Episode 34

<--   25 January 2006   -->

Anil enters Bail Court with his clients’ parents, Joe and Elanore Borelli. They have been waiting for two weeks for their son Vince’s bail hearing and are getting extremely impatient with Anil, who admits he has no control over who the court officers bring into court. When Jack comes in, gestures to a CO and has his client brought out immediately, they turn on Anil for not being able to do the same thing for them. Later on, Jack explains to Anil that in order to get the COs to cooperate he has to make friends with them: “I mean buy them a few drinks.”
Elliot meets with Steven, Mark and Ross in the cells. The three men were arrested at a massage parlour the night before and are still wearing their business suits. Mark is angry that he wasn’t allowed to bathe. Steven laments over having his twelve-thousand-dollar watch stolen. Ross had five hundred in cash in his pants that is now missing. No one shows any respect for Elliot, who threatens to leave them to fend for themselves.
Anil steps out of Bail Court for a second, and when he returns Joe and Elanore are furious – Vince was brought in and returned to the cells while Anil was gone. Anil has no luck asking the CO to bring him back. Charlie Moss is brought out and Alice stands to represent him. He’s charged with eight counts of fraud under, unlawfully in a dwelling and a failure to comply probation. Alice says that Charlie’s sister – and surety – refused to come down, and Charlie tells Alice to try again. She leaves, and Crown Kaye calls for Omar Wilson to step forward on charges of B&E and assault. When two men come forth, claiming to be the same person – “I am Omar Wilson, Canadian citizen. I cannot be deported” – and saying nothing else, the matter is held down until it can be sorted out. Mr. Garrity is brought into the dock, having been arrested for taking his clothes off while conducting a job interview with a young woman. He defends himself by saying he did what he did because he is so horribly lonely. Since he has no record or history of violence, he is released with a no-contact order forbidding him access to the complainant.
Jack meets with Jason Gamby and Raymond Millman. Jason and Raymond turned themselves in for growing pot because they are convinced their neighbour – an old Vietnamese man – is a drug dealer who is going to kill them. Jack has another theory for them based on the observations they share with him: their neighbour is hunting for worms. He advises them that whoever their neighbour is, they need to say from now on that they turned themselves in because of a crisis of conscience instead.
Back in Bail Court, Elliot’s clients are brought in. The charges are read in and Elliot discovers the three are also up for possession for the purpose for a gram of cocaine found on them in the massage parlour. When they learn the coke charge is for trafficking, Elliot’s clients grow increasingly outraged. Elliot requests time to find their sureties, and the case is held down. The Omar Wilson case is readdressed. Zona has found information on the two Omars in custody: they are co-accused in a home invasion, and a third suspect is still at large. They also have documentation indicating they are both Omar Wilson with the same birthplace and birthday. They’re taken back to the cells again. Charlie Moss is brought back out, but his lawyer and his surety are absent from the courtroom.
Meanwhile, Alice is in the bathroom trying to talk Charlie’s sister Faith into bailing him out. Faith says she’s reluctant because the last time she bailed him out he stole her TV, pawned it and blew the money at the track. Alice tries to save this by reminding her that Charlie has a gambling addiction, but Faith decides to help regardless. She tells Alice that he has no real friends that would help him if she didn’t. She also says when they were kids their father used to beat Charlie, who would curl into a ball on the floor to protect himself. When he gets in trouble that’s who she sees, and admits she’s willing to give up everything to help him.
In court, Kaye reads in Charlie’s allegations. When Alice requests his sister act as surety, Kaye refuses, citing her ineffectiveness in the past and the fact that she lives where the crime was allegedly committed. Alice begins to tell the court about Charlie’s childhood, but he cuts her off. He tells JP Kraneyk he’s willing to plead and wants to rack up some dead time first. He’s led back to the cells as Andy Popovich is brought out. Andy was arrested and charged with threaten death after telling his mother and sister he was going to kill them during a highly charged, very inebriated game of Scrabble.
Finally seeing Vincent Borelli in the box brings Anil great relief, which fades quickly when he realizes that Joe – Vincent’s only available surety – is no longer in the room. Elanore tells him that Joe has gone to the bathroom; Anil runs out, screaming. He passes Elliot, who is taking a man named Vlad’s case involving three sex workers who were arrested at his massage parlour for soliciting. Anil finds Joe in a bathroom stall, struggling: “It’s from sitting on those benches…I’m all blocked up.”
Back in Bail, Jack tries his best to defend Jason and Raymond but abandons his efforts when they start telling Kraneyk about their neighbour and asking to be put into a witness protection program, “…but not for witnesses.” The two are inevitably led back to the cells, where Jack tells the court he’ll be waiting “…as soon as you realize there’s no way they qualify for bail.”
A third Omar Wilson is brought to the dock. Actually, he’s the real Omar. When the police arrested him at his home they found I.D. manufacturing equipment, leading them to realize he’s been selling his identity to any Jamaican male who has been deported from Canada and wants back in. The fact that the criminal Omars found each other was, according to Kaye, “an extra perk.” This Omar is taken back to the cells until the police have a chance to round up all the other pseudo-Omar Wilsons.
Anil runs into Bail Court with Joe Borelli trailing behind. They find that Vincent has been taken back to the cells – again. Joe snaps; two weeks of waiting has been too much. He starts towards Kraneyk, threatening to punch him in the face. Court officers manage to subdue him and take him into custody.
Darryl Freeman is brought in. Alice stands to represent him and offers his mother, Louise, as surety. Louise hasn’t taken her medication and is, as Portella puts it, “seems a little out of it.” When she’s put on the stand, it becomes obvious she’s not totally fit; she refuses to acknowledge her son has ever done anything wrong. She then proceeds to thoroughly embarrass her son with stories of wetting the bed and being put in a dress as a child before Darryl has had enough: “Mom! Come on! Open your eyes… I’m a fucking criminal – a very bad man!”
Bail Court is chaotic as Elliot’s clients are confronted by their wives for the first time since their arrest. Things get even more heated when the three sex workers from the massage parlour are brought in, and Elliot realizes that he has inadvertently become counsel for them, too. The shouting continues, and Elliot decides to resign himself from the situation and let it run its course – which it does, as Elliot watches his clients’ wives storm out of the courtroom.
Later on that night, everyone is at a bar nearby. Anil is sitting with some COs and is getting very drunk. He tells them how much he likes them and starts hugging them all, one by one. Alice looks on from another table, concerned, but Jack – who is flirting with Zona – tells her not to worry. He takes off with Zona, who tells him, “this is the last time,” leaving Alice to watch over Anil, now dancing for the COs.