[ Jan ] Ladies and gentlemen...
there's a small town north of Boston called Woburn.
Now, Woburn is like many small towns.
It has homes. It has churches.
It has schools. It has industry.
But Woburn has something else.
It has more than its share of sickness and death.
[ Cheeseman ] It's true small amounts of solvents were left on the ground.
Why? To evaporate.
Did they? Yes. These chemicals...
never reached wells G and H almost half a mile away, and we will show that.
And they never made anyone sick, and we will show that too.
[ Facher ] The idea of criminal court is crime and punishment.
The idea of civil court and of personal injury law, by nature,
though no one likes to say it out loud, least of all...
the personal injury lawyer himself, is money.
Money for suffering, money for death...
as if that could somehow relieve suffering...
as if that could somehow...
bring dead children back to life.
Every credit card application we send in, we get two more in the mail.
Here's one from some bank I never heard of in North Dakota.
Fill it out. Fill 'em all out.
It's the last great pyramid scheme in America.
[ Geologist ] The terrain of East Woburn...
was actually shaped 12,000 years ago...
during the end of the last ice age.
Now, at this time, an immense glacier, over a mile thick,
covered the face of what we would now call New England.
Cancel the American Lawyer. Cancel all the legal journals. Who needs them?
Call the janitorial people. Tell them their services are no longer required.
We can empty our own fucking ashtrays.
[ Witness ] We want to try to understand what's going on in the groundwater system.
- [ Empties Ashtray ] - The place we have to start is the soil itself.
- These are actual soil samples. - So you can see the Aberjona River Valley.
[ Vacuuming ] l-I can't send you the entire balance right now,
but, perhaps, we could work out some sort of a deal.
How much can I send you right now?
Uh, nothing.
[ Facher ] A plaintiff's case depends on momentum.
The fewer objections he gets,
the better his case will go.
So, whenever you can, you should object.
[ Softly ] Eighteen times yesterday. Twenty times today.
And they're not even his witnesses, they're his.
I can't not object when you phrase questions so improperly.
- Now just from a craftsman's point of view-- - He is deliberately...
- trying to destroy the rhythm of my case. - I have no problem.
Here we are.
- Man! - You've got to have some good luck on this one.
[ Scratching Ticket ] Hold on, hold on, hold on. Seventeen, seventeen.
- You got a winner there? - No. Shit.
[ Facher ] Relevance, objection.
Hearsay, objection.
Best evidence, objection.
- Authenticity. - Objection.
If you should fall asleep at the counsel table,
the first thing you say when you wake up should be--
Huh?
- Objection. - [ Law Students ] Objection.
[ Bailiff ] Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth...
- and nothing but the truth, so help you God? - [ Riley ] Y es.
Good morning, Mr. Riley. Would you care for a glass of water?
No, thank you.
Are you sure?
[ Facher ] Now, the single greatest liability a lawyer can have is pride.
Pride. [ Sighs ]
Pride has lost more cases than lousy evidence,
idiot witnesses and a hanging judge all put together.
There is absolutely no place in a courtroom for pride.
Mr. Riley, you own the property referred to often in this courtroom...
- as the 15 acres, do you not? - [ Riley ] No, I don't.
That land is currently owned by a nonprofit corporation called the Wildwood Conservancy.
Oh, yes, yes. Here it is. The Wildwood Conservancy.
- Now what is that, some kind of conservation group? - [ Riley ] Yes, sir.
I've donated the land as a sanctuary for indigent wildlife.
[ Spectators Chuckle ]
[ Chuckling ] Well, you know,
I don't think the indigent wildlife has heard about this, Mr. Riley.
I've been out there on several occasions, and I've yet to see...
a single bird or any other living thing.
I get him to say no, no, no, no, no,
then he says yes once, and I got him.
He's not that stupid.
You leave him up there long enough, he's gonna figure out a way to get you.
I'm not that stupid.
Mr. Riley,
experts have testified in this court...
that your land, your 15 acres,
is the most grotesquely polluted land in all of New England.
- Now, you have no idea how it got that way? - No, sir.
Does it upset you to learn this?
[ Riley ] Very much so.
Really? Why?
[ Facher ] And one last thing.
Unless you know exactly what the answer's going to be,
never, ever ask a witness why.
Never.
My factory is the oldest surviving business in Woburn.
When the other tanners moved out, I stayed.
Even though, for me, that was a very big financial burden.
- This is not the question. - I stayed because Woburn is my home.
- Mr. Riley-- Your Honor, this is not the question. - It's my children's home.
He's trying to answer it, Mr. Schlichtmann...
- Well, he's not answering it. - if you'll just let him.
That land has been in my family...
for three generations.
That land, to me, is hallowed ground.
So when you ask me would I be upset...
if someone came onto that land and desecrated it--
Land that's part of the town that I love--
my answer to your question, Mr. Schlichtmann...
is yes.
[ Jan Pulls Chair Out, Sits Down ]
I have no further questions, Your Honor.
[ TV ] The sad part of it is, they're robbing themselves of the blessing of giving.
I know y'all ain't gonna believe this, but I got to share this with you.
If somebody wrote a check tomorrow for the total budget of my church,
it wouldn't affect my giving one penny.
Ain't nobody gonna rob me of the blessing I get from giving!
You know why a lot of folks ain't getting?
'Cause they ain't giving!
Do not rob yourself of the blessing of giving.
You'll never guess what I did last night.
You'll like this. [ Chuckles ]
I pledged $200 to a tele-evangelist.
I'm not kidding. He said, "Give and ye shall receive."
I called him right up. [ Laughs ]
I know, I know what you're thinking.
You're thinking, "Gordon's losing it.
He's falling apart.
He's probably buying lottery tickets."
[ Laughs ]
I bought a few, I'll admit it. I know.
But, seriously, the jackpot's $45 million.
That's just this week. You should see the lines out there.
- Is that a gun? - What?
This? No.
No, this is for you.
My Krugerrands. I've had them forever.
I want you to have them.
And... this is the deed to my house.
And here is Conway's and Crowley's and Jan's.
See? I come bearing gifts.
We really need the money.
[ Aufiero Over Earphones ] You can tell when your child isn't feeling well.
- [ Typing ] - "Has he got a temperature?" You say no.
"He's all right then," they say.
"Don't worry. Bring him into the clinic Monday morning."
- [ Jan ] All right, finally the families. - He died Monday morning.
- We'll start with Jimmy Anderson. We count his trips to the hospital, - [ Tape Continues ]
- the futile chemotherapy treatments. - [ Phone Ringing ]
- Then the other kids, one by one, ending with Gerald Aufiero, - [ Ringing Continues ]
dying in his father's arms on the highway.
- [ Ringing Continues ] - Will somebody get that?
[ Ringing, Tape Continue ]
- Where is everybody? - [ Ringing Continues ]
You're just noticing now? Gordon laid everybody off two weeks ago.
- [ Ringing Continues ] - Gordon?
Instead of sitting there reading a magazine,
why don't you go to Uncle Pete and get me a staff?
- That's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that? - [ Ringing Continues ]
- [ Continues Ringing ] - [ Slams Down Book ]
[ Sighs ] Hello.
I was told there was a Cheeseman on the Mayflower.
- [ Secretary ] This way, sir. - [ Jan ] Thank you.
[ Skinner ] Ah, Jan, have a seat.
You want something to drink? Some coffee, soda?
You've been talking without my being present?
No, we have been drinking coffee without your being present.
Don't be so paranoid. They were early.
All right. What's up?
Jerry?
[ Facher ] Last night, l-I was at a ball game.
It was the seventh inning stretch,
and I was standing there, and I don't know why, but it occurred to me at that moment...
that unless you've proven that any, uh--
- What word should we use? Uh, chemicals? - Poisons.
All right. If you like that word, I'll use it.
Unless you've proven that any poisons actually reached the wells,
there's no case.
And, therefore, no need to make these families,
who've already suffered so much,
relive their suffering all over again...
by putting them on the stand.
- Your Honor, y-you've got-- - That's interesting.
- What? - I think I'd have to agree with that.
Well, Your Honor--
Yes, if the jury decides favorably on the geological evidence,
yes, then you could bring your families in.
- Otherwise-- - Your Honor, the jury came into this courtroom expecting a human drama.
- I don't care what they were expecting. - lnstead, for three months,
we've been giving them lessons in geology.
Now, we had to do that, but now it's over, finally.
- Now it's time-- - Now we have to see where we are before we can move on.
And before we subject these families...
to more trauma than is necessary--
Because that would just be cruel.
- [ Jan ] They-They want to testify. - Mr. Schlichtmann--
- They need to testify! - The decision has been made.
- Well, this is the defendant's plan. - No, it's my plan.
- This is Facher's plan right from the beginning. - It's my plan.
- He told me. He threatened me. - It's my plan!
Now...
my plan... is to present the jury...
with some simple questions.
[ Skinner ] lndeed, how you answer these three questions...
will determine whether or not this trial continues.
[ Jan ] It's not that I disagree with them. I don't understand them.
What don't you understand? They're straightforward questions.
"Have the plaintiffs established by preponderance of evidence...
that chemicals containing TCE...
were disposed of on the W.R. Grace and Beatrice-owned lands...
after October 1, 1964,
and August 27, 1968, respectively,
and did those chemicals contribute to the well water contamination?"
[ Jan ] These dates, for one thing. What-What are they?
Wh-Where did they come from? From out of a hat?
[ Skinner ] Question two:
"What, according to a preponderance of the evidence,
was the earliest time-- the month and year--
at which these chemicals substantially contributed...
to the contamination of the wells?"
[ Jan ] How can they determine that? Science can't even determine...
when-when the chemicals arrived at the wells...
with the precision you're asking of the jurors.
And, finally, three:
"What, according to a preponderance of the evidence,
was the earliest time-- again the month and year--
at which substantial contribution referred to in question two...
was caused, if it was, by the negligent conduct of the defendants?"
[ Jan ] What does that mean? It's-It's like English...
translated in Japanese back into English again.
- Mr. Schlichtmann, I've heard enough. - Your Honor, no one...
- can answer these questions. - I worked very hard on these questions.
You're asking for answers that are unknowable.
- I said I have heard enough. - You're asking these people to create a fiction...
- that will stand for the truth, but won't be the truth. - Enough!
Once again, I remind you...
not to discuss your views with any outside party...
and excuse you--
Don't worry about it. Everything's under control.
[ Door Opens, Closes ]
[ Skinner ] And excuse you to your deliberations.
Thank you.
[ Crashing, Glass Breaking ]
[ Crashing Continues ]
[ Crashing ]
[ Crashing Continues ]
[ Chuckles ] I've never done this.
In 45 years of practicing law,
I've never waited in a corridor for a jury.
I always do.
I can tell. Y-You're good at it.
You seem so at peace doing it.
So what do you think?
I-ls it good they're staying out this long or is it bad?
For who?
For me, of course. [ Laughing ]
You can never tell, can you?
I mean, it could mean anything.
It could mean jury duty is more fun than working at the post office.
- [ Chuckling ] - It's bad for both of you.
You think?
Okay. Here's my take on it.
Guilty.
Not guilty.
That's what they're gonna say.
And it's not gonna have anything to do with dates...
or groundwater measurements or any of that crap,
which nobody can understand anyway.
It's gonna come down to people, like it always does.
You found someone who saw him dumping stuff, you see.
You didn't find anyone who saw me. No.
[ Chuckling ]
- What's your take? - They'll see the truth.
The truth? Oh.
I thought we were talking about a court of law.
Come on, you've been around long enough to know...
that a courtroom isn't a place to look for the truth.
You're lucky to find anything here...
that in any way resembles the truth.
Oh.
You disagree?
[ Chuckles ] Since when?
Eight kids are dead, Jerry.
Jan.
Jan, that suit fits you better than the sentimentality.
That's not how you made all that money all these years, is it?
You want to know when this case stopped being about dead children?
The minute you filed the complaint, the minute it entered the justice system.
Oh, yes.
[ Sighs ] Hey, I know, you like to gamble.
You're a high-stakes gambler. That's your profession.
Why don't we test your born-again faith...
in the righteousness of our courts...
with a high-stakes gamble?
See?
If that's a settlement offer, Jerry, it's not enough.
- That's not what I hear. - Well, I don't know who you've been talking to.
The l.R.S. Telling us they have a lien on any eventual settlement...
in order to recover over two and a half million dollars in unpaid taxes.
[ Stammers ] All right.
[ Sighs ] What if... I were to add six zeroes onto that?
That would be-- What? Twenty million dollars.
Now... [ Chuckles ]
that would put things in perspective for you...
as far as truth and justice and, uh... and dead children go?
If you want to talk seriously about a settlement offer,
Iet's get the decision makers together and talk seriously.
The decision makers are here, aren't they?
I mean, you're looking at Mr. Beatrice.
I don't have to call anybody, do you?
[ Chuckling ]
It's just you and me.
We're like kings.
We are kings.
Sitting in our castles deciding important things.
Deciding the fates of others and counting money in our counting room.
[ Chuckling ]
[ Sighs ]
I'll tell you what. I'll leave this here.
I'll go back down the hall to my throne room,
and I'll await your decision.
Yeah.
If you're really looking for the truth, Jan,
Iook for it where it is:
at the bottom of a bottomless pit.
[ Footsteps Departing ]
[ Ripping Bill ]
Okay. [ Chuckles ]
[ Weather Report On Radio, lndistinct ]
[ Ball Bouncing ]
[ Skinner ] Mr. Foreman, members of the jury,
have you reached a verdict?
[ Foreman ] Yes, Your Honor.
With respect to W.R. Grace,
the jury has answered yes to question one,
regarding trichloroethylene contamination...
requiring that we proceed further in the case against Grace...
to a second stage of this trial.
In regard to Beatrice,
the jury has answered no to question one...
in all its points pertaining to contamination,
which renders questions two and three inapplicable, ending the case against Beatrice.
Mr. Facher, that means you're excused.
Thank you, Your Honor.
We are, uh--
We're going to take a little break now.
A breather till the end of the month.
Once again, I remind you not to talk to anyone about your deliberations...
and thank you... for your service.
[ Clears Throat ]
[ Jan ] Disappointed? No, no, we're not disappointed at all. This is a victory.
This sends a clear message to these companies...
that they can no longer get away with this kind of thing.
- So what now? - Right now I think we should celebrate, have some champagne.
What do you think? Y es?
[ Reporter ] So you intend to go forward with you claims against Grace?
- Y es. - No matter how long it takes?
Mm-hmm.
[ Conway ] We have to get out of this case as fast as we can.
- That's the only strategy we have left. - Sign here.
[ Conway ] The good news is Grace wants to talk.
They want us to come to New York and sit down...
with their executive vice president, Al Eustis.
So before we do that, we need to know what our squeal point is.
Eight million.
Eight million will just about get us out of hock.
- Bill? - Whatever Gordon says. He knows the numbers.
Jan?
[ Sighs ]
Jan, every dollar we spend is a dollar we don't have.
We are floating on credit without a net.
Well, I don't need a net. Mortgage my house.
I don't care.
I have.
And Kevin's and Bill's and mine.
And I've cashed in our retirement plan and our life insurance policies,
and it's gone.
[ Jan ] All right, let me put it this way.
If we can't make it appear that we have money and we can go the distance,
they're not gonna give us eight million dollars.
They're not gonna give us eight cents.
You know that. You all know that.
[ Stomps Out Cigarette ]
[ Clerk ] It's the nicest suite in the hotel.
It has a living room, dining room, two bedrooms, a den, a lovely view.
It's 2,400 a night.
For our inner strength.
- On the card? - Why not?
Farmer's Bank of lowa.
- Hey, there. - Hi. Jan Schlichtmann.
- Al Eustis. Have a seat. - How are you?
Sorry I'm late. I, uh, got lost.
- You got lost? - Yes.
-How did you manage that? -Well, I've never been here before, so--
Wait. You've never been here before? What kind of a Harvard man are you?
The Cornell kind.
- Cornell? - Mm-hmm.
I-I thought you went to Harvard.
I'm-I'm sure somebody said that.
Yeah, somebody said you went to Harvard. You-- Cornell.
- Yes. - Well, listen...
Cornell is a-- is a damn good school.
Damn good.
So, what do you want?
Well, um, I can take you through it step by step...
or, if you prefer,
you could take this with you, study it.
It's a little complicated, but I'm sure--
It's an unspoken rule in the Harvard Club, Jan.
Business is never transacted here.
I meant, what did you want to drink?
I wanted to reach across the table...
and strangle him with his tie.
But instead, I sat there for two hours...
and listened to him talk about sailing his yacht in Long lsland Sound.
[ Eustis ] You know, sometimes I actually prefer the little one,
The 35-footer. 'Cause I can crew it myself.
Hmm.
I can be all by myself, out there alone, and, boy, it's magnificent.
And there's no-- Nobody can call you, nobody can beep you, nobody can fax you.
There's-- There's no lawsuits. [ Chuckles ]
- You know what I'm talking about. You sail, huh? - No.
You don't sail?
[ Jan ] Finally, we went to his office.
[ Eustis ] Come on, let's go over here and sit down for a second.
Come on. It's more comfortable. Come on, have a seat.
He-He comes around the desk.
He sits down.
Go ahead. Sit down.
He puts his feet up on this spindly French antique thing.
And he tells me to put my feet up.
Put your feet up. Come on.
- I don't want to. - No, thank you.
No, go ahead. Go ahead.
- No, really, I'm fine. - Nothing's gonna break. It's all right.
Come on. Put 'em up.
It was weird. There was all this talk about my putting my feet on this table.
[ Eustis ] It's all right. I mean it.
Try it. Come on. Put the feet up.
Okay. There.
Now, let's be honest.
I can afford to pay you almost anything you ask. It's not the money.
It's what a settlement that high says.
It says we're guilty.
And that says to every two-bit personal injury lawyer in Boston,
"Hey, let's run off to Woburn and sign up every jerk with a head cold."
It creates a shark effect, and that I can't afford. Give me a number.
Well, I'm not going to negotiate with myself, Al.
I'm not going to just throw out numbers so you can say no to them.
- You'll have to come up with a number. - Eight million.
- Eight million? - He said eight million?
Mm-hmm.
Eight million.
- I can't go to the families with that. - [ Gordon ] Wait. What?
- Who? What families? - [ Jan ] I can't go to them empty-handed.
What are you talking about?
Since when is $8 million empty-handed? $8 million is a lot of money.
- I owe them more than that. - [ Gordon ] You owe them?
- What do you owe them? - What do you owe them? You owe them your career?
- We're talking about our careers here! - [ Eustis ] You owe them that much?
[ Crowley ] We're talking about our families here.
- That's what we're talking here. - [ Crowley ] Our families, Jan.
Don't do it.
Don't go for broke on this one.
It isn't worth it, Jan.
[ Thunder Rumbling ]
[ Thunderclap ]
[ Thunder Continues ]
Nobody calls anymore.
Not even the creditors. [ Chuckles ]
Are the phones still working?
[ Dial Tone ]
[ Phone Ringing ]
Schlichtmann, Conway and Crowley.
Just a minute, please.
- Someone named Grendon. - Creditor.
- Are you here? - Do I look like I'm here?
- [ Gordon Moaning ] - Yes, he's in a meeting right now, sir.
[ Jan ] Do me a favor, Gordon, will you? Shut up.
What?
I'm so tired of hearing you moan about money all the time.
- This isn't about money anymore. - No?
- No. - What's it about?
- [ Thunder Rumbling ] - What's it about, Jan?
- Look, let's just all try to-- - No, I want to know.
I want to know what I gave up my house for.
My credit. My life!
Would you take $10 million right now?
- Yes. - But you won't take eight?
- No. - No. So at $10 million this is some sort of a-a-a-a mythic struggle,
but at eight it's just another lawsuit.
If they're willing to pay eight, Gordon, then it's not enough, is it?
- Oh, that makes sense. - It makes perfect sense.
So the only thing you'll accept is what they're not willing to give us.
Listen to yourself!
Well, l, for one, am sick of listening to you.
- Lost enough because of you! - You wouldn't have anything to lose if it wasn't for me.
Everything you have, I got for you!
I don't have anything, Jan! What do I have?
I-I got, uh-- I got a couple bucks and some bus transfers.
I've got a savings account from when I was 12 years old.
Here. There's $37 in here.
With interest after 25 years, there's probably $47. Take it.
- [ Crowley ] Gordon-- - Add it-- Add it to the war chest.
Use it to fight injustice. Stand up for principles with that.
Go down in flames with it for all I care!
Only next time--
"Next time." That's a laugh.
Ask us if we want to go down with you!
[ Thunderclap, Electricity Arcing ]
[ Thunder Continues ]
[ Dial Tone ]
[ Dialing ]
[ Line Ringing, Line Picks Up ]
I'd like to leave a message for Al Eustis, please.
Jan Schlichtmann.
[ Workman ] Let's get this junk outta here.
[ Skinner ] I've been informed that a settlement agreement has been reached.
As a condition of this agreement,
the exact terms shall remain private among the parties involved.
I want to thank you for your service--
[ Gordon ] Our contingency fee,
as you know, as you agreed to, as is customary,
is 40 percent.
But Jan suggested, and we all agreed, to reduce that to 28 percent.
Or $2.2 million.
Our expenses, what we actually paid out trying this case...
come to $3.5 million.
Now, subtracting that and the 28 percent in fees...
from the $8 million we got from Grace...
and dividing it equally among you...
comes out to $375,000 per family.
And they're gonna clean the place up?
No.
Mmm-mmm.
[ Ann ] When you first came out here Mr. Schlichtmann,
when we first spoke,
I told you I wasn't interested in money.
- [ Softly ] Here it comes. - What I wanted...
was an apology from someone for what they did to my son.
And you said, "Money is the apology.
That's how they apologize: with their checkbooks."
Would you call this an apology?
No.
The only meaningful apology you're going to get is from me.
I'm sorry.
I'm afraid that isn't meaningful.
[ Gordon ] Mrs. Anderson, you're looking at four guys who are broke.
We lost everything trying this case.
How can you even begin to compare what you've lost to what we've lost.
[ Footsteps Departing ]
- [ Sighs ] - [ Door Opens, Closes ]
[ Children Playing ]
Listen... the minute you put money on the table, things turn ugly.
It happens every time. Forget about it.
But she's right.
She's not right.
Now, it's cold, wet, we're standing in a swamp. I want to go home.
Somewhere out here somebody had to have seen what happened.
You can't do what Riley did without somebody seeing it.
You're talking about the case.
The case is over.
Jan--
Yeah, I know. They've had it. They want out, right?
It's time they went their separate way.
You know what I think of that? Fine. Let them.
I can imagine worse things.
Like what?
Well, so what if we have to start over? We did it once.
We can do it again. The two of us.
[ Jan ] Oh.
Oh, I see.
When you say it's over,
you mean it's over.
It's time for me to go my separate way.
You always went your separate way, Jan.
[ Car Doors Closing ]
[ Car Engine Starts ]
[ Coins Dropping ]
[ Spanish Broadcast ]
[ Crowd Cheering, Spanish Announcer Continues ]
[ Jackhammer Pounding ]
[ Customers Chattering In Spanish ]
- [ Glass Spills ] - [ Boy ] Man!
[ Cash Register Clicking, Rings ]
[ Cashier ] Your change.
Thank you.
[ lndistinct Voices ]
[ Traffic Noises ]
[ Distant Siren Wailing ]
[ lndistinct Voices Continue ]
[ Child Shouting ]
กำกำ [ Muffled ]
[ Water Dripping ]
- [ Glass Spills ] - [ Boy ] Man!
[ Riley ] This is how silicone is put on leather to waterproof it.
- [ Jan ] It's poured on, like you poured water on my table. - Y eah.
[ Spanish ]
[ Jan ] So then some of it must spill off the leather...
Iike the water spilling off my table.
That's the part I'm interested in:
the spilled silicone and trichloroethylene, sir.
How you disposed of that.
[ lndistinct Radio Transmissions ]
He's here to look at your records. His court order gives him that right.
I'm not going to give you trouble unless you give me trouble.
[ Woman ] I didn't call him. He just came.
[ Man ] Just the kind of thing you'd do. You let him in the door.
- Of course I let him in. - That's bad enough. Man, I can't believe this.
[ Sighs ]
[ Ascending Stairs, Door Creaks Open ]
Do you know how...
sometimes you can get so close to something that you lose sight of it?
I kept looking for someone who saw Riley...
dumping barrels of poison...
when what I should have been looking for is someone...
who helped him clean it up.
Was there a personal reason why you rented two dump trucks and a front loader...
back in October of '81?
Or was this just part of your job at the tannery?
Mr. Granger?
I don't have to talk to you.
I can tell you to get off my property, and I would be within my rights.
Y es, you would.
[ Sighs ]
[ Granger ] In the fall of 1981...
Mr. Riley instructed me to rent a Michigan loader...
and two ten-wheel dump trucks.
- Did he tell you why? - Y es, he did.
[ Riley ] All of it goes. Everything.
I don't want to see anything but topsoil. All of it.
[ Jan ] Did you think it was strange that after rotting out there...
for 20 or 30 years, he had to get rid of it now?
[ Riley ] Take it anywhere. I don't even want to know where you take it. Just take it.
[ Granger ] No, he told me why.
Uh, city inspectors were coming in a couple days.
He didn't want them to see it.
[ Granger ] This went on for several nights.
Fill the trucks, trucks drive off,
trucks come back empty, fill them up again.
- Last one. - [ Granger ] On the last night--
[ Jan ] On the last night what?
Are you sure you didn't see some kids out there...
on that last night, lighting firecrackers, drinking beers?
- I got nothing to say to you. - lt'd be hard to forget, you know.
It... apparently was quite a sight.
Throw it. Go, go, go.
- Hey! [ Shouting ] - Watch out!
Hey, you're on private property! Get outta here!
- You little punks! - [ Laughing ] He's talking about you.
Hey, you know what, mister? I'm sorry. Look.
I got a little something to make it up to you. There you go!
- [ Boys Shouting ] There you go! Boom! - [ Firecracker Explodes ]
- Get outta here! I'll have you arrested. - It's like that now.
You want some of that? Eat it, man!
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
- Go, go, go, go! - [ Engine Starts ]
[ Jan ] Did Riley threaten you in any way...
with what might happen to you if you ever came forward?
No, sir.
He didn't say anything at all to you in this regard?
He gave me a couple Celtics tickets.
Told me to keep my mouth shut.
[ Metal Door Clatters Open ]
[ Rolling Paper lnto Typewriter ]
[ Typing ]
[ Typewriter Carriage Returns, Typing Continues ]
[ Jan ] The appeals process is even more Byzantine...
- than the trial it's appealing. - [ Typing ]
- [ Typing Continues ] - [ Jan ] It takes longer,
it costs more, its outcome is even less promising.
Only five cases in fifty will win in appeals court.
The odds are as easy to calculate as they are discouraging.
- They're ten to one against. - [ Typewriter Bell Dings ]
Just about any bet at any table in any casino anywhere in the world...
is better than that.
I have the evidence, but no longer the resources or the gambling spirit...
to appeal the decision in the Beatrice case.
I have no money, no partners,
and, as far as I can tell, no clients anymore.
The Woburn case has become what it was when it first came to me:
an orphan.
I'm forwarding it on to you in all its unwieldiness...
even as I know you may not care to adopt it...
any more than I did at first.
If you do decide to take it on,
I hope you'll be able to succeed where I failed.
[ Typewriter Bell Dings ]
If you calculate success and failure as I always have,
in dollars and cents divided neatly into human suffering,
the arithmetic says... I failed completely.
What it doesn't say...
is if I could somehow go back knowing what I know now,
knowing where I'd end up if I got involved with these people,
knowing all the numbers,
all the odds, all the angles...
I'd do it again.
[ Crowd Cheering ]
[ Turns Up Volume On Baseball Play-By-Play ]
[ Footsteps Approaching ]
[ Door Opens ]
[ Baseball Announcer ] There's the pitch. It's low.
[ Footsteps Approaching ]
Mr. Facher?
Sorry.
[ Play-By-Play Continues ]
[ Sighs ]
[ Crowd Cheering, Play-By-Play Continues ]
[ Cheering, Louder ]
[ Cheering, Deafening ]
[ Cheering, Softer ]
[ Phone Rings ]
[ Phone Continues Ringing ]
Jesus.
[ Children Chattering ]
[ Chattering Continues ]
[ Bus Departing ]
[ Woman ] Mr. Schlichtmann?
[ Woman, Louder ] Mr. Schlichtmann?
I'm sorry. Y es?
[ Woman ] The purpose of these questions...
is not to embarrass or humiliate you,
but, rather, to verify the information you've declared as your assets.
- I understand. - Because what you're asking your creditors...
to believe with this petition is--
Well, it's hard to believe.
[ Chuckles ] I know.
- That after 17 years of practicing law, - [ Clears Throat, Coughs ]
all you have to show for it is...
$14 in a checking account and a portable radio?
That's correct.
Where did it all go?
The money?
The money, the property,
the... personal belongings,
the things one acquires in one's life, Mr. Schlichtmann.
The things by which one measures one's life.
What happened?
กำ Take me to the river กำ
กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ Take me to the river กำ
กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ I don't know why I love her like I do กำ
กำ All the troubles you put me through กำ
กำ Take my money, my cigarettes กำ
กำ I haven't seen the worst of it yet กำ
กำ I wanna know กำ
กำ Can you tell me กำ
กำ I love to stay กำ
- กำ Take me to the river กำ - กำ Take me to the river กำ
- กำ Drop me in the water กำ - กำ Drop me in the water กำ
- กำ Dip me in the river กำ - กำ Take me to the river กำ
- กำ Throw me in the water กำ - กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ I don't know why you treat me so bad กำ
กำ Think of all the things we could have had กำ
กำ Love is an ocean that I can't forget กำ
กำ My sweet sixteen I would never regret กำ
กำ I wanna know กำ
กำ Can you tell me กำ
กำ I love to stay กำ
- กำ Take me to the river กำ - กำ Take me to the river กำ
- กำ Drop me in the water กำ - กำ Drop me in the water กำ
- กำ Dip me in the river กำ - กำ Take me to the river กำ
- กำ Push me in the water กำ - กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ Hold me, squeeze me กำ
กำ Love me, tease me กำ
กำ Till I can't Till I can't กำ
I can't take no more of it กำ
- กำ Take me to the river กำ - กำ Take me to the river กำ
- กำ Drop me in the water กำ - กำ Drop me in the water กำ
- กำ Dip me in the river กำ - กำ Take me to the river กำ
- กำ Push me in the water กำ - กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ I don't know why I love her like I do กำ
กำ All the changes that you put me through กำ
กำ Sixteen candles there on my wall กำ
กำ And here am l the biggest fool of them all กำ
กำ I wanna know กำ
กำ Can you tell me กำ
กำ I love to stay กำ
- กำ Take me to the river กำ - กำ Take me to the river กำ
- กำ Drop me in the water กำ - กำ Drop me in the water กำ
- กำ Dip me in the river กำ - กำ Take me to the river กำ
- กำ Push me in the water กำ - กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ Take me to the river กำ
กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ Take me to the river กำ
กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ Take me to the river กำ
กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ Take me to the river กำ
กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ Take me to the river กำ
กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ Take me to the river กำ
กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ Take me to the river กำ
กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ Take me to the river กำ
กำ Drop me in the water กำ
กำ Take me to the river กำ
กำ Drop me in the water กำกำ