Kelli Williams: Melanie Harper

Making a Rapist

Melanie Harper

Odafin Tutuola: Melanie, what happened?
Melanie Harper: [scared out of her mind] Oh, my god. Oh, my god. I came down here and I... I found her like this.
Odafin Tutuola: Did you see anything or hear anybody?
Melanie Harper: [as her daughter is rolled past on a gurney] Here, I'm right here.
[to Fin]
Melanie Harper: I heard a man.
Odafin Tutuola: Did you recognize his voice?
Melanie Harper: [following the gurney out] I think it was Sean.
Amanda Rollins: [having entered] Sean Roberts? The guy we just got out of prison?

Rafael Barba: Ms. Harper, you blame yourself for your daughter's death, don't you?
Melanie Harper: Excuse me?
Rafael Barba: You caused Ashley's death. You sent him to prison where he was victimized and abused for 16 years. Thanks to you, he learned how to become a killer and a rapist.
John Buchanan: Objection. Is there a question anywhere here?
Judge Elana Barth: Get to the point, Mr. Barba.
Rafael Barba: The point is, if you had not made that false identification 16 years ago, he never would've gone to prison which means he never would've killed Ashley.
Melanie Harper: That's not true.
Rafael Barba: That's not true or you don't want it to be true? Because in your mind, if he killed Ashley, you killed her and that's too painful to accept. That's why you don't want to testify.
Melanie Harper: [crying] I-I sent him there. Every time he was beaten or raped, it was my fault. I turned him into a rapist, a monster. And it was my fault. I'm the... I'm the guilty one here.

Melanie Harper: [to Fin after he testifies in court] How'd it go?
Odafin Tutuola: As well as it could have. Jury looks at a guy who was put away innocent, they hesitate.
Melanie Harper: They should.
Odafin Tutuola: Not this time, Melanie. He's guilty. There's no question about this.
Melanie Harper: No, but that's what you said last time. None of us saw what happened. I mean, if you really think about it, I mean, we're all just we're just guessing. We're just filling in the blanks and and connecting the dots.
Odafin Tutuola: I found Ashley's ring in his drain. How else could it have gotten there?
Melanie Harper: According to Sean's lawyer...
Odafin Tutuola: I did not plant that ring, okay? Why would I? Think about it.
Melanie Harper: I'm sorry, I'm just... I was just... I was so sure last time, and then I was wrong, and I just... I just can't trust myself.
Odafin Tutuola: Did you hear Sean and Ashley speaking that night? Yes or no?
Melanie Harper: I'm not sure now.
Odafin Tutuola: That's not what you told me that night at the crime scene. No one's asking you to say if he's guilty. That's the jury's job, not yours.
Melanie Harper: He already served 16 years. What if I'm wrong again?