Judge Hardin? Mr. Hardin, please? Can I talk to you? I have something that I want you to see.
What is it?
It's a photograph of a boy; he's a ten-year-old 4th-grader, his front teeth are too big, and his hair falls on his face.
Are you Dr. Lewin?
I was Dr. Lewin; I'm not anymore now. School sent us these pictures. They wanted to know how many we were gonna order. How many 5-by-7s, how many wallet-size. We took them all. I want you to have one.
I'm sorry, I can't take this.
Why not? Might help in your deliberations, might help you decide whether these men go free or not.
Dr. Lewin, please try to understand: I am not deciding how guilty or not guilty these two men are. Now, I'm sure your son was a wonderful boy and I know how you must... no, I don't. I don't have any idea how you must feel. Can we sit down for a minute, please? [they both sit on a bench] I have to rule on a point of law that has nothing to do with these two defendants. It's only concerned with how a particular piece of evidence was obtained.
My wife... she has to be sedated all the time. She says she can hear Danny screaming. We had to move out of the house. She kept going into Danny's room. I had to get her away from him. How can someone torture a child? How do you erase that sound from your head? Those two are creatures, they're not human beings. Look at the photograph. That was my little boy, not a plaintiff or a statue. That is my little boy, it's not a point of law. Look at the goddamn photograph!
[Hardin gets up]
I understand how you feel, I really do. But I can only deal with the law.
[Hardin walks to the elevator, Lewin follows him]
What about justice? You ever deal with that? Does that ever fit into this little crossword puzzle that you call the law? You're so worried about the rights of those two monsters! What about my little Danny's rights? You don't escape so easily. You don't run and hide so easy.
[He sticks the photo under Hardin's arm]
You take this photograph, and you look at it. That's what this is all about. Nothing else. Nothing else.
