Bruce Abbott: Colin Andrews

Quotes 

• Lynn Holt : Mr. Sullivan, are you aware that 8 times as many children drown in backyard pools than are accidentally killed with guns?

  Richard Sullivan : Well that's probably because there are more pools.

  Lynn Holt : No, there are 5 million homes with pools and 43 million with guns.

  Richard Sullivan : Objection, testifying and no foundation.

  Lynn Holt : Defense Exhibit 5, Your Honor, the most recent statistics from the National Health and Safety Council.

  Judge Alice Kingston : Objection overruled.

  Lynn Holt : Mr. Sullivan, were you aware that 5 times as many children die in fires or crossing the street?

  Richard Sullivan : Well kids die for a lot of reasons, they can't avoid crossing the street but they don't have to have access to guns.

  Lynn Holt : As opposed to pools, which in Los Angeles are a necessity.

  Colin Andrews : Your Honor, can we do without the sarcasm?

  Richard Sullivan : Look, you give me custody and I'll plow the pool under, okay? I'd much rather lose it than have my son in a home with a loaded gun.

  Lynn Holt : Are you also prepared to get rid of your household cleansers, insecticides, and bleaches?

  Colin Andrews : Your Honor, is Miss Holt suggesting both parties remove everything but cotton from their homes? We're not arguing that Mr. Sullivan's home is risk-free, we are suggesting it's a hell of a lot safer without a firearm in it.

  Judge Alice Kingston : And Miss Holt is apparently making the argument that it's not. Continue, Miss Holt.

  Lynn Holt : Mr. Sullivan, when your son, Charlie, was 3 years old, he had to be rushed to the hospital, isn't that true?

  Richard Sullivan : [hesitates]  Yes, he accidentally swallowed some drain cleaner.

  Lynn Holt : Why didn't you baby-proof your house?

  Richard Sullivan : We did.

  Lynn Holt : There was a child proof latch on the cabinet?

  Richard Sullivan : Yes.

  Lynn Holt : Did you leave the cabinet open?

  Richard Sullivan : No, Charlie... look, they tell you that some kids can figure these things out, and Charlie did, but we both, we both panicked when it happened.

  Lynn Holt : How serious was this?

  Richard Sullivan : It was very serious.

  Lynn Holt : They pumped his stomach. It burnt the lining of his throat and mouth, he almost died, didn't he?

  Richard Sullivan : Yeah, and if there'd been a gun in that cabinet, he would've died.

  Lynn Holt : Perhaps. What did you do with the household cleansers and bleaches after this incident? Did you get rid of them, or did you do what your wife did, lock them away someplace safer?

  Richard Sullivan : [pause]  Yeah... I put them up on a shelf out of reach, and then I locked the cabinet.

  Lynn Holt : Nothing further, Your Honor.

• Lynn Holt : Counsel says Mr. Sullivan's house is safer because there is no gun. Mr. Sullivan boasted that his security company is one of the best in the business, averaging six minutes to respond to an emergency.

  [sets egg timer] 

  Lynn Holt : An intruder's just entered Mr. Sullivan's home, the alarm sounds, the dog barks, Mr. Sullivan wakes and he runs to Charlie's room, snatching the portable phone along the way. He tugs his son out of bed and he pulls the closet door shut behind them and dials 911. Unlike most emergency calls, he gets through after a few rings, and they tell him to wait, that help is on the way.

  Colin Andrews : Objection, positing these kinds of worst case scenarios is just inflammatory.

  Judge Alice Kingston : It's closing arguments, she can inflame a little.

  Lynn Holt : The worst case scenario has already been played out, Graham's dead. Mary Sullivan has already taken every possible precaution to prevent this tragedy from being repeated but, can she *guarantee* it won't happen? No she can't, as Mr. Sullivan can't guarantee if he has Charlie, nothing terrible will ever happen to him. All either of them can do is try to keep their child safe the best way they know how. Given what she knows of this world, that's exactly what Mary Sullivan is doing, it's all any of us can do. That was less than 2 minutes, the intruder just opened the closet door, he has a weapon, and another four minutes to do whatever he wants.

  [sits down and waits for the time to run down] 

• Lynn Holt : Are you representing the father now?

  Colin Andrews : We're going for a modification, we're seeking sole custody.

  Lynn Holt : Colin, talk to him, this is not the time for them to be going at each other's throats. They're going to be burying a child sometime tomorrow.

  Colin Andrews : Sorry, he believes she's the one who put him there.

  Lynn Holt : Did he hear what the judge just said?

  Colin Andrews : Yeah, she's got a right to keep a gun, let's see if she's got a right to keep her remaining child.