Law & Order (TV Series)

Falling (2008)

Linus Roache: Executive ADA Michael Cutter

Quotes 

• Jack McCoy : From a crane collapse to a jealous wife.

  Michael Cutter : Cops just followed the facts. This is where they led us.

  Jack McCoy : To a crime with no witnesses and no forensic evidence.

  Connie Rubirosa : Not quite. The defense asked us to produce a float pole from the pool. I had the police check it and they found Sandra's prints on one of the pole and Amelia's partials on the other.

  Michael Cutter : The lawyer's gonna argue Sandra used the pole to fish Amelia out of the water after pushing her in. It's mitigation.

  Jack McCoy : It's worse than that. They'll argue renunciation. Sandra Talbot had a change of heart after trying to drown Amelia. She could get away scot free.

  Michael Cutter : Renunciation's no defense if it's motivated by a fear of getting caught. Amelia didn't drown right away, Sandra was worried somebody'd walk in, so she fished her out.

  Jack McCoy : Good luck proving that. Gary Talbot is a key witness in our crane case. Try not to muddy that up.

• Connie Rubirosa : I turned up a police report filed by Dr. Ziering about anonymous threats left on his office voicemail. It's dated two weeks before Amelia was pushed into the pool. Maybe that's what Amelia's call to Ziering was about. She was leaving another threat.

  Michael Cutter : Threat about what?

  Jack McCoy : Bird in the hand, Mike. Next time a defendant wants to plead guilty, let 'em.

• Jack McCoy : You want to tell me what this is?

  Michael Cutter : I'm guessing you already know.

  Jack McCoy : No operation, no hormone therapy. You've attached an illegal stipulation to a plea. You violated Mrs. Talbot's rights. The judge will repudiate this.

  Michael Cutter : I can sell him on it.

  Jack McCoy : I'm repudiating it! You've gone completely off the reservation here!

  Michael Cutter : Just imitating the master. People v Willick, the Munchausen by proxy case? Did you forget you made enforced sterilization a condition of a plea for a woman who killed her babies?

  Jack McCoy : I remember! I also remember the judge reaming me out for it. He was right.

  Michael Cutter : You followed you instincts, I'm following mine. It's what we both get paid for.

  Jack McCoy : You get paid to follow orders. The court didn't buy the argument the Talbots are assaulting their daughter. It's time to turn the page, Mike.

  Michael Cutter : I have an executed plea agreement. I'm moving forward. You want to take the case away, that's your call.

• Connie Rubirosa : Goodwin's agreed to a meeting. I got to tell you, Mike, I think the judge made the right call.

  Michael Cutter : Ever since she pushed Amelia into that pool, Sandra Talbot's done nothing but lie and obfuscate, and now her reward's a green light to maim her child.

  Connie Rubirosa : It's not our business anymore. Besides, there are no clean hands here.

  Michael Cutter : Sometimes it's hard to know what justice is, but you have to do something. You just have to try and save who you can save.

• Michael Cutter : I'm moving to stop the procedure.

  Jack McCoy : On what basis?

  Michael Cutter : It's an assault on a handicapped child.

  Connie Rubirosa : I don't know if I would go that far.

  Michael Cutter : What would you call disfiguring this poor kid? Tearing out her uterus, forcing hormones into her veins to stunt her growth? I mean, look, I've read up on this, I talked to doctors. No one knows what the long-term effects are, assuming Lacy even lives to find out because the hormones might cause a blood clot that kills her. The procedure's not medically necessary. It's all for the parents' convenience to save their marriage.

  Jack McCoy : What does any of this have to do with our prosecution of Sandra Talbot?

  Michael Cutter : One assault's to cover another. This one on a child. It's all part of the same criminal enterprise.

  Jack McCoy : It's a stretch. She was ready to plead.

  Michael Cutter : On false grounds.

  Jack McCoy : You're splitting hairs.

  Michael Cutter : What, so we don't have an obligation to pursue the truth?

  Jack McCoy : Lacy Talbot's treatment isn't our concern. We have a victim: Amelia Lazaro. If Mrs. Talbot doesn't want to come clean, empanel a jury, but this office focuses on established crimes.

• Michael Cutter : [to Rubirosa]  We're amending the complaint to add a charge of conspiracy to assault Lacy Talbot. Unindicted coconspirator: Gary Talbot. Overt act: payment for the surgery.

  Connie Rubirosa : Mike, were you not here when Jack said focus on established crimes?

  Michael Cutter : Well, if the judge buys my argument that the operation is a crime, then Jack won't have anything to complain about, will he?

  Connie Rubirosa : You just want to stop them from doing this procedure on their daughter. I don't have kids, and I am not in the Talbots' shoes, but I'm not convinced.

  Michael Cutter : Stick around.

• Michael Cutter : [to Sandra Talbot]  If you had a million dollars to pay for caretakers, would you still consider this procedure for Lacy?

  Sandra Talbot : Yes. It's going to improve her life.

  Michael Cutter : And yours, too, right? It'll reduce your workload. Make her easier to lift, to feed?

  Sandra Talbot : It's about keeping our angel where she belongs at home and in the arms of the family that loves her.

  Michael Cutter : By keeping her small. But if she matures into a grown woman, then you'll have other inconvenient things to worry about: her menstruation, her sexuality...

  Sandra Talbot : No, it's not about those things.

  Michael Cutter : She won't be so cute and cuddly anymore.

  Sandra Talbot : It's not about that. We won't be able to care for her at home. We won't be able to bring her with us, to include her...

  Michael Cutter : You'd need more caretakers, special equipment, a bigger home...

  Sandra Talbot : Yes. It would be too expensive. Yes. We couldn't do it.

  Michael Cutter : But you wouldn't want Lacy to grow up even if you had all the money in the world. You'd still put her through this procedure. That's what you just said. You wouldn't feel the same way about her if she grew up, would you? It's easier to love her now, when she's small, like a doll, isn't it?

  Sandra Talbot : [sobbing]  I love her, I do love her. My angel.