Primal Fear

On my first day of law school, my professor says two things.

First, "From this day forward, when your mother says she loves you,

- "get a second opinion." - And?

"If you want justice, go to a whorehouse.

"If you want to get fucked, go to court."

Naomi!

Let's say you have a client who you know is guilty...

No, don't even start with that.

Our justice system doesn't care about that, and neither do I.

Every defendant, no matter who he is, regardless of what he's done,

has the right to the best defense his attorney can provide. Period.

- So where were you with the truth? - Truth?

- How do you mean? Naomi! - Coming.

I'm not sure how many ways there are to mean it.

You think there's only one?

- I can't do this. - You're late.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Okay.

Actually, you're right, you know.

- There is only one that matters. - Marty, hold still, please.

My version of it,

the one I create in the minds of those 12 men and women sitting on a jury.

Now, if you want to, you can call it something else.

The... The illusion of truth, if you want. It's up to you.

- Good. Yeah. - Yeah?

Jack, is that it? You need some more stuff?

- Yeah. - Tomorrow afternoon?

- Yeah. - All right, I'll have my secretary set it up.

Okay.

- This is a cover story, right? - Yeah.

Yeah. Okay, bye.

Saint Michael's Boys Choir. Thank you. Thank you.

- What a talented group. - Tell you after.

- Sure. - Right now, ladies and gentlemen,

we're gonna have a brief photo session

while we have the boys here with His Excellency.

I'll be back in a few minutes.

Please bear with us, enjoy your dessert and thank you.

- Yes. - Here we go. Okay.

Good, good.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks. Marty. What an unexpected surprise.

Well, I'm here to help our friendly prosecutor off the hook.

- Excuse me. - What's it gonna cost?

- A lot less than the alternative. - Tomorrow at my office, 9:30.

- Is this on? Yes, it is. - Your Excellency. Nice to see you again.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have come to the heart of the matter,

the reason we've all gathered together here tonight.

This is the fifth straight year that it's been my privilege

to serve as your master of ceremonies

for The Chicago Bar Association and Catholic Charities Ball.

I'm afraid you're gonna have to put that out.

It's a bar, for Christ's sake.

Tonight, due to your generous efforts,

we've broken last year's record in terms of attendees and the amount

- of money raised for the Archbishop's... - I thought you quit.

- ...charity, and I think that deserves... - I cut down.

...a big round of applause.

- You look beautiful. Cut your hair? - Yeah. A few months ago.

And now, as it has been my pleasure for the last four years...

- Want to dance? - There isn't any music.

Sure there is.

...longtime State's Attorney, God love him, Mr. John Shaughnessy.

Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen,

- and my personal thanks... - Come on.

All you have to do is turn around.

I thought you liked it better like this.

That way you don't have to look at the person.

Mean.

Considering the hour, I'll try to keep...

Look at me.

First of all, I want to thank all of you for coming out tonight

to support the Archbishop...

Come on, let's go find a bar you can still smoke in.

Thanks for the invite,

but I don't like one-night stands all that much.

- We saw each other for months. - It was a one-night stand, Marty.

It just lasted six months.

Thank you, John.

Well, I must say

I haven't seen this many lawyers and politicians

gathered together in one place since confession this morning.

There is no way the People are gonna tolerate

a monetary award to a cockroach who deserves 20 to life.

He may be your client, but Joey Pinero is a hard-case felon.

Dealing, racketeering,

- money-laundering, attempted murder. - Did you say "alleged," Yancy?

I didn't hear you say... Did you hear him say "alleged"?

Mr. Pinero has never been convicted of anything.

Cops jumped him, left him bleeding in the snow.

It's a miracle he survived.

Having said that, I'm not opposed to a settlement.

1.5 million, and Pinero leaves the state.

You can't limit a citizen's right to live wherever he wants to.

Legally, that's unenforceable.

Whether or not it's enforceable or just a gentlemen's agreement,

Mr. Pinero will know what we want.

Get the answer you're looking for.

Don't sit around and chat. It's been a pleasure.

You're worse than the fucking thugs you represent.

That's enough, Bud. It's over.

- Obviously, I've got to run this by him. - You're on 40% commission, Marty.

I have nothing but confidence your recommendation will prevail.

Thank you, John.

My hand!

Oh, shit.

- Hey. - Mr. Vail.

How you doing?

Nice tune.

So, what'd they say?

Take it or leave it all for 1.5 million. From Shaughnessy himself.

What do you think?

I think we should take it,

unless you want to spend the next two years of your life

tied up in appellate court.

- No, fuck that. Close it. - Done.

Okay.

Your shot.

There's one more little thing.

They want you... They want you to leave the state.

- They want you to disappear. - Disappear?

- That's good. Same bullshit, right? - What? What are you talking about?

I keep getting these offers from these guys, Marty.

What offers?

Well, a couple of months ago, a cop walks in here.

He says, "You testify against Alderman Martinez,

"and we'll owe you, Joey.

"Say he did you favors, say he's on your payroll,"

shit like that, right? So I tell him to go fuck himself.

Why? Because Martinez is a good man.

He's the only one holding out

while the others try to turn South River into high-rent condos.

- Why didn't you tell me this before? - Why?

'Cause this shit happens every day.

I didn't think it had anything to do with this.

- You don't? - Hey.

I've spent a lot of money in this place.

- They've spent a lot more, a lot more. - I built a clinic here.

- These people depend on me. - I don't give a shit.

Send them checks from California.

I respect your advice, Marty, but I can't take it.

I'll take the money, but I ain't going anywhere.

- This is my home. - I don't like it, Joey.

- So what are they gonna do, kill me? - They tried once.

How are they going to kill a man who never sleeps?

- Get the money. - You're too much.

- Hey. - Yeah.

That song you like? Fourth cut.

- Very nice, thank you. - Yeah.

Christ, we got enough fucking cops here?

No doubt, the police are gonna have their hands full with this one.

Captain Stenner, can you tell us anything right now?

I don't know anything. I just got here.

Captain Stenner, can you tell us what's going on?

Andy, I haven't seen anything yet.

As soon as I go inside, I'll come out and tell you, okay?

All right.

You should be home in bed, Abel. It's going around.

I'll consider that, Harvey.

- Christ. - What a mess, huh?

Sam, you got all you need? Okay, gently roll him over.

Police! Stop!

Right thumb and forefinger severed.

Symbol "B32.156" is carved into the chest.

- Body temperature, still warm. - Captain, we got a live one on the run.

You can see now, a passing train has separated the fleeing suspect...

You want to know what I hate? I'll tell you what I hate.

I hate when they go on and on

about what big fucking whores the defense attorneys are.

...the suspect is headed into the train...

We're the bad guys. You know why?

'Cause we're always sitting next to some creep,

we start to look creepy, you know?

Plus, they assume they're guilty.

You know, they assume they did it, and, like, we know or something.

You don't know. You don't ask. You don't care.

You do the goddamn job.

It's not like they're your friends, for Christ's sake.

...there's no telling where the suspect may have gone...

Well, some are your friends, but...

So, why'd you leave the State's Attorney's Office?

Dead-end job.

You either... You either run for office, or you end up a judge.

Why become an umpire when you can play ball?

...continue to pour into the area around Saint Michael's

and the Archbishop's mansion.

Over here! He's over here!

We will, of course, stay with this shocking story

as it continues to unfold throughout the day.

Now, what we do know right now

is that at approximately 11:08 this morning, this...

So, when did you know you had them?

Now, at this hour, the scene at Saint Michael's is crowded...

- What? Sorry. - Was there a moment

during the Pinero trial when you said to yourself,

"I've got them"?

The day I took the case. Excuse me.

...the shocking murder this morning

of one of Chicago's most beloved figures,

Archbishop Richard Rushman, has left the city just numb.