Perri O’Shaughnessy - Breach Of Promise

Ignacio: Yes, I agree.

Diane: Married or not, explicit promises or not, doesn’t she deserve some percentage, even a small one, of their total assets after twenty years? She doesn’t even own her own home! He’s out there living in a mansion with his new tootsie, and she’s left with nothing.

Grace: Well, not everybody gets to own a house. I rent.

Bob: Me, too.

Diane: He violated her faith. He took a new partner, in essence. She never did.

Grace: I do think well of her for that. I do.

Kevin: We all do, I think. She’s a personable girl, Lindy Markov. And she’s been real successful. Don’t you think we aren’t giving her enough credit? She pulled herself up from nothing. If she did it once, she can do it again.

Diane: Why should she? Is Mike Markov going to do that? And aren’t you admitting she was the driving force behind their business success?

Mrs. Lim: I want to say something, but first, I’m not comfortable with Diane characterizing this as a moral choice rather than a legal one. I believe Lindy and Mike had an oral contract, as valid and binding as anything written. I believe that business is, at minimum, half hers. It’s not a matter of him giving her money. It’s a matter of us ensuring that she gets what is already hers.

I’m a businesswoman myself, and I can only marvel at their success. I’m envious, too, and I don’t think I’m the only one here. But to be fair to this situation, I’m trying to put my petty side behind me and give this case the serious concern it deserves.

Grace: Well, we are all doing that.

Mrs. Lim: I hope we are all trying to do that, as best we can. Now, here’s another point I wanted to make. Did anyone notice Lindy hardly paid attention when the receiver testified? Didn’t seem to care about the numbers. Her eyes just glazed over.

Kevin: I thought we discussed this. She was getting her revenge by hitting Mike where he lives, in the pocketbook. The amount of damage probably doesn’t matter too much.

Mrs. Lim: No. The amount is not important to her, but for another reason. She’s suing on principle. We have to consider the principles here. She owns half that company. And even if what she really wants is Mike back, we can give her her share.

Grace: Whatever we decide, she loses. She’ll never get him back, and dividing up the company’s gonna kill anything they had going. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could force Mike to go back to her? That’s what she wants.

Courtney: I wanted to hate him but I never did. I just think what’s happening between them is so tragic.

Cliff: Yes, it is sad. Maybe that’s why we’re having trouble ending this discussion and getting out of here. The money isn’t really going to help her anyway.

Diane: Let’s drop the melodrama. Nina Reilly said several times that the only compensation available in this case is financial. That’s the way the law works.

Grace: I’m so tired of talking about this. It’s hard to stay worked up about Lindy’s problems after talking about them for nearly two days, although I’ve stuck to my original position because I definitely feel some sympathy.

Cliff: Remember the judge’s instructions? You can’t let sympathy influence you. As I said, that’s been a problem for me, too.

Diane: We may be bored but we are right, Grace. That’s worth a lot.

Grace: I don’t know about that. Maybe Kevin’s right, just because there’s money, it doesn’t mean she should have some.

Diane: It isn’t just because there’s money. It’s because, as Mrs. Lim said just moments ago, that money belongs to both of them!

Kevin: Show us a paper, any paper, that proves it.

Cliff: Is everyone ready for a vote? It’s four-fifteen, a good time to check out where we are.

Kris: Yes! Maybe we can tell the judge to convene everyone tomorrow morning. Maybe this time, we’ll have a verdict!

They vote. It’s five for Lindy, seven against. There’s another hour of bickering but no change in the vote before they quit for the day.

›Click‹

›Click‹

Jury, Day Three, Morning:

Cliff: I have a good feeling about today! I bet we get to our verdict!

This has been really something. We started off eight to four in favor of Lindy Markov, and now we’re seven to five against her claim. I have a feeling as we discuss the case and apply the hard test of reason, logic is telling people the law in this case should protect Mike Markov.

Diane: Not logic, Cliff. You.

Mrs. Lim: Once again, Mr. Wright, I must object to your language. You twist the truth by suggesting that those who do not agree with you are illogical. I’ve said all along, I’m looking at the evidence. I’m not being pushed around by my feelings either way.

Cliff: Mrs. Lim, is English your second language? I think you read nuances into very simple statements of mine that are not there.

To continue. Yesterday, Ignacio cornered me at the end of the day and asked if we couldn’t discuss the church ceremony.

Ignacio: That day those two people knelt down before God and made their promises, that day they were married. They are married in the eyes of God.

Kris: Do they allow God in the courtroom these days? They don’t let much else in.

Kevin: God or not, this is a legal case, Ignacio.

Ignacio: Of course.

Kevin: You have this picture in your mind of this woman in a wedding dress and this man in a tux going off to church one fine day. Here’s the reality. One afternoon, maybe they have a couple of drinks. And he goes to the church to please her, and that night they hit the sack happy. If God was there, he was shaking his head in dismay.

Courtney: You are disgusting! I don’t think it was that way at all.

Cliff: Now Courtney, no need to hurt Kevin’s feelings. But you are awfully young, aren’t you? You said yourself, you can’t know what goes on between two people, didn’t you?

Courtney: Yes, but…

Cliff: I see you have youthful skepticism. That’s healthy. I also see that, although you’ve supported Lindy so far, you have a lot of doubts, don’t you?

Courtney: A few.

Diane: Hold on. Just stop right there. This marriage thing. To get Ignacio to switch his vote, Kevin makes Mike and Lindy sound like two drunks stumbling into a church prior to a sleazy one-night stand. That accomplished to your satisfaction for the moment, you go to work on Courtney. But everybody, listen. How many people do you know who celebrate a night like that as an anniversary for twenty years? They both admitted they did. That was a solemn, honest, and heartfelt occasion.

Cliff: When was the last time you went to church on Sunday, Ms. Miklos?

Diane: Huh? What does that have to do with-

Cliff: You pose as someone who agrees with Ignacio, but you really don’t at all.

Diane: I’m not posing as anything.

Cliff: C’mon, when? Six years old, Easter, yanked in there by Grandma?

Diane: Now, hold on!

Cliff: You don’t believe they were married in the eyes of God or anyone else, do you?

Diane: Why are you attacking me?

Cliff: You don’t answer my questions. And why is that? It’s because you know Ignacio is about to realize that wedding was not important to this case. You’re trying to mislead and confuse him by contradicting everything we say in support of Mike, no matter how much logic, reason and evidence we have to support our arguments.

Diane: It’s true, I’m not a follower of organized religion, but I have my own beliefs.

Cliff: Something you picked up in Tibet, no doubt, after forking over sixty-five thousand dollars for the privilege of being lugged up Mount Everest by a Sherpa.

Diane: I’ve never been to Tibet.