Mickey was surprisingly effective. When I was told I was to be the judge of this trial and then I was told Mickey Knox would be handling his own defense, I got a headache that lasted five days. But at first I breathed a sigh of relief. Mickey showed up very prepared, and proved to be an excellent amateur lawyer.
Natural Born Killers (1994)
JUDGE STEINSMA
A screenplay character in Natural Born Killers (1994).
- lines
- 7
- words
- 414
- scenes
- 4
- dialogue
- 2.9%
- avg words / line
- 59
- shortest / longest
- 4 / 138
Sample dialogue
It couldn't help but affect my decision. That's why they have judges. We're supposed to be fair to a fault, but when it's showtime, we have to make a decision. That's why we don't just input all the facts into a computer for the appropriate punishment. I couldn't give them the death penalty. See, California hops back and forth on that issue. Mickey and Mallory went to court when it was out of favor, which is actually good because it leaves more room for the imagination. Anybody can give somebody the chair. When you have someone who deserves to die and you can't kill them, you have to be creative. And if the bastards had let it stand, it would've been the perfect sentence. It hit 'em right where they lived. Far more punishing than the death sentence.
scene 60 — INT. JUDGE'S DEN - DAYMr. Knox! The knife!
scene 58 — INT. COURTROOM - DAYWould you care to cross-examine the witness, Mr. Knox?
scene 48 — INT. COURTROOM - COURT SKETCH - DAYYes, unquestionably. After they did what they did in my court, any judge worth his robe will tell you the same thing.
scene 60 — INT. JUDGE'S DEN - DAYWell, in a rogue's gallery of killers, Mickey and Mallory are very unique. I've seen a lot of killers in my day, and they're a cold lot. They have no more feelings about taking a person's life than squashing a tiny bug. It's all the same to them. Well, Mickey and Mallory were that 'kill 'em to watch their expression change' attitude personified. Except with each other. And, since they lived only for each other, I wanted to attack that, at its very root. So, in a nutshell, my sentence was double life for each without any possibility for parole. That would be fairly standard in their case.
scene 60 — INT. JUDGE'S DEN - DAY
Bookends
The twist I added was that the husband and wife would have no contact or correspondence with each other for the rest of their lives. And they would never receive any word or information about the other. So, basically, once the cell door slams shut, Mickey and Mallory will completely disappear from each other's life. They'll never even know when the other dies. But alas, the best laid plans of mice and men...