Bernie (2011)

Brady Coleman: Scrappy Holmes

Quotes 

• Scrappy Holmes : Well, trials are generally moved when the judge determines that the defendant can't get a fair trial locally. And that's usually because the crime is so egregious and so well-known that everybody in the community has already convicted the poor soon of a bitch accused of it. But in all the years I've been doing this for a living, I have never heard of the State seeking a change of venue because the defendant was so well-liked that they couldn't get a conviction.

• Scrappy Holmes : Your honor, counsel, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, all Danny Buck Davidson wants to do in this trial is get you to believe that Bernie is some kind of monster. That he is something other than a fellow human being. Look at him, ladies and gentlemen. There is not one hint of premeditation in this case. If there was, he'd have done it a lot differently. He mighta gotten away with it. Did he try to poison her slowly? No. Did he burn down the house? Say it was an accidental fire? No. He still knew he'd done wrong. He knew he was gonna get found out. He just did not have the courage to tell on himself. But like a good funeral director, he preserved the body so that she could have a proper burial. And in the meantime he did a lot of good for a lot of people. Till he finally got caught. He just doesn't sound like any kind of monster I've ever heard of.

• Scrappy Holmes : So why did you leave the body there? It would seem to me that if you didn't want to get caught, you'd find some way to dispose of it.

  Bernie Tiede : Oh, no, no. No, I could never do that. That was never my intention. Everyone deserves a proper burial. And I was... I was just waiting for my chance to give her one.