Efrem Zimbalist Jr. credited as playing...
Judge Leland Hoffman
- Judge Leland Hoffman: Judges don't have the same privileges as Senators and District Attorneys. We have to resign before we seek another office.
- Attorney Clem Marker: Your Honor, the crudeness of this scheme shocks me. There was nothing in that room to indicate the commission of any crime, and yet this witness...
- Police Sgt. Michael 'Mickey' Beers: There was plenty!
- Attorney Clem Marker: Plenty? A moment ago you said you had only a hunch!
- Police Sgt. Michael 'Mickey' Beers: Yeah, I had more than that. Thornwall tried to kill his wife once before, and she called the police!
- Attorney Clem Marker: Mistrial! Your Honor, I move for a mistrial! His is the most damaging piece of viciously prejudicial evidence I have ever heard in any courtroom!
- Dan Callahan: There's no ground for a mistrial! If he didn't want the answer, he shouldn't have asked the question!
- Judge Leland Hoffman: Order!
- [Bangs gavel]
- Judge Leland Hoffman: Order!
- [Bangs gavel again]
- Judge Leland Hoffman: I'm going to clear this room if we don't have order.
- Judge Leland Hoffman: I may have overruled a good mistrial motion, just to show Alex that he couldn't buy me.
- Cathy Simon: I think Alex had already discovered that.
- Judge Leland Hoffman: Yes, well I guess I was just trying to prove it to myself.
- Cathy Simon: Or maybe there's an element of masochism that goes along with honor.
- Judge Leland Hoffman: Thanks for that word 'honor,' Cathy. 'Vanity' might be more accurate.
- Senator Alex S. Simon: I'm only allowed a minute. So I will try to change the habit of a lifetime, and be brief. I wanted you to hear this, Lee. Itchy, tell the reporters that what Judge Hoffman said about me, and the mistrial motion, was true - from his point of view.
- Judge Leland Hoffman: Thank you, Alex.
- Senator Alex S. Simon: Politicians aren't perfect, Lee. Any more than the people they serve. If they were, it wouldn't be democracy; it would be something else. Sometimes we even have to play a little dirty for the ultimate good. That's why I want all the boys to get behind Callahan. He knows the rules of the game, and he can win. Do you hear me, Itchy?
- Itchy Forst: You don't want me to repeat any of this, Alex. Because you're going to be OK.
- Senator Alex S. Simon: If I could be sure of that, I'd keep my big mouth shut. Now get out of here before you break my heart.
- Attorney Clem Marker: You were formerly Governor of this State?
- Governor Oliver P. Thornwall: Yes.
- Attorney Clem Marker: What is your relation to the defendant?
- Governor Oliver P. Thornwall: Walter Thornwall is my nephew.
- Attorney Clem Marker: When was the last time you saw his wife?
- Governor Oliver P. Thornwall: I saw Paula on the eighth of February.
- Attorney Clem Marker: Two days before she met her death.
- Governor Oliver P. Thornwall: Since that was the last time I saw her alive, I can hardly forget the time or the occasion.
- Attorney Clem Marker: And what was the occasion, Governor?
- Governor Oliver P. Thornwall: Dinner in my home.
- Attorney Clem Marker: Aside from you and Paula Thornwall, who else was present?
- Governor Oliver P. Thornwall: My nephew Walter. I wanted to try to bring them back together.
- Attorney Clem Marker: And what was the result?
- Governor Oliver P. Thornwall: I failed.
- Attorney Clem Marker: From the way they behaved towards one another during the time you were with them, would you say that...
- Dan Callahan: Objection. Leading the witness.
- Judge Leland Hoffman: Sustained.
- Attorney Clem Marker: I'll rephrase that. What was their attitude toward one another during the evening?
- Governor Oliver P. Thornwall: They behaved like two people who understood each other.
- Judge Leland Hoffman: Well, Dan, you win. Being Governor of this State, beating you, they aren't worth a damn if I have to turn myself into another Dan Callahan to get them. For one minute, sitting up there, I felt like a total stranger to my own self. I don't have to tell you what a sick sensation that is.
- Dan Callahan: My conscience doesn't hurt.
- Judge Leland Hoffman: Oh? Well, maybe you've gotten used to it by now.
- Judge Leland Hoffman: Mr. Miller, I understand that, among other things, you tap telephones.
- Earl Miller: Now wait a minute, Judge! There's nothing illegal about that in this State. It's what you do with it that might break the law.
- Judge Leland Hoffman: I'm aware of that. I want you to tap one for me.
- Earl Miller: Oh, now, why didn't you say that in the first place?