Stephen Cannell - Runaway Heart

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," he began. "I'm Joseph Amato, and I represent the government. So, in essence, I represent you. I'm here to explain to you about the great care and diligence that must take place before any new food product, no matter how insignificant, can enter your lives. The monarch butterfly is dying off at alarming rates and we do not contest this fact. But my clients are also not responsible for it. Oh, yes, I suspect a few butterflies have died from eating milkweed with TG corn pollen on it. This is far from the disaster the plaintiff makes it out to be. We will show that many more butterflies are being killed off by insecticide spraying than by GMO food, but the plaintiff will ignore that fact. The plaintiff will give you no figures about butterfly deaths from insecticide spraying, because, of course, that wouldn't help his case. However, I am here to keep him honest, so you will hear from me about the devastation insecticides cause to monarch butterflies.

"You will also learn about the horrible downstream effect this frivolous lawsuit will have on starving Third World children who, if the plaintiff prevails, will die at an even more alarming rate than the monarch butterfly. Poor children who now directly benefit from these enhanced foods. What does the plaintiff hope to accomplish with his legal action? Well, I'll tell you. He is attempting to shut down this entire new and exciting field of genetic food research.

"We will show that tomatoes can be designed to contain enhanced vitamin A. Think of it. Super vegetables can be grown and fed to children in Africa, or in the Sudan where babies die by the thousands from vitamin A deficiency. We'll show how, in the future, because of this science it will be possible to make soybeans and vegetables with larger mass and added nutrients and grow more produce per acre and that product will be vitamin-enriched and healthier. One day this science may well save the people of our overpopulated planet from starvation.

"You will learn that the impact of GMO foods on the monarch, is in fact very small, perhaps even infinitesimal, because this corn pollen that Mr. Strockmire is so concerned about is only produced for a very short time during the growing season less than two weeks. It does not easily blow in the wind, and the monarchs' host plant, the milkweed, is vigorously controlled around cornfields.

"We will show you that most of the concerns about this new food technology are overblown and misunderstood; that this science is based on the laws of natural selection. We will show you how many plants over time have even developed their own natural resistance to pests. What is being done here, simply put, is to scientifically speed up this natural process of evolution. As the population of the planet grows exponentially and hunger becomes our major world problem, the labs and federal agencies Mr. Strockmire finds so dastardly are in fact attempting to beat the clock and feed the planet. However, you won't hear about any of this from the plaintiff.

"You will see that the men and women of science, who I will bring before you during this trial, are not monsters. They are not Frankensteins who are cooking up genetic nightmares. Instead, you will see that they are people not unlike yourselves who are concerned with the problems facing our society, concerned with world hunger. In fact, far from heartless monsters, you will see that they are the real heroes in this war against starvation.

"I beg you, don't listen to fanatics. Don't side with alarmists like Mr. Strockmire and his radical plaintiffs, but be messengers for the future. Be careful, and sure, and apply common sense to your judgment. The children of the world may live or starve by the outcome of your deliberations. Thank you."

Joseph Amato walked back and sat, elegant, assured, tugging at his French cuffs, diamond studs glittering.

Herman had left his jewelry case in Washington, so he had been forced to use paper brads from some scripts he'd found at Lipman, Castle amp;c Stein to hold his frayed cuffs together. The little metal tacks glittered dully.

"Okay, first witness, Herman," Judge King ordered.

"The plaintiffs call Dr. Deborah DeVere."

The door opened and Deborah moved into the courtroom. She looked smart and confident as she took the stand and was sworn in.

"Dr. DeVere," Herman began. "Would you please cite your qualifications for testimony here today?"

"I graduated from UCLA with honors in undergraduate studies, then completed my master's at the School of Entomology at the University of Virginia. I graduated in the top ten percent of my class, then went on to take my doctorate there and, again, graduated in the top ten percent. I've won several awards in research from Tulane University, where I did some postdoctoral work on arachnid reproduction and earned several grants, among them a Fulbright and a Holenbeck. I am currently the head of the Entomology Department at the University of Texas."

"So, you would be considered an expert in the field of butterflies, with a wide-ranging knowledge of their breeding and feeding habits?"

"Objection. Calls for speculation."

"I'll withdraw it. On that basis, Dr. DeVere, would you consider yourself an expert on the feeding and reproduction habits of the monarch butterfly?"

"I've done extensive work on the disappearance of the monarch butterfly due to its ingestion of TG corn."

"Excuse me, Dr. DeVere," Judge King asked sweetly from the bench. "Since you are a leading expert in the plight of the monarch butterfly, I have one question."

"Of course. Go ahead, Your Honor," Herman demurred.

"Have you ever heard of the Danaus Plexippus Foundation?"

"I beg your pardon?" Dr. DeVere shot a worried look at Herman, who just barely managed to keep his growing panic under control.

Judge King said, "I've just been assured by counsel in a sworn affidavit this morning that the Danaus Plexippus Foundation, his new client, is a world-leading organization, devoted to the preservation of the monarch butterfly. As a renowned academic expert on the monarch, I was wondering if you'd ever heard of this world-famous foundation?"

"Uh… of the ahh… Danaus Plexippus Foundation?"

"That's the one," Melissa said from the bench, a smile now tickling the edge of her mouth. "Counsel said that it's the 'foremost foundation.' I said, 'In the world?' And he said, 'In the whole wide world.' I figure a leading doctor on monarch butterfly feeding and reproduction would certainly know about the leading foundation chartered with the protection of same. How about it? Ever heard of these guys?"

"No, Your Honor."

"No?" Melissa shifted, her pregnancy signaling more discomfort, but a smile twitched happily at the corners of her mean, ruler-straight little mouth. "This is very strange. How could this be? The leading doctor on monarchs has never heard of the leading preservation society. Herman, are you as shocked as I am?"

Herman didn't answer, didn't know what to say. He'd been busted.

Judge King went on. "I'd hate to think that an attorney trying a case before me would stretch the truth would liel Please tell me that's not what's going on here, Herman?"

"Well, Your Honor, technically, what I said was…"

"Herman, I want a straight answer. Who and what is the Danaus Plexippus Foundation? And I don't need a snow job. Your motion to amend calls them a research group. Yes or no?"

"Danaus plexippus is Latin for 'butterfly,' Your Honor."

"Literae scriptae manet is Latin for 'never put b.s. in writing.' " She held up his motion as proof.

"Your Honor…"

"Yesssss, Herrrrmannn?" drawing it out dangerously.

Herman couldn't finish. His mind was a blank. Suddenly he felt another arrhythmia coming on the same sluggishness and lightheadedness.