For Life

I used to be just like you.

Mm.

I had a wife I loved.

I had a family and a home.

I owned a business.

I paid my taxes.

Got you!

I had my friends.

Say "cheese."

Some of them were the kind of friends

you'd be better off without.

Maybe I should've known.

NYPD! Search warrant!

- Hands up! - Don't move!

Show me your hands! Stay where you are!

No!

Aaron!

He didn't do anything!

How long have you been bringing in drugs?

I told you, I had no idea...

The powers that be came down on me.

So, here I am now, nine years later,

for the first time, back in the same courthouse

where they came to take my life away.

Except today,

no matter what anybody thinks about me,

about who I am and how I got here,

today I've got a way to fight back.

And you can be damn sure that's what I'm going to do.

Mrs. Rodriguez.

Now, remember, this is just about arguing the motion

to get your retrial.

We're not even coming out of here today with a decision on that.

Hey.

You're innocent.

You were overcharged.

You've done time you never should have.

We're gonna end that.

Yeah. Yeah, well, what do you want me to say?

Rookie bailed... his wife's pregnant,

she needed to go to the O. B., blah, blah.

I just caught this eight minutes ago.

Look, order the drinks, give me 30, I'll meet you there.

Yeah.

How are you here?

Hard work and good will.

What's your method?

All rise.

Mr. Wallace,

I understand this will be your first time

arguing before the bench.

It is, Your Honor.

I won't hold it against you,

as long as you know what you're doing.

I guess we'll see about that, Your Honor.

Let's have at it, then.

So, this is it now. Day One.

I wasn't expecting him to be here,

but that's all right.

It'll only make this sweeter.

See, ADA Dez O'Reilly

is one of the bastards that put me away...

That's right.

I, Aaron Wallace,

am under the permanent custody of the State of New York,

serving a life sentence for something I didn't do.

Let's go, boys. Step up.

Wallace.

Rodriguez.

Mouth.

Squat.

Cough.

So now you're probably asking yourself

how was I sitting in that courthouse in that suit?

But for me, the question

isn't how I could be out there in the world.

The question is, how can I be in here?

And how am I ever gonna get out?

You got 90 seconds to tell me how the hell it happened.

So, apparently when he got to prison,

he went to work for the paralegal association,

representing inmates

in their internal cases inside prison.

Yeah, I'm familiar.

That got him unlimited access to the library.

From there, college and law degrees online,

then he figured out

some totally insane loophole in the system.

First, he took the Vermont bar, which is the only state

where you can sit for the bar exam

with a degree from an unaccredited law school.

Then, he applied to have his license

accepted reciprocally in New York.

But he's a convicted drug dealer.

He couldn't have passed the morality test

without someone with serious juice.

Remember Henry Roswell?

Retired state senator, former public defender?

Of course.

Well, in his spare time,

he arbitrates prison paralegal cases.

Apparently he was impressed with Wallace

and sponsored him for the bar.

Unbelievable. What's this case, anyway?

Latino kid in for statutory rape.

Plus, the girl OD'd on drugs he gave her.

He's serving 20 on the sex charge and attempted murder.

And they're looking for a retrial?

They say the kid never bought the drugs,

claim the dealer's changing his story.

- Who's the judge? - It's Tanaka.

But Wallace is a joke.

Plus, he's popping his cherry on this.

I'll run rings around him, if it comes to that.

All right, but I need to be in the loop.

The second you get Tanaka's ruling, I want to know.

You got it.

This all for your case?

Yep.

- That's the dude going against us now? - Uh-huh.

Yeah, you know, that's what I was kind of wondering about.

What went down in court yesterday,

it seems like it's personal between you and him.

It's not going to affect how I do anything.

I was talking to my Grandma, and she's kind of concerned

that if, like, they got something against you already,

it may make things harder for me.

Got somebody else lined up?

I don't think she did very well by you the last time around.

I-I know. I know. I just...

I bet you think you know what I've been doing in here

over all these years.

Fighting the system that screwed me over, right?

Wrong.

What I do as prison rep is commodity to keep me alive.

Becoming a lawyer is what's getting me out.

You're just the first.

I'm gonna use your case to start attacking the D. A.

Day by day, case by case.

Time I'm done

and he's soft and his credit's shot,

that's how I'm gonna prove that he worked me over.

Everything I do, everything I've done

is about getting my freedom, getting back to my family.

You want another lawyer? Have at it.

But you're not gonna find anybody more motivated than me.

How the hell am I supposed to pay for that?

You're supposed to do what I tell you to do.

Hey, how you doin'?

Good.

Long drive.

I, uh, got you some ties, 'case you need 'em for court.

- Thanks. - Mm-hmm.

Still no Jazz, huh?

Sorry. She got extra SAT prep today.

- That her report card? - Yeah.

- Gotta sign it, right? - Yep.

You okay with these grades?

Kids have ups and downs, Aaron.

She quit gymnastics.

She looks exhausted.

And last time I saw her,

- I'm damn near sure she was stoned. - She's not stoned.

Something's goin' on, and whatever it is...

- It's on me, right? - No, it's on Darius.

- Come on. - He's not hard enough on her.

He's not her father.

Well, if he's not willing to take on that responsibility,

maybe he should get out of your bed.

Well, I might kick him out if you came back home,

but you're not, 'cause you're locked up for life.

You're not telling me something.

You should've taken the plea.

It was 20 years, Marie.

You would've got parole in 12...

Three years from now.

I would've waited for you.

And Jasmine would still have her father.

Hey.

You remember what I was like?

The kind of...

Every day, every second I'm not there for her...

for you...

I'm sorry, I can't.

No, Marie, come back. Marie!

Marie, come back!

Marie!

Guards! Got a fight down here!

Get 'em out of here now!

Separate and restrict them both to their cells

for the rest of the day!

Warden on the Tier!

What happened?

We're short-handed.

McClintock quit this morning.

I told you some people wouldn't hack it.

Good riddance.

Ma'am, I gotta say,

these reforms, all these changes,

it's all going too quick for anybody to keep up with.