L.A. Law (TV Series)

Bound for Glory (1990)

Alan Rosenberg: Lawyer William Willis

Quotes 

• Ann Kelsey : When did you move into the house, Mr. Jackson?

  Charles Jackson : April '87. I was made the Branch Manager at the bank. For the first time, our lives were actually able to own our own home.

  Ann Kelsey : How did you like the neighborhood?

  Charles Jackson : I liked it a lot. We were near a park. My son could walk to school. We loved it.

  Ann Kelsey : Would you describe for us what happened to you there, sir?

  Charles Jackson : One morning, I went out on my "white power" was painted on the sidewalk. I reported it to the police, painted it out, and got myself ready.

  Ann Kelsey : Ready for what?

  Charles Jackson : I grew up in the south. When people start talking about white power, it isn't just words.

  Ann Kelsey : It wasn't just words here in California either, wasn't it, sir?

  Charles Jackson : No... it wasn't.

  Ann Kelsey : What happened, Mr. Jackson?

  Charles Jackson : One afternoon, I got a call... at work from my son's school. They said Nathan had been involved in an incident. They said my son was dead.

  Ann Kelsey : Your Honor, I offer this time, the stipulation of the parties that the death of Nathan Jackson, age 14, was caused by the physical violence intentionally inflicted upon him by Keith Haas, the 15-year-old son of the defendants Jim and Pauline Haas.

  Judge Grace Van Owen : So stipulated.

  Ann Kelsey : It is further stipulated that Keith Haas was tried and convicted of Nathan Jackson's murder, for which crime he's presently incarcerated.

  Judge Grace Van Owen : Again, so stipulated.

  Ann Kelsey : Mr. Jackson, would describe for the court the anguish caused to you and your wife by the loss of your son?

  Lawyer William Willis : Your Honor, the defense will also stipulate that the pain and suffering caused by this tragedy is extraordinary and immeasurable.

  Ann Kelsey : I'd like the witness to give his answer.

  Judge Grace Van Owen : The stipulation is noted. The witness can still give his response.

  Ann Kelsey : Mr. Jackson.

  Charles Jackson : I'm sorry. I - I - I know you said I had to talk about this, but I'm - I'm sorry.

  Ann Kelsey : That's OK, sir. I have nothing further, Your Honor.

• Lawyer William Willis : Have you ever met these people, Mr. Jackson?

  Charles Jackson : Yes, sir.

  Lawyer William Willis : When did you meet them?

  Charles Jackson : After that happened and then again at the trial.

  Lawyer William Willis : Did any reason to think they wrote "White Power" on the side walk?

  Charles Jackson : No, sir.

  Lawyer William Willis : Did they ever use a racial epithets in your presence?

  Charles Jackson : No, sir.

  Lawyer William Willis : Have any knowledge they knew that their son would commit violence against Nathan?

  Charles Jackson : His son grew up in their house. They knew he was a racist.

  Lawyer William Willis : But he didn't know he was about to commit violence, did they?

  Charles Jackson : That boy picked fights with six other Black people in the last 18 months. They knew.

  Lawyer William Willis : Move to strike.

  Judge Grace Van Owen : Overruled.

  Charles Jackson : Where do you learn that kinda hatred to stomp a boy to death in a school playground?

  Lawyer William Willis : Their son did that, sir. How do you blame them?

  Charles Jackson : Because their son did that! The boy they raised grew up hating Blacks!

  Lawyer William Willis : Move to strike.

  Charles Jackson : The boy they raised murdered my son because he was Black.

  Lawyer William Willis : Your Honor!

  Judge Grace Van Owen : Mr. Jackson.

  Charles Jackson : How can I not blame you? How can I not blame you?

  [Mr. Haas look shocked. And Mrs. Haas look scared] 

• Judge Grace Van Owen : Counselor?

  Lawyer William Willis : You don't deny killing Nathan Jackson, do you, Keith?

  Keith Haas : No, sir, I don't.

  Lawyer William Willis : Now, how would you do something like that?

  Keith Haas : I've started off as just a fight. I guess I lost control.

  Lawyer William Willis : Can you tell us what part your parents played?

  Keith Haas : They didn't play any part.

  Lawyer William Willis : What do you think they might have done it, if they had known you were going to do something like this?

  Ann Kelsey : Objection. Speculative.

  Judge Grace Van Owen : Sustained.

  Lawyer William Willis : Let me try a different way. How did they react to this?

  Keith Haas : They were very unhappy about it.

  Lawyer William Willis : Now did you ever indicate your parents that you might attack somebody?

  Keith Haas : No. As I said I didn't know myself it was gonna happen. It just did.

  Lawyer William Willis : Nothing further.

• Ann Kelsey : Did you have that at the time of the murder?

  Keith Haas : I believe I did.

  Ann Kelsey : Did your parents know about it?

  Keith Haas : Yeah. They knew.

  Ann Kelsey : What did they say when you first came home with it?

  Keith Haas : I don't remember.

  Ann Kelsey : The reason that you attack Nathan Jackson from behind and kick him to death is because he had taken a walk with a white girl, is that right? Isn't that the reason that you gave for the attack, Keith?

  Keith Haas : Yes.

  Ann Kelsey : And you called her a race traitor for walking with a black boy, didn't you?

  Keith Haas : She was a race traitor.

  Ann Kelsey : Are your parents race traitors, Keith?

  Lawyer William Willis : Objection.

  Judge Grace Van Owen : Overruled.

  Ann Kelsey : Are your parents race traitors, Keith?

  Keith Haas : No.

  Ann Kelsey : Do they feel the same way you do about blacks and Jews?

  Lawyer William Willis : Objection!

  Judge Grace Van Owen : Overruled.

  Ann Kelsey : How do they feel about blacks and Jews?

  Keith Haas : Ask them.

  Ann Kelsey : I'm asking you, son. You refer to black people as "niggers", did you hear that word at home?

  Keith Haas : I'll tell you this much, they weren't ashamed of being white. They didn't raise me to be ashamed of it either.

  Ann Kelsey : And you're thankful for that, aren't you?

  Keith Haas : I'm thankful. I was born with enough intelligence to know that White Christian people have been getting pushed around from every direction. We're tired of it. We're fighting back. When the time comes, this will be our country. This will be our courtroom, and we'll be the ones asking the questions.

  Ann Kelsey : I have nothing further, Your Honor.

• Jim Haas : I know that he liked to wear his hair short and I knew he joined that group. But kids go to stuff like this, I thought he'd grow out of it.

  Lawyer William Willis : Kids don't usually commit murder, sir.

  Jim Haas : I had no idea he could have ever do something like that.

  Lawyer William Willis : Well, what if you had, Mr. Haas? What if you had any inkling at all your son could attack somebody the way he went after Nathan Jackson?

  Jim Haas : I would have tried to stop him. I don't know what I want to succeed or not, but I sure as hell would've tried.

  Lawyer William Willis : I have no further questions.

  Ann Kelsey : Did you ever tell your son not to join the skinhead group?

  Ann Kelsey : He was a mixed-up kid, Ms. Kelsey. He never listen to me much.

  Ann Kelsey : Did you try?

  Jim Haas : As best I could.

  Ann Kelsey : As best you could? But wouldn't that group sometimes hold their meetings in your garage?

  Jim Haas : Well, they weren't meetings. A few don't come over. And Keith and them would hang out in the garage enough.

  Ann Kelsey : And you also let your son hang not see posters in his bedroom in your house. Isn't it possible, Mr. Haas, that your son has led to believe that you approve all this?

  Jim Haas : Nah, I never told him I approved.

  Ann Kelsey : Did you ever say, "take him down?" Did you ever say, "I don't want posters in my house that read, "Death to race mixing are niggers get out?"

  Jim Haas : Frankly, I'm a parent like everybody else. Praying to God every night just to hang on to my kid.

  Ann Kelsey : So you condone his bigotry?

  Jim Haas : I didn't condone anything. Maybe we tolerated some of that stuff more than we should have, because we didn't want him run out one day and never coming back.

  Ann Kelsey : Oh, I get it. What a relief it must be to know that after he finishes kicking blacks to death, he'll be home for supper.

  Judge Grace Van Owen : Ms. Kelsey!

  Lawyer William Willis : Objection!

  Jim Haas : If I thought he was gonna do what he did. I would have broken his legs.

  [Ms. Kelsey returns to her seat. Mr. Haas addresses to Mr. Jackson and Mrs. Jackson the Plaintiffs] 

  Jim Haas : Mr. Jackson, Mrs. Jackson, you gotta believe me when I tell you that I'm sorry.

• [the two lawyers Ann Kelsey and William Willis brings Charles Jackson, Mrs. Jackson, Jim Haas and Pauline Haas to the chambers of Judge Grace Van Owen] 

  Judge Grace Van Owen : Okay, exactly where are we?

  Lawyer William Willis : We've offered 35,000, Your Honor, and they've rejected it.

  Judge Grace Van Owen : 35 may seem low, but according to the financial statements submitted the defendants are pretty judgment-proof. You could be chasing an empty bag.

  Ann Kelsey : They have a house, Your Honor.

  Judge Grace Van Owen : Yes, they do. Valued at $92,000, carrying a mortgage of 41,000, leaving them with an equity of 51,000. It could take a long time to execute the attachment and the sale. You really want to go through all that for the extra 16?

  Charles Jackson : My son's life was worth more than $35,000, judge.

  Judge Grace Van Owen : Of course it was, Mr. Jackson. But I'm sure your lawyer has told you this lawsuit is going to be very difficult for you to win. Suing parents for the crimes of their children is a pretty novel approach, Mr. Jackson.

  Charles Jackson : I know that. And Ms. Kelsey tells me that because of that, a lot people will be watching what happens here. That's what I'm after, Your Honor. I want people noticing this.

  Judge Grace Van Owen : Can you tell me what that accomplishes?

  Charles Jackson : If I win, it says he should've done something. And they says that parents cannot raise their children to be racists, murderers, and then just unleash them on the world.

  Jim Haas : I'm just a working stiff, Mr. Jackson.

  Charles Jackson : I'm a working stiff, too.

  Jim Haas : That's right. Uh, the truth is... we're probably more alike than we are different.

  Charles Jackson : No, see, your son is not dead. Mine is. And I don't want him dying for nothing. Something's gonna come out of this.

  Judge Grace Van Owen : Gentlemen, that's enough. You want to go forward?

  Ann Kelsey : Yes, we do.

  Judge Grace Van Owen : Summations at 2:00, then.

• Ann Kelsey : Obviously, we can't start chasing parents every time a kid screws up. And I'm certainly not suggesting that the Haas' are criminals or asking that they be put in jail. Their son did this, not them. What I'm asking is that they take a little responsibility because the hatred that ultimately killed Nathan Jackson was born in their home. They shrug their shoulders, when their son came home with a swastika burned into his arm. They let him hang posters that read, "Death to the niggers." They sat back and did nothing while he repeatedly instigated fights with black children. The most malignant assumption we can make about these people is that they encourage their son's racism. The most benign, is that they ignored it and allowed to fester. Either way, it ended up killing Nathan Jackson. Either way, they have to take some responsiblity. Lawsuits are about allocating burdens, Ladies and gentlemen. We use lawsuits to place the burden on the manufacturers to make their products safer. We use lawsuits to place the burden on people to act in nonnegligent ways. Right now, today, let's put the burden on the parents - that they can't just close their eyes to bigotry in their own home. Because if we allow the parents to ignore the prejudices in their children, if we allow them to turn away from racism and just hope that it will go away, it will never go away. And more kids like Nathan Jackson are going to die.

  [Ann concluding her speech. William Willis was impress of Ms. Kelsey's stirring speech. Mr. Willis will make a closing statement, too] 

  Lawyer William Willis : That was a stirring speech. It really was. It was so good. It could almost make you forget the law. Under the law, Ladies and gentlemen, you can't hold parents liable just because their child is a racist. Under the law, you can't punish parents for the sins of the children. You can only hold them liable if they knew this crime was going to happen and did nothing to prevent it. And there was no evidence whatsoever that my clients knew their son would attack Nathan Jackson. None. This is not a case about racism. It is about a murder, and the evidence is uncontroverted. My clients' only connection to this crime is that they were the parents of the killer. In Ms. Kelsey's World, that's enough to hold them liable, I guess. But in this world, under the laws of this country, it isn't. It just isn't.