NARRATOR: In the criminal justice system
the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups,
the police who investigate crime
and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
I told you, Susan. He's not in. SUSAN: Do I look stupid?
He told you to say he's not in.
I've got work to do. I'll tell Mr. Parker...
You'll tell him to get his ass out here. Now.
Do I have to call security?
I assume he's told you the big news.
I don't know what you're talking about.
The SOB is walking out!
Sixteen years, and he's taking a hike!
Please calm down. I don't need to get in the middle of this.
He killed my baby, and he's taking a hike!
That's a hell of a boss you've got!
Please lower your voice... I wanna scream,
I will scream!
I want the world to know all about my darling husband!
Come on, Mrs. Parker. Get your hands off me.
(sun COCKING)
I just want to talk to my husband.
Get the hell out of here, will you?
You're crazy! I'm not crazy.
You murdering bastard!
Tell all these people!
He kills my baby, and then he walks out!
I'm calling the cops.
(suns FIRING)
(PEOPLE SCREAMING)
(POLICE RADIO CHATTERING)
WALLACE: Twenty years on the job down at the 2-7,
never once pulled my piece.
And I thought retirement was gonna be boring.
Hey, I had to shoot, you know.
The woman was off balance. She wanted blood.
Anybody's in particular? Her hubby, Mr. Parker.
First VP. All right, stick around.
Yeah.
I thought they had a good marriage. I was a little jealous.
I guess she wasn't trying to scare him.
She was out of her skull, you know what I mean?
Screaming like a maniac.
Was she screaming anything specific?
Something about Mr. Parker killing her baby.
I didn't even know they had a baby.
I thought I'd wet my pants.
Oh, yeah, and she also said that he was leaving her.
Surprise. Surprise.
If I had known she'd react this way, I never would have...
Never would have what, Mr. Parker?
Sixteen years we were married,
and 10 of those I wouldn't trade for anything.
Three weeks ago,
I moved out
into a hotel.
Witnesses said she was screaming about you killing her baby.
We'd been trying to have a baby for five years.
Susan was obsessed.
She had a miscarriage.
She said you had something to do with that.
Sure, it was my fault.
It was also your fault and the mailman's
and the guy who sells watches on the corner of 5th and 42nd.
Yeah, well, you're the one she took the shot at.
Isn't it obvious my wife wasn't rational?
I thought about leaving her for months.
Yesterday,
my attorney served her with papers.
Susan Parker, 40. DOA. Shot by a security guard.
Smart money says it was justifiable.
The DA okay with that?
It's pretty hard to argue with 30 eyewitnesses.
This lady goes into a bank, waves a .38 around.
Actually took a shot at the husband.
He all right? Yeah, he's a little shook up,
but he'll get over it
when he realizes how much money he's saving on attorney's fees.
He was divorcing her.
What's this about killing her baby?
She had a miscarriage.
Husband said she blamed the whole world for it.
Yeah, well, it appears she was a little more specific.
So what? So, a middle-class woman
starts taking potshots in a midtown bank.
There's gotta be something more here.
The party's over. I mean, she's dead.
Well, call me curious.
I'd like to know what put her in a position to get that way.
Talk to the ME.
Talk to him about what? Yeah.
She said he killed her baby.
Maybe she was saner than her husband would have us believe.
I told you on the phone I haven't completed the full autopsy.
But you did do a prelim.
Cause of death, .38 in the back. You happy?
What about bruises?
Those bank floors are hard. I wouldn't be surprised.
Well, we're thinking maybe there were some that were caused
by a more human source.
Look, you wanna give me a break? I've gotta be in court in two hours.
So, what's it gonna take? Two seconds for you to look at the chart?
Yes. Preliminary examination revealed recent contusions.
Consistent with a beating? That's right.
Now, if you don't mind.
I already told you my wife had a miscarriage.
Maybe I should get my attorney over here.
Do you think you need one?
Mr. Parker, the ME found bruises on your wife's body.
We're just interested in finding out how they got there.
How should I know? Look what happened.
My wife wasn't exactly rational. Yeah,
and Grandma always said a smack in the head
was the best cure for the crazies.
Look.
All my wife talked about was having a baby.
Her kid sister had three. All her friends...
The more we tried, the more desperate she got.
Something worked. Oh.
Thank you, Dr. Gilbert.
Some fertility expert.
Thermometers, rushing home from work in the middle of the day.
We weren't making love, we were on a mission.
Listen, let me be straight with you.
Now, we heard that your wife said that you killed her baby.
The ME found bruises on your wife's body.
So, tell us what it's about, Mr. Parker.
Let me tell you about my wife.
She was crazy ever since she got on the baby kick.
And then the great Dr. Jordan Gilbert
starts pumping her full of hormones every week.
It didn't exactly help her mental health.
Did you get impatient with her? Maybe give her a little incentive?
After the miscarriage,
Susan was totally out of control.
I tried to comfort her, be with her. I mean, it was my baby, you know.
But all she wanted to do was start again with Gilbert and the hormone shots.
I couldn't live like that anymore. Nobody could.
And you moved out?
Yeah, I started packing, and she attacked me.
I lost my temper, but I swear all I did was push her away.
(HORNS HONKING) Well.
He's, what, 6' 2"?
She's 5'3", tops. How hard did he have to push her?
5'3" and pumped full of estrogen.
Right. And a woman can't be elected President
because once a month she might freak and push the button.
Hey, once a month Gloria can't get out of bed,
and that's just with the hormones God gave her.
You know, Parker said his wife was taking those shots for a long time.
Maybe this isn't the first time he lost his temper.
Let's go talk to this Dr. Gilbert.
(BABY CRYING)
My gallery of babies.
We try to encourage my people
to send birth announcements and baby pictures.
The Parkers' baby would have been on this wall right here.
About Susan Parker, Doctor.
The last time you saw her... It happens.
Excuse me? The miscarriage.
She came in panicked about two weeks ago. She was bleeding.
There was nothing I could do.
Susan didn't take it very well.
Well, that's understandable.
Susan had a tendency to overreact.
The treatments didn't help.
You talking about the hormones?
It aids in conception, yes.
My heart really went out to her.
She kept screaming, telling me I was wrong.
Unfortunately, I wasn't wrong. It's traumatic,
but it would have been much worse later in the pregnancy.
Susan was only eight and a half weeks.
Do you know exactly what caused the miscarriage?
It's hard to say.
She was too emotional for a complete exam.
It could have been many things. My patients are typically high-risk.
LOGAN: You saw her once a week, right?
Did you notice any bruises that shouldn't have been there?
What are you saying?
You think her husband beat her up? Brandon?
Yes, there were problems in the marriage, but abuse?
Susan would've told me.
Well, maybe she wasn't all that proud of it.
The women who come to me want to get pregnant.
I'm the last resort. I know everything about them.
When and what they eat, how much they sleep,
what kind of nail polish they use.
Is that important?
Everything is important
when you want to get pregnant.
Keeping secrets from me would be counterproductive.
It would be like going to confession
and not telling the whole truth.
You may want it more than life itself,
but you're not getting absolution.
The nuns at my school were less sanctimonious than that guy.
Your nuns never went to medical school.
You know those MD plates gets you a better parking spot in heaven.
Hey, with the fetus less than three months old,
even if Parker beat his wife to a pulp,
he didn't commit a murder.
Let's get back to our real jobs.
Hey, Van Buren wants us to check it out for spousal abuse.
Think of it like a vacation.
First of all, we don't have a complaining witness.
Second of all, we just heard from the mouth of God
that the husband was a saint.
Well, God never gave her a full exam.
Now, something caused that miscarriage.
Let's see if Coyle can fit us in.
Well, you were right. She was in some kind of fight.
Well, bottom line it for us, Coyle.
Was Susan Parker the attacker or the attackee?
Let me show you.
I'm Mrs. Parker. I go at you,
so you grasp my wrists tight and hold them away from you.
Now, I'm struggling.
I want to scratch your eyes out,
but you push me away, and I land on my butt,
banging my elbows on the floor.
The deceased had hematomas on her wrists, right where you grabbed me.
Her left elbow and buttock revealed contusions
probably from falling on the floor.
And you have no old bruises or broken ribs?
Sorry.
So, Parker's telling the truth.
Are you sure there was nothing on her chest or her stomach?
Something that would cause her to lose her baby?
Baby?
What baby? This lady was never pregnant.
What do you mean she wasn't pregnant?
The ME's absolutely positive, Mr. Parker.
My God!
Are you sure Gilbert told your wife she was pregnant?
He told her, all right. I was standing there when he did.
Gilbert told us the same thing.
You're going to arrest him, right?
There's nothing we'd like better.
What are you saying?
The bottom line is all Gilbert did is lie to your wife. It's not a crime.
Lying's not a crime. He took our money. It's fraud.
Only if he knew his treatment wouldn't work.
The truth is none of us know what happened.
It could have been a simple misdiagnosis.
Doctors make mistakes. Oh, some mistake.
First he makes her crazy. Then he gets her killed.
And you can't do anything about it!
Well, that's just great.
You know, this doctor could have one hell of a scam going.
Think about it.
He takes the big fees, and he pumps his patients full of this HCG stuff.
It doesn't work. They start to get antsy,
so he tells them what they want to hear, they're pregnant.
A couple of weeks later,
"Sorry, you lost the baby. Too bad. These things happen."
Then he starts all over again
and so do the big fees.
The problem is Mrs. Parker isn't available to testify.
This doctor has other patients, right?
I'm sure he'll be happy to send us his list.
He will if a judge tells him to.
He convinced this woman she was pregnant.
And she wasn't? No.
Isn't it possible he made a mistake?
Well, I don't think so.
He obviously showed her someone else's sonogram.
And there's a crime here?
There is if it's part of a scheme to defraud.
Gilbert could be selling pregnancies
like some con man hawking swampland in Florida.
And what do you want?
A subpoena for his patients' medical records.
I want to see if there were any other false miscarriages.
You know I can't violate privilege.
If we're right, he's committing a felony.
His medical records were never privileged in the first place.
So, I have to violate privilege
to prove criminal activity in order to destroy privilege.
Running in circles makes me dizzy, Counselor.
If we can just talk to these women,
I'm sure the last thing they'll scream is privilege.
(SIGHS)
I'll give you your subpoena, Counselor,
but only for the express purpose
of getting the names of Dr. Gilbert's patients
who allegedly miscarried.
Barbara Goodman, 43. Marian Combs, 45.
Sharon Lowe, 46.
Nothing like waiting till the last minute.
Maybe they had something better to do.
You know, if I didn't already know you don't have kids,
I'd know you don't have kids.
I'm just saying, Lennie, women are allowed to have other priorities.
It's a long way from the '50s.
Yeah, and those other priorities are keeping Dr. Gilbert in business.
I got 23 names that had miscarriages.
I already got 26.
That ought to be enough.
Hell, I could party with the best of them.
There was always time for kids later.
When Mr. Right comes along?
Mr. Right's whoever you happen to end up with when you run out of gas.
Mine's an investment banker.
All I had to do was give him a son.
Problem is it's not as easy as they taught us in sex ed.
You did have a miscarriage, right? Two.
After the first, my friend Clara Brock told me about Dr. Gilbert.
She was in the same boat, and he'd worked wonders for her.
Were you taking his HCG hormones when you had the second one?
I started hemorrhaging on the E train.
Strangers took me to Saint Vincent's.
Are you're still trying?
I'm 42 years old.
What the hell?
Selling expensive dresses is plenty fulfilling.
It blew us away.
We are so excited, we can't stand it.
BRISCOE: Thank you. Sit.
We're in our eighth month. It's like a miracle.
We owe it all to Dr. Gilbert.
According to records, you had a miscarriage.
Yeah, once on the Nautilus.
Dr. Gilbert insisted I stop working out.
Were you on the hormone treatments at the time?
Infertility wasn't my problem.
We had to find someone to fertilize Beth's eggs,
and Gilbert had the answer. Donor number 2133x.
Artificial insemination.
It's the best relationship lever had with a man.
I thought it was supposed to be anonymous.
That's exactly my point.
I gotta ask you, don't you ever wonder? Why would I?
Dr. Gilbert assured us the donor's healthy.
Well, I just hope he didn't get around too much.
Dr. Gilbert told us a donor's sperm is used four times, tops.
In a city of eight million,
what are the odds our son will ever meet one of his sisters,
let alone have a baby with her?
Look, we couldn't find out who the father was even if we wanted to.
It's strictly confidential.
All we know is he doesn't smoke. He doesn't drink.
No criminal record,
and he's a Roman Catholic.
Don't forget he's got Bette Davis eyes.
Brother, and I thought I had it bad being brought up by two alcoholics.
I wonder which mommy's gonna teach him to smoke and drink.
And shave.
Well, it's the '90s.
Everybody's allowed to be gross and disgusting, not just you.
Well, all I know is I had one mommy,
and she did enough ball-breaking for one lifetime.
Hey, what was that party animal's name?
The one that recommended Dr. Gilbert.
Clara Brock.
Yeah, she had a miscarriage, right? That's what she said.
Her name's not on the list.
So, I took Dr. Gilbert's hormone treatments for two years.
Well, I guess it finally worked.
CHILD: No. Well, not that well.
It took forever to conceive, and then I had several miscarriages.
It was the most traumatic time of my life.
You miscarried while you were taking the hormone treatments?
Two months after I stopped, along comes Bobby.
You know, your friend Christine Kennedy
says you conceived by artificial insemination, right?
Actually, it was in vitro.
My egg was fertilized with my husband's sperm
outside of my uterus.
The rest of the process was perfectly normal.
Excuse me, it's 12:30. We can't be late for Mommy and Me.
(BABY CRYING)
She takes the hormone treatment for two years,
stops and then gets pregnant?
I'm starting to wonder if this stuff ever works.
Here's one.
Three years of hormone treatments, nothing.
You'd think she'd catch on.
Hey, I'm still waiting for Ed McMahon to show up at my door.
The louder the biological clock ticks,
the richer Dr. Gilbert gets.
Here's one. Six months on the juice,
twins.
Could be Gilbert just got lucky.
The two girlfriends?
Who'd they say the donor was?
Donor number 2133x.
I just found the baby's half brother.
John Joseph Desouza.
He lives down the block from them.
You think we should tell them?
What's the point? He might not have Bette Davis eyes.
Wait a minute,
here's another one.
Donor number 2133x.
This guy gets around.
A little more than he should.
I got three more. You're kidding.
I got one.
I got two.
Didn't Dr. Gilbert tell his patients
he only used each donor four times?
Oh, my God.
It's like bad science fiction.
Are you absolutely sure?
There are 42 women artificially inseminated
with the same donor's sperm.
I've gotta believe they expected a little variation.
We're talking fraud.
And we'd have a great case if we actually knew about any of this.
Excuse me? We have the medical records.
Forty-two babies can call Mr. 2133x Daddy.
Only the subpoena was limited.
We were entitled to use the medical records
to obtain the names of women with miscarriages. Period.
Outside of that, everything on those records is inadmissible.
Unless we get a judge with a little common sense.
If I allow you to bring charges based on what you got and where you got it,
I'd be looking at a sure-fire reversal.
Now, I'm sure you know this hasn't been a very good year.
What about inevitable discovery?
The only thing that's inevitable
is that you wouldn't have given a second thought
to this artificial insemination
but for the unlawful use of medical records.
Most of the 42 babies live in the Upper West Side.
They'll grow up together, go to the same schools...
I've seen Deliverance, Claire.
Now, look, I can bend as far right as the next guy in a robe
when a cop pushes the envelope or a prosecutor screws up,
but doctor-patient privilege, that's another ball game.
I'm sorry, but there's no way around it.
Fine.
Look, I'm the only one in the DA's office
who knows what Dr. Gilbert's up to.
I'll set up a Chinese wall.
Someone else in the office will handle the case.
And you'll cross your heart not to talk to them about it?
No.
But I will sign an affidavit swearing not to communicate in any way
with the new attorney regarding the unlawfully obtained material.
If you even peek over the wall, Counselor,
you can kiss your license goodbye.
Chinese wall? And he actually bought it?
As long as I signed my life away.
I tell anyone anything that I know,
I'm on the express train to the Disciplinary Committee.
Is it worth it?
Yeah, it's worth it.
So, who do we send on this wild-goose chase?
Well, I don't remember seeing any vacation memos with your name on it.
Ms. Kincaid goes out on a limb, she puts her career on the line.
It must be comforting to her
to know that she's got 90% of your support.
You'll take the Dworkin severance motion?
Judge Spivack, Part 93, tomorrow at 9:30.
You got it.
And I'll go chase my tail.
Start by using your head.
The cops were investigating another fraud
when they hit the motherlode.
Now, what's the first thing you think of when you hear the word "fraud"?
Financial records.
I don't give a damn what it says.
I'm not giving you anything until my attorney gets here.
You can be held in contempt, sir.
I understand everyone being upset over what happened to Susan Parker.
Believe me, I feel for her more than you can imagine.
But disrupting my practice? Well, if you have nothing to hide...
My patients expect some sort of privacy.
They rely on it, for God's sake.
Thank God.
Michael, will you tell me what's going on here?
Mr. McCoy, I'm Michael Aronson. I represent Dr. Gilbert.
Good. Then you can explain to your client
the meaning of a subpoena duces tecum.
We've been though this once already
with someone from your office named Kincaid.
Don't you people talk to each other?
If you'd read the subpoena, you'll see that this time
we're asking for Dr. Gilbert's financial records.
I've been practicing medicine for 28 years.
How dare you... Now, it's all right, Jordan. It's all right.
We'll give them the documents.
And while they're reading them, I'll be drafting my complaint for harassment.
Well, Claire convinced Spivack
to dismiss the severance motion.
The Dworkins will be tried together.
Lucky her.
No wild geese?
Well, Gilbert made a lot of money.
Some of these women paid him more than $50,000.
If you're going to be desperate, you might as well be rich.
I checked with other infertility doctors.
His fees are not out of line.
Just a minute.
Three years ago, Gilbert collected $650,000.
Last year, he was down to $580,000.
Recession's been rough on everybody.
Yeah, but his net profits went up, Adam.
And his expenses went down. That's right.
And the biggest drop was in laboratory costs.
HIV tests on donor's sperm
for patients undergoing artificial insemination,
$75,000 in '91.
And down to zero last year.
Could be that the labs are billing the patients direct.
Or else he's playing Russian roulette with these babies' lives.
There are perhaps seven reputable infertility clinics in the five boroughs.
As far as I know, we do the testing for all of them.
You did the work for Dr. Gilbert, too, didn't you?
He was high volume.
When he dropped maybe 75% three years ago,
I figured his business was off.
Then two years ago he went down to zero.
I assumed he found some out-of-town lab to do the work.
Or he decided it wasn't necessary to keep testing.
Well, then, I hope he has a good lawyer.
Do you know what the odds of having an infected baby are
if an egg is fertilized by an HIV-positive sperm?
You don't want to know.
People are paranoid,
and for good reason.
Why is the testing so expensive?
Well, the way it works is,
we receive the donor sperm. We freeze it for 60 days,
then we test it.
It is expensive and time-consuming,
but it's also the safest way known to medical science.
Open up medical records?
I'm sure you've heard of doctor-patient privilege.
Which is supposed to protect the patient.
There's a possibility that Dr. Gilbert
was using infected sperm.
Infected as in...
Dr. Gilbert stopped running HIV tests on donor sperm two years ago.
My God.
This is a licensed physician?
If any of the babies are infected,
Gilbert's acting with reckless disregard.
It's a crime. It can't be privileged.
And if none of them are infected?
We have disregarded one of the tenets
of personal freedom.
Somehow I think the parents will thank us for it.
It can't be.
You're wrong.
I hope I am, too, Mrs. Cooper, but I think we should be safe.
A blood test...
Dr. Gilbert told us that the donor was healthy.
We didn't have to worry.
We have reason to believe
that Dr. Gilbert has been less than honest.
No.
He gave us Dennis.
He wouldn't lie. He couldn't...
I don't have to listen to you.
No, you don't.
But if it were my son...
There are times when I love this job.
Thirty-one blood samples. All HIV-negative.
Thank you for small favors.
I should tell the parents.
No need. I already received 17 bottles of champagne
and eight bottles of Scotch.
The bearer of good news.
Well, it wasn't all good.
It's the strangest thing. Twenty-five of these babies are CF carriers.
What's CF? Cystic fibrosis.
It's a recessive trait, like blue eyes.
They'll never show any symptoms,
but if they happen to make babies with another carrier...
The disease will show up.
Two carriers connect,
it's a one-in-four chance the kid'll be affected.
CF carriers are a very small part of the population, but still it's a risk.
If they're a small part of the population,
isn't it odd that so many of these babies are carriers?
Well, it's either cause for an article
in The New England Journal of Medicine, or...
They're all related.
It looks like the Chinese wall just came tumbling down.
You talk. I can't.
At least 25 of Dr. Gilbert's patients
were inseminated with the same sperm.
Thank God.
I'll buy the champagne. You'll buy the whole dinner.
There's no way these women would have agreed to this.
I'm sure we can make a case for fraud.
Is that all you found?
There's more? A lot.
Dr. Gilbert stopped testing the sperm for the HIV virus.
Oh, my God.
Fortunately, not one of the babies is infected.
But I was thinking, why would someone as smart as Dr. Gilbert
take such an enormous risk?
One infected baby, his entire practice heads south.
He was lucky the donor was healthy.
Or he was sure.
Come on, Jack.
I have seen at least 12 public service announcements a day
telling me that's impossible. Think about it.
In this day and age, how could you be sure of anyone?
The son of a bitch is using his own sperm.
I just bought a round for two justices of the Court of Appeals.
This better be good.
It's about Dr. Gilbert, sir. Oh, right. Your baby doctor.
Mr. McCoy, working independently, uncovered concrete evidence
that 25 babies were conceived by the same donor sperm.
And what?
Twenty-six is on the way?
Look, this can wait until morning.
We have good reason to believe that that donor is Dr. Gilbert.
And you didn't give him even a little push in the right direction?
Not even a nudge.
As we have both sworn in these affidavits.
Now, that's very interesting.
And, granted, I am on my third martini,
but I don't really see what this has to do with me.
We want to arrest Gilbert.
There's nothing I'd like more.
The problem is
he hasn't done anything that even smells criminal.
Judge Ianello may drink too much, but he's right.
If it turns out to be true, what Gilbert did is disgusting,
but there's nothing in the penal code that says he can't do it.
He manipulated these women.
He lied to them,
and one of them wound up dead because of him.
You can't prove causation.
Man promised them a baby. He gave them one.
He didn't promise them his baby.
From what I understand, the contract calls for an anonymous donor.
It's possible that Gilbert is an SOB,
but so far, unfortunately, he's an anonymous SOB.
Wait a minute. At least one of his patients,
Clara Brock,
she didn't contract for an anonymous donor.
She thought she was being impregnated by her husband's sperm.
That's just great.
I'm sure the Brocks will be thrilled to hear about this.
I don't believe this.
It can't be.
You should just go.
CLAIRE: We're sorry, but...
No, Dr. Lang told us that Gilbert was the best.
Do you have any evidence?
We have good reason to believe. You believe?
Well, I'll tell you what.
You don't come here and tell me that Bobby's not my boy
until you are damn sure.
A blood test would give us all the proof we'd need.
What the hell good would that do?
I realize this is a difficult situation, Mr. Brock,
but Dr. Gilbert has to be stopped.
With your testimony, we could put him in prison for fraud.
Nathan's parents were here yesterday.
Bobby's their only grandchild.
How can we tell them that Bobby's...
How can we tell Bobby? We're not telling anybody.
You want him in prison,
you'll do it without us.
Larceny by false promise.
We need someone to testify that Gilbert lied.
We could subpoena the Brocks.
And they'd ignore it.
The son of a bitch lied to his patients. He defrauded them.
Hell, one's even dead because of him.
Yeah, he belongs in jail,
but without a little help from the Brocks or from the penal law,
there's nothing we can do.
I know we've dropped cases before, Jack, but this one...
Hey.
We've got a blood sample from the Brocks' baby, right?
Yeah.
If we could get Gilbert to take a blood test,
we could prove he's the actual father.
ARONSON: The Fourth Amendment.
Last I looked, it protected one's person
against unreasonable searches and seizures.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly held
that the individual's right against bodily intrusions
should be weighed against the society's interests
in conducting the search.
Every day the police draw blood
to determine if a suspect is driving while intoxicated.
Yes, but only when the driver appears to be drunk.
It's called probable cause.
And it's noticeably lacking here.
Medical records show that Dr. Gilbert
used sperm from the same donor at least 20 times.
There's absolutely no evidence that that donor is my client, Your Honor.
Mr. McCoy?
It's the only logical conclusion, Your Honor.
JUDGE STEIN: This is a criminal prosecution, Mr. McCoy.
Before I authorize a scavenger hunt on a man's body,
I'll need some evidence tending to implicate him in that crime.
The defense motion to quash the subpoena is granted.
JACK: It's the perfect scam.
His marks thank him, and the judicial system protects him.
Babies cooked up in laboratories.
Not everyone is able to procreate the old-fashioned way.
I have no problem with science, young lady.
I just wish it would take a breather now and then to let the law catch up.
JACK: Maybe we're looking at the wrong law.
If Dr. Gilbert really did use his own sperm,
then the contract between him and the Brocks is null and void.
Under civil law,
he's the de facto and the de jure father of that child,
and with that comes a whole boatload of legal obligations,
including child support.
Excellent.
The Brocks won't testify, and what are you gonna do,
cross-examine a test tube?
CLAIRE: We don't need the Brocks.
Child support is the right of the child, not the parent.
And the burden in family court is much lighter than criminal court.
No, I'll tell you what we do.
Get Ms. Kincaid appointed guardian ad {item
to sue for paternity on the baby's behalf.
The first step in a paternity suit is a blood test.
And if it says what we think it does, we nail the son of a bitch.
CLAIRE: And what led you to conclude
that Dr. Gilbert was the father of Baby Doe?
After testing the blood of 31 babies
artificially conceived in Dr. Gilbert's office,
our lab informed us that it was extremely likely
that the sperm of only one donor had been used.
Further investigation of Dr. Gilbert's finances
showed that he had stopped paying
both for sperm donors
and for HIV testing of the sperm.
It was the only logical conclusion.
Thank you, Mr. McCoy.
Why isn't the baby's mother here, Mr. McCoy?
Under the circumstances, her testimony isn't relevant.
Well, you'd think she'd be a little interested about the results.
This suit is brought on behalf of the baby.
Oh, I see.
Is the baby lacking for money? No.
For food or shelter? No.
Would you consider Baby Doe's mother in any way inadequate?
I don't think that's in any way relevant to this case.
Oh, it's very relevant, Mr. McCoy.
You see, on this side of Center Street,
all that's relevant is the baby's best interests.
I'm aware of that.
And in your opinion,
this baby would somehow benefit from this litigation?
Yes, I believe that's true.
Considering the mother doesn't give a damn,
I'd say that's pretty arrogant of you.
Arrogant?
Arrogant is trying to start your own race of people.
Move to strike. Sustained.
GILBERT: I'd say over the past 10 years,
somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 babies
were conceived in my office through artificial insemination.
And in these 300 cases,
has a mother ever requested the identification of the donor?
On the contrary.
After the health of the baby,
a mother's primary concern is usually the anonymity of the donor.
In cases when the patient's husband's sperm is used,
has anyone ever questioned the heredity of the baby?
No.
Was Baby Doe the result of fertilizing her mother's egg with her father's sperm?
I'm sorry.
My hands are tied by confidentiality.
I cannot in good conscience answer that question.
Thank you.
Hypothetically, Doctor,
if a husband's sperm is used, is it typically tested for the HIV virus?
No.
It's simpler to run blood tests on the father before the procedure.
I see.
Do you also test to see if the father is a cystic fibrosis carrier?
No, I don't.
Would that be considered by some to be negligent?
The people who come to my office want a baby.
I doubt it would stop any of them even if they knew for a fact
the father was a carrier. Besides, CF only affects
a miniscule portion of the population at large.
That's odd,
because 25 out of the 31 babies conceived in your office
through artificial insemination over the past two years
are carriers.
How do you explain that?
Answer the question, Doctor.
I can't explain it.
Then, we'll let your blood do your talking for you.
I order you to undergo a paternity test within the next two weeks.
Nothing like a little forum shopping, Jack. Whatever it takes.
My office will contact you with the name of a doctor.
I'll save you the time.
We'll stipulate that Dr. Gilbert is the baby's father.
In that case, he's under arrest for larceny by false promise.
Yeah, right.
And that'll last for all of about two seconds.
No way this gets past a motion to dismiss.
The indictment is deficient on its face, Your Honor.
The grand jury didn't think so. The grand jury?
Twenty-three blind men following the Pied Piper out of Hamelin.
I'm glad you have so much respect
for our judicial system, Mr. Aronson.
Oh, let's not be naive.
The state tells them to indict, they indict,
the sufficiency of the evidence notwithstanding.
Just so long as they can get home in time for Oprah.
There's sufficient evidence to indict your client for felony larceny.
Excuse me. The charge is larceny by false promise.
Show me one instance in the transcript where one witness claims
that Dr. Gilbert lied about anything.
JACK: The grand jury can infer whatever it likes.
Hold on. Are you saying that the parents didn't testify?
It's a difficult situation, Your Honor. You're damn right it is,
and it's getting more difficult for you.
Legally, I don't need their testimony.
That's right, on a law school exam.
In the real world, a fraud trial without the testimony of the victims
ends in a mistrial.
They don't get on the stand, we don't go to court.
These people have a right to privacy.
And my client has a right to confront his accusers.
I think we can make everyone happy if we close the courtroom.
Seal the records.
She makes a very good point, Counselor.
The public has a right to know.
Well, you can talk to the press anytime you like,
just keep the Brocks' name out of it.
My clerk will contact you about the first free date for a trial.
Nice move, Claire.
Now all we have to do is get the Brocks to testify.
Look, we already told you once, we are not going into a courtroom.
We can arrange for it to be completely anonymous.
If you prefer, you can wear disguises.
The press will not be there. The records will be sealed.
Why can't you use someone else?
You said there were lots of others.
We can't establish fraud with the others.
What is it with you people?
You don't think twice about destroying people's lives?
I sympathize with you, Mr. Brock, and I think I can keep your privacy.
But even if I can't, so what?
So your parents find out that Bobby is not your natural child.
So Bobby finds out.
There are a lot of adopted babies in this world.
Their lives aren't exactly ruined.
You have no idea what you're talking about.
We know we have to stop Dr. Gilbert.
Doctors? They're worse than you people.
They think they know what's good for you, what's right.
They don't know anything. Clara, be quiet.
Now, you get the hell out of here and leave us alone. Get out. Get out.
Best-laid plans.
Our chances of getting them to testify are zip, and you saw them.
Yes, I did see them. And there's something else going on there.
"Doctors don't know what's good for us. They don't know what's right."
What the hell was that all about?
Gilbert burned them pretty badly. I can understand her bent for hyperbole.
Somehow I don't think Mrs. Brock was referring to Dr. Gilbert.
Humor me.
Talk to the doctor that sent them to Gilbert.
The Brocks are good people. I just wish I could've helped them.
You sent them to Dr. Gilbert. They had a baby.
Bobby. Beautiful little boy.
The problem was their daughter, Debra.
The Brocks have a daughter? Had.
Died last year. Leukemia. Eight years old.
That's why I sent them to Gilbert.
If only Bobby's marrow had matched, maybe I could have done something.
What are you saying? Neither of the Brocks were a match.
There was a chance that if they had another child...
Wait a minute. Are you saying the only reason the Brocks had a baby
was to use his bone marrow in a transplant?
They were trying to save their daughter's life.
No wonder their lips are sealed.
They don't want their son to discover one day
they only bought him for the parts.
CLAIRE: This is great.
Gilbert committed felony larceny,
and we can't make a case because of his victims' feelings of guilt.
We can't make a case for fraud. How about murder?
Well, legally he's not responsible for Susan Parker's getting shot.
I'm not talking about Susan Parker. I'm talking about the Brocks' daughter.
The fact that the father's sperm was not used
has to have significantly lowered the possibility
of the baby's marrow being a match.
Significantly lowered, yeah.
Well, think about it, Adam.
You see a man drowning.
You tell the lifeguard, "Don't worry about it, I'll save him,"
knowing that you're not such a good swimmer.
And the man drowns.
Reckless disregard. At best, a long shot.
Have Gilbert come into my office tomorrow at 9:30.
Murder two.
You're on drugs, right?
The Brocks' daughter might still be alive today
were it not for the reckless disregard for human life
shown by your client. That's nonsense.
Even if I used the father's sperm,
there's no guarantee of a match.
The statute says you're guilty if your actions
cause a "grave risk of death."
Your lawyer will explain to you that that's a matter for the jury.
And I'll parade a dozen experts into the courtroom
to say there's no cause-in-fact.
It's all the reasonable doubt I need. Fine.
But just consider what will happen to reasonable doubt
when the jury hears
how the good doctor here was trying to populate the world by himself.
What will they think when I tell them about Susan Parker
lying dead on the floor of a bank because of one of his little lies?
And how will they actually react to the news
that the Brocks might not have had to bury their eight-year-old daughter
were it not for your client's gall
or ego
or complete disregard for human decency?
ARONSON: All very persuasive, Counselor.
You have one slight problem. You can't testify.
Go ahead. Go to trial.
Without witnesses, they'll laugh you out of the court.
You're a doctor.
You're supposed to help these people.
These women come to me barren,
starved for the feeling of life growing inside their bodies.
Their husbands can't give it to them, neither can their lovers.
Just me.
I'm sure your children are not what they bargained for.
I think you'd be surprised.
I think you flatter yourself.
I create something
where nothing was before.
God doesn't make babies, Mr. McCoy.
I do.
We might be able to convince a jury.
And be reversed on appeal.
So, we drop it? For now.
Do you think we'll ever find someone who'll testify against him?
Jesus had his Judas.
And he's not Jesus.