Final Justice (1998 TV Movie)

Michael McKean: Merle Hammond

Quotes 

• Merle Hammond : [questioning Gwen on the witness stand, during Damon Benning's trial for the murder of her brother George]  ... So your brother had this open and honest friendship with the defendant, except for the part about him enjoying sex with men.

  Art DeSoto : Objection, Your Honor! The Defense's job is not to make snide comments.

  Judge Czarneki : [dangerously]  Sustained. Mr. Hammond...

  Merle Hammond : I apologize, Your Honor. I'm merely trying to clarify Miss Saticoy's definition of "open and honest."

  Judge Czarneki : [sternly]  So noted. Move on.

• Merle Hammond : [his summation at Damon Benning's trial for George Saticoy's murder]  ... Two men, friends since high school. Same intelligence, same sense of humor. But there were differences: Damon Benning chose a family man's life... wife, children, church... He wrote children's books for a living; George Saticoy went with an alternative lifestyle... one that eventually left him with a disease that would ravage his mind and body, and finally kill him. 20 years after these two similar-but-different men became friends, one had averything to live for; the other had nothing to lose. The prosecution would have you believe that my client killed in cold blood, that his story of self-defense was a bald-faced lie. I pose this question: If Mr. Benning were to lie, why would he tell THAT one? Couldn't he just say he shot at someone he thought was an intruder? Mr. Benning told a story that was quite specific, and quite horrifying: that his long-time friend, who was gay, had threatened him with an HIV infection. Now, the prosecution claims that there would be no reason for Mr. Benning to react as he said he did; that, given George Saticoy's size and fading strength, the defendant was in no danger. Well, let me ask you this: If you were threatened with the scourge of this century, with a disease of PANDEMIC proportions, a disease which is a DEATH SENTENCE, how clearly would you think? How reasonably would you react? How afraid would you become? And what would you do to save your life from a man who had already lost most of his?

• Merle Hammond : [during a TV interview]  ... My mother idolized all these TV evangelists. I remember saying to her, "I can't become a preacher, Mama. They wear the same outfit every day, and it's way too confining for my fashion sense." But the legal system's gain is God's loss, although I WOULD defend Him if someone sued Him. And I'd win, take my word for it... I loved giving oral book reports, loved getting up in front of the class; I loved telling them exactly what I thought of this book, and why they should read it. I never actually read the books; I didn't have to...

• Merle Hammond : [Gwen has stolen Hammond's car from his country club, after forcing him into the trunk at gunpoint]  ... You know, if you wanted to drive my car, you could have just asked...

  [She waves a revolver in his face] 

  Merle Hammond : ... Do you even know how to use that thing?

  Gwen Saticoy : My boyfriend's a cop. What do you think?

  [She forces him into a cage, in the back of her Range-Rover] 

  Merle Hammond : ...Is this about money? Ransom? Extortion? The usual motives for kidnapping?

  Gwen Saticoy : Well, I never considered that option before. But now that you mention it, do you know anyone who'd actually pay to get you back?

  Merle Hammond : All right, then... Is this about revenge?

  Gwen Saticoy : No, it is not about revenge or punishment... although, for what you put my mother through on the stand, I should rip your tongue out!... If this is about anything, it's finding out what makes you tick.

  Merle Hammond : If that's all there is to it, I can tell you everything over a bottle of brandy. I seldom do my best work in a dog kennel.

  Gwen Saticoy : No, I'm sure you do your best work in a litter box.

• Merle Hammond : [at Gwen's secluded mountain hideaway, the morning after kidnapping Hammond]  ... Miss Saticoy, surely you've got something better to do than hole up in a cabin with me.

  Gwen Saticoy : I used to, until I got fired by my school. It seems my blood-ties to a murder victim don't make me fit to teach 5th-graders. Of course, that could be since George is no longer seen as the victim.

  Merle Hammond : It's not as if the term has much meaning anymore... Everybody's a victim nowadays. Damon Benning was a victim of threats from your brother, and your brother in turn became a victim of Benning's gun. You're a victim because you lost, and now I'm a victim because I won.

  Gwen Saticoy : Well, thank you for setting me straight. I guess, from now on, I'll simply refer to George as "existence-challenged!"

  [waves a gun in Hammond's face] 

  Gwen Saticoy : ... *My brother is DEAD!* That's not your fault. But leaving him to rot in a grave of lies, while his killer gets rich, sure as hell is!

• Gwen Saticoy : [Hammond stutters over some thunderously-loud rap music]  ... Wow! This must be the first time, since you were two, that you haven't spoken in complete sentences.

  [shuts off the boombox] 

  Merle Hammond : No wonder they fired you! You're sick and demented! And you're not fit to be a teacher!

  Gwen Saticoy : You could be right. I don't know what I would tell my students anymore.

  Merle Hammond : Start with, "Kidnapping is a felony!"

  Gwen Saticoy : Along with, "The truth doesn't always matter"; and, "The ends justify the means".

  [forces him to play Russian roulette] 

  Gwen Saticoy : ... Aren't you just DYING to know what I'll do next?... You're quite a gambler in court. How are your instincts out in the wild?... Oh, that spin didn't feel lucky for you? Okay, I'll give it another.

  [Hammond clicks out] 

  Gwen Saticoy : ... I'll be darned, you were right!

• Gwen Saticoy : [serving dinner for Hammond, which he hesitates to touch]  ... Go ahead. See, I'm eating the poisoned one.

  Merle Hammond : Why have you done this?

  Gwen Saticoy : Maybe some of your court strategy rubbed off on me: to keep everyone off-balance... Why *did* you become a lawyer?

  Merle Hammond : Because it required less time than becoming a doctor.

  Gwen Saticoy : You almost became a doctor? Wow, scary thought... Have you ever loved anything?

  Merle Hammond : The law. It's the best mistress I've ever had, with all these seductive rules and procedures that tempt the inquiring mind to figure a way around. And when you do, that feeling of conquest and victory... there's nothing else like it.

  Gwen Saticoy : That sounds more like lust than love.

  Merle Hammond : Well, love is an emotion I try to avoid. It confuses, causes ridiculous behavior. Much like yours, for example. The love you feel for your dead brother has prompted you to kidnap me... a crime that will send you to jail, and will ruin your life.

  Gwen Saticoy : Well, now... Merle, aren't you jumping the gun a little? I could get myself another lawyer just like you, and end up a celebrity.

  Merle Hammond : Miss Saticoy, there *are* no other lawyers just like me.

• Gwen Saticoy : [En route to the Osborne residence]  ... You used to be a prosecutor. Why'd you change sides?

  Merle Hammond : Same reason everyone does. Money.

  Gwen Saticoy : Doesn't it ever feel strange, defending people you used to prosecute?

  Merle Hammond : ...I learned some of my best tricks in the DA's office.

  Gwen Saticoy : Is that a term they teach in law school? "Trick"?

  Merle Hammond : I can feel that sanctimonious lecture on truth and ethics just hovering over those self-righteous lips of yours.

  Gwen Saticoy : ...I'm curious: Is the whole point to trick everybody? The judge, the witnesses, the jury?

  Merle Hammond : Juries aren't bright enough to trick. After all, these are people too dumb to figure a way out of jury duty. Not that I'm complaining, mind you; as far as I'm concerned, the dumber they are, the better.

  Gwen Saticoy : Okay... Let's say I get a group of shoppers from the grocery store. I take them to a hospital, where two neurologists are trying to figure out whether to operate on a patient's frontal lobe, or his cereberal cortex. After the doctors explain the pros and cons of each operation to these shoppers, they still have no idea what should be done... Would you consider THEM dumb?

  Merle Hammond : The jury's obligation is to render a decision based on the facts presented. Nonetheless, I find your defense of them admirable; it isn't often you hear someone speak so highly of sheep.

  Gwen Saticoy : Well, as one of their shepherds, don't you feel any responsibility when they end up roaming aimlessly in some field... far off the mark?

  Merle Hammond : I don't give a damn where they wind up, or how they got there, so long as I win. In law school, you learn LAW; in the *courtroom,* you learn SURVIVAL. Your job is to *get your client off.* And believe me, if I were defending YOU on a murder charge, you wouldn't want it any other way... Whenever anyone preaches about a "fair trial," what they really mean is one that ends in their favor. *That* makes it fair.

• Gwen Saticoy : [arriving at the Osborne residence]  ... Don't you know who this is? Louise Osborne's father.

  Gordon Osborne : ...I sat in the courtroom, ten feet away from you for three months, while you spun lie after lie about my daughter and the man who raped her.

  Merle Hammond : Forgive my not recognizing you right away, Mr. Osborne... But, as you can see, I've been under a great deal of stress lately.

  [He indicates how Gwen has shackled him inside her Range-Rover] 

  Gordon Osborne : Yeah, I guess I'd know a thing or so about that myself.

  [Turns to his front porch and calls out] 

  Gordon Osborne : Louise, we've got company!

  [to Hammond] 

  Gordon Osborne : ... She tried to kill herself about a year ago; swallowed a whole bottle of barbituates. The doctors saved her body, but they couldn't save her mind. I've worked hard to keep this last chapter in Louise's life private.

  Merle Hammond : [to Gwen]  Is this what your whole charade has been about? Dragging me out here to look at some brain-dead girl, in hopes that I'll drop to my knees and beg forgiveness? That's SICK!

  Gwen Saticoy : I didn't know she was like this!

  Gordon Osborne : [to Gwen]  I didn't tell you, because I was afraid you might not come...

  [to Hammond] 

  Gordon Osborne : ... I don't remember anyone else but you dragging Louise's reputation through the mud, in that courtroom. After the assault, all she had left was her honest word. Then you went and raped that, too.

  Merle Hammond : It was my job to defend my client without any concern for the peripheral fallout. The bottom line, Mr. Osborne, is that sometimes life sucks.

  Gwen Saticoy : [to Osborne]  ... Forgive me; I never should have bothered you.

  Gordon Osborne : No, I'm glad you came. For three years, the only person I hated more than the man who raped Louise was the man who got him aquitted. Being a good Christian, I always felt guilty about that. I don't think I'll feel guilty anymore.

• Merle Hammond : [reading an excerpt from George Saticoy's editorial, at the trial of Damon Benning, George's killer]  ..."Perhaps the reason we've been slow to respond to the epidemic is because we're used to having it shoved down our throats. Well, we're not going to take it anymore. The straight world has tried to exterminate us. Now it is our turn ot kill or be killed. It's time to take the world hostage, not with a gun, but with the bile of our own blood."

  [to George and Gwen's mother, who is on the witness stand] 

  Merle Hammond : ... Do you recognize this material, Mrs. Saticoy? Does it sound familiar to you?

  Barbara Saticoy : I don't read things like that! It's sick and repulsive!

  Merle Hammond : It scares you, doesn't it...? This is written by your son, Mrs. Saticoy.

  [Barbara becomes so offended that she flees the courtroom. Gwen goes after her] 

  Judge Czarneki : [outraged]  ... Court is in recess until this afternoon. Counsel, *in my chambers!*

  Barbara Saticoy : [outside the courtroom, to Gwen]  ... NOW do you understand why I didn't want to testify?

  Gwen Saticoy : Hammond didn't read the whole article; that was just the opening George wrote to get the reader's attention! The very next paragraph stated that this militant approach is wrong; he even said it was more dangerous than the virus itself!

  Barbara Saticoy : NONE OF THAT MATTERS...! They killed George all over again in there.

• Danielle Kline : [at Gwen's kidnapping trial]  ... Mr. Hammond, do you recognize this?

  [plays a rap CD for him] 

  Merle Hammond : Yes, unfortunately. That's what I was forced to hear for two days at the cabin.

  Danielle Kline : You considered this a form of torture. Do you even know this artist, Mr. Hammond?

  Merle Hammond : "Artist?" No, I'm not familiar with that particular "artist."

  Danielle Kline : This album was #1 on the charts for several weeks. Now, some people might find two days of this pure nirvana... and by that I refer to the spiritual state, not the musical group - of which you're also, probably, unaware.

  Merle Hammond : I prefer classical music, myself...

  Danielle Kline : ...While Miss Saticoy was playing what you've described as Russian Roulette with you, did she or didn't she ever show you the firing chamber of the gun?

  Merle Hammond : She may have.

  Danielle Kline : Do you recall if she MAY NOT have had a bullet in it at that time? And I'd like to remind you that you're under oath.

  Merle Hammond : I don't recall a bullet at that time. However...

  Danielle Kline : Thank you. Now... Would you please describe, for these ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what you were wearing when first confronted by Miss Saticoy and her empty gun?

  Merle Hammond : I was dressed for golf. I'd just finished 18 holes.

  Danielle Kline : Is THIS the same outfit that you played golf in, this sweat-suit you were wearing when you escaped? Or did you change somewhere along the way?

  Merle Hammond : The cabin, yes.

  Danielle Kline : You brought an extra change of clothing with you?

  Merle Hammond : They were provided for me by my captor, Miss Saticoy. They made me look ridiculous, as they were old and tattered.

  Danielle Kline : She gave you a change of clothing? Why is that, Mr. Hammond? Is it possible that when you had an accident, when you suffered the most frightening and humiliating moment of your life, she gave you clean clothes and allowed you to get out of the soiled ones...? Now, you said Miss Saticoy didn't give you anything but bread and water for two full days. You didn't have a solid meal...

  Merle Hammond : Until the second evening.

  Danielle Kline : What did she give you, crackers?

  Merle Hammond : I believe it was chicken.

  Danielle Kline : Like Kentucky Fried, something fast-food?

  Merle Hammond : No, free-range; how would I know?

  Danielle Kline : How did it get there? Who prepared it?

  Merle Hammond : She made it herself.

  Danielle Kline : Now, let me get this straight: After you had a rather uncomfortable ride to a scenic mountain cabin, you were forced to hear a popular best-selling CD, given a clean set of clothes, and served a home-cooked meal. My God, the nightmares you must have had! I have no further questions for THIS witness, Your Honor.

• Judge Rosaria : [on a taped conversation between Gwen and Hammond]  ... This is going to air on tonight's news. Would someone care to explain where it came from?

  Danielle Kline : Don't look at me. You think, if I had that, I'd just sit on it?

  Merle Hammond : This whole thing is a setup!

  Danielle Kline : Setup for what, Merle? Did you announce, beforehand, that you intended to trash the entire jury system?

  Merle Hammond : That's a little disingenuous, don't you think?

  Gwen Saticoy : Your Honor, if I had planned on taping him, I would have started it as soon as we got in the car... not when we were almost at the Osborne Farm.

  Judge Rosaria : Anyone who's ever argued in my courtroom knows how much I hate surprises. And when something like THIS falls anonymously out of the sky, I get REALLY angry. Before we proceed with this trial, and consume any more of the "dumb" jury's time, I recommend counsel rethink their approach. I'm going to lunch. Miss Saticoy, I suggest you do the same.

  [she leaves] 

  Danielle Kline : [leaving with Gwen]  Call me when you two GENTLEMEN have the plea terms worked out.

  Merle Hammond : I *forbid* you to plead this case out!

  Hammond's lawyer : Fine. I'm sure, when all the "sheep" in the jury box hear this tape, they'll immediately sympathize with your ordeal and convict Gwen.

  Merle Hammond : You're assuming the jurors pay attention to the news, much less this case. That woman is guilty! She kidnapped me and everyone knows it!

  Hammond's lawyer : You just don't get it, do you? If you let this thing play out any longer than it has to, you're gonna find the word "UNEMPLOYABLE" stamped across your forehead in big red letters. You think that's ridiculous, huh? Who's gonna recommend a lawyer who took a dump all over the entire jury pool of the western world? I'm telling you, stop now and cut your losses.