Law & Order (TV Series)

Falling (2008)

Sam Waterston: Interim DA Jack McCoy

Quotes 

• Jack McCoy : From a crane collapse to a jealous wife.

  Michael Cutter : Cops just followed the facts. This is where they led us.

  Jack McCoy : To a crime with no witnesses and no forensic evidence.

  Connie Rubirosa : Not quite. The defense asked us to produce a float pole from the pool. I had the police check it and they found Sandra's prints on one of the pole and Amelia's partials on the other.

  Michael Cutter : The lawyer's gonna argue Sandra used the pole to fish Amelia out of the water after pushing her in. It's mitigation.

  Jack McCoy : It's worse than that. They'll argue renunciation. Sandra Talbot had a change of heart after trying to drown Amelia. She could get away scot free.

  Michael Cutter : Renunciation's no defense if it's motivated by a fear of getting caught. Amelia didn't drown right away, Sandra was worried somebody'd walk in, so she fished her out.

  Jack McCoy : Good luck proving that. Gary Talbot is a key witness in our crane case. Try not to muddy that up.

• Connie Rubirosa : I turned up a police report filed by Dr. Ziering about anonymous threats left on his office voicemail. It's dated two weeks before Amelia was pushed into the pool. Maybe that's what Amelia's call to Ziering was about. She was leaving another threat.

  Michael Cutter : Threat about what?

  Jack McCoy : Bird in the hand, Mike. Next time a defendant wants to plead guilty, let 'em.

• Jack McCoy : You want to tell me what this is?

  Michael Cutter : I'm guessing you already know.

  Jack McCoy : No operation, no hormone therapy. You've attached an illegal stipulation to a plea. You violated Mrs. Talbot's rights. The judge will repudiate this.

  Michael Cutter : I can sell him on it.

  Jack McCoy : I'm repudiating it! You've gone completely off the reservation here!

  Michael Cutter : Just imitating the master. People v Willick, the Munchausen by proxy case? Did you forget you made enforced sterilization a condition of a plea for a woman who killed her babies?

  Jack McCoy : I remember! I also remember the judge reaming me out for it. He was right.

  Michael Cutter : You followed you instincts, I'm following mine. It's what we both get paid for.

  Jack McCoy : You get paid to follow orders. The court didn't buy the argument the Talbots are assaulting their daughter. It's time to turn the page, Mike.

  Michael Cutter : I have an executed plea agreement. I'm moving forward. You want to take the case away, that's your call.

• [last lines] 

  Jack McCoy : People v Willick, I overstepped back then. One day you'll thank me for yanking your leash, Mike. Sometimes I wish someone had been there to yank mine.

• Michael Cutter : I'm moving to stop the procedure.

  Jack McCoy : On what basis?

  Michael Cutter : It's an assault on a handicapped child.

  Connie Rubirosa : I don't know if I would go that far.

  Michael Cutter : What would you call disfiguring this poor kid? Tearing out her uterus, forcing hormones into her veins to stunt her growth? I mean, look, I've read up on this, I talked to doctors. No one knows what the long-term effects are, assuming Lacy even lives to find out because the hormones might cause a blood clot that kills her. The procedure's not medically necessary. It's all for the parents' convenience to save their marriage.

  Jack McCoy : What does any of this have to do with our prosecution of Sandra Talbot?

  Michael Cutter : One assault's to cover another. This one on a child. It's all part of the same criminal enterprise.

  Jack McCoy : It's a stretch. She was ready to plead.

  Michael Cutter : On false grounds.

  Jack McCoy : You're splitting hairs.

  Michael Cutter : What, so we don't have an obligation to pursue the truth?

  Jack McCoy : Lacy Talbot's treatment isn't our concern. We have a victim: Amelia Lazaro. If Mrs. Talbot doesn't want to come clean, empanel a jury, but this office focuses on established crimes.