"Domestic Threats" -
August 4
Roy Black starts off this episode giving some
compliments to the young associates. He tells them
that some of them stood out and that they will be
picking the teams for the upcoming week. Without any
hesitation he requests that Barrett and Michael join
him in the front of the office and basically everyone
else is put on notice of who their competition is.
Barrett
Olivier
Elizabeth
Anika
Deep
Michael
Keith
Aileen
Chris
Regina
Terrorism Case:
Brad
Graves v. Ronald Hicks
Hicks, the owner of a small grocery store created a
small poster accusing Brad Graves of being a
terrorist. While Hicks claims to have done this as a
joke, Graves was not amused and is suing for damages
Dominatrix Arbitration:
Sabrina Belladonna v. Jason Rosilli
Sabrina Belladonna, a dominatrix, asked Jason to
create a website for her. Jason Rosilli did so,
however after a business dispute, Rosilli took down
the website and Belladonna lost customers. Belladonna
is suing for damages
As
the teams divide their resources Barretts team
decides that Deep, Anika and Elizabeth will handle the
Terrorist Case while Barrett and Olivier will handle
the Dominatrix arbitration.
Michaels Team has assigned Keith, Aileen and Michael
to the Terrorist case leaving Chris and Regina to
handle the Dominatrix arbitration.
Michael is confident knowing that he is paired against
Deep who he calls inexperienced. Olivier is ecstatic
that he gets to face-off with Regina telling Barrett
that she really is that bad.
Terrorist Case:
Deep, Anika and Elizabeth who are representing store
owner Ronald Hicks in this case. In meeting with
Ronald Hicks they are confident that he will be a
great witness as he seems to be a kind man who is
honestly and genuinely sympathetic to the situation.
In meeting with Hicks, they were shown the sign which
is the focal point for this case. The sign refers to
Graves as Mohammed Abdul Graves and suggests that he
is dangerous except when near his usual hangout of
coffee machines. As a kicker the sign features an
acronym E.A.T.M.E. (Extreme Activist Terrorist Militia
of Etna) in red letters and a picture of Brad Graves
out in a corn field holding a can of beer. He obtained
the picture from a co-worker. Supposedly, Hicks was
just piggybacking on a joke from another co-worker who
said that Graves looked like a redneck terrorist.
Hicks says that the he and Graves were friends and
that he had loaned Graves money on numerous occasions.
Further he believes that the only reason this case is
coming to trial is because of greed.
Keith, Aileen and Michael are worried feeling that the
opposition has the easier side of this case. After
meeting with Brad Graves, this team is worried because
Graves does not come across as someone who is
thin-skinned enough to have been offended and hurt by
this poster. Graves claims that when he saw the poster
hanging in the window of the grocery store that Hicks
own, he freaked out. He couldnt believe that his name
was on a wanted poster with his picture attached
calling him a terrorist. He did not feel that he and
Hicks had ever been friends and could not come up with
a reason why Hicks would do such a thing.
To
throw a wrench into things, Graves aunt is placed on
the defenses witness list as she feels that her
nephew is being ridiculous. Fortunately, after an
early meeting her, Keith is more than prepared to deal
with her at trial
In
trial, opening statements are routine, but while Hicks
is on the stand, Aileen performs an excellent cross
getting Hicks to refer to the joke as a wanted poster,
and also getting Hicks to admit that the poster is not
funny.
Anika, in crossing Graves, aims to paint him as a
threat to society by suggesting that he is known for
constantly carrying around a bowie knife. Deep and
Elizabeth are appalled at the as Anika is deviating
from their plan of focusing on the poster as being a
joke rather than a legitimate notice.
When
Graves Aunt is on the stand Deep is unable to
formulate adequate questions. As a result, Keith
successfully objects 7-8 times forcing Deep to retract
his examination. Keith and his co-counsel sit amazed
that no effort is being made to focus on the fact that
the poster says Eat-Me.
Michael in closing points out that this poster can not
be considered a joke in the 9/11 landscape that we
currently live in. He creates an airport metaphor and
points out that everyones safety in a world
threatened by terrorists is not a laughing matter and
hopes that the judge will rule in his favor.
Deep
in closing for the Hicks team tries to make it clear
that Hicks considered Graves to be a friend and had no
intention of harming Graves. He points out that the
poster makes ridiculous statements that could not be
considered by any reasonable person to be realistic
and for that reason the judge should espouse Hicks of
blame.
With
everything said, the decision awaits.
Dominatrix Arbitration:
Olivier and Barrett visit Sabrina Belladonna at her
dungeon and find that she is not a scary character at
all. Rather, she is a composed business woman who
knows what her intentions are and what she wants. She
claims that the website created by Jason Rosilli was
registered in her name and is of her possession. She
suggests that the website was commissioned on a work
for hire relationship. Without any additional
complications, Barrett notices that there are many
toys around her that she has never seen before and
Olivier and Barrett leave before there meeting begins
to head south.
Chris and Regina meet with Jason Rosilli in his
apartment which he calls his design studio. He shows
them the original website that Belladonna had and
calls it juvenile suggesting that he remake of her
site was a vast improvement. In a bit of an unstable
manner, Rosilli barks out that the website is of his
possession and that he had every right to take it
down. Further he claims that it was his right to
exploit her image as necessary and that he was to be
paid 50% of all proceeds. Chris and Regina are
concerned that Rosilli could be a loose cannon in
arbitration but proceed regardless.
Prior to the actual arbitration, a video deposition is
held with a friend of Miss Belladonna who is also a
dominatrix. This friend also had a website created for
her by Rosilli and claims that Rosilli was never a
partner in the venture. Upon mentioning this, Regina
brings out emails that were found impeaching her
testimony that showed that this dominatrix considered
Rosilli to be a partner. Olivier became inflamed that
he was not shown these emails in advance, but under
rules of engagement, impeachment evidence need not be
shared. As a result the video deposition became nearly
null.
At
arbitration, Sabrina is questioned and she easily
sticks to her story. The fireworks occur when Rosilli
is questioned. As an establishing question, Olivier
asks if Rosilli and Belladonna were friends before the
lawsuit. While Rosilli at first answers yes, he then
retracts that answer saying that he does not know the
character Sabrina Belladonna. He knows a real person
that is not a fantasy and is not a creation, but not
Belladonna. Olivier then asks if Rosilli is on
medication, a questions which is objected to and
withdrawn. At this point all is lost as Rosilli
refuses to acknowledge Belladonna presence as if she
were not sitting right in front of him. Finally, Chris
is able to pull some teeth in opposing questioning. He
brings out a single important fact that there was
never an agreement in writing and quickly rests.
With
that, only time will tell.
Case Verdicts:
Terrorist case:
The
judge is incensed at the total lack of disregard for
humanity represented by Hicks creation of such a
poster as a result he finds for Graves in the amount
of $5,000 and imposes an additional $2,000 penalty in
punitive damages that can be waived if Hicks
apologizes immediately to Graves. Hicks apologizes
immediately and Keith, Michael and Aileen are shocked
that they won.
Dominatrix case:
The
lack of a written licensing agreement presented a
dilemma for the judge who felt that the terms of the
agreement were too vague to enforce. As a result, the
website was the possession of the creator, Jason
Rosilli who won this case. Olivier is pissed. He can
not believe that the judge made what he calls an
amazing error and proceeds to tell the judge that this
is bull doody in meaner words.
Final Verdicts:
With
the decisions handed in there is only one verdict left
to deliver. Roy Black chides Anika for not sticking to
the team strategy. He tells them that her questions
presented a contradictory argument. Further he was
disappointed in the fact that he heard the term 9/11
more than he heard Eat Me. He suggested channeling
Robin Williams in an opening argument and trying to
get the judge to laugh at the ridiculous nature of the
case. He also attacks Olivier for the manner in which
he treated the judge post trial saying that as a
representative of the firm he slandered all of their
reputations. Black then asked Regina how she felt and
she replied that she would fire him.
Black then says that the first person leaving made
egregious errors at trial that could not be overlooked
as they most likely were the reason that the case was
lost. The verdict is in and Anika you are out.
Second, this person committed a cardinal violation in
not showing care for the client and not putting forth
as much of an effort as possible. While he had high
hopes for this individual, their actions were
inexcusable, so the verdict is in and Elizabeth you
are out.
Shockingly, Olivier survives to argue another day but,
Black warns him that his survival is not a vindication
of his actions that that he is hanging on by a thread.
Now only 8 attorneys remain, check in next week to see
if Roy black can dig up another round of dominatrices.