The Whole Truth

1

When the court

officer smiled at me

on the morning of trial,

I knew I was f***ed.

They weren't taking

bets on this one.

Mike had killed his father,

Boone Lassiter,

left his handprint on the knife,

confessed.

Half my cases had

evidence this bad.

I just pled them out,

got manslaughter and moved on,

but this was Mike, and I'd

known him all his life.

He was going to college

and probably law school,

and I doubted his mother

could survive him

going to the penitentiary.

But I knew Boone, I had that,

and I knew enough about

the Lassiter household

to know that Mike had a defense,

if he would just talk to me.

- Jim.

- Morning.

Flyin' solo on this one?

Section 34 of the

judicial district court

of the state of Louisiana

in and for the parish

of St. Bernard

is now in session.

The honorable judge

Robichaux is presiding.

Order and silence are commanded.

God save the state of

Louisiana and this court.

All rise

for the honorable

Edouard Robichaux.

Bring 'em in.

Good morning, jury.

Please be seated.

The court

will come to order

in the matter of the state of

Louisiana versus Michael Lassiter,

on the charge

of first-degree murder.

Jury, you should

know the defendant

is still a minor...

Six weeks shy

of his 17th birthday.

But due to the seriousness

of the charges,

the case was transferred

to this court,

where he is being

tried as an adult.

Counselors.

Gentlemen, you both have

toiled in my courtroom before,

so you know how I

appreciate a swift trial.

Yes, sir.

Good morning.

Thank you for your service.

The case before you today

is a simple one,

a simple case of patricide.

Now, that's the killing

of one's father.

The defendant is the young

man that you see over there,

Mike Lassiter.

He's a senior at Newman.

He's a good student,

co-captain of

the debate team.

This past February, however,

on a Tuesday afternoon,

Mike took a knife,

and he stabbed his

father, Boone Lassiter,

right here.

Not by accident,

not in

self-defense.

He did it out of anger.

With premeditation

and malicious intent,

he murdered his father.

We'll prove this beyond

a reasonable doubt.

Now, you may hear,

from the other side,

that the victim, Mike's dad,

wasn't such a good guy,

that he was tough on his son,

that he bullied him.

But Boone Lassiter

isn't on trial here

for father of the year.

He may not have

been the best dad,

but the evidence will show

he wasn't the worst.

You want me to put you down?

Plenty of people grow up

without the best dads.

- There!

- Aah!

It doesn't give anyone

the right to murder.

Aah!

Therefore, at the

conclusion of this case,

I'll ask you

to return a verdict of guilty

of murder in the first degree.

- Thank you.

- If you don't talk to me,

I have to waive my opening.

Counselor?

Your honor,

the defense reserves its right

to an opening statement

until after the prosecution

presents its case.

Well, we are speeding along.

Your first witness ready?

Can you see if Angela

Morley's out there?

Do you swear to tell

the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth,

so help you god?

I do.

Your name, please.

Angela Morley.

- And your occupation?

- Flight attendant for deluxe charter.

- And deluxe is?

- A private airline.

People buy timeshares and we

fly them all over the world.

- Affluent people?

- Yes, very.

The victim, the deceased,

Mr. Boone Lassiter,

he was one of these people.

Yes.

And were you always

on his flights?

Most of them.

He'd request me.

And when did he

last fly with you?

The last week of January,

to la and back

with his son Mike,

and then round trip to Dallas.

And what was the

purpose of these trips,

if you remember?

The second, Dallas,

was business.

The first was to

take Mike, his son,

to look at colleges...

UCLA and Stanford.

We were supposed to go up

to Oregon to see, I think,

Reed, but they decided

to come home instead.

Listen.

It's your call,

but Stanford is one of the

top schools in the country

and you got in early.

I mean, look, I'm

happy to go to Reed,

check it out, but...

It's weird.

Maybe we should just declare

victory and head home early, huh?

Surprise your mom?

And how

would you characterize

the relationship

between father and son,

between Boone and Mike?

The trip home got kind of tense.

Mike seemed like

a typical teenager,

sullen with a little attitude.

Listen, we're gonna skip

Portland and head back.

- Tell the guys for me, will you?

- Okay.

You think you're old enough to

handle a piece of ass like that?

You don't

know why Mike was sullen.

No.

Thank you.

Ms. Morley.

I've never been

on a private plane.

Help me out here.

The customer can bring

whoever he wants with him.

Yes.

Mr. Lassiter would

do that sometimes.

Of course.

- Men and women.

- Sure.

Other lawyers, mostly.

And on the trip to Los Angeles,

he brought his son.

Yes.

Yours is a service

industry, right?

Yes.

And it's competitive.

Very.

So you have to provide

good service.

Naturally.

Did you like servicing

Mr. Lassiter?

Pardon me?

I'm asking if

he was a good client.

Yes.

He was professional, but fun,

pleasant to be around.

Ms. Morley,

when Mr. Lassiter

brought a woman,

or women with him on the plane,

did you ever leave their

names off the manifest?

Objection, your honor.

Women on the manifest?

How is this relevant?

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