for the first time in my life, i watched 'the practice' and god was it so damn good =D i do not think that all episodes are like that, but this one is definitely going to be on the top of the list for awhile. maybe it was my own ignorance, but the storyline just blew me away during the 2nd half of the show. i will attempt to recreate the storyline over here, though obviously, watching the real thing will be a hundred times better!!!!!

the story starts with the police arresting a man for the chain of murders that had been happening all around the usa. 9 people were decapitated, each of them with their fingernails pulled out. there were absolutely no clues left at the crime scene, and the only reason the police managed to catch the serial killer was because the ninth victim somehow managed to activate a silent alarm. the killer was caught in the neighborhood basement.

this killer himself has undergone 30 hours of vigorous tests with this reknown psychiatrist and while during the tests he appeared to, and admits to be guilty, he told an entirely different story during the hypnotism sessions, during which he proved himself to be innocent and incapable of committing such a crime. along with evidence that he had previously dismissed two lawyers who tried to prove that he was innocent, the psychiatrist referred this man to a lawyer **PAUSE: cannot remember name of lawyer, but she's the blonde with a short bob, you pple give her a name ok?** apparently convinced that the man in concern was suffering from illusions and that it is his dementia that is causing him to insist that he was the killer behind all the murders.

there are also other reasons for rendering this man innocent. he had absolutely no history of violent behavior, and the confessions that he gave to the police were ridden with holes. all of the information that he gave with regards to the murders were publicly available information that were released by the media and could be accessed via the internet and other publications. many of the arguments that he gave during the insistence that he was guilty were ridden with holes (he said that he took out the nails of ALL victims, just like the newspaper reports had claimed, when actually, the police had withheld the particular information that the nails of the 9th victim were intact) and certain critical details (such as the layout of the scene of the crime and position of the bodies) were sketchy.

of course there were other equally convincing reasons given that he had to be guilty, such as those dealing with the fact that he had no alibi, and some others that i forgot (i had them just a little earlier on...)

anyways, so the blonde (ok i'm sorry to have to refer to her in that manner!!!) decides to be the defending lawyer for this man's case, under the persuasion of the psychiatrist. she realizes that this man's self-destructive illusions, and sets off to the court, planning to go for an insanity plead, and then changing into an outright plead of 'not guilty'. she did that when all the while keeping the plan from the man, telling him simply that he has to be prepared to confess.

when she finally had to reveal that the plea was for innocence and not insanity, there was a mad gleam in the man's eyes as he insisted with absolute certainty about himself being guilty for the killing of all the 9 women, and that he wanted to repent and be free of sin before he dies. he also threatened first to 'remove' the lawyer from the court immediately (sacking her, in other words) and next by the threat of killing her if she doesn't back off.

however, the blonde was not daunted. she revealed the existence of the 10th victim and asked if he did kill all of 10 of the ladies. he replied in the affirmative. the blonde then announced to the court that she made the 10th victim out, and then gave a conclusion that in sentencing this man to death, they are doing a great disservice, for although everyone is scared, and that they all wanted to believe that the man standing in the courtroom is the serial killer, they cannot. the real killer is still out there, and what they should do instead is to grant this man his innocence (as much as he denies it) and tell the police to keep up the hunt for the real killer.

then it was the opposition's lawyer to speak. (ok the other side... whatever it is called) "During the entire course of the killings, there were absolutely no evidence. everything was done scrupulously, right down to the ritualistic removement of all the fingernails of the victims. in fact, it was so well done that if the 9th victim hadn't managed to activate the alarm, he wouldn't have been caught. this meant that the killer had meticulously planned his every move, and that he is very clever. and this man is a borderline genius, as proved by the psychiatrical analysis. he has proved himself capable of fooling a reknown psychiatrist, with his INTENDED firing of the 2 lawyers who tried to defend his innocence in court. that done, in order to preserve the integrity of his disillusion, he employs the blonde, KNOWING that he has already created sufficient doubts in the mind of the psychiatrist and most probably would have informed the blonde about it. he also PREDICTED that she would take a sudden swerve in the plea during court. it was all in his immaculate plan. all he had to do was to lie when it was required to and go along with it.' *okok the real thing was MUCH more articulate than this could ever be.. it was literally-speaking, PERFECT!! EXTREMELY convincing**

*i don't know about you but, it was only when i got to that point of the statement that i went OHHHH MY GOD!!!!*

and here's another twist... during that break in which the jury decides on the final verdict, the man asked, 'he delivered a very good closing speech, did he?' and in the next few minutes, he made it very obvious that he was in fact, the real killer, but yet, he was smart enough not to phrase things in such a way that it could be used against him. and so the jury comes up with a verdict... *Drum roll*

NOT GUILTY. *i when, WHAT??? after that amazing closing speech you tell me NOT GUILTY???*

and it's kinda scary when the psychiatrist offers further treatment for the man with regards to his disillusionment, and he gave her that cold icy stare and said, 'i will call you' *scary music plays* ... and the lawyers were helpless. definitely catching the next episode!

~*~
ah yes, on a lighter note, i watched FRIENDS after that and joey referred to his adam's apple as joey's apple -> because he thought that it would be named after each individual... hehehehehe awww it's no fun when you DICTATE it.... =S hehe anyways... it was hecka funny when he said it, complete with funny facial expressions, bulging eyes, and in that kind of innocent voice too hehehe =)
~*~