- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: [Closing up file. Knocking at the door] Yeah.
- DDA Belinda Fox: You wanted to see me?
- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: Yeah, I did. I've just seen an internal memo that you've got criminal investigators assigned to tail Arnold Becker.
- DDA Belinda Fox: Mm-hmm. It's in connection with a criminal investigation.
- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: Are you aware that he's a former law partner of mine?
- DDA Belinda Fox: Yeah.
- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: So were you planning on saying something to me at some point?
- DDA Belinda Fox: No, I wasn't. Was I obliged to?
- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: I think you were. I think common courtesy would have suggested that a word to a colleague would have been in order.
- DDA Belinda Fox: When I conduct investigations, there are a few things more important to me than being courteous.
- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: I wanna know what this is about, Belinda.
- DDA Belinda Fox: It's about the Lambert case. That one, you're familiar with?
- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: There's no basis for a criminal investigation in the Lambert case.
- DDA Belinda Fox: I think there is. I think what Becker did was obstruction of justice.
- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: Assume that's true. What he did is done. There's no ongoing crime being committed. There's no reason for having Becker under surveillance.
- DDA Belinda Fox: Given that the case is on my desk, Tommy, I think that's a determination to be made by me.
- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: All right.
- [A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney gets up from his desk and closed the door]
- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: Look, Belinda, I know that you and Arnold Becker were briefly involved with each other. Assuming there is a case to be made here, it is not appropriate that it be on your desk.
- DDA Belinda Fox: It's not appropriate? You've been sleeping with a sitting judge for the past 6 months, and you're gonna tell me what is and isn't appropriate?
- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: I don't conduct official business in that judge's courtroom.
- DDA Belinda Fox: As far as I'm concerned, your dalliance with Carolyn Walker completely compromises the effectiveness of every prosecutor in this office.
- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: First of all, it's not a dalliance. Second of all, I have yet to hear Judge Walker accused of using the power of her office for some vindictive private purpose of her own.
- DDA Belinda Fox: Is that what you're suggesting I'm doing?
- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: That's right.
- DDA Belinda Fox: [Belinda gets up. Belinda sighs] Well, Tommy, I'll tell you what. If you so sure that neither Becker or anyone in his office is guilty of obstruction of justice, I suggest you make that opinion known. If you think I'm acting solely out of spite, I think you should bring me up on charges. And let me also say, should your former law partner become cognizant of the fact that he's under investigation, I will assume presumptively that he found out about it from you.
- A.D.A. Tommy Mullaney: Oh, you're making threats, Belinda?
- DDA Belinda Fox: I'm making assurances. You tell Arnold Becker that he's being investigated, and I'll see to it that you're fired.
- [Belinda Fox exits the District Attorney's office]
- Patrick Flanagan: Why don't we just give him another minute?
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: I think not. Let's get started. Ruland vs. Wayside...
- Jonathan Rollins: Uh. uh, uh, uh, Douglas. There he is.
- [Eli has arrived by bus]
- Leland McKenzie: OK.
- Eli Levinson: Sorry. Sorry.
- Leland McKenzie: Uh-huh.
- Eli Levinson: The buses were running late.
- Arnie Becker: You actually take a bus?
- Eli Levinson: Yes.
- Stuart Markowitz: Unbelievable, isn't it?
- Eli Levinson: It's really not that unbelievable.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: And you're doing it for some kind of ecological reason, Eli?
- Eli Levinson: I'm doing it because I don't have a driver's license. Denise is giving me lessons however, I'm inching on being ready to take the road test. And I'm about to buy a car
- Ann Kelsey: You can buy a car before you get your license?
- Eli Levinson: And to all partners just settle a case of mine is they send me a very large check. I thought I did something extravagant.
- Jonathan Rollins: What are you getting?
- Eli Levinson: I have no idea. Denise is set me up a car broker who presumably will get me through this is painlessly as possible.
- Arnie Becker: Ultimately when buying a car, keep one question uppermost in mind. How am I going to feel when I'm standing in front of a restaurant? The ballet brings me my car.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Thank you, Arnold.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Ruland vs. Wayside Hospital.
- Jonathan Rollins: Yeah, that's mine. A 16-year-old girl found to be incorrigible by her father, is being committed to a psychiatric facility by him. She soon to be released from the facility and we're representing the father at the facility.
- Jane Halliday: What did she do?
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Drugs, sex, alcohol. Well, her father feel that she's basically out of control.
- Arnie Becker: There but for the grace of God.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Askoff vs. Askoff.
- Arnie Becker: Yes, we're representing Frank Askoff, his wife is suing for the divorce also looking to disembowel him financially. Her leverages Camilla Greer.
- Stuart Markowitz: What? He's in a book?
- Arnie Becker: Yes, he is. He also runs a publicly traded corporation. He wants very much for this not to get out?
- Jane Halliday: Whose Camilla Greer?
- Ann Kelsey: She's a madam.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: I'm rather well placed, madam.
- Stuart Markowitz: Yeah, I suspect there are a number people in that book who very much don't want to get out.
- Arnie Becker: Well, you frequent prostitutes, you run that risk.
- Stuart Markowitz: Yeah, I have never been the prostitute.
- Ann Kelsey: Ah, gee!
- Denise Iannello: Eli, this is Lenny Mullen.
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: How do you do?
- Eli Levinson: Hi, I am told you the man of see about car.
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: I am not mad.
- Denise Iannello: Yet, he told me he never own a car before, he only have a learner's permit.
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: Oh, if you have any problems with that road test, let me know.
- Eli Levinson: Why?
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: Well, let's just say I have relationships at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
- Eli Levinson: You're kidding.
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: When you buy car for me, I'll take care you. That means plates, registration, insurance, turn on the phone, super nuts.
- Denise Iannello: Unless you could find him any call that he wants, right?
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: Tell me what you want. If it's been made, I'll get it.
- Eli Levinson: Wow.
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: So, uh, what you gonna to spend?
- Eli Levinson: I'm looking to spend some money, actually.
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: You're single?
- Eli Levinson: Yeah.
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: There's a white Carrera in Pasadena that I think we could do very well on you gonna have this afternoon.
- Eli Levinson: A White Carrera.
- [Lenny smiling]
- Eli Levinson: What is that?
- Denise Iannello: The porch.
- Eli Levinson: How about a Mercedes Benz? Somehow I always associated one of those living in Los Angeles.
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: You want an SL500?
- Eli Levinson: What is that?
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: Two seats and the convertible. That I can get you by tomorrow.
- Eli Levinson: How much?
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: A little over 500,000.
- Eli Levinson: It has to be in five figures.
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: Go with the 320.
- Eli Levinson: Ah, how much is that?
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: 81.
- Eli Levinson: That I can live with.
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: Ah, yeah, heh. And, uh, what color are you interested in?
- [Eli shrugs]
- Denise Iannello: Black.
- Eli Levinson: Black.
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: And you want the carphone, the, uh, see CD, air in the trunk, the basic Big Shot package, right?
- Eli Levinson: Why not.
- Lenny Mullen, Car Dealer: All right. Well, I'll call Denise with the amount. You have a cashier's check for me by the end of business today. You'll have a car by tomorrow.
- Eli Levinson: [laughing] This Denise is the way to buy an automobile.
- [Lenny laughs and Eli shaking hands]
- Mr. Spera: Linda, I'd like you to describe the events that took place in the 1st April 1994, please.
- Linda Ruland: My father woke me up at 6 o'clock in the morning. Who's standing next to my bed with the private detective, and he told me that he would take me down to the Center for Evaluation.
- Mr. Spera: Did they in fact do so?
- Linda Ruland: Yes. They took me by force to Wayside Psychiatric, and I've been there ever since.
- Mr. Spera: Linda, you ever attempted suicide?
- Linda Ruland: No.
- Mr. Spera: You ever deliberately trying to hurt yourself in any way?
- Linda Ruland: Nope.
- Mr. Spera: You were deliberately seek to hurt anyone else?
- Linda Ruland: I-I stood up for myself in the fight, but I never attacked anybody.
- Mr. Spera: You have a boyfriend?
- Linda Ruland: Yes, I do.
- Mr. Spera: Did you probably get along with him?
- Linda Ruland: No, he doesn't get along with him.
- Mr. Spera: In your opinion, why is that?
- Linda Ruland: He doesn't get along with him because he's black. No matter what he says. The truth is that he doesn't like me being with the black guy. And that's why James wasn't welcome in his house. And that's why I'm in a mental hospital.
- Mr. Spera: Thank yo. I have nothing further.
- Jonathan Rollins: To the question, have you ever deliberately hurt yourself? You answered no, isn't that right?
- Linda Ruland: Right.
- Jonathan Rollins: On February 6th of this year, you were taken to the county USC emergency room, were you not?
- Linda Ruland: Yes, I was.
- Jonathan Rollins: What was that?
- Linda Ruland: I took some pills, I shouldn't have taken.
- Jonathan Rollins: You combine said pills with a significant amount of alcohol, did you not?
- Linda Ruland: Yes.
- Jonathan Rollins: Would you call that a deliberate attempt to hurt yourself?
- Linda Ruland: No, I wouldn't. I would call it being a party and, in getting a little wild.
- Jonathan Rollins: I see. What's uh, 40, Mrs. Ruland?
- Linda Ruland: It's bottle malt liquor.
- Jonathan Rollins: It's a 40-ounce bottle malt liquors, isn't it?
- Linda Ruland: That's why they call it in Fort.
- Jonathan Rollins: How many of them do you drink an average day?
- Linda Ruland: I don't know.
- Jonathan Rollins: A ballpark figure more than one less than 10.
- Mr. Spera: Witness said she didn't know.
- Judge Mary Harcourt: Let's move on, Mr. Rollins.
- Jonathan Rollins: Have you ever known your boyfriend gonna carry a gun?
- Linda Ruland: I don't know whether he carries a gun or not.
- Jonathan Rollins: Did you not on more than one occasion warn your father that your boyfriend always carries the gun?
- Linda Ruland: If I said it, I said it to scare him.
- Jonathan Rollins: Have you been having sexual relations with you boyfriend?
- Linda Ruland: Yes.
- Jonathan Rollins: What if any precautions did you take against sexually transmitted diseases or possibility become pregnant?
- Linda Ruland: Either we used a condom or we did things you don't need a condom for.
- Jonathan Rollins: Did you tell your father that more than anything else you want to get pregnant James' baby?
- Linda Ruland: If I said that, I said that to scare him.
- Jonathan Rollins: It work. I have nothing further.
- Arnie Becker: Frank, I want to propose something. Your wife is holding up with the threat to make public, you're going to prostitute. I'd like to take an aggressive position in response.
- Frank Askoff: What do you mean?
- Arnie Becker: Number one: I deny it.
- Frank Askoff: I'm in the book.
- Arnie Becker: Maybe you are, maybe you're not. Meantime, we haven't seen the book. We don't know the book exist.
- Frank Askoff: Look, she had me tail to Camilla's house, Arnie, she knows that I went there.
- Arnie Becker: What she knows in which she can prove are not necessarily wanted the same. Now assume... assume that she can prove it. What are the damages?
- Frank Askoff: The damages are catastrophic.
- Arnie Becker: Are they?
- Frank Askoff: I answer to a board of directors made up a very conservative, very Midwestern man.
- Arnie Becker: Right, right. None of whom have never once in their life paid for it.
- Frank Askoff: I also answer to the shareholders.
- Arnie Becker: Frank, I'm not saying you wanted to come out. I'm saying it's not the end of the world.
- Frank Askoff: [sighed] I want. I have been incapable of functioning sexually with my wife... for over 5 years. We went to therapists, separately together. Nothing helped. It became a source of almost indescribable pain to me.
- [sighed]
- Frank Askoff: I finally saw out prostitutes. And see what prostitute, I could function or not. Arnie, I don't want people to know anything about that. It's a source of way embarrassment to me to even... be sitting here and telling you.
- Arnie Becker: You really needn't be.
- [Frank gets up]
- Frank Askoff: I would only ask that you do everything possible so that this does not become public.
- Arnie Becker: Ms. Askoff, you initiated this divorce, did you not?
- Vivian Askoff: Yes.
- Arnie Becker: And before doing so, you emptied out both the safe deposit boxes held in your and your husband's name, you also emptied out all joint bank accounts, is that right?
- Vivian Askoff: Yes, it is.
- Arnie Becker: Were you warring doing so that you're leaving your husband without adequate funds to me is monthly obligations.
- Mrs. Askoff's Atty. Cecily: It not her problem. When we work out the finances will pay over what we owe, that's assuming we owe anything.
- Arnie Becker: Now, you're seeking to examine your husband corporate records, is that right?
- Vivian Askoff: That's right. My husband was concealing marital assets in corporate accounts. I want to know just how much of those assets were being spent on prostitutes.
- Arnie Becker: And what do you base your allegations that your husband frequented prostitutes?
- Vivian Askoff: I based on reports from private investigators. You want it deny it?
- Arnie Becker: For the record, we categorically deny it. However, for the sake of argument, let's assume that your husband did in fact pay for the services of a prostitute. Is it possible that said services represented a last-ditch therapeutic approach to a long-standing condition?
- Vivian Askoff: What condition would that be, Mr. Becker?
- Arnie Becker: It would be impotence, Ms. Askoff.
- Vivian Askoff: Would it be impotence as in a physiological condition or just impotence when he was with me?
- Arnie Becker: I think the literature shows impotence to be a fairly complex condition, I wouldn't presume to ascribe it to one thing or the other.
- Vivian Askoff: I don't think it's in the least bit complex. My husband wasn't physically attracted to me. He clearly was to prostitutes. From the number of times, he visited them, one can safely assume that he was not impotent with them.
- Arnie Becker: Again, assuming that's true. Isn't it possible that your bear some of the responsiblity?
- Vivian Askoff: No, it is not possible.
- Mrs. Askoff's Atty. Cecily: That's holy irrelevant for the purpose...
- Arnie Becker: Was it not you who over the past 5 years, suddenly, and continuously belittle them berated husband?
- Vivian Askoff: I did not do that!
- Mrs. Askoff's Atty. Cecily: Come on.
- Vivian Askoff: I supported my husband! I encouraged to get a physical examination. I encouraged him to get psychological help. We even went to therapy together, which I might tell you, was not easy thing for me to do. But I did it. I stood by, I was faithful to him.
- Frank Askoff: I was desperate, Vivian. I was desperate, now, I didn't know what else to do.
- Vivian Askoff: Your desperation doesn't move me anymore, Frank.
- Arnie Becker: May I ask a purely, practical question? What do you hoping to accomplish here? Have you make these claims in your pleadings, if you argue them in court? Whether it's true or not, it's gonna get out that a big executive went to whores. Your husband short term possibly as long term financial picture worsens. You're on board for lifetime support, I assume, why would you want a Poison the Well?
- Mrs. Askoff's Atty. Cecily: Because, Arnie, we're not looking for support. We want the money up front.
- Arnie Becker: What you're asking for is unconscionable.
- Vivian Askoff: Mr. Becker. I was betrayed by this man, I was lied to, I was frozen out, I was exposed to a life-threatening disease. Since all I can get from him now is money. I want to get all the money I can. And I suggest that you don't appeal to my conscience. My conscience is clear.