Cagney & Lacey (TV Series)

Child Witness (1984)

John Reilly: Jeremy Mitchell

Quotes 

• Jeremy Mitchell : Carrie, honey, are you gonna tell the officer what you told daddy. It's all right. The officer won't get mad at you.

  Mary Beth Lacey : [to Carrie]  Hey. Hey, didn't we make a deal this morning? You could tell anything to our friend. Come on, it's okay.

  Carrie Mitchell : I made it up.

  Christine Cagney : What? I'm sorry.

  Jeremy Mitchell : Oh, she imagined it. I guess it's a phase she's going through.

  [a tear runs down Carrie's cheek] 

  Jeremy Mitchell : I'm just sorry the school didn't call me first before bringing you two into it. I could have saved you a lot of time and I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you.

  [Carrie buries her face in her arm] 

  Mary Beth Lacey : Oh, hey, Carrie. What are you crying for?

  Jeremy Mitchell : [picks up Carrie]  It's okay, baby. It's okay. We can go home now.

  Christine Cagney : Mr. Mitchell, please wait.

  Jeremy Mitchell : I'm gonna take Carrie home. This has been very hard on her. She has a school vacation coming up in about 10 days and I have made arrangements with her grandparents to take her for a few weeks.

  Christine Cagney : Mr. Mitchell, you realize we've already filed a 61 and notified the Sex Crime Squad, so this investigation will probably continue.

  Jeremy Mitchell : No, it won't. You can kill it!

  Mary Beth Lacey : We'll have to talk about that with our supervisor, sir.

  Jeremy Mitchell : You can do that. It's just fine. Tell him it's been a mistake and it's all over now.

  Christine Cagney : It's not that easy now.

  Jeremy Mitchell : You do it or I do it!

• Mary Beth Lacey : [to Jeremy Mitchell]  Well, I was just wondering what kind of a loving father encourages his child to lie.

  Jeremy Mitchell : Oh, come on, Detective Lacey, this is not the debating team. I have discussed this with institute trial psychologists and it's a recent opinion as well as mine that Carrie should not be subjected to any further unpleasantness with regard to this matter.

  Christine Cagney : You're not even denying that you encouraged her to lie, are you?

  Jeremy Mitchell : Please spare me your feeble attempts at cross-examination.

  Christine Cagney : We need Carrie's testimony in court. It's that simple.

  Jeremy Mitchell : I'll make it even simpler. Get someone else's child to do your dirty work for you!

  Mary Beth Lacey : We don't have another witness. And testifying in court is not dirty work. It's a civic responsibility.

  Jeremy Mitchell : I know exactly what testifying in court is, Detective. "King of the Cross-examination". That's what they call me. Although in sex cases it's not even difficult. My last rape case, I had the victim in tears. Barely knew her own name. I won! A month later, my client was arrested again. Another rape. Now last week I was in the bank, ran into the victim. You know, I didn't even know who she was, but she knew me. And she remembered me. She spat in my face! Now, thank you, Detectives, Carrie declines to exercise her civic... responsibility.

  Christine Cagney : Mr. Mitchell, this is a first-degree sex abuse case. If you keep telling your daughter to lie, you can be charged with obstructing justice, tampering with a witness...

  Jeremy Mitchell : [shouts]  You take me before the Grand Jury!

  [in a quieter tone] 

  Jeremy Mitchell : ... and I'll hit you with the biggest false arrest suit you've ever seen, and next year I'll be the richest man in New York City.

  Mary Beth Lacey : We can take you to Family Court and have you declared an unfit parent.

  Jeremy Mitchell : Not a brilliant idea. Arrest me, put Carrie in a foster home and they all lived happily ever after. Now that is the classic, fabled ending.

• Mary Beth Lacey : [to Jeremy Mitchell]  I understand why you're doing what you're doing because I've got kids myself. You're doing what you think is best for your little girl and if you could, you'd wrap her up in cotton so nothing would ever hurt her, no matter what, but life isn't like that, sir. I mean, sometimes, no matter what we do, or what we wish, our kids get hurt anyway.

  Jeremy Mitchell : Is there a point to this story? If so, would you please get to it?

  Christine Cagney : The point is, Mr. Mitchell, Neil Traeger is a filthy, predatory animal that should be removed from society. However, in between his Mid-Terms he is out preying on small children, children that are just as young and just as sweet and just as innocent as your Carrie. And it's in your power to keep this from happening. And I say if you don't exercise that power, you are responsible for every other child that he hurts.

• Mary Beth Lacey : Mr. Mitchell, would you please wait?

  Jeremy Mitchell : There's nothing more to say. We're going home.

  Mary Beth Lacey : No, I think it's a mistake, sir. I think it's bad if you stop in the middle.

  Jeremy Mitchell : I don't care what you think, Detective.

  Mary Beth Lacey : You're her father. Why don't you let her help to get rid of him. Don't let her carry it around like some secret for the rest of her life. She needs to talk about it.

  Jeremy Mitchell : She doesn't have to talk to the Grand Jury! She talks to me or she talks to a therapist.

  Mary Beth Lacey : No, sir. It's not the same thing. This way maybe she helps another little child. This way what she says makes a difference.

  Jeremy Mitchell : Carrie, sweetheart, do you want to go into that courtroom or not? It's up to you. Whatever you decide, it's okay.

  Carrie Mitchell : I'm scared.

  Mary Beth Lacey : Oh, geez. To tell you the truth, I get scared every time I go to court. I'll bet your father does too, but I'll tell you something that helps me not be scared, Carrie. I imagine I've got a friend sitting right in front of me and I look right into her eyes and I talk to my friend. And I forget about the people in the room and I talk to my friend. You can try that, maybe.

  Carrie Mitchell : I can't imagine a friend.

  Rhonda Gallegos : [running up]  Mr. Mitchell! Detective Lacey, here, can assist the Grand Jury. The foreman has agreed.

  Mary Beth Lacey : Carrie, do you understand what she's saying?

  [Carrie shakes her head] 

  Mary Beth Lacey : You don't have to imagine a friend because you can talk to me in there. Can you talk to me?

  Carrie Mitchell : Yes.