Jo's Lines A Few Good Men

walk into Whitaker's office

I'm Lt. Commander Joanne Galloway sir.

Captain Whitaker, come on in

I appreciate your seeing me on such short notice.

Bronksy said you were reopening a case

Yes sir

Bronksy and I go way back

He speaks very highly of you sir

Yeah, that's bullshit right?

Yes sir

I know you, don't I?

I don't believe we've formally m-

You work at internal affairs

Yes sir

I hate internal affairs

Yes sir

And you're a woman

Yes sir

Well, that's all right

Thank you sir

...14 B Misdemeanors last winter

That may have been me

14 B Misdemeanors. Drunken and Disorderlies. We had em closed

No sir, you didn't. The blue copies of the charge sheets weren't filed to Division with the IC-1

Who gives a shit

My boss, the Judge Advocate General.

He doesn't care anymore than I do. It was you

There are rules, sir. I'm sure you understand.

...Christmas Day, Commander.

It was in the interest of justice, sir.

Okay, are you here to bother anybody?

Absolutely not. No sir. Not at all. Only if necessary.

What can I do for you

Two prisoners are being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They pleaded guilty to Murder 2, Conspiracy to Commit, and Conduct Unbecoming. Over the weekend, I petitioned Captain Bronsky to deny the guilty pleas, and to order the prisoners to be moved here to Washington to be assigned council.

...Somebody misspell conspiracy?

No sir, but the prisoners confessed to murder at three o'clock in the morning during a twenty minute interview at which neither had an attorney

So Bronsky’s bringing em up to Washington.

You'll be receiving a memo from Division instructing you to assign an attorney from your department. Which brings me to why I'm here

Yes

I'd like a favor

Good luck to you

Thank you

What's the favor

Tell Division you'd like to assign a lawyer outside of your department

And why would I do that

Because I'm a lawyer outside your department

And don't think I'm not grateful

I've brought a letter of recommendation from Captain Bronsky

...mixed up in grunt work

I don't consider it grunt work, sir.

...and a week of paperwork

I'd look forward to it with relish, sir.

...who's not very good at it

I'm sorry if my over-eagerness is grating.

...as a cartoon squirrel

I want to sure make this is handled properly

Have you done litigation before?

My first year with the JAG Corps

How many cases did you handle?

Altogether?

Yes

Six

How'd you do

From what perspective

Your client's

Not well

...It's from Division

Those cases were lost on their merits sir

Really?

How do you do?

That'll be all

So, what do you say

...may I call you Joanne

Yes. Please.

...fairly harmless neurotic person-

I appreciate that

...you know, not so much

Yes, but-

...already chose an attorney

What?

...you've got some letters and documents

Yes

...try not to make anyone cry

Yes sir

Tough break

Thank you, Captain

You can call me Isaac

And what's the name of the attorney?

How do you do

You're a JG

I beg your pardon

This is the attorney Division assigned?

Yes

I wrote a seventeen page memo to Bronsky outlining the situation, I pleaded my case for a half hour in his living room on a Sunday afternoon, and Division assigned a Lt. Junior Grade?

Rosebud

Captain, with all due respect-

My kinda case

Lt. Kaffee, how long have you been in the Navy?

I'm sorry?

How long have you been in the Navy?

Going on nine months now

Have you ever been in a courtroom

I once had my driver's license suspended

Alright. Captain this is absurd

...they'd need a priest

No they'd need a lawyer

One more and I get a set of steak knives

One of the people you'll be talking to down there is the barracks C.O., Colonel Nathan Jessep, I assume you've heard of him.

...did he cut an album?

On top is an inventory of Santiago's foot locker on the night he died. Four pairs of camouflage pants, three long sleeve khaki shirts, three short sleeve khaki shirts, three pairs of boots, four pairs of green socks, four pairs of black socks-

Commander?

Yes

...Heavily into this defense

I'm saying we need to get his personal belongings to his family after they've cleared the evidence

...I went to school for 21 years.

These are letters that Santiago wrote in his eight months at GITMO-

I knew that one

He wrote to his recruiter, HQ Atlantic, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, even his senator. He wanted to be transferred off the base. Nobody was listening. You with me?

Yes

Finally he wrote this letter...where he offered information about Corporal Dawson's fenceline shooting in exchange for a transfer. This letter is the only physical evidence establishing a motive for Dawson to kill Santiago.

Gotcha. And Santiago is who?

The victim

...treatment by the Marine Corps

Yes, among other-

...the guy who's hot at the Pentagon

Colonel Jessep, yes, but the point-

Twelve years

I'm sorry?

...They'll probably be home in seven

You haven't talked to a witness or looked at a piece of paper

Pretty impressive

Either that or criminally stupid. Which do you guess I'm thinking it is right now.

...That i should know about?

I'm special counsel for internal affairs, Lieutenant. My jurisdiction's pretty much in your face. Read the letters. Captain, thank you for your time.

You're not leaving already are you?

Yes sir, I need to audit the paperwork on an engineer who was found littering in the admiral's tulip garden. Some may have forgotten to dot a few i's.

Officer on deck, ten-hut

Good morning, I'm Lt. Commander Galloway

Ma'am, Private First Class Louden Downey, ma'am

Stand easy. I work for the Navy JAG Corps, I'm the one who had you guys brought up here. I wanted to stop in and see if there was anything you needed... Or any questions you wanted to ask... It's natural for you to be a little confused of frightened...and so anything can help you with... and questions you might have.

Ma'am permission to speak?

Go ahead

Spidermans and Batmans...if they're not secured ma'am

You think this is a joke?

Ma'am no ma'am

What about you, is this a joke?

About the books ma'am, I didn't mean nothing.

You were read your Article 31 rights, did you understand them?

Yes ma'am

Did you understand them?

Yes ma'am

Say you understand them

Ma'am, I understand them ma'am

Can I get an MP...I'm gonna talk to Private Downey alone for a moment

Ma'am, permission to be dismissed

You're dismissed...HI...Your only living relative is Ginny Miller, your aunt on your mother's side, is that right?

Yes ma'am

She hasn't been contacted yet, would you like me to take care of that for you?... I'll take care of that for you... Private, do you know why you're here

Ma'am this is where the guard told me to stand.

...Louden, may I call you Louden?

Yes ma'am

Do you know where you are? Do you know why you've been arrested?

Willy died, ma'am

Why? Was it an accident or did you mean to do it?... Louden I know about the code reds

Ma'am?

I can help you. Was it a code red?... You've gotta talk to someone Louden. They're gonna pin you with intent, they're gonna try to say this was retaliation for Santiago snitching on Dawson with regard to the fenceline shooting... Which is wasn't, was it?

Ma'am, permission to speak?

Sure

Are you our lawyer ma'am?

I'm- no... I am a lawyer but I'm not the one representing you.

...Man on first, one down

Excuse me

...We need all the help we can get.

No thanks. I can't throw and catch things

That's too bad cause neither can any of these-

I wanted to talk to you about Dawson and Downey

I've done something wrong havent I

I'm wondering why two guys have been in a cell since this morning while their lawyer is outside hitting a ball

We need the practice

That wasn't funny

It was a little funny

Lieytenant, would you feel very insulted if I asked your supervisor to recommend that different counsel be assigned?

Why?

I'm not sure how to say this without hurting your feelings, but I don't think you're fit to handle this defense

...I think there are people who would've thought that was funny

I do know you. And I know who your father was. And I know you went to Harvard on a Navy scholarship and that you're probably just treading water for the three years you have to serve, just kinda laying low til you can get out and get a job. And if that's the case that's fine, I won't tell anyone. But my feeling is that if this case is handled in the same fast-food, slick-ass manner with which you seem to handle everything else, something is gonna get missed. And I wouldn't be doing my job if I allowed Dawson and Downey to spend any more time in jail than absolutely necessary because their lawyer had predetermined the path of least resistance.

...and that's the foundation for any solid-

Shut up

Yes ma'am

I don't think your clients murdered anybody

Well you're gonna have to take their word for it, don't you think?

I mean I don't think there was any intent

...but it sounds pretty bad

The doctor's wrong

...Liar, liar, pants on fire defense

Kaffee-

...Dawson and Donnelly

Downey

-Downey

I'll speak to your supervisor