The Life of David Gale
- Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!
- Hey! Stop, please!
In a related story,
the high court had also refused...
to stay Friday's execution of former
philosophy professor David Gale.
- Oh, boy.
- Gale had sought a review
of his 1994 conviction...
for the rape and murder
of his University of Austin
colleague Constance Harraway.
The case has received
nation wide media attention
because Gale and Harraway...
were activists for DeathWatch,
a nonprofit abolitionist organization.
Do you understand how much money the
taxpayers pay in the state of Texas...
to put one person to death?
- What do we want?
- No more executions!
Governor,
can't we all just admit...
that the capital punishment system
in this country is not working?
They're not gonna stay Gale.
Defense lawyers
had hoped to argue...
that Gale's former activism
against capital punishment...
unduly prejudiced
The deal was, Bitsey
would get the interview
if the stay was refused.
He'll talk to her
for two hours a day...
Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday.
Can't do Friday, no.
'Cause Friday's the day
they execute him.
- The lawyer said only Bitsey.
- Gale's going down.
"Only Bitsey" means only Bitsey.
I don't get to make
the rules, Joe. Please,
I'm a fat black woman.
- Tell him I said...
- What we need is to put her
on a plane to Texas.
Why do you get like that around legal?
Hold on. We're coming over.
So what's this "Only Bitsey
means only Bitsey" stuff?
- They asked for you and no substitutes.
- Who's "they" exactly?
Gale's lawyers.
More exactly, Gale's lawyer...
some good ol' boy in Austin.
- Why do they want me?
- You're telling me you don't
want the assignment?
No. I just can't see why a guy
executed should ask for me.
I think they like the kiddie
porn piece you did and going
to jail and stuff.
I don't know.
Maybe he saw your picture
and thinks you're cute.
- So how much access do I get?
- Three interviews.
No time for any more.
By Friday, the guy's a goner.
- Okay. What exactly is our story?
- Rape, murder, death row.
Very intelligent guy.
Hey, maybe he's even innocent.
Yeah, right.
No, no. Tell him
I'll call him back. Thanks.
- Okay, so what's your problem?
- Hi, Barbara.
Good morning, Bitsey.
Okay. Here's my concern.
Setting aside the cost, although
half a million dollars...
in cash, I might add...
for three days of interviews
is not only illegal, it's obscene.
That's market value.
The guy's never talked.
Aside from that, I... we... are still
uncomfortable with the arrangement.
- Why?
- You just spent a very
public seven days in jail...
for a very public
contempt of court citation.
For protecting sources.
If you're so goddamn
uncomfortable with the story...
why did you slap it
on both the domestic
and the international covers?
Look, what makes me... us...
uncomfortable is the fact
that a rapist-slash-murderer...
has asked to spend the last three days
of his life giving an interview...
his very first...
to a reporter who is now famous
for protecting sexual deviants...
a reporter who's also
a very attractive woman.
Aw, come on!
This is disparate treatment.
- Oh, boy.
- I could go if I were an ugly guy?
which would be defused
with the presence of a man.
I hear lawyers gleefully
saying the words "Bloom vs.
NEWS Magazine, Incorporated. "
Your Honor, I started to notice
my assignments being determined
on the basis of my sex.
- No.
- You've gotta let her go now.
- That's not quite what I meant.
- He's gotta let you go.
All right, all right. Enough.
But the intern will be
with you at all times.
- Okay.
- What? Intern?
No. You gotta be kidding.
- That's what he said. He's the boss.
- He's a jerk.
Come on. Not an intern.
I always work alone.
- Not this time, Bitsey.
- Look, I'm not baby-sitting.
Gale's D.N.A. Was everywhere.
He was seen leaving her house.
His prints were all over the kitchen,
including one on the bag.
- Half a thumb print.
- Okay, half a thumb print.
That's enough.
He could've touched it
before it was a murder weapon.
Do you fondle
your friends' garbage bags?
I get very touchy
around household plastics.
I'm particularly fond of Tupperware.
- Tupperware?
- Look, I'm just saying...
the bag could've been sitting
up on the counter or something.
- Zack? He did it. Now he's gonna die.
And you know something?
Maybe that's exactly what he deserves.
But the murder's way too f***in' clumsy.
This guy is a major intellectual.
Top of his Harvard class,
Rhodes scholar, tenured at 27,
two books published.
He's an academic stud.
Look at his wife,
old money svelte,
father was ambassador to Spain.
Sh*t. The light's on again.
- Ignore it. It's a rental.
- Do you smell anything?
No. Besides, the guy's
a flaming liberal.
A person's politics
has nothing to do...
- with his propensity
to commit a crime.
- Wrong.
Aren't we supposed to smell
something if it's overheating?
Seventy-three percent of
all serial killers vote Republican.
Look, throw your cigarette out
so we can smell.
- No. You'll stink up the car.
Throw it out.
- I'm not gonna f***in' pollute.
- Zack!
There is definitely
something wrong with this car.
Sh*t. This is so irritating.
- How far to Huntsville?
- Look. I'm gonna pull off.
NEWS Magazine reporters
Bitsey Bloom and Zack Stemmons...
enter the rest area
with car troubles.
Little did they know, it wasn't
just their car that was in trouble.
- I'm a reporter. You're an intern.
Whatever.
- Is it hot?
- Ow! Jesus! Yes. Isn't it always?
- What do I do?
- Call the office and get
the rental road service number.
- No signal. I gotta pee.
- Goddamn it.
Zack?
- Zack?
- Zack!
- Yeah!
- Good morning.
- Hi.
A little early for that, isn't it?
- The nonsmoking section's over there.
- I meant the book.
Oh. Dialogical Exhaustion
by David Gale.
- The guy's a genius.
- What time is it?
Death row's in the Ellis unit,
but they're moving it to the
Terrell unit end of the year.
The waitress's boyfriend works
there, but her last boyfriend
worked in the Huntsville unit.
The two before that in Walker.
The Estelle unit has the cutest guys.
And, I'm quoting, "My butt's too big
to get an Estelle guy."
Ellis is 15 minutes out of town,
so we've got five and a half hours.
Never eat in a place where the menus
have pictures of the food.
Maybe we should drive into Austin
and check out the crime scene.
That could be some great stuff
for our story, you know?
This isn't "our story."
It's not even a story.
It's an interview.
Most importantly for you to remember...
it's my interview.
Okay. What do I do
for the next five hours?
Drive around. Look for
a decent restaurant.
You know, Bitsey,
your reputation...
as "Mike Wallace with P.M.S"
doesn't do you justice.
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"The Life of David Gale" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_life_of_david_gale_12555>.
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