This is the one I'm working on that involves the courtroom and the staged murder, for those of you who have read some of my other posts.
The script definitely still needing work, but I like the story quite a bit thus far. I actually wrote this one with intentions of taking it to Sundance. It's not ready for that yet, however; I want to perfect it before I shoot.
THIS IS COPYRIGHTED WORK. TRY TO STEAL IT AND I WILL FIND YOU AND SEEK OUT THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW.
I'm putting this here to get criticism and ideas on it. So feel free to poke holes in it, there are quite a few that I see... I'm just trying to find creative ways to fill them. MANY of the scenes are only rough sketches, and not complete and there's a lot of wiggle room so I believe a great deal of depth can be added.
(I'll leave comments for you guys in parenthesizes throughout.)
Characters
(The name on the left is the shorthand character name's I've developed - On the right is the more developed name. If you see something like "THE DETECTIVE" where a name should be, I haven't given that character a name yet. I'm big on developing characters, but to me the story comes first and this only one of many scripts I'm working on so I haven't fully explored every character.)
TONY – ANTONY BROOKS (Lead)
THE BOSS – JAMES HENSON (Victim)
THE GUARD/THE KILLER
THE WIFE – LORI HENSON
TONY’S ATTORNEY – GREGORY BRIDGES
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY – MIRANDA STEELE
THE DETECTIVE – FRANK A. THOMAS
POLICE OFFICER
JUDGE
REPORTER(s)
ARIEL HENSON – (Victim's Daughter – An infant girl.)
ELLIJAH HENSON – (Victim’s Son)
BAILIFF –
Scene 1
MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON – UNKNOWN TIME OF DAY – INT
TONY: “I never believed that a man’s life could be changed with one phone call. Sure a phone call can bring you life altering information; *RING ‘You’ve won the lottery!’ or *RING ‘I’m pregnant.’ You can call that a life changing call, but a phone never gambles. A phone never has sex with anyone. Fate determined by a single phone call? Impossible I thought. I was wrong.”
Scene 2
[“four months ago”]
CONSTRUCTION SITE – DAY – EXT
TONY’s phone rings and he answers while he is supposed to be working. The audio is still replaced with TONY in voice-over.
TONY: “The funny thing was that the conversation over the call wasn’t even a life or death situation. Just a friend with another get-rich-quick scheme up his sleeve. It didn’t matter. Answering the phone that day changed my life forever.”
Scene 3
CONSTRUCTION SITE – NIGHT – EXT
As the workday concludes and the rest of the construction crew is leaving, THE BOSS calls TONY into the construction site office and then fires him for using his phone on the job. As TONY gathers his belongings from worksite, frustrated and angry, he hears THE BOSS discussing firing TONY with his wife (on his phone) in the distance.
Suddenly there is a scream and THE BOSS’s conversation ends abruptly because he is “murdered”. Drawn in by sheer human curiosity, TONY walks towards the noise. THE KILLER does not appear to notice TONY nearby. As THE KILLER stands over THE BOSS’s body, we get a close up of his gloved hand holding a bloodied screwdriver. The shot also reveals that THE KILLER has a small tattoo on his arm. As TONY finally catches a glimpse of THE KILLER, he is dragging THE BOSS’s body. THE KILLER then puts THE BOSS’s body in his car. THE BOSS’s phone rings. THE KILLER calmly turns the phone off and buries it in the ground with the screwdriver. As he fills the hole with dirt over the phone and screwdriver, THE KILLER looks up and notices TONY. TONY instinctively runs for his life. TONY gets in his car and speeds away from the construction site.
(This is what I hate the most about this script... I need a better way to kill him, and a bloody screwdriver seems very weak for evidence of murder.)
Scene 4
CITY STREETS – NIGHT – EXT
A panicked TONY drives away from the site with little regards to traffic laws. He is then pulled over by local police as he flees the area. He is arrested and his Miranda rights are read. He makes the mistake of talking to the police who detain him and telling them that he witnessed a murder, and that he was driving fast because he was afraid of the killer. THE OFFICER informs him that he is still accountable for his traffic violation, but that the case would be investigated.
OPTIONAL SCENE: TONY MEETS WITH A BAIL BONDSMAN. JUST BEFORE MAKING ARRANGEMENTS FOR BAIL, TONY IS DENIED THE OPPORTUNITY AND IS DETAINED NOW AS A MURDER SUSPECT.
Scene 5
POLICE STATION – DAY – INT
TONY is in a small interrogation room looking very nervous.
THE DETECTIVE enters the room, TONY asks “Why am I being detained? I only broke a traffic law!”
A COP calls THE DETECTIVE out of the interrogation room for a second. Tony only can watch through the glass.
COP “Forensic team did some digging at the construction site. They found a cell phone buried along with a probable weapon. CSI is checking it now.”
THE DETECTIVE “Next to a body?”
COP “Nothing’s come up yet.”
Later, police find THE BOSS’s car dumped in the Missouri River. Though the body is not recovered, evidence of foul play is taken from the car.
THE DETECTIVE “With no Corpus Delicit, we at least have evidence, opportunity, and a motive from this guy. All arrows point towards this TONY character; it’s a wrap. City needs to know, you commit a homicide, you’re going get taken down hard. Good work people.”
THE DETECTIVE re-enters the interrogation room now intent on playing “bad cop”
He explains to TONY that the hidden cell phone and his being fired from the workplace tie him to the murder. THE DETECTIVE then tells TONY that THE BOSS’s wife called the department, hysterically crying that her husband did not come home. THE WIFE also informed the police that THE BOSS fired TONY that night.
THE DETECTIVE asks TONY to write her an apology letter for killing her husband. (A police tactic for getting written confessions.) TONY sees thought this, and becomes outraged.
TONY “I didn’t kill him! I’m not going to apologize for something I never did! Of course I was pissed at him for firing me, who wouldn’t be? But I didn’t kill him!”
TONY now desperately fights for his innocence and claiming that he is telling the truth. (The viewer knows TONY did not kill his boss so they are sympathetic of his incorrect conviction.)
Normally a murder conviction is difficult without a body (Corpus Delicit), but in TONY’s case, the evidence against him is overwhelming: A tool with TONY’s fingerprints and THE BOSS’s blood, and THE BOSS’s cell phone hidden at the crime scene.
THE DETECTIVE leaves the interrogation room and discusses with his colleagues. “We got this scumbag.”
While in the police station, one of the officers nearby THE DETECTIVE asks a short question about a diamond heist. The reply mentions that the only suspect from the heist died in prison and as a result, the case went “cold” and the diamond was never recovered.
COP 2 “That diamond heist went cold. Apparently the only lead died in a cell in Leavenworth.”
Scene 6
(This is obviously where I spent the most time. Misdirection is key to the story and the "twist" at the conclusion. All this court stuff is dramatic misdirection.
)
COURTROOM – DAY – INT
This is day one of the court hearing. TONY is in court desperately attempting to avoid a prison sentence.
BAILIFF: “All rise. Court is now in session. Case 008021: the state of Missouri vs. Anthony Brooks. Please be seated.”
JUDGE : “In the proceeding arraignment of Anthony Brooks, for the charge of murder in the 2nd Degree, how does the Defendant plead?”
TONY’s ATTORNEY: “Not Guilty.”
JUDGE: “The court now calls the Prosecutor to present their case against the Defendant, Mr. Brooks.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “The prosecution would first like to present the following inculpatory evidence to the court; Exhibit A, a weapon admissible as evidence containing DNA samples matching that of the Defendant, and blood from the alleged victim, Jonathan Henson, and Exhibit B, the victim’s cell phone hidden at the crime scene under six to eight inches of concrete.” (She then goes on to describe the evidence in detail.)
The PROSECUTING ATTORNEY calls THE DETECTIVE to the stand. The PROSECUTING ATTORNEY asks her witness a series of questions.
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Mr. Thomas, could you please briefly explain your background and court experience as an officer of the law?”
THE DETECTIVE: “I have been a Kansas City Detective for the past nine years, and an officer of KCPD since 1993. Over the course of my career, I have been involved with more than sixty court proceedings. This is the twelfth homicide in which I have been called as a witness.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “When the Defendant was first admitted as a suspect for the alleged murder of Jonathan Henson, was it you who interrogated the Defendant?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Umm… We prefer the term “interviewed”, but yes, I was the officer in charge of questioning the Mr. Brooks. We brought him to an interview room, and asked him a few questions about the disappearance of Mr. Henson.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Did any part of the testimony that the Defendant gave while he was in custody strike you as unusual?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Yes.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Please explain.”
THE DETECTIVE: “Mr. Brooks was already nervous when we interviewed him. It seemed like he had something to hide–”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “Objection: Speculation!”
JUDGE: “Sustained.”
THE DETECTIVE: “Well anyways, while he was giving his record of the events on the night of JAMES Henson’s disappearance, the defendant said that he was not going to apologize and that he was ‘pissed’ at the victim for being fired.”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “Objection: ‘Victim’ implies that a crime has been committed. This claim is unsupported by a lack of Habeas Corpus.”
JUDGE: “The court accepts the notion to restrict. Continue, Mr. Thomas.”
THE DETECTIVE: “From testimony of Mrs. Henson, we were able to confirm that Brooks had indeed been fired on the night of Mr. Henson’s disappearance. We believe that after stabbing Mr. Henson with the murder weapon, Brooks hid the body in Mr. Henson’s car and drove the vehicle to an undisclosed location. The investigating team is currently searching for the vehicle throughout the city.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Has the ongoing investigation of the crime scene turned up any results?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Yes, CSI has determined that the weapon, Exhibit A, which was discovered at the crime scene, contains samples of blood matching the victim’s DNA as well as fingerprints from the Defendant.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Thank you, Detective.”
TONY’S ATTORNEY cross-examines THE DETECTIVE.
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “Mr. Thomas, were there any other suspects in this investigation?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Anthony Brooks was the only other person at the construction site that night. We are convinced that the Defendant is the only one with opportunity—”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “And did you perhaps ‘interview’ any of the residents living near the site? Any store owners? Any homeless people found walking the streets? Did you question anyone other than Mr. Brooks?”
THE DETECTIVE: “KCPD arrived on site immediately after Brooks was found fleeing the scene. The crime scene is the only lot on _____ street surrounded by a twelve-foot safety fence and locking gate. We found the gate locked and that the locking mechanism had not been tampered with. From that, we concluded that only the defendant had access to the crime scene.”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “As an officer of the law, I am sure that you know that _____ street is notorious for crime, including armed robbery. Can the Kansas City Police Department rule out the possibility that one of the many gangs in the area could have car-jacked Mr. Henson as he left the site?”
THE DETECTIVE: “The evidence clearly shows that Brooks is directly involved with the incident. He had even been the person who initially informed us of where and when the crime had taken place, presumably out of a combined sense of fear and guilt. We could place him at the crime scene with motive, a weapon, and opportunity; there was no point in wasting resources investigating leads that were hardly conclusive.”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “Oklahoma City, 1995, Ibrahim Ahmad, an Arab-American was detained for the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Everyone was convinced that he was a terrorist responsible for the deaths of 160 people. Soon after, Ahmad was released from custody after being proven innocent. The reason? The FBI investigated the actual bomber, Timothy McVeigh, a lead many would have considered ‘hardly conclusive.’
(He pauses to let his comment it sink in.)
Moving on now, based on your experience in talking with my client, would you consider him to be an unintelligent individual?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Not at all. I would even say that Brooks is quite smart.”
TONY’s ATTORNEY: “Was he was read his Miranda rights during the time of his arrest?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Yes, this is standard procedure–”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “As an officer of the law, how well do you know these procedures?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Like my middle name.” (he says arrogantly.)
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “Would you agree that a detainee granted their Miranda rights is told that his words and actions can and will be used against him in the court of law?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Yes, I–“
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “So you are telling me that a man who is as intelligent as Mr. Brooks would point deliberately police in the direction of a crime he had committed?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Well maybe not, but I think–”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “Thank you. Defense has further questions for this witness.”
The trial ends for the day. TONY is escorted out of the courthouse in handcuffs as he is harassed by the press. TONY says nothing.
Scene 7
WITNESS ROOM – DAY – INT
TONY’s ATTORNEY informs him that the PROSECUTING ATTORNEY will open today. He informs TONY that THE WIFE will be called to the stand.
TONY’S ATTORNEY tells him: “today will make the difference between being incarcerated or emancipated.”
Scene 8
COURTROOM – DAY – INT
Trial day 2 begins. This scene is the film’s (faux) climax. Mid-trial, The PROSECUTING ATTORNEY moves to admit a new piece of evidence, exhibit C, photos of Mr. Henson’s vehicle after it was recovered from the Missouri River. This includes how the car was discovered with a cinderblock resting on the gas pedal and the windows rolled down, presumably showing intentions of sinking the vehicle quickly. The case is beginning to look more like homicide than anything else. The scene begins with the PROSECUTING ATTORNEY speaking with her CO-COUNSEL before opening.
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “This case should have been finished yesterday. I don’t know what I will do if by some miracle he walks. Brooks needs to pay for what he did.”
CO-COUSEL: “Relax. We got this one in the bag already. Defense has no case. This guy’s already served time behind bars; I pulled his file this morning. With a conviction, and we will get a conviction. Brooks is going back to Leavenworth. It’s even harder to get into that place than get out and we’re looking at strike two for this guy. He’ll likely be begging for capital punishment as an alternative after a week back inside.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Thanks. I guess we’ll know soon enough.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY briefly gives her opening statements and then calls THE WIFE to testify.
THE WIFE talks about getting the phone call from her husband the night he went missing. She says that he said that he fired TONY
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Mrs. Henson, when was the last time you spoke with your husband?”
THE WIFE (sobbing): “It was the night he went missing… He had just gotten done telling me about having to fire TONY. And then, and then it sounded like the call was dropped. God… I didn’t even think anything of it.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Did you call back?”
THE WIFE takes time to pull herself together and stop crying. She is coming to terms with her husband’s “death”.
THE WIFE: “I tried him a few minutes later but his phone went straight to voicemail. I wasn’t really worried at that point. It was getting late so I fed and laid down Ariel. I thought JAMES just drained his cell battery… He’s always forgetting to charge it before we go to bed…”
(She pauses, painfully reflecting on his memory at this.)
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “What did you do next?”
THE WIFE: “Well I set up in bed waiting for him. I do not sleep very well without my husband at my side… sometime around one, I called him again. No answer this time either. I was scared that he may have gotten into an accident on the way home, so I called the police. I should have went looking for him, but I didn’t want to wake the kids. A part of me wanted to believe that I was just worrying a too much. I started thinking that he might have just fallen asleep in the unit on his site. JAMES had always worked so hard… And I had to think of my children. At about five-thirty in the morning, a police car pulled into the driveway. I remember thinking… Jesus… he got himself arrested.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Would it be the first time that your husband was arrested?”
THE WIFE: “Well no… see, JAMES had always put us first. He gave everything he could and then somehow managed to go the extra mile for our family. I never knew how he did it until the day Ariel was born. He had been working when I started going into labor and his site was about an hour away from the hospital. Well when he showed up, I was in too much pain to think about how he arrived, I was just happy that he was there to see the birth of our daughter. Well after the baby was delivered, and he held her for the first time, the nurse informed us that two police officers waiting outside for us. I didn’t know what to think at first, but JAMES just smiled at the two of us and told me that he loved me, then left the room. Two hours later I got a call from the police department telling me that he was arrested for driving twenty-five over on the way to the hospital. He was about a block away when he was pulled over. After Ariel’s birth certificate was written, they dropped the case. That was the only time.
On the night of the date, I knew he wouldn’t have gotten arrested for being reckless so I was already worried. It all hit me at once when only the policeman got out of the car. I just broke down in tears. I knew why he was there.” (Mrs. Henson feels obligated to her children FIRST, but also feels guilty like going out COULD have saved her husband.)
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “I know this is hard for you Mrs. Henson, but can you please tell the court what things were like in the household before you husband’s disappearance?”
THE WIFE: “We were like any other couple married with children… a few days were better than others but we were mostly content. I took care of Ariel and the boys, while he ran his company. Sometimes we ran into a few financial walls, but then JAMES would work twice as hard to make ends meet. I knew it was very difficult for him to deal with all the stress but JAMES was a very strong person. He put his own well-being aside to provide for his family.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “So would it be safe to say, then that your husband would never leave his wife and children? That he would never abandon them for any reason?”
THE WIFE: “Never.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Thank you. I have no more questions, your honor.”
(Post was too long, I'll continue below...)
The script definitely still needing work, but I like the story quite a bit thus far. I actually wrote this one with intentions of taking it to Sundance. It's not ready for that yet, however; I want to perfect it before I shoot.
THIS IS COPYRIGHTED WORK. TRY TO STEAL IT AND I WILL FIND YOU AND SEEK OUT THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW.
I'm putting this here to get criticism and ideas on it. So feel free to poke holes in it, there are quite a few that I see... I'm just trying to find creative ways to fill them. MANY of the scenes are only rough sketches, and not complete and there's a lot of wiggle room so I believe a great deal of depth can be added.
(I'll leave comments for you guys in parenthesizes throughout.)
LAST CALL
A FILM BY: TREVOR IRWIN
A FILM BY: TREVOR IRWIN
Characters
(The name on the left is the shorthand character name's I've developed - On the right is the more developed name. If you see something like "THE DETECTIVE" where a name should be, I haven't given that character a name yet. I'm big on developing characters, but to me the story comes first and this only one of many scripts I'm working on so I haven't fully explored every character.)
TONY – ANTONY BROOKS (Lead)
THE BOSS – JAMES HENSON (Victim)
THE GUARD/THE KILLER
THE WIFE – LORI HENSON
TONY’S ATTORNEY – GREGORY BRIDGES
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY – MIRANDA STEELE
THE DETECTIVE – FRANK A. THOMAS
POLICE OFFICER
JUDGE
REPORTER(s)
ARIEL HENSON – (Victim's Daughter – An infant girl.)
ELLIJAH HENSON – (Victim’s Son)
BAILIFF –
Script
Scene 1
MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON – UNKNOWN TIME OF DAY – INT
TONY: “I never believed that a man’s life could be changed with one phone call. Sure a phone call can bring you life altering information; *RING ‘You’ve won the lottery!’ or *RING ‘I’m pregnant.’ You can call that a life changing call, but a phone never gambles. A phone never has sex with anyone. Fate determined by a single phone call? Impossible I thought. I was wrong.”
Scene 2
[“four months ago”]
CONSTRUCTION SITE – DAY – EXT
TONY’s phone rings and he answers while he is supposed to be working. The audio is still replaced with TONY in voice-over.
TONY: “The funny thing was that the conversation over the call wasn’t even a life or death situation. Just a friend with another get-rich-quick scheme up his sleeve. It didn’t matter. Answering the phone that day changed my life forever.”
Scene 3
CONSTRUCTION SITE – NIGHT – EXT
As the workday concludes and the rest of the construction crew is leaving, THE BOSS calls TONY into the construction site office and then fires him for using his phone on the job. As TONY gathers his belongings from worksite, frustrated and angry, he hears THE BOSS discussing firing TONY with his wife (on his phone) in the distance.
Suddenly there is a scream and THE BOSS’s conversation ends abruptly because he is “murdered”. Drawn in by sheer human curiosity, TONY walks towards the noise. THE KILLER does not appear to notice TONY nearby. As THE KILLER stands over THE BOSS’s body, we get a close up of his gloved hand holding a bloodied screwdriver. The shot also reveals that THE KILLER has a small tattoo on his arm. As TONY finally catches a glimpse of THE KILLER, he is dragging THE BOSS’s body. THE KILLER then puts THE BOSS’s body in his car. THE BOSS’s phone rings. THE KILLER calmly turns the phone off and buries it in the ground with the screwdriver. As he fills the hole with dirt over the phone and screwdriver, THE KILLER looks up and notices TONY. TONY instinctively runs for his life. TONY gets in his car and speeds away from the construction site.
(This is what I hate the most about this script... I need a better way to kill him, and a bloody screwdriver seems very weak for evidence of murder.)
Scene 4
CITY STREETS – NIGHT – EXT
A panicked TONY drives away from the site with little regards to traffic laws. He is then pulled over by local police as he flees the area. He is arrested and his Miranda rights are read. He makes the mistake of talking to the police who detain him and telling them that he witnessed a murder, and that he was driving fast because he was afraid of the killer. THE OFFICER informs him that he is still accountable for his traffic violation, but that the case would be investigated.
OPTIONAL SCENE: TONY MEETS WITH A BAIL BONDSMAN. JUST BEFORE MAKING ARRANGEMENTS FOR BAIL, TONY IS DENIED THE OPPORTUNITY AND IS DETAINED NOW AS A MURDER SUSPECT.
Scene 5
POLICE STATION – DAY – INT
TONY is in a small interrogation room looking very nervous.
THE DETECTIVE enters the room, TONY asks “Why am I being detained? I only broke a traffic law!”
A COP calls THE DETECTIVE out of the interrogation room for a second. Tony only can watch through the glass.
COP “Forensic team did some digging at the construction site. They found a cell phone buried along with a probable weapon. CSI is checking it now.”
THE DETECTIVE “Next to a body?”
COP “Nothing’s come up yet.”
Later, police find THE BOSS’s car dumped in the Missouri River. Though the body is not recovered, evidence of foul play is taken from the car.
THE DETECTIVE “With no Corpus Delicit, we at least have evidence, opportunity, and a motive from this guy. All arrows point towards this TONY character; it’s a wrap. City needs to know, you commit a homicide, you’re going get taken down hard. Good work people.”
THE DETECTIVE re-enters the interrogation room now intent on playing “bad cop”
He explains to TONY that the hidden cell phone and his being fired from the workplace tie him to the murder. THE DETECTIVE then tells TONY that THE BOSS’s wife called the department, hysterically crying that her husband did not come home. THE WIFE also informed the police that THE BOSS fired TONY that night.
THE DETECTIVE asks TONY to write her an apology letter for killing her husband. (A police tactic for getting written confessions.) TONY sees thought this, and becomes outraged.
TONY “I didn’t kill him! I’m not going to apologize for something I never did! Of course I was pissed at him for firing me, who wouldn’t be? But I didn’t kill him!”
TONY now desperately fights for his innocence and claiming that he is telling the truth. (The viewer knows TONY did not kill his boss so they are sympathetic of his incorrect conviction.)
Normally a murder conviction is difficult without a body (Corpus Delicit), but in TONY’s case, the evidence against him is overwhelming: A tool with TONY’s fingerprints and THE BOSS’s blood, and THE BOSS’s cell phone hidden at the crime scene.
THE DETECTIVE leaves the interrogation room and discusses with his colleagues. “We got this scumbag.”
While in the police station, one of the officers nearby THE DETECTIVE asks a short question about a diamond heist. The reply mentions that the only suspect from the heist died in prison and as a result, the case went “cold” and the diamond was never recovered.
COP 2 “That diamond heist went cold. Apparently the only lead died in a cell in Leavenworth.”
Scene 6
(This is obviously where I spent the most time. Misdirection is key to the story and the "twist" at the conclusion. All this court stuff is dramatic misdirection.
)COURTROOM – DAY – INT
This is day one of the court hearing. TONY is in court desperately attempting to avoid a prison sentence.
BAILIFF: “All rise. Court is now in session. Case 008021: the state of Missouri vs. Anthony Brooks. Please be seated.”
JUDGE : “In the proceeding arraignment of Anthony Brooks, for the charge of murder in the 2nd Degree, how does the Defendant plead?”
TONY’s ATTORNEY: “Not Guilty.”
JUDGE: “The court now calls the Prosecutor to present their case against the Defendant, Mr. Brooks.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “The prosecution would first like to present the following inculpatory evidence to the court; Exhibit A, a weapon admissible as evidence containing DNA samples matching that of the Defendant, and blood from the alleged victim, Jonathan Henson, and Exhibit B, the victim’s cell phone hidden at the crime scene under six to eight inches of concrete.” (She then goes on to describe the evidence in detail.)
The PROSECUTING ATTORNEY calls THE DETECTIVE to the stand. The PROSECUTING ATTORNEY asks her witness a series of questions.
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Mr. Thomas, could you please briefly explain your background and court experience as an officer of the law?”
THE DETECTIVE: “I have been a Kansas City Detective for the past nine years, and an officer of KCPD since 1993. Over the course of my career, I have been involved with more than sixty court proceedings. This is the twelfth homicide in which I have been called as a witness.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “When the Defendant was first admitted as a suspect for the alleged murder of Jonathan Henson, was it you who interrogated the Defendant?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Umm… We prefer the term “interviewed”, but yes, I was the officer in charge of questioning the Mr. Brooks. We brought him to an interview room, and asked him a few questions about the disappearance of Mr. Henson.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Did any part of the testimony that the Defendant gave while he was in custody strike you as unusual?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Yes.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Please explain.”
THE DETECTIVE: “Mr. Brooks was already nervous when we interviewed him. It seemed like he had something to hide–”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “Objection: Speculation!”
JUDGE: “Sustained.”
THE DETECTIVE: “Well anyways, while he was giving his record of the events on the night of JAMES Henson’s disappearance, the defendant said that he was not going to apologize and that he was ‘pissed’ at the victim for being fired.”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “Objection: ‘Victim’ implies that a crime has been committed. This claim is unsupported by a lack of Habeas Corpus.”
JUDGE: “The court accepts the notion to restrict. Continue, Mr. Thomas.”
THE DETECTIVE: “From testimony of Mrs. Henson, we were able to confirm that Brooks had indeed been fired on the night of Mr. Henson’s disappearance. We believe that after stabbing Mr. Henson with the murder weapon, Brooks hid the body in Mr. Henson’s car and drove the vehicle to an undisclosed location. The investigating team is currently searching for the vehicle throughout the city.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Has the ongoing investigation of the crime scene turned up any results?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Yes, CSI has determined that the weapon, Exhibit A, which was discovered at the crime scene, contains samples of blood matching the victim’s DNA as well as fingerprints from the Defendant.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Thank you, Detective.”
TONY’S ATTORNEY cross-examines THE DETECTIVE.
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “Mr. Thomas, were there any other suspects in this investigation?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Anthony Brooks was the only other person at the construction site that night. We are convinced that the Defendant is the only one with opportunity—”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “And did you perhaps ‘interview’ any of the residents living near the site? Any store owners? Any homeless people found walking the streets? Did you question anyone other than Mr. Brooks?”
THE DETECTIVE: “KCPD arrived on site immediately after Brooks was found fleeing the scene. The crime scene is the only lot on _____ street surrounded by a twelve-foot safety fence and locking gate. We found the gate locked and that the locking mechanism had not been tampered with. From that, we concluded that only the defendant had access to the crime scene.”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “As an officer of the law, I am sure that you know that _____ street is notorious for crime, including armed robbery. Can the Kansas City Police Department rule out the possibility that one of the many gangs in the area could have car-jacked Mr. Henson as he left the site?”
THE DETECTIVE: “The evidence clearly shows that Brooks is directly involved with the incident. He had even been the person who initially informed us of where and when the crime had taken place, presumably out of a combined sense of fear and guilt. We could place him at the crime scene with motive, a weapon, and opportunity; there was no point in wasting resources investigating leads that were hardly conclusive.”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “Oklahoma City, 1995, Ibrahim Ahmad, an Arab-American was detained for the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Everyone was convinced that he was a terrorist responsible for the deaths of 160 people. Soon after, Ahmad was released from custody after being proven innocent. The reason? The FBI investigated the actual bomber, Timothy McVeigh, a lead many would have considered ‘hardly conclusive.’
(He pauses to let his comment it sink in.)
Moving on now, based on your experience in talking with my client, would you consider him to be an unintelligent individual?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Not at all. I would even say that Brooks is quite smart.”
TONY’s ATTORNEY: “Was he was read his Miranda rights during the time of his arrest?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Yes, this is standard procedure–”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “As an officer of the law, how well do you know these procedures?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Like my middle name.” (he says arrogantly.)
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “Would you agree that a detainee granted their Miranda rights is told that his words and actions can and will be used against him in the court of law?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Yes, I–“
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “So you are telling me that a man who is as intelligent as Mr. Brooks would point deliberately police in the direction of a crime he had committed?”
THE DETECTIVE: “Well maybe not, but I think–”
TONY’S ATTORNEY: “Thank you. Defense has further questions for this witness.”
The trial ends for the day. TONY is escorted out of the courthouse in handcuffs as he is harassed by the press. TONY says nothing.
Scene 7
WITNESS ROOM – DAY – INT
TONY’s ATTORNEY informs him that the PROSECUTING ATTORNEY will open today. He informs TONY that THE WIFE will be called to the stand.
TONY’S ATTORNEY tells him: “today will make the difference between being incarcerated or emancipated.”
Scene 8
COURTROOM – DAY – INT
Trial day 2 begins. This scene is the film’s (faux) climax. Mid-trial, The PROSECUTING ATTORNEY moves to admit a new piece of evidence, exhibit C, photos of Mr. Henson’s vehicle after it was recovered from the Missouri River. This includes how the car was discovered with a cinderblock resting on the gas pedal and the windows rolled down, presumably showing intentions of sinking the vehicle quickly. The case is beginning to look more like homicide than anything else. The scene begins with the PROSECUTING ATTORNEY speaking with her CO-COUNSEL before opening.
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “This case should have been finished yesterday. I don’t know what I will do if by some miracle he walks. Brooks needs to pay for what he did.”
CO-COUSEL: “Relax. We got this one in the bag already. Defense has no case. This guy’s already served time behind bars; I pulled his file this morning. With a conviction, and we will get a conviction. Brooks is going back to Leavenworth. It’s even harder to get into that place than get out and we’re looking at strike two for this guy. He’ll likely be begging for capital punishment as an alternative after a week back inside.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Thanks. I guess we’ll know soon enough.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY briefly gives her opening statements and then calls THE WIFE to testify.
THE WIFE talks about getting the phone call from her husband the night he went missing. She says that he said that he fired TONY
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Mrs. Henson, when was the last time you spoke with your husband?”
THE WIFE (sobbing): “It was the night he went missing… He had just gotten done telling me about having to fire TONY. And then, and then it sounded like the call was dropped. God… I didn’t even think anything of it.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Did you call back?”
THE WIFE takes time to pull herself together and stop crying. She is coming to terms with her husband’s “death”.
THE WIFE: “I tried him a few minutes later but his phone went straight to voicemail. I wasn’t really worried at that point. It was getting late so I fed and laid down Ariel. I thought JAMES just drained his cell battery… He’s always forgetting to charge it before we go to bed…”
(She pauses, painfully reflecting on his memory at this.)
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “What did you do next?”
THE WIFE: “Well I set up in bed waiting for him. I do not sleep very well without my husband at my side… sometime around one, I called him again. No answer this time either. I was scared that he may have gotten into an accident on the way home, so I called the police. I should have went looking for him, but I didn’t want to wake the kids. A part of me wanted to believe that I was just worrying a too much. I started thinking that he might have just fallen asleep in the unit on his site. JAMES had always worked so hard… And I had to think of my children. At about five-thirty in the morning, a police car pulled into the driveway. I remember thinking… Jesus… he got himself arrested.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Would it be the first time that your husband was arrested?”
THE WIFE: “Well no… see, JAMES had always put us first. He gave everything he could and then somehow managed to go the extra mile for our family. I never knew how he did it until the day Ariel was born. He had been working when I started going into labor and his site was about an hour away from the hospital. Well when he showed up, I was in too much pain to think about how he arrived, I was just happy that he was there to see the birth of our daughter. Well after the baby was delivered, and he held her for the first time, the nurse informed us that two police officers waiting outside for us. I didn’t know what to think at first, but JAMES just smiled at the two of us and told me that he loved me, then left the room. Two hours later I got a call from the police department telling me that he was arrested for driving twenty-five over on the way to the hospital. He was about a block away when he was pulled over. After Ariel’s birth certificate was written, they dropped the case. That was the only time.
On the night of the date, I knew he wouldn’t have gotten arrested for being reckless so I was already worried. It all hit me at once when only the policeman got out of the car. I just broke down in tears. I knew why he was there.” (Mrs. Henson feels obligated to her children FIRST, but also feels guilty like going out COULD have saved her husband.)
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “I know this is hard for you Mrs. Henson, but can you please tell the court what things were like in the household before you husband’s disappearance?”
THE WIFE: “We were like any other couple married with children… a few days were better than others but we were mostly content. I took care of Ariel and the boys, while he ran his company. Sometimes we ran into a few financial walls, but then JAMES would work twice as hard to make ends meet. I knew it was very difficult for him to deal with all the stress but JAMES was a very strong person. He put his own well-being aside to provide for his family.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “So would it be safe to say, then that your husband would never leave his wife and children? That he would never abandon them for any reason?”
THE WIFE: “Never.”
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: “Thank you. I have no more questions, your honor.”
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