Briggs questions Dorothy Moore, who says that King was at her house at 3:30 (when the robbery went down).
Petrocelli swoops in and asks how often King comes to Moore's abode. "About twice a month. He's my cousin" (18.8), she says.
Dorothy says King brought her a lamp as a gift, though he didn't have a job. Petrocelli asks why he would use the little money he had on a lamp for her.
Petrocelli asks her if she likes King, which Dorothy responds to by saying that she wouldn't lie for him.
Petrocelli keeps pounding, and by the end of her questioning, Dorothy has admitted that she hadn't seen King for a few weeks before the lamp visit, that she doesn't know what kind of work he was looking for, and that she can't say whether he has a driver's license. Petrocelli's translation: Dorothy doesn't know much.
But Dorothy insists again that she saw him that day; she says she was home from work with a bum ankle.
Petrocelli asks to see the lamp, but Dorothy no longer has it. Conveniently, she says it broke.
The next witness is George Nipping. Back in the day, he sold King a baseball glove that was for a leftie.
Steve writes, "What's that about?" (18.46) on his nifty question pad, and O'Brien tells him that Briggs is trying to prove King didn't shoot the victim because the wound was on the left side of his body. She says it's a pretty lousy argument.
It's Petrocelli's turn to question Nipping, and she asks if he has ever seen King shoot. Nope, he says, at which point she confirms that he has no idea what King would do if he grabbed a gun in the heat of the moment.
Time for another flashback:
We're hangin' with Steve in Mr. Sawicki's film class.
Mr. Sawicki tells the class to keep films simple. If a film's too fancy, he says, the story is probably weak.
And back to the present again…
O'Brien meets privately with Steve. She tells Steve that he will need to take the stand and tell his story, or else they will be dead in the water. Gulp.
To have any chance, she says, Steve needs to separate himself from King. He can't play tough—that's what King is doing, and it ain't gonna help him; the jurors need to trust him.
Steve asks what happens if King testifies too, but O'Brien assures him that King won't—since he already lied to the police, the prosecution can nail him. The only way to make the jurors separate Steve from King, then, is for Steve to testify.
Steve asks if Dorothy Moore's testimony helps King, but O'Brien says no.
The prosecution didn't take her seriously—she's King's cousin, she likes him, and she has no proof he was with her other than her word. She's a dead end as far as O'Brien can tell.
King is probably going to lose his case, O'Brien says, so Steve has to get himself away from him.
To prepare for the witness stand, O'Brien and Steve play the Paper Cup Game. The Rules: If the cup stays up, Steve's answer is good. If the cup flips over, Steve has to figure out what was wrong with his answer. Time to play…
O'Brien asks, "Did you know James King?" (18.73), and Steve answers, "No?" (18.74). O'Brien flips the cup down.
Steve answers again, "Yeah, casually" (18.76), and O'Brien flips the cup back up.
This goes on for a while and the cameras pan out.
The next screenplay scene takes place at the jailhouse that night.
Inmate #1 complains that the prosecutor called him a liar, arguing that he wasn't about to tell the truth when it would throw him in the big house.
Inmate #2 claims that the only thing that's important once you're in is getting out. Truth pales in comparison to fresh air.
Inmate #1 asks what truth even is, and Steve says it's "what you know to be right" (18.89).
Inmate #2 says he's crazy—once the man's got you, you only care about survival. To him, truth means nothing.
According to Inmate #1, the lawyers don't give a patootie about truth either. The prosecutor just wants to toss him behind bars.
The next morning, Steve dresses for court; his hands shake as he rides the van to the courthouse.
Steve sits on the witness stand… drum roll please…
O'Brien asks if Steve acted as the lookout. He says no.
She asks if he discussed acting as lookout with anyone. He says no.
She wants to know if he was in the drugstore. He says no.
She asks if he was he involved at all. He says no.
Petrocelli gives Steve a stare before she approaches the stand.
