Public Defender "Patrolman & the Newleyweds"
30min | Crime, Drama | TV Series (1954– )
Bart Matthews defends the poor and others who cannot afford an attorney. All episodes are based on actual cases from across the country.
Creators: Mort R. Lewis, Sam Shayon
Stars: Reed Hadley, Herschel Graham, John Close
30min | Crime, Drama | TV Series (1954– )
Bart Matthews defends the poor and others who cannot afford an attorney. All episodes are based on actual cases from across the country.
Creators: Mort R. Lewis, Sam Shayon
Stars: Reed Hadley, Herschel Graham, John Close
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Public Defender.
00:11The public defender is a public servant employed by the community and responsible for giving
00:15legal aid without cost to any person who seeks it and is financially unable to employ private
00:21counsel.
00:23It is his duty to defend those accused of crime until they are proven guilty in a court
00:28of law.
00:30When tragedy strikes, it often leaves a scar of bitterness.
00:35The case involving State Highway Patrolman Don Nelson was no exception.
00:40Nelson and his partner Jack Miller were patrolling a lonely section of highway when they came
00:44upon a construction barricade, its warning light blown out by the wind.
00:58Good thing we caught this, you know.
01:05Got a match?
01:06No, I'll get one out of the car.
01:08Well, make it snappy, will you?
01:09We get off duty in an hour and I've got a date for a game of handball.
01:12The guy's over five years old, you're sensing a beat.
01:14Just get the match, will you, wise guy?
01:19Meanwhile, just a few hundred yards from the barricade, a car approached.
01:23It carried two newlyweds.
01:24Two weeks.
01:26Not a very long honeymoon.
01:28Two weeks.
01:29Then Mr. Private First Class Tony Fraser is off to Japan, probably never see him again.
01:36They don't make oceans that big.
01:38I'll see him again.
01:40You bet you will, until you're sick of seeing him.
01:45Want to bet?
01:51Come on, Jack!
01:55Come on, Jack!
02:08Honey!
02:09Honey!
02:10Are you alright?
02:16Is she hurt?
02:18I don't know.
02:19I'll call for an ambulance.
02:25Wait a minute, officer, it's not what you think.
02:35Patrol unit C-52J calling.
02:36Come in, C-52J.
02:37Reporting an accident with a private vehicle on 94, seven miles south of Reisman Junction.
02:43Need an ambulance.
02:45Making an arrest on a 501.
02:48Violation of vehicle code 501.
02:51Accident while driving under the influence of alcohol involving injury.
02:55Nearly a honeymoon had turned into a nightmare.
03:08That highway patrolman, is he better?
03:13He died an hour ago.
03:24You must pull yourself together, Mrs. Frazer.
03:27We have a lot of work to do.
03:28The man's dead.
03:29I killed him.
03:30Don't I deserve whatever happens to me?
03:37Then you were driving under the influence of alcohol.
03:41What?
03:42Don't you understand the charge that's been brought against you?
03:46The patrolman who witnessed the accident says that you were drunk.
03:50But that isn't true.
03:51I don't drink.
03:52I never have.
03:53The report states there was a strong odor of alcohol in the car.
03:56There was a bottle that had...
03:57The brandy.
03:58It must have been broken in the crash, but we hadn't been drinking it.
04:03What were you doing with it?
04:04It was a present from Maggie.
04:06And who's Maggie?
04:08She's my grandmother.
04:09I've lived with her since my parents died.
04:12She has a great vineyard in the Shoshone Valley.
04:15Tony and I had just been married there.
04:17Now you listen to me, John Scott.
04:19I've been taking what's jokingly called your newspaper for the last 40 years, and I don't
04:25want any buts.
04:26I want Janet's wedding picture on the front page.
04:31Well, just for today, I can't worry about the international situation.
04:35Use the profile shot.
04:37Now, go away, young folks.
04:40Party's over.
04:41I want to talk to Janet before she goes.
04:47Goodbye.
04:48Well...
04:53Maggie, the wedding was the greatest.
04:55So is the girl you married.
04:57You're much too good for him, darling.
04:59Nothing you can do about it now?
05:01I can make a man out of you, and I intend to as soon as the army lets you go.
05:05Tending these vineyards for a year will put some muscles under those shirt sleeves.
05:10Well, we'd better go.
05:12We've got a 200-mile drive ahead of us.
05:15After that drive from camp, another 200 miles sounds like 2,000.
05:20Just like I say.
05:22Get out of the army, and I'll make a man out of you.
05:25Goodbye, darling.
05:26See you in two weeks.
05:27Oh, wait a minute.
05:28I have something for you.
05:36This brandy was bottled almost 100 years ago.
05:41My grandfather gave it to my mother as a wedding gift.
05:44He had made it from the first fruit on his land after he came to America.
05:49It's been handed down to each bride in the family.
05:54Your mother had it last.
05:56Now it's yours.
06:03You know what, Maggie?
06:04You're a pretty nice egg at that.
06:06Oh, go on.
06:14I remember my mother saying that brandy was supposed to remind us that life is like the land.
06:20You only get out of it what you put in it.
06:24For the others, it represented life, but it'll always remind me of death.
06:33Mr. Matthews, I'm all Maggie has.
06:37You've got to promise me that you won't tell her anything about this.
06:41You've got to promise me that you won't tell her anything about this.
06:44If that's the way you want it, Janet.
06:48Janet Fraser had been convincing, but that wasn't anything a lawyer could carry before a jury.
06:53Proof of her innocence was needed.
06:55The first person I wanted to see was Janet's husband, Tony.
06:59I located him at the Army Embarkation Center, where he was required to report daily.
07:04Then there definitely had been no drinking the day of the wedding.
07:07No, sir.
07:08No, sir.
07:09Mr. Matthews, I've known Janet all my life.
07:12I even went to grammar school with her.
07:15I remember when I used to dip her pigtails into the inkwell.
07:19She's never done anything bad in her life.
07:21What happened wasn't her fault.
07:23All right, Tony.
07:24Then we'll keep on trying to find out what did happen.
07:27Well, what do you intend to do?
07:29First of all, I'd like to talk to the highway patrolman who was there when the accident occurred.
07:34I wish there was some way we could make him understand that it wasn't Janet's fault.
07:38He seems to hate her so.
07:41Maybe that's natural, Tony.
07:43You see, the patrolman who was killed was his best friend.
07:58Come in.
08:01Are you Nelson?
08:02That's right.
08:04I'm Bart Matthews.
08:06I'm the public defender.
08:08I'd like to talk to you about Janet Fraser.
08:16Going on a trip?
08:17Just packing Miller's things and sending them to his mother.
08:20Oh, I'm sorry.
08:21Why be sorry?
08:23Jack's been thinking he's gonna get it ever since we were digging slit trenches overseas.
08:28You know, it's funny.
08:29Where we were led was flying like hail, but it took some boozed-up dame to drop them.
08:33There are two sides to the case, Nelson.
08:35Sure.
08:36Yours and your law books looking for loopholes.
08:38And Jack's just buried.
08:41You two were very close friends, weren't you?
08:44When I say yes, you'll say I know how you feel.
08:46That'll make everything just deadly.
08:47Now, just a minute, Nelson.
08:49Let's understand one another.
08:50I came over here to talk about my client.
08:52That's no reason for you to boil over on me.
08:54There's every reason.
08:55You're trying to get her off, aren't you?
08:56Only if she's innocent.
08:57That's my job.
08:58Then bow out, mister.
08:59Because I'm the guy that was there, remember?
09:01Yes, I know.
09:02I also know you have a tremendous responsibility in this case.
09:05What do you mean by that?
09:06You were the only witness.
09:07You were the arresting officer.
09:08The court will go along with your testimony.
09:11And you know what that does to your client, don't you?
09:13How can you be so sure about this, girl?
09:15You didn't even give her a sobriety test.
09:17Now, excuse me for neglecting that,
09:19but a certain guy I know is dying in my arms.
09:26Look, Matthews.
09:28Let's get one thing straight.
09:29You're not going to get any help from me.
09:31I'm on the other side, remember?
09:34I've been reading up on you, Nelson.
09:36You're a good police officer.
09:38You got a record anyone would be proud of.
09:40You know how I got that record?
09:42By calling a spade a spade.
09:43No favors, no sentiment, just doing the job I'm paid to do.
09:46You did a little more than that.
09:48Look, I know what you're getting at.
09:49Your client's young and she's a bride.
09:51I also know Jack Miller's dead.
09:54What I was getting at was a thing called justice.
09:56But in your frame of mind, you wouldn't understand.
10:01Look, Nelson.
10:02I don't know whether you realize it or not,
10:04but we're on the same side.
10:06I just hope it gets through to you before it's too late.
10:19Faced with such damaging testimony
10:21from the arresting officer,
10:22Janet Fraser's only chance
10:23was that some evidence could be produced
10:25to confirm her denial that she had been drinking.
10:28I didn't find it at the scene of the accident.
10:31But I was able to persuade Officer Nelson
10:33before he went on duty
10:35to meet me at the garage
10:37where Mrs. Fraser's car had been impounded.
10:40This is it.
10:46Now, just like the police said,
10:48that warning light was put on.
10:50That warning light was burning all right.
10:53I seen it when I picked up the wreck.
10:55And it's your contention that Janet Fraser
10:56should have seen the barricade and the patrol.
10:59I don't think she could see nothing.
11:01I think she was blind, stinko, blotto.
11:04What makes you so sure?
11:06Well, when I come up to haul this heap away,
11:08the smell was so strong I nearly got a toot on.
11:10Yeah, just passing by.
11:12Well, there was supposed to have been
11:13a bottle of brandy in the car
11:14that was broken in the wreck.
11:16There was. It's all in the report.
11:20And is it your theory
11:21they were drinking from this bottle?
11:24Could be.
11:26This bottle has never been opened.
11:27The seal hasn't been broken.
11:29So what? That could have been a spare.
11:31You know, I've been picking these messes
11:33up off the highways for, oh, 15 years now.
11:37And every time I run into one of them boozers,
11:39the first thing he tells the cops is
11:41he's just taking the stuff somewhere.
11:43Yeah. Nobody ever drinks it.
11:45No, he just carries it.
11:47That's right.
11:48They could have killed three bottles
11:49before the accident
11:50and thrown the empties out the window
11:51or stopped at any bar along the highway.
11:54Hey.
11:55Hey, then I got a flash for you.
11:58Here.
11:59I found these on the floor
12:00when I picked the car up.
12:01That joint's just three miles
12:02from where they plowed that there cop under.
12:05I have a day off in the 22nd
12:07if I can be of any more help.
12:08I wanted to question Janet Frazer
12:10about the Blue Star Bar,
12:12but I was informed she was under sedation.
12:15Then I received a visitor
12:16and a big surprise.
12:18Hello, Tilly.
12:19I just came from the jail.
12:21Janet's sick.
12:22She'll be all right.
12:24She'll never be all right
12:25until she's cleared of this.
12:27I'm sure she'll be fine.
12:29I'm sure she'll be fine.
12:31I'm sure she'll be fine.
12:33I'm sure she'll be fine.
12:35I'm sure she'll be fine.
12:36She'll never be all right
12:37until she's cleared of this.
12:39She's that kind of a girl.
12:41We're doing the best we can.
12:42Well, you can stop trying.
12:43The case is over.
12:45I killed that cop.
12:47What are you talking about?
12:49I thought Janet could get away with it.
12:51You know, young bride and all that.
12:53But it looks like I was wrong.
12:55I was driving the car.
12:57Pretty drunk, too.
12:58After it happened,
12:59Janet slid me over
13:00and got behind the wheel herself.
13:02Then you two had been drinking.
13:04I'd been drinking
13:05at the wedding party.
13:06But Janet said
13:07there had been no drinking
13:08at her grandmother's.
13:09Maggie's getting old.
13:10I was hitting the bottle
13:11and she and Janet
13:12didn't know about it.
13:14Then you stopped
13:15at the Blue Star Bar.
13:17Yeah, yeah.
13:18I had a few more there.
13:20Like they say,
13:21the best drinks in the state.
13:23Do you realize
13:24that you can receive
13:25up to ten years
13:26in the penitentiary
13:27for such a crime?
13:28I wasn't expecting a medal.
13:30Well, aren't you gonna
13:31call the cops
13:32and have them take me in
13:33so Janet can be released?
13:34If the police want you,
13:35they'll be after you
13:36soon enough.
13:39Janet had asked me
13:40not to tell her grandmother
13:41what had happened.
13:43But after Tony's confession,
13:44there was no alternative.
13:46But Mr. Matthews,
13:47Janet is the kindest
13:48hearted person
13:49that ever lived.
13:51It must have been an accident.
13:53There's no doubt about that.
13:54It's just that she had
13:55the accident
13:56while she was intoxicated.
13:57It's a lie.
13:58I'd skin them both alive
13:59and they know it.
14:00According to Tony,
14:01it's not a lie.
14:02He's trying to take the blame
14:03claims that he was drinking
14:04during the wedding party.
14:06Tony drinking
14:07and I not know it?
14:09Come with me a moment.
14:14Look at all that,
14:15Mr. Matthews.
14:16Just look at all that.
14:18The grapes are a legend
14:19in our family.
14:21My husband's father
14:22brought the first little vines
14:23into this valley
14:24from Europe.
14:25There isn't a grape
14:26grown that I don't
14:27know the smell of.
14:28Whether it's fresh
14:29or fermented.
14:30Not only can I tell
14:31when a man has been drinking,
14:33but what as well.
14:35You know,
14:36I believe you could.
14:39Here's a copy
14:40of the accident report.
14:41I'm sure you'd like
14:42to look it over.
14:45You know,
14:46when a person
14:47has lived 75 years,
14:49they learn a lot
14:50about people.
14:52I think I know
14:53how this patrolman
14:54must feel.
14:56I'd like to talk to him.
14:58I wish you would.
14:59I'll try and arrange it.
15:02Well,
15:03goodbye,
15:04Mrs. DiMeguri.
15:05Just call me Maggie.
15:10Maggie DiMeguri
15:11was obviously
15:12a woman of honesty
15:13and integrity.
15:15And I was sure
15:16she wasn't lying.
15:17But there was still
15:18the Blue Star Bar.
15:20Yeah,
15:21I remember those kids.
15:22Two real characters.
15:23What makes you say that?
15:25Well,
15:26what's more of a character
15:27than a newlywed?
15:28Did they buy
15:29any drinks here?
15:30That's what nearly
15:31knocked me over.
15:32They walked in here
15:33with this jug,
15:34like as if my liquor
15:35wasn't good enough.
15:36Could you estimate
15:37how much they had to drink?
15:38Oh,
15:39I'd say about a couple
15:40of cartons.
15:41Two cartons?
15:42Yeah,
15:43they ordered milk.
15:44It's screwy like.
15:45Then they poured
15:46the milk into the mugs
15:47and sat over there
15:48toasting the bottle.
15:50Never even opened it.
15:52Like I'm telling you,
15:53never met
15:54such screwy characters.
15:55Thank you very much,
15:56Mr. Boulder.
15:57And here's a subpoena
15:58for the trial.
16:00A subpoena?
16:01You mean
16:02I've got to go to trial?
16:03Well,
16:04that's what I get
16:05for opening my big fat mouth.
16:06So it shouldn't
16:07be a total loss.
16:08I'll have something.
16:09Oh, fine.
16:10What'll it be?
16:11Um,
16:12a glass of milk.
16:13Milk?
16:15And it's on the house.
16:17Now it was time
16:18to talk to Don Nelson again
16:20and hope he would
16:21listen to reason.
16:22Now look, Matthews,
16:23I was there
16:24and I know what I saw.
16:25And you know
16:26I still believe
16:27in the arresting officer.
16:28You call yourself
16:29a police officer?
16:30You don't want justice.
16:31You're looking for a patsy.
16:32Now wait a minute.
16:33Now you wait a minute.
16:34I know your buddy
16:35was a nice guy
16:36and it's a rotten thing
16:37that he was killed.
16:38But does that give you
16:39the right to play judge and jury
16:40and decide who's responsible?
16:41I'm going by the book of rules
16:42and you know it.
16:43Then play it
16:44right down the line.
16:45Meaning what?
16:46Go back to the scene
16:47of the accident
16:48and go over everything
16:49again with me.
16:50Forget it.
16:51Well, then at least
16:52talk to all the witnesses.
16:53What do you mean
16:54all the witnesses?
16:55All the witnesses
16:56as to whether or not
16:57those two kids
16:58had been drinking.
16:59What do you mean?
17:00The only place
17:01they could have had a drink
17:02before the accident
17:03was at the girl's grandmother's.
17:04You expect me
17:05to believe
17:06that girl's grandmother?
17:07She's still a witness
17:08to the fact.
17:09Well, you're going
17:10to follow the book
17:11of rules, Nelson?
17:12Or are you afraid
17:13you might learn the truth?
17:14Get in the car.
17:15I'll charge you.
17:16I have read
17:17Officer Nelson's report.
17:18I'm afraid
17:19that just saying
17:20that Tony and his wife
17:21were involved
17:22in the accident
17:23I'm afraid
17:24that just saying
17:25that Tony and Janet
17:26were innocent
17:27won't be very convincing.
17:28I expect you hear
17:29a lot of such talk
17:30from relatives.
17:31All the time.
17:32I don't suppose
17:33it would matter to you
17:34if I pointed out
17:35that nowhere in here
17:36is there any real proof
17:37that Tony and Janet
17:38had been drinking.
17:39There was a lighted
17:40barricade across
17:41that road, ma'am.
17:42Anyone sober
17:43would have seen it.
17:44That's a mighty
17:45definite statement.
17:46I'm sorry for you, ma'am,
17:47but a man
17:48has been killed.
17:49And he was
17:50a very good friend
17:51of yours.
17:52I think I understand.
17:53All you understand,
17:54ma'am,
17:55is that you've got
17:56a granddaughter
17:57who's in trouble.
17:58Maybe a few years ago
17:59when I first
18:00entered the force
18:01I would have been
18:02more inclined
18:03to listen to you.
18:04What difference
18:05do the years make?
18:06They mean I've seen
18:07it all,
18:08and I mean all of it.
18:09Hot rodders
18:10racing themselves
18:11to an early grave.
18:12Reckless drivers
18:13trying to see
18:14how many they can kill.
18:15And the nicest
18:16people in the world
18:17who get tanked up
18:18and try to make
18:19a deadly weapon
18:20out of their automobile.
18:21But no matter
18:22how guilty they are
18:23they always have
18:24friends and relatives
18:25try to set them free
18:26so they can do
18:27the same thing over again.
18:29Ready?
18:30Mr. Nelson,
18:31what is going
18:32to happen to you
18:33on that day
18:34after you've ruined
18:35the person's life
18:36that you find out
18:37you've been wrong?
18:39I'm afraid
18:40I'm not thinking
18:41that far ahead, ma'am.
18:42All I know
18:43is that Jack Miller
18:44is my best friend
18:45and he died in my arms.
18:46Maybe you can't
18:47understand how I feel.
18:48I think I do understand.
18:49Will you two gentlemen
18:50come inside a moment?
18:55This is a picture
18:56of my husband
18:57taken 43 years ago.
19:00The day before
19:01he was killed.
19:02Maybe murdered.
19:03I'm not sure.
19:05I met John
19:06nearly 50 years ago.
19:08I was engaged
19:09then to another man.
19:11Will Gage.
19:13But the moment
19:14I met John
19:15I knew that he
19:16was the one.
19:17It was a good life
19:19until the day
19:20Will Gage
19:21talked him
19:22into that hunting trip.
19:25It was right here
19:26on this dive van
19:27where they brought John
19:28a few hours later.
19:30He died here
19:32with his head
19:33in my arms.
19:35A hunting accident
19:36Will Gage called it.
19:38He cried a lot
19:39and said that
19:40although he'd never forgotten
19:41how John
19:42took me away from him
19:43it had been
19:44an accident.
19:46People around here
19:47like John
19:48and all I had to do
19:49was to say
19:50that I thought
19:51Will was lying
19:52and they'd have
19:53strung him up.
19:54But I didn't do it
19:55Mr. Nelson.
19:57I could have been wrong
19:59just as you
20:00could be wrong now.
20:02Thank you Mr. Matthews
20:03for all you've tried
20:04to do for Janet.
20:06And thank you
20:07Mr. Nelson
20:08for coming to listen
20:09to an old woman.
20:11Well
20:12maybe I could be wrong.
20:14Goodbye Mrs. Dimaguri.
20:16Just call me Maggie.
20:18Goodbye.
20:27I had the feeling
20:28that Maggie
20:29had softened Nelson up
20:30but I wasn't sure.
20:31As a last resort
20:32I obtained a court order
20:33to take the prisoner
20:34to the location
20:35of the accident
20:36in an effort
20:37to arrive at the truth.
20:38I'm sorry Bart
20:39it's no use.
20:40You can see for yourself
20:41anyone sober
20:42would have seen that light.
20:43But I tell you
20:44I know there was no light
20:45when I came around
20:46that curve.
20:47That's why I'm now
20:48watching the flames
20:49when I heard the car coming.
20:50This is getting us nowhere.
20:51Now let's go over
20:52the whole thing
20:53once more.
20:55Okay.
20:56We were cruising the area
20:57and we noticed
20:58the wind had blown
20:59the lamp out
21:00so we stopped
21:01to light it.
21:02Now like this?
21:03Now look around
21:04here a little further.
21:11Are you sure
21:12it was lit
21:13before the accident?
21:14I'm positive.
21:15All right
21:16we heard the car coming.
21:18Mrs. Fraser
21:19would you mind
21:20showing me once more
21:21just where you were
21:22when you first saw
21:23the officer?
21:24Yes sir.
21:25When we came around
21:26the curve
21:27they just appeared
21:28out of nowhere.
21:29You can see
21:30the skid marks.
21:31All right
21:32and what happened
21:33after that?
21:34I jumped
21:35Jack didn't have a chance.
21:38Nelson would you mind
21:39getting into your car
21:40and driving up
21:41to this point
21:42in the manner
21:43in which you think
21:44Mrs. Fraser drove?
21:45It'll be good
21:46to prove anything.
22:15Well did it prove anything?
22:16Proves nothing.
22:17No.
22:18I'm sure it did
22:19and I'm sure
22:20I'm sure it did well.
22:21I'm sure it did well.
22:22All right
22:23I'll see you later.
22:24Bye.
22:25Bye.
22:26Bye.
22:27Bye.
22:28Bye.
22:29Bye.
22:30Bye.
22:31Bye.
22:32Bye.
22:33Bye.
22:34Bye.
22:35Bye.
22:36Bye.
22:37Bye.
22:38Bye.
22:39Bye.
22:40Bye.
22:41Bye.
22:42Bye.
22:43Bye.
22:44Proves Mrs. Fraser was right.
22:46She couldn't see that light, nobody could.
22:48Miller was blocking it from her view.
22:50Now, being wrong is nothing to be ashamed of.
22:53Just as long as you're man enough to admit it.
22:56I'd kind of like to be the first one to tell her, Bart.
23:03Looks like she's already guessed.
23:05No, I mean Mrs. DeMeguri.
23:07Just call me Maggie.
23:09I'd like to be the one she hears it from.
23:11You know, my guess is you're the one she'd want to hear it from.
23:15Patrolman Nelson filed an amended accident report.
23:18The death of Patrolman Jack Miller was declared accidental and Janet Fraser was released.
23:24As for Patrolman Don Nelson,
23:26he was given a citation of merit for his diligence to duty in seeing that justice was done.
23:32The case you have just seen was brought to a fair and just conclusion through the efforts of a public defender.
24:11© BF-WATCH TV 2021
24:41© BF-WATCH TV 2021