"Then what is he? An angel? He murdered a woman in cold blood. Shot her twice in the chest."

"She wanted to die!"

"How about the cat? Did she want to die, too?" "Okay, I'll give you the cat."

"You'll give me more than the goddamn cat, Alan." "What are you looking for?"

"Are the acoustics in here bad? I told you. Murder Two. Murder for hire. Lethal injection. That's what I'm looking for."

"This wasn't murder for hire, and you know it." "He got twenty-five grand to kill her!"

"But she's the one who gave it to him. This wasn't some outside party who hired him to kill her. This was the victim herself who..."

"Victim, you've got it, Alan."

"... who wanted to die, but didn't have the nerve to kill herself.

She's arthritic, she's got a brain tumor, she's about to go stone-deaf, she's about to lose the nerves in her face, all she wants is out. My client helped her."

"Right, he's a Good Samaritan."

"No, he's a compassionate man who..."

"Who murdered her for twenty-five grand so he could pay off his bookie!"

"The best you've got here is Criminal Facilitation One. But this case is something that'll bring tears to a jury's eyes. Give him Facilitation Four, and we've got..."

"Facil . " She almost choked on it. "That's a class-A mis!"

'"Okay, forget it then. Take a look at 120.30 instead. Promoting a Suicide Attempt. A person is guilty of promoting a suicide attempt when he intentionally

causes... " or aids another person to attempt suicide," Nellie finished for him. "This wasn't an attempt, Alan! This was eminently successful. The woman is dead. And so's her cat."

"Lay off the goddamn cat, will you? We're talking about a woman in agony and pain, we're talking about a sympathetic man who..."

"You're talking about a lousy class-E felony, is what you're talking about. We're wasting time here, Alan. Let's roll the dice."

"All right, I'll grant you the suicide attempt was a

success ..

"What suicide? He murdered her."

"Didn't you just say the attempt was successful? Eminently successful, weren't those your words? So what's it going to be, Nellie? Did the guy go in there and shoot her in cold blood, or did he merely help her commit suicide? You go for Murder Two, that's what the jury'll have to decide."

"Good, let them decide." "Take a look at Michigan." "Don't sing me Kevorkian."

"Gets kicked out each and every time."

"This isn't Michigan. And Kevorkian didn't shoot anybody."

"A jury might not see it that way, Nell."

"Don't call me Nell. I wasn't raised in the woods." "Tell you what..." "Sure, tell me."

"We're forgetting murder for hire, am I right?" "Who said so?"

"Arguendo. And I guess you know that an affirmative defense..."

"Don't insult me, Alan."

"... under 125.25 is that the defendant caused or aided another person to commit suicide."

"That's an affirmative defence, all right."

"Which happens to be the case here. An assisted suicide."

"So?"

"So you're absolutely right. You go for Murder Two,

we'd be rolling the dice. And you just might lose." "What do you suggest?" "man Two." "No way."

"A person is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree..."

"I know the section."

"... when he intentionally causes or aids another person to commit suicide."

"Man One is the best I can give you, Alan. Provided we agree on the max."

"That's too much to pay for a mitzvah."

"A mitzvah, my ass. Man One. The max, Alan.

Eight and a third to twenty-five. Take it or leave it." "Make it two to six." "No."

"The poor bastard's a foreigner."

"Tough."

"He can't speak English, he looks like Robert Redford. You know what they'll do to him in prison?"

"He should've thought of that before he murdered the old lady."