The first perversion of the truth effected by one
of the individuals of the gathering is the starting
point of the contagious suggestion.
-Gustave le Bon
›Click‹
Jury, Day One, Morning:
The seven men and seven women find seats, with the two alternates sitting away from the table. For about twenty minutes, they dither over a foreperson. Mrs. Lim gets strong backing from half. Clifford Wright emerges as the other possible leader. By the second vote, someone switches to Wright.
Cliff: You all know why we’re here. We’ve listened to testimony for nearly ten days now, and we’ve had more than enough time to think, right?
A titter of agreement.
Cliff: And during our breaks, without doing anything the judge didn’t want us to do, I know a few of us have felt each other out, just to get an idea of where we stand. This hasn’t been easy, and I know a couple of times tempers have flared.
Man: I’ll say.
Cliff: But we’re in the home stretch, folks. Let’s be smooth and focused. I think it’s a good idea to take a straw vote right off the bat, see if by some miracle we’re already in agreement.
Some murmurs of assent.
Man: The judge said we should talk about this first.
Woman: Yes, what if we get a verdict on the first vote? I don’t think that’s the way to do the job right.
Man: Why waste time if we don’t have to? I knew how I would vote the minute those lawyers finished their opening statements.
Cliff: Even if we do have a majority this is not a vote that will count. We each get to have our say first, like the judge said.
They vote on slips of paper, anonymously. Clifford Wright reads off the answers one by one. Eight think Lindy Markov should win. Four oppose her claim.
Wright: Well, now, we’ve almost got a majority. You all remember, we only need nine on this civil case.
Man: So the gals went with hearts, not brains.
Woman: And most of the men were too stupid to use either one.
Wright: Let’s not bicker, folks.
Man: It’s more fun to think of this as the war between men and women. It kind of encapsulates all the issues. Romantic fancies and the greed of a woman…
Woman: Betrayal, power, and the ego of a man. Only this time, the women are winning for a change!
Wright: Let’s organize ourselves. Our next step seems to be to go around the room, give people a chance to say a little about who they are and why they’re thinking a certain way. We’ll go clockwise for discussions. That puts you first, Mr. Binkley. Is everyone okay with first names? I’m terrible with names.
Most agree to first names.
Bob Binkley: I’m a history teacher over at the college. Thirty-two years old and feel every minute of it. Not married and nobody in the picture at the moment. Don’t get too worked up if you notice I have trouble breathing sometimes. That’s just a touch of asthma.
Anyway, I’ve had about all I can take of this case. These two, they’re greedheads, and the money they are fighting over is obscene. A life spent accumulating wealth for its own sake is wasted.
Man: I never got the idea money was their goal. It just came with their success.
Bob: Nobody on earth should have that kind of money and not spread it around.
Woman: Lindy Markov was involved in charity work. I’ve seen her name in the papers pushing various causes.
Bob: Good for her. But, considering there’s still two hundred odd million being put back into manufacturing yet another device that pays homage to our cultural obsession with staying thin, I’m not impressed. These two fat cats could have settled this out of court so easily without wasting all our time.
Cliff: Can you tell us how you voted and why?
Bob: Oh, I don’t think the woman should get anything. They weren’t married. I picked Mike because the law’s on his side, but I’ve got an even better idea. I think we ought to take their money and divide it between ourselves. Now that would be fair. Bet we’d make better use of it, too.
Several others get off on his idea and fantasize on the topic until Cliff Wright intervenes.
Cliff: Ignacio?
Ignacio Ybarra: I’m twenty-three and I work for the telephone company as a lineman. My wife died two years ago. I have a son who is three, and for my recreation, I do community theater.
When we talked at lunch the other day, I already said what I think. I think she should get something.
Cliff: So you think she’s got a legitimate claim? Remember this is a legal case.
Ignacio: That’s not so simple to say. I agree the law should guide us to do the right thing but if it doesn’t give you a clear direction, you must look into your heart for what is right. I voted for Lindy.
Cliff: Care to say why?
Ignacio: I’m ready to hear the other people first.
Cliff: Okay. How about you, Maribel?
Maribel Grzegorek: I’ve lived up here twenty-two years. Came here to ski, and never left. I’m over forty and under seventy, not that that’s anybody’s beeswax. Used to work as a dealer in the casino. Now I cashier at the Mikasa outlet store.
My biggest problem with this case is that I just can’t stomach Riesner.
He reminds me of this old cat I had, the meanest animal you ever met. You know Mike Markov loses points in my book just for picking a lawyer like that. And that day Reilly tripped? I’d swear that lawyer put his foot in her way on purpose!
Man: Well, if he did she was asking for it.
Others interested in this line of discussion chime in. Speculations continue for a long time, then…
Cliff: You know, Maribel, I didn’t like that lawyer either. And it’s so easy to be influenced by those feelings, isn’t it? But I know when it comes time to decide, I’ve got to put that feeling aside, and really use my head. Now, I can tell you’re a smart woman who can tell the difference between what you feel and real evidence…
Woman: You know what struck me about Reilly? She looked funny wearing all those pale colors, kind of unprofessional…
Man: Don’t you remember all the noise when Marcia Clark wore a light-colored suit during the Simpson criminal trial? They do it so we’ll like them better.
Woman: (laughing) What baloney!
They discuss the lawyers’ clothes.
Cliff: Let’s go back to Maribel, okay? What about Lindy’s claim?
Maribel: You know, I’m thinking about the real evidence, don’t you worry. But I have to say, where do you think Mike Markov would be today without Lindy? Coaching kids at the YMCA, if he was lucky. She had all the imagination and drive. He’s an old fighter, a loser by the time she met him. He was rollin’ downhill. Now, here she came along with all this perked-up energy to pull him up with her. She was his ticket to a better life. But, let’s face it. The law’s not always fair. I remember once this gal I knew-
Cliff: So you think the law doesn’t really support her claim; but you feel she should get something.
Maribel: Well, I do feel that, on the other hand, we do have to think about the law.
Cliff: Sonny?
Sonny Ball: Pass.
Cliff: (pause) Okay, Sonny. We’ll move on for now. But at some point, I hope you’ll want to share your thoughts with us. Courtney?
Courtney Poole: Wait, I want to say some more about that lawyer, Ms. Reilly. Can I do that?
Cliff: Let’s try to stay on the point…
Mrs. Lim: I think Courtney should say what she wants to say…
Courtney: Because I thought she really made sense when she said, why should Mrs. Markov come away with nothing, not even a toothbrush? I mean, probably she took her toothbrush, but it sounded to me like she’s the one who picked everything in that house. He had no interest. And then, he turned around and kicked her out.
Bob: Well, but remember, they were not legally married. Legally, the house was in his name.
Cliff: Could we hold off on discussion until we finish going around the room? We’re almost done here. What are your thoughts, Kevin?
Courtney: Excuse me, but I’m not finished.
Cliff: Sorry. Please go on.
Courtney: It’s not like she’s going to go out and get a job easy. She’s really old. Also, did you notice how she always defended him? She still loves him, even after all he’s done to her. I guess he owes her something probably.
On the other hand, does she have any legal rights? How can we judge what they agreed on? We don’t get to go in the bedroom, or the church with them. We saw them in court, where they both fibbed and forgot things. You can never really know what goes on between two people. So I have a lot of doubts.
By the way, I’m twenty-two and I’m living with my mom at the Keys while I go to the University in Reno. I’m a psychology major and boy, I am learning a lot here already.
Bob: Yeah, here you are in a locked room with a buncha loonies!
Maribel: Hey, people! Remember that! Bob Binkley openly admits to being loony.
Laughter. They adjourn for a fifteen minute break. Takes them several minutes to get back to their chairs.
Cliff: Kevin, I believe you’re next.
Kevin Dowd: I have to say something about what Bob said first because I think we have a basic difference. In my opinion, Lindy and Mike Markov owe the world nothing. It’s every man for himself out there, and you have to work to survive. If you fall and you can’t get up, tough. They earned what they have. They should decide how to spend it without being under constant attack by spineless punks.
Now, I know something about this situation. Not to put too fine a point on it, I’m a wealthy man. And I’ll never say a thing against the ladies, God bless ’em. Where would we be without them? She helped him in a lot of ways, no doubt about that.
But the fact is, and here’s where I do agree with Bob, she was an employee of the corporation. She received a salary. And the fact is, she was Mike Markov’s lover. But that doesn’t make her his wife. And it doesn’t entitle her to any of his hard-earned money.
Cliff: What about you, Kris? What do you say?
Kris Schmidt: I’m a housewife with two kids, and I should be at home right now. My kids need me, especially in the afternoon to help them with their homework. These people’s problems are pretty darn far-removed from Joe’s and mine. He repairs boats, and does dry-dock work at the marina. We scrape by. What’s amazing to us is that there are people like the Markovs-I mean, their biggest worry has to be which yacht to take out today.
I just wish I could say I knew the right thing to do so we could all get out of here. Some of the legal stuff really goes over my head. The other night Joe and I were talking… we didn’t talk about the case, of course. I know what the judge said. But we did talk about this kind of situation in general. Joe says that women almost never get any money out of these palimony cases. I thought that was strange, I mean why not, if there’s plenty to go around.
Then I remembered how hard it is for me to wring a dime out of Joe for clothes for the kids, a night at the movies, anything. I think men are fighting a losing battle to keep women under their thumbs.
By the way, you know where that expression came from? A man used to be able to whip his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. That was perfectly legal.
I guess there’s no reason she should go off poor when Mike Markov could buy all of us, except maybe Kevin here, a few hundred times over. You notice the way he said he’d take care of her? He’d like that. He’d like her to come begging to him for the rest of her life. That’s pretty pathetic.
Cliff: Grace?
Grace Whipple: I’m fifty-four, divorced and taking care of a grown child who has some disabilities. Like Kevin, I also think I know something about this situation, but in my case it’s not because I’m rolling in the dough.
It takes a helluva lot of character to stick by someone who needs you. It’s an underrated virtue to be loyal. Not that she should be rewarded for her love, but maybe she should have some kind of compensation for giving so much of herself, so much of her life, to these enterprises that totally benefited Mike Markov. She really built something out of not much.
She’s close to my age. I like to think I’ve got a lot of years left to live. If she goes away broke, she’s got to start all over. Just imagine a woman like her out there applying for jobs. Nobody’s gonna want her. It’s not like it’s going to be a hardship for him to give up a few of those millions.
Cliff: Frank.
Frank Lister: I’m a retired biologist. I’ve been involved lately in organizing an organic food co-op. In my opinion, you have to reduce the issues here to basics. What Mike Markov is doing is simple mating behavior, finding a younger mate now that his partner is past childbearing age. Our purpose here is to procreate. We have that in common with almost any animal.
Cliff: Frank, what about your vote?
Frank: The most rational approach is to look to the law. In this case, I don’t think there’s any question. She shouldn’t get anything. The law doesn’t support it.
Cliff: Um, Diane?
Diane Miklos: I’m thirty-nine and I’m a professional climber. And I…
Bob: Somebody pays you to climb?
Diane: I raise money from sponsors, like outdoor clothing stores, camping gear manufacturers. Then I take the gear with me and photograph it while I’m climbing. They use the photos in their ads. I do slide shows and get people to contribute. My goal is to be the oldest woman to climb the seven summits, which are the seven highest peaks. So far, I’ve done three.
Woman: (very softly) Better move fast Di, because if you’re thirty-nine I’m the queen of Sheba.
Diane: What we have here is a typical situation. Like that black lawyer, Reynolds, kept saying, “He’s a chiseler.” That bastard Mike oppressed Lindy Markov for years. First, he chained her to him. Then, when he got what he wanted out of her, he dumped her.
She should have protected herself better. She counted on him to take care of her and that was her big mistake. That leaves us to go in and even things up for her.
Cliff: Susan?
Mrs. Lim: Please, If you don’t mind, I prefer Mrs. Lim.
Cliff: Go ahead, Mrs. Lim.
Mrs. Lim: My business is selling houses. I’m a real-estate broker in addition to a realtor. Married to Mr. Lim for twenty-three years, and I have two grown children.
I voted for Lindy Markov. You know, when you’re listening carefully, you can’t help noticing how people feel up there when they are testifying. I saw her cry. I saw Mike Markov suffering, too. But what we need to look at in a case like this is very simple. We examine the evidence. The judge told us to figure out the “effect and value of the evidence,” and to decide questions of fact, so that’s what we should do.
Bob: If you look at the evidence, how can you in good conscience vote in her favor? What about the agreement?
Mrs. Lim: That’s a good example. Not all the evidence can be taken at face value. Remember in the instructions that a valid contract requires a lawful objective and sufficient consideration. The consideration must have some value. They had no money, nothing, then. She was given nothing in return for signing away all her rights for eternity.
Diane: Why would she sign a paper like that anyway unless he forced her somehow or promised her something? It doesn’t make sense.
Frank: She felt he was losing interest in her. She held on as hard as she could. See a woman alone in this society is going to suffer. They’re going to be poorer. They lose all prestige. Doesn’t mean he forced her.
Diane: That’s just ridiculous and insulting. She may have been stupid to sign, but let me remind you, she said he promised to marry her if she signed. Since he didn’t marry her, its unenforceable. Guess that means she deserves at least some of their company.
Kevin: Even if you believe she told the truth, and even if you believe that agreement wasn’t valid, it laid out the terms for both to see. How can she claim she didn’t know that was their understanding if she signed that paper?
Diane: She signed to help him deal with his insecurities. Just like every good woman since time began, she bent over backward to support someone weaker. She never took it seriously. Why should she? There was no money involved at that point.
Cliff: Sonny? Got anything to add?
Sonny: No. Let’s just get this over with.
Cliff: Okay, then. That’s all of us. I’ll keep my spiel short, so we can move on to discussion. I’m forty-five. Married for twelve years, very recently separated, unfortunately. I consider myself to be a feminist. Most of you already know, I served in the state assembly a couple of years back. I’m campaign manager for a congressman at the moment, but I’m thinking about running again this November. I spent a few years in my twenties in law school, then worked as a paralegal and decided to go into politics instead and dropped out.
Bob: Everyone knows you don’t need an education for that.
Everyone laughs.
Cliff: That’s right. So believe me, I don’t think I know more than anyone else here. We all heard the same evidence.
Like several of you, I found the arguments for Lindy’s claim very persuasive. And I agree, there does seem to be plenty of money. If we were only interested in fairness, she should get something, for sure. I support a lot of liberal causes, including equal pay for women, and even poor old affirmative action.
But here, our focus has to be the law as it stands today, not how we want it to stand. And nowhere in California law is there financial provision for a woman who is not legally married to a man. There isn’t even a reference to so-called palimony. The only exception might be on a local level, where what they call domestic partners are covered by insurers in San Francisco, and maybe some other cities.
Frank: How do you know that?
Cliff: I just knew, but to verify it, I checked some of my old books.
Mrs. Lim: Didn’t the judge say not to do any research on our own?
Cliff: I looked it up before he gave us his instructions. And anyway, as I’ve said, I didn’t find anything at all about palimony, which should tell you something about how off-the-wall her claim is.
Based on the law, in my opinion, we can’t give her anything. I wish I could say different. But you know, Mike Markov said he would take care of her. He doesn’t have to, under the law. But I believe he will.
Diane: What happens five years down the line when he’s got a passel of kids and Lindy is just a grim memory?
Cliff: Well, you can hate men and never trust them. But I think most people try to live up to their obligations.
Diane: That’s just bullshit! He’ll toss a few coins at her and feel he’s done his duty. No, it’s up to us to force him to do the right thing.
Maribel: Well, you know Cliff’s got a point there, and I have to admit I liked what Kevin said, too. We’re supposed to follow the law. And just because the man has money, doesn’t necessarily mean she should get some.
Diane: I don’t believe this. You’re going to pull a switcheroo, aren’t you? Two minutes listening to the men, and you change your mind.
Maribel: I have a right to change my opinion after listening to other people speak. The judge said so.
Diane: Some women will do and say anything for a lick of male attention.
Maribel: Oh, what would you know about male attention? Didn’t your mother ever tip you off about the connection between too much sun and wrinkles?
Cliff: Please, ladies, ladies.
Diane: Please, men, men. Quit calling us ladies.
Cliff: What would you prefer?
Maribel: “Lady” fits some of us here.
Cliff: Enough, people. Let’s get back to work. I guess the next step is to work through the testimony and see if we can firm up our opinions, and do this quickly as possible. I know everyone is eager to do the parties in this case justice, and get out of here!
Now, before we move on, just to remind you all, our two alternate jurors are Patti Zobel and Damian Peck. They’ll be listening in on our discussion here, but they don’t participate. So let’s give them a lot to think about.
Kevin: I got something on my mind right now.
Cliff: What’s that, Kevin?
Kevin: How do they handle lunch around here? I’m starving.
›Click‹
›Click‹
Jury, Day One, Afternoon:
Wright: Let’s get to work. Now who wants to go first?
Kevin: Who decided on lunch? Fast food gives me indigestion.
Bob: You certainly gave a good imitation of a man enjoying his meal.
Kevin: Look who’s talkin’.
Maribel: You never eat anything, Cliff. We’re all snacking like crazy here, then we scarf lunch. Wish I had your self-control.
Cliff: It’s nothing to do with discipline. I just have some strict dietary requirements.
Frank: A vegetarian? That’s the only way to go. Wish I could stick to it.
Cliff: Well, yes. Also, I have bad allergies.
Courtney: I can’t eat garlic. Or if I do, you all better take ten steps back!
Cliff: This is more severe.
Courtney: What can’t you eat?
Cliff: Fresh apples, if you can believe that. Now, here’s something strange. That particular food allergy can be seasonal.
Frank: Are you serious? I’ve never heard of that.
Cliff: I’ve done a lot of research, believe me. When I eat uncooked apples my throat swells. I can’t breathe. It could kill me.
Diane: Now there’s a fluky way to go. Choked to death on an apple.
Frank: How about the normal allergies? Strawberries, peanuts, that kind of thing.
Cliff: Yeah, they are both on my list of no-nos.
Courtney: Is this like those people who die from bee stings?
Cliff: Same thing, yeah. I’m going to tell whoever it is that arranges our lunches about a good lunch place that uses lots of fresh food and vegetables, if we get stuck here for much longer. Everyone like Chinese?
Some grumble. Most do.
Frank: Are you kidding? Those places load the food with msg, all kinds of weird additives.
Cliff: Not this place. Trust me. Now, let’s get back to the issues. I’ll start off the discussion with a few thoughts, and you all just jump in when you’re ready.
Diane: (low) Yeah, tell us what to think about it, Cliff.
Cliff: Oh, and let me remind everyone, let’s focus on the case. Let’s not get personal. We’ve just got to look at the facts and come to a good decision here. Maybe today!
In spite of my telling you all how I voted on the first ballot, I see my role here as your leader as impartial. I know a lot of us support Lindy’s claims. For the first time in her life, she’s going to have to go it on her own. Her lover of many years has left her. Her job is over. There’s a lot there to pity. So I really understand how so many of us have taken her side. But maybe before we throw millions of dollars her way, we should be sure we know who she is and why she is suing Mike Markov.
Here we have, in my view, a very competent woman, very on the ball. She’s not going to lie down in a ditch and start living out of shopping carts. She’s got rich friends, a well-established network. So it’s not like we’re going to leave the woman destitute if we decide her claim is not legitimate.
Also, while she’s suing this guy, she defends him at every turn. Why? She still loves him. Now, here’s another way to think about that. Isn’t it possible this lawsuit is not really about money, it’s about revenge?
Frank: Pretty likely. We’re all victims to the whims of our emotions. She’s mad and she’s getting even.
Cliff: Also, there’s her testimony. Let’s look at that. How did you all feel about that? We’ve been told that an oral contract is as good as a written one. Was she telling the truth when she said they agreed to share everything?
Bob: She lies through her teeth. She lies like a rug.
Frank: As my first wife would say, she lies like a bandit. That suits the occasion.
Cliff: You say she lied. How? Ladies? Pardon me, Diane. Anyone else agree?
Maribel: Well, I think she fibbed when she said she wanted to be married to Mike Markov all along. She never even checked to see if her divorce was final. That’s pretty basic.
Grace: She may have twisted the truth a little when she said she thought he would marry her. He never said he would. She knew what the deal was going in, and she accepted his terms because she had no choice.
Kevin: She lied about the property agreement. Said he promised to marry her then. I don’t buy that. Here was a guy who had a bitter divorce that ruined him once. By God, he was not getting into that situation again. She lied about her divorce.
Bob: She lied to get the money, that’s what it comes down to.
Cliff: She went for the money.
Kevin: That’s obvious. As long as Lindy lived with Mike Markov, she lived the high life. She’s lost her man but she’s damned if she’ll lose all the good things she’s used to.
Maribel: Hey, you can’t blame her for trying.
Bob: But she knew the score going in. Even you’ve got to see that, Diane, unless you think she’s a total idiot.
Diane: Much as it gripes me, I have to admit to a sneaky suspicion she knew goddamned good and well he would never marry her. The minute he showed up with that paper, she should have said “Bye-bye, you stingy cheapskate.”
Grace: But she never expected this! She never expected him to dump her for a younger woman!
Maribel: Then she is a total idiot.
Grace: What I mean is, she really didn’t see things the same as him. You know what I mean? When he said they were in it together, for life, she believed him. He just said it to get what he wanted out of her, but she never saw that.
Ignacio: He made promises, I believe that.
Cliff: But is a promise the same thing as a legal contract?
Bob: Bingo. It’s not.
Mrs. Lim: I think we all take being on a jury very seriously. We want to do the right thing. The real problem is, our quest is so abstract. Put a dollar figure on all the promises someone has made you. That’s hard to do.
Diane: This system is really fucked. This woman has a right to something from him, but what she really deserves is his loyalty and his love and nothing we do is going to give her that.
Kevin: You sound like that sassy, sly little thing, her lawyer. The next thing you’ll say is, the money is meaningless. Therefore, let’s toss a few mil her way.
Diane: Not at all. But let’s put this in perspective. He’s got dough to blow, and he owes her.
Kevin: That kind of thinking really steams me. Just because there’s plenty, she should get some? That’s so specious. Why, that makes us no better than a common mugger on the street.
Bob: Our job is to put a stop to these crazy claims the system is doling out. I’m not gonna be one of those jurors who forks over millions to someone just because there’s money out there.
Diane: Here’s something else everyone should consider. Those lawyers presenting the case. They are the hired help. They will say anything they can get away with to get you to believe them.
Discussion follows about the lawyers being in it for the money.
Wright: Let’s move back to the issues. Anyone?
Frank: Back to the ersatz marriage in the church. Remember, at that point they had barely met. They were heavy into the courtship phase. So he got down on bended knee with her. Like kids, they played at getting married. He was wooing her.
Ignacio: Yes, but why do it? Why make this kind of spiritual promise at all?
Frank: That’s simple. He did it to get her into his bed. Actions speak louder than words, you know. Let’s get this through our thick skulls. He never married her. End of discussion.
Cliff: So we’re agreed she’s a liar, and…
Mrs. Lim: You know, that’s awfully harsh, calling her that. And I wonder if it isn’t a deliberate attempt to make us forget the evidence in this case, using inflammatory words that make us dislike her.
Cliff: I apologize for using the word if it offends. And flattered you imply I’m such a master manipulator I can make anybody do anything. But point taken. We’ll watch how we characterize the plaintiff…
Diane: (very quietly) Cliffy, I think you know a whole lot about manipulating people, don’t you?
Kevin: I don’t recall any evidence in her favor. What I remember were the four points of evidence his attorney made. They weren’t married. She was employed by the company. All the paperwork supports his claim that he’s sole owner of the business. And she agreed in writing to keep their property separate.
Courtney: He wanted a wife but I think he was afraid of the responsibility.
For a few moments, there’s silence.
Cliff: You’re awfully quiet over there. Sonny, do you have anything to contribute to this discussion?
Sonny: It’s almost five. Let’s vote.
They vote again. It’s seven to five in favor of Lindy Markov. Movement, as the chairs are pushed back. Sounds of people milling around.
Diane: You did it, didn’t you? Changed your vote.
Maribel: Diane, have a heart. I don’t have any sponsors. I have a job. And seven bucks a day for jury duty is not going to keep me in panty hose.
Diane: Your employer should pay you for the days you miss.
Maribel: Oh, they will. But you know what? Out of sight, out of mind. I don’t want my replacement to become a permanent fixture.
Diane: What about Lindy? You must have thought she had a case. You voted for her once.
Maribel: I like her. I wish her well. But she lied up there, and I can’t read her mind. I don’t know what the facts are in this case, but I do know, I feel like I’m on a catamaran, jumping from one side to the other. It was that way all through the trial. I’ve totally lost my balance. I don’t know what to think.
Diane: This process is supposed to help you come to your own conclusions…
Maribel: I guess it has. I’ve concluded it’s not going to get any clearer, even if I listen to a hundred people arguing.
Diane: We can help you think this through. Just give us a chance. Keep an open mind…
Maribel: Let’s console ourselves with the idea that, in the end, if she loses, like Kris said, she’s still riding around in a better boat than me.
Courtney: (whispering) Kevin! Get your hand off my knee. I mean it. Right now.
Kevin: (also whispering) I’ve seen the way you look at me.
Ignacio: You okay, Courtney?
Courtney: I… I am now.
Ignacio: Would you mind changing seats? Bob won’t mind.
Courtney: Good idea.
Movement.
Bob: Heard you were hard up for company, Kev. Or maybe it’s your deodorant.
Kevin: So the young buck’s got some spirit in him after all.
A few more comments, a few complaints about having to return for another day, and they adjourn.
›Click‹
›Click‹
Jury, Day Two, Morning:
Mrs. Lim: I thought a lot last night. It seems to me we talked all day yesterday about the superficial evidence. What about the deep thing that kept this couple celebrating anniversaries for twenty years?
Bob: And off we go for another grand tour on the Love Boat.
Mrs. Lim: They shared family. Remember his niece called her “aunt.” They had a home, a life, a business together. They relied on each other to make big decisions. They presented themselves as husband and wife.
Maribel: Which is more than you can say for some married people.
Mrs. Lim: So why wouldn’t she believe what he told her and follow his advice? Why shouldn’t she compromise sometimes, bend to him. She loved him, thought they would be together for life, and in an old-fashioned manner, showed her respect for him as a man by letting him have things his way.
Papers shuffle.
These two people were very close on every level. They understood each other very well. After all those years living together as though they were legally bound, we now know she was lulled into a false sense of security, yes. But even he said he always promised her he would take care of her. Because she loved and trusted him, she believed him. I believe he meant those words when he spoke them, too. You see? They had agreements, and they were very explicit agreements, mutually understood.
Grace: They understood each other, that’s right.
Courtney: You’re saying they really had a marriage of true minds.
Mrs. Lim: Yes.
Ignacio: That looks on tempests and is never shaken.
Courtney: You like Shakespeare?
Ignacio: It was my mother’s favorite sonnet.
Kris: Hello? (She raps on the table.) Can we save the romance for Saturday night?
Mrs. Lim: And how about this? See, it says right here. “The law protects a partner in business against someone who breaks his word. They should each take their share.” She was an equal partner. They had desks right by each other. He broke many promises. The law should protect her.
Cliff: What’s that you’re reading?
Mrs. Lim: My notes from the trial.
Cliff: I don’t think that was testimony, was it? That sounds like one of those lawyers during the arguments.
Bob: And I thought we agreed the lawyers are as full of self-interest as the parties in this conflict, so beware.
Cliff: I believe we are supposed to ask the judge to have anything read back from the transcript.
Kris: Oh, let’s not do that. Then we go back into the court, and come back here. That’ll take forever.
Cliff: We should not rely on our memories if we’re not sure about something.
Mrs. Lim: Listen, Mr. Wright, my notes are accurate! Are you saying I made this up?
Cliff: Mrs. Lim, no need to get so emotional. Of course your notes are not intentionally wrong. Anyway, we’ve gotten way off the track here. Where’s the piece of paper that shows they had a marriage? They didn’t, and all the talk about how they lived is beside the point.
Mrs. Lim: I completely disagree.
Cliff: Well, if you insist, I’ll call the bailiff. Let’s see if the reporter can read that part of the statement back to us. Oh, and while we’re at it, let’s ask for a little clarification on mutual consent. Mrs. Lim said she wasn’t sure they were agreeing to the same thing…
Mrs. Lim: No, Mr. Wright. I said I was sure they were agreeing.
Bob: You know, Mrs. Lim, it strikes me you are taking all of this very hard. Why beat yourself up about Lindy Markov? What’s in it for you?
Mrs. Lim: That kind of comment doesn’t merit an answer.
Shuffling noises.
Kris: Do we have to go do this? Can’t we just vote again?
They leave the room for a half hour. Before they return, they break.
Cliff: I’m sure we all feel clearer now that we’ve heard the transcript read back.
Diane: As if it’s suddenly clearer the second time!
Cliff: Apparently, what Mrs. Lim was reading came from Nina Reilly’s opening statement, and her words were almost, but not entirely accurate, so I’m glad we got that figured out. Now, let’s remember the judge said that things said by the lawyers are not evidence unless they are supported by other evidence. We can’t just assume they can prove what they say…
Mrs. Lim: There was plenty of proof. Plenty. He made promises. He broke them. He pretends to forget about them. Isn’t that convenient? You think he doesn’t remember getting down on his bended knee and promising to love her forever in that church? You think he doesn’t remember they started off sharing everything or that he introduced her as his wife a million times? He’s ashamed of himself, but he’s set the wheels in motion and now he’s too stubborn to backtrack.
Diane: It’s true. He really wiggled up there.
Grace: He looks bad in general. Did you see the picture in the papers this morning of him outside the courthouse?
Diane: It’s hard to believe he ever punched his way out of a paper bag.
Cliff: I have to remind you, we’re not supposed to be reading the papers. The judge said…
Grace: We just looked at the pictures, right Diane?
Diane: Who has time to read that drivel? I’ve got better things to do. I’m in training for Mt. McKinley. Three hours a day on the stair-climber, two on a bike, running…
Grace: I think he has a lot to hide. He knows he done her wrong. He must just hate himself.
Courtney: I didn’t trust him. All those years he introduced her as his wife. Every time it was a lie, and that’s according to his own viewpoint!
They talk about the video in court that showed him doing just that, and how Mike Markov did not seem surprised to see it.
Ignacio: I believe he knew in his heart he was a married man. But the business-well, the lawyer referred to it as “their child.” It’s like a custody battle. He’ll say anything to stay in control of that.
Kevin: All of that’s completely beside the point. Doesn’t matter if he lied. Doesn’t matter if he’s a cad. We’re here because Lindy Markov wants his money. And I have yet to hear the reason we ought to give it to her, besides that he gave her kisses and hugs and said a few things over the years he didn’t mean and has lived to regret.
Bob: I resent all this valuable time spent over an issue that’s just… frivolous! Has anyone considered how much both of those rich people are paying all those lawyers? Why, there were times during this trial when there were four or five people sitting at the table on each side. How much do lawyers make? A couple hundred thousand a year? That’s practically a million bucks right there, because it probably took them minimum a year to prepare for this trial. Plus, there’s the judge, the reporter, the court clerk… we pay for them out of our taxes!
Maribel: And let us not forget the little people.
Bob: That’s right. We’re putting in a whole lot of sweat equity here. And what are we getting out of it?
Kevin: Why, Bob. We have the sweet satisfaction of being an integral part of justice in America.
They laugh.
Cliff: Let’s get back to our earlier discussion. We spent a lot of time discussing Mike Markov’s testimony. But whether he lied is not the issue. The issue is, does Lindy have a leg to stand on?
Diane: You know, I just can’t let this go by. Every time you refer to Mike, you call him Mike Markov. Every time you refer to her, you just call her Lindy. Has everyone else noticed that?
Bob: What difference does it make?
Diane: He sounds more important.
Cliff: I’m sorry, Diane. I really am. If I did that, it was unconscious.
Diane: The worst part of it is, I believe you. You are so unaware of the way you are stampeding this woman, and many of the women here right into dust.
Maribel: Will you please quit being my champion, Diane? I do not feel stampeded. You have such a nerve.
Kevin: Ladies, and Diane, I can see this is hard for you. You see a man who has tossed off a good woman. But where, oh, where is it written that he should pay for that for the rest of his life? They had a good run. Now it’s over.
Frank: She needs to forget about him and move on.
Bob: I say we help her along by giving her a kick in the rear end.
Kris: You know what? I’d like to vote again.
Diane: You’re giving up.
Kris: She’s got her rich friends to bail her out. I need to get back to my kids, and in terms of the universe, who cares whether she walks away rich or poor. She’ll toil along like the rest of us.
Diane: Is this the way it works? Somebody wants to go home, so we let Lindy Markov down?
Kris: Diane, I wish I was holier than thou. But I’m not. I’m just a person, trying to scrape by. And I do not have time for this.
Diane: You know what? Up to now I had a shred of faith in the jury system. People would ask me, shouldn’t a smart judge be the one to decide? Why waste everyone’s time? And I’d say, well, a jury of your peers is what stands between you and a bigot, or an ass-kissing politician, or a hard-line Gestapo judge, or…
Maribel: Well, that’s a terrible thing to say about Judge Milne…
Diane: God, this is just what I mean! I’m not talking about Judge Milne. I’m talking about a system that is as fair as it’s possible to have. There isn’t one better. And yet, here we are, letting these guys flirt and cajole and bully us into changing our position.
Maribel: Who’s flirting? You just insult people left and right!
Kris: I don’t let men bully me. I make up my own mind. You have a hard time accepting that another woman might not think the same way you do, Diane. But we all have life experience and brains, too.
And, put this in your pipe. He said he’d take care of her. He’s got such a guilty conscience, that’s obvious. So I believe he will. Like I said before, I’d rather she didn’t have to beg, but I can see which way the wind is blowing here, and I’m willing to go with the flow because however it turns out, she’s going to get something out of him, probably more than I’ll ever see in my life. And if she has to beg, well, welcome to the real world, baby.
Diane: Kris, please. You said at the beginning she deserved something. Give this some more thought.
Kris: Didn’t you hear me? I don’t have any more time to spend on this woman’s problems. I have my own. She’s not going to jail for a crime she didn’t commit or anything! This is just about money. This is not life or death.
Diane: I’m just asking you to take your time before deciding to change your vote.
Kris: Courtney’s not the only one who knows something about psychology. I know a few things about your type.
Diane: Huh?
Kris: Yeah, the mountain climber mentality. These are people who are happiest when they are in extreme situations that demand all their attention. They’re lousy at living everyday lives. That’s too boring. I think you’d like to drag this thing out. I think you’re enjoying this. You need to get a life.
Diane: That’s so unfair. I know how to make beds and do dishes, just like you!
Kris: Unlike Lindy. Can we please vote, now?
Cliff: It’s almost lunchtime.
Kris: This shouldn’t take long.
Frank: Chinese today?
Cliff: No, they had something else planned. But if we’re here tomorrow…
Kris: Christ, I hope not.
Cliff: Okay, let’s see where we stand.
Mrs. Lim: I would like to say something.
Cliff: And we all want to hear it. After we break for lunch. We’ve just got time for a vote.
They vote. It’s split down the middle, six to six.
›Click‹
›Click‹
Jury, Day Two, Afternoon:
Cliff: I want to start off this afternoon saying I’ve considered what Diane said earlier, about my referring to Mike more deferentially. That’s exactly the kind of thing that drives me nuts about other people, so it really hurt. So I really thought hard about ways I am influenced by own biases.
You know, I mentioned that I am recently separated. And I’ve searched my heart to see if that has had some impact on how strongly, since the beginning, I have favored Mike’s case. I have to be honest with you: it does. I took that idea, that the business was their child, very much to heart.
I have a child, and I foresee that my wife and I will be engaged in a bitter battle for custody. I see that child will be hurt, no matter what I do, but I can’t give her up. I will fight to the death for her. Just like Mike is fighting for his company. So I guess I understand. I see Lindy’s ownership, in a way, but it can’t be cut in half or it will be destroyed, you know, like in the Bible story where the real mother won’t have the child cut into two pieces, but the false mother will. Their company will be terribly harmed, maybe irreparably, if Lindy is given a big chunk of their assets. He’ll have to cut off an arm, and maybe a leg, and…
Diane: Oh, please! He might sell a bunch of buildings and machinery, if it comes to that. Since when does metal bleed?
Grace: Can you let him finish? I want to hear the rest.
Cliff: Thank you, Grace. Anyway, I guess what I’m saying is, it’s right to remove yourself from personal considerations, even if it seems impossible. So I went through my whole chain of reasoning one more time…
Diane: Let me guess. Mike still wins!
Cliff: Well, yes. There just is not one iota of evidence to support Lindy’s claim.
Diane: Figures.
Cliff: No written promises, no marriage certificate, no witnesses to direct promises. It just comes down to her word against his, as to an oral contract. How could Mike have made it any clearer that he did not wish to be married? I mean, they were together twenty years. Should he have written it in blood?
No, on the contrary, what I see is that she signed her name to an agreement that said they should separate their property. There were innuendoes made by Lindy’s lawyers that he forced her to do that, using some nasty psychological pressure, but you know, he strikes me as a pretty straightforward person. What she saw was exactly what she got.
Mrs. Lim: Really? What about the fact that for most of those years, he presented her to the world as his wife, and then claimed he didn’t? Doesn’t that prove he’s deceitful?
Frank: He did that out of consideration for her feelings. He wanted to keep her without compromising his own wishes. And as for saying he didn’t recall, well, it’s possible he forgot…
Diane: It’s possible I’m a ring-tailed lemur, but I don’t look like one or act like one. But then some people prefer their delusions…
Frank: Or his very normal sense of self-preservation kicked in.
Cliff: Anyway, I’m hoping we’re all trying to vote the law, and not self-interest. Let’s make sure in our minds we’re being fair to the evidence. And in spite of how we mock the poor lawyers, they provide a necessary service. They must plow through a lot of garbage to pull out the stuff we need to hear to decide. I think they all presented good cases. It’s just that Mike’s was inherently, objectively better.
Courtney: How can you say that? Lindy’s lawyers made as much sense as they did. Also, to me, Mr. Riesner and Ms. Casey had a little attitude, like, the decision’s so obvious. Well, I don’t think it’s so obvious.
Diane: “Smug” is only one of many good words that describe those two.
Courtney: After all, it’s up to us.
Grace: Cliff, going back to what you were saying, you got me thinking. I’m a very emotional person. I got all wrapped up in Lindy’s problems, because that’s the kind of person I am. I just can’t leave a dead dog in the road, you know? I’m out of my car, finding a sack, burying the poor thing somewhere…
Cliff: You have a big heart, Grace. I’m sure we’ve all noticed that.
He asks about her child, and she talks for a long time about what it’s like to be the sole caretaker for a handicapped adult. Many people sympathize with her. You can feel her relaxing, feeling better just to have some recognition for her difficulties. He suggests that after the trial is over, she call his office. He knows of some social service agencies that might be able to find relief for her. There’s a fifteen minute break, and during the break, many people share their worries about how long they’ve been gone from their jobs and daily lives. Everyone except Frank drinks lots of coffee, and many are nibbling on snacks.
Cliff: Like Grace here, it’s clear we all have so many important obligations that are falling by the wayside while we try to decide this thing. So let’s try to be efficient. Let’s try to come to some agreement here. The tide does seem to be moving toward Mike. I’m wondering what the rest of you die-hard Lindy fans need to be convinced.
Diane: (laughing) Well, well, well. No more beating around the bush. You think you’ve got it in the bag. You know, I have to admire you, Cliff. Here you are, and almost singlehandedly, with just the occasional, bumbling help of your male compadres, you’re turning this group around to your point of view. I sure see why you’ve been successful in politics. Here’s how it works, right? You target the weakest links and then you whittle away…
Grace: Weakest link?
Diane: I have to wonder about this child of yours, Cliff, that came out of the blue this morning. You never once mentioned her before. Is she real or rhetorical?
Cliff: I’ve been experiencing a lot of personal pain, Diane. I don’t enjoy talking about it. I’m sure you can understand that.
Diane: You didn’t answer the question.
Grace: You see me as a weak link, Diane? Talk about a piece of work. You think a person has to be able to jump up a mountain on a pogo stick to prove their worth, but I see life very differently, lady. Strength is taking care of the people you love, forging lifelong ties, doing whatever you do well, and that includes laundry on a regular basis.
You know what I don’t hear from you, Diane? I don’t hear a word about your family.
Kris: You don’t have kids, do you, Diane? That would be so irresponsible.
Frank: No, people in a risky business like Diane’s have to fight their basic instincts.
Kevin: Ten to one odds she never even married.
Grace: You’re so pro-Lindy because you’re enjoying all this. You haven’t got much else going in your own life.
Diane: I do have family. And I have resolved my issues about what I do already, so please, how about the rest of you get over it, and get back to the case?
Now, Grace, you talked earlier about Lindy Markov’s loyalty, about her deserving something in compensation. That isn’t a legal argument, it’s a moral one. The proper thing to do is not always the right thing. I think Ignacio said that, too.
Ignacio: Yes, I agree.
Diane: Married or not, explicit promises or not, doesn’t she deserve some percentage, even a small one, of their total assets after twenty years? She doesn’t even own her own home! He’s out there living in a mansion with his new tootsie, and she’s left with nothing.
Grace: Well, not everybody gets to own a house. I rent.
Bob: Me, too.
Diane: He violated her faith. He took a new partner, in essence. She never did.
Grace: I do think well of her for that. I do.
Kevin: We all do, I think. She’s a personable girl, Lindy Markov. And she’s been real successful. Don’t you think we aren’t giving her enough credit? She pulled herself up from nothing. If she did it once, she can do it again.
Diane: Why should she? Is Mike Markov going to do that? And aren’t you admitting she was the driving force behind their business success?
Mrs. Lim: I want to say something, but first, I’m not comfortable with Diane characterizing this as a moral choice rather than a legal one. I believe Lindy and Mike had an oral contract, as valid and binding as anything written. I believe that business is, at minimum, half hers. It’s not a matter of him giving her money. It’s a matter of us ensuring that she gets what is already hers.
I’m a businesswoman myself, and I can only marvel at their success. I’m envious, too, and I don’t think I’m the only one here. But to be fair to this situation, I’m trying to put my petty side behind me and give this case the serious concern it deserves.
Grace: Well, we are all doing that.
Mrs. Lim: I hope we are all trying to do that, as best we can. Now, here’s another point I wanted to make. Did anyone notice Lindy hardly paid attention when the receiver testified? Didn’t seem to care about the numbers. Her eyes just glazed over.
Kevin: I thought we discussed this. She was getting her revenge by hitting Mike where he lives, in the pocketbook. The amount of damage probably doesn’t matter too much.
Mrs. Lim: No. The amount is not important to her, but for another reason. She’s suing on principle. We have to consider the principles here. She owns half that company. And even if what she really wants is Mike back, we can give her her share.
Grace: Whatever we decide, she loses. She’ll never get him back, and dividing up the company’s gonna kill anything they had going. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could force Mike to go back to her? That’s what she wants.
Courtney: I wanted to hate him but I never did. I just think what’s happening between them is so tragic.
Cliff: Yes, it is sad. Maybe that’s why we’re having trouble ending this discussion and getting out of here. The money isn’t really going to help her anyway.
Diane: Let’s drop the melodrama. Nina Reilly said several times that the only compensation available in this case is financial. That’s the way the law works.
Grace: I’m so tired of talking about this. It’s hard to stay worked up about Lindy’s problems after talking about them for nearly two days, although I’ve stuck to my original position because I definitely feel some sympathy.
Cliff: Remember the judge’s instructions? You can’t let sympathy influence you. As I said, that’s been a problem for me, too.
Diane: We may be bored but we are right, Grace. That’s worth a lot.
Grace: I don’t know about that. Maybe Kevin’s right, just because there’s money, it doesn’t mean she should have some.
Diane: It isn’t just because there’s money. It’s because, as Mrs. Lim said just moments ago, that money belongs to both of them!
Kevin: Show us a paper, any paper, that proves it.
Cliff: Is everyone ready for a vote? It’s four-fifteen, a good time to check out where we are.
Kris: Yes! Maybe we can tell the judge to convene everyone tomorrow morning. Maybe this time, we’ll have a verdict!
They vote. It’s five for Lindy, seven against. There’s another hour of bickering but no change in the vote before they quit for the day.
›Click‹
›Click‹
Jury, Day Three, Morning:
Cliff: I have a good feeling about today! I bet we get to our verdict!
This has been really something. We started off eight to four in favor of Lindy Markov, and now we’re seven to five against her claim. I have a feeling as we discuss the case and apply the hard test of reason, logic is telling people the law in this case should protect Mike Markov.
Diane: Not logic, Cliff. You.
Mrs. Lim: Once again, Mr. Wright, I must object to your language. You twist the truth by suggesting that those who do not agree with you are illogical. I’ve said all along, I’m looking at the evidence. I’m not being pushed around by my feelings either way.
Cliff: Mrs. Lim, is English your second language? I think you read nuances into very simple statements of mine that are not there.
To continue. Yesterday, Ignacio cornered me at the end of the day and asked if we couldn’t discuss the church ceremony.
Ignacio: That day those two people knelt down before God and made their promises, that day they were married. They are married in the eyes of God.
Kris: Do they allow God in the courtroom these days? They don’t let much else in.
Kevin: God or not, this is a legal case, Ignacio.
Ignacio: Of course.
Kevin: You have this picture in your mind of this woman in a wedding dress and this man in a tux going off to church one fine day. Here’s the reality. One afternoon, maybe they have a couple of drinks. And he goes to the church to please her, and that night they hit the sack happy. If God was there, he was shaking his head in dismay.
Courtney: You are disgusting! I don’t think it was that way at all.
Cliff: Now Courtney, no need to hurt Kevin’s feelings. But you are awfully young, aren’t you? You said yourself, you can’t know what goes on between two people, didn’t you?
Courtney: Yes, but…
Cliff: I see you have youthful skepticism. That’s healthy. I also see that, although you’ve supported Lindy so far, you have a lot of doubts, don’t you?
Courtney: A few.
Diane: Hold on. Just stop right there. This marriage thing. To get Ignacio to switch his vote, Kevin makes Mike and Lindy sound like two drunks stumbling into a church prior to a sleazy one-night stand. That accomplished to your satisfaction for the moment, you go to work on Courtney. But everybody, listen. How many people do you know who celebrate a night like that as an anniversary for twenty years? They both admitted they did. That was a solemn, honest, and heartfelt occasion.
Cliff: When was the last time you went to church on Sunday, Ms. Miklos?
Diane: Huh? What does that have to do with-
Cliff: You pose as someone who agrees with Ignacio, but you really don’t at all.
Diane: I’m not posing as anything.
Cliff: C’mon, when? Six years old, Easter, yanked in there by Grandma?
Diane: Now, hold on!
Cliff: You don’t believe they were married in the eyes of God or anyone else, do you?
Diane: Why are you attacking me?
Cliff: You don’t answer my questions. And why is that? It’s because you know Ignacio is about to realize that wedding was not important to this case. You’re trying to mislead and confuse him by contradicting everything we say in support of Mike, no matter how much logic, reason and evidence we have to support our arguments.
Diane: It’s true, I’m not a follower of organized religion, but I have my own beliefs.
Cliff: Something you picked up in Tibet, no doubt, after forking over sixty-five thousand dollars for the privilege of being lugged up Mount Everest by a Sherpa.
Diane: I’ve never been to Tibet.
Bob: Jesus. You have to pay that much to climb a mountain?
Cliff: That’s right. It’s a sport for the elite of the world.
Diane: I fight for every penny! I work very, very hard to earn the respect and support of my sponsors and friends!
Bob: Making slide shows and going on hikes. Whew. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to-
Courtney: Stop picking on her!
Cliff: She makes it our business by bringing it into an argument. We’re just trying to be rational here, trying to examine the evidence like Mrs. Lim says.
Mrs. Lim: Don’t you dare quote me! I have never seen such a blatant prejudice and such underhanded exploitation and maneuvering in my life, and I see plenty of it in my business! You go too far!
Kevin: Break time! We’re out of coffee. Now, that’s unconscionable. I’m getting the bailiff.
They break.
Cliff: First I want to apologize if I got a little overheated in my arguments. You put your faith in me as a leader, and I take that duty seriously, so seriously, I may go a little overboard in trying to help us get closer to a verdict.
Courtney: But Cliff, it’s getting obvious the only verdict you want from us is against Lindy.
Cliff: I never meant to give that impression. If the majority had gone for Lindy, I would accept that. It’s just that after airing our views, we seem to be going the other way.
Bob: There is one point I’d like further discussion about. That’s Ignacio’s view that Lindy and Mike were married because they stepped inside a church once and made some promises to each other.
The point I’d like to make is this: our country is founded on the notion of a separation between church and state. That was so people could practice religion as they pleased, but the state could develop its own set of rules aimed at the common good.
Ignacio, is it right for you to base your decision in this case on your religious beliefs? This is a case brought before the state. Shouldn’t state law be our guide?
Ignacio: (heavy sigh) That is something to think about.
Cliff: Of course, you have to feel good in your conscience about how you vote. But look at it this way, you can believe they were married, without necessarily voting to give Lindy anything.
Ignacio: What do you mean?
Cliff: Well, you say they were married in the eyes of God. But we all agree they weren’t married according to the laws of this state. Logically, then, when it comes time for them to split up, the state’s usual community property laws should not apply.
Mrs. Lim: But this analysis is incorrect. If he believes they agreed to marriage, then he must realize they assumed certain obligations under that agreement, mutually agreed-upon obligations. Remember, if there’s a contract, and Ignacio is saying he believes there was from that moment, the judge said we can infer its existence and terms from the conduct of the parties. They certainly acted married. Why shouldn’t they be held to the normal terms of that contract?
Cliff: Mrs. Lim, there was no written agreement, and-
Mrs. Lim: There’s one interpretation for marriage, whether it happened under the eyes of God or in the eyes of the State of California.
Cliff: A case could be made that she read much more into that moment than he ever intended.
Mrs. Lim: He introduced her as his wife!
Cliff: And how can we know his intention, except as he explained it in court? He did it to please her. There was no hidden understanding that they were married. Why else would she say she was ashamed not to be married? She knew they weren’t! So did he!
Diane: (screams)
Courtney: Diane! What is it?
Bob: What’s the matter with her?
Kevin: Someone shut that crazy woman up!
The door opens.
Deputy Kimura: Everything okay in here? I thought I heard something.
Diane: Everything’s fine. I just had a… nightmare.
Deputy: A nightmare? Um. Do we need a doctor?
Cliff: No, no. I think the lady was just trying to make a point. A loud one.
Deputy: Is that so?
Diane: Yeah, I’m okay now.
Deputy: If you’re sure…
Door closes.
Cliff: And now I guess you’ll insist on telling us all about why you just about scared everybody to death.
Diane: It was a symbolic gesture of my despair, Cliff. Nobody can follow the fancies you call logic, and you don’t care anyway. You’re just going to keep us here listening to your fascinating mind games until we’re all hypnotized and vote however you want.
Courtney: (giggling) I wish I had screamed. I sure felt like it.
Cliff: Don’t you guys think there should be a requirement that people on juries be mature and intelligent enough so they can follow along with the rest of the grown-ups?
Courtney: Why, you… I’m in college you know.
Cliff: Yes, that gives me pause. I had heard that any fool could get into college these days.
Courtney: No wonder your wife left you.
Sonny: (shouts) Everybody just shut the fuck up!
Silence. The clock on the wall ticks.
Bob: What do you know? He can talk!
Sonny: You want to hear more?
Bob: Not really.
Cliff: I think maybe it’s time for a vote. What do you think, Ignacio. Did we get through that issue of yours okay?
Ignacio: Yes, I’ve given it a lot of thought.
They vote. It is eight to four against Lindy.
Courtney: Ignacio, you didn’t!
Ignacio: I’m sorry, Courtney. But I wasn’t voting the law before. I was voting my beliefs.
Courtney: If you can’t stick to your beliefs here, when can you?
Cliff: Well, let’s see. That leaves Diane, Mrs. Lim, Courtney, and, I presume, Mr. Ball, still for Lindy. I think it’s about time we heard something about your views on the matter, Mr. Ball.
Sonny: Sonny.
Cliff: Sure. Sonny.
Sonny: I’m on her side.
Cliff: (after a pause) And?
Sonny: That’s it.
Cliff: Well, can you tell us why?
Diane: He needs to know your reasoning, Sonny, so that he can substitute his reasoning…
Sonny: C’mon. All that dough. She was loyal. Never fucked around on him. If he’s any kind of man at all, he’s got to be fair to her.
Cliff: How would you feel if I told you she did fuck around? She lied up there. We’ve proven that.
Sonny: How do you know?
Cliff: That’s it, isn’t it? We don’t. How can we hand over this man’s hard earned money to a woman that might not even have been faithful to him? Probably wasn’t, in fact.
Diane: There’s absolutely no proof of that. Not one thing was said…
Cliff: My feeling is, and I think most of the guys here will agree, this whole deal is about revenge. He has a new girlfriend. He’s moving on. Why is the law involved in this at all?
Sonny: Now there’s a good question.
Cliff: Why should she get one thin dime?
Diane: Cliff, the only compensation available in this case is financial. We’re just deciding the facts and evidence. Such as, did they have a contract-
Cliff: She’s a liar and quite likely a cheat. I mean, did you see him up there? He’s much older than her. Looks like a little roll in the hay’s going to take some doing.
Mrs. Lim: You are shameless, Mr. Wright.
Diane: I really think-
Cliff: I believe I was talking to Sonny. Please have the courtesy to let me finish. So, here she is stuck with him. She probably had some on the side. You almost can’t hold that against her. But then, he found out and left her, and then she went whoops, there goes my meal ticket.
Does she try to work it out with him? No, she runs off and hires a lawyer, gets the law involved.
Diane: Cliff, why you talk with the passion of a man with firsthand experience.
Cliff: Now, Sonny, was that right? I mean, who wants to get mixed up with the law? Who needs that involvement?
Sonny: Nobody. That’s for damn sure.
Cliff: You’ll forgive me for asking, but, who makes the financial decisions in your family?
Sonny: Who do you think?
Cliff: You, of course. And why is that?
Sonny: Any big decisions, I make.
Cliff: You remind me so much of Mike Markov. Obviously, you don’t look alike. He’s kind of a ruin, now. But once he was a strong man like you, Sonny. A boxer. He’s an old-fashioned guy. He makes the big decisions, because he knows he’s the right man for the job. Do you remember in court when he promised to take care of Lindy Markov? He said he would. And nothing in his past suggests otherwise. I mean, they live in a huge mansion that he’s paid for for all these years.
Diane: With profits from the company they both own.
Cliff: Maybe he knows something we don’t. Maybe he knows how she fritters money away on clothes and new cars. Maybe she gambles. Maybe he has very good reasons for wanting to keep control of his business, because he’s terrified she’ll run it straight into the ground!
Mrs. Lim: I must protest. These are speculations about issues that were never even mentioned in court. Maybe she is a financial wizard! We don’t know.
Sonny: Enough. I want to vote.
Diane: Wait a minute. I have this terrible feeling about you, Sonny.
Sonny: Thanks.
Diane: You’re going to change your vote just to get this over with, aren’t you?
Sonny: (doesn’t answer)
Diane: Remember in the judge’s instructions? You are not supposed to decide a certain way just because other jurors favor that decision and certainly not because this jerk is trying to pull the wool over your eyes.
Sonny: Nobody is pulling any wool anywhere.
Courtney: You’ve stuck with Lindy all along. You know she deserves some of that money.
Sonny: Let’s vote.
But the bailiff knocks. The lunch is out in the hall. Does anyone want a quick trip outside before they settle down to eat? Kris and Cliff grab their cigarettes and go, followed by a bailiff. Others hit the bathroom.
After they all come back, Cliff gets his special dish, marked vegetarian, and asks for opinions on the food. Suddenly, he makes gagging sounds.
Kevin: Slow down, there, pal. You choking? Anybody know the Heimlich maneuver?
Courtney: I do!
Bob: Sonny, help me get him standing.
Courtney tries.
Courtney: It’s not helping! I don’t think he’s choking on anything.
Kevin: Maybe he’s having a heart attack!
(Cliff’s gasping and knocking things off the table.)
Cliff: (He’s talking so softly, in the commotion no one seems to hear him.) My jacket! Get my jacket! Let go of me!
Mrs. Lim: Sonny, try to sit him up. Don’t let him fall on the floor like that.
Courtney: Do you think he wants his jacket? It’s probably in the anteroom.
Bob: That can’t be right, or he’s out of his mind. It must be eighty degrees in here.
Mrs. Lim: Deputy Kimura! Get in here!
Cliff: (This is unintelligible.) The epi kit!
Kevin: He’s trying to say something.
Mrs. Lim: What is it, Cliff? What do you want us to do?
Alternate juror Damien Peck must be trying to run for help. He runs into the bailiff.
Deputy Kimura: Stay right here, please. Don’t leave, anyone.
Shouting for an ambulance, he leaves.
Diane: He can’t breathe! Here, you guys. Get him on the table. He needs CPR.
She works on him until Deputy Kimura returns and takes over. There’s very little going on except the sound of the deputy giving CPR. A woman is crying.
Mrs. Lim: Deputy Kimura, they’re here. We should get out of the way.
Frank: Look at him. He’s really swelling up. Looks just like a swarm of bees went after him.
Courtney: We can’t do anything more. Come on, Diane, move over.
Technician: His heart… Get these people out of here.
Footsteps as they scurry away.
Sonny: (leaving) Fight till the last gasp, dude.
Court personnel are ushering people out of the room so that emergency people can come in.
›Click‹
Thursday after lunch, the court called. Nina’s presence was requested at two.
“Do they have a question for the judge? Do they want some of the testimony reread?”
“No. I believe the judge needs to seat an alternate,” said the clerk.
“What happened?”
“Just come on down, Nina. I believe the judge would prefer to explain.”
Ringing Winston and Genevieve in their hotel rooms, where they actually were for once, Nina drove over to the courthouse with minutes to spare. She linked up with her team outside, and as a group they pushed past the curious reporters stationed outside the doors.
“What’s going on?” Winston demanded, but Nina just shrugged. He looked like hell, just like the rest of them. Jeff Riesner caught up with them in the hall. His sallow face and the bags under his eyes showed he wasn’t sleeping either.
“A verdict?”
“We’ll know in a minute.”
“Be seated,” announced the clerk.
They sat while the jury filed in. Nina searched their faces. But… where was Clifford Wright? There were only thirteen. Judging from their troubled expressions, something major had happened.
Looking grave, Milne took the bench. “Sorry to call you all out in such haste. There has been an unfortunate event in connection with the deliberations. Apparently Mr. Wright, one of our jurors, has had an allergic reaction to something he ate. He has had to be admitted to Boulder Hospital.
“It appears unlikely that he will be released in time to resume his work on the jury. Therefore, I must seat alternate juror number thirteen. At this time, we ask if there is any objection to the seating of the alternate. Order! Order! You people in the back, be quiet or you’ll be outside.”
“Just a moment, Your Honor,” Nina said. She tore open her juror file and Winston looked over her shoulder. Genevieve was looking at her own notes.
“Patti Zobel,” Genevieve whispered. “Divorced, in her forties, works for a resort time-share company. Her husband was having an affair. Fantastic. Don’t look happy. The jury won’t like it.”
“We’re sorry to hear this, Your Honor,” Nina said. “We have no objection to the substitution.”
Riesner looked stunned. He conferred with Rebecca in urgent whispers. Finally he said, “We would request a recess of a day to monitor Mr. Wright’s progress, Your Honor. Perhaps it’s just an upset stomach, and he can resume tomorrow. Let’s not be too hasty here.”
The phone rang at Deputy Kimura’s desk. Still standing and watching the crowd sternly, he picked up the receiver and listened. In a moment he made a sign to the clerk and began writing down something. The clerk made a sign to Milne, who said, “We will take a five minute recess. The jury will remain seated.” He left the bench in a flurry of robes. The deputy and his clerk followed him.
The legal affairs reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle, who had arrived late in the trial, came up to Nina right away and asked, “Who’s the alternate?” Nina gave him the name but little else. Patti Zobel, a plain woman in a running suit with frizzy hair, sitting in her spot with the other jurors, was trying to look calm but was obviously very excited. She had spent weeks as an understudy and had just been given a leading role.
Five minutes passed. Nina glanced at Patti Zobel. Patti Zobel looked back at her. Did she have a hint of a smile in the corner of her mouth? Could she be trying to say, I’m on your side? Nina looked away, afraid one of the other jurors would notice, intoxicated with hope.
Milne came back, his face long, and a hush fell over the courtroom.
“I regret to advise you that juror number six, Mr. Clifford Wright, passed away a few minutes ago at Boulder Hospital,” he said.
Gasps and stifled cries came from the jurors. Kris Schmidt buried her face in her hands. Nina and Winston looked at each other in astonishment. Genevieve scribbled a note. Hot dog! it said.
Milne seemed genuinely sad. “I have never had a juror die during a trial, and I have been a judge for seventeen years,” he went on. “I and the other court personnel would like to express our deep sympathy to Mr. Wright’s family and friends, and to express our appreciation for the work he has done in this case.”
He turned to the jury. “While I appreciate the sadness that you must feel, having worked very closely with Mr. Wright over the past weeks, I must ask you to return to your task. I believe Mr. Wright would have wanted you to do that.”
Riesner asked to approach the bench, and Nina went up there with him. Out of the hearing of the jury, Riesner said, “I move for a mistrial. This jury can’t carry on. It’s one thing to replace a sick juror, but this is too traumatic. They can’t be asked to calmly consider the evidence-”
Milne was nodding. “I agree to some extent,” he said. “This can’t be easy for the rest of them.”
“It’s not easy,” Nina said, “but look at the time and resources that have gone into this trial. The jury should be allowed to reach a verdict. The whole reason for the alternate juror system is to handle just this kind of situation, to save the work that’s been done. Please, Your Honor. Consider the judicial resources already expended. The parties, the attorneys-having to go through all this again is too-too awful to contemplate.”
Milne waved away Riesner’s next attempt to talk, and the lawyers stood there and waited while he thought. At last he said, “I would like to poll the jurors individually in my chambers to see if they feel able to continue. How does that sound?”
Nina nodded, but Riesner said, “No. It doesn’t matter what they say. I request a mistrial.”
“I’ll take that request under submission and meanwhile talk to the jury members,” Milne said. “All right, let’s do it.”
Another recess. The jurors returned to the jury room, waiting for their turn to be called in to see the judge. The lawyers fortified themselves with more caffeine downstairs. The reporters talked excitedly among themselves. Lindy went outside for a quick walk.
An hour passed, the most agonizing hour yet. While they drank coffee, Milne’s clerk, Edith, came down and Genevieve tried to get some more information. When she came back to the table, she said, “Wow. Trouble here in River City. Edith says the doc at the hospital is pretty sure Cliff was allergic to something he ate off the lunch tray provided by the court. They ate Chinese. The rest of the jury must be shook all to pieces.”
“If he told the court he was severely allergic to something and they let it be served to him anyway, his family’s got a lawsuit I would love to handle,” said Winston.
“That would be a first,” Nina said. “Suing the county for killing a juror. Incredible. Oh, I don’t even care. I’m so scared that Milne’s going to call a mistrial, my hands are shaking the coffee all over my skirt.”
“Me, too. I thought you just put in the next alternate if a juror got sick or died,” Genevieve said. “I can’t believe the judge would find it in his heart to throw away all this work.”
“If we can just keep going,” Winston said, “we got us a hot one in the jury room now. I saw how Patti gave you the high sign with her eyes, Nina.”
“Winston, ever the optimist. This trial is it for me,” Nina said. “I couldn’t afford to do this again. That poor man. I feel rotten about the way I talked about him.”
Deputy Kimura came through the door, pointing upward toward the court. “He’s ready,” he said.
Milne took the bench and the jurors came back in. “I have spoken with each of the jurors,” he said. “All, including juror thirteen, have advised me that they feel able to continue; therefore, I am denying the motion for a mistrial.”
Nina breathed again. She felt sad, relieved, frightened all at once. Under the table, Winston squeezed her hand.
Milne now gave the BAJI instruction to the jury covering the event that had just occurred, modifying it slightly. The jury listened intently, especially Patti Zobel, as if she wanted to demonstrate her willingness to follow the law and do a good job.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” he said. “A juror has been, ah, incapacitated and replaced with an alternate juror.
“The law grants each party in this case a right to a verdict reached only after full participation of all jurors who ultimately return the verdict.
“This right may be assured in this case only if the jury begins its deliberations again from the beginning.”
Oh, brother, Bob Binkley’s disgusted head shake said.
“You are therefore instructed to disregard and put out of your mind all past deliberations and begin deliberating anew. This means that each remaining juror must set aside and disregard the earlier deliberations as if they had not taken place.
“You shall now retire for your deliberations in accordance with the instructions previously given.”
Milne returned to his normal tone. “It is already four o’clock, and I am sure many of us are feeling upset and would like to go home to our families. Therefore the court will adjourn at this time and resume again at nine a.m. Don’t forget the cautions I have given you.”
“C’mon, Nina, let’s go out,” Genevieve said as they walked out into a cool drizzle. She reached for Winston. In response to her gesture, he put his arm tenderly around her, engulfing her in his overcoat, and Nina thought, watching Genevieve looking up at him, she acts like she owns him now. He’s not going to like that. “I do believe we’re all gonna get paid! Hey, Win, let’s drive up to the North Shore tonight and eat at that restaurant across from the casino at Incline.”
Nina made her excuses, smiling at Genevieve’s boisterous confidence. “Maybe,” she said. “But I’m going to meet Lindy at the office and explain what all this means to her. And remember, it’s not over-”
“Till it’s over,” Winston said. “You go get some sleep if you can.” He gently moved away from Genevieve. “Thanks for the offer, Gen, but I’m going to give those tables a chance to seduce me back, because Providence seems to be smiling on us right now, and I’m going to see if she hasn’t got some extra good cheer to throw my way.”
As she crawled into bed that night, Nina had a strong feeling that this would be the last night of hellish waiting. She pulled the covers up and lay on her back, thinking. If they won-oh, God, if they won-and as usual she woke up every couple of hours to lie there and fret some more, but she did have one funny dream.
She dreamed she was going to be a star, and Sophia Loren was fixing her hair. Sophia had a new pair of sunglasses for her, too.
Right. Her subconscious was apparently doing some premature celebrating with Genevieve.
Late the next morning they got the phone call: they had a verdict. Nina and Sandy drove to court together in Nina’s car. Sandy peppered Nina with questions about pending cases, but Nina was useless. She could not speak. Her mind was utterly blank. She made the familiar motions, turning the wheel of the car, driving the familiar streets, but she saw nothing but disaster ahead, if… On the way, a naturalist on the radio ranted about the songbirds and profusion of wildflowers in Tahoe at this time of year, but he might as well have been describing life on Mars. Nina turned him off before they parked.
The whole town appeared to have come out in force to hear the verdict, a testament to the extraordinary amount of media coverage the trial was receiving. Every seat was filled. Many people stood at the back of the room.
Nina took her place next to Lindy. Sandy sat on the other side of her. Genevieve and Winston were already waiting. They nodded shortly and turned their attention to the dais. Nina crossed her fingers on her lap and also waited for Milne with an eagerness so extreme it felt painful.
The next few minutes, while the judge got settled and the jury was brought in, she passed through eternity and came out the other side. If they lost…
Mrs. Lim adjusted reading glasses on her nose. She cleared her throat, looked up at the court, and then back down at the paper she held in her hand. She read the verdict.
They had won.
The jury awarded Lindy Markov a total of sixty-eight point six million dollars.
Nina anchored herself to the table with her hands, suddenly unable to see through the blur of activity, or hear through the din. Dimly, she saw the judge leave, and the jury, casting smiles her way, filing out.
They had won.
The room around her rocked like a foundering ship. Nina’s awareness narrowed to the whiteness of her hands and further to the sensitive tips of her fingers where they held tight to the wood as wave upon wave of elation swept over her, knocking the breath out of her.
They had won.
And she couldn’t believe it. Because in spite of all the plans, in spite of the fantasies, she had never expected to win.
Her sense of unreality extended into her surroundings. The courtroom had altered, and now appeared more palatial, grander, as if the roof had opened up and sun now streamed in where dull incandescents had once prevailed.
Steadying herself, trying to control the distorting tumult of her emotions, she stood up.
Lindy had squeezed her lids down tight over her eyes. Riesner talked rapidly into Mike’s ear.
Mike’s face looked drawn. On the way out, he fell against a guy from CNN who was leaving one of the rows and who just managed to catch him.
“Congratulations,” the crowd in the courtroom told Lindy and Nina, who fielded a dozen handshakes and high fives.
Lindy’s friend Alice hugged Nina, saying, “You did it, doll. It’s a left hook to the face of all those grinning baboons out there!”
Lindy grabbed Nina by the arm. “My God,” she said. “If my dad could see me now!”
“Lindy, I’m so glad for you,” said Nina, but the words fell flat. Nothing short of a mountain falling down could truly articulate something so huge and so fantastic.
She could feel Lindy’s fingernails squeezing into her arm, could smell the excitement in the close air of the room. She could hear the voices, all merging into pandemonium. She stood still, soaking up the sweetness of the moment, thinking of Bob.
But the crowds were pushing, and Lindy’s hand on her arm began to tremble.
“Let’s get out of here,” Nina said.
“We’re trapped,” Lindy whispered, looking panicked.
“We’ll have more to say later when it sinks in,” Nina said to the reporters, pulling Lindy away.
“Take the private hallway,” she told Lindy and Alice. “Stay there until they’re gone.”
“Thank you for everything, Nina,” Lindy said, clinging to her hand.
“It’s a goddamned triumph,” Alice said, pulling her away and hustling her through the door by the jury box.
And a triumph it was.
With Genevieve and Winston on one side of her and Sandy on the other, Nina gave the victory salute on the steps of the courthouse seen across California and the country on the evening news.
That evening, Matt and Andrea came over with two bottles of champagne. While the kids took pillows off the sofa and bounced down the stairs on them, the adults grabbed jackets and retired to the deck.
Matt drank one bottle entirely by himself. After several toasts, he said, “There’s something I want to say to Nina.”
“Sounds serious,” Andrea said, filling her glass.
“It is,” he said. “Nina, now I don’t think it’s a secret I’ve never liked what you do. I’ve never hidden my opinion of your chosen profession. You work too much. You drive yourself too hard for a bunch of troublemakers who could never be grateful enough, in my opinion.”
“Oh, now, Matt,” Nina said.
He put up a hand to stop her. “I never thought it was worth it. I’ve said it before. That shouldn’t surprise you. Well,” he said, “I’m going to admit something. Today proved I was wrong. Apparently, what you do has some merit after all.”
“That’s one way to look at it,” Andrea laughed. “Now and then, three and a half million bucks worth of merit!”
“That’s right,” Matt said. “And I hope you know how much you deserve it, too, Nina.”
“And it couldn’t happen to a nicer specialist in horrible cases,” Andrea said, patting Nina’s hand.
“Nina, has it sunk in yet?” Matt asked, looking at her. “From now on, you can pretty much buy anything you want.”
“A Roche Bobois couch,” Andrea said. “Duette blinds for the front windows. Hey, Nina, you can finally break down and buy yourself a decent pair of jeans. I’ve been meaning to tell you that the ones you’ve been wearing have a couple of holes under the back pocket.”
“A yacht,” said Matt.
“Really? Could she buy a yacht?” Andrea asked.
“Yes, she could,” Matt said. “I think. How much is a yacht anyway?”
“I have no idea,” Andrea said.
“To answer your original question, Matt,” Nina said. “No. It hasn’t sunk in.”
“Okay, here it comes,” Andrea said. “Here’s the question every celebrity in mourning, every landslide victim, and every lottery winner must answer at some point to satisfy the curious onlookers.”
“What question is that, Andrea?” asked Nina.
“How does it feel?”
Nina lay back on the lounge chair and pulled her coat tightly around her, staring up at the sky. “It feels like one of those stars up there just fell into my backyard.”
The vote had been nine to three, the minimum. Patti Zobel made it clear afterward, as she spoke to the press in the hall, that she had been the ninth vote favoring Lindy. Courtney Poole said it had been terribly close. Right before Cliff’s collapse, he had just about persuaded several of the other jurors to change their minds and vote for Mike, but then the judge had said to start fresh. When they returned to their original positions, and added in Patti’s emphatic arguments in favor of Lindy, Mike’s support had evaporated.
For two days, Nina enjoyed her brush with fame. Interviewed by the major networks, public television, radio and even on a website Bob helped her organize, she didn’t have any more time to deal with her own shock.
The attention often had a slightly hostile quality to it and generally varied according to gender. Men expressed disbelief and outrage at Lindy’s success. Women called the case cataclysmic and a vindication.
Nina disliked watching the issues get melted down by the media into a gender war. She said over and over in the interviews that the truth lay somewhere in the middle. She reminded everyone that the Markov case was unique in its details because of Lindy’s participation in the business. Most palimony cases had more to do with a long-term emotional connection and involved a request for support or rehabilitation. She didn’t think it would advance the cause of female financial equity between couples who lived together. Several other jurors, also interviewed, seconded her guess, saying that the issue was always Lindy’s work.
The jury had agreed that the separate property agreement was not a valid contract, that Lindy had signed the agreement with an understanding that there was a promise of marriage attached. They also agreed that some form of oral contract existed between the parties that promised Lindy not half of the company, but a share, which they had struggled to quantify, settling on one-third.
Susan Lim said on local television, “Anybody can come up with a good idea. Anybody can get it built. What really counts in business is marketing. If nobody buys, you make no money. Ms. Markov struck me as an intelligent person who definitely played a large part in their success. Who came up with their biggest product? She did. That was our reasoning, based on careful and objective consideration of the evidence.”
The jury had heard the evidence, and they had reached a decision for Lindy. It was the American jury system at its best.
And it was over.