License To Kill (1984) James Farentino Denzel Washington Don Murray

so you know every year i stand here on senior day and go over the graduation schedule for the following week and without fail when i read out the moment you'll walk away from good old redmont high forever i get a huge round of applause i must be some terrific speaker well now we come to the fiesta resistance the lawrence endicott award for the outstanding graduating senior this year we have an especially deserving recipient i think not just because she's a fine student and writer and leader or that her list of accomplishments in your yearbook is as long as richie glover's hair but because she's achieved all of these things while remaining simply a young woman committed to family friends and the importance of growth someday when the tapestry of redmond high's history is finished there'll be a small thread of gold woven through the past four years and that shining thread is our endicott award winner this year lynette janice peterson are you sure this is for me oh no oh thank you so much i'm really honored to receive this award and uh there are a lot of people that i wanted to thank for teachers and friends but they'll all have to wait while i thank the people that really deserve this my mom and dad whatever happened to say cheese huh just remember darling when you're rich and famous i intend to remind you that i once changed your diapers trust me this is a rembrandt thanks a lot mrs peterson i've got to go whoa i'll see you at about 6 30. david happy birthday have a big night big night tacos at ernie's anytime he lets me go out it's a big night dad that's supposed to be a surprise i didn't know lenny did i know i told you a week ago clint is giving david a surprise party at deanna's ernie's is the cover story cover story this family is watching too much television i'm sorry honey it's right on schedule kyle it looks terrific oh thanks mr fiscal i put three more guys on kenny's crew so we ought to be through bricking by the tent great just in time to start the broadview project got that job he just made an old country boy real happy hey how's connie is she feeling any better oh some of the time a little worried this morning her blood pressure was up she's tough she'll be okay could you do me a favor sure whatever you say take the rest of the day off go home give connie a squeeze for me go on that's why the boss makes the big bucks he makes all those tough decisions the thing is david that northwestern has just about the best journalism department in the whole world an opportunity like this is i never expected to get in in the first place it's not that i don't love you honey hi i was just getting ready to go you know i just came up to tell you how proud i am of you what my texas champagne glass as david calls it for that for being smart enough to get a scholarship offer and sweet enough to go ahead with your plans for david's party even though you may disappoint him later on yeah if i ever get the guts to tell him about it well you know the longer you wait the harder it's gonna be yeah i know but well he went to tech for me we made plans well he's aware you were applying for other colleges 20 minutes movie starts at six we'll be down at two minutes time amy's spending the night at claudius we gotta drop her well i'll do it it's on my way would you honey that'd be terrific thank you amy are you ready lin said she could take you okay mom i'll be right there you know my dad once said guarantees come with toasters not life going off to college doesn't mean the end of david especially if he really cares for you as far as that girl staying here doesn't mean happy ever after yeah you're right yeah you're right smile when you say that partner okay thank you come on mom when are you going to make me a dress like lenny's when you graduate yes we don't have to rush out and buy the material so far amy's the only one that's on time that's cause i'm the only one who plans my evenings my mom dresses beautiful oh yes the laser's on sale i thought it was just what it needed i mean it's perfect good lord seamstress photographer film buff have a renaissance parent sure now you notice now when you're ready to leave home i'll let you in on a secret i always knew you were the best mom in the whole world david suspected anything we sure didn't act like oh he's very noble we're very simple young lady i want you in bed by eleven o'clock eleven o'clock she gets to stay out till one that's discrimination that's showbiz hey hon good luck tonight with david thanks for everything have fun behave bye girls bye-bye i'm telling you there better be a way out soon of course there's a way out and it's as american as apple pie what's that bankruptcy no i couldn't do anything like that why not everybody's doing all my competitors do and one minute they filed for bankruptcy the next minute they're across town building an apartment house with the different names stamped in the truck yeah but i'd be too embarrassed to do anything like come on max it's a tough world take advantage of any break you can get anything else oh my gosh mary's gonna skip me alive i pronounced the kids on barbecue or you got plenty of time it doesn't get dark until nine hear about my kids get hungry at three i'll get this max you think i'm gonna let you pick up this tab with all your problems it's nonsense price will pick up the tag oh come on how was it i get the honors huh because max is bankrupt and i've already spent my sad claudia for me lenny when you go away to college can i have your room what happens when i come home on vacations well then we'll share it all right sounds like a good deal to me thanks have a good time thank you next time bring your clubs time to play some golf are you kidding i've got a 60 putter and a handicap to match i only joined for the fringe benefits i'll take it easier thanks for the advice anything for a friend amigo how'd it go with lynn okay i guess she's a little nervous about going away from home and about telling david she's leaving and your advice i'm told tell him straight out now that he doesn't understand just come and let me know and i'll send you to talk to becoming cloudy tonight below 58. most of the day giving way to sunshine before the day is through high temperatures ranging from 70 to 75 during the day 65 to 69 at night and for tomorrow morning clouds and some hazy afternoon sunshine high 70 to 74. on the financial scene stock prices open slightly lower today after a strong showing if i could save time in a bottle the first thing that i'd like to do is to save every day to eternity passes away just to spend them with you the dow losing more than two points in the first hour of trading the market hasn't run out of steam hey watch it man never corporate earnings reports will be coming out later this month foreign my god sharon call an ambulance easy okay let me help you here can you move everything yeah yeah i'm okay all right i just sit down okay take it easy you'll be all right i'll be right back it's a girl and she's for real bad hey can you hear me hang in there kid anybody call an ambulance it's coming where you going i missed her and you shouldn't be leaving there's a girl in the car first driver station um i tried to stop him but he just kept walking i pulled him out i gotta tell you you smell like a steal mary i've had an accident no no no i'm not really hurt but somebody else is look will you just come and pick me up please i'm on langley i'm south of no i'm north of the lake near brockton excuse me sir were you driving the station wagon yes but it wasn't my license please you see this kid on a bicycle right there why'd you leave the accident saying i want to call my wife what's wrong with that mr fisk have you consumed any alcoholic beverages within the last six hours no well i had a couple of drinks but nothing heavy how about walking this line for me sir walking my leg is killing me expect me to walk tell you what mr fisk i'll take you to hospital for treatment while you're there you can have your choice three tests to check your blood alcohol level i had two drinks maximum honest to the car sir what about the other driver you sure as hell better touch them too slide to the far door sir watch your head step away from the car ma'am well that's my husband in there ma'am your husband is being placed under arrest for suspicion of driving while intoxicated now i'm gonna take him to the hospital for a check first tom are you all right i think i'm old deed on anti-heroes whatever happened to john wayne channel 11 maybe ooh dare we hope wow it has to be the first movie i ever left early in my life we can always go back are you kidding with an empty house all to ourselves oh no wonder it was so easy to get you out of there a better show at home never occurred to you from the moment we left am i your favorite auntie hero and you are my hero period pop the corn you pop the wine where's the popper hello yes she's been in surgery 30 minutes or so we don't have any further word she's going to be all right don't worry could you tell us how it happened the accident occurred on langley road someone said yeah i don't know yes i'm dr sandler there was massive internal bleeding i'm terribly sorry we did everything possible no concussion fractures broken bones or uh bleeding yeah signed for his blood sample and he's all yours can i get out of here now hands behind your back mr fess what do you mean can't be like my back i'm no criminal you've got no right to treat me like a crime at let's go sir oh please let her sleep tonight and i'll pick her up in the morning no it's i can handle it i'll tell her thank you so where you going ah i had to make a lot of calls i got to make funeral arrangements night in jail hasn't improved any since the navy did you call that lawyer jennings recommended we're supposed to meet with him on thursday what'd you tell the kids but the doctor wanted you to spend the night in the hospital say anything in the papers just your name nothing about you being drunk drunk i had a couple of drinks that's all but you were drinking tom it's not like it's the first time mary what are you trying to do a terrible thing happened last night i feel awful about it you don't have to make me feel worse now this could have happened to anybody drinking didn't have anything to do with it i wasn't drunk then linda wanted a grilled cheese sandwich then diane and megan but all they had was cream cheese so claudia decides to grill the cream cheese it was so messy where are we stopping amy a terrible things happen to our family lenny was in a car accident on her way to david's party she in the hospital she was she okay daddy is lenny dead daddy yes no she's not i don't believe you she can't be dead i'm just lying she's my sister she's not dead she's not so tell daddy's wrong i wish you were honey but how could she be an accident she got an a in driver's head and she's such a good driver john aren't you going to stay there's a lot to do on when are you coming back soon as i can excuse me sergeant hartman oh yes sir i'm john peterson uh they told me down at the station i could find you here peterson have fun uh right uh i'm very sorry i uh i was hoping maybe you could tell me just how it happened yes sir uh i'm afraid it's not very mysterious uh uh impact point is there and uh vehicle two bridged the double yellow and hit her head on he hit her yes sir in her lane he was booked on a dwi oh what driving while intoxicated i'm sorry i thought you knew so do someone does this it was a lovely service john are you all right john i'm just uh so sorry listen i stopped by the sheriff's station and picked up their report do you have it with you oh yeah it's out in the car man i see it sure but we can go over that tomorrow honey i'm going with steve to look at the sheriff's report now it's just out to his car but these people came here for us judy if there's anything we can do where's john ah he left for a little while well tell him to take some time off i can handle the business that's what partners oh thank you reese we do need john here now please call anytime this says his blood alcohol content was 0.19 how much is that that's like drinking about eight shots of booze in an hour my god what's she doing behind wheel why didn't somebody stop him i've been a lawyer for 26 years john no one ever stops can we take him to court say the word do what you can no do everything he can man filled himself with booze climbed in his car and killed my daughter no one should be able to get away with that oh there's a couple of uh forms you need to sign to get us started uh i'll stop by in the morning good you'll be at the house right no i'm gonna go to work please drop him off the nursery steve would you sure so i told steve we want to prosecute the driver of the other car honey i'm sorry i was only gone for a while while all day yesterday what about the day before where's amy where's amy upstairs amy baby i want lenny daddy i want lenny i know you do honey we all do what are we gonna do now we're gonna get up tomorrow you're gonna go to your day camp and i'm going to work and we'll just keep on going when i wake up in the morning all i can think about is her car crashing maybe maybe someday you'll just think about the happy things with lenny and and it won't hurt so much but when when does it stop hurting we've got witnesses and a positive blood test uh clearly the guy was negligent there's uh there's no problem there where is the problem well i guess the only problem is that uh you're my friend and uh suddenly i can't muster the usual swagger the truth is that uh wrongful death suits can take years and there's pain involved and a good possibility you'll lose both the case and the truckload of money where do we start by drawing up our complaint uh understand it's a little early to start uh talking about amounts right now but uh amounts what amounts well compensatory damages how much we're going to sue for i don't care about money i want the man in jail well you're talking about the criminal trial of course what are you talking about well this is the civil suit well i'm sorry let me explain there are two trials the criminal and ours i have nothing to do with prosecuting the man criminally well who represents me at the criminal trial well the da's office downtown i can only launch our civil suit for wrongful death now wait a minute maybe i'm the one that's not being clear i don't care about a civil suit and no amount of money we may win from is going to stop what i feel or stop him from going out tomorrow running over someone else lenny didn't die of cancer she wasn't struck by lightning he killed her steve he's responsible prison nothing less in the da's case there's not much you can do john uh there's even a chance there won't be a criminal trial why well sometimes a lot of the times these things wind up in plea bargaining uh it's hard to say it's the da's ball game all right who do i see down there i assume an assistant will be assigned to your case which one whoever's next at bat how much mr webster i've built entire condos for less than that are you serious mr fisk i'm always serious about manslaughter we're talking about a lot of time we're also talking about a possible prison sentence is it tax deductible is it business expense not legally it's a lot of money counseling well you're in a lot of trouble mr fesk driving while intoxicated that's a pretty hot issue the state is cracking down the press is on our backs or pressure groups look i'll save us both some time this past year i've represented 31 dwis as we call them all but two were acquitted reduced or thrown out now i think i can help you but if you want to look elsewhere i can understand my phone isn't gonna stop ringing i can assure you so it's up to you okay go ahead now we're not dealing here with a routine dwi i'm not going to minimize this there's a death involved that's always the roughest sledding of all i'm paying you a fortune to listen to this look i'm a responsible businessman i never hurt anybody before i had two drinks the same as my friends bryce and max they got home okay unfortunately the police tested your blood what about tom's driving record will that hurt him in court no that's not admissible in this state i'm happy to say there's no way a jury can be influenced by his previous behavior look see here's what we have going for us there's hardly a prospective juror anywhere who hasn't at least once started his car with one too many drinks under his belt that's our advantage oh that should be it was an accident why should a guy have to give up his liberty and his pursuit of happiness for something wasn't even his fault that's well said it's just the way we'll tell it to the jury we'll be getting in touch with you in about two weeks can i help you yes my name is john peterson i was wondering if i could see the person handling my daughter's case her name peterson too what did she manage to do get killed i'm sorry is that murder industrial accident what no she was hit by a drunk driver a man by the name of fisk that would be vehicular manslaughter here we are the state versus fisk deputy district attorney saw your head can i see i'm sorry he's already in court with with this guy no i doubt it it's a little early for fisk yet see mr sawyer's got 30 cases or so going on right now yeah um i don't see it look i can i can take a message for him if you want no that's all right i just i was wondering if there's something i can do to clarify this well we do try and keep in touch with the families mister peterson peterson i'm sure you'll be hearing from mr sauer i'll let him know that you will win excuse me hi what's that dinner hamburger scrambled eggs daddy oh of course well done i can't stand uh runny scrambled eggs yeah well you better get used to them it's all i could find where's mom yes what time is it time for dinner we'll tell them there's some ground beef in huh why don't you come and have dinner with amy and me okay come on i'm not hungry well amy's worked so hard i'm tired john judith you haven't been out of bed for days kitchen shelves are emptied lynn's room hasn't been touched yet how much longer i don't know as long as it takes you're fitting into your checklist john yes i have a checklist we can't all hide our heads in the sand who's hiding john i've stayed right here and faced your ghost every day but good old john give him a crisis and there's no job too small to fill his day just as long as he doesn't have to cry or hurt or feel that man killed our child you does not do whatever it takes to see him in court all you have to do is go to the trial i'll leave that to you john you can handle it with your usual skill judas you're not even getting up for the trial what's the point the point justice is the point justice what could they possibly do to that man to make up for my daughter what would you like me to do forgive and forget that bastard slaughtered our child and i hope god damns his eternal soul for it but whether he does of the court it won't help lin now it'll help me and you go john you wallow in it but leave me out of it leave me alone john the oregon distributor called said he still hasn't heard from me any problems it's time i'll follow him tomorrow i got a message for you from mr sawyer's office district attorney right they said the state versus fisk is scheduled for nine o'clock the 14th in district court state versus fisk with the following witnesses please step forward william wilson larry shernoff officer evan castle excuse me no sir is that his attorney no sir that's the prosecutor mr fiscally sitting at the left that table over there and this is our table i'll rise for the honorable marion roth be seated is the prosecution prepared to begin yes your honor defense counsel the defense would request a continuance your honor our independent experts have been unable to complete their evaluations of certain police and hospital reports this information is vital to the proper and adequate defense of my client will 30 days be sufficient oh yes your honor does the prosecution have any objection to a continuance at this time no your honor but the state would like the record to show that we're ready to begin duly noted bench requests all required participants return to this court on the 16th of july all right excuse me mr sawyer i'm john peterson we've been missing a few phone calls i was just wondering if i could have a minute of your time sure what can i do for you i i thought there was supposed to be a trial today well it's just a usual routine delay you know uh man plead not guilty to vehicular manslaughter not guilty when did this happen i was here all the time three weeks ago at the arraignment hearing what a raymond hearing i wasn't notified but my office didn't call you no look i'm sorry oh look i got to run um it's good talking to you mr sawyer uh i wanted to ask you something i was down at your office and i i could see you folks down there have your hands full and i was just wondering if there's anything i could do call some witnesses do some late no look we got professionals to take care of all of that now don't worry i see you again in 30 days you start then hey me ready for dinner yeah excuse me chicken again i'm sorry they're out of beef wellington they make little feathers what's all this stuff well these law books are from our attorney steve balfour and these papers i picked up from the safety council before the trial was delayed and i got a taste of what we're up against so i thought i'd do some homework on your own without anybody telling you to yep where's your mother upstairs you're supposed to take me to claudia's slumber party oh amy i've got to get these books back to the library by morning why can't she take you she said she had a bad day but i don't mind not going to claudia's dad i really don't that's all right fishing dinner i'll take daddy i don't feel so good oh it's better well maybe claudia's mom has some chocolate milk it might help no daddy i changed my mind i don't want to go please i've got a lot of work to do no daddy i don't want to stay here good for you i haven't seen claudius daddy don't make me stay here by myself please i want to go with you please where have you been oh i've been in a den reading um amy's not at claudia she's upstairs why i drove her over earlier and she was upset scared and i think she thought that same thing was going to happen to me that happened to her sister john it's please judy john i can't help it i've got nothing left to give this thing affected your business yet my business no why should it well it shouldn't but damn it just seems like every time you turn around these days there there's some magazine story or some gal ranting on tv about drinking and driving well it hasn't hurt my business as far as i know it shouldn't either damn it people know me they know what i stand for i'm not some street corner alcoholic look i'm sure this guy webster knows what he's doing 200 bucks an hour he better two it's not a fee that's a retirement plan not from where i am if i go to trial and lose it's four years on the manslaughter charge alone come on what judge is gonna send a man like you to jail for an accident uh i just can't take that chance i've worked too damn hard from the time i was 15 years old digging foundations not going to give all that up who pays the mortgage if i go to jail who's going to pay the kids doctor bills you know it's not fruit juice in that class of yours it could happen to you as well as me what would you do hire the best damn lara i could find as long as you took credit cards i'm gonna buy myself another drink what's with the poor man's toter i promise mary nothing more than a soda can would touch my lips i always keep my promises oh you act like you haven't eaten in a month i have it not stuff this good you're dressed i've discovered peterson's paradox if you stay in bed long enough you get tired of it want to go to court today well helen's been after me to come over and uh i owe me a tennis lesson and i thought maybe later i'd get started on the room can we get going with the state versus fisk where's a prosecutor anyone seen sawyer glad you could join us sir you've had ample time to study your reports mr webster we have your honor then i trust you're ready to begin yeah sure good and the prosecution is ready um know your honor just found out that deputy caskey is out of town finishing special training counselor didn't your office coordinate the trial date with the sheriff's office well i thought so your honor but there seems to have been a mix up somewhere and since his testimony is vital to the state we reluctantly request a continuance mr sawyer oh you're here i'm sorry i told my secretary to call you yesterday who takes care of your calendar mr sawyer help her fudd she's overworked she's underpaid well i'm not coordinating with the sheriff's department is exactly the kind of thing i offered to do for you last month our job mr peterson then do it you're playing right into fisk's hands every time there's a delay witnesses get fuzzy facts get lost sympathy shift elementary law mr peterson i don't need that from a layman why are you treating me like an outsider look i understand your situation now you got to understand mine now i've got over 30 cases going on at the same time and every client thinks his case is the most important in the world now if you don't like the way your case is going take it out with my boss it's been tried before and without success i might add because i know what i'm doing now beyond that my advice to you is to keep in mind that my office is the one shot you have at thomas fisk and maybe you should act accordingly okay yeah okay i mean just just so we have an understanding i'll see you in four weeks if it means anything i know how you feel mr sawyer just a minute ago you're right you're the only chance i've got so i'll deal with you and i'll deal with the ignored phone calls and the legal lectures i'll even deal with being treated like a punch card by your office but don't you dare don't you dare tell me you know how i feel i won't accept that look i only meant that i have two children of my own and if i lost i didn't lose a child she was taken from me she was murdered and burying her was the hardest thing i've ever had to do and i hope you never have to know what i feel like mr sawyer that i wouldn't wish on my worst enemy john look i'm not your enemy i'm your representative now sometimes i get so caught up in the race i forgot why i even entered i'll do everything i can to bring your daughter's killer to justice but that's all i can do that's all i ask loading needed for the customer service doc john john what the devil happened to the reiner account his order was short this morning he couldn't find anyone to straighten it out so i'd get a call from the tree farm saying he's pulling his business you realize that's a hundred thousand dollars a year in landscaping john where were you down to court another delay john i i know you want to get this guy but what more can you do i don't know maybe the best thing to do now is just to let go i'm sorry rhys i'll call art reiner and salvage whatever i can get your racket back sooner oh and when you do your back well let's see well don't do that okay see did you notice that did you see how you didn't do it and also you're not keeping your eye on the ball now don't twist your wrist on your backhand how do you get it over the net huh honey you're really doing very well that's much better you see what that follow-through means oh i'm tired i'd like to quit too much lying around i'm out of shape i thought you did good maybe if we come back again tomorrow you'll do even better if i can walk judah hi how are you meredith i thought you were in spain and portugal got back last night cast nuts and all i haven't seen you since karen and lin's play yeah i guess so how is lynn is she picked out of college yet um lynn um seven weeks ago um mom mommy mommy come on guys you missed the first sentence where have you been o'malley's some guy thinks i had to build his apartments for a nickel a square foot tom have you been drinking honey you don't do business over soda pop tom you promise look i'm not gonna live the rest of my life like a saint just because i made one mistake get out of the car now boys stay right where you are you guys stay right where you are no tom marie thompson mary you guys stay right where you are mary i'm taking my boys to the baseball game i'm oh i tried to call how are you doing i tried john i'm sorry that's twice a day i've heard i'm sorry everybody's sorry but nobody does a damn thing about it you just sit there judith i'll take care of this no no let me help you here's your tennis trophy put that away we'll just forget about when she wanted to cry oh pack this i certainly don't want to think about all the letters and stories she wrote judith it has to be done and get rid of the dress who wants to remember her classmates and graduation and her prom and the play i will not turn this house into a mausoleum so we just back her up and put her out of our lives right john everything put away except the truth we're never gonna forget what happened not as long as we live okay guys right at the bed now come on hey get going i'll say good night for you we're back extra innings wouldn't you know kids may have had the hot dogs but i think i got all the mustard that's typical you have a problem tom and you've got to get help honey the only problem we have is the trial once that's over everything's going to be beautiful you drink too much tom we've been over this again and again and again now booze is a fact of life and it's taken over our life damn it i don't drink any more than the next guy i am sick and tired of being made to feel like a drunk you you killed a girl tom don't you think i know that i wake up every night seeing that girl's face on that wreck it's like a knife in me now a thousand times i wanted that day back but it happened the girl is dead and we have to survive for how long till it happens again if i'd stood up before that girl would still be alive stood up what do you mean get help tom i'll go with you anywhere just get help i swear to god i'm leaving you and i'm taking the children honey don't ever say anything like that nothing in my life means anything to me but you and the kids now every time something's happened you've stood by me stand by me this one last time and i swear to you it will never happen again i promise and then then so so if you ever feel like the big time i've got a cabinet at home you do wonders for judah i've missed you i tried to call it's been a while i guess well how are you i'm fine i'm i'm all right you know for a while and and then i'll find a hair ribbon in the dryer or an old picture then the hurt starts again and the anger you have a right to be angry judith but it's eating me alive see i've got nothing left inside of me except rage and john and amy and everybody but me why you i knew lynn would volunteer to take amy if i mentioned it see if we had just taken amy lynn would be alive today right judith a million circumstances put lynn on that spot in that road at that exact time you can't claim them all but she didn't deserve to die no she didn't we can't alter what's happened judith in the end all we can do is move beyond how our loved ones died have you talked to john about how you feel no he wouldn't understand uh john wouldn't have time he's busy with the trials and uh lawyers and god knows what why do you suppose he's doing that judith he is doing it for himself not for anybody else is it possible he's doing what he has to do to get through lenny's death how can he stand it how can he relive the same horrible details over and over i can't face it you're not john there's no right or wrong way to grieve judith you must each find your own way so you coming to bed i can't all sleep think about is him hour after hour and day after day oh god john what you're trying to do has to be done i was wrong about that before but what if this quest takes us over and becomes uglier and worse than what happened to lynn don't ask me to stop if i do then lent is just another statistic and i can't i can't let it end that way i'm not asking you to stop i'm asking you to talk to me to keep caring and loving me please don't ever stop loving me john oh nothing nothing in this world could ever make me stop loving you nothing i was afraid you had stopped that you blame me as much as i blame myself never there's only one person to blame for all this and it's never been you i love you i love you judith if we should call while i'm gone tomorrow don't make too much of this i'm no hero you want a what a continuance your honor our expert witness in the field of gas chromatography method of blood testing dr granger is testifying in california he's not the only expert in this area counselor no your honor but he is our preference and he was available 30 days ago when the prosecution was without their witnesses will you gentlemen approach the bench please all right you're even now listen carefully i want to go with this in three weeks september the 12th no excuses no delays understand yes sure well i don't like the delay but i had a couple of new ideas lately at least this will give my investigators time to check them out great turn every stone you could bet webster will my god he's driving his car really still has a license for now his blood test proves he was drunk the shares report shows that he was at fault in a fatality as far as that goes he's got two prior d.w.is but he's innocent until proven guilty that's the law are you telling me that man was arrested twice before for drunk driving i'm afraid so john fisk where do you get the guts who gave you the mall right to sit behind that wheel how the hell do you sleep at night i sleep fine get the hell out of the way how do you sleep knowing that this man may go out tomorrow morning and do the same thing again to some helpless child tell me how come on go ahead mrs chernoff this is john peterson the state versus fish trial starts today my wife and i just wanted to make sure that your son larry would be there his testimony is extremely important but he will be great i was just double checking thank you very much keep your hopes reasonable all right larry you were riding your bike along brockton lane about a half a mile from langley road then what happened this station wagon came out of nowhere and it swerved around me clear into the other lane and then i heard a crash and i got to the intersection and i saw this wreck and mr wilson was helping the driver out of the station wagon is the driver you saw being held from the station wagon in this courtroom yeah he's um that man in the blue suit thank you harry i'm curious on brockton lane when the station wagon passed you and swerved you're riding your bike off the pavement uh no kind of on the right-hand side how many lanes are on that road uh just two yeah two lanes well then any vehicle coming up behind you in order to avoid hitting you would have to move out into the middle of the road correct uh yeah i guess so so after you helped mr fisk out of the station wagon mr wilson did you notice anything out of the ordinary about yes i did what was that i smelled alcohol on his breath did he say anything to you at that point he asked if anybody called an ambulance i told him yes was there anything unusual about the way he spoke yes his words seemed slurred now you say you smelled alcohol on mr fisk's breath could you tell me if it was a beverage with a high alcoholic content no could you tell me how much alcohol mr fisk had consumed no i can't you say mr fisk's speech was impaired just what did mr fisk say to you before the police arrived did anybody call an ambulance how many words is that five had mr fisk said anything to you before that evening no are you a linguist mr wilson no i'm not i have no further questions your honor i just want you to know you're doing great to me just great oh thank you john i mean this guy website's a pretty tough cookie isn't yeah he's pretty tough but i'd say we're holding our own yeah we just gotta listen john just try and relax now we got good witnesses i got a good dossier 0.19 blood count that's right let's stay loose huh i'll let you know when it started worrying so after the accident and the hospital i took mr fist to the station along with his blood sample i booked mr fisk and later that morning i forwarded the blood sample to the county lab have you received the results of this analysis yes i have do you have the report with you yes i do your honor at this time i would move a mission of the defendant's blood analysis into evidence objection your honor you object counselor yes your honor may we approach the bench you may approach what's going on something's wrong you heard mr sorry relax does he look relaxed he can be embarrassing i think ladies and gentlemen of the jury a technical matter has been brought to the court's attention this requires me to rule on an issue of law during the inquiry i would like you to retire to the jury room for a brief period of time thank you deborah caskey on the night of the accident what time did you arrive at your station with mr fisk to book him 11 o'clock and you brought his blood sample with you at that time from the hospital yes now you said you submitted his blood sample to the lab the next day when about 9 30 in the morning so you had the blood sample in your office for 10 and a half hours that's about right sir were you in your office the whole 10 and a half hours yes i was sir well except for the call what call after we uh booked mr fisk i was called out of the station on an emergency involving a armed robbery until when about 6 30 in the morning and when you returned from this emergency call where was mr fisk's blood then on my desk where we left it we put it in the locker we ate breakfast and i sent it to the lab with a morning run so the entire time you were away on this emergency call mr fisk's blood was on your desk at the station right unattended and it will not exactly and there's always deputies there there's always someone in these other deputies do they sometimes use your desk when you're away from it sometimes for what purpose well interviewing witnesses booking suspects but they know it's entirely possible isn't it that while you were away from your desk for six and a half hours leaving mr fisk's blood sample unattended that somebody else could have tempered with it there is no way anyone would have fooled with that particular you're aware debbie dekowski that departmental regulations require you to place any unattended blood sample in security locker for safekeeping yes but we didn't have a chance and there is no way you have nothing further at this time your honor deputy caskey was it an emergency which caused you to leave your station before securing a sample yes it was was a sample on your desk when you returned yes it was thank you no further questions your honor your honor i object to the admission of this uh exhibit into evidence we simply do not know if this very crucial piece of evidence is valid your honor it is highly improbable that the sample was tampered with at any time it was in the sheriff's station guarded by official personnel with all respect counselor we have these regulations for a purpose during the time that mr fisk's blood sample was unsecured no one can say for sure what happened to it not deputy caskey not you not me no one well wow what happened at the station was probably understandable it's most unfortunate obviously the regulations for securing the sample weren't complied with i rule therefore the dependence blood sample cannot be received into evidence the objection is sustained one hour recess for lunch all rise webster's unbelievable god there is no way the jury is going to know fist blood alcohol level now is there i'm afraid then how do we prove he was drunk when he hit lynn how do we prove he's guilty now our circumstantial evidence is good nobody saw the crash but we got good witnesses i don't know we've turned up some stuff in our extra investigation that's no good if we can't get fiscal on the stand doesn't he have to testify no now is it time to worry mr sawyer i'd say now's the time yes thomas my friend to your health happiness and everlasting liberty i'll drink through that mary this is a party not a funeral it's celebrating here i'm sorry i guess my mind's still back in that courtroom what for tonight that's history i was thinking about us tom about our children what will people say to them if you don't tell your side of what happened no no it's as i've explained tom's under no obligation yes but think what's been said already that tom smelled of alcohol and that he's definitely responsible for that accident even if he's cleared and i'm sure he will be what about his reputation well first we get an acquittal and then we worry about reputation i'll explain to the kids mary we're just gonna have to toughen our eyes that's all what about your business contacts tom what if they sour on you because of this you know she might have a point there howard tom i don't want you on the stand we can't risk watching this thing now botching mr webster i think that you're underestimating my husband he's wonderful in front of a group look if i don't get up in the stand and tell my side of it even when i'm acquitted a lot of people are going to think i'm guilty and then the press will get a hold of it and they'll make me look like the boston strangler now that was an accident it could happen to anybody i want to make that perfectly clear up on the stand tom i'm your lawyer will you listen to me please i was a member of that jury and the defendant didn't explain his side of the story well i don't know what are you trying to do to me mrs fisk i'm not going to put your husband on the stand hey you work for me i don't work for you i got a reputation at stake here mister you sure as hell weren't worried about my reputation a second ago i don't believe this look i can handle it don't worry i'll handle it mr fisk what is your occupation i own a construction company you family man yes i've been married for 14 years i have two boys let's talk about may 21st will you tell the court what you did that day i visited my three construction sites now what time did you finish work i left early about 3 30. did you go straight home no i stopped in the wind briar country club did you meet anybody there yes i met two friends max carlton and bryce mccullough why did you go there well max was having some business difficulties did you have anything to drink at the country club yes i did what i had two martinis just two you're sure yes i'm certain now what time did you leave i left at about six o'clock mr fisk were you involved in an accident on your way home yes i was would you describe what happened just prior to the accident well i was proceeding down the street and there's this boy on a bicycle on the right hand side i swung wide to avoid him and for some reason he fell off his bike and while i was preoccupied with him i i took the turn too wide and suddenly i saw this car coming right at me and the next thing i knew i somebody was helping me out of the wreck and what did you do then well i saw how bad it was and that i couldn't do anything about it so i thought of my wife so i i went to telephone her mr fisk when you left the country club were you intoxicated no no absolutely not do you believe that those two drinks that you had in any way contributed to or caused that accident which you're involved no i'm certain they didn't i have no further questions your honor mr fisk what did you do on the morning of may the 21st i went to work were you in any one place the entire day no as i've already said i visited all three construction sites do you remember eating breakfast that morning before you went to work yes i took breakfast at one of the kitchen trucks i think it was on the monroe side all right that's breakfast do you remember eating lunch at any time i always eat lunch at 12 o'clock that's when i do my paperwork did you eat with anybody no how long do you take for lunch um hour or so do you remember where you ate i think it was at uh harry's beef house while you were at harry's nobody joined you at your table at any time during your meal no did you have anything to drink with your meal i had a martini how many martinis just one you're sure of that yes yes i'm sure your honor i'd like these documents mocked as people's exhibit 23 and 24 for identification have been placed before the witness i'm also providing a copy of these documents for the defense council mr fisk what are those documents this is a a credit card receipt and a restaurant bill when are they dated may 21st would you tell the court from what business establishment these receipts were issued harry's beef house do you recognize the signature yes it's it's my signature mr fisk what is the total amount of your lunch bill 28 and of that 28 how much did you leave as a tip four dollars and how much for food twelve dollars how much was your bar bill for lunch on the 21st of may 12 excuse me twelve dollars martinis at harry's are three dollars a piece aren't they yes three dollars a piece 12 divided by three you had four martinis that afternoon didn't you mr fisk yes yes and three hours later you were drinking again at the windbriar country club but i only had two drinks there i remember distinctly i ordered just two times during happy hour wasn't it yes yes it was happy hour at happy hour it's twofers two drinks are automatically served for the price of one you had four martinis at the country club as well didn't you mr fisk i was fine when i left there no more questions johanna i can hold my liquor no more questions has the jury reached a verdict yes we have your honor is the defendant ready to receive the verdict of this court we are your honor will the defendant please stand mr fisk this jury has found you guilty of vehicular manslaughter prior to the determination of sentencing mr fisk do you wish to make a statement in your own behalf do you wish to be heard mr webster yeah sure honor i do mr fisk is a loving husband and father of two children he employs and houses many people as the letters i've given you show he's a valued member of our society for a man of mr fisk's stature it's difficult to imagine any meaningful rehabilitation through incarceration if mr fisk is to atone let him do so through public service work the needs of society will be better met mr fisk will be more fairly served by imposing such a sentence mr sawyer your honor during these proceedings i've become increasingly aware of the tremendous faith mr peterson and his family have placed in our legal system his faith has been challenged hard and often but his trust in us has remained somehow and i beg you not to betray that trust today drunk driving is a crime not an inevitable forgivable nuisance and it cannot it must not be tolerated mr fisk has been found guilty of vehicular manslaughter sentence is clear prison the state requests that he be placed in prison for four years the maximum allowable time under current state statutes so noted i have decided because i have all the relevant information to pass sentence at this time rather than delay further mr webster i have looked through mr fisk's letters of reference and i concur with you his is a record of significant community accomplishment and it's true jail isn't likely to make a better person out of anyone so i have considered the options but what seems clear to me is that the victim in this tragedy lynn peterson has no options at all and i cannot excuse mr fisk from preventing her from living a full productive life if this or any other court fails to insist on justice justice fails mr fisk i am convinced that a part of you stopped caring about another human life when you entered your car on may 21st and while you may dismiss your responsibility the court cannot dismiss the fact that you had a choice that day and you chose to drink and drive consequently mr fisk i am going to impose a sentence of incarceration and i urge you to seek the voluntary alcohol abuse counseling provided by the state's penal system this sentence will not prevent you from living your life but i hope and pray it will convince you of the basic responsibility free people owe to other human beings accordingly mr fisk you will be committed to the state prison for a period of two years your license will be revoked for an additional year so is the finding of this court all rise you're good to get out of here judy this is peterson mrs peterson i want to tell you i'm sorry and that my husband's not a bad man i'm going to do everything i can to see that he gets help i think we both have a long road ahead mrs fisk i hope you find your way you too i love you i love you that's okay what am i gonna do pick up the pieces so so do you

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Published: Fri Aug 14 2020