The Lincoln Lawyer
Based on: The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
Season 4 – Episode 9
Episode title: October Surprise
Original release date: February 5, 2026 (Netflix)
Plot: Cisco escapes with Gazarian’s girlfriend, who he tries to get information from after informing Mickey and Lorna. In court, Berg introduces a surprise witness, Lisa Trammell, who claims Mickey turned her in because she didn’t pay him. That night, they decide how to proceed with the developments. In court, Lisa mentions Gazarian’s connections to organized crime, and Maggie impeaches her by proving Mickey was paid and showing threatening letters she wrote. They then question Drucker and the officer who pulled Sam over to confirm Sam was handed over to Vasquez, though Mickey notices Ruth in the galley, and Izzy overhears her telling someone they have a problem. In her murder case, Lorna proves the victim couldn’t have survived long enough to identify Gates as his killer, and the charges are dropped. Maggie calls the environmental scientist, who explains biofuel and how organized crime factions scam the government with it. He also mentions Vasquez and Ruth investigating these scams. Mickey convinces Judge Stone to issue a bench warrant to force the FBI to testify by admitting his theory. Gazarian’s girlfriend admits to Cisco that he was afraid of his own family. Leaving the courthouse, Mickey is kidnapped by a sheriff’s deputy.
* * *
Transcript
Note for Students & Writers: This transcript is archived here for educational purposes, critical analysis, and screenwriting study. All rights belong to the original creators.
[“Steal My Sunshine” by Len playing]
♪ I was lying on the grass ♪
♪ Of Sunday morning of last week ♪
♪ Indulging in my self-defeat ♪
♪ I know it’s up for me ♪
♪ If you steal my sunshine ♪
♪ Making sure I’m not in too deep ♪
♪ If you steal my sunshine… ♪
[siren wailing]
♪ Keeping versed and on my feet ♪
♪ If you steal my sunshine ♪
[Jeanine] You’re blocking my sun.
Honey, we gotta go. Right now.
[music stops]
[sirens wailing]
Who the hell are you?
Gazarian’s dead. We need to leave.
[fire truck horn blares]
Unless you wanna wait around for your turn. Or if you prefer, you can talk to the cops.
[tense music playing]
Jeanine.
[firefighter speaks indistinctly]
[indistinct chatter over radio]
[Jeanine whimpers]
[Jeanine sobs]
We gotta go.
[gasps]
Now.
[tense music continues]
[opening theme music playing]
[music fades]
[muted chattering in courtroom]
[Mickey sighs]
[door opens]
[Stone] Ms. Berg. Are you aware that you’ve kept the court waiting almost 15 minutes now?
My sincere apologies, Your Honor, but I’m afraid there’s been an unexpected development.
What kind of development?
With the court’s permission, we have a late addition to our witness list.
Your Honor, what possible relevant testimony could this witness offer?
This letter explains the relevance. My office only received it two days ago, as you can see from the postmark. I didn’t wanna waste the court’s time until we verified it, but I took the liberty of having the witness transferred to county just in case. I realize this is unorthodox, but I believe that the jury deserves to hear it regardless.
Judge, this is more than unorthodox. It’s unfair. We have had no time to prepare for this witness.
I recognize that, Your Honor, but we are talking about an inmate in a state prison. Who knows how long it will take to get them back? Besides, I think Mr. Haller is quite familiar with this witness.
[Mickey sighs]
I don’t like surprises, Ms. Berg. Especially not ones I’m forced to wait for. Nevertheless, if the story holds water, the jury is entitled to hear it.
Your Honor…
That’s my ruling, Ms. McPherson. We’ve wasted enough time today. Bring in the jury.
[door opens]
We were wrong.
About what?
This is the October surprise, not that bullshit about Sam’s email. She waited until the end of the day to plant this in the jury’s head. We won’t be able to push back until tomorrow.
[tense music playing]
[Dana] The people call Lisa Trammell to the stand.
[gasping, murmuring in courtroom]
[tense music builds]
[cameras clicking]
[music fades]
[Dana] Ms. Trammell, can you tell us where you currently reside?
The California Institution for Women in Chino.
[Dana] That’s a prison?
Yes.
[Dana] And why are you incarcerated there?
I was sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter.
[Dana] Can you tell us the details of that crime?
I killed my husband.
[gasping, murmuring in courtroom]
It was self-defense. I was in an abusive marriage, and… I snapped.
[Dana] And how do you know the defendant, Mr. Haller? Was he your lawyer?
Not for that case, no.
[Dana] In another case, then?
[Lisa] Yes. Before that, I was accused of killing a real estate developer named Mitchell Bondurant, but I was innocent, and the jury said so.
[Dana] You mean you were found not guilty?
That’s right.
[Dana] And can you explain how the defendant came to be your lawyer?
I’m a chef. Or I was, anyway. And, um… Mickey used to eat at my restaurant. I needed a lawyer. I didn’t have a lot of money, but the murder was big news, so… I guess he saw a chance to grab the spotlight. He said not to worry about the money. That we’d figure something out, and I trusted him. Because of our relationship.
[Dana] Your attorney-client relationship?
[Lisa] No. Our romantic relationship.
[spectators murmuring]
[Stone] Order. I won’t say it again.
[tense music playing]
Ms. Berg, I expect you to keep this testimony relevant and on point.
[Dana] Understood, Your Honor.
[Dana] Ms. Trammell. Are you saying you engaged in an intimate relationship with the defendant?
Yes.
[Dana] While he was your lawyer?
Well, once he took my case, we pretended to cool it, but I mean… [laughs softly] …my life was on the line. And, you know, he was kind of sweet at first. I even confided in him and told him how abusive my ex-husband was. Big mistake.
[Mickey scoffs]
Your Honor, can you please instruct Mr. Haller to not make demonstrations for the jury?
Mr. Haller, you know better. Keep your reactions to yourself.
My apologies, but it’s hard not to react to lies about…
[Stone] Mr. Haller! You know better than to make comments too. You’ve been warned.
[quietly] She’s become an even better con artist in jail.
[Dana] Now, Ms. Trammell, you said that Mr. Haller assured you that you could work out something regarding payment. Did there come a time when the two of you had a disagreement about it?
Yes.
[Dana] Can you expand on that?
Mickey had tried to negotiate a deal for my life rights as a way of getting paid. But I had a friend at the time, a podcaster named Henry Dahl, who took that over. Mickey didn’t like that. So, when the trial was over and the cameras went away, Mickey was furious that there wasn’t any money for him. That’s why he got back at me.
[Dana] What do you mean, he got back at you?
Oh, he said there’d be consequences if I couldn’t pay him. Serious consequences, and the next thing I know, the police show up to my house to arrest me for killing my husband. You do the math. I know what I did was wrong. But like I said, it was self-defense. I couldn’t take the abuse anymore. And I confided in the one person who was sworn to keep it quiet.
[Dana] So, to be clear, Ms. Trammell, are you saying it is your belief that Mr. Haller broke attorney-client privilege just because he was angry that you couldn’t pay him?
Objection. Calls for speculation.
[Dana] I’m merely asking the witness’s opinion, Your Honor.
Overruled. The witness may answer.
In my experience, the only thing that mattered to Mickey was money.
Come on. That’s a lie!
You told them. You were the only one who knew.
I never broke attorney-client privilege!
Order! One more outburst like that, and I will hold you in contempt. And, Ms. Berg, school your witness right now. She will speak only when asked a question by counsel.
[Dana] Of course, Your Honor.
Your Honor, I must object to this line of testimony. It assumes facts not in evidence. The People put a story in front of the jury that’s pure conjecture.
And those are points you can explore on cross-examination, Ms. McPherson. Overruled. I’m afraid it’s too late for that now though. Let’s come back tomorrow, and I’ll expect everyone to remember this is a court of law. The witness is excused. We are adjourned. Jurors will remember their admonition.
[Maggie sighs]
[music fades]
[phone vibrating]
Cisco, where are you?
Just outside San Diego. Mick. I got some bad news. Gazarian’s dead.
What? How?
[Cisco] He took a swan dive off the hotel balcony. I’m pretty sure it was the same guys who gave me the tune-up.
Puta madre. Why would his own people want him dead?
That’s what I’m trying to figure out.
Gazarian?
[Cisco] It makes no sense. Good news is I managed to convince his girlfriend to leave with me.
Is she talking?
[Cisco] Not yet, but I’m working on it. If she knows anything, I’ll find out.
[sighs] All right, thanks.
From bad to worse. There goes our star witness.
Jesus, don’t sneak up on me like that.
Apologies. As soon as I’m done filling up the tank, we’ll head back to LA.
Are you high? I can’t go back to my place. Those goons know where I live.
Why would they want you? What do you know that scares them so much?
I have no idea. I don’t know anything. All I know is these people don’t fuck around.
Well, if you want, I can find us a place to hide out, and we can figure out what to do next… Okay. I’m gonna grab a coffee. You want anything?
Uh, a cherry ICEE and, uh, Flamin’ Hot Doritos, but, um, Cool Ranch, not Limón. Those are gross. Don’t judge.
Cool Ranch. Yeah.
[suspenseful music playing]
The money stuff is a lie, Maggie. We can fight that.
The sex part doesn’t help either.
[Bennett] Haller. Let’s go.
All right. We’ll figure something out. Have everyone meet at the house. We’ll come up with a game plan.
Okay.
[vehicle starts]
[sighs]
[Lorna] She’s lucky you were there. Are you sure you weren’t being followed?
[Cisco] Don’t worry. They won’t be looking for me in your car.
Are you coming back to LA?
[Cisco] Not yet. She’s scared. Understandably. But it should give me a little more time to work on her.
[sighs] Just watch your back, please.
[Cisco] I will. The truth is, we should all be watching our backs. At least until we figure out what’s what. My guess is those guys who took out Gazarian are under orders to tie up all loose ends.
We’ll be careful too.
All right. I’ll call you later.
[sighs wearily]
[Izzy] He’ll be okay. If there’s one person who knows how to take care of himself, it’s Cisco.
But still, those goons got a jump on him.
Which is why he’s even more prepared now. L, the best thing you can do right now is focus on the Gates case. And before you ask, I will be at the airport in the morning to pick up your expert witness.
You’re right. You’re right. Izzy, you and this pizza are saving my life right now. Well, mostly the pizza.
Okay, I know Lisa’s testimony today was bad.
More like a disaster.
But the bigger problem is that we lost the centerpiece of our case. We needed Gazarian on the stand.
It is hard to point the finger at someone who is dead.
But I’ve been thinking that’s where Lisa might actually help us. I mean, Gazarian was part of her case, which means we can use her to get his name on the record.
But now that he’s dead, where does that get us? Our theory is that Gazarian killed Sam because Sam was snitching to the FBI. But without Gazarian’s testimony, there’s no way to show he knew.
Wait, hold on. We got Val to serve that cop in Los Alamitos. Officer… What’s his name, Roundtree?
Mm-hmm.
[Izzy] Can’t he connect Sam to the FBI?
[Maggie] It’s better than nothing. But it still doesn’t get us Gazarian’s side of the story. In the meantime, we have gotta find a way to discredit Lisa Trammell. She hurt us today.
Well, I might be able to help with that. I found these in the files and thought they might be useful.
What’s all this?
[Izzy] Letters. Lisa’s been writing to you from prison.
I’m gonna warn you right now. These are not safe for work.
[Maggie] Good morning, Ms. Trammell. Did you kill Mitchell Bondurant?
Objection. We’ve established that Ms. Trammell was found not guilty.
As Ms. Berg is well aware, Your Honor, not guilty is not the same thing as innocent.
Overruled. Witness may answer the question.
[sighs] No, I did not.
Do you know who did kill him?
I don’t know for sure, but Mickey brought up another suspect at trial.
[Maggie] Who was that?
[Lisa] Some contractor who had shady business deals with Bondurant. His name was Alex Gazarian.
[Maggie] And why was Alex Gazarian a suspect in the murder?
Well, it turned out he had some connections to organized crime, and Mitchell Bondurant threatened to turn him over to the feds, so…
I see. So the theory was that Alex Gazarian killed Mitchell Bondurant because Bondurant was talking to the FBI about him?
Objection. Relevance?
I’ll move on, Your Honor. Now, let’s talk about this supposed dispute over legal fees. Ms. Trammell, you said that Mr. Haller was angry that you couldn’t pay him. But do you remember signing your life rights over to Mr. Haller?
Yes, I do.
And were you aware that Henry Dahl, who produced the podcast about your trial, ended up paying Mr. Haller a sizable sum of money in exchange for those life rights? Defense Exhibit C, Your Honor, offered for impeachment.
Uh, no. I had no idea about this.
As you can see, it was more than enough to cover Mr. Haller’s fees.
It didn’t stop him from wanting to get back at me. Did it?
Yes. Well, about that… You stated under oath that you think it’s Mr. Haller’s fault that you’re in prison. Correct?
Well… [scoffs] I mean, I owned what I did.
[pensive music playing]
I didn’t even go to trial. I pled guilty and took full responsibility for the death of my husband.
But you do blame Mr. Haller for the police arresting you, do you not?
I thought I can’t answer that.
You can speak for yourself. You just can’t speak for Mr. Haller.
Well, then, yeah. I do blame him.
And did you ever threaten to make Mr. Haller pay for what he’d done?
[Lisa] Look, I’m not a vindictive person. I was hurt that Mickey betrayed my trust, but…
Defense Exhibit D, Your Honor.
Ms. Trammell, did you send letters from prison to Mr. Haller? Including that one?
[Dana] Objection, Your Honor. I have never seen this letter before.
Also impeachment, Your Honor.
Overruled. You’ll get a chance to redirect if you want, Ms. Berg.
Is that your signature at the bottom? And your inmate number?
I’m not sure.
Well, I have 15 more where that came from. Would another letter help refresh your memory?
[sighs] Okay. Yes, I sent the letter, but… Look, the thing is, since I’ve been in prison, I get very depressed. I see a medic about it. Sometimes, I go into this, like, fugue state. I don’t remember what I did or said.
That’s okay because, luckily, you have the letter right there in front of you, and you can read it out loud and remind yourself of exactly what you said. Could you please read the letter aloud to the jury, Ms. Trammell?
Ms. Trammell, read the letter.
[breathes deeply]
“Dear Asshole at Law…”
[jurors snicker]
[Lisa] “I just wanted you to know that I haven’t forgotten about you. I will never forget about you. You ruined my life. And I promise I will make you pay for that. I don’t know what I ever saw in you. You are a piece of shit. You call yourself a lawyer, but you are nothing. I hope you found God because you’ll need him.”
Nothing further, Your Honor.
Redirect.
[Dana] Two questions, Your Honor. Ms. Trammell, do you believe that Mr. Haller was angry because you could not pay him?
Yes.
[Dana] Do you believe that he took vindictive action against you because of this?
Yes.
[Dana] Thank you. Nothing further.
Very well. Witness is excused.
[handcuffs click]
Ms. Berg, anything else?
[indistinct whispering]
[Dana] Your Honor, the People rest.
[spectators murmuring]
Even with the redirect, the jury could see what a liar she is. It’s a wash for them at best.
[sighs] I hope you’re right.
[Maggie] Haller. I know I am. Okay?
[tender music playing]
Hey.
Hey.
Oh, hey, Lorna.
[music fades]
So now, we recall Detective Drucker. He gets us to Officer Roundtree, and that’ll get us to the FBI.
I think we might actually need the EPA expert for that. Art Schultz?
Why? Don’t they both get us there in different ways? Roundtree can say that when he pulled Sam over for the traffic stop that there was a flag in his file from the FBI.
Well, um…
[pensive music playing]
So, what, um… [exhales] The thing is, we never included the FBI flag in discovery.
Excuse me?
[Mickey] I meant to tell you sooner.
Mickey…
[Mickey] The FBI had just slipped me the incident report. I wasn’t sure what Iceberg knew about it. We got what we needed in Los Alamitos without any paper trails, so we decided to sit on it.
You mean you decided to sit on it.
It was such a wild card. It felt like a liability, and it just got so late…
Okay, stop. Both of you. I give you an F in ethics, but I’m too pissed off at Dana Berg right now to worry about it.
[Mickey] Spoken like a true defense attorney.
[Lorna] You still need to get the FBI flag in, right? How do we convince the judge to admit it if we never turned it over?
We won’t have to. Detective Drucker can do it for us.
[Mickey] See? Now you’re thinking like a defense attorney too. Your conversion is complete.
Shut it, Haller.
[Mickey] What about you? How’s your murder case going?
Not so great, but I have a little surprise cooked up for today too.
[Lorna] Can you state your full name for the record, Doctor?
Certainly. Myriam Arslanian.
Can you please walk the court through your area of professional expertise and your credentials?
I’m a forensic scientist with over 20 years of experience in ballistics testing. I have a bachelor’s degree from Harvard in engineering, as well as a master’s degree and a PhD from MIT. I also got a degree from Berklee College of Music while I was at it.
[Lorna] Have you had a chance to examine the evidence?
Yes, I have.
Good. Could you tell us about the murder weapon, please?
Well, as you can see, the weapon was a GLOCK 19 semiautomatic. It’s a common handgun that’s popular with law enforcement.
So it’s a gun that the police use?
Yes. Most notably, the New York Police Department. Although the NYPD had to recall most of their GLOCK 19s a few years ago.
Recall them? Why?
They found that the guns had an issue with jamming. Most were repaired or replaced.
Last time I checked, we were in Los Angeles, not New York. How exactly is this relevant?
It’s relevant, Your Honor, because Tariq Johnson, the security guard, is a recent NYPD retiree, and Rashad Harrison, the stock boy, testified that he heard the murder weapon jam.
Overruled.
Doctor, were you also able to review the police report and coroner’s report?
Yes, I was. In fact, I took the liberty of creating an animated version of the shooting based on the measurements provided by the police and the coroner.
Objection. This is the first I’m hearing of this animation.
I only managed to secure Dr. Arslanian’s testimony last night. Even I haven’t seen this video. But this is a preliminary hearing, not trial, and the court has already accepted Dr. Arslanian as an expert.
I assume you have copies of this animation, Doctor?
Indeed, I do.
Very well. I’ll give you an hour to review it, Mr. Lorenzo. The court will do the same.
Thank you, Your Honor.
Your Honor.
Step back.
[Maggie] Good afternoon, Detective.
Good afternoon, Counsel.
Did you pursue any other potential suspects aside from Mr. Haller during your investigation?
Initially, of course, we cast as wide a net as possible, but the surplus of evidence let us narrow our search very quickly.
It’s a yes or no question. Did you pursue any other suspects?
There weren’t any to pursue.
So you admit that you didn’t even bother to consider any other suspects?
Objection.
Withdrawn.
[Drucker] Had the evidence pointed to any other suspect, I would have been more than happy to follow it. I take my job very seriously.
Of course, Detective. Let’s move on to the evidence you did find. At some point, you learned that Sam Scales was using the alias Kirk Lennon. Isn’t that correct?
Yes.
And I assume that you dug into Kirk Lennon’s employment history, living situation, criminal record.
Of course.
And what did you find?
It appears that Mr. Scales, using the name Kirk Lennon, was living in San Pedro and driving a truck for a company called Biogreen.
And his DMV record. You ran that too?
We ran all of his aliases through the DMV. Nothing stood out.
[Maggie] Hmm. So Kirk Lennon’s traffic stop in Los Alamitos, which we found in the DMV record from your discovery packet, did you investigate that?
Apparently, Mr. Scales rolled through a stop sign and was pulled over. For a career criminal, a simple traffic stop didn’t seem to warrant further investigation.
I see. Detective, could you read the name of the officer who pulled Mr. Scales over?
Officer Dennis Roundtree.
Nothing further, Your Honor.
Any cross?
No, Your Honor, but may we approach?
[sighs] The witness is excused.
Your Honor, the People object to any further testimony on this topic. This traffic stop is completely irrelevant to the charges at hand. This is all just a sideshow to distract the jury from Mr. Haller’s guilt. I mean, what? You’re gonna call this Officer Roundtree in and ask him about the victim running a stop sign?
I am confused, Your Honor. We presented our witness list well in advance, and Officer Roundtree has always been on it. If Ms. Berg didn’t bother to investigate or realize…
Give me a break.
[Stone] They have a point. If you had an objection to this witness, you should’ve raised it earlier. We’ve had our fair share of motions.
Well, I would like my objection noted for the record, and I reserve the right to renew it as soon as they stray from whatever relevance they are reaching for.
[Stone] So noted. Now, if you’d all please step back so we can get on with it. The defense may call your witness.
[Mickey] Yes, Your Honor. The defense calls Officer…
Dennis Roundtree.
[Mickey] And can you tell the court where you work, Officer Roundtree?
[Roundtree] I’m a patrol officer in Los Alamitos. That’s right over the border into Orange County.
[Mickey] And how long have you been there?
Um, I was a trainee for a year. Since then, I’ve been with the department four years now.
[Mickey] Okay, and… Uh, Your Honor, may I consult my notes for a second?
Quickly, please, Mr. Haller.
[Mickey] Thank you, Your Honor.
[tense music playing]
[quietly] Don’t look now, but Agent Ruth decided to join us.
[phone vibrates]
[Mickey] Now, Officer, I would like to direct your attention to the afternoon of May 10th of last year. Did you have a chance to review the incident report you wrote up for a traffic stop you made that day?
Yes, I have.
[Mickey] Can you tell us about the traffic stop in question?
[Roundtree] Yes, sir. Uh… I was near the elementary school when a white van did a slow roll through a stop sign at the corner. There are kids there, so I immediately hit my lights and followed.
[Mickey] And what happened?
[Roundtree] The driver pulled over. I got out of my car and explained the infraction. He was reasonably cooperative.
[Mickey] Did you notice anything unusual about him or his vehicle?
License and registration, please.
Sure.
[Roundtree] The car was fitted with a hand-operated brake and accelerator.
Let me just…
[Roundtree] I’d never seen that before on patrol.
[Mickey] Which indicated that the driver was disabled in some way?
[Roundtree] Yes, sir. That was also noted on his driver’s license.
[Mickey] What was the driver’s name?
[Roundtree] His name was Kirk Lennon.
[Mickey] And is this the man you pulled over? Is this Kirk Lennon?
It appears to be. Yes.
[Mickey] Let the record reflect that the witness has identified Sam Scales as Kirk Lennon. What happened next, Officer?
Well, I ran the name through the system, but it came up flagged.
[Mickey] Flagged?
[Roundtree] Yes. Sometimes, if someone is wanted for questioning or if there’s a warrant out for their arrest, the name will be flagged. This one was an FBI alert, an ATL. That means “attempt to locate.” I called it in just to confirm it.
[Mickey] So what do you do when there’s an “attempt to locate” on someone?
You detain them and notify the agency that put out the alert.
[Mickey] And is that what you did here?
Yes, sir. I took Mr. Lennon to the station, and I notified the FBI.
[tense music playing]
[Sam] You can’t do this. You cannot hold somebody over a simple traffic violation! I have rights, you know! [over monitor] There is still a constitution in this country, and I… I guarantee you this breaks all the rules of… of cruel and unusual punishment and unlawful seizure and whatever the hell else! I want my lawyer!
[Mickey] And did someone from the FBI come to take Mr. Lennon off your hands?
[Roundtree] Yes, sir. Do you know that person’s name? Uh, I have it right here. He had to sign for him. His name was Agent Felix Vasquez.
Sam. You’re a hard man to find.
[Mickey] Thank you very much, Officer. Nothing further.
[suspenseful music playing]
No. No, I’m telling you we have a problem. Maybe a big one.
[elevator bell dings]
[Arslanian] From the security footage, we know Gary Cartwright was behind the counter, and Rashad Harrison was on his way back to the stockroom. We also know that the gunman entered the store at exactly 5:05 p.m., and the first thing he did was shoot out the one working security camera. With no further security footage to work with, we must now rely on the testimony of witnesses, the police reports, and the autopsy findings. Based on these, we know that Gary reached under the counter for his weapon and returned fire. But his shot missed, and this is where Rashad Harrison heard the GLOCK 19 jam, which again, is consistent with its history. However, just as a weapon can jam, so can that jam clear. As Gary raised his gun to shoot again, the gunman pulled the trigger one more time, and this time, the gun fired. That was the fatal shot. After that, the gunman fled. Rashad called 911, and five minutes later, Tariq Johnson, the community security guard, entered the store.
Now, Dr. Arslanian, Tariq Johnson said he attempted to administer CPR to the victim, but it was too late. Does that make sense to you?
Absolutely. I’ve illustrated the exact damage the bullet caused. As you see, the victim turned at the last moment, which caused the bullet to enter his body there, between the second and third vertebrosternal ribs, traveling through both lungs. This caused a bilateral tension pneumothorax, which means that both lungs collapsed. Can you explain the significance of that in English? Certainly. With both lungs collapsed, air gets trapped between the lungs and the chest wall. As you see, this creates a one-way valve allowing air to enter, but not exit. This compresses the lungs and causes hypotension, tachycardia, and hypoxia. Within seconds, the victim would be unable to breathe or speak. So, after five whole minutes, when Tariq Johnson arrived, it would be hopeless.
[Lorna] Huh. But, Dr. Arslanian, earlier in this hearing, Tariq Johnson testified that the victim did manage to speak to him. In fact, he said my client’s name, Carter. Are you saying that’s not possible?
I’m saying that’s quite impossible.
So Tariq Johnson lied.
Objection. Leading.
[Lorna] I’ll rephrase. In your opinion, Doctor, was Tariq Johnson testifying truthfully?
With two collapsed lungs, there is no way that anyone could possibly speak. So, in my opinion, his testimony is clearly and demonstrably false.
So what now?
The prosecution asked for a day for his expert to review your findings.
But we know you have a plane to catch, so…
Worst case, if we need you again, you can testify remotely. Thank you so much.
I’m so glad I could help.
I just… I wish there was some way I could help Mickey. How’s he doing?
He’s, uh… He’s hanging in there. You know Mickey. He’s not going down without a fight.
Right. Well, if there’s anything I can do, don’t hesitate.
Trust me, we won’t.
I should get you to the airport.
Safe travels.
[jaunty music playing]
Can I have a word?
I hope that word’s “dismissed.”
My department doesn’t wanna pay for another expert to analyze the data.
Right. We wouldn’t wanna spend money trying to find the right guy or anything.
I’m gonna choose to ignore that and make you an offer. Voluntary manslaughter. I’ll ask for the minimum. Three years. And credit for time served.
I’ll take it to my client, but I’m telling you right now, he’d rather go to trial, assuming Judge Rossman doesn’t throw the whole thing out.
[chuckles softly] For being new, you’re good at this.
I had a good teacher.
What do you want?
I want the charges against Carter Gates dismissed with prejudice. And if I were you, I would have the cops get a warrant for that security guard’s house, where I’m sure you’re gonna find an NYPD-issued GLOCK 19 with a jamming problem.
Let me make a call.
[elevator dings]
[jaunty music continues]
[Izzy mouths silently]
You want me to talk about myself? My favorite topic.
[spectators chuckle]
My name is Arthur Schultz. I am a research scientist with the Environmental Protection Agency. I’m also an enforcement agent, so I make sure that companies and communities are following the law and EPA regulations. I’m also an adjunct professor of environmental science at UCLA.
Where you are a lecturer on, among other things, alternative fuels. Am I correct?
[Schultz] Yes. I teach a seminar on responding to climate change. Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:00.
Your Honor, the People do not object to Dr. Schultz’s qualifications as an expert. The relevance of his testimony may be another matter.
The court recognizes Dr. Schultz. Continue, Ms. McPherson.
Thank you, Your Honor. Now, Dr. Schultz, did you have a chance to review the analysis of the substance found on the wheel of the victim’s wheelchair?
I did. According to the report, it was a mixture of vegetable oil and chicken fat combined with small amounts of sugarcane. You might call that restaurant grease, but we call it feedstock.
I see, and where might the feedstock have come from?
Well, it’s a byproduct of bio fuel, so most likely a bio fuel refinery. Bet you didn’t think a person could say bio fuel twice in one sentence, did you?
Dr. Schultz, if you could keep the color commentary to a minimum.
Of course.
Could you explain bio fuel to the jury, Dr. Schultz? Maybe the CliffsNotes version?
Yes. So, as part of our transition away from fossil fuels, the government offers funding for programs that can convert food waste and other organic compounds into fuel, but as you can imagine, there are numerous rules and regulations.
[Dana] Your Honor, I must object. This is the relevancy issue I raised. What does any of this have to do with the murder of Sam Scales?
The substance on Mr. Scales’s wheelchair and how it came to be there is directly relevant to his murder, and we intend to demonstrate that.
Demonstrate that quickly, Ms. McPherson.
Sure. Could you quickly explain why regulations are so necessary?
Well, in a word, money.
[Maggie] Money?
So to create bio fuel, you have to collect feedstock, and that feedstock needs to be shipped or trucked to refineries that have been converted to process it, and the government offers subsidies to encourage refineries to do this.
[Maggie] How much are we talking about?
Two dollars a barrel.
Doesn’t sound like very much.
[Schultz] Every truck carries 200 barrels, so that’s $400 every time a truck leaves the facility. You run enough trucks, and that adds up. So that’s where the potential for fraud comes in.
And how does the fraud work?
[Schultz] Different ways. So, like my last big case in Nevada, the refinery was changing the labels on the barrels. So, the same grease was coming in labeled feedstock and going out labeled bio fuel. These guys ran 25 trucks twice a day at 400 per. They were skimming well over 100 grand a week.
Just by changing the labels.
[Schultz] Correct. With the potential for that kind of profit, we often find organized crime factions are behind it. So, like the Nevada case before the FBI stepped in, we estimated they pocketed $9 million. Some low-level people were arrested, but they still haven’t gotten to the higher-ups who are ultimately behind it.
And was this case unique, or…
Unfortunately not. Our department, as well as the FBI, have been looking into scams all over the country. They call it “bleeding the beast.” The beast is the government because it’s so big and rich. They believe they can bleed a little off the top, and nobody will notice.
$9 million is a little?
Well, to a dinosaur, I look like an ant.
[spectators chuckle]
Your Honor.
I will wrap it up, Your Honor. Just one more question, Doctor. You said that the FBI shut down the Nevada scam. Do you recall the names of the agents who were in charge of that operation?
Yes. We worked closely together. There were two. Agent Dawn Ruth and Agent Felix Vasquez.
[spectators murmur]
Really? Felix Vasquez? Thank you, Doctor. No further questions.
[Stone] Cross-examination?
No, Your Honor, but may we approach again?
Actually, I think now is a good time to take a break. And I’ll see counsel in my chambers, please.
Now, before we continue, I wanna make sure we’re not on some wild goose chase. As I recall, Mr. Haller, I signed a court order directed at the FBI over a month ago. Where are we on that? Can we expect them to corroborate this testimony?
[Mickey] So far, they’ve ignored the order, and I think that will continue unless we force the issue.
You mean a bench warrant?
It would be a lot harder for them to ignore that.
Judge, I once again object to this whole line of inquiry. Wasting the court’s time with bench warrants for FBI agents? This is a circus act. It’s a Mickey Haller special. He jiggles his keys over here so the jury doesn’t look over there.
That’s clever. Did you come up with that on your own?
Counsel, can we please save the bickering for your own time?
[Mickey] We’ve established that all roads lead to the FBI. Now, at the risk of laying all our cards on the table, we believe Sam Scales was running a scam with Alex Gazarian to defraud the US government, just like Dr. Schultz described. Now, the reason the FBI picked Sam up in Los Alamitos was to force him to become an informant, and that led directly to his murder. Now, the only people who can confirm this are Agent Ruth and Agent Vasquez. Their names are on the record. The jury deserves to hear from them.
Alex Gazarian’s name is on the record, too, so is the jury gonna hear from him as well?
[Mickey] We are in the process of determining what information we can glean from Mr. Gazarian or someone in his orbit. Regardless, the jury deserves to know the truth, however we can present it.
[Maggie] We all do. The court has an obligation to ensure the defendant gets a fair trial, and that is not going to happen here without this testimony. It is the whole case. Otherwise, we ask that you dismiss the charge.
Like hell.
Ms. Berg, get it under control. Now.
[Mickey] Please, it shouldn’t be hard to track them down. Agent Ruth was even in court for some of today’s testimony.
Wait. You’re saying one of these agents was here today?
[Mickey] On my word as an officer of the court, yes, I saw her. So did my office manager.
[sighs] The bench warrant will be issued within the hour.
Your Honor…
[Stone] Enough. Whatever your objection is, it’s overruled. I do not take kindly to anyone ignoring my orders, no matter what badge they happen to be wearing.
[telephone keypad clicking]
[Mickey] Looks like we got under Dana’s skin.
The way she said that about Gazarian, I think she knows he’s dead. She’s ahead of us. She knows he can’t testify now.
[Mickey] Well, better pray Cisco can get somewhere.
I had to guess your size. Gotta warn you though. The selection was pretty limited. I hope they fit.
Thanks.
Listen, I, uh, was hoping we could talk. I think whatever trouble you’re mixed up in is related to what’s happening to my boss.
I already told you, I don’t know anything, but thanks again for the clothes.
Okay, then! I’m gonna take off to LA. I got some stuff to do back there. But, uh, I guess if you don’t know anything, you’ll be safe. Room’s paid through tomorrow, so, uh… See ya!
Wait. [sighs] Please… Don’t leave me here. I’m definitely not safe.
You hungry?
[Jeanine] Look, all I know is that Alex must have done something fucking dumber than dumb because he pissed off his uncles and the rest of his family, and those are not people you wanna piss off.
You never asked what he did?
What do you think? We sat around, sharing our deepest, darkest? He told me we needed to lay low, so we laid low. Then he said we needed more security, so we had even more of his bozos hanging around.
[dishes shattering]
[Jeanine exhales, sighs]
It’s all right. They’re not gonna find us out here.
Yeah, but we can’t stay here forever.
Why’d you two run off to Palm Springs in the first place? What happened?
[tense music playing]
I don’t really know. One day, some guy came sniffing around, and Frick and Frack took him behind the woodshed. That’s when Alex got really scared.
Yeah.
[Alex] We gotta go.
Come on. I like it here.
Who do you think he’s calling? Think he’s ordering a pizza?
You’re not making any sense, babe. You said we needed those guys to watch our backs.
Yeah, well, now I’m saying that those are the guys we need to watch.
I’m lost.
Look, I fucked up. Okay? I did a th… It doesn’t matter what I did. I wasn’t thinking about the consequences, and now I am.
Okay.
And just don’t argue with me, okay? Just pack your shit, and let’s go. Trust me.
[music fades]
So you have no idea what he did to make his family so angry?
I already told you, I don’t! [cries softly] Thanks.
[Jeanine sniffles]
[poignant music playing]
Alex was usually pretty anal about being the good little boy. So whatever it was…
[poignant music playing]
…must have been really bad to make him run. And he was right, the little shit.
[music intensifies]
[buzzer sounds repeatedly]
[people chattering excitedly]
[woman] Hey!
[people exclaim]
[whooping, laughing]
[Izzy chuckles]
[sighs contentedly]
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
[woman] Oh, all right.
Carter, congrats!
Oh! [groans happily]
[Lorna squeals, laughs]
How can I ever thank you?
I think you just did.
[Carter chuckles]
Uh, so I’ll have the rest of that money tomorrow.
Do not worry about that right now. Go be with your family!
[family chattering, laughing]
Thank you, Lorna. Thank you.
[man 1] There he is.
[man 2] Hey!
[family chatter excitedly]
[laughing, chattering]
How does it feel?
Meh.
Huh.
[Lorna laughs]
It feels how I hoped it would feel when I was in law school. Like the world is righter than it was an hour ago.
Proud of you, L.
Aw!
[Izzy chuckles]
Thank you.
Everyone is determined to make my makeup run today.
[Izzy chuckles]
You better watch out. Now that I’m a big, successful lawyer, I’m gonna interrogate your girlfriend and find out everything.
Hey, come on. That girlfriend and I are gonna take you to dinner to celebrate.
I love that. Can we sit outside so I can bring Winston?
Absolutely.
[Lorna squeals happily]
[music fades]
[Maggie] Iceberg has a point.
The feds are gonna jump through any hoop to avoid showing up in court, even with a bench warrant. Whatever they’re hiding, they’re hiding for a reason.
[Mickey] I know. I went through this last year with a DEA agent. He only got on the stand because he thought he outsmarted me.
What do we do? We can’t land this plane without someone confirming the story.
[Mickey] I have another plan. You’re not gonna like it. [sighs] Put me on the stand.
Be serious.
[Mickey] I’m dead serious.
Mickey, that is the worst idea I have ever heard, and you know that better than anyone.
[Mickey] I do know that, but what choice do we have? There’s only one way I get out, and that’s by telling a story that beats the one Berg’s telling. And now, without the FBI or Gazarian, there’s no one else who can do it.
You’re insane. It’s insane.
[Mickey] At least let’s prep for it tonight. You throw me every question you can think of. See if I hold up.
[Maggie sighs]
I’ll see you back at the house.
[Mickey sighs]
[ominous music playing]
[vehicle starts]
[Mickey] Hopefully, we missed the traffic.
[line beeps]
[line beeps]
[line beeps]
Don’t bother. They made me take a jammer. Cell’s not gonna work.
[Mickey] What?
[tense music playing]
[Mickey] Hey. The 101 is that way. This isn’t the way to my house. Hey! Hey!
[door rattles]
Hey! No point trying that either.
[Mickey] Where are you taking me? Hey!
[music intensifies]
[Mickey] Hey! Let me out! Hey!
[music fades]
[quiet, tense music playing]
[music fades]
