whole story.
Now what I want is for you to bring back a verdict based on the facts, period.
Do that, and Kevin O'Neil walks out of here the same way he walked in here an innocent man.
Ron told me that if they find me guilty, they'd cart me off to jail immediately.
So I wrote this letter to my daughter, trying to explain to her why I won't be coming home.
Will you make sure she gets that? We're not losing.
What the hell is taking so long, huh? It's been four days.
I should've bumped that juror.
Ron was right.
He was absolutely right.
Look, you don't need to stay here, Alden.
I just wanna make sure you don't hurt yourself.
Nice.
I swear, this is the last trial I'm going to do.
You say that every time, but you live for it.
That moment right before the verdict Come on.
Hey, Alden, Tom.
Tom, you okay? They're back.
The parties will rise.
The court has received a note.
Will the foreman please identify himself? Have you reached a verdict? We have, your honor.
The clerk will record the verdict.
"In the matter of the people vs.
Kevin O'Neil, How say you? We, the jury find the defendant not guilty.
- Oh! - Oh, god! Kevin You take this.
And you go home and you hug your daughter, all right? Thank you.
If you're just joining us, we have the privilege of having Ron Trott with us, off his unexpected victory in the Kevin O'Neil case.
- So, Ron, are you surprised you won? - Great to be back on your show, Suzanne.
Like I always say, if you got the right lawyer with you, we've got the greatest legal system in the world.
I'm gonna get dinner, honey.