Nuts (1987)
James Whitmore: Judge Stanley Murdoch
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Quotes
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Aaron Levinsky : Mr. Kirk, you said that among the many fatherly duties that you assumed when Claudia entered your life was bathing her. Do you remember saying that?
Arthur Kirk : Uh-huh. -
[the court recorder asks for a verbal response]
Arthur Kirk : - Yes, I did say that.
Aaron Levinsky : How long did you practice this particular fatherly duty?
Francis MacMillan : Objection, Your Honor!
Judge Stanley Murdoch : Overruled. Answer the question, Mr. Kirk.
Arthur Kirk : I don't remember.
Aaron Levinsky : Did it stop when she was five? Did it go on a year and stop when she was six?
Arthur Kirk : What are you suggesting?
Aaron Levinsky : Did it go for two years and stop when she was seven? I remind you you're under oath.
Arthur Kirk : Well, I don't know. It didn't last long. Claudia liked me to do it.
Aaron Levinsky : Liked you to do what?
Arthur Kirk : To bathe her.
Aaron Levinsky : To bathe her?
[pausing, reflectively]
Aaron Levinsky : To bathe her.
Arthur Kirk : [angrily] It was nothing! And I object to your insinuations!
Aaron Levinsky : My daughter locked me out of the bathroom when she was four. Now, how old was Claudia?
Arthur Kirk : Claudia, please.
Aaron Levinsky : How old was she? Was she ten? Was she twelve? How old were you, Claudia? How old was she, Mr. Kirk? Was she thirteen years old when you stopped bathing your step-daughter?
[intensely]
Aaron Levinsky : Was she fourteen?
Arthur Kirk : She was a child. She couldn't have been...
Aaron Levinsky : [more intensely] How old? -
[Pandemonium breaks out in the courtroom]
Aaron Levinsky : -
[shouting]
Aaron Levinsky : How old?
Judge Stanley Murdoch : Order!
Francis MacMillan : He's harassing the witness.
Judge Stanley Murdoch : I'd like to hear an answer.
Aaron Levinsky : How old?
Arthur Kirk : [shouting, pleading] I don't remember.
Claudia Draper : [sobbing] I was sixteen.
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Francis MacMillan : What did you live on?
Claudia Draper : [pausing, glancing at Levinsky] Gifts.
Francis MacMillan : [with relish] Gifts. Gifts from whom?
Claudia Draper : Friends.
Francis MacMillan : Men friends?
Claudia Draper : Uh-huh.
Francis MacMillan : And what did these men friends give you? Jewelry?
Claudia Draper : Sometimes.
Francis MacMillan : Furs?
Claudia Draper : [grinning] I got a fox boa once.
Francis MacMillan : Did they give you food?
Claudia Draper : Food? One guy used to bring caviar. Is that what you mean?
Francis MacMillan : Did you exchange your jewels and furs for food at the supermarket?
Claudia Draper : Now isn't that silly?
Francis MacMillan : Well, did you?
Claudia Draper : No.
Francis MacMillan : Well, then how'd you pay for your food? I assume you didn't live on caviar.
Claudia Draper : Hardy.
Francis MacMillan : Or did you use those gifts to pay your rent?
Claudia Draper : [to the judge] Um, excuse me. Is it legal to take cash gifts?
Judge Stanley Murdoch : I beg your pardon?
Claudia Draper : I mean, if I say to you, "Stanley, here's, um, five hundred dollars just because I like you," is that legal?
Judge Stanley Murdoch : Yes, that's legal.
Claudia Draper : Thank you.
[to MacMillan]
Claudia Draper : A lot of the gifts were cash.
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Aaron Levinsky : Mrs. Draper, could you tell me your understanding of the legal concept of justifiable force?
Claudia Draper : That's when someone's beating your brains out the back of your head, you're allowed to stop them any way you can.
Aaron Levinsky : Thank you. Now, would you tell us your understanding of the provisions of the 730 process?
Claudia Draper : Yeah. If I lose today, they can commit me for a year. Sixty days before the year is up, the hospital can ask to retain me. If I lose again, I'm gone for another year. And from then on, it's two-thirds of the maximum sentence, which comes out to be 16 or 17 years, and that's without a trial.
Francis MacMillan : Now, Your Honor...
Judge Stanley Murdoch : Mr. MacMillan, you'll have ample time to cross-exam. Let her finish.
[pause]
Judge Stanley Murdoch : Mrs. Draper, what does all that mean to you?
Claudia Draper : Well, it means if they do it right, they can lock me up in a hospital for the criminally insane forever.