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January
25, 2006 Transcript Ric: Manny Ruiz has a constitutional right to be present in the courtroom to face his accusers, your honor. Judge: Is he physically able to be here? Ric: Yes, your honor, in a wheelchair. John: Your honor, that's blatantly prejudicial. I move for a postponement. Ric: I am sorry if it's too inconvenient for Mr. Durant that my client survived the latest attempt on his life, but the fact of the matter -- Judge: Take it easy, Mr. Lansing. Alexis: Your Honor, I have done everything possible to convince Mr. Ruiz to postpone for a while till he feels a little bit better, but he insists on moving on. John: Oh, your honor, please, come on, he wants a sympathy vote, that's all. Don't you see? He's trying to manipulate you, he's manipulating the jury. Mr. Ruiz is manipulating the entire system! Ric: All emotions aside, my client's condition is a fact in this case. He was shot by an enemy of his family. He was caught in the crossfire. John: Manny Ruiz is not the victim here, Mr. Lansing! Alexis: That could be argued, counselor. He suffers from an undiagnosed brain disorder. Judge: Save it for the trial, Ms. Davis. I see no reason to postpone since he's able to be in court. John: Your honor -- Alexis: Thank you, your honor. John: Your Honor, this is absurd. Judge: Now is not the time to annoy me, Mr. Durant. Concentrate on your closing argument. I think you've got your work cut out for you. See you in court. John: You realize what you're doing, don't you? Alexis: My job. Alexis: He knows that we're on the way to an acquittal. Ric: Yeah, is that what you really want? Alexis: Why wouldn't I want to win this case? Ric: Well, you would if you completely believed that Manny wasn't faking it. Ric: Here we go, hot off the net -- latest statistics on permanent personality changes in A.V.M. Cases similar to Manny's. They're convincing on the surface. I'm just not sure how they'll apply. Alexis: Thanks, I'll use this in closing. It'll help. I'm going to glance at it now. Ric: Ok. Alexis: Sam, you don't need to be here. Sam: Yes, I do. Alexis: I see that this is emotionally gruelling for you, and it's not going to get any better today. It's going to be very difficult for you to sit and watch this, so you should probably not -- Sam: What, stay home and keep quiet? Yeah, that would be much easier for you, wouldn't it? It would be much easier for you to dismiss Manny's crimes if his victims were just numbers on a page and they didn't have a name or a face. Well, they do, and we are here. Alexis: You're making this a lot more difficult than it needs to be. Sam: We're going to take front-row seats, thank you. John: Manny Ruiz is a cold-blooded killer who shot his own father in the back. He has admitted responsibility for the glencoe tunnel tragedy, for shooting robin scorpio, for shooting Jason Morgan, and for terrorizing Sam McCall, as well as countless, countless other women. Alexis: My client admits that he was a violent man. He's not denying his criminal past or the reprehensible things that he's done. John: Why shouldn't Mr. Ruiz confess? Why shouldn't he swear that he's a brand-new man, hmm? He knows it's the only chance he has to go free. If you believe him. Alexis: You heard undisputed medical testimony that the malformation in Mr. Ruiz's brain caused his violent behavior. Once the doctors performed the surgery to correct the problem -- John: According to Ms. Davis, nothing of the old Manny remains, nothing, nothing at all -- not the killer, not the sadist, not the criminally insane man who lives to inflict pain. According to Ms. Davis, that Manny has disappeared, he's vanished, he's gone for good. And how are we supposed to know this? How did the doctors know this? Because Manny Ruiz told them so. That's it. That's all. That's all that we have to go on -- the word of an admitted liar who kills people for pleasure. We don't have the objective tests to tell how well this surgery went, we have no numbers to compare, we have no blood test to analyze! Manny Ruiz is acting like a different man. That's all we have. Yet you're supposed to take his word over the word of a woman that he stalked and he terrorized, a woman that he planned to rape while her fiance sat tied in a chair with a bullet in him, a woman that he attacked in this very courthouse, not 200 feet from this spot, while this very trial was underway! Alexis: It's true that Sam was victimized, but not by the man sitting in this courtroom today. Alexis: She was victimized by my client before the surgery, when he was driven by an undiagnosed defect in his brain. Ms. McCall claims that she was attacked by my client in the holding room, but as you can see, there's no evidence. There was no evidence to support that the prosecution failed dramatically at their burden of proof. You have seen witnesses repeatedly try to goad my client into attack. And he has demonstrated absolutely no malice toward anyone. You've seen it. I think it's fair to say that everyone in this courtroom is sympathetic. I think it's fair to say that our hearts go out to Ms. McCall for the pain that she suffered, and she did in fact suffer. And I think it's only natural that Ms. McCall would want revenge, she would want someone to pay. She wants my client to pay. She wants Manny to pay. She wants him to die. But you can't do that because the court is not an instrument of revenge. It is about the rule of law. You have to follow the law. Whether you like it or not, you have to follow the law. Manny Ruiz committed those crimes and he was not of sound mind. And according to the law, he is not responsible for his actions. You have to follow the law. You have to find my client not guilty. Ric: You want to get some coffee? Alexis: You know what, I don't think the jury's going to be out very long. Justus: You're awfully confident. Alexis: The law is clear on this. The jury's going to have to follow it. Sam: You are good, because you made me look like a criminal and Manny look like a victim. Alexis: Sam, I advised you to not be here. Sam: No, come on, I have every right to be here, and it was a cheap shot to drag me into your closing arguments. Alexis: I was doing my job, and the jury's going to have to do theirs, and there's a very good chance he's going to be acquitted. I'm sorry. Sam: Really? Well, if Manny gets acquitted and he walks away, he will still be insane, he will probably go after you and all of us, for that matter. Ric: Ok, there's no point in having this conversation. Why don't you do yourself a favor -- just go home and make sure Jason doesn't go after Manny. Sam: Ja-- you talk to Jason himself. I don't speak for him, ok? Ric: Durant is going to want to bust Jason if anything happens to Manny. Sam: Oh, come on. Ric: It's going to be a way for him to save face after a humiliating loss. Sam: You don't care about Jason and I do not need your advice. Alexis: Ric is just trying to help. Sam: No, Ric is trying to minimize his guilt for helping you turn Manny loose. Bailiff: The jury has reached a verdict. Alexis: The fact that the jury is in this quickly, it's a good sign. Judge: Court is now in session. In the matter of the State vs. Manuel Ruiz, has the jury reached a verdict? Forewoman: We have, your honor. Judge: How do you find? Forewoman: We find the defendant guilty of involuntary manslaughter. [Gallery murmurs] Manny: I don't understand. Alexis: I think it means you've won. [Judge pounds gavel] Judge: Order in this courtroom. Mr. Ruiz, will you please face the court? Due to the seriousness of the crimes you committed before the surgery, you will continue with appropriate psychiatRic treatment and evaluation. You will be placed on parole and you will complete your community service at general hospital. John: Oh, your honor, with all due respect, that is absurd! [Judge pounds gavel] John: It's ridiculous. Judge: You will wear an ankle monitor at all times and your movements will be restricted to a five-mile radius of Port Charles Police Department. You understand? Manny: Yes, your honor. Judge: This court is adjourned. [Judge pounds gavel] Reporter: Ms. Davis, Ms. Davis, how does it feel to win? Carly: Jase, I need to talk to you about Sonny and Emily. It's important. Jason: Carly, this is not -- Carly -- Carly: It's important. Alexis: The law stated that he was not accountable for his actions prior to his surgery. John: This verdict is a travesty of justice. Ms. Davis just unleashed a known killer into our community.
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